Page:Transactions NZ Institute Volume 18.djvu/76

46 miles as its length. The captain also states that the island is now fully 150 feet high. But yesterday and to-day (October 19th) the volcano, as seen from Nukualofa, is again as active if not more so than ever.

The difficulty of putting on paper anything like a correct idea of this grand sight will be fully admitted by every lover of science, but we trust that this short description will enable some who were not permitted to be with us to form some idea of this magnificent spectacle of our latest volcanic eruption.



, for illustration, the vowels as generally pronounced in Italian, German, Spanish, excluding the French modifications. In a reform of the English alphabet it is difficult to say how to express the sound of the English e, the Continental i. This latter vowel is so much used in English, in such words as tin, sin, &c, that it would be difficult to establish as e, and therefore, perhaps, the German ie will be preferable for the purpose.

I use the German diphthongs au, ai, ei, iu. Italian, I think, has no diphthongs, the vowels in that language are all pronounced separately. I have used ae to represent the English a, as in fate. This is perhaps non-phonetic, but it is in accordance with Teutonic usage; a has always the broad sound, as in man.

I have used ao to represent the English aw, as in law, but I am inclined to think that it would be better to adopt for this purpose what appears to be the Dutch plan, viz., aa.

It is sometimes inconvenient to use the German ie to represent the English e, as for instance, in Scripture names. In those cases I have retained i alone.

It is a matter for congratulation that, whoever reduced the Maori tongue into a written language, has avoided the absurd attempt to adopt it to English vowel sounds, and has adopted the Continental vowel system and pronunciation. The Maori language has, in consequence, assumed a form and appearance of structure and of culture which would have been lost had the English system prevailed, and the result is, that the moment a