One or two more such proofs, drawn from similarity of language, in very significant words, may be assigned.  Le Gobien tells us, that the people of the Ladrones worship their dead, whom they call Anitis.  Here, again, by dropping the consonant n, we have a word that bears a strong resemblance to that which so often occurs in Captain Cook’s voyages, when speaking of the divinities of his islands, whom he calls Eatooas.  And it may be matter of curiosity to remark, that what is called an Aniti, at the Ladrones, is, as we learn from Cantova (Lettres Edifiantes et Curieuses, tom. xv. p. 309, 310.) at the Caroline Islands, where dead chiefs are also worshipped, called a Tahutup; and that, by softening or sinking the strong sounding letters, at the beginning and at the end of this latter word, the Ahutu of the Carolines, the Aiti of the Ladrones, and the Eatooa of the South Pacific Islands, assume such a similarity in pronunciation (for we can have no other guide), as strongly marks one common original.  Once more; we learn from Le Gobien, that the Marianne people call their chiefs Chamorris, or Chamoris.  And by softening the aspirate Ch into T, and the harshness of r into l (of which the vocabularies of the different islands give us repeated instances), we have the Tamole of the Caroline Islands, and the Tamolao, or Tamaha, of the Friendly ones.

If these specimens of affinity of language should be thought too scanty, some very remarkable instances of similarity of customs and institutions will go far to remove every doubt. 1.  A division into three classes, of nobles, of middle rank, and the common people, or servants, was found, by Captain Cook, to prevail, both at the Friendly and the Society Islands.  Father Le Gobien expressly tells us, that the same distinction prevails at the Ladrones:  Il y a trois etats, parmi les insulaires, la noblesse, le moyen, et le menu. 2.  Numberless instances occur in Captain Cook’s voyage to prove the great subjection under which the people of his islands are to their chiefs.  We learn from Le Gobien, that it is so also at the Ladrones:  La noblesse est d’un fierte incroyable, et tien le peuple dans un abaisement qu’on ne pourroit imaginer en Europe, &c. 3.  The diversions of the natives at Wateeo, the Friendly, and the Society Islands, have been copiously described by Captain Cook.  How similar are those which Le Gobien mentions in the following words, as prevailing at the Ladrones!—­Ils se divertissent a danser, courir, sautir, lutter, pour s’exercer, et eprouver leur forces.  Ils prennent grand plaisir a raconter les avantures de leurs ancetres, et a reciter des vers de leurs poetes. 4.  The principal share sustained by the women, in the entertainments at Captain Cook’s islands, appears sufficiently from a variety of instances in this work; and we cannot read what Le Gobien says of