Note 179 — CHAP. IV.

As a proof of the great difficulty of knowing accurately the exact names of the South Sea Islands, as procured from the natives, I observe that what Captain Cook calls Aghao, Mr. Anderson calls Kao; and Tasman’s drawing, as I find it in Mr. Dalrymple’s Collection of Voyages, gives the name of Kaybay to the same island. Tasman’s and Captain Cook’s Amattafoa, is, with Mr. Anderson, Tofoa. Captain Cook’s Komango, is Tasman’s Amango. There is scarcely an instance in which such variations are not observable. Mr. Anderson’s great attention to matters of this sort being, as we learn from Captain King, well known to every body on board, and admitted always by Captain Cook himself, his mode of spelling has been adopted on the engraved chart of the Friendly Islands, which has made it necessary to adopt it also, in printing the journal.