44S ON THE LANGUAGE 



and the last expression might have been metaphorical, and 

 intended to express their alleged moral duplicity, but mig- 

 dolibes, an epithet applied to them by Plautus, could hardly 

 have been so> as it implies a mixture of nations or languages. 

 Indeed, it is not probable, that the comparatively small num- 

 ber of Phenicians who settled themselves on the northern 

 coast of Africa could have introduced the use of their lan- 

 guage far into the interior of the country : on the contrary, 

 it is astonishing that they themselves preserved it so long as 

 they did ; for it was still in use at the time of the Vandalic 

 War, as we are informed by Procopius. And when we see 

 a language extending itself from the Atlantic coast almost to 

 the Red Sea, we cannot presume it to be that of a foreign co- 

 lony, whose dominions never extended to that distance. 



It is therefore more natural to suppose that the language 

 of the Berbers is that of the ancient inhabitants of the coun- 

 try between the sea and the desert, who have been driven 

 back by successive conquerors into the mountains. Moun- 

 tainous countries are known to be the repositories of ancient 

 languages, of which a stronger example cannot be given than 

 that of the Basque, which has existed for so many centuries 

 in the Pyrenees and their vicinity. When we consider the 

 peculiar structure of that language, we cannot entertain a 

 doubt of its antiquity, and it may be reasonably presumed 

 that it was once spoken in various dialects throughout the 

 western part of Europe. The late investigations of the Ba- 

 ron William von Humboldt* have gone far towards proving 

 this supposition ; but more and still stronger proofs of it are 

 yet to be and no doubt will be obtained. The examination 

 of the numerous traces of it which Larramendif has found in 

 the ancient and modern languages of western Europe re- 

 quires to be farther pursued. 



But to return to the Berber. Mr. Marsden thinks that he 



* Piiifung der Unteisuchungen ubcr die Urbewohner Hispaniens, vermittelst 

 der Vaskischen Sprachc. 

 t See the Introduction to his Dicdonario trilingue. St. Sebastian, 1745. 



