Annual Report. 377 



a common source ? Will the Malagass be found tlie connecting 

 link between them and the Malay, and the cognate and wide- 

 spread dialects of Polynesia and America ? The establishment 

 of a connection between them and the Malagash, in those points 

 which are common to it and to the Malay, would aiford a 

 decisive instance in settling the controversy whether these 

 fongues have an original affinity, or have only attained a 

 modern resemblance by the common introduction of Arabic. 



III. As to Geography : the Council has learnt with great 

 satisfaction, that the expedition into the interior has hitherto 

 ^>rospered. Gratifying notices of it have appeared in several 

 European journals. The subscribers may be congratulated oa 

 the general impression, that the preparation and arrangements 

 were suitable to the objects in view, and the circumstances in 

 which their objects were to be attained. Similar efforts are 

 becoming common. The results of such investigations in other 

 continents are everywhere appearing. The acquisitions made 

 by Jacquemont's Travels in the Peninsula of India, will pro- 

 bably soon be described, and a detailed report on the Zoological 

 researches of M. D'Orbigny, in South America, has already 

 appeared. If our Expedition succeed, therefore, it will fill up 

 at its proper time, a vast chasm in the physical history of the 

 .world. We liaye every reason to conclude, that the collections 

 plready made arc of great value, and that the information 

 gained respecting the native tribes, is of great political and 

 commercial importance. It is gratifying to add, that the 

 apprehensions of difficulty or danger from the jealously or 

 JiostJlity of the natives have hitherto been found groundless, 

 particularly that the chief of the Northern Zoolahs, through 

 whose territories the most advantageous route for the Expedition 

 passes, seems to be friendly to its objects. Some interesting 

 notices of the Lake Mampoor, obtained from a native, have 

 appeared in No. 4, Part II, of the Quarterly Journal. 



Respecting Mautin, to whose fate the attention of the 

 Expedition was turned by its instructions, it has been ascer- 

 tained tha,t he did not perish in the Gariep, but proceeded 

 ?inaong the tribes enclosed by the fork of its two chief branches, 

 and has been traced on to the country of the Eastern Zoolahs, 

 where it is reported he was put to death. 



During the past year, several works have arrived, which 

 required a short notice. One of them repeats an idle story 

 current in Europe in 1810, that Robben Island had been 

 swallowed up by the Earthquake of the preceding year. The. 

 whole details of this phenomenon are found in No. 1, of the 

 Quarterly Journal. 



There are two misstatements in the Journal of the voyage of 

 tjic Chanticleer, published under the direction of llje Admiralty^ 



3 b ■ ' 



