THE GREAT OCEAN. 375 



forgot to count in their own language, when they 

 accustomed themselves to the Spanish numbers. 



We find in all dialects, besides similar numerals, 

 a considerable number of common roots, which 

 indicate, for the most part, simple things and ideas, 

 and seem to be inherited from the same stock, 

 but not learnt from a foreign people. We can 

 point out these roots in the vocabularies of Mada- 

 gascar, as well as in those of the islands of the 

 Great Ocean. 



Lastly, the grammar of the better known dia- 

 lects of Malacca, Tagalog, and Tonga, is more or 

 less formed, but in the main the same j and nothing 

 authorises us to suppose that it is otherwise in those 

 which are less known. The very simple system of 

 the language, though the roots are polysyallabic, 

 is nearly the same as in the monosyllabic languages. 

 There is no declension ; the roots stand either as in 

 the Chinese, independent of each other, and receive 

 their value from their place ; or, in more cultivated 

 dialects, are modified by particles differently an- 

 nexed or interposed. 



Many distinct tribes of this race of men, and 

 speaking different languages, inhabit the islands of 

 the East Indian archipelago. Leyden represents 

 the pure dialect of the Javanese, as it is spoken in 

 the interior of the island, as nearly and intimately 

 related to the Sanscrit. The most simple objects 

 and ideas are expressed by words, which seem to 

 differ in the pronunciation alone from the Sanscrit, 



B B 4 



