OF LANGUAGES. 537 



vocabularies of limited extent, scattered through the writings of 

 the Spanish missionaries, many of whom were acquainted with 

 the language, and have translated several religious works into 

 Tagala. 



The structure of the Bisayan dialect, spoken in the islands of 

 the Bisayan Archipelago, part of the Philippine Group, is similar 

 to that of Tagala ; " der allgemeine Typus beiden derselbe ist/' 

 says Humboldt. But, though cognate languages in origin, the 

 Bisayan differs as a dialect from the Tagala. The examples 

 adduced in the comparative tables amply demonstrate the close 

 connexion between them. 



The Iloco, another Philippine dialect, spoken in certain parts 

 of the Island of Luzon, stands in the same relation to the Tagala, 

 as the Bisayan; but its local distribution appears to be much 

 more confined. 



The Batan, or Bashee, is spoken by the inhabitants of the small 

 group of islands of that name, lying to the north of the Philippines, 

 and, as may naturally be supposed from the geographical position 

 of the islands, is closely allied to the Tagala. Indeed, the in- 

 habitants are stated to have been a colonial off-shoot from the 

 powerful neighbouring tribes of Luzon. 



The Suluk, or, as it is commonly written, Sooloo, is certainly 

 identical in origin with the other members of the Malayo-Poly- 

 nesian family ; but is more widely separated from the Tagala than 

 either the Bisayan or the Iloco. We shall presently see that it 

 presents points of identity with the Tagala on the one hand, and 

 with the Bornese Dyak on the other. 



There exist various and striking peculiarities in the physical 

 appearance of the inhabitants of nearly all these islands; those 

 dwelling in the interior and on the mountains, usually exhibiting 

 a different conformation from those on the plains and the sea 

 coast. But in spite of these physical peculiarities, there can be 

 little doubt of the actual identity, at a remote period of the world's 

 history, of these mountaineers with the Malays and other tribes 

 that have settled on the coasts, and colonized those portions of 

 the islands with the usual daring and success of a maritime people. 

 Even the Dyaks of Borneo, whose language and external appear- 



VOL. n. 2 N 



