194 ON THE LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE 



order of arrangement. The form of the Bugis cha« 

 racter seems not only to differ considerably, in dif- 

 feret states, but the alphabet also varies in the num- 

 ber and order of the letters. This proceeds from the 

 adoption or rejection of the double consonants, 

 which, though used in ancient and classical compo- 

 sitions, are seldom or never employed in letter-wri- 

 ting or common business; and hence, when a Bugis 

 writes down his alphabet, it may vary, in the num- 

 ber of the characters, from seventeen to twenty-two. 

 The only Bugis alphabet, printed or engraved, with 

 which I am acquainted, is that M'hich is given by 

 Forest, in a corner of one of the maps of his " Voy- 

 age to the Aleigui Archipelago.'"' The letters are not 

 formed according to the common round Bugis hand, 

 but sharp angled, like the Bajang and Batta cha* 

 racter ; but in other respects it is sufficiently correct. 

 The Bitgfs character is also employed frequently iu 

 Writing Malayu compositions. 



The language of the ancient Bug's compositions 

 displays little diversity of dialect, but considerable 

 variety exists in the language of conversation, in the 

 different Bugis states. The dialect of Mungkdsar or 

 Macassar, the bravest and most renowned of the 

 Biig'is tribes, differs considerably from the Bngis 

 proper; but the dialects of Lubu, Enrkkang, Man- 

 dar, and especially Td-Rajja, seem almost to be dif- 

 ferent languages. 



The Bmis laffouaoe has never been regularlv culti- 

 vatcd by Europeans^ though the Dutch have formed 

 abridgements of some of the historical relations in- 

 which it abounds. I have formed a short radical 

 vocabulary of both the Bugis and Mungkdsar, but 

 cannot consider it as pure and uuuiix^d, being de- 



