42 MALACCA. [chap. hi. 



come the descendants of the Portuguese — a mixed, de- 

 graded, and degenerate race, but who still keep up the 

 use of their mother tongue, though ruefully mutilated in 

 grammar ; and then there are the English rulers, and the 

 descendants of the Dutch, who all speak English. The 

 Portuguese spoken at Malacca is a useful philological 

 phenomenon. The verbs have mostly lost their inflections, 

 and one form does for all moods, tenses, numbers, and 

 persons. Eu vai, serves for " I go," " I went," or, " I 

 will go." Adjectives, too, have been deprived of their 

 feminine and plural terminations, so that the language is 

 reduced to a marvellous simplicity, and, with the admixture 

 of a few Malay words, becomes rather puzzling to one 

 who has heard only the pure Lusitanian. 



In costume these several peoples are as varied as in 

 their speech. The English preserve the tight-fitting coat, 

 waistcoat, and trousers, and the abominable hat and 

 cravat ; the Portuguese patronise a light jacket, or, more 

 frequently, shirt and trousers only ; the Malays wear 

 their national jacket and sarong (a kind of kilt), with 

 loose drawers ; while the Chinese never depart in the 

 least from their national dress, which, indeed, it is im- 

 possible to improve for a tropical climate, whether as 

 regards comfort or appearance. The loosely -hanging 

 trousers, and neat white half-shirt half -jacket, are exactly 

 what a dress should be in this low latitude. 



