1877.] Peninsula and the Indian Archipelago. 215 



like that of Max Miiller to arrange them. They have no written character, 

 no literature, and we need not add that there are no grammatical sketches, 

 and but very scant vocabularies. Among some, like the Sty ens, there is a 

 Roman Catholic Mission, maintained by devoted Frenchmen, who are pre- 

 pared to live and die at their posts, an example to missionaries of another 

 Nation and Persuasion. Garnier supplies vocabularies of some of these 

 races. The southern division consists of Samre, Xong, Stieng, Banar, Ce- 

 dang, Huei, Catson, Sirie Hin, Proons. The northern division consists of 

 So, Nanhang Mi, Khmons, Lewett, Moutse, Khos, Kongs, Lolos, Kato, 

 Honhi, Ykia, Minkia, Mautse, Miaotse. Crawfurd gives vocabularies of a 

 tribe called Ka Chong, and remarks that Ka means a slave, and of others, 

 whose names appear in Garnier's list. M. Mouhot also gives vocabularies 

 of some of the idioms. There is a lamentable want of material, but the 

 linguistic value of these simple uncultivated idioms on the fringe of the 

 great Empire of China may prove of the greatest importance. 



" Descending the river Mekong to the sea, we find ourselves in French 

 Cochin- China, and the nucleus of a new civilization. Whether this settle- 

 ment will pay commercially is a question ; at any rate, linguistically, it is a 

 great step in advance, and we find sweetness and light thrown round the 

 hard questions of grammar. The French have more than a century med- 

 dled in the affairs of Cochin-China, and such meddling generally ends in 

 annexation. The kingdom of Annam consists of two provinces, Tonquin 

 and Cochin-China, and occupies the whole length of the eastern face of the 

 Indo-Chinese Peninsula, extending from 8° to 23°. The central portion 

 comprises the old Malay kingdom of Champa, of which the language, reli- 

 gion, and nationality have perished. Colonel Yule, in the Geographical 

 Magazine, March, 1877, gives the history of this forgotten State, and 

 Crawfurd, in his Malay Grammar, analyzes the vocables, and considers that 

 it was fundamentally a local language, mixed up with much Malayan. Of 

 the three capitals, Huet, Hanoy, and Saigon, the latter has passed by con- 

 quest into the hands of the French. The peoj^le are Buddhists, but of the 

 Chinese type ; their language is a congener of Chinese, but the lower classes 

 use many words of uncertain origin, because they have been altered to suit 

 the euphonic laws of a monosyllabic language, in which the use of tones 

 presents a great difficulty to the student. Dissyllables do exist, but are 

 rare, and therefore there is a necessity for tones to distinguish the meaning 

 of homophones. There are abundance of particles, which have no indepen- 

 dent existence as words, and yet they do not coalesce, so as to form one 

 word with the word which they are employed to qualify. The sounds are 

 easy enough to acquire, and the Eoman Catholic Missionaries, who have 

 lived and died for more than a century in the kingdom, have by ingenious 

 additions adapted the Latin alphabet to these sounds, which makes the 



