218 K N. Oust — Langtmges of tlic Indo-Chinese [Nov. 



vocabulary, gives specimens of eighteen ancient characters, but M. Abba- 

 die, the Abyssinian scholar, mentions in the Journal of the Indian Archi- 

 pelago, that this ancient character was a syllabary, and not an alphabet, 

 and that only a portion of the characters, once possessed by Lieut. Christo- 

 pher, have been made known to us. The language is akin to Sinhalese, 

 and therefore of Aryan origin. The native Sultan is a dependent of the 

 Government of Ceylon. • 



" The Laccadives lie more to the north, and are under the government 

 of Madras, and we have accounts of visits paid to them by the officials of 

 Government, in the Journal of the Madras and Bombay Asiatic Society. 

 The language is identical with that of the Maldives. 



" We now pass into the Indian Archipelago, and, with the exception 

 of the narrow peninsula of Malacca, leave the continent of Asia, and find 

 ourselves in a new terminology of Polynesia, Indonesia, and Malaisia, 

 besides numerous other compounds of the word for Island (identical in 

 Greek and Javanese), ajDplicable to the region of Oceania beyond the limits 

 of this report. In some linguistic books the whole family of languages as' 

 far as Easter Island is called the Polynesian, including the Malayan as »; 

 sub-family ; there is, therefore, a wider and narrower use of the term. In 

 dian culture, Indian religion, Indian written characters, and Indian name* 

 accompany us : but the Race and the Vernacular have wholly changed. Ai 

 we have no actual physical boundary to this portion of our inquiry, such as| 

 was supjolied by the coast-line of the Indo-Chinese Peninsula, we mus' 

 proceed to draw a line on the outer edge of the Shallow-Sea region, so as- 

 to include all the islands on that submarine plateau, whose Fauna is abso- 

 lutely, and whose Flora and Ethnic and Linguistic features to a great 

 degree are distinct from the Deep- Sea region or Papuanesia. It exceeds 

 the line at some points, so as to include particular islands, such as Lombok, 

 Celebes, the Moluccas, Sumbawa, Flores, and Timour. Two strongly con- 

 trasted rac s occupy these islands, which, if lumped together, would form a 

 large continent : first the Malays, a brown race with lank hair ; secondly 

 the Negritos, with black skins and curly hair. Between these are inter- 

 mediate tribes, the exact position of which it is hard to determine. Mr. 

 Wallace, in his survey of the whole Malay Archipelago, gives specimens of 

 fifty-nine languages, but he omits some, which did not come within his 

 scope : here lies the work of the philologists of the next generation, who 

 are advised to leave the well-worn tracks of the Indo-European family, and 

 bring order out of the existing confusion in the dialects of this Archipelago. 

 Geographically and linguistically this region is part of Asia, while the por- 

 tion, which we reject, is for the same reasons part of Australasia. 



"The race spread and dominant over this region has been called the 

 Malayan, but there are Malays proper, and tribes with only a Malay element 



