230 11. N. Oust — Languages of the Indo-Chinese [No^ 



" The number of synonyms to rej^resent one idea is enormous. Craw- 

 furd remarks that several of the languages have arrived at a high degree of 

 culture, and differ greatly in structure from the Malay and Javanese. 

 Humboldt asserted that the Tagal was the most perfect specimen, and the 

 parent language of the Malayan family, which is, of course, denied by Craw- 

 furd. We have a plentiful linguistic literature in Spanish, and Crawfurd 

 describes the languages scientifically in the Preface to his Malay Grammar ; 

 but of an indigenous literature we have but an uncertain account, for it 

 appears, that the early missionaries extirpated the original memorials of the 

 race with pious care, supplanting the precious remains of national and 

 pagan antiquity with hymns, church-legends, and the religious life of 

 Thomas a Kempis in the Roman character. Of grammar, which the Span- 

 iards term ' Arte,' we have one in Tagal by Buyeta ; in Bisayan by the 

 same, in Pampagna by Bergnano, in Bocos by Lopez and Bergnano. We 

 have dictionaries or vocabularies in Tagal by De Las Santos, Noceda, Buona 

 Ventura and Mallet ; in Bisayan by Montrida and Sanchez, in Pampagna by 

 Bergnano, in Ilocos by Carro. 



" Eighty miles across the China Sea is the island of Formosa or Tai- 

 wan, part of the Chinese empire. Its coasts and plains are occupied by 

 Amoy-Chinese emigrants, but its mountainous interior is occupied by people 

 of the Malayan race, the furthest eastern outwork of that great family ; 

 beyond it the Japanese dialects commence. European missionaries are now 

 settled among this people, and Von Gabelentz, Klaproth, and Crawfurd 

 have written about their language ; and in later years we have essays by M. 

 Guerin, M. Eavre, Professor of Malay at the Cours Orientales at Paris, and 

 Mr. Taintor, of the English Consular Service ; vocabularies accompany the 

 grammatical notices. There is reason to believe, that the Malayan race 

 passed from the Philippines into this island ; they are either found in a 

 demi-civilized state given to agriculture, and are then known as Kabaran or 

 Pepu-kwan, ' savages of the plain,' or as^ Yukan, downright savages of the 

 mountains. Vocabularies of both dialects are given, and contrasted with 

 the Tagal, Mala}^ Javanese Sassak, and Malagasie. They are j)agans, and 

 have never made any progress in civilization, being either in subjection to 

 the Chinese, or in savage liberty ; they have neither written character nor 

 literature ; there is an entire absence of Sanskrit words, which marks the 

 period of the Malayan colonization to be anterior to the Hindu conquest of 

 Java ; intercourse with the rest of the Malayan race must have been very 

 slack, and the influence of the Chinese conquest upon the language very 

 strong. 



" At a distance of many degrees to the West, separated from Africa by 

 the Mozambique Channel, is the island of Madagascar, the most western 

 outwork of the Malayan race. Mr. Crawfurd asserted that the Malagasies 



