1877.] Penmsula and the Indian Archipelago. 231 



were a Negrito people of African blood, with a slight admixture of the 

 Malayan in their blood and language, from pirates or tempest-driven vessels 

 ofE the island of Sumatra. Humboldt led the van in the theory of a* Ma- 

 layan origin ; and since the island of Madagascar has become better known, 

 and the residence of missionaries, his opinion is gaining ground. A diction- 

 ary was published by Mr. Freeman forty years ago, and indeed one by 

 Flacourt, in French, more than two hundred years ago. An outline of a 

 Malagasie grammar has been published by Yan der Tuuk, the celebrated 

 Malay scholar, and a translation of the New Testament. The Eev. Dr. Mullens, 

 of the London Missionary Society, in a paper read before the Greographical 

 Society, 1875, has expressed the latest opinion, *and quotes the following 

 opinion of the Rev. Mr. Cousin, a missionary of standing, who has been 

 selected by all the Protestant Missions in the island to the responsible task 

 of revising the Bible, which is being done now thoroughly, proof-sheets 

 being sent for revision to each missionary. ' The language is one, a Malay 

 tongue with three or four chief dialects, and an admixture of foreign words 

 brought in the intercourse of trade.' Van der Tuuk agrees in the above, 

 and remarks that the Malagasie. is like the Toba dialect of the Batta lan- 

 guage in the island of Sumatra, above described ; that there are resemblan- 

 ces to Javanese, Batta, Malay, and Dhyak of Borneo ; and that it must have 

 come from the west coast of Sumatra, after an admixture with a language 

 resembling that of the island of Niaz. Certainly the words in Malagasie 

 are very long indeed ; Malay and Javanese roots are bisyllabic, and prefixes 

 monosyllabic ; while in Malagasie we have prefixes and affixes of three sylla- 

 bles, extending the length of some words to a monstrous extent ; and it 

 must be admitted, that the Malagasies are a dark race, speaking apparently 

 the language of the brown races of the Archipelago. There are no Sanskrit 

 words in the Malagasie ; therefore the connexion must date back to a period 

 before the immigration of the Hindus. The Malagasies are pagans. There 

 is no written character, and the missionaries have introduced the Roman 

 character, and a code of laws has been printed. According to French au- 

 thorities, the Arabic character was once used, the power of the letters 

 being somewhat modified. In addition to the books mentionod above, we 

 have French treatises by D'Urville, Marre de Marin, and Dalmont ; a 

 grammar, by Griffiths, of the Ankova dialect ; the other two dialects are 

 the Sakalava and Betsimi Saraka ; a French- Malagasie dictionary is now 

 being published by M. Marre de Marin ; there are also vocabularies by 

 Wallace, Crawfurd, Challaud, Drury, and John. Owing to the intercourse 

 with the French, a great many French words have crept in. The popula- 

 tion is about two and a half millions, according to Dr. Mullens' careful 

 estimate, and Christianity is on the increase. It forms an independent 

 state. 



