APPENDIX. 313 



No. IV. 



ON THE GENERAL AFFINITIES 



OF THE 



LANGUAGES OF THE OCEANIC BLACKS. 



BY R. G. LATHAM, M.D. 



For philological purposes it is convenient to arrange the 

 Blacks of the Asiatic and Oceanic Islands under five 

 divisions. 



I. The Blacks of the Andaman Islands. These are, 

 comparatively speaking, isolated in their geographical 

 position ; whilst the portion of the continent nearest to 

 them is inhabited by races speaking a monosyllabic lan- 

 guage. 



II. The Blacks of the Malay area. With the exception 

 of Java, all the larger, and many of the smaller Malay 

 Islands, as well as the Peninsula of Malacca, are described 

 as containing, in different proportions, a population which 

 departs from the Malay type, which approaches that of the 

 Negro, which possesses a lower civilization, which generally 

 inhabits the more inaccessible parts of the respective 

 countries, and which wears the appearance of being 

 aboriginal to the true Malay population. These tribes 

 may be called the Blacks of the Malay area. 



III. The Papuan Blacks of New Guinea. Under this 

 head may be arranged the tribes of New Guinea, New 



