PROCEEDINGS. VII 



It was resolved, that the full name of *the Straits Asiatic 

 Society shall henceforth be changed to the " Straits Branch 

 of the Royal Asiatic Society, f 3 



It was resolved, that it shall be a rule of the Society to 

 request the Governor of the Straits Settlements, for the time 

 being 4 , to be Patron of the Society and that His Excellency 

 Sir W. F. C. Robinson be invited to accept that office. 



A paper on the origin of the Chinese Triad Societies was 

 read by W. A. Pickering, Esq. 



A conversation upon the actual position and practise of 

 the Tan Tae Hoey in the Straits followed. 



The Hon. Secretary then read a paper of Mr. N. Maclay's 

 upon, "The Dialects of the Melanesian tribes in the Malay 

 Peninsula." 



This gave vise to a discussion upon the identity of the abori- 

 ginal races in the North and South of the Peninsula, and the 

 marks of their connection with other Asiatic races to be found 

 in their language, physical peculiarities, &c, and a proposal was 

 made by Hon'ble J. Douglas, and heartily agreed to, that the 

 other Branches of the Royal Asiatic Society in the East should 

 be asked to assist this Branch in collecting Vocabularies and 

 otherwise throwing light on this subject. 



At the Monthly General Meeting 1 of the Straits'' Asiatic So- 

 ciety held on Monday evening the 3rd June there were pre- 

 sent, of the Council, Archdeacon Hose, (President), Mr. A. M. 

 Skinner, (Honry. Secretary), Dr. Bieber and Messrs. Miller and 

 Koekj besides 35 members and visitors. Messrs. Tolson and 

 Schomburgk Sj'eds Mahomed bin Ahmed, and Abu Bakar bin 

 Omar, and Inches Mahomed Seyd, Ibrahim and Mahomed bin 

 Maboob were elected Members. It was announced that H. E. 

 the Governor had accepted the office of Patron to the Society. 



The President then read extracts from M. Maclay's paper on 

 the wild Tribes of the Peninsula, translated from the German. 



The Honry. Secretary (Mr. Skinner) then read a paper fur- 

 nished by W. E. Maxwell, Esq., Assistant Resident of Perak, on 

 the Proverbs of the Malays, exclusive of those to be found in the 

 works of Klinkert, Eavre and Marsden ; Dr. Dennys 7 paper on 

 the Snake-eating Serpent (Ophiophagus Elaps) of Singapore, 

 was read by the President, in the unavoidable absence of Dr. 

 Dennys. In the course of the proceedings, it was stated .that 

 the Journal is almost ready for publication. 



The Meeting then adjourned to the date of its next regulat 

 meeting, the 1st July. 



