292 tANGt'AOES. 



Malayan, (ihe lingua franca of Die Straits) Javanese, 

 liugese, anil the Batta <oiig*ne. 



Possessed of a knowledge of Malayan ami agisted 

 by approved interpreters fur oilier languages, a 

 magistrate in the Straits may get through business, 

 nh hough slowly. For it cannot be denied that 1 lie 

 neeesMiy of depending entirely on or of *-ntp?o> iii.lt in- 

 terpreiers, loses time and doubles labor, besides the mis- 

 chief of a circuitous communication of the evidence 

 to the Judge. 



It is impossible to supply the magistrates in Pe- 

 naug or Province Welleshy, with interpreters who 

 understand the English tongue as well as the native 

 languages. \\i the former, they are occasionally 

 indulged with an English interpreter from the Court 

 of Judicature. But magistrates would do well to 

 acquire a competent acquaintance wiih Malayan and 

 Uindosianee at least; and they would, no doubt, gain 

 also much time, save labor, and feel the more satis- 

 fied with their own decisions, did they add to these, a 

 lyiiowMge of the most common dimVet ot the Chi- 

 nese, the Siamese, and the Tamul languages. 



The Petit Jury have here a great advantage over 

 perhaps both judges, magistrates, and barristers, in 

 the number of languages which collectively they un- 

 derstand; so that they arc not, w bile enipaimcllcd, 

 easily misled by bad interpretation; while they are, 

 from their constant intercourse with unlives, well qua- 

 lified 1° appreciate the evideuee adduced by them. 



It cannot be expected that the professional Judge 

 should be a linguist in such dialects, entering on his 

 duties, as be docs, immediately after his arrival from 

 Europe. Jle must therefore solely depend on an 

 English interpreter ; and this last — let him be ever 

 so able and intelligent as a linguist, in one or two of 

 the most prominent languages, — will often be forced 



