170 



Notices. 



[No. SS, 



never heard. We obtained it from Captain Steele ^Yho penetrated 

 nearly to the tropic in 1843,* ?X 



The Journal of the Indian Archipelago. 



We desire to introduce to the notice of our readers a valuable and 

 interesting periodical publication recently established in the Straits 

 under the above title. The first number appeared in July last, since 

 when the first volume has been completed and considerable progress 

 made in the publication of the 2d. The numbers appear in a small 

 monthly form which it is contemplated to exchange hereafter for a 

 quarterly issue- The journal is to be especially devoted to the in- 

 vestigation of the British Settlements in the Straits of Malacca 

 and of the Malayan Peninsula, but it will also embrace subjects con- 

 nected with the whole Eastern Archipelago as regards their history, 

 ethnology, statistics, antiquities, literature and natural productions. 

 A large portion of the work is to be devoted to translations from the 

 early Dutch and Spanish voyagers, and the rich mine of information 

 contained in the Transactions of the Batavian Philosophical Society 

 will be largely drawn upon. 



The performances of the Editor are in accordance with the pro- 

 mises held out in his prospectus. We have original papers on the 

 present condition of the Indian Archipelago, on Cochin China, on 

 the ethnology of the Archipelago, on the laws of Siam ; with no- 

 tices of many tribes and races such as the Binuas of Johore, the 

 Mintera, Saiiraba, and generally of the tribes of the Johore group. 

 The papers on natural history comprise the conchology of the 

 Straits, the geology of Singapore and of the Malay Peninsula, a 

 description of the gutta percha, an elaborate treatise on the use and 

 abuse of opium, facts relating to the edible birds' nests. Sec. But 

 the most interesting communications to Indian readers are found in 

 the notices of the extensive colonization of these regions by an an- 

 cient Hindu race, of which many characteristic features still remain. 

 These are chiefly derived from the Tedjschrift von Neerlands India, 

 but other sources have not been neglected. Among the papers de- 

 rived from translation, we may instance that of a valuable memoir 



* ^Ve take this opportunitj of correctinjj an erratum in the map. For Benkarool read 



BLjnkui>Qor. 



