SUMATRA* 
1^1 
Language — Malay — Arahk character nfed — Languages of the i«- 
terior people— Peculiar cbars^i^rs^Specimens of languages 
and of alphabets. 
Before i proceed to an account of tjie laws, cufloms and manners of Languages, 
the people of the inland, it is neceCary that I fhould fay fomething of the 
diiTerent languages f|x>keD on it j the diverfiry of which has been the 
fubje€tof much contemplation and coojedture. 
The language, which is original in the peninfula of Mgfayo^ and Malay, 
has from thence extended itfclf throughout the eaflcrn ifland^^^ fo a% to 
become the. lingua franca of that part of the globe, is fpoken every where 
along the coaits of Sumatra, prevails in the inland country of Metian^^ 
tah<m and it* inHnediate dependencies, and is uoderftood in almoft every 
part of the iiland. It h^s been much celebrated, and juftly,. for the* 
finoothnefs and fweetnefs of its found, which have gained it the appel- 
lation of the lialiMn of the eafi. This is owing to the prevalence of vowels 
and liquids in the words, and the in frequency oi any harih combination 
of mute confonants. Thefe qualities render it well adapted to poetry, 
which the Malays are pafllonatcly addicted to. They amufe all their 
leifure hours j including the greater portion of their lives^ with the repe- 
tition of longs, which are, for the moft part, proverbs illuftrated, or ^^^^^ 
figures of fpeech applied to the occurrences of life. Some that they 
rchearfe, in a kind of recitative, at their i^imhangs or feafts, are hiftorical 
love tales, lite our old EngliOi ballads, but often extempore- An ex* 
ample of the former fpecies is as follows. 
4** 
