326 
MADAGASCAR 
cepted by the most distinguished linguists. It 
is interesting, however, to notice the considerable 
Malayan element in the Malagasy tongue, and 
that many words used by the Dyaks on the sea¬ 
board of Borneo are identical with those used to 
distinguish the same objects in Malagasy. Hum¬ 
boldt, influenced by these facts, does not hesitate 
to class this language amongst the family of the 
Malay-Polynesian, which increases the interest 
of the enigma as to when and how the population 
of the Indian Archipelago first made its way to, 
and established a colony in, the remote island 
of Madagascar. 
As has been previously remarked, the language 
used throughout the island by the various tribes 
is one and the same, although subject to varia¬ 
tions of accent and spelling. The Antimora, a 
tribe some distance south of Imerina, speak a 
very strong dialect of Malagasy, and use a 
modified click in their speech which resembles 
the Kaffir expletive, and they also insert an l 
before the vowels, which gives a ruggedness to 
their speech, and renders it difficult of compre¬ 
hension to the stranger. These people speak 
with a velocity and loudness which is very 
amusing, as contrasting strangely with the usu¬ 
ally placid utterances of the natives of Imerina ; 
and the first impression on hearing two Antimora 
in ordinary conversation is that they are engaged 
