WHENCE PEOPLED. | 127 
voyagers, preserved in the traditions of the natives, 
or of recent occurrence, has invariably been from 
east to west, directly opposite to that in which it 
must have been, had the population been altoge- 
ther derived from the Malayan archipelago. 
From whatever source, however, they have origi- 
nated, the extent of geographical surface over 
which they have spread themselves, the variety, 
purity, and copiousness of their language, the 
ancient character of some of the best traditions, 
as of the deluge, &c. justify the supposition of 
their remote antiquity. Yet their ignorance of 
letters, of the use of iron till a short time prior 
to their discovery, and the rude character of all 
their implements, and of the monuments of their 
ancestry, seem opposed to the idea of their having 
been derived, as supposed by some eminent modern 
geographers, from an ancient, powerful nation, 
which cultivated maritime habits, but which has 
been frittered down into detached local communi- 
ties unknown to each other. 
