Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 2.djvu/129

 f»OLYNESIAN LANGUAGES. Ill ^recourse to. This would be stripped of its inflec- tions, and mixed with the rude language of the people, and thus would be formed such a language as the Kawi, or abstruse language of Java and Bali. From this language Sanskrit words would be dif- fused, in the progress of civilization and improve- ment, over the common speech of the people, losing a greater or less share of their purity as they were more or less trusted to oral utterance, or were adopt- ed by tribes more or less improved. The historical fact seems to have been, that, in the course of the commercial intercourse by which the precious products of the Eastern islands have been conveyed during all ages to India, Hindu missionaries came at various times into the Eastern islands, chiefly from Telinga, and that through them the Hindu religion and the Sanskrit language were widely spread over the Archipelago ; but I shall not at present enlarge on this subject, as it will be more fully considered in treating of the history and antiquities of the islands. I have attempted to argue that Java was the seat from whence originated the early civilization of the Indian Archipelago ; and I imagine there is some ground for believing, that, through the channel of the Javanese, the other Polynesian lan- guages received, perhaps, the principal portion of their Sanskrit. Making every allowance for the similarity in seund and sense which must result k