Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 2.djvu/98

 so GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE siderable island of Sambawa there are but five tongues ; in the civilized portion of Celebes, not more than four ; in the great island of Sumatra, not above six ; and in Java but two. Abundant proof of the existence of a distinct language in each tribe, may be adduced. The languages are of course original and unmixed, in proportion as circumstances have kept the tribes distinct. Colour, complexion, and physical con- figuration, have naturally kept the negro tribes dis- tinct from the brown-coloured races, and their lan- guages are, therefore, nearly in a state of pristine originality. The languages spoken by the negro races which inhabit the mountains of the Malayan Archipelago, hardly contain a word in common with the languages of the brown-coloured civilized races, and differ so much from those of each other, that Malayan interpreters must be employed to conduct the petty intercourse which now and then takes place between them. The languages of Tambora, Ternati, Ceram, and Saparua, have hardly a word of the more improved dialects of the Archipelago, and differ, just as widely, from the languages of the negroes at the other extremity of the Archipelago. These are the languages of some of the least improved tribes with which we are acquainted. The evidence of an original language with every primitive horde, is even to be discovered