Page:Journal of the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks.djvu/416

358 arrival of the Dutch ship which had sailed about two months before we came. He is indeed distinguishable from the Indians only by his colour; like them he sits upon the ground and chews his betel, etc. He has been for some years married to an Indian woman of the island of Timor, who keeps his house in the Indian fashion, and he excused himself to us for not asking us to his house, telling us he was not able to entertain us in any other way than the rest of the Indians whom we saw. He speaks neither German, his native language, nor Dutch, without frequent hesitations and mistakes; on the other hand, the Indian language seems to flow from him with the utmost facility. As I forgot to mention this language in its proper place, I shall take this opportunity to write down the few observations I had an opportunity of making during our short stay. The genius of it seems much to resemble that of the South Sea Isles; in several instances the words are exactly the same, and the numbers are undoubtedly derived from the same source. I give here a list of words:—