Page:Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (IA journalofstrait121878roya).pdf/177

 Thanks to the permission accorded by the Committee of Raffles Library and Museum to make use of the Library reading-room, no difficulty has been experienced with regard to the place of meeting. Nine "General Meetings" have taken place, and 22 Papers have been read; comprising, amongst others, original accounts of:—

“Breeding Pearls." "The Chinese in Singapore, their Triad Societies, and their Immigration to the Straits," "The Wild Tribes in the Peniusula and their Dialects," "The Proverbs of the Malays," "The Snake-eating Serpent," "The Dyak Mengap," "A Malay Nautch at Pahang," "Agriculture in the Straits," "The Metalliferous Formation of the Peniusula," "Rambau," "Pidgin English," and "Suggestions regarding a new Malay Dictionary."

The first number of the Journal (nominally for July) was actually published in September, owing to delay in the printing; and the 500 bound copies delivered have been dealt with as follows:—

About 200 copies remain on hand, as well as about 100 copies of each paper unbound.

The numbers actually sold are not accurately known yet. It is believed they are not large. In the meantime, the Society has escaped from any difficulty with regard to funds through the cordial support it has met with from all classes of the community.

As yet only slight progress has been made towards the formation of a library, and none whatever towards the collection of Malay Books and MSS.; but there is at any rate some prospect of a steady growth in the number of journals and records exchanged for our own journal with kindred Societies elsewhere. For example, a complete set of the Records of the Indian Geographical Survey bas been furnished to us from India (12 vols.) and a communication has been received from the President of the Ecole des Langues Vivantes, accompanied with three rare publications regarding