rest forever;
though I confess myself greatly inclined to think that the former
will be the case. I here leave the coast with an excellent prospect
for the coming year; and I would not now have quitted it so soon,
but for the want of provisions, added to which, the change of the
monsoon, bringing squally and dark weather, greatly interferes with
our further progress in surveying.

"_Nov. 22d, 1839._--The Malayan language has been compared to the
_lingua franca_ of Europe. They are both, indeed, used by various
nations in their commercial transactions; but, beyond this, nothing
can be more unjust or absurd than the comparison. The _lingua franca_
is a jargon compounded at random, devoid of grammar or elegance; the
Malayan, on the contrary, is musical, simple in its construction,
and well calculated for the expression of poetry. It boasts many
dialects, like the Italian, of superior softness, and, like the
Italian, it is derived from many sources, refining all to the most
liquid sounds by the addition of a final vowel. I fully concur with
Mr. Marsden in his opinion that the Malayan tongue, though derived
from the Sanscrit, the Arabic, the Hindoostani, &c., &c., is based
on the language which he calls the Polynesian; a language which may
be considered original (as far as we know), and which embraces so
vast an extent of geographical surface. The proof of this rests
mainly on the fact that the simple wants of man, as well as the
most striking features of nature, are expressed in the Polynesian;
while the secondary class of ideas is derived from the Sanscrit, or
some other language, and usually grafted in a felicitous manner on the
original stem. By an original language, I must be understood, however,
to mean only a language which can not be derived from any other
known tongue. I seek not to trace the language of Noah, or to raise
a theory which shall derive the finished and grammatical Sanscrit,
the pure and elegant Greek, from some barbarous stock, whether Celtic
or Teutonic. Such inquiries are fitted for those with leisure and
patience to undertake a hopeless task, and learning enough to achieve
better things. When we look for the origin of languages we are lost,
for those existing afford us no help. They present some affinities,
as might be expected; but their discrepancies are irreconcilable; and,
amid many equally good claims, who shall be able to demonstrate the
only one which is right? Supposing even that all langu