A grammar and dictionary of the Malay language : with a preliminary ...

l.vvxiv DISSERTATION.
of the most deadly feuds and animosities between the various
tribes, presenting to mutual communication a barrier more im-
passable than that of seas and mountains, are, probably, the
principal cause of this diversity. Were you to meet Dayaks
of such and such a place, could you hold communication with
them by any common language ? we inquired of this man.
How could I dare visit them? was his instant rei)ly; by such
an act of temerity I should lose my head."
The great island of Celebes may be considered the centre of a
group of languages, which, although agreeing with those here-
Languages
toforc described, in simplicity of grammatical structure,
of Celebes,
^jfl^gj-g ygjy widely from them in phonetic character,
albeit spoken by the same race of men. The name Celebes is
known only to Europeans, and has never been traced ; most pro-
bably, however, it was imposed by the Portuguese, the first Euro-
pean discoverers of the island. When the Malays have occasion to
name it, they call it Tanah Bugis, or the land of the Bugis, that
is, of its principal nation. Celebes is intersected by the
Equator, leaving a small portion of it in the northern and the
mass in the southern liemisphere. Its greatest length is about
500 miles, but its greatest breadth does not exceed 100; and in
some places it is hardly one-third of this width. Its shape is
singular, consisting of a small nucleus, from which spread out
four great arms, forming so many peninsulas, with three deep
bays between them. Its geological formation, as far as
known, is primitive, and the volcanic formation, extending
from Sumatra to the Moluccas, does not include it. The
south-western limb, or peninsula, lying between the bay of
Boni and the strait which divides the island from Borneo,
is the seat of its most civilised nations. This sketch of Celebes
will show, that in physical geography it has great advantages
over the neighbouring island of Borneo. In fertility of soil,
however, it is far below Java and the small islands near
it, and, perhaps, also below Sumatra; while even in this
respect, it is probably superior both to Borneo and the Malay
peninsula.
Celebes may be considered the focus of an original and inde-
pendent civilisation, which probably sprung up among the most