“ which the king of the Malayans affirmed to him'felf, of
“ Lord of the Winds and Seas to the Eaft and to the Weft, is an evi-
“ dent proof of this ; but much more the Malayan language,
‘ which fpread moil all over the Eaft, much after the fame
“ .manner as formerly the Latin, and of late the French, did
“ all over Europe.” Thus far, I fay, was known. But that
from Madagafcar to the Marquefes and Eafter Iiland, that
is, nearly from the Eaft fide of Africa, till we approach toward
the Weft fide of America, a fpa.ce including above
half the circumference of the globe, the fame tribe or nation,
the Phoenicians, as we may call them, o f the Oriental
world, ihould have made their fettlements, and founded
colonies throughout almoft every intermediate ftage of this
immenfe trail, in illands at amazing diftances from the
mother continent, and ignorant of each others exiftence;
this is an hiftorical fail, which could be but very imper-
feilly known before Captain Cook’s two firft voyages difco-
vered fo many, new inhabited fpots of land lurking in the
bofom of the South Pacific Ocean; and it is a fa il which
does not reft folely on fimilarity of cuftoms and inftitutions,
but has been eftablilhed by the moil fatisfailory of all
proofs, that drawn from affinity of language. Mr. Marfden,
who feems to have confidered this curious fubjeit with
much attention, fays, that the links of the latitudinal chain remain
yet to be traced*. The difcovery of the Sandwich Illands
in
* Archseolog. Vol. vi. p. 155. See alio his Hiftory o f Sumatra, p. 166. from
which the following paffage is tranfcribed. “ Befides the Malaye, there are a va-
“ riety of languages fpoken on Sumatra, which, however, have not only .a manifeft
“ affinity among themfclves, but alfo to that general language which is found to
“ prevail in, and to be indigenous to, all the ¡Hands of the Eaftern feas ; from Madagafcar
to the.remo.teft of Captain Cook’s difcoveries, comprehending a wider
“ extentthan.the*Roman or any other tongue’has yet boafted. In different places
“ .it has been rtnore or-lefs mixed and corrupted j but between the moft diffimilar
“ branches,
(
I N T R O D U C T I O Nt lxxiii
in this laft voyage, has added fome links to the chain.
But Captain Cook had not an opportunity o f carrying his
refeaTches into the more Wefterly parts of the North Pacific.
The Reader, therefore, o f the following work will not, perhaps,
think that the Editor was idly employed when he
fubjoined fome notes, which contain abundant proof that
the inhabitants o f the. Ladrones, or Marianne illands, and
thofe of the Carolines, are to be traced to the fame common
fource, with thofe o f the illands vifited by our ihips.
With the like view, o f exhibiting a ftriking pifture o f the
amazingptent of this Oriental language, which marks, if
not a common original, at leaft an intimate intercourle between
the inhabitants of places fo very remote from each
other, he has inferted a comparative table o f their numerals,
upon a more enlarged plan than any that has hitherto been
executed *.
Our Britilh difcoverers have not only thrown a blaze o f
light on the migrations o f the tribe which has fo wonderfully
fpread itfelf throughout the illands in the Eaftern
Ocean ; but they have alfo favoured us with much curious,
information concerning another of the families o f the earth,
whofe lot has fallen in lefs hofpitable climates. We fpeak
of the Efquimaux, hitherto only found feated on the coafts
o f Labradore and Hudfon’s Bay, and who differ in feveral
“ branches, an eminent famenefs o f many radical words is apparent; and in fome
“ very diftant from each other, in point o f fituation: As, for inftance, the Philip. '■
“ pines and Madagafcar, the deviation o f the words is fcarcely more, than isobferved
in the dialects of neighbouring provinces o f the fame kingdom.”
* nW %ar,er l" debtedt0 S‘r J ° feph Baaks’ 6» » general out-line o f this, in Hawkefu
iiK P‘ 77 7‘ ThC Reader the end of the third volume, Appendix, No. 2. wil1 enlarged Table' at
Vo l . I. u I
K charac