EXPOSITORY INDEX TO THE MAPS.

I.—MAP OF THE MONOSYLLABIC LANGUAGES.

THE Monosyllabic languages are spoken exclusively in the south-eastern angle of the continent of Asia: their area is little inferior in point of extent to the whole of Europe. The various nations by whom these languages are employed all belong to one stock or family, and are distinguished, in a more or less modified degree, by the Mongolic type of physical conformation. The religion which has obtained the widest acceptance among this race is Buddhism, but other forms of belief are also received. The religion of Confucius, for instance, prevails to a considerable extent in China; and a rude species of idolatry, said in some instances to resemble that practised by the Esquimaux, is predominant among the wild, untutored tribes of the mountains, who still preserve their independence in the very midst of the civilised nations of this race.

The Monosyllabic languages are referable, geographically and philologically, to three grand divisions, namely, the languages of China, the languages of the Indo-Chinese or Transgangetic peninsula, and the languages of Thibet and the Himalayas.

BURMESE is the language of the dominant people of the empire of Burmah. Including its cognate dialect, the Arakanese, it extends from the Laos country to the Bay of Bengal, and from Munipoor to Pegu: it is also predominant throughout the maritime province country. Upper Assam is still peopled by various tribes speaking Monoof Tenasserim, in the south-west of the peninsula, which is now British territory.

Little Thibet. This extensive range of country lies among the Himalayas, in the south-eastern angle of the plateau of Central Asia. The geographical position of the Bhotiya, and likewise some of their moral and physical characteristics, would appear to connect them with the nomadic nations of that vast plateau, if their language, which approximates in

many respects to that of China, did not indicate their relationship to the Chinese; and this affinity, on the one side with the Chinese, and on the other with the Turkish, Mongolian, and Tungusian tribes of Central Asia, has caused this remarkable race to be regarded as the connecting link between these two great divisions of the human family.

II.-MAP OF THE SHEMITIC LANGUAGES.

THE Shemitic languages are remarkably few in number, although (as is shown in the accompanying Map) they are spread over a vast portion of the world, extending from Persia and the Persian Gulf on the east to the Atlantic on the west, and from the Mediterranean on the north to an undefined distance into the interior of Africa on the south. There are, in fact, but three or, at most, four distinct Shemitic languages at present spoken: and although the history of this wonderful class of languages leads us far back into remote antiquity, yet a much greater diversity of dialect does not appear at any time to have existed. It has been shown in a previous memoir that the Phoenician, once pre-eminently the language of civilisation, was substantially the same as the ancient Hebrew; and this conformity of language between two races of different origin (the Phoenicians being a Hamite, and the Hebrews a Shemitic people) is a phenomenon which yet remains to be explained. The Shemitic languages now disused as mediums of oral communication, and which are therefore not represented on the Map, are the following:

Samaritan, originally identical with Hebrew.

Ancient Syriac and Chaldee, which, however, have their representative in Modern Syriac.
Pehlvi, the ancient tongue of Media, a compound probably of Chaldee and Syriac with Zend.
Various Arabic dialects; Himyaritic, the parent of Ekhkili.

Gheez, or Ethiopic, now superseded by its modern dialects, Tigre and Amharic.

In perfection of physical conformation, the Shemitic race is considered by eminent physiologists to equal, if not surpass, all other branches of the human family. Yet their characteristics are by no means invariable. The Syrians, who still preserve their lineage pure and unmingled among the mountains of Kurdistan, have a fair complexion, with gray eyes, red beard, and a robust frame. The Bedouins, or Arabs of the Desert, are thin and muscular in form, with deep brown skin and large black eyes; the Arabs in the low countries of the Nile bordering on Nubia are black, while other tribes of this people dwelling in colder or more elevated situations are said to be fair. The Arabs in the valley of Jordan are reported to have a dark skin, coarse hair, and flattened features, thereby approximating to the Negro type. The Jews differ from the nations among whom they are located by a peculiar cast of physiognomy: in Cochin they are black, in the south of Europe they are dark, while in the north of Europe, and occasionally in England, they are xanthous, with red or light hair.

The Shemitic nations have been most peculiarly honoured in being chosen as the race of whom, according to the flesh, the Messiah was born. To them also was given the knowledge of the one true God; and to the Hebrews in particular was committed the sacred trust of the divine oracles. Monotheism, although defaced by human inventions, is the religion of this race: the recognition of a false prophet prevails among the Arabs; yet, in common with the Jews, they acknowledge the existence of God. Two people of this race, the Syrians and Abyssinians, have embraced Christianity as their national religion.

ARABIC, originally the language of a few wandering tribes in the desert of Arabia, is now one of the most widely-diffused of existing languages. It prevails in Arabia, Syria, Mesopotamia, Khuzistan, Egypt, Nubia, and Barbary. It is extensively employed as the language of religion and commerce on the eastern and western coasts of Africa, and it is supposed to penetrate far into the interior of that great continent. As might be expected from its vast extension, this language branches out into dialects as many in number as the countries in which it is spoken. EKHKILI is a modern dialect of Himyaritic, the southern branch of the Arabic language. It is spo

ken by an uncivilised mountainous tribe of Hadramant, in the south-east of the Arabian peninsula. Ekhkili is of especial value in an ethnographical point of view, as it furnishes the link between the Shemitic languages of Asia and of Abyssinia. The ancient Himyarites are believed to have been Cushites, of the race of Ham.

TIGRE, a dialect immediately derived from the ancient Ethiopic, is predominant in a small portion of the kingdom of Abyssinia. The resemblance still to be traced between Tigre and Ekhkili has corroborated the hypothesis that Ethiopia was originally peopled by a colony of Himyarite Arabs.

AMHARIC is a more corrupt dialect of Ethiopic than
Tigre, having suffered greater changes from foreign
admixture. Amharic is predominant throughout
nearly all Abyssinia, but various other languages
are likewise spoken in that kingdom. These lan-
guages, partaking as they do of a Shemitic element
and of the African character, form so many connect-
ing links between Shemitic and African languages.
MODERN SYRIAC, the only living representative of
the ancient Chaldee and Syriac tongues, is preserved
among mountain fastnesses between Mesopotamia, Ar-
menia, and Persia. What relation this language may
bear to the idiom of ancient Babylon and Nineveh is
not yet precisely known; but light is arising upon the

ruins of these ancient cities, and the arrow-headed
characters are in process of being deciphered. With
the capture of Babylon, in the commencement of
the sixth century before our era, the early political
supremacy of the Shemitic race departed; and the
government of the world passed into the hands of
the Japhetic nations, by whom it is still maintained.
And thus the fertile plains of Western Asia, the
proper home of the Shemitic race, is governed and
chiefly inhabited by people of the Japhetic stock, in
literal fulfilment of the prophecy, that "Japheth shall
dwell in the tents of Shem." Other prophecies are
in progress of fulfilment, by which more than their
archaic glory will be restored to the sons of Shem.

III. MAP OF THE MEDO-PERSIAN LANGUAGES.

THE Medo-Persian languages form a branch or family of that great class of languages which has been variously denominated by ethnographers
Indo-European, Japhetic, and Iranian or Arian. The first of these appellations indicates the geographical distribution of this class, one of its branches
(the Sanscritic) being vernacular in India, while other of its branches, though connected in origin and in structure with Sanscrit, are prodominant
in Europe. The term Japhetic is sometimes applied to the languages of this class, because the nations by whom they are spoken are supposed to be
descendants of Japheth; and the designation Iranian, or Arian, refers to their connection with the land of Iran, or Persia, the Ariana of Greek
geographers.

THE area of the Medo-Persian languages includes about one-tenth part of the entire surface of Asia: the countries now comprehended
within this area are Persia, Khorassan, Turcomania, the greater part of Turkestan, Affghanistan, Beloochistan, and Luristan; also
Kurdistan, Armenia, and a district among the Caucacus Mountains. The origin of the Medo-Persian nations has never been ascertained:
they advanced at one step from obscurity to empire. Their very existence was scarcely known beyond the elevated plateau which from
time immemorial they appear to have occupied, until their future greatness was depicted in the prophecies of Daniel and Ezekiel.
Suddenly they emerged from their mountainous abodes, captured the "Great Babylon," and founded an empire which, in point of extent,
exceeded even that of Rome itself.

The physical conformation of the Medo-Persian nations, which is decidedly of the European type, corroborates the testimony
afforded by their languages as to their affinity with the principal nations of Europe. A Shemitic language, the Pehlvi, is supposed to
have been predominant at some very remote period in Persia, but it originated in the provinces bordering on Assyria; and under what
circumstances it became the general language of Media is still matter of conjecture. A yet more ancient language is the Persepolitan, a
true Medo-Persian idiom, vestiges of which are preserved in arrow-headed, or cuneiform characters, like those of Assyria, on the monu-
mental inscriptions which have of late years been discovered among the ruins of ancient Persian cities. The Zend, another Medo-
Persian language, now extinct, and therefore not represented on our Map, is preserved in the sacerdotal books of the Guebres and the
Parsees. The earliest religion of the Medo-Persian race appears to have been that of fire-worship. They are now, with few exceptions,
followers of Mahomet, the Armenians being the only nation of this stock by whom Christianity has been received.

PERSIC, although marked in the Map as predominant |
in Persia and part of Turkestan, is only one of the
many languages spoken in that wide territory. It is
remarkable that all the countries properly belonging
to the Medo-Persian race are likewise inhabited by
tribes of foreign origin, who dwell side by side with
the original inhabitants. Even the throne of the
great Cyrus is occupied by a monarch of the Turkish
race, and the whole country is overrun by nomadic
nations of Turkish, Arabic, and Mongolian origin.
Some of these wandering tribes, however, as the
Hazarehs and Eymauks on the north of Affghanistan,
speak dialects of the Persic language.

PUSHTOO is the language of Affghanistan, a moun-
tainous tract of country lying between Persia and
Hindustan. The Hindkees, an Indian people speak-
ing a Sanscritic dialect, form part of the population.
BELOCHEE is one of the languages of Beloochistan,
a country situated between Affghanistan and the
Indian Ocean. Many Tajiks, or Persians, reside in
Beloochistan, and hence Persic prevails in some of
the districts, especially at Kelat. The Brahooes, and
other nations speaking Sanscritic dialects, also occupy
part of this country.

KURDISH is the language of the Kurds, wild nomadic

-tribes, known in history as the Carduchi and the
Parthians. They are chiefly located in Kurdistan, a
mountainous tract of country between Armenia and
Persia. They likewise form the bulk of the popu-
lation of Luristan, in the east of Persia.

OSSITINIAN is spoken by the Ossetes, a Median
colony, who, in concert with Caucasian tribes here-
after to be mentioned, occupy the central portion of
the chain of the Caucasus Mountains.

ARMENIAN is spoken by about one-seventh part of
the population of Armenia, a country chiefly com-

posed of mountainous chains, of which Mount Ararat
forms, as it were, the nucleus. The language of
the Armenians, and their traditions respecting their
mythical heroes and ancestors, which are almost
identical with those of the Persians, prove them to
be of the Persic stock; and it has even been thought
that they were once one people with the Persians.
Like the Jews, however, whom they resemble in other
respects, the Armenians are scattered as traders and
merchants among all the nations of the world; so that
the language of Armenia, in one or other of its dialects,
is heard in all the trading cities of the East.

IV. MAP OF THE SANSCRITIC LANGUAGES.

LANGUAGES more or less allied to the ancient Sanscrit prevail through the whole of Hindustan. These languages are resolvable into
three distinct divisions.

I-The languages which appear to be derived immediately from the Sanscrit, and which are spoken by the Hindoos, properly so
called, in the northern provinces of the peninsula.-In this division, the three dead or learned languages of Hindustan, Sanscrit,
Pracrit, and Pali, are included. That the race to whom these Sanscritic idioms are vernacular is connected with the Medo-Persian
nations is evident, from the close similarity between Zend, an ancient Median-Persian language, and the idiom of the Vedas, an archaic
form of Sanscrit, referred by some Sanscrit scholars to the fourteenth or fifteenth century before our era. Another proof of the original
affinity of the Medo-Persian and Brahminical people lies in the fact, that some of the arrow-headed inscriptions in the Persepolitan
language have been deciphered chiefly, if not solely, by the aid of the Sanscrit language. It seems probable that the Hindoo race, at
some remote epoch of history, separated from the Medo-Persian stock, and quitted the Iranian plateau for the plains of Hindustan.
Their physical conformation appears to confirm this hypothesis, notwithstanding the slight variations from the original type which the
peculiarities of the climate may have induced. With this race originated the two false religions which are now most widely disseminated
through the Eastern world-Brahminism and Buddhism.

II. The languages of the Deccan, or southern parts of the peninsula.-The race to whom these languages are vernacular appear to
have preceded the Hindoos in the occupation of Hindustan. They were, perhaps, driven to the south by the Hindoo invaders, and
were subsequently compelled to submit to the conquerors of the country, and to receive from them their laws, religion, and civilisation.
It is well known that the Hindoos subdued the Deccan at a very early period, and the languages of that region still bear the impress of
Hindoo influence. So many Sanscrit words have been engrafted on their vocabularies, that these languages till recently were considered
to be merely Sanscritic dialects; their grammatical structure, however, still maintains the original non-Sanscritic character.
physical appearance of the nations of the Deccan approximates to the Mongolic, rather than to the Hindoo type; and their religion,
though nominally Brahministic, retains traces of their ancient Pagan superstitions.

The

III. The languages of the wild, unconquered tribes of the mountains.-It is supposed that these tribes were among the original
inhabitants of the country, and that they sought refuge in their present mountainous abodes with the view of preserving their independ-
Lee. In language and in physical appearance they present tolerably clear indications of their original community of origin with the
civilised nations of the Deccan. These tribes, though exceedingly interesting and important in an ethnographical point of view, are at
present little known, and their languages are as yet unwritten. Some of their vocables (as those of the Kol, Bhumij, and Rajmahali of
Orissa) have been examined, and several curious instances of affinity have been detected between them and the Mongolian, and other
Languages of Central Asia.

I. LANGUAGES OF SANSCRITIC

ORIGIN.

HINDUWEE, the most general language of the Hindoo
race, prevails in the upper provinces of Hindustan,
and is said to be understood even far beyond these
limits. As is shown in the Map, this language
branches out into a great variety of dialects, namely,
the Canoj or Canyacubja, the Bruj or Brij-Bhasa,

the Kousulu, Bhojepoora, and several others, all of
which, however, are merely provincial varieties of
the original Hinduwee. A distinct language, called
Hindustani, prevails in the towns and villages of the
Hinduwee area, and is spoken by the Mahommedan
section of the population throughout the whole of
Hindustan. It is the result of the intermixture of
Hinduwee with the Persian and Turkish languages
spoken by the Mahommedan conquerors of India.