June3] SOCIETYOFBIBLICALARCHAEOLOGY. [1890.
Indeed,whatis available as Altaic has yet to be denned. There
is the recognizable northerngroupin Asia and Europe. Thenthere
are Himalayan membersillustrated by Brian Hodgson,*and some
are inclined to include Japanese. Thereare relations in Dravidian,
whichhave been examined by Bishop Caldwell in his Dravidian
Grammar. The Kolarian languages however, corresponding pro
bablywiththe earlier Europeanepoch,affordthe most affinities. A
paperwas read by me at the Royal AsiaticSocietyon the parallel
betweenone ot the Santal groupand an African member. In Africa
there is a large bodyof languages to which referencehas already
been made. Withtheseseveralof the North Americanlanguages
show connexion. Thereare traces of the old world syllabaries
scatteredthroughout the American continents and which can be
recognized. Henceillustrationsare to be found in the publications
of the U.S. EthnologicalDepartment.
A matter of some interest in connexion with Cypriote and
Khitainvestigations is the Vy or Vei Syllabary. TheVy country
is at Cape Palmas, close to the border of the West Coast of
Africa, in the boundary of the Republic of Liberia. We first
becameacquainted withit here abouta quarter of a century ago,
through reports reaching us from the Coast. The existence of
this character createdgreatintereston the West Coastand enquiries
weremade. Thebestknownaccountis that of the distinguished
scholar,the Rev. Dr. Kcelle, authorof the Polyglotta Africana,but
the syllabary was also published in Vol. VI of the Journal of the
EthnologicalSociety, NewSeries, p. 266, by Mr. H. C. Creswick
(1867). As early as 1849 Lieut Forbes, R.N., had examined
into the matter.
Thereare several versionsof the origin of this syllabary, which
appearsto have spreadamongthe Vy people in the last sixty or
seventy years. Dr. Kcelle givesan account of his interview with
Duala Bakere, who claimed to have invented the character or
had it communicated to him in a dream.
Thegreatdifficultyin accepting this version ariseson two sides.
First, it is not an alphabet but a syllabary, whereas the Arabic
alphabetand the English alphabethad penetrated into the district
before the time of Duala. Thereversionto the ancient formof
a syllabary insteadof an alphabet appearsanomalous. Thesecond
is that many of the characters are not ordinary combinations of
* Hyde Clarke,HimalayanOriginof the Magyars.
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