which, from its prevailing characteristic, they denominate the "Click family." Like the Hottentot language, now nearly extinct, Namaqua is harsh and inharmonious in sound, abounding in clicks and rough gutturals. The clicks appear to have originated with the Hottentot race, and to have passed from them into the languages of the neighbouring tribes. These peculiar sounds are considered by the natives as ornamental to their language, but they are extremely difficult of enunciation to a foreigner; they are produced "by the suction of air on a sudden withdrawal of the tongue from the teeth, after compressing it upon them."

II. VERSION OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE.

A translation of the Gospel of St. Matthew into Namaqua was commenced by the Rev. C. Albrecht in 1815, but does not appear to have been completed. Ten years subsequently, a translation of the Four Gospels was effected by the Rev. Mr. Schmelin, of the London Missionary Society, "after incredible labour (we are told) on the part of the translator and his wife, arising from the peculiar structure of the language." This version was printed at Cape Town, at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society. As this was the first work ever printed in the Namaqua language, it was thought advisable to confine the edition to 300 copies. The Gospel of St. Luke was afterwards re-translated by Mr. Knudsen, a Rhenish missionary, the former translation being considered deficient in certain consonants representative of the clicks, and an edition was printed in 1846. The use of this latter version seems to have been chiefly confined to the Rhenish Society's stations in Namaqua-land. The operations of the schools conducted by the Wesleyan Missionary Society have hitherto been carried on almost exclusively in the Dutch language. The Rev. Henry Tindall, who has for many years been engaged there in missionary labours, and who has been accustomed to speak the language from his youth, has recently engaged in the task of translating portions of the New Testament into the Namaqua tongue, and it is in contemplation to print, at Cape Town, at least one of the Gospels from his version. Some slight differences of opinion, however, exist between Mr. Tindall and the missionaries of the Rhenish Society, relative to points of orthography, and he is desirous that these should be settled before committing any part of his work to the press. It is estimated, that there are at present upwards of 20,000 individuals who can receive instruction only in the Namaqua tongue; and independently of the desirableness, in a philological point of view, of preserving some memorial of the language itself, it is important that a few at least of the principal books of Scripture should be printed, as soon as possible, for their use.

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SPECIMEN, FROM ST. JOHN'S GOSPEL, CHAP. I. v. 1 to 14.

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KOEROEP nas ke koemssa ha ore koemss ke Tsoeikwap dewa hai, siihii koemss ke Tsoeikwaza. 2 Nees ke koeroep na Tsoeikwap dewa hai. Howagoen ayip ka ke diihii, ooike ayip oossii goeigaree diitama diihiikeenga. Ayipnap ke oeiiba ha, ociip ke kooin dii naapba. Naapke kayp nara naa, oop ke kaypba nauoeg a bii tama ha. Nabap ke kwii kooiba Tsoeikwapga ke tzii hii, tallip ons Iohannip tamira kayhip. Neep ke ha, naapgap nii hocaaka, howan nii ayipga koemka. 8 Apip ke naatamaba, gaweep ke tziihii, naap gap nii mii ka. Neep ke amma naaba, howa kooin hoep yra hanna naagnaa. Ayip ke hoep y hai, siihii hoep ke ayip ka diihii: gawee hoepdi kooin annbiitamakei. 'Ayip ke 'ayipdiin owa ha 'ayip diin ke oegowabiitamakei. 12 Gawee natsii koossii 'aybara oegowan, 'ayn nap ke kayba maa, Tsoeikwap oaan nii ka, 'ayip ons nara koemin. 13 Aupbagoe oaytaman noggowa 'kans toerassagoe, noggowa aup toeraabagoe, gawee Tsoei'kwap bagoe oay hii han. 14 Oos ke koemssa 'kann kay, siihii ziitaa nake ann, ore ziitaa ke 'ayipdi iitssiip moegna, kwii iitssiip 'koeoepga kwiissii oayi na koaap kayip ore ammap ooreeka oowayhii ha

10

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GALLA.

SPECIMEN, FROM ST. MATTHEW, CHAP. V. v. 1 to 12.

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TSHENANI io illale orme guduma, garra tullu baie, egi taies duba, tamariwonisa garrasa duffan. 2 Afanisas bañe isanis bersise io tshedde. Lubbusaniti kan diban, kan galatefataman, motuma Waka kan isani. 4 Kan boijan galatefataman, tshabesaman egiran. Gariwon kan galatefataman, laffan edi dalănan. Galatefataman kan belan kan debotanis garra zedeki, isi kūfan. 7 Kan mareăn kan galatefataman, isan mareman. 8 Lubbukesaniti kan adadan kan galatefataman, isan Waka enillalan. Galatefataman kan arrarsan, otsholle Waka eni tsheddaman. 10 Zedeki mekeniati kan areaman kan galatefataman, motuma Waka kan isan. 11 Isini galatefatamani, isini io arrabsan areanis, isinis irrati hamma hunda io tsheddan, soba io dubatan mekeniatakijati. 12 Isin gamada gudumas gamada, gadikesani gudumada Waka birati, akana arean nabiwon isini durati kan tshiran.

I-GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS.

THE Galla language is diffused, though not exclusively, through regions extending over more than sixteen degrees of latitude. It is spoken to the west, south, and east of Abyssinia, and is rapidly encroaching on the Amharic and allied languages. It prevails in the valley formed by the courses of the rivers Ozy and Jubb, which discharge themselves into the Indian Ocean; and is likewise predominant along the coast from the equator to Melinda, formerly a celebrated Portuguese settlement, situated nearly on the fourth parallel of south latitude. The people to whom this widely extended language is vernacular are still in a state of barbarism, and in number may amount to about 5,000,000. Their political condition has been compared by Dr. Krapf to that of the ancient Germans, for they are divided into numerous tribes, all of which are jealously tenacious of their liberties and independence, and are frequently at war with each other, as well as with neighbouring nations. They are hated and dreaded by every people of Eastern Africa,-Pagans, Christians, and Mohammedans, having been alternately chastised by them.

The origin of the Galla is involved in the deepest obscurity: the year 1537 is the date of their first appearance in Abyssinia, since which period the history of that ancient empire has been but a record of their inroads and devastations. These wild and warlike tribes appear to possess no legends or traditions whereby any satisfactory hypothesis concerning their original country can be deduced. Dr. Krapf (from whom the most recent accessions to our knowledge concerning this people have been obtained) surmises that they originally came from the vicinity of the sources of the White Nile. The name of Galla, by which they are known in Abyssinia and the surrounding countries, was supposed by Father Balthezar Tellez to have been derived from the Greek, Táλa, milk, and to have been applied to them on account of the whiteness of their skin, for in complexion they are fairer even than the Abyssinians. No native term appears to approximate closely to the form Galla, except the word Gala, which, according to Tutschek's Galla Dictionary, signifies" to go home." The Galla, however, apply to themselves no other designation than Orma or Ilm 'Orma, literally signifying the "sons of men." In bodily and mental endowments they exceed most of the tribes of Eastern Africa; and on account of this superiority, members of their nation fetch a high price when sold to the Arabs as slaves. Around Abyssinia they lead an agricultural and pastoral life, but to the south of the equator they wander about in hordes with their flocks and herds, changing their abode according to the season of the year. Their

system of religion has not been ascertained: they believe in a Supreme Being, and likewise in inferior deities, and they manifest great fear of evil spirits, whom they endeavour to appease by offerings of slaughtered animals. The tribes settled in the neighbourhood of Abyssinia have adopted many notions and practices from the corrupted Abyssinian Church; and they know the names of many Abyssinian saints, which is not the case with the Galla living near the equator.

II. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE.

The Galla language possesses many Shemitic elements, as for instance, in the number and character of its conjugations, which are eight in number, and correspond in a degree with a like order of conjugations in Arabic, Ethiopic, and Amharic. Thus for instance:-I. c. ba, to go out; II. c. bada, to go out for oneself; III. c. baza, to cause to go out; IV. c. bafada, to let go out for oneself; V. c. baziza, to cause to let go out; VI. c. bazifada, to cause to let go out for one's own profit; VII. c. basiziza, to cause to let drive out; VIII. c. bazizifada, the same, with the middle sense.

The

Besides those forms, the Galla language has the property of making verbs of even particles, by the addition of ad'a and fada, e. g. from o,' the answer to a call,' we have oada, to answer, etc. termination fada is used in denominations, e. g. dyilbefada, to kneel, from dyilba, knee; bowafada, to have the head-ache, from bowo, head-ache, etc.

The Galla has two numbers, singular and plural; two genders, three persons, negative verbs, etc. Of cases the accusative is the only one that is formed by the addition of a letter (n) to the nominative. The genitive, dative, and ablative, are formed by prepositions. The feminine of adjectives is formed by adding tu or ti, e. g. hamtu, gen. of hama, bad; hieti, fem. of hieza, poor; and the plural is formed in general like that of nouns in oda. The pronouns bear a strong affinity to the Shemitic family; yet the Galla language is manifestly not of Shemitic origin. It is highly euphonic and sonorous: though some of its sounds can scarcely be pronounced by Europeans. It appears to be linked by numerous affinities to the Dankali and Somáli languages, spoken by the East Africans within sixteen degrees north from the equator, namely, from Massowa in the Red Sea, down to the northern bank of the River Jubb. The Galla language, as might be expected from its wide extension, has various dialects; but the true Galla, of every quarter, are able to understand each other without great difficulty.

III. VERSION OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE.

The Gospels of St. Matthew, St. Luke, and St. John, the Epistle to the Romans, and the book of Genesis, were translated into Galla by Dr. Krapf during his residence in Shoa, between the years 1839 and 1842. The Gospel of St. Matthew and five chapters of the Gospel of St. John were printed in Roman letters, the copies being designed for distribution among the Galla tribes around Shoa, where the Church Missionary Society contemplated the establishment of a mission. The opposition of the Abyssinian priesthood led, however, to the abandonment, in 1844, of the Shoa mission, and the station was accordingly transferred to the Wanika country (southward of the equator and beyond the limits of the Galla nation), whence it was hoped that opportunities for a wider dissemination of the holy volume than that originally contemplated by the Society might accrue. By aid of the rivers that enter the Indian Ocean upon that portion of the coast, it was thought that a road to the interior might be found, which would not only bring the missionaries again into communication with the savage Galla tribes, but would enable them to commence the realisation of the idea-for a time fondly indulged in—of a chain of mission stations across the entire breadth of the African continent. But these hopes-like so many others that have been formed in connection with this benighted land-have been doomed to be disappointed, and all access to the interior of Africa from this direction is, for a time at least, closed.

KISUAHELI.

I. GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND STATISTICS.

THIS language is spoken on the eastern sea-coast of Africa, ten degrees south of the equator, and extends some miles inland. It may, in fact, be said to reach from Mozambique even as far as the second degree of north latitude. The population of the Suaheli region, including that of the islands in which the language is spoken, amounts to about 400,000. The Arabs are the dominant race in this part of the African continent, and the government is in the hands of an Arabian prince, a son of the late Sultan of Muscat, whose dominions on this portion of the African coast extend from the equator southward as far as Cape Delgado. Most of the Suahelis are Mohammedans, but they are comparatively free from the bigotry and the domineering spirit by which the followers of the false prophet are almost universally characterised. They are, however, kept in spiritual bondage by the Arabs who reside among them.

II. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE.

The Kisuaheli belongs to the great family of South African languages, which some philologists have designated the Caffre, or Sechuana group, but to which Dr. Krapf has applied the more appropriate name of the Nilotic, or Nilo-Hamitic family, because he regards the vicinity of the sources of the White River, the main branch of the Nile, as the original location of the progenitors of the tribes to whom these languages are vernacular. This designation serves in particular to distinguish this family of languages from the Nigrotic, or Nigro-Hamitic group, spoken by those descendants of Ham who settled on the banks of the Niger. A broad line of demarcation exists between these two families of languages, the Nigro-Hamitic being harsh in sound and irregular in structure, while the Nilo-Hamitic are noted for the softness and harmony of their enunciation, and the philosophical uniformity of their grammatical arrangement. Again, the Nigro-Hamitic languages are divided into petty sub-classes, each of which has little affinity with the others; whereas, the Nilo-Hamitic group exhibit so close a resemblance to each other, that they may almost be regarded as mere dialects of one language Kisuaheli, in fact, has been said to be only a slightly modified form of the Sechuana language. It exhibits, however, certain points of resemblance to Amharic: in some of its characteristics it is very closely allied to Galla. It has borrowed many religious terms and other words from Arabic.

III.-VERSION OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE.

The Kisuaheli language was reduced to writing by Dr. Krapf, of the Church Missionary Society, who commenced the mission on the coast of Mombas in 1844. He was not at the time aware that the missionaries in South Africa had to deal with the same kind of languages; therefore his efforts were prosecuted independently of the aid which he might have derived by availing himself of the results of their labours. This learned philologist has translated the book of Genesis and the whole of the New Testament, except the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, into Kisuaheli; and an outline of the elements of the Kisuaheli language has been published by him through the medium of the Church Missionary Society. Since 1857, however, the mission at Mombas has been temporarily suspended, owing to the political disturbances consequent upon the death of the late Sultan of Muscat.

KIKAM BA.

SPECIMEN, FROM ST. MARK, CHAP. IV. v. 1 to 9.

NA uzu yunaambilie nengi ku tawia ndeto mondo wa uzi: no andu engi manakomanie kuake, uzu ku lika ngalawani, yunaikalile uzini; na andu onde mana ikalile mondo wa uzi ulu wa ndi. 2 Yuna-a-tawijie azu kindu kingi kua ndeto jia kalakala, yuna-a-tawijie azu kua matawiomake. Iwai: jijia, yukuuma muwandi, ku wanda mbeu. Yanatuikie, wala yuna wandie, mbeu nini inawalukile mondo wa nsia, na niunie a Malunguni manaizie, manaie. Na mbeu engi inawalukile ulu wa ndi ya mawia, idinai ndaka engi; inameie miduki, undu-idinai na ndi ya kuaza. Ndi jua wala inaumalile, imbeu inaunguie; na kua undu idinai tuikie na idina, inaumie. 7 Na mbeu engi ina walukile kati ya miwa na miwa inameie, inaanangie, idinai ette maumo. 8 Na mbeu engi inawalukile ulu wa ndi nzeo, inaumijie maumo ma ku uma na ku mea, inaumijie miongo itatu, na mbeu engi inaumijie miongo dandatu na mbeu engi inaumijie iana. 9 Yuna-a-tawijie azu, mundu ala ukuete maddu ma ku iwa, aiwe.

KIKAMBA is the language spoken by the various tribes of the Wakamba, who, collectively, may be said to number at least 70,000 or 80,000 souls. They dwell in East Africa, at a distance of about 400 miles from the coast of Mombas, which they occasionally visit for purposes of traffic. They are not only traders, but likewise cultivators of the soil; and although they have fixed habitations, they often travel to a great distance from their native country, for the purpose of hunting elephants and bartering ivory. Dr. Krapf is of opinion that, through the instrumentality of this nation, the very centre of Africa, and the region where the Bahr-el-Abiad rises may ultimately be reached.

The Wakamba have no chiefs like the other tribes in their vicinity, their government being wholly of a patriarchal kind. Their ideas on spiritual subjects are very grovelling and limited, extending merely to belief in witchcraft, and fear of evil spirits. Their language is a dialect of the Nilotic stock, and resembles that of the Wanika. It has been reduced to writing by Dr. Krapf, and a translation of the Gospel of St Mark was some years since prepared by the same indefatigable missionary: this, however, does not appear to have yet been printed.

KINIKA.

THE Kinika is strongly allied to the Kisuaheli. The tribes of the Wanika, to whom the Kinika language is vernacular, dwell in Eastern Africa, as far south as the fourth degree of south latitude, about fifteen or twenty miles to the west of the island of Mombas. A great number of the Wakamba live in the western part of their country, having been driven towards the sea-shore by a famine some thirty years ago. In the district occupied conjointly by these two people, the Wanika have left the plains to the Wakamba, retaining the heights and forests for themselves. The Wanika number about 60,000 individuals. They are an agricultural people, and carry on a trade with the Suahelis of the coast.