Patois

“ Patois very different from Italian; the Patois of the peasants of Savoy, which is equally different from French; he also spoke Italian and French wonderfully well; the second he had learnt from the Savoyard chairmen, and the two last from Italian and French travellers whom he has accompanied over Mount Cenis, where he has passed his life hitherto, and which he seems to have no desire of leaving. ”

“ A Dutchman ought to have more sense than to load up with a lot of cursed patois. Nothing but French and Indian! We'll have to put the precious dears in the sleeping-tent, and bunk down ourselves with blankets in the other. ”

“ In the course of this day and the next, we heard, for the first time, the Provençal patois, which seems a bad compound of French, Spanish, and Italian, with an original gibberish of their own. As far, indeed, as a slight and partial observation enables me to judge, I have been much struck by a similarity which the [108] inhabitants of the Mediterranean coast bear to each other in language and character, a similarity so great, as to lead one to suppose them descended from the same original stock. ”

“ We did not arrive at Orange till half past five, but were fortunate in finding a civil reception at the Palais Royal, the first inn on entering the town. We met with no adventures to-day of any kind. The language of the people has now become completely unintelligible; it is a Patois of the most horrible nature. Many of the better sort of people among the peasants, are able to speak French with you, but where they have only their own dialect, you are completely at a loss. ”

“ So the native is still in a semi-savage condition, possessing little idea of time, without any written language, and speaking a kind of patois which his next neighbours can scarcely understand; and such a poor patois, too, that it lacks words to express the most elementary idea. ”

“ It is believed to be the work of C. D. Macleane; 30. A useful Glossary of Malayālam words will be found in Logan, "Manual of Malabar."]
{xxv} NOTE B.—THE INDO-PORTUGUESE PATOIS (By A. C. Burnell.)
The phonetic changes of Indo-Portuguese are few. F is substituted for p; whilst the accent varies according to the race of the speaker. [19] The vocabulary varies, as regards the introduction of native Indian terms, from the same cause.
Grammatically, this dialect is very singular:
1. ”

“ Strange tales as usual reached Portugal about these newly found lands. Here lived men with "spurs on their ankles like cocks," hogs with horns, hens that laid their eggs nine feet under ground, rivers with living fish, yet so hot that they took the skin off any man that bathed in their waters, poisonous crabs, oysters with shells so large that they served as fonts for baptizing children.
Truly these mysterious Spice Islands held more attractions for the Portuguese explorers than did the New World of Columbus and Vespucci. ”

“ Order and taste were seen to be laws in the white man's New Life; and several of the Natives began diligently to follow our example.
Many and strange were the arts which I had to try to practise, such as handling the adze, the mysteries of tenon and mortise, and other feats of skill. If a Native wanted a fish-hook, or a piece of red calico to bind his long whip-cord hair, he would carry me a block of coral or fetch me a beam; but continuous daily toil seemed to him a mean existence. ”

“ If travellers agree upon one point, it is that from the Sandwich Islands to New Zealand, from the Tonga Islands to Easter Island, all the Polynesians belong to the same race, and speak the same language with mere variations of dialect. ”

“ Very singularly for a Portuguese, he entirely devoted himself to agriculture. He built himself a country house at Manaquery, on a lake near the main river, brought Indians from a distance to settle with him, cleared the forest, planted orange, tamarind, mango, and many other fruit-bearing trees, made pleasant avenues, gardens, and pastures, stocked them well with cattle, sheep, pigs, and poultry, and set himself down to the full enjoyment of a country life. ”

“ There is a large lake in the middle of the island, but no mountains. It is entirely covered with verdure and it is delightful to behold. The natives are an inoffensive people, and so desirous to possess any thing they saw with us that they kept swimming off to the ships with whatever they could find, and readily bartered for any article we saw fit to give them in return, even such things as broken platters and pieces of glass. I saw in this manner sixteen balls of cotton thread, which weighed about twenty-five pounds, exchanged for three Portuguese ceutis. ”

“ Professor Keane, to whom I sent a portion of this vocabulary, informs me that whilst the structure of the language and most of the words are distinctly Papuan, the numerals and several terms are Polynesian. However, whilst I was engaged in collecting plants and making general botanical notes in this locality, it occurred to me that by comparing the names of the common littoral trees with those of the same trees in other Pacific groups and in the Indian or Malay Archipelago, I might obtain some important additional clues as to the sources of the language. ”

“ All the way from Taipas to Guimarães the road lay through maize fields bordered thickly by vine-covered poplars; a prosperous land of well-fed, laborious people. Near the ancient city, the birthplace of the Portuguese monarchy, the ground rises, and the pine forests spread for miles on the uplands all around, the fresh sweet scent of the woods adding one more sensuous joy to a closing day of incomparable loveliness. ”

“ Creoles, Tagals, Chinese, and Mestizoes. The Spaniards and the Tagals need no explanation, for the latter are the pure natives of the islands. Creole, I believe, is variously used in different locations; but it is a Spanish word, coming from criolla, which means grown up. They are one thing in the Spanish West Indies, another in Brazil.
"A more general definition is a person born in any country, but not of native blood. In the Philippines, Creoles are the children of Spanish fathers and native mothers. Mestizoes are children of Chinese parents on one side and natives on the other. ”

“ If the Dyaks of Borneo and the Arafuras of Celebes and New Guinea speak a dialect of the Polynesian, it will go far to prove an original people as well as an original language, that is, as original as the Celtic, the Teutonic, the South American ”

“ CHAPTER 24
‘The coast of Patusan (I saw it nearly two years afterwards) is straight and sombre, and faces a misty ocean. Red trails are seen like cataracts of rust streaming under the dark-green foliage of bushes and creepers clothing the low cliffs. Swampy plains open out at the mouth of rivers, with a view of jagged blue peaks beyond the vast forests. In the offing a chain of islands, dark, crumbling shapes, stand out in the everlasting sunlit haze like the remnants of a wall breached by the sea. ”

“ The language of Brazil is Portuguese except among the Indian tribes, each one of which has its own dialect. These Indians are to be found in the interior and the remote districts, and are a negligible quantity as far as trade is concerned, living primitive lives and having few wants that the rich country and rivers cannot supply. ”

“ Though no trace of their blood is left, New Guinea must at one time have been a halting place in the migration. Papua it is called, and one finds the word current in Polynesia, meaning a garden, a rich land. The natives of New Guinea are as unlike the people of the eastern Pacific, I should say, as the average American or Englishman, and yet throughout New Guinea there is a most curious cropping out of Polynesian words, pointing to a very ancient intercourse between the races. Consider the word for woman among the Polynesians. ”

“ The Portuguese found on these islands neither men nor any four-footed animals, excepting land-tortoises, but great flocks of paroquets, doves, and sea-fowls; and the sea abounds with fish of various kinds, and with great numbers of turtle. ”

“ This ancient colony of the Portuguese in China has a very picturesque appearance from the sea, and has received its name from the supposed resemblance of the peninsula on which it stands to a mallet, of which macao is the Portuguese name. The streets are narrow, dirty, and ill-paved, but the houses of the merchants are large and commodious. Besides the Portuguese and Chinese, there are a large number of English and also American residents. ”

“ There is a wildness and sadness about the tunes which harmonise well with, and in fact are born of, the circumstances of the canoe-man's life; the echoing channels, the endless gloomy forests, the solemn nights, and the desolate scenes of broad and stormy waters and falling banks. Whether they were invented by the Indians or introduced by the Portuguese it is hard to decide, as many of the customs of the lower classes of Portugese are so similar to those of the Indians that they have become blended with them. One of the commonest songs is very wild and pretty. ”

“ And all lands, both islands and mainlands, found and discovered already, or to be found and discovered hereafter by the said King of Portugal and by his vessels on this side of the said line and bound determined as above, toward the east, in either north or south latitude, on the eastern side of the said bound, provided the said bound is not crossed, shall belong to, and remain in the possession of, and pertain forever to the said King of Portugal and his successors. ”

“ Why, sir, as a true man I answer, a black cook—no maroon, but a swart fat knave from the Guinea coast; and three maroons, who fell sick, or rather were well-nigh beat to death, in an island over against the continent yonder we visited on the same errand. ”

“ Paul in the South Indian Ocean.
There can scarcely be a landscape more gloomy and desolate than the sterile, rocky mountains, and white sandy plains,197 which, like snow-fields, inclose Simon's Bay. Coming from the charming coast of Brazil, with its luxuriant verdure, the contrast becomes doubly unpleasing. A narrow green strip of land, running along from a small fort, forms a refreshing sight and a resting point for the eye fatigued with looking at these grim masses of stone. ”

“ If we now take account of all the evidence yet obtained, we seem justified in concluding that the great mass of the inhabitants of New Guinea form one well-marked race—the Papuan—varying within comparatively narrow limits, and everywhere presenting distinctive features which separate it from all other races of mankind. ”

“ The creoles really prefer their rivers as bathing-places; and when willing to take a sea bath, they will walk up and down hill for kilometres in order to reach some river mouth, so as to wash off in the fresh-water afterwards. ”

“ The sight of a fish, however small it is, always rouses a Papuan to action. When we were travelling with natives, we sometimes came to pools where small fish had been left by some receding flood. Instantly123 their loads were thrown down and everyone darted into the water with sticks and stones and shouts and as much enthusiasm as if the fish had been salmon and a full meal for everyone. ”

“ It became necessary, however, to call at some of the groups we passed, and it surprised us to find how diversified are the manners and customs of the natives who inhabit the numerous islands of the South Seas. Not only are the people of each group governed by different laws, but frequently each island is distinct from the others in the language spoken and the manner of life followed upon it. ”

“ If we contemplate the various nations and tribes which inhabit the southern peninsula of India, and the innumerable islands composing that portion of the globe which is comprehended within Polynesia and Austral Asia, our attention is arrested by the striking uniformity in habits and language which prevails throughout; and which induces the inference, either of one common origin, or of early and very general intercourse. ”

“ However they have swords and lances as other Indians have; and though they are ambitious to be called Portuguese, and value themselves on their religion, yet most of the men and all the women that live here are Indians; and there are very few right Portuguese in any part of the island. However of those that call themselves Portuguese I was told there are some thousands; and I think their strength consists more in their numbers than in good arms or discipline.
The land from hence trends away east by north about 14 leagues, making many points and sandy bays, where vessels may anchor. ”

“ For the fisherman who prefers a lure, advice from Padre Island is, “Fish, like men, are attracted by an extra bit of finery; those little frills that transform the ordinary into a ravishing dish so delectable that they can’t be ignored. ”

“ The Natives live now on Sour paist--which is made from bread fruit--and some bread fruit and plantains that they get from the Mountains where the season is Later, and on a Nut not unlike a chessnut which are now in Perfection; but all these Articles are at present very scarce, and therefore it is no wonder that the Natives have not supply'd us with these things of Late. [At Tahiti.] Upon my return to the Ship I found that the Provisions had been all examined and the Water got on board, amounting to 65 Tons. ”

“ Since I had that impression at my coming, I easily believed what the Portuguese told me, and persuaded myself that it was true that no foreigner could enter China without risk of losing his life. For a long time I have had the conversion of that kingdom at heart, and with that thought I came to these islands. ”