________________
244
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[August, 1886.
Co.
THE ANDAMAN ISLANDERS, by E. H. MAN, Abaistant VEDACH RESTOMATHIE. Herausgegeben und mit einem
Superintendent, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Glossar versehen von A. HILLEBRANDr. Berlin, F.R.G.S., M.R.A.S., etc. London, Trübner & 1885.
In the German Universities where Sanskrit is The Andaman Islanders are to be congratulated
mainly studied for general philological purposes, on having so indefatigable and capable an officer
more attention is paid to the Vedic language than as Mr. Man placed over them. In this work he to that of the later classical and post-classical has indeed insured them a place in the list of literature: and several exclusively Vedic chrestonationalities, a kind office they are badly in want mathies have of late appeared, to be used as of, for these poor naked savages are, as is the
text-books at the professional lectures. Delbrück fate of all such, fast disappearing from off the face
led the way in 1874: the texts selected by him of the carth before the march of European civili.
(from the Rigveda only) are accompanied by footsation.
notes and a glossary. Professor Windisch brought There is a special interest attaching to the
out, in 1883, twelve Rigveda hymns with Sayana's Andamanese. They are a race of coal black
commentary and a glossary to it, with a view to pigmies, with woolly hair, consisting of nine tribes
familiarizing the student with the Hindu system closely allied ethnologically and speaking nine
of interpreting the Veda. Anyone who has languages, differing altogether from each other
grappled with the peculiar difficulties which the as such, but of an obviously common origin method and diction of the commentators present philologically speaking. Ethnologically they have,
to the learner, will be able to appreciate the services like all true' races,' peculiarities of physical struc
rendered by the Professor as a guide on that ture proper to themselves, and philologically their
rugged path. The most recent manual is the language is a special one, showing relationship to
Vedachrestomathie by Professor A. Hillebrandt, no other. They thus stand apart in the world, as
of Breslau, which gives not only 39 hymns, or it were, and form to the anthropologist a subject portions of hymns, of the Rigveda, but also of extraordinary interest.
twelve taken from the Atharvavéda, passages from Mr. Man's work is an exhaustive study of these
the Satapatha and Aitaréya-Brahmanas, and a tribes conducted with scientific accuracy of in.
chapter from the Chandogya-Upanishad, with the quiry and systematic care. It ranges over the
necessary complement of a full glossary. The whole subject of ethnological research, and con
editor, who has for many years almost exclusively sists of a series of notes on nearly every conceiv
been engaged on Vedic research, and is now able point that can be studied with a view to a
bringing out in the Bibliotheca Indica, an edition proper understanding of a savage race. It is
of the Sankhayana-Srautasutra, has already made divided into three parte, which may be roughly his mark by several valuable monographs on said to deal with the development of the Andama
Vedic mythology and ritual (on the goddess nese physically, mentally and socially. The work
Aditi, 1876; on Varuna and Mitra, 1877; on the for easy cross reference is divided off into
new and full moon sacrifices of the ancient paragraphs, but the index refers to the pages, and
Hindus, 1880). We hope to meet him again in a it is accompanied by many plates, mostly per
field of Indian scholarship which he has been manent reproductions of Mr. Man's own photo
cultivating with such zeal and signal success. graphs. It is further enriched by a Report of Researches into the Language of the South
SEVEN GRAMMARS OF THE DIALECTS and SUBDIALECTS Andaman Islande, taken as a model of the whole
OF THE BIHART LANGUAGE. Part V. the South group, by Mr. A.J. Ellis, F.R.S., late President of
Maithili Dialect. By G.A. GRIERSON, B.C.S. the Philological Society, in which its peculiarities Calcutta; Secretariat Prose. are well exhibited. These are that the opposite The first four of these Grammars were reviewed principles of suffixed and prefixed grammatical at length in our last volume by Mr. Beames, and affixes are both in full use,-a phenomenon it is sufficient now to welcome the issue of the apparently confined to this group --and the ex- fifth. The South Maithili Dialect comprises the pression of pronominal adjectives by prefixes, speech about South Darbhanga, North Mungêr and a principle nowhere else so fully developed. the Madhepura Sub-Division of Bhagalpur. The Otherwise the language is agglutinative, following grammar before us is compiled with the same the principles common to that class.
minuteness and the same care that has so disThe above is but an imperfect sketch of this tinguished its predecessors. The language differs remarkable work, which is not only a model of from that of Northern Maithilf by its more flexible anthropological research, but also of unusual form and more convenient phonetic develop interest.
ment.
