, EAST-INSULAR LANGUAGES, 115 of the Archipelago the Alkoran was not introduced by the t^word, and in the days of Arabian conquest and enthusiasm, but at a comparatively late period, and by a few straggling merchants. In the proud- est days of Arabian empire, the maritime unskil- fulness of the Arabs must have been*unequal to so distant an enterprise as the conquest and conver- sion of the Indian islands. The exact period of the earliest conversion is not very well defined, but may be generally stated at about five hundred years back. The Malays were the first converts, and were followed by the Javanese at a long interval of a century and a half, and by the nations of Celebes at one of two cen- turies. Of all the tribes of the Indian islands, the Malays are the most thorough converts to Maho- medanism, and they enjoy, among their less zealous neighbours, the reputation of being good Maho- medans. They are the only considerable nation of the Archipelago *^ who have followed the exam- ple of the great Mahomedan nations of western Asia, in adopting the Arabic character. This cir- cumstance gives a facility to the introduction of Arabic in the written language, and, added to their superior zeal and longer conversion, is the cause why much more Arabic is found in the Malay, than
- The Bantamese and Achinese, and people of Mindanao,
do so also, but they are inconsiderable tribes.
