Asiatic studies, by Dutch societies in 1885
This brief note by R. Rost surveys publications of Dutch learned societies in 1885 that are of interest to the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, focusing on the Bijdragen of the Royal Institute of The Hague, De Indische Gids, and the Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indie (p. 439).
The note highlights three articles in the Bijdragen: Professor Kern’s paper on Philippine alphabets and their affinity to those of Sumatra, Java, Celebes, and Kamboja; Dr. Wilken’s study of circumcision in the Indian Archipelago, arguing it is unrelated to the Moslem rite; and a 156-page legend of Prince Sutan Manangkera in the Manangkarkau dialect, contributed by Mr. Van der Toorn of Fort de Kock (p. 439). Rost then catalogues the accumulated Manangkarkau materials—texts, translations, glossaries, riddles, pantuns, and proverbs—published across the Batavian Tijdschrift, the Verhandelingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap, and the Bijdragen, concluding that sufficient material now exists for a conspectus of the language (pp. 439–440). He also notes Wilken’s concluding articles on spirit worship in Malaysia and Polynesia in De Indische Gids, and a series by J. A. B. Wiselins on prisons and forced labour in British India and the Dutch possessions, of which only a few pages concern the Straits Settlements (p. 440).