He was aware, that, in these islands, as well as on the continent of India, the commencement of authentic history was only to be dated from the introduction of Mahometanism; but, in the wild traditions of the Malays, he thought he sometimes discovered a glimmering of light, which might, perhaps, serve to illustrate an earlier period. These glimmerings, he was accustomed to say, were very faint, but, in the absence of all other lights, they were worth pursuing; they would, at all events, account for and explain many of the peculiar institutions and customs of the people, and serve to make his countrymen better acquainted with a race who appeared to him to possess the greatest claims on their consideration and attention. Under this impression, he was induced to undertake the translation of the work now published, being a compilation of the most popular traditions existing among the Malays themselves. It was intended that the text should have been illustrated by notes and references, explanatory of the more interesting parts, and that the late Annals of the different states of the Archipelago,
