Between These In Locality, Are
Found Tribes Who Are Also Intermediate In Their Chief
Characteristics, And It Is Sometimes A Nice Point To Determine
Whether They Belong To One Or The Other Race, Or Have Been Formed
By A Mixture Of The Two.
The Malay is undoubtedly the most important of these two races,
as it is the one which is the most civilized, which has come most
into contact with Europeans, and which alone has any place in
history.
What may be called the true Malay races, as
distinguished from others who have merely a Malay element in
their language, present a considerable uniformity of physical and
mental characteristics, while there are very great differences of
civilization and of language. They consist of four great, and a
few minor semi-civilized tribes, and a number of others who may
be termed savages. The Malays proper inhabit the Malay peninsula,
and almost all the coast regions of Borneo and Sumatra. They all
speak the Malay language, or dialects of it; they write in the
Arabic character, and are Mahometans in religion. The Javanese
inhabit Java, part of Sumatra, Madura, Bali, and Bart of Lombock.
They speak the Javanese and Kawi languages, which they write in a
native character. They are now Mahometans in Java, but Brahmins
in Bali and Lombock. The Bugis are the inhabitants of the greater
parts of Celebes, and there seems to be an allied people in
Sumbawa. They speak the Bugis and Macassar languages, with
dialects, and have two different native characters in which they
write these. They are all Mahometans. The fourth great race is
that of the Tagalas in the Philippine Islands, about whom, as I
did not visit those Islands, I shall say little. Many of them are
now Christians, and speak Spanish as well as their native tongue,
the Tagala. The Moluccan-Malays, who inhabit chiefly Ternate,
Tidore, Batchian, and Amboyna, may be held to form a fifth
division of semi-civilized Malays. They are all Mahometans, but
they speak a variety of curious languages, which seem compounded
of Bugis and Javanese, with the languages of the savage tribes of
the Moluccas.
The savage Malays are the Dyaks of Borneo; the Battaks and other
wild tribes of Sumatra; the Jakuns of the Malay Peninsula; the
aborigines of Northern Celebes, of the Sula island, and of part
of Bouru.
The colour of all these varied tribes is a light reddish brown,
with more or less of an olive tinge, not varying in any important
degree over an extent of country as large as all Southern Europe.
The hair is equally constant, being invariably black and
straight, and of a rather coarse texture, so that any lighter
tint, or any wave or curl in it, is an almost certain proof of
the admixture of some foreign blood. The face is nearly destitute
of beard, and the breast and limbs are free from hair. The
stature is tolerably equal, and is always considerably below that
of the average European; the body is robust, the breast well
developed, the feet small, thick, and short, the hands small and
rather delicate. The face is a little broad, and inclined to be
flat; the forehead is rather rounded, the brows low, the eyes
black and very slightly oblique; the nose is rather small, not
prominent, but straight and well-shaped, the apex a little
rounded, the nostrils broad and slightly exposed; the cheek-bones
are rather prominent, the mouth large, the lips broad and well
cut, but not protruding, the chin round and well-formed.
In this description there seems little to object to on the score
of beauty, and yet on the whole the Malays are certainly not
handsome. In youth, however, they are often very good-looking,
and many of the boys and girls up to twelve or fifteen years of
age are very pleasing, and some have countenances which are in
their way almost perfect. I am inclined to think they lose much
of their good looks by bad habits and irregular living. At a very
early age. they chew betel and tobacco almost incessantly; they
suffer much want and exposure in their fishing and other
excursions; their lives are often passed in alternate starvation
and feasting, idleness and excessive labour, - and this naturally
produces premature old age and harshness of features.
In character the Malay is impassive. He exhibits a reserve,
diffidence, and even bashfulness, which is in some degree
attractive, and leads the observer to thinly that the ferocious
and bloodthirsty character imputed to the race must be grossly
exaggerated. He is not demonstrative. His feelings of surprise,
admiration, or fear, are never openly manifested, and are
probably not strongly felt. He is slow and deliberate in speech,
and circuitous in introducing the subject he has come expressly
to discuss. These are the main features of his moral nature, and
exhibit themselves in every action of his life.
Children and women are timid, and scream and run at the
unexpected sight of a European. In the company of men they are
silent, and are generally quiet and obedient. When alone the
Malay is taciturn; he neither talks nor sings to himself. When
several are paddling in a canoe, they occasionally chant a
monotonous and plaintive song. He is cautious of giving offence
to his equals. He does not quarrel easily about money matters;
dislikes asking too frequently even for payment of his just
debts, and will often give them up altogether rather than quarrel
with his debtor. Practical joking is utterly repugnant to his
disposition; for he is particularly sensitive to breaches of
etiquette, or any interference with the personal liberty of
himself or another. As an example, I may mention that I have
often found it very difficult to get one Malay servant to waken
another. He will call as loud as he can, but will hardly touch,
much less shake his comrade. I have frequently had to waken a
hard sleeper myself when on a land or sea journey.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 104 of 109
Words from 105424 to 106431
of 111511
