The Language, However, Is
So Poor That A Considerable Number Of Malay Words Have To Be
Used; And It Is Very Questionable Whether It Is Possible To
Convey Any Idea Of Such A Book, To A People In So Low A State Of
Civilization.
The only nominal converts yet made are a few of the
women; and some few of the children attend school, and are being
taught to read, but they make little progress.
There is one
feature of this mission which I believe will materially interfere
with its moral effect. The missionaries are allowed to trade to
eke out the very small salaries granted them from Europe, and of
course are obliged to carry out the trade principle of buying
cheap and selling dear, in order to make a profit. Like all
savages the natives are quite careless of the future, and when
their small rice crops are gathered they bring a large portion of
it to the missionaries, and sell it for knives, beads, axes,
tobacco, or any other articles they may require. A few months
later, in the wet season, when food is scarce, they come to buy
it back again, and give in exchange tortoiseshell, tripang, wild
nutmegs, or other produce. Of course the rice is sold at a much
higher rate than it was bought, as is perfectly fair and just -
and the operation is on the whole thoroughly beneficial to the
natives, who would otherwise consume and waste their food when it
was abundant, and then starve - yet I cannot imagine that the
natives see it in this light.
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