September i, 1883.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



183 



be charged ? They couUl uot very well be put down to 

 salaries of officials, nor to public works department, so after 

 much perplexity iu the Perak " Kacheheri " the chief's 

 false teeth were put down to the experimental ISIountain 

 Gardens ! 



Anyone interested in the manners and customs of ye 

 natives of the Malay Peninsula, and especially Perak (pro- 

 nounced Pera meaning silver) should read a novel called 

 Foi,' Helen. A few straggling chapters met my eye in the 

 Ladi/'s Mar/aziiie brought up here by the doctor's wife on a 

 visit with 'her family. The story is highly sensational and 

 well written. The belle of the station being kidnapped by 

 " Murad" a .Malay chief whose women drug her for the 

 purpose of transforming her into a pucka Malay a woman 

 with sarong instead of petticoats and her beautiful white 

 pearly teeth filed and blackened to be in the Malay fashion 

 with nose ring and ear ornaments and silver wire in mingled 

 with the following tresses of beautiful hair! The young 

 lady's admirer, a captain at the station, is also kidnapped 

 by Incliee Muda who sets her mind on marrying him right 

 olf, but to this he won't agree. In the stori/ of J-'air Helen, 

 some other well-drawn characters appear, a doctor and, a 

 clergyman: the latter falls into captivity but soon gets free 

 as the Malays arrive at the conclusion that he is as ma<l as 

 any two hatters on account of ru.shing frantically after 

 weeds hanging from trees and growing wild on the ground, 

 the former orchids, and the latter ferns. 



As for the Malay women of Perak, they are a very 

 ordinary lot, and any admirer of the fair sex must not look 

 for female beauty in Perak ; filing the teeth and blackening 

 them for instance is simply abominable, and yet thi'y say 

 animals have white teeth and as they have no wish to re- 

 semble amimals accordingly disfigure their principal feature. 

 For the ordinary Jlalay woman is a helpless, sulky-looking 

 creature with a stumpy figure, and as a sailor would say 

 all stern, and they waddle along in a lazy listless manner as 

 though they had no other idea in their heads but eating 

 curry and rice and going to sleep. The old gentlemen amongst 

 the Malays indulge in the old-fashioned habit of taking a 

 pinch of snuff to clear their brains, when asked their opinion 

 on a knotty subject, and like the great Bunssby iu replying 

 to Captain Cuttle will decide an argument by the profound 

 remark :— " That the bearings of that there observation lies 

 iu ths applications of it." 



■\Ve used to hear a let about Malays rimning amok :this 

 is quite untrue, for it is a very rare occm-rence indeed, on 

 the contrary we do hear of Europeans " rnnning amok" 

 occasionally, especially when the grub is badly cooked or the 

 boy runs ott with the spoons. 1 only wish other natives 

 we know of were as ([uiet as the Malays are in Perak. 



Of course you will say they received a severe lesson after 

 the nuirder of poor Mr. Birch, but then they were solely 

 under the influence of their chiefs and intruments for good 

 or e%-il in their hands. The Malays are uot grasping or 

 avaricious but hospitable when it is in their power to be 

 so. An instance came under my notice on the Gapis mount- 

 ain garden our " tiudal " or as you woald call the same 

 functionary on a coffee estate in Ceylon " conductor " con- 

 tinually received his own and his wife's poor relations and 

 fed them for weeks, even overdrawing his wages to keep 

 up their entertainment without complaining. He is not a 

 handsome man, having a great red patch on the side of 

 his face, like a daub of vermilion paint, the result of some 

 skin disease, but lie has been twice married, his first wife 

 died, and his secoul a widow was rescued from a log of 

 wood after floating at the mercy of the winds and waves 

 for 4S hours, she still looks cold and moist looking from the 

 effects of the long immersion, .and the pale faced little girl 

 Tee jumps about in fine weather and helps her mother to 

 getr up a fire for making Mr. Bokkar's curry. They are a 

 good couple, and like each other, the little girl being a great 

 pet with everybody. His father lived with them and con- 

 tributed to the mess by earning a few dollars by ba.skct 

 m.nking; they all belong to Penang island. Malays as road- 

 makers are slow and sure and do their work fairly well. Most 

 of my time has been spent in tracing and superintending 

 bridle paths and branch roads, draining, &o. The rate of pay 

 will form the subject of a letter in this series. As building 

 contractors, they strictly adhere to the terms of their agree- 

 ment and have no desire to try and cheat, the only dillie- 

 ulty being to get them to make a start. 



Many natives must of necessity gain a living by fisliinij 



both iu the rivers of Perak and in the open sea, for salt fish 

 seems to be their principal food with rice and vegetables 

 and such t'riut as may happen to be in season. At present 

 the fish are diseased according to rei>orts, there are worms in 

 the fish ; a similar complaint existed in Ceylon. 



Up the Perak and Plus rivers they spear the fish from 

 the hows of their canoes and this amusement was one of the 

 entertainments got up for Governor Weld and staff, loud 

 laughter greeting the fall of the Tuan Bessar or Governor 

 on taking a header out of the boat and when Mr. Maxwell 

 (then Assistant Resident of Perak ) speared a fish and lost it 

 ag.ain much to the delight of the natives. I remember 

 reading an account of the Governor's tour and journey to 

 Kiuta in youi' paper, and kept a copy of it ; the jialays on 

 that occasion gave His Excellency Governor Weld a very 

 hearty reception, and seventy elephants were placed at his 

 disposal for transport of proN-isions. Their songs on moon- 

 light nights often strike as me very pleasant comi^ai-ed to the 

 singiug of other natives of savage couuti'ies. One woidd 

 flunk the voices were those of women instead of men and 

 reiuinded me of your Sinhalese village girls singing as they 

 weed their paddy fields. Paddy cultivation is extensively 

 carried ou in p.arts of Perak bordering the large rivers, and 

 brings in some revenue to the Perak Government I believe, 

 as also do the sugar gardens, cultivated by Chinese, opium, 

 tobacco, coconuts, vegetables, and gi'ass. There is a field 

 open still for enterprising natives to crUtivate guinea 

 gi'ass for the increasing number of Chinese ponies used 

 for gharries plying between Matang and Thaipeug and 

 Kwala Kangsa. 



A proclamation was issued by Government during the 

 current year, that after December next all slaves are to be 

 liberated in the state of Perak; the Government aiTange 

 for compensation to Malay owners of slaves, but as far as 

 can be ascertained the slaves themselves hardly know the 

 value of their liberty, and some have said they prefered re- 

 maining with theu' old masters for the rest of theu' days. 

 Good slave owners no doubt would treat theii- slaves better 

 than if they were free labourers, similar to the cotton 

 planters of the Southern States of America, they treated 

 tbeii' slaves as members of their families and doubtless 

 many of the negroes scarcely appreciated the change; how- 

 ever, time will show, the Malays may learn the value of 

 tune and money by and by, and after tasting some of the 

 fruits of civilizatiou and comforts of dress and cle.an houses 

 may mingle more freely with Em-opeans as the Chinese 

 do. Theii- religion is chiefly Muhammadau and their languago 

 e.asy to learn and rather a pretty lingo. 



This letter is long enough without dwelling on the pecu- 

 liarities of the language spoken by the Malays of Perak, 

 and the s:iine will "make an intcriisting subject for a future 

 letter. Meanwhile the WTiter hopes the above outline of 

 the true ch.aracter of the "orangutan" (wild man) of 

 Perak will remove that phantom dread of the Malay which 

 Uves in the minds of people who haTO uot had the pleas- 

 ure of his acquaintance. H. 0. 



THE CKYLON TEA-PLANTING INDUSTRY 

 may date a new period in its existence from tho 

 Colombo Agri-Hortieultural Show of 1S83. Nothing 

 could bring home better to the officials, the visitors 

 and the Colombo residents, the great strides which have 

 been made in " tea " during the past few years in this 

 Colony, than the fine series of exhibits brought under 

 their notice during the past few days; and the question 

 being now settled as to Ceylon planters being able to 

 supply the finest teas required by the home trade 

 and to work the enteiprize at a handsome profit, 

 we feel sure the necessary capital for its extension will 

 henceforward, month by month, be moie freely made 

 available. After all, tea is by far tho most im- 

 portant product which the planters of Ceylon cau 

 take up. It is peculiarly t/ie slupje. iliink of 

 tho mother country and by a long way the 

 favourite among her many daughters, especially 

 in Australasia, where year by year, jjopulation and 

 wealth are advancing at such r/qiid bounds, H 



