24 AFFILIATION OF THE ALGONQUIN LANGUAGES. 
‘Tn 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. 
IT 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 think 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 sub- 
ject 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 unex- 
pected 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 plain- 
tive song. He is cautious of giving offence to his equals. 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. 
“The intellect of the Malay race seems rather deficient. They are 
incapable of anything beyond the simplest combination of ideas, and 
have little taste or energy for the acquirement of knowledge. Their 
civilization, such as it is, does not seem to be indigenous, as it is 
entirely confined to those nations who have been converted to the 
Mahometan or Brahminical religions.” 
