88 



THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND 



husbandry is of the most primitive kind; it consists of scraping the ground and throwing in 

 the seeds. They do not even cut down trees to make a clearing. 



THE MALAY PENINSULA. 



IN certain parts of the Malay Peninsula for example, in the valley of Batang-Padaug we 

 meet with a very wild and primitive little race of Negritos, who are called Sakais. They may be 

 regarded as the pygmies of the Malay Peninsula, and doubtless come from the same very 

 ancient stock as the Negritos of the Philippine Islands. These Sakais, Semangs, Jakuns, or 

 Orang Benua ("Men of the Soil"), as they are variously called by their Malay neighbours, are 

 more numerous than was until recently supposed, and in the year 1890 5,000 of them were 



said to live in the Vlu Pahang district alone. Almost 

 everywhere they have intermarried with Malays. They 

 speak a language which possesses names only for the 

 first three or four numerals. When unmixed with 

 Malay blood, the Sakai shows the true Negrito type 

 even in an exaggerated form, with black woolly hair, 

 a large round head (too large in proportion to the 

 body), and a very prominent lower jaw. Among special 

 features may be mentioned the crisp black beard, an 

 inner fold to the eyelid, and the position of the three 

 outer toes, which are turned towards the inner two, 

 as in many apes. The Malays say there are two 

 groups of Sakais one of which is quite wild and lives 

 entirely aloof in the recesses of the forest, and another 

 which associates freely with settled communities. One 

 of Mr. M. Maclay's photographs is described by Giglioli 

 as presenting a "highly remarkable exaggeration of 

 the bestial characters, exceeding even the Kalang of 

 Java in its prognathism [protruding jawj ... a real 

 chimpanzee profile, and I believe the highest degree of 

 prognathism possible in a human being." 



The Malays, who call themselves the " Men of 

 the Country,'' a title which they cannot rightly claim, 

 since the Sakais are the aborigines, look down upon 

 the latter, calling them "Men of the Woods" (Orang- 

 utan), or "Men of the Hills" (Orang-bukit). Mr. 

 iio,, ,,f,i. .*.> chat- Abraham Hale, who spent some time among these 

 ' primitive little people, has given much valuable 



information concerning their habits in a paper read 

 before the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain, 

 and to this source we are indebted for the following information. In those districts where 

 they live more or less by themselves, undemoralised by Malays, they are simple-hearted, 

 kind, and always anxious to do their best to assist any white man who may happen to 

 want their aid. Mr. Hale was always received with the greatest hospitality. On entering a 

 house, a bed was prepared for him in the best situation, water was brought, and roots of 

 maize or of tapioca were placed on the ashes of the fire to roast. The people are naturally 

 inquisitive, and every one belonging to the house was called into see the white stranger and 

 his belongings. For dress the men wear a strip of bark-cloth twisted round the waist and 

 drawn between the legs. The women sometimes wear small cotton-cloth petticoats (sarongs), 

 purchased from the Malays, and the men occasionally adopt Chinese trousers; but in their 

 own native forests none of these luxuries are indulged in. Their ornaments are of the 



during th* scientific 



A MORO INDIAN GIRL. 



