MALAY PENINSULA 



3612 



MALICE 



found fossil remains of a prehistoric animal in- 

 termediate between man and the apes; the 

 archipelago also abounds in other objects of in- 

 terest to zoologists and naturalists. The native 

 inhabitants belong chiefly to the Malay and 

 Papuan races. Politically the greater portion 

 of the archipelago is under the Dutch govern- 

 ment. See EAST INDIES, DUTCH. 



MALAY PENINSULA, the southernmost tip 

 of Asia, a drumstick-shaped strip of land ex- 

 tending from Burma and Siam to the East 

 Indian islands (see color map, ASIA, for loca- 

 tion). It is about nine hundred miles long. 

 Its upper third, though less than two hundred 

 miles wide, is divided longitudinally between 

 Burma on the west and Siam on the east; its 

 center third is a part of Siam and its southern 

 third includes the Federated Malay States 

 (which see), with a handful of other tiny native 

 states protected by Great Britain, and the 

 Straits Settlements. The lower half of the 

 peninsula is paralleled by the Dutch island of 

 Sumatra, from which it is separated by the 

 Malacca Strait. Through this strait, which 

 from a width of three hundred miles narrows 

 down to less than twenty-five at its southeast- 

 ern end, passes nearly all the rich traffic from 

 the Suez Canal or India to Siam, Indo-China, 

 China, Japan and the Philippines, and much of 

 that to the East Indies and Australia. 



The Malay Peninsula approaches nearly to 

 within a degree of the equator, and is a dis- 

 tinctly tropical land. Though traversed by 

 mountain ranges, some of which rise to a 

 height of over 7,000 feet, it has an unbroken 

 covering of the densest of equatorial jungles, 

 scarcely any of which have as yet been pene- 

 trated by man. There are, however, hundreds 

 of rivers, along the banks of which dwell the 

 two million or more natives. Though once 

 considered an impossible region for the white 

 man, the peninsula now has a good reputation 

 for health. Nevertheless the population is al- 

 most entirely composed of natives, Chinese and 

 British Indians. The natives include Siamese, 

 Malays, a third race which resembles the Indo- 

 Chinese, and a fourth, negritos. The most 

 famous product of the peninsula is tin, which 

 is found in alluvial deposits; no other country 

 produces as much. Other exports among 

 them rice, tapioca, copra (dried cocoanut), 

 sugar and pepper are typical of the tropics. 

 Rubber plantations are increasing in number. 

 See FEDERATED MALAY STATES. 



Consult Fraser's Quaint Subjects of the King ; 

 Wilkinson's Malay Beliefs. 



MALAY RACE. See RACES OF MEN. 



MALDEN, mawl'den, MASS., a city which 

 includes several villages in Middlesex County, 

 five miles north of Boston, of which it is a 

 residential suburb and postal substation. It is 

 on the Maiden River and is served by two 

 divisions of the Boston & Maine and by a num- 

 ber of interurban lines. Freight is largely 

 handled by river boats. The area of the city 

 is nearly five square miles. The population in 

 1910 was 44,404; in 1916 it was 51,155 (Federal 

 estimate) . 



Maiden has an excellent park system, and 

 northwest of the town is Middlesex Fells, a 

 state reservation. The city has an attractive 

 residence section, and contains a public library, 

 an auditorium, a Y. M. C. A. building, a hos- 

 pital and a Home for Aged Persons. 



In the manufacturing section are rubber boot- 

 and-shoe factories, whose annual output is 

 valued at $6,000,000, and manufactories of glue, 

 cords and tassels, sandpaper, emery paper, 

 boot-and-shoe lasts, fire hose, knit goods and 

 soap. 



Maiden was first settled about 1640, and was 

 a part of Charlestown until 1649, when it was 

 incorporated as Mauldon. It was chartered as 

 a city under its present name in 1881. 



MAL'DIVE ISLANDS, a group of low, coral 

 islands 400 miles southwest of Ceylon, com- 

 posing a chain in the Indian Ocean. They 

 have an average elevation of from six to twenty 

 feet above sea level. These islets are arranged 

 into twelve groups known as atolls (see ATOLL), 

 and number about 1,000, of which nearly 200 

 are inhabited. The total land area is about 

 115 square miles. Though under British pro- 

 tection, they are governed by an elected sultan, 

 who pays a yearly revenue to the British gov- 

 ernment at Ceylon. Rich vegetation covers the 

 islands, and cocoanut palms yield edible nuts. 

 Breadfruit, citron and fig trees produce abun- 

 dant fruit, and wild fowl and fish are plentiful. 

 The inhabitants are of mixed Arab and Sin- 

 ghalese extraction, and are of the Mohamme- 

 dan faith. They are expert sailors and carry on 

 an active trade in their own vessels with Cey- 

 lon, Bengal and the Malabar coast, exchanging 

 mats, fruits, nuts and cowrie and tortoise-shells 

 for tobacco, sugar, rice and manufactured goods. 

 The climate is hot and somewhat unhealthful. 

 Population, about 50,000. 



MALICE, mal'is, in law, is ill will toward 

 another so strong that it prompts an injurious 

 act. A crime committed with the hope of per- 

 sonal gain is not necessarily malicious. Wil- 





