150 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ANATOMICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL 



south. Negri Sembilan lies between Selangor on the north, and 

 Malacca and Johore on the south. Pahang lies to the east of the 

 other States, bounded on the north by the Siamese States, and on the 

 south by Johore. The area of the four States is some 26,380 square 

 miles. 



The population at the last census, in 1901, was 678,595, consist- 

 ing of 312,486 Malays and other natives of the Archipelago, 299,739 

 Chinese, 2,954 Europeans and Eurasians, and the remainder composed 

 of Tamils, Singhalese, Siamese, Japanese and races from Northern 

 India, Bengalis, Sikhs, Pathans, etc. 



The Sakai population was put down at 7,982, but this figure is 

 not altogether to be relied on. The Sakais are a nomadic race, the 

 majority of them leading a roving life, in what is as yet primeval 

 forest. The difficulty of making a correct census of them can be 

 easily understood. 



The climate of the Malay Peninsula, although hot and moist, is 

 fairly healthy. It is insular rather than continental. The tempera- 

 ture varies between 75 F. at night, and 95 F. in the day. The aver- 

 age mean temperature in the shade is about 85 F. The nights are 

 always sufficiently cool to permit of sleep without the assistance of a 

 punkah. There are no seasonal changes and there are no variations 

 in the average temperature all the year round. Foliage is perennial. 

 The rainfall is abundant, from 100 to 200 inches per annum, depend- 

 ing on the district. It is distributed fairly equally throughout the 

 year, there being no regular wet and dry seasons, although some 

 months are, as a rule, wetter than others. 



The chief products of the States are tin, rice, rubber, cocoa-nuts, 

 pepper, sugar and coffee ; the last mentioned is not so much cultivated 

 as formerly, rubber now taking its place in many plantations. The 

 tin mining is chiefly in the hands of the Chinese. 



The history of British interference in these States is interesting 

 and is a record of almost uninterrupted success. In 1874, owing to 

 dissensions among the Malays themselves, riots among the Chinese 

 employed in the mines, the consequent insecurity of trade and property 



