22 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL 



nesian " should therefore be given up as entirely in- 

 accurate and misleading. 



The Malays belong then, undoubtedly, to the so-called 

 Mongolian division of mankind, and this is well illustrated 

 by the strong resemblance between some of the higher 

 types of each. The ordinary Malay is, of course, very 

 different from the Chinaman, but in the island of Bali, 

 Mr. A. E. "Wallace was unable to distinguish the natives 

 from some Chinese immigrants w^ho had laid aside their 

 national dress. They are of a light brown complexion 

 and rather small, the men being on the average three or 

 four inches below the mean European height. The face 

 is of a somewhat square or rather rhomboid form, not 

 much longer than broad, with high and prominent cheek- 

 bones ; the expression often mild and not unpleasing ; 

 eyes black, but rarely oblique ; mouth wide and large, 

 with rather thick but well-cut lips ; broad lower jaw ; 

 round and shapely chin ; nose small and short and rather 

 broad, not liat like the Negro nor prominent like the 

 European ; nostrils very dilated ; occiput flat and square, 

 with thick, straight, black hair, but with weak and 

 scanty beard, which is almost invariably plucked out by 

 the roots. The sexes resemble each other not a little, 

 and strangers are sometimes puzzled at first to distinguish 

 between the two (see frontispiece). 



The Malay is naturally of an easy-going, indolent 

 character. In his intercourse with others he betrays a 

 certain reserve, diffidence, and even shyness, which has 

 induced many to suppose that there must be some 

 exaggeration in tlie current accounts of his savage and 

 bloodthirsty nature. He never gives open expression to 

 a sense of astonishment, surprise, or fear, and is probably 

 little affected by such feelings. Slow and deliberate of 

 speech, he leads up in roundabout ways to the subject 



