MALAY PIRAXiiS. 



CHAPTEE XX. 



THE MALAYAN RACE. 



Physical Conformation of the Malays — Betel Chewing — Their Moral Character — 

 Limited Intelligence of the Malays — Their Maritime Tastes — Piracy — Gambling 

 — Cock-lighting — Running A-muck ! — Fishing — Malayan Superstitions — The 

 Battas — Their Cannibalism — Eating a Man alive — The Begns — Aerial Huts — 

 Funeral Ceremonies — The Dyaks — Head-hunting — The Sumpitan — Large 

 Houses. 



UNLIKE the apathetic Indian hunter, whose wishes are 

 bounded by the forest or the savannah, where the cha^e 

 provides him with a scanty subsistence, or the good-humoured 

 •Negro who, fond of agriculture, and attached to the soil on 

 which he was born, never thinks of wandering of his own 

 free will to distant countries, the roving race of the Malays 

 has scattered its colonies far and wide over the Indian Archi- 

 pelago. 



The colour of the various tribes of this remarkable people is 

 a yellowish-brown, and varies but little throughout the numerous 

 islands extending from Sumatra and the peninsula of Malacca 

 to the Moluccas. The hair is black, coarse and straight, the 

 beard scanty. The stature is below the average European size, 



