chap, n] THE PEOPLE AT KUCHING 



At present the mixed population of Sarawak does not amal- 

 gamate, and each minds his own business, looks after his special 

 trade, and professes his own religion. But in time it is hardly 

 possible that no mixture should take place in this heterogeneous 

 assemblage. The Chinese population keeps quite distinct, and 

 especially so from the Malays, partly on account of religious anti- 

 pathy, and partly because there is a constant immigration of 

 new elements. Otherwise the Chinese mix easily with other 

 people, for they can get only few of their own women, and must 

 therefore intermarry with the natives of the land where they have 

 come to settle. They are beyond doubt the most active, indus- 

 trious, laborious, and enterprising element in the population of 

 Sarawak ; and, foremost in the inveterate vice of opium-smoking, 

 cause more money to circulate than the more sober Malay. They 

 are thus in every way a source of considerable revenue to the local 

 government. 



The Orang Malayu, or Malays of Borneo, like those settled 

 on the coasts of the Malayan peninsula and of the Indian Archi- 

 pelago generally, are the result of very different ethnic elements. 

 Every individual who qualifies himself as an Orang Malayu 

 is a Mussulman, and speaks Malay. The Mussulmans of Sarawak 

 all belong to the " Sunni," or orthodox sect, and the aristocracy/ 

 amongst them, the chiefs and their families, show Arab descent. 

 The fact that the Malays are Mussulmans is plain evidence that 

 the Arabs were the original introducers of the religion of Mahomet 

 in these lands. 



It appears that xArabs were formerly more numerous in Sarawak 

 than they are at present, and there can be no doubt of the very 

 great influence they have exerted on the littoral populations 

 of Borneo. 1 Low writes that the Arab Sareib-Saib, his brother 

 Sareib-Mulla, and their relations, often used to send parties of 

 Sea-Dyaks into the interior to carry off as many young women 

 of the Land-Dyaks as they could get. It is said that in one such 

 raid as many as 300 were carried off. 



And again, these very Arabs who came to settle in Borneo 

 were doubtless by no means always of pure descent, and the blood 

 of negroes and other races probably flowed in their veins. 

 For do not all tradesmen and merchants, from Zanzibar to the 

 Persian Gulf, who profess Islamism call themselves Arabs, and 

 often give themselves the title of " Sareib " or " Seriff," pretend- 

 ing to be descendants of the Prophet ? 



This shows how dangerous it is in Borneo to take one of the 

 headmen or chiefs as an ethnic type of a given tribe, as they are 

 often of foreign origin. For instance, it is well known that on 

 the Seribas river the chiefs are nearly all of Arab descent. On 



1 Low. Sarawak: Its Inhabitants and Productions, pp. 118, 119-23. 



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