MA i; I'll ME CODE. i> 



The Kedah Code may, in like manner, form flic text for such 

 part of the Institutes as may be most usefully applied in the inter- 

 course of Europeans ; and will tend to a general understanding of 

 the character and usages of the Malay countries in the immediate 

 vicinity of the British Settlements. This State, until the establish. 

 ment of the English at Pulo Pinang, possessed respectable com- 

 merce ; and still retains its Malayan Government and Institutions, 

 though reduced in importance, and applicable only to internal 

 affairs. 



The Institutes of the smaller States, as of SeLaigor, Perak, 

 and others, may. only require notice as far as they differ from the 

 general Codes of the superior States. 



As the population of the Malayan Peninsula has excited much 

 interest, my attention has been particularly directed to the various 

 tribes stated to be scattered over the country. 



Those on the hills are usually termed Semang, and are woolly- 

 headed; those on the plains Orang henna, or people belonging to 

 the countrv, the word henna being applied by the Malays to any 

 extensive country as henna China, henna Kilnq ; but it ap- 

 pears to be only the Malay plural of the Arabic word bin or heni, 

 signifying a tribe. The early adventurers from Arabia frequently 

 make mention in their writings of t\\t*- different tribes they met 

 with to the Eastward ; and from them, most probably, the Malays 

 have adopted the term Orang henna. 



I had an opportunity of seeing two of those people from a 

 tribe in the neighbourhood of Malacca. It consisted of about sixty 

 people. The tribe was called Jokanq. These people, from their 

 occasional intercourse with the villages dependent on Malacca, 

 speak the Malayan language sufficiently to be generally understood ; 

 they relate that there are two other tribes, the Orang henna and. 

 the Orang udai. The former appears the most interesting as com- 

 posing the majority ; the latter is only another name for the 

 Semang or Kafrls. 



Prom the intercourse and vicinity of the Jokanq tribe to Ma- 

 lacca, they have adopted many Malay words not originally in their 

 language; and the following short specimen may, perhaps, tend to 

 illustrate their connection, and to evince how far they possess a pe- 

 culiar language. They are not circumcised, but appear to have re- 



