On the J\/lalayu JSfation, with a translation of its 



Maritime Institutions. 



By THOMAS RAFFLES, tm 



HE opinion that the Malays possess no records whatever of their 

 laws and customs, and that they are solely governed by long established 

 customs and usages, handed down by memory or tradition, seems to 

 have been much strengthened by the observations contained in Mars- 

 den's account of Sumatra. This being the only standard book in the 

 English language, which contains a detailed account of any of the eastern 

 isles, appears by many to have been considered as applying, generally s 

 to all the countries denominated Malayan, whereas the island of Sumatra, 

 though exhibiting an almost inexhaustible fund for research and enquiry, 

 can only be considered as one of the almost innumerable islands, and 

 by no means the greatest in population or in extent, which compose that 

 unparallelled Archipelago in which the Maldyu nation is established. 



