296 



PHYSICAL HISTORY OF MAN. 



" The Original People live in the dead of the forest. They never 

 come down to the villages for fear of meeting any one. They live on 

 the fruits of the forest, and w^hat they take in hunting, and neither 

 sow nor plant. When a j^oung man and woman have engaged to 

 marry, they proceed to a hillock ; the woman first runs round it three 

 times, when the man pursues; if he can get hold of her, she becomes 

 his wife, otherwise, the marriage does not take place, and they return 

 to their respective families. Their language is not understood by any 

 one; they lisp their words, the sound of which is like the noise of 

 birds, and their utterance is very indistinct. They have neither king 

 nor chief of any kind ; but there is one man whom they style Puyung, 

 to whom they refer all their requests and complaints, and they inva- 

 riably adopt his decision. They have no religion, no idea of a Su- 

 preme Being, creation of the world, soul of man, sin, heaven, hell, 

 angels, day of judgment. They have no priests: the Puyung instructs 

 them in matters relative to sorcery, ghosts, and evil spirits, in the be- 

 lief of which they are all influenced. They never quarrel or go to 

 war with another tribe. In sickness they use the roots and leaves of 

 trees as medicines. When one of them dies, the head only is buried; 

 the body is eaten by the people, who collect in large numbers for that 

 purpose." 



What is stated of their language, is the more worthy of note; when 

 it is considered, that the dialects of the neighbouring and closely re- 

 lated tribes, belong to the Malay class. Whoever has chanced to be 

 thrown among people, not a syllable of whose speech lie could com- 

 prehend, will know, that amid many inconveniences, it is still possi- 

 ble to get along. And in the condition of things to be next men- 

 tioned, the nearest I have heard of to the ' natural state of man,' it 

 seems questionable, Whether a language of words, is really needed. 



4. The instance alluded to, is that of the Wild People of Borneo; 

 who are described by Dalton,* in the following words : — "Further 

 towards the north, are to be found men living absolutely in a state 

 of nature; who neither cultivate the ground, nor live in huts; who 

 neither eat rice nor salt, and who do not associate with each other; 

 but rove about some woods, like wild beasts. The sexes meet in the 

 jungle, or the man carries away a woman from some campong. 



* In the Singapore Chronicle, March and April, 1831. Reprinted in IVtoore's Papers 

 on the Indian Archipelago. 



