MALAYSIA. 



983 



islands are Luzon and Mindanao ; tli(3 former lias an area of 53,000 square miles ; the latter 

 of about 30,000. There are numerous volcanoes in these and the other islands. 



Manilla, the capital of all the Spanish colonies in the east, is a large, populous, and flourish- 

 ing city on Luzon, situated at the head of a fine bay, upon a noble river, which divides it into 2 

 parts. It is handsomely built, and contains the residence of the governor-general, a cathe- 

 dral, several convents, and numerous churches, some of which are richly decorated. Manilla 

 is the centre of an active commerce, and its harbor is thronged with European, American, 

 and Chinese vessels. Population, J 50,000. The kingdom of Mindanao, with an area of 

 16,000 square miles, and 36,000 inhabitants, is entirely independent ; the sultan of Sooloo 

 holds the large island of Palaioan, which is but imperfectly known. 



10. Inhabitants. Two distinct races are found in these islands ; one of these is black, and 

 is found in the interior of Borneo and the Philippine Isles, but comprises a small part of the 

 population. The great mass of the inhabitants are tribes or nations of Malay origin. They 

 are in general of a dark yellow complexion, but with a great variety of shades, with black oi 

 dark hair, and well formed. In their social condition they present great diversities, but have 

 mostly made more or less progress in the arts and in civilization, having regularly organized 

 governments, and written characters. They exhibit a singular combination of vigar and impet- 

 uosity in action, with mildness and apalliy wiien urged by no powerful motive. As enemies 

 they are bold, remorseless, and vindictive ; as friends too often capricious and treacherous. 

 With these dispositions they are naturally inclined to predatory warfare, and piracy has ever 

 been a favorite pursuit. In their usages we often find a similar mixture of mildness and feroci- 

 ty, gentle manners, covering the horrible practices of cannibalism, infanticide, and human sacri- 

 fices. 



The principal nations of Malaysia are the Javanese and Sundays of Java ; the Malays 

 Proper, who inhabit the coast of Sumatra, Borneo, the Moluccas, Timor, &,c. ; the Achee- 

 nese, Rejangs, Lampongs, and Battas of Sumatra ; the Macassars and Bugis of Celebes ; the 

 Tagals, Bissayos, and Sooloos of the Philippines, and some others. Most of these nations 

 are Mahometans ; but the Battas, the Haraforas of the interior of Borneo, and many others, 

 are heathens. 



The Malays Proper and the Javanese are the most numerous and the most civilized ; they 

 have at different times founded extensive empires, and have valuable literature. These, with 

 many of the other nations, have, from time immemorial, practised agriculture ; worked mines, 

 and possessed the art of weaving ; domesticated the buflalo, the ox, the hog, and other ani- 

 mals ; formed calendars, and had systems of arithmetic. They have practised navigation with 

 great skill and boldness, and carried on a distant commerce from a remote period. The 

 Battas, however, who possess these arts of civilization, have established a sort of legal, or ]')- 

 dicial cannibalism ; the punishment of several crimes by tlieir laws, is, to be eaten alive. On 

 the day fixed for the execution of the sentence, the person injured has the privilege of cutting 

 off the first morsel, and he is followed in succession by the rest of the district. Besides this, 

 t is usual for the Battas and some other nations to eat their prisoners of war. 



