460 criR:*. — Flarvctt — Food, 



considered clear, and so it would bad the poorer 

 labourer the option of constant work. 

 v A Malay is frugal in his diet. ViAi is In^chM :unmal 

 food, ami lie seldom indulges in hnilUlo fler-h. i ;:\«:c pt 

 on anniversai i*s, marriages, and other pc^unous of 

 rejaicing. But he j& nevertheless of an extravagant 

 turn, and fund of dmss. lie ill subsist easily on a 

 fare which a < 'him-sc, Hfba*e ^Mita W - -rosser, would 

 consider meagre and unsubstantial, lint frugal w he 

 fc, he never stints himself in quantity ; and cpfilcl 

 easily be undersold, in the la bar in irket, t>) a Cludiah, 

 provided the latter choae to nuke Wis stomach the re- 

 gulator of his demand far va.-^s; ft a* tn class of men 

 can here subsist on le*^ than a Chuliah can ; an 1 il i> 

 this circumstance which makes him, exu pliug as a 

 kibourcr, a useless subject, since his savings are rare- 

 lv spent on the spot, hut sent to his family in India, 

 while Chinese and Malaya spend theirs liberally 

 enWgh, in whole or in pai l . 



If the Malay would only tax bis physic! 

 capacity to its utm *st extent, he mi-ht drive 

 the Chinese quite out of the labor market, and that 

 without hi* actually perf inning the same rpMU- 

 li?y of labour as the Chinese : far the latter cottW 0 »t 

 1 n A re long endure any further romadt rahle diminution 

 of hia meatisnfobtaiuiuir luxuries, as a ril us food. 



The prirr of Chinese Jab a- has already fallen la 006- 

 ftnirth part below wJ»t it formerly was, owing partly 

 to the diminished capital in circulation, but < hietly to 

 the competition of ( 'hid tab and Malayan labor. The 

 difference in the physical strength r.f a Chinese and 

 in that of a !\Ja!e\ is Uss than than the mural distinc- 

 tion existing In; xv i x i the two. Al present the latter 

 cannot be easilv kq>t to steady mmiihfy labor, aiol 

 generally prefti* low wa«r* paid daily, to better 

 wages paid monthly. His surplus wa^es, if i>ot 



