582 



THE RACES OF MA.Y 



foUAP. XL, 



CHAPTER XL. 



THK RACES OF MAS m THE MALAY ABCHIPJJLAGO. 



IPEOPOSE to conclude this account of my Eastern 

 travels, witli a short statement of my views as to the 

 races of man which inhabit the various parts of the 

 Archipelago, their chief physical and mental characteristics, 

 their affinities with each other and with surrounding tribes, 

 their migrations, and their probable origin. 



Two very strongly contrasted races inhabit the Archi- 

 pelago — the Malays, occupying almost exclusively the 

 larger western haH of it, and the Papuans, wliose head- 

 quarters are New Guinea and several of the adjacent 

 islands. Between these in locality, are found tribes who 

 are also intermediate in their chief characteristics, and it 

 is sometimes a nice point to determine whetiier they 

 belong to one or the other race, or have been formed by a 

 mixture of the two. 



The Malay is undoubtedly the most important of these 

 two races, aa it is the one which ia the most civilized, 

 which has come most into contact with Europeans, and 

 whicli alone has any place in history. \Vliat may be called 

 the true Malay races, as distinguished from othera who 

 have merely a Malay element in their language, present a 

 considerable uniformity of physical and mental charac- 

 teristics, while there are very great differences of civiUza- 

 tion and of language- They consist of four great, and a few 

 minor semi-civilized tribes, and a number of others who 

 may be termed savages. The Malays proper inhabit the 

 !Malay peninsula, and almost all the coast regions of 

 Borneo and Sumatra. Tiiey all speak the Malay language, 

 or dialects of it; they %vrite in the Arabic character, and 

 are Mahometans in religion. The Javanese inhabit Java, 

 part of Sumatra, Madura. Bali, and part of Lombock. 

 They speak the Javanese and Kawi languages, which 

 tliey write in a native character. Tliey are now Maho- 



