WOHAMMEDAKLSM IN THE ARCniPELAGO. 



51 



was the origin or signification of either I never could 

 leam, and believe the common people are as ignorant 

 as myself in this respect. Their whole ceremony is 

 to kneel, facing this niche, and repeat in a low, mum- 

 bling, nasal tone some paita of the ivritings of their 

 prophet. Their priests are always Arabs, or theii' 

 mestizo descendants, the same class of people as 

 those who introduced this faith. Any one who has 

 been to Mecca is regarded as next to a saint, and 

 many go to Singapore or Penang, where they remain 

 a year or two, and then return and declare they have 

 seen the holy city. The fii-st conversions to Moham- 

 medanism in any part of the archipelago occun^ed at 

 Aehin, the western end of Sumatra, in 1204. It was 

 not taught by pure Arabs, hut by those descendants 

 of Arabs and Pei'sians who came from the Persian 

 Gulf to Achin to trade. Thence it spread slowly 

 eastwar^l to Java, Celebes, and the Moluccas, and 

 northward to the Philippines, where it was just gain- 

 ing a foothold when the Spanish amved. Under their 

 rule it was soon eradicated, and supplanted by Catho- 

 lic Christianity. Bali is almost the only island where 

 the people can read and write their native tongue, 

 and have not partially adopted this religion. On 

 the continent it spread so rapidly that, within one 

 hundred years after the Hegira, it was established 

 from Persia to Spain ; but, as its promulgators were 

 not a maritime people, it did not reach Achin until 

 five hundred and seventy-two years after the Hegira, 

 and then its followers had so little of the fanaticism 

 and energy of the Arabs, that it was more than three 

 hundred years in reaching Celebes, and fully estah 



