FASCICULI MALATENSES 
9 r 
is a matter of ‘ making merit,’ not by piety or virtue, but by giving to the 
ascetics and the temples. Mahommedans 1 and Buddhists live at peace with 
one another, though the former do not hesitate to express a contempt, that is 
largely theoretical, for those whom they regard as the followers of Moses 1 ; 
conversions from the one religion to the other, in both directions, occur not 
infrequently ; indeed, so far as one who is not acquainted with the Siamese 
language can judge, there is very little practical difference between the popular 
religion of the two peoples. It is, however, almost impossible to gain accurate 
information in matters of this kind through an interpreter, especially when the 
interpreter belongs to a rival religion to that of the informant, and though 
many Mahommedans can speak Siamese, very few Buddhists can speak 
Malay. 
It has been remarked by all who have studied Malay mythology that it 
is full of personages and incidents 3 derived from Hindu cults ; but it is not 
altogether clear how the Indian influence was brought to bear upon the Malays. 
There is much to be said for the view that it came about largely through 
intercourse with Buddhists, if it is not actually a relic of a former Buddhistic 
creed . 4 We know that Indian traders visited Malacca before the Portuguese 
invasion, and the majority, at any rate, of these traders must have belonged 
to Hindu sects ; but it is improbable that they penetrated into the interior 
of the country, and no adequate proof 5 of an actual Hindu domination of the 
Peninsula has been adduced, though it is possible enough that the Malays may 
have brought many Hindu ideas with them from their former home. Material 
evidence is not wanting that Buddhism once flourished more widely in the 
Peninsula than is the case at present. Ancient, apparently Buddhistic, 
inscriptions have been found 6 in Province Wellesley and perhaps in Singapore, 
while, on the eastern side of the main range, Buddhistic votive offerings are 
common in caves at least as far south as central Pahang. Yet Buddhism 
is no longer extant in the Federated Malay States and the Straits Settle- 
ments, though there is a Buddhist monastery in Penang. It is probable 
1. The Malays of Sai Kau, in Nawngchik, during their annual purification ceremony, call in the aid of 
Buddhist ascetics as well as of a Mahommedan Imam, and a bomor , or medicine-man. The ascetics, however, are 
only invited to conduct their prayers and chants at night, while a theatrical performance of one kind or another is 
in progress. 
2. They believe Moses and Gautama to have been the same person ( antea p. 59). 
3. Many of these personages and incidents are kept constantly before the eyes and in the ears of the people 
by the nvayang kulit or shadow play. Cf. H. H. Juynholl, Bijdr. Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde Nederlandsch- Indie, 
, 9 02 > PP- 541-545- 
4. Newbold, Political and Statistical Account of the British Settlements in the Straits of Malacca, vol. ii, p. 193, 
London, 1839. 
5. Cf. Maxwell, Manual of the Malay Language, pp. 27-29, London, 1899. 
6. Miscellaneous Papers relating to Indo-China, vol. i, papers 20 and 21, by Lieut.-Colonel James Low and 
J. W. Laidlay, respectively. 
