THE ORANG SLETAR. 
303 
of the creek, the smoothness of its water, the stillness that prevail¬ 
ed, the absolute wmt of all living things and all signs and sounds of 
life, and the impression that from Us situation it was not frequen¬ 
ted by boats, gave to it a character of the most perfect solitude. 
Whilst enjoying the full influence of this character, a bend of the creek 
suddenly broke the spell by disclosing another reach in which were 
s 
two boats. It was soon renewed and redoubled as we neared them 
and the steersman declared they were wild men, and cautioned us 
to avoid doing anything to frighten them. They were fit accompa¬ 
niments of such a scene. When they saw us they paddled hastily to 
the side and apparently sought to screen themselves from view by the 
mangroves, but we were too close upon them to admit of their doing 
so. As the evening was falling and I was desirous of reaching the 
foot of Gunong Bad by daylight, we did not stop, and I had there¬ 
fore no opportunity of examining or conversing with them. Their 
appearance however is too wild and remarkable to require more than 
a moment’s look to impress itself on the mind. One expression 
was strongly stamped on their countenances, that of a dull blank 
stupidity almost idiotical in its excess animated for the time by the 
startled and frightened look with which they gazed at us. Their 
hair hung over their shoulders in a tangled mass of a dry dirty 
red. In each boat, a woman naked to below the waist, held the helm 
oar, and a mail paddled. Thcwe were also two lads ; and the same 
idiotical expression was so deeply stamped on the face of each, 
as at once to reveal a life so miserably contracted as to exclude 
all that social expansiveness of individual nature which produces 
a free growth of mind and a wide range of ideas. Compared 
with these w ild denizens of loneiy creeks ,my unlettered and igno¬ 
rant Malays and Bawians assumed a high rank in the scale of hu¬ 
manity. The contrast between them and the Malay in particu¬ 
lar, a native of Johore like themselves, w r as so marked as to ren¬ 
der it in a high degree difficult to account for the difference if 
both are of the same stock. The Malay bold, sociable, talkative, 
intelligent, and even possessing a certain peculiar refinement and 
sense of honour. The orang utan, although speaking the same lan¬ 
guage, idiotically stupid and in habits liker wild animals than men, 
shunning all intercourse that can possibly be avoided with the 
rest of mankind, and apparently having no social feeling amongst 
