INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES, KNOWLEDGE. 
240 
become equally intelligent, and possibly more susceptible of a good 
education than a great part of the natives of India. If the Missions 
which are now to be established among them succeed they will clear 
up these conjectures. A great part of the Jakuns know and ac¬ 
knowledge the existence of a supreme being; they call him by the 
Malay name Tuhan Allah, the Lord God. Many of those of Jo- 
hore know and acknowledge too the truth of a punishment for the 
man who commits sin ; some of them acknowledge that punishment 
in a general way, but by what means it is to be executed, they do 
not know: some others, but few, declared to me openly that after 
death, sinners will he thrown into the fire of hell: but they do not 
know any reward for good men and good works. Those of the Me- 
nangkabau states, probably on account of their more frequent commu¬ 
nications with the Malays, are more learned in divinity; some of 
them spoke to me of God as the creator of every thing, of Adam, as 
the first man, of Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon; but in a very 
confused way. I have not found amongst them any knowledge of 
Christ nor of the Christian religion ; but I was surprised that having 
given on one occasion an instruction of the catechism to some of 
them, and upon asking them again they answered correctly to a good 
number of my questions. The more learned of them are those who 
are called Fawang; I will speak of these in one of the next articles. 
The most ignorant in religious matters are those of Malacca. A 
subject of surprise is that though many of them acknowledge the ex¬ 
istence of a God, of a creator, they have not amongst them a single 
religious practice, and not only they do not practice exterior forms of 
worship, but from inquiries from them I find that they have not the 
slightest feeling either of thankfulness or of love for the Being they 
call their creator. All their knowledge in religion is merely theore¬ 
tical. They do not worship the sun nor the moon nor any idol; what 
Lieut. Newbold said on that matter must be understood of some other 
tribes.* The knowledge of the Jakuns in the art of physic is very con¬ 
fined ; they use very little medicines, and those of them who are sick, 
* See on the religion of the Binua of-Johore, ante , vol. i. p. 27-5, 279, on 
that of the Mintira ib. p. 275, 282, 207, 325, Ac.—E d. 
