22 
COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL 
nesian ” should therefore be given up as entirely in¬ 
accurate and misleading. 
The Malays belong then, undoubtedly, to the so-called 
Mongolian division of mankind, and this is well illustrated 
by the strong resemblance between some of the higher 
types of each. The ordinary Malay is, of course, very 
different from the Chinaman, but in the island of Bali, 
Mr. A. R. Wallace was unable to distinguish the natives 
from some Chinese immigrants who had laid aside their 
national dress. They are of a light brown complexion 
and rather small, the men being on the average three or 
four inches below the mean European height. The face 
is of a somewhat square or rather rhomboid form, not 
much longer than broad, with high and prominent cheek¬ 
bones ; the expression often mild and not unpleasing; 
eyes black, but rarely oblique; mouth wide and large, 
with rather thick but well-cut lips; broad lower jaw; 
round and shapely chin; nose small and short and rather 
broad, not flat like the Negro nor prominent like the 
European; nostrils very dilated ; occiput flat and square, 
with thick, straight, black hair, but with weak and 
scanty beard, which is almost invariably plucked out by 
the roots. The sexes resemble each other not a little, 
and strangers are sometimes puzzled at first to distinguish 
between the two (see frontispiece). 
The Malay is naturally of an easy-going, indolent 
character. In his intercourse with others he betrays a 
certain reserve, diffidence, and even shyness, which has 
induced many to suppose that there must be some 
exaggeration in the current accounts of his savage and 
bloodthirsty nature. He never gives open expression to 
a sense of astonishment, surprise, or fear, and is probably 
little affected by such feelings. Slow and deliberate of 
speech, he leads up in roundabout ways to the subject 
