GENERAL FEATURES OF MALAYSIA 
25 
but is soft and musical, in its liquid sounds somewhat 
resembling Italian. All Europeans in the Dutch and 
English possessions speak this language, which is easily 
and rapidly acquired. 
The Malays and Indonesians, to whom the preceding 
description is generally applicable, and who agree closely 
with those of the Malayan Peninsula, inhabit all the islands 
from Sumatra to Sumbawa, Celebes, the Philippines, Buru, 
and Ternate, with outlying settlements in Gilolo, Ceram, 
Amboina, Banda, and at several points on the Papuan 
islands. Only a small portion of these have Malay as 
their language, that tongue being found chiefly in the 
central plateau of Sumatra, and around the coast of 
Borneo. In every other part of the Malayan area other 
languages are spoken, some of them being merely dialects 
of Malay, others distinct but allied languages. Many, 
again, as the Bugis of Macassar, and especially the 
languages of the people of Ternate and Tidor, are totally 
unlike Malay. 
Again, the Malays may be divided into two great 
groups—the savage and the semi-civilised peoples. The 
Dyaks of Borneo are the best example of the former. 
They have no writing or literature, no regular government 
or religion, and they wear only the scantiest clothing of 
the usual savage type. But they are by no means a low 
class of savages, for they build good houses, cultivate 
the ground, make pottery and canoes, work in iron, and 
even construct roads * and bridges. In the same stage 
are some of the inland tribes of Sumatra, Celebes, and 
Buru. The semi-civilised people comprise all the other 
Malayan tribes. These possess written languages, and 
many of them peculiar alphabets ; they have some scanty 
literature, established governments, and some form of 
