Although known to Europeans since the beginning of the 16th century, and nowhere more than 100 miles from the sea, the interior still remains one of the least known lιnds in Asia. D’Souza’s large map, prepared in 1879 for the British Government, is still in many places almost a complete blank; the mountain ranges are traced only for short distances, chiefly on the west side below Kedah; the river courses and political boundaries are often merely conjectured, while the elevation of some of the highest peaks is absolutely unknown. Accurate surveys, however, have since then been made, especially by II. S. Deane in the Perak and Selângor states, by D. D. Daly in most of the British native states, by Dru in the extreme north, and by others in the extreme south about the Endau river basin and at several other points, from which a rough idea may be formed of the general orographic and geological features and hydrographic systems. The surface seems to be everywhere essentially mountainous, and considerably more elevated than had till recently been supposed. The land is traversed in its entire length by a somewhat irregular and ill-defined backbone, forming a southern continuation of the Arakan and Tenasserim ranges, but here falling to a mean elevation of perhaps 3000 feet, and constituting a distinct water-parting between the streams flowing east and west to the surrounding seas. The surface is further varied by numerous spurs and detached ridges running mainly north and south, besides isolated masses often vying in elevation with the central ranges. Little space is thus left for upland plateaus, broad valleys, or lowland alluvial plains of any extent, except about Tringgânu and Pahang on the east, and Selângor on the west side. The highest ascertained altitudes are the Titi Bangsa range (7000 feet), between Kedah and Perak; the Gunong Inas (5000) ascended in 1881 by Deane; the Gunong Bubu (5650), and Gunong Ulu Tumulang (6435), near the right and left banks of the Perak river; the

Slim range (6000 to 7000) in south-east Perak; the Gunong Rajah (6500), in the main range; a peak (7000) in the Endau river basin, nearly double the height of Gunong Ledang, or Mount Ophir (3849), hitherto supposed to be the highest point in the extreme south. But an unexplored ridge towards the west frontier of Kelantan, with a probable elevation of 8500 or 9000 feet, is taken by Miklucho Maclay as the culminating land of the whole peninsula. These mountains are scarcely any where traversed by recognized beaten tracks, the natural passes between the eastern and western watersheds being still mostly overgrown by dense jungle. Deane, however, came upon a forest path across the main water-parting from Kedah to Patâni, and a route is said to lead from the Bernam river basin across the main axis to Pahang on the east side.

Owing to the formation of the land, the rivers, although numerous, are necessarily of short length, and, as their mouths are generally obstructed by bars and coral reefs, they are on the whole more useful for irrigation than as water highways. Nevertheless some are navigable by light craft for considerable distances, and in 1881 Deane steamed up the Bernam between Perak and Selângor to Kampong Chankat Bertiham, 76 miles from the coast. He proceeded by boat thence for 9 miles to Simpang, where the stream divides and shallows. For about 80 miles it is 10 to 17 feet deep, while the Perak, with its chief tributaries, the Plus, Kinta, and Batang Padang, presents a total navigable waterway of perhaps 200 miles. The Perak on the west and the Pahang on the east slope are by far the largest river basins in the peninsula, each draining an area of 5000 to 6000 square miles. The other chief streams are the Selângor and Klang on the southwest coast, the Johôr facing Singapore, and on the east side the Endau, Kelantan, and Patâni.

As far as has been ascertained, the main geological formations would appear to be Lower Devonian sandstones and unfossilized clay slates, with a basis of grey stanniferous granite everywhere cropping out. Although no trace has been found of recent volcanic action, there are several isolated and unstratified limestone masses from 500 to 2000 feet high, of a highly crystallized character, with no fossils of any kind. Earthquakes also are frequent, while numerous hot springs attest the presence of still active igneous forces beneath the surface. In the south porphyry occurs, associated with granite and clay ironstone; and laterite, resembling that of the Malabar coast, abounds, especially along the west slope. The rich stanniferous granites forming the backbone of the peninsula render this region the most extensive storehouse of tin in the world, λ r ast deposits of tin ores, sometimes associated with gold and silver, occur almost everywhere, and are continued in the neighbouring islands as far south as Banca on the Sumatra coast. Gold, whence the land was known to the ancients as the Aurea Chersonesus, is also found in considerable quantities, either disseminated in quartz or in alluvial deposits, especially about Mount Ophir, in Pahang, Gomichi, Tringgânu, and Kemâman. The total yield has amounted in some years to 25,000 and 30,000 ounces. Iron ores abound especially in the south, and coal has recently been found in the isthmus of Krâ conveniently situated for the future ship canal across the peninsula.

The climate, everywhere moist and hot, becomes oppressive and even malarious along the low muddy banks of the coast streams. Higher up, although cooler, it is not always more healthy, and the uplands, especially about Mount Ophir, have the reputation of being extremely dangerous to Europeans (Wallace). Yet the mean temperature, thanks to the general elevation of the land and the prevailing sea-breezes, is much lower than that of many Asiatic lands lying much farther from the equator. While the glass rises normally on the Makrân coast and in the Persian Gulf to 110°, 120°, and even 125° Fahr., the mean summer range in the peninsula scarcely exceeds 90°, while at an altitude of 2500 feet it is under 70° for the whole year. There is strictly speaking no winter, nor a distinctly marked rainy season, the alternate north-east and south-west monsoons distributing the moisture over the east and west slopes throughout most of the year. The average number of rainy days is about one hundred and ninety, and the mean rainfall from 100 to 130 inches. The west coast is exposed to sudden squalls of short duration, known as “Sumatras” from the direction whence they blow, while the opposite side is often visited by tornadoes during the monsoons.

Except in some limestone tracts, especially in Perak and Kedah, the soil is generally poor, and the country, which may be described as of comparatively recent formation slowly undergoing decomposition, is incapable of growing sufficient rice even for the local demand (D. D. Daly). The land, however, is almost everywhere clothed with a magnificent tropical vegetation, in which the most conspicuous and useful plants are the gutta-percha (here first discovered), the camphor tree, ebony, sapan, ratan, eagle wood, bamboo, nibung, and nipa palm. Unfortunately the work of reckless destruction has already commenced, and the Chinese miners have in many places cleared extensive tracts, cutting down the finest trees to serve as fuel for smelting the tin ores. Of fruits the most characteristic are the durian and mangosteen; and of cultivated plants the most common are rice, the sugar cane, cotton, tobacco, yams, batata, cocoa and areca palms. Tea and coffee might be successfully cultivated along the slopes of the Perak and Selângor rivers (Deane). A species of climbing indigo and the wild nutmeg are indigenous, and the true nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves have long been introduced, and thrive well (Newbold).

The fauna of the peninsula, which is unusually rich, is allied, like the flora and the inhabitants, rather to that of the Eastern Archipelago than the mainland. Here are the one-horned rhinoceros, Malay tapir (tânau), elephant, and hog, all of the same species as those of Sumatra. Here is also a small bear (bruangh), found elsewhere only in Borneo, as well as the Sundaox of Java, besides two kinds of bison said to be peculiar to the peninsula (Crawfurd). On the other hand, the Asiatic tiger has extended his range throughout the whole region, even crossing over to Singapore and other adjacent islands. Of quadrumanes there are no less than nine species, including the chimpanzee (Simia troglodytes), the kukang (Lemur tardigradus'), the black and white unka, but apparently not the orang-outan, although the word is in common use among the Malays, who often apply it in its natural sense to the Sakai and other wild tribes of the interior. Of birds perhaps the most characteristic are the rhinoceros hornbill (Buceros), the bangu or Javanese stork, the argus and pencilled pheasants, birds of paradise (Paradisea regia and P. gularis), myna or grackle (Gracula religiosa'), murei or dial bird (Gracula saularis), the humming bird, besides kingfishers, flycatchers, doves, and pigeons in endless variety. The islands are frequented by the Hirundo esculenta, or swallow that builds edible nests. The forests swarm with coleoptera, lepidoptrea, and other insects, including the magnificent butterfly Ornithoptera Brdokeana i till recently supposed to be peculiar to Borneo (Deane). The surrounding waters are inhabited by the halicore, or “mermaid,” a sirenian whose Malay name duyong has been corrupted to dugong in our natural history books.

Politically the peninsula is partly held directly by Siam and Great Britain, and partly divided among a number of petty Malay states, either tributary to or in treaty with those paramount powers. The Siamese territory and states embrace the whole of the northern section southwards to 5° 35' N., and thence on the east side as far as the southern frontier of Tringgânu in 4° 35' N. A line drawn from this parallel on the east coast across the peninsula north-westwards to Kedah on the west coast will thus mark tb p southern limits of all the land directly or indirectly subject to Siam. The rest of the peninsula is occupied by the British possessions grouped under the collective name of the Straits Settlements (g.v. y ), and by the more or less independent Malay states proper, which may be regarded as forming part of the British system. Subjoined is a table of all the political divisions of the peninsula :—

Siamese Political System.

Ligor, Sengora. These two provinces of Lower Siam proper comprise the isthmus of Krâ between 7° and 10° N., with a coast-line of 240 miles on the east and 260 on the west side; area perhaps 17,000 square miles; population, 50,000 (?).

Kedah, between Ligor and Perak, 7° to 5° 35' N., with 120 miles on west coast; area, 3600 square miles; population, 30,000.

Patâni or Raman, between Sengora and Kelantan, 7° to 5° 30' N., with coast-line on east side 50 miles; area, 5000 square miles; population, 30,000.

Kelantan, between Patâni and Tringgânu, 6° to 4° N., 60 miles coast on east side; area, 7000 square miles; population, 20,000.

Tringgânu with Kemâman, between Kelantan and Pahang, 5° 30' to 4° N., with 80 miles coast-line on the east side; area, 6000 square miles; population 50,000 (?).

British Political System.

Perak, between Kedah and Selangor, 5° 30' to 4° N., with 80 miles coast-line on vest side; area, 6500 square miles; population, 30,000.

Selangor with Kalang, between Perak and Malacca territory, 4 3 to3°N., with 120 miles coast-line on west side; population, 15,000.

Johor, southern extremity of the peninsula from 2° 40' N. to Cape Romania; area, 10,000 square miles; population, 20,000.

Pahang, between Johor and Tringgânu, 3° to 5° N., 90 miles coast on east side; area, 3500 square miles; population, 20,000.

Jelébu, Sungei Ujong, Sri Menanti, Jumpol, Johol, Rambau, Jelai, Segâmat or Moar. These inland states, lying between 2° and 4° N., formerly constituted with Naning (Malacca territory) the so-called Negri Sambilan, or “Nine Lands,” governed by pan-glmlus or chiefs, feudatory first to the sultans of Malacca and then to those of Johor. It is now proposed again to consolidate them in one state under the suzerainty of or in alliance with Great Britain. They lie surrounding Malacca territory, between Johor on the east, Pahang on the north, and Selângor on the west and northwest. Total area probably not more than 5000 square miles; population, 50,000 (?). The more important are Rambau (Linggi river basin), Segâmat (Moar river basin), Johol (north from Mount Ophir), and Sungei Ujong (Lângat river basin).

Straits Settlements: parts of Perak, Malacca, Pulo Penang, and Singapore; total area, 1445 square miles; population (1881), 314,000.

Excluding the Chinese, Klings, Bugis, and other more recent arrivals, the inhabitants of all these states belong to three distinct stocks—the Tai (Siamese), Malay, and Negrito. The Siamese of pure blood occupy the extreme north with scattered communities as far south as the town of Sengora (7° 10' N.). A mixed Malayo-Siamese people, commonly known as Samsams, form the bulk of the population in the lower parts of Ligor and Sengora, and in the north of Kedah. Although entirely assimilated to the Siamese in speech, customs, and religion, these Samsams appear to be allied physically much more to the Malay than to the Tai stock. Yet their national sympathies seem to be altogether with the dominant race, and the people, especially of Ligor, have during the present century zealously co-operated with the Siamese in their persistent efforts to subdue the Malays of the neighbouring states.

All the rest of the peninsula, from about 7° N. to Cape Romania, may be regarded as essentially “Malay land,” as it is in fact called by the people themselves. But whether the Malays are here indigenous, or intruders from Sumatra, is a question still warmly discussed by ethnologists. Those, however, who support the latter view by appealing to the undoubted historic migrations of civilized Malays from Menangkabo or Palembang in the 12th century, or even to still earlier arrivals from Java, do not understand the point at issue. For the peninsula is occupied, not only by these civilized Orang Malâyu of cultured speech, Mohammedans and mostly no doubt originally from Sumatra, but also by the Orang Benua, that is, “men of the soil,” or aborigines, of Malay stock and of rude Malay speech, nature worshippers, and settled here from prehistoric times. Similar uncultured Malay tribes, such as the Orang Kubu of Palembang, are no doubt also found in Sumatra. But it is unlikely that any of these people ever crossed the shallow intervening Straits of Malacca, which were probably dry land when the race was gradually diffused over the common area. Whether the migration proceeded eastwards or westwards is therefore a point which cannot be determined pending the settlement of the further and broader question of the origin and dispersion of the Malay race itself. If the Malays are a branch of the Mongol stock, as many hold, then the Orang Benua must have passed through the peninsula southwards to the archipelago at a time when most of it still formed part of the Asiatic mainland. But if they originated in the archipelago itself, as others maintain, then the stream of migration must have been reversed.

in any case the Orang Benua are not the only aborigines in the peninsula. For the most recent research has fully confirmed the somewhat vague statements of earlier writers regarding the presence in this region of a Negroid element differing fundamentally from the Malay type, and apparently to be affiliated to the Negrito of the Andaman Islands and Philippines. “Purely anthropological observations and considerations lead me to accept the supposition of a * Melanesian’ element (a remnant of the original race), which through intermixture with the Malays is being more and more supplanted In the mountains of Pahang and Kelantan as far as Sengora and Ligor, I have discovered a Melanesian population. This people undoubtedly belongs to the Melanesian stock” (Miklucho Maclay in Ethnologische Excursion in Johor).

The Malay and Negrito aborigines are collectively known to the civilized Malays as Semang and Sakei respectively, although much confusion seems to have arisen in the use of these terms, nor is this surprising, seeing that the two races themselves, who have been in contact for ages, have become largely intermingled and assimilated in customs, and even in speech. The original Negrito dialects, which Maclay has compared with those of the Philippines, are everywhere yielding to the Malay, which is spoken throughout the peninsula with little dialectic variety as far as 6’ and 7° N., where it is replaced by Siamese. The aborigines, who are said not to number altogether more than some 10,000, are divided into a great many tribes, of which the best known are the Jakuns, widespread in the south, the Udai, Bâsisi, Sabimba, Mintira (Mantra), and Hala. All are in a very low state of culture, holding aloof from the settled populations, living entirely on the chase, and pursuing the game with poisoned arrows. It is noteworthy that even the more or less civilized Malays, especially of Rambau and other inland states, still hold to the tribal organization, the very names of many of theiι , tribes, such as the Anak Achi (“children of Achin”) and Sri Lummah Menangkabau, betraying their comparatively recent migration from Sumatra.

Other ethnical elements in the peninsula are the Bugis from Celébes, formerly powerful on the west coast; the “Moors” (Arabs), now mostly absorbed by the civilized Malays; the Klings from India, chiefly traders in the seaports; the Topas (Topazio), half-caste Portuguese Christians, still numerous especially in Malacca territory, a few Europeans, Battas, and African slaves; and, lastly, the Chinese, by far the most numerous of all, who are gradually converting the Malay peninsula into a second China. They have already monopolized the mining and agricultural industries, as well as the retail trade and local shipping.

Although vaguely known to the ancients as the Aurea Chersonesus, and even by them already described as a “Regio Latronum,” or piratical land, the Malay peninsula possesses no historic traditions carlier than the 13th century. According to the native writers the first settlement was madeat Singa-pura, or the “Lion City,” about 1250 by emigrants from the banks of a river Malâyu in Sumatra. Expelled from Singapore by the Javanese king Majapâhit, the colonists founded the city of Malacca on the south-west coast of the mainland in 1253. From this point the cultured and Mohammedan Malays of Sumatra are supposed to have rapidly spread over the whole peninsula, where they had already established a number of petty piratical states, when the Portuguese under Albuquerque reached Malaysia and reduced Malacca in 1511. Being thus, so...

Long considered as an independent division of mankind, the Malays are now more generally affiliated to the Mongol stock, of which A. R. Wallace, De Quatrefages, and other eminent naturalists regard them as a simple variety more or less modified by mixture with other elements. “The Malayan race, as a whole, undoubtedly very closely resembles the East-Asian populations from Siam to Manchuria. I was much struck with this when in the island of Bali I saw Chinese traders who had adopted the costume of that country, and who could then hardly be distinguished from Malays; and, on the other hand, I have seen natives of Java who, as far as physiognomy was concerned, would pass very well for Chinese.” In fact, the typical Malay can scarcely be distinguished anthropologically from the typical Mongolian. He is described as of low stature, averaging little over 5 feet, of olive-yellow complexion inclining to light brown or cinnamon, brachycephalous, with somewhat flat features, high cheek bones, black and slightly oblique eyes, small but not flat nose, dilated nostrils, mouth wide but not projecting, hands and feet small and delicate, legs very thin and weak, coarse black hair, always lank and round in section, scant or no beard.

The departure from this description so frequently noticed in the archipelago must be attributed to intermixture with the black Papuan stock in the east, and with a distinct pre-Malay Caucasie element in the west. The presence of this “Indonesian” element, as it is called by Dr Hamy, may now be regarded as an ascertained fact, the recognition of which will help to remove many of the difficulties hitherto associated with the natural history of the Malay race. It at once explains, for instance, the apparent discrepancy between the foregoing description of the ordinary Malay and that of the Battas, Orang Kabu, and many other Sumatran and Bornean peoples described as tall and robust, with regular features, symmetrical figure, light complexion, brown and wavy hair, and general European appearance.

These considerations also enable us to fix the true centre of dispersion of the Malay race rather in Malacca than in Sumatra, contrary to the generally received opinion. If they are to be physically allied to the Mongol stock, it is obvious that the earliest migration must have been from High Asia southwards to the peninsula, and thence to Sumatra, possibly at a time when the island still formed part of the mainland. The national traditions of a dispersion from Menangkabo or Palembang in South Sumatra must accordingly be understood to refer to later movements, and more especially to the diffusion of the civilized Malay peoples, who first acquired a really national development in Sumatra in comparatively recent times. From this point they spread to the peninsula, to Borneo, Sulu, and other parts of Malaysia, apparently since their conversion to Islam, although there is reason to believe that other waves of migration must have reached Further India and especially Camboja, if not from the same region at all events from Java, at much earlier dates. The impulse to these earlier movements must be attributed to the intro duction of Indian culture through the Hindu and Buddhist missionaries, perhaps two or three centuries before the Christian era. During still more remote prehistoric times various sections of the Malay and Indonesian stocks were diffused westwards to Madagascar, where the Hovas, of undoubted Malay descent, still hold the political supremacy, and eastwards to the Philippines, Formosa, Micronesia, and Polynesia. This astonishing expansion of the Malaysian peoples throughout the Oceanic area is sufficiently attested by the diffusion of a common Malayo-Polynesian speech from Madagascar to Easter Island, and from Hawaii to New Zealand. See Polynesia.

The Malays proper have long been divided socially into three distinct groups, —the Orang Benüa, or “Men of the Soil,” that is, the uncivilized wild tribes; the Orang-laut, or “Men of the Sea,” that is, the semi-civilized floating population; and the Orang Maldyu, or “Malay Men,” that is, the civilized Malays with a culture, a literature, and a religion. The Orang Benιia, called also Orang Gunung, or “Highlanders,” and sometimes even Orang-utan, or “Wild Men,” constitute the aboriginal Malay element, the “raw material,” so to say, of the race, which has hitherto remained wholly unaffected by foreign influences, and which is still grouped in small tribes at a very low stage of culture, living nearly exclusively by the chase, and almost destitute of all social organization. They are found chiefly in the more inaccessible wooded uplands of Malacca and Sumatra, in the former region more or less intimately associated for ages with the Negrito tribes, and in the latter island apparently the sole occupiers of the land from the first. Intermediate between the Orang Benda and Orang Malayu are the Orang-laut, the “Sea Gipsies” of English writers, who still occupy the same low social position that they held when the Portuguese first reached Malaysia. They were then described by De Barros under the name of Cellates, or “people of the Straits,” as “a vile people dwelling more on the sea than on the land,” and “living by fishing and robbing”; and this description is still largely applicable, although piracy is now all but suppressed in the Eastern waters. The Bajau and Millanau of the Sulu Archipelago and neighbouring coast lands also belong to this class of sea nomads. Lastly, the Orang Malayu are that section of the race which, under the influence first of the Hindus and then of the Arabs, has developed a national life and culture, and which has founded more or less powerful political states in various parts of the archipelago. But here again it i⅜ necessary to distinguish between the civilized Malays proper, and the other civilized branches of the race, to whom the term Malay is never applied, and who speak languages which, while belonging to the common Malay linguistic family, differ greatly from the standard Malay speech. The chief divisions of all these civilized communities are as under :—

Orang Malayu: Menangkabo, Palembang, and Lampong in Sumatra; petty states of the Malay Peninsula; Borneo; Tidor; Ternate.

Sumatran group: Achinese, Rejangs, Passumahs.

Javanese group: Javanese proper, Sundanese, Madurese, Balinese.

Celebes group: Bugis, Mangkassara, and others.

Philippine group: Tagalas, Bisayans, Bicol, Sulu, and others. Outlying groups: Hovas of Madagascar, Formosan Islanders.

In all these the distinctly Malay physical type decidedly predominates, whereas elsewhere in the archipelago the so-called Malays are often rather “Indonesians,” in whom the distinctly Caucasie physical type predominates. Such especially are the Battas and Orang Kubu of Sumatra, the Nias and Mentawey islanders, the Rayans, and many of the Dyak tribes of Borneo.

In their temperament no less than in their features the Malays still betray their Asiatic origin. They are described as of a taciturn, undemonstrative disposition, little given to outward manifestations of joy or sorrow, yet extremely courteous towards each other, and as a rule kind to their women, children, and domestic animals. Slow and deliberate in speech, neither elated by good nor depressed by bad fortune, normally impassive and indolent, they are nevertheless capable of the greatest excesses when their passions are roused. I. 1 nder the influence of religious excitement, losses at gambling, jealousy or other domestic troubles, they are often seized by the so-called “amok” fever, when they will rush wildly through the crowded streets armed with their sharp krisses, cutting down all who cross their path with incredible fury and without the least discrimination. Amongst the practices and propensities _ which connect them with the Mongoloid inhabitants of Indo-China the most striking are pile-building, especially in Java and Borneo; cock-fighting, universal throughout the archipelago; a pronounced taste for putrescent fish, with a corresponding dislike of milk; headhunting (Borneo and Celebes); large ear-ornaments, greatly distending the lobe; husband entering the wife’s family, and father exchanging his own for his child’s name; counting by numeral auxiliaries, such as pebble, chief, log, mountain, feather, &c., according to the nature of the object.

The race is on the whole of a sluggish intellect, inferior in natural intelligence even to tjιe surrounding Papuan populations. Dr Montano tells us that in the girls’ school at Malacca, conducted by the Roman Catholic sisters, the Chinese children take the first, the Mantras (aborigines) the second, and the Malays the last place in order of capacity. Unaided by foreign influences they never attained a higher culture than that of the “Sea Gipsies”; and for their letters, most of their arts, and their religions they are indebted either to the Hindus or the Arabs. (A. H. K.)

Malay Language and Literature.

The Malay language is a member of the Malayan section of the Malayo-Polynesian class of languages, but it is by no means a representative type of the section which has taken its name from it. The area over which it is spoken comprises the peninsula of Malacca with the adjacent islands (the Rhio-Lingga Archipelago), the greater part of the coast districts of Sumatra and Borneo, the seaports of Java, the Sunda and Banda Islands. It is the general medium of communication throughout the archipelago from Sumatra to the Philippine Islands, and it was so upwards of three hundred and fifty years ago when the Portuguese first appeared in those parts.

There are no Malay manuscripts extant, no monumental records with inscriptions in Malay, dating from before the spreading of Islam in the archipelago, about the end of the 13th century. By some it has been argued from this fact that the Malays possessed no kind of writing prior to the introduction of the Arabic alphabet (W. Robinson, J. J. de Hollander); whereas others have maintained, with greater show of probability, that the Malays were in possession of an ancient alphabet, and that it was the same as the Rechang (Marsden, Friederich), as the Kawi (Van der Tuuk), or most like the Lampong (Kern),—all of which alphabets, with the Battak, Bugi, and Macassar, are ultimately traceable to the ancient Cambojan characters. With the Mohammedan conquest the Perso-Arabic alphabet was introduced among the Malays; it has continued over since to be in use for literary, religious, and business purposes. Where Javanese is the principal language, Malay is sometimes found written with Javanese characters; and in Palembang, in the Mënangkabo country of Middle Sumatra, the Rechang or Renchong characters are in general use, so called from the sharp and pointed knife with which they are cut on the smooth side of bamboo staves. It is only since the Dutch have established their supremacy in the archipelago that the Roman character has come to be largely used in writing and printing Malay. This is also the case in the Straits Settlements.

By the simplicity of its phonetic elements, the regularity of its grammatical structure, and the copiousness of its nautical vocabulary, the Malay language is singularly well-fitted to be the lingua franca throughout the Indian archipelago. It possesses the five vowels a, i, u, e, o, both short and long, and one pure diphthong au. Its consonants are k, g, ng, ch, j, n, t, d, n, p, b, m, y, r, I, to, s, h. Long vowels can only occur in open syllables. The only possible consonantal nexus in purely Malay words is that of a nasal and mute, a liquid and mute and vice versa, and aliquid and nasal. Final k and h are all but suppressed in the utterance. Purely Arabic letters are only used in Arabic words, a great number of which have been received into the Malay vocabulary. But the Arabic character is even less suited to Malay than to the other Eastern languages on which it has been foisted. As the short vowels are not marked, one would, in seeing, e.g., the word bntng, think first of bintang, a star; but the word might also mean a large scar, to throw down, to spread, rigid, mutilated, enceinte, a kind of cucumber, a redoubt, according as it is pronounced bantang, banting, bentang, buntang, buntung, bunting, bonteng, benteng.

Malay is essentially, with few exceptions, a dissyllabic language, and the syllabic accent rests on the penultimate unless that syllable is open and short; e.g., dâtang, namâna, bësâr, diumpatkannalah. Nothing in the form of a root word indicates the grammatical category to which it belongs; thus, käsih, kindness, affectionate, to ]ove; ganti, a proxy, to exchange, instead of. It is only in derivative words that this vagueness is avoided. Derivation is effected by infixes, prefixes, affixes, and reduplication. Infixes occur more rarely in Malay than in the cognate tongues. Examples are— gιιruh, a rumbling noise, gumûruh, to make such a noise; tunjuk, to point, telunjuk, the forefinger; chûchuk, to pierce, cherüchuk, a stockade. The import of the prefixes—me (meng, men, men, mem), pë (pëng, pen, pen, pern), ber (bel), per, pel, ka, di, ter,—and affixes—an, kan, i, lah—will best appear from the following examples: ·root word äjar, to teach, to learn; mëngâjar, to instruct (expresses an action); bëlâjar, to study (state or condition); mëngajâri, to instruct (some one, trans. ); mëngâjarkan, to instruct (in something, causative); pëngâjar, the instructor; pl·lajar, the learner; pëngajâran, the lesson taught, also the school; pëlajâran, the lesson learnt; diäjar, to be learnt; ttiäjar, learnt; tërâjarkan, taught; tërajâri, instructed; [përâja (from râja, prince), to recognize as prince; përajâkan, to crown as prince; karajâan, royalty]*; äjarkanlah, teach! Examples of reduplication are— ajar-ajar, a sainted person; âjar-bërâjar (or bèlâjar), to be learning and teaching by turns; similarly there are forms like âjar-mëngâjar, bërâjar· ajäran, âjar-ajâri, mëmpërâjar, mtinpërâjarkan, ni&nptraj&ri, tërbëlâjarkan, përbëlâjarkan, &c. Altogether there are upwards of a hundred possible derivative forms, in the idiomatic use of which the Malays exhibit much skill. See especially H. von Dewall, De vormυeranderingcn der Maleische tool, Batavia, 1864; and J. Pijnappel, Maleisch-Hollandsch Woordenboek, Amsterdam, 1875, ‘ ‘ lnleiding.” In every other respect the language is characterized by great simplicity and indefiniteness. There is no inflexion to distinguish number, gender, or case. Number is never indicated when the sense is obvious or can be gathered from the context; otherwise plurality is expressed by adjectives such as sagäla, all, and bähak, many, more rarely by the repetition of the noun, and the indefinite singular by sa or sätu, one, with a class-word. Gender may, if necessary, be distinguished by the words laki-läki, male, and përampûan, female, in the case of persons, and of jantan and bëtina in the case of animals. The genitive case is generally indicated by the position of the word after its governing noun. Also adjectives and demonstrative pronouns have their places after the noun. Comparison is effected by the use of particles. Instead <rf the personal pronouns, both in their full and abbreviated forms,-conventional nouns are in frequent use to indicate the social position or relation of the respective interlocutors, as, e.g., hamba tuan, the master’s slave, i.e., I. These nouns vary according to the different localities. Another peculiarity of Malay (and likewise of Chinese, Shan, Talaing, Burmese, and Siamese) is the use of certain classwords or coefficients with numerals, such as orang (man), when speaking of persons, ckor (tail) of animals, këping (piece) of flat things, biji (seed) of roundish things; e.g., lima biji tëlor, five eggs. The number of these class-words is considerable. Malay verbs have neither person or number nor mood or tense. The last two are sometimes indicated by particles or auxiliary verbs; but these are generally dispensed with if the meaning is sufficiently plain without them. The Malays avoid the building up of long sentences. The two main rules by which the order of the words in a sentence is regulated are—subject, verb, object; and qualifying words follow those which they qualify. This is quite the reverse of what is the rule in Burmese.

The history of the Malays amply accounts for the number and variety of foreign ingredients in their language. Hindus appear to have settled in Sumatra and Java as early as the 4th century of our era, and to have continued to exercise sway over the native populations for many centuries. These received from them into their language a very large number of Sanskrit terms from which we can infer the nature of the civilizing influence imparted by the Hindu rulers. Not only in words concerning commerce and agriculture, but also in terms connected with social, religious, and administrative matters, that influence is traceable in Malay. See W. E. Maxwell, Manual of the Malay Language, 1882, pp. 5-34, where this subject is treated more fully than by previous writers. This Sanskrit element forms such an integral part of the Malay vocabulary that in spite of the subsequent infusion of Arabic and Persian words adopted in the usual course of Mohammedan conquest it has retained its ancient citizenship in the language. The number of Portuguese, English, Dutch, and Chinese words in Malay is not considerable; their presence is easily accounted for by political or commercial contact.

The Malay language abounds in idiomatic expressions, which constitute the chief difficulty’ in its acquisition. It is sparing in the use of personal pronouns, and prefers impersonal and elliptical diction. As it is rich in specific expressions for the various aspects of certain ideas, it is requisite to employ always the most appropriate term suited -to the particular aspect. In Maxwell’s Manual, pp. 120 sq., no less than sixteen terms are given to express the different kinds of striking, as many for the different kinds of speaking, eighteen for the various modes of carrying, &c. An unnecessary distinction has been made between High Malay and Low Malay. The latter is no separate dialect at all, but a mere brogue or jargon, the medium of intercourse between illiterate natives and Europeans too indolent to apply themselves to the acquisition of the language of the people; its vocabulary is made up of Malay words, with a conventional admixture of words from other languages; and it varies, not only in different localities, but also in proportion to the individual speaker’s acquaintance with Malay proper. The use is different as regards the term Jäwi as applied to the Malay language. This has its origin in the names Great Java and Lesser Java, by which the mediaeval Java and Sumatra were called, and it accordingly means the language spoken along the coasts of the two great islands. - ,

Malay is probably spoken with greatest purity in the Khιo-Lin<'o∙a Archipelago and in the independent states of Perak and Kedah, on the western coast of the peninsula of Malacca. ' In other states of the peninsula (Johor, Tringganu, Kelantan) dialectical divergencies both as to pronunciation and the use of words have been noted. The most important and the most interesting of all the Malay dialects is that of Menangkabo (Menangkarbau) in the residency of Padang and in Upper Jambi, in Central Sumatra. It abounds in diphthongs, and prefers vocalic to consonantal terminations, thus changing final al and ar into α , , il and ir into iye, ill and ar into uwe, as and at into e ’ , «sinto uwi ; final a mostly passes into ô, so that for suddra and suddgar they say sud&rô, suctëgô ; the emphatic -l(ih is turned into -malah or malah hd ; the prefixes Mr, për, tër are changed into bd, pä, tä, or bard, para, tara. Among other changes in pronunciation may be noted ûrang for orang, mungko for maka, lai for lägi ; they use nan for yang, na' for hendak, deh for oleh, ba' for bâgai, pai for pergi, ko' for jikalau, &c. . In some districts of Menangkabo (Palembang, Lebong) the llenchong character is in general use in writing this dialect, for which purpose it is far better suited than the Arabic. As early as 1822 a small tract on the customs and traditions of Moko-Moko, in this dialect, was printed with a translation at Bencoolen. But it is only in recent years that the Dutch have commenced to pay the dialect the attention it deserves, by publishing texts, with transliteration and translations,...