The Higher Classes Of Malays Are Exceedingly Polite, And Have All
The Quiet Ease And Dignity Of The Best-Bred Europeans.
Yet this
is compatible with a reckless cruelty and contempt of human life,
which is the dark side of their character.
It is not to be
wondered at, therefore, that different persons give totally
opposite accounts of them - one praising them for their soberness,
civility, and good-nature; another abusing them for their deceit,
treachery, and cruelty. The old traveller Nicolo Conti, writing
in 1430, says: "The inhabitants of Java and Sumatra exceed every
other people in cruelty. They regard killing a man as a mere
jest; nor is any punishment allotted for such a deed. If any one
purchase a new sword, and wish to try it, he will thrust it into
the breast of the first person he meets. The passers-by examine
the wound, and praise the skill of the person who inflicted it,
if he thrust in the weapon direct." Yet Drake says of the south
of Java: "The people (as are their kings) are a very loving,
true, and just-dealing people;" and Mr. Crawfurd says that the
Javanese, whom he knew thoroughly, are "a peaceable, docile,
sober, simple, and industrious people." Barbosa, on the other
hand, who saw them at Malacca about 1660, says: "They are a
people of great ingenuity, very subtle in all their dealings;
very malicious, great deceivers, seldom speaking the truth;
prepared to do all manner of wickedness, and ready to sacrifice
their lives."
The intellect of the Malay race seems rather deficient. They are
incapable of anything beyond the simplest combinations of ideas,
and have little taste or energy for the acquirement of knowledge.
Their civilization, such as it is, does not seem to be
indigenous, as it is entirely confined to those nations who have
been converted to the Mahometan or Brahminical religions.
I will now give an equally brief sketch of the other great race
of the Malay Archipelago, the Papuan.
The typical Papuan race is in many respects the very opposite of
the Malay, and it has hitherto been very imperfectly described.
The colour of the body is a deep sooty-brown or black, sometimes
approaching, but never quite equalling, the jet-black of some
negro races. It varies in tint, however, more than that of the
Malay, and is sometimes a dusky-brown. The hair is very peculiar,
being harsh, dry, and frizzly, growing in little tufts or curls,
which in youth are very short and compact, but afterwards grow
out to a, considerable length, forming the compact frizzled mop
which is the Papuans' pride and glory. The face is adorned with a
beard of the same frizzly nature as the hair of the head. The
arms, legs, and breast are also more or less clothed with hair of
a similar nature.
In stature the Papuan decidedly surpasses the Malay, and is
perhaps equal, or even superior, to the average of Europeans. The
legs are long and thin, and the hands and feet larger than in the
Malays. The face is somewhat elongated, the forehead flatfish,
the brows very prominent; the nose is large, rather arched and
high, the base thick, the nostrils broad, with the aperture
hidden, owing to the tip of the nose being elongated; the mouth
is large, the lips thick and protuberant. The face has thus an
altogether more European aspect than in the Malay, owing to the
large nose; and the peculiar form of this organ, with the more
prominent brows and the character of the hair on the head, face,
and body, enable us at a glance to distinguish the two races. I
have observed that most of these characteristic features are as
distinctly visible in children of ten or twelve years old as in
adults, and the peculiar form of the nose is always shown in the
figures which they carve for ornaments to their houses, or as
charms to wear round their necks.
The moral characteristics of the Papuan appear to me to separate
him as distinctly from the Malay as do his form and features. He
is impulsive and demonstrative in speech and action. His emotions
and passions express themselves in shouts and laughter, in yells
and frantic leapings. Women and children take their share in
every discussion, and seem little alarmed at the sight of
strangers and Europeans.
Of the intellect of this race it is very difficult to judge, but
I am inclined to rate it somewhat higher than that of the Malays,
notwithstanding the fact that the Papuans have never yet made any
advance towards civilization. It must be remembered, however,
that for centuries the Malays have been influenced by Hindoo,
Chinese, and Arabic immigration, whereas the Papuan race has only
been subjected to the very partial and local influence of Malay
traders. The Papuan has much more vital energy, which would
certainly greatly assist his intellectual development. Papuan
slaves show no inferiority of intellect. compared with Malays,
but rather the contrary; and in the Moluccas they are often
promoted to places of considerable trust. The Papuan has a
greater feeling for art than the Malay. He decorates his canoe,
his house, and almost every domestic utensil with elaborate
carving, a habit which is rarely found among tribes of the Malay
race.
In the affections and moral sentiments, on the other hand, the
Papuans seem very deficient. In the treatment of their children
they are often violent and cruel; whereas the Malays are almost
invariably kind and gentle, hardly ever interfering at all with
their children's pursuits and amusements, and giving them perfect
liberty at whatever age they wish to claim it. But these very
peaceful relations between parents and children are no doubt, in
a great measure, due to the listless and apathetic character of
the race, which never leads the younger members into serious
opposition to the elders; while the harsher discipline of the
Papuans may be chiefly due to that greater vigour and energy of
mind which always, sooner or later, leads to the rebellion of the
weaker against the stronger, - the people against their rulers,
the slave against his master, or the child against its parent.
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