Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
XL
The Races of Man in the Malay Archipelago
I propose to conclude this account of my Eastern travels, with a short statement of my views
as to the races of man which inhabit the various parts of the Archipelago, their chief physical
and mental characteristics, their affinities with each other and with surrounding tribes, their
migrations, and their probable origin.
Two very strongly contrasted races inhabit the Archipelago—the Malays, occupying al-
most exclusively the larger western half of it, and the Papuans, whose head-quarters are New
Guinea and several of the adjacent islands. Between these in locality, are found tribes who
are also intermediate in their chief characteristics, and it is sometimes a nice point to determ-
ine whether they belong to one or the other race, or have been formed by a mixture of the
two.
The Malay is undoubtedly the most important of these two races, as it is the one which is
the most civilized, which has come most into contact with Europeans, and which alone has
any place in history. What may be called the true Malay races, as distinguished from others
who have merely a Malay element in their language, present a considerable uniformity of
physical and mental characteristics, while there are very great differences of civilization and
of language. They consist of four great, and a few minor semi-civilized tribes, and a number
of others who may be termed savages. The Malays proper inhabit the Malay peninsula, and
almost all the coast regions of Borneo and Sumatra. They all speak the Malay language, or
dialects of it; they write in the Arabic character, and are Mahometans in religion. The
Javanese inhabit Java, part of Sumatra, Madura, Bali, and part of Lombock. They speak the
Javanese and Kawi languages, which they write in a native character. They are now Maho-
metans in Java, but Brahmins in Bali and Lombock. The Bugis are the inhabitants of the
greater parts of Celebes, and there seems to be an allied people in Sumbawa. They speak the
Bugis and Macassar languages, with dialects, and have two different native characters in
which they write these. They are all Mahometans. The fourth great race is that of the Tagalas
in the Philippine Islands, about whom, as I did not visit those Islands, I shall say little. Many
