Range of the Oceanic Mongols—The terra "Malay"—The Historical Malays—Malay Cradle—Migrations and Present Range—The Malayans—The Javanese—Balinese and Sassaks—Hindu Legends in Bali—The Malayan Seafarers and Rovers—Malaysia and Pelasgia: a Historical Parallel—Malayan Folklore—Borneo—Punan—Klemantan—Bahau-Kenyah-Kayan—Iban (Sea Dayak)—Summary—Religion—Early Man and his Works in Sumatra—The Mentawi Islanders—Javanese and Hindu Influences—The Malaysian Alphabets—The Battas: Cultured Cannibals—Hindu and Primitive Survivals—The Achinese—Early Records—Islam and Hindu Reminiscences—Ethnical Relations in Madagascar—Prehistoric Peoples—Oceanic Immigrants—Negroid Element—Arab Element—Uniformity of Language—Malagasy Gothamites—Partial Fusion of Races—Hova Type—Black Element from Africa—Mental Qualities of the Malagasy—Spread of Christianity—Culture—Malagasy Folklore—The Philippine Natives—Effects of a Christian Theocratic Government on the National Character—Social Groups: the Indios, the Infielos, and the Moros—Malayans and Indonesians in Formosa—The Chinese Settlers—Racial and Linguistic Affinities—Formosa a Connecting Link between the Continental and Oceanic Populations—The Nicobarese.
Range of the Oceanic Mongols—The terra "Malay"—The Historical Malays—Malay Cradle—Migrations and Present Range—The Malayans—The Javanese—Balinese and Sassaks—Hindu Legends in Bali—The Malayan Seafarers and Rovers—Malaysia and Pelasgia: a Historical Parallel—Malayan Folklore—Borneo—Punan—Klemantan—Bahau-Kenyah-Kayan—Iban (Sea Dayak)—Summary—Religion—Early Man and his Works in Sumatra—The Mentawi Islanders—Javanese and Hindu Influences—The Malaysian Alphabets—The Battas: Cultured Cannibals—Hindu and Primitive Survivals—The Achinese—Early Records—Islam and Hindu Reminiscences—Ethnical Relations in Madagascar—Prehistoric Peoples—Oceanic Immigrants—Negroid Element—Arab Element—Uniformity of Language—Malagasy Gothamites—Partial Fusion of Races—Hova Type—Black Element from Africa—Mental Qualities of the Malagasy—Spread of Christianity—Culture—Malagasy Folklore—The Philippine Natives—Effects of a Christian Theocratic Government on the National Character—Social Groups: the Indios, the Infielos, and the Moros—Malayans and Indonesians in Formosa—The Chinese Settlers—Racial and Linguistic Affinities—Formosa a Connecting Link between the Continental and Oceanic Populations—The Nicobarese.
Distribution.
Present Range.Indonesia, Philippines, Formosa, Nicobar Is., Madagascar.
Physical Characters.
Hair,same as Southern Mongols, scant or no beard.Colour,yellowish or olive brown, yellow tint sometimes very faint or absent, light leathery hue common in Madagascar.
Skull,brachy or sub-brachycephalic (78 to 85).Jaws,slightly projecting.Cheek-bones,prominent, but less so than true Mongol.Nose,rather small, often straight with widish nostrils (mesorrhine).Eyes,black, medium size, horizontal or slightly oblique, often with Mongol fold.Stature,undersized, from 1.52 m. to 1.65 m. (5 ft. to 5 ft. 5 in.).Lips,thickish, slightly protruding, and kept a little apart in repose.Armsandlegs,rather small, slender and delicate;feet,small.
Mental Characters.
Temperament.Normally quiet, reserved and taciturn,but under excitement subject to fits of blind fury;fairly intelligent, polite and ceremonious, but uncertain, untrustworthy, and even treacherous;daring, adventurous and reckless;musical;not distinctly cruel, though indifferent to physical suffering in others.
Speech,various branches of a single stock language—theAustronesian(OceanicorMalayo-Polynesian),at different stages of agglutination.
Religion,of the primitive Malayans somewhat undeveloped—a vague dread of ghosts and other spirits, but rites and ceremonies mainly absent although human sacrifices to the departed occurred in Borneo;the cultured Malayans formerly Hindus (Brahman and Buddhist), now mostly Moslem, but in the Philippines and Madagascar Christian;belief in witchcraft, charms, and spells everywhere prevalent.
Culture,of the primitive Malayans very low—head-hunting, mutilation, common in Borneo;hunting, fishing; no agriculture; simple arts and industries;the Moslem and Christian Malayans semi-civilised;the industrial arts—weaving, dyeing, pottery, metal-work, also trade, navigation, house and boat-building—well developed;architecture formerly flourishing in Java under Hindu influences;letters widespread even amongst some of the rude Malayans, but literature and science rudimentary;rich oral folklore.
Main Divisions.
Malayans (Proto-Malays):Lampongs, Rejangs, Battas, Achinese, and Palembangs in Sumatra;Sundanese, Javanese proper, and Madurese in Java;Dayaks in Borneo;Balinese;Sassaks (Lombok);Bugis and Mangkassaras in Celebes;Tagalogs, Visayas, Bicols, Ilocanos and Pangasinanes in Philippines;Aborigines of Formosa;Nicobar Islanders;Hovas, Betsimisarakas, and Sakalavas in Madagascar.
Malays Proper(Historical Malays):Menangkabau (Sumatra);Malay Peninsula;Pinang, Singapore, Lingga, Bangka;Borneo Coastlands;Tidor, Ternate;Amboina;Parts of the Sulu Archipelago.
Range of the Oceanic Mongols.
In the Oceanic domain, which for ethnical purposes begins at the neck of the Malay Peninsula, the Mongol peoples range from Madagascar eastwards to Formosa and Micronesia, but are found in compact masses chiefly on the mainland, in the Sunda Islands(Sumatra, Java, Bali, Lombok, Borneo, Celebes) and in the Philippines. Even here they have mingled in many places with other populations, forming fresh ethnical groups, in which the Mongol element is not always conspicuous. Such fusions have taken place with the Negrito aborigines in the Malay Peninsula and the Philippines; with Papuans in Micronesia, Flores, and other islands east of Lombok; with dolichocephalic Indonesians in Sumatra, Borneo, Celebes, Halmahera (Jilolo), parts of the Philippines[492], and perhaps also Timor and Ceram; and with African negroes (Bantu) in Madagascar. To unravel some of these racial entanglements is one of the most difficult tasks in anthropology, and in the absence of detailed information cannot yet be everywhere attempted with any prospect of success.
The term "Malay."
The problem has been greatly, though perhaps inevitably complicated by the indiscriminate extension of the term "Malay" to all these and even to other mixed Oceanic populations farther east, as, for instance, in the expression "Malayo-Polynesian," applied by many writers not only in a linguistic, but also in an ethnical sense, to most of the insular peoples from Madagascar to Easter Island, and from Hawaii to New Zealand. It is now of course too late to hope to remedy this misuse of terms by proposing a fresh nomenclature. But much of the consequent confusion will be avoided by restrictingMalayo-Polynesian[493]altogether to linguistic matters, and carefully distinguishing betweenIndonesian, the pre-Malay dolichocephalic element in Oceania[494],MalayanorProto-Malayan, collective name ofall the Oceanic Mongols, who are brachycephals, andMalay, a particular branch of the Malayan family, as fully explained inEthnology, pp. 326-30[495].
The Historical Malays.
Migrations and Present Range.
The essential point to remember is that the true Malays—who call themselvesOrang-Maláyu, speak the standard but quite modern Malay language, and are all Muhammadans—are a historical people who appear on the scene in relatively recent times, ages after the insular world had been occupied by the Mongol peoples to whom their name has been extended, but who never call themselves Malays. The Orang-Maláyu, who have acquired such an astonishing predominance in the Eastern Archipelago, were originally an obscure tribe who rose to power in the Menangkabau district, Sumatra, not before the twelfth century, and whose migrations date only from about the year 1160A.D.At this time, according to the native records[496], was founded the first foreign settlement, Singapore, a pure Sanskrit name meaning the "Lion City," from which it might be inferred that these first settlers were not Muhammadans, as is commonly assumed, but Brahmans or Buddhists, both these forms of Hinduism having been propagated throughout Sumatra and the other Sunda Islands centuries before this time. It is also noteworthy that the early settlers on the mainland are stated to have been pagans, or to have professed some corrupt form of Hindu idolatry, till their conversion to Islam by the renowned Sultan Mahmud Shah about the middle of the thirteenth century. It is therefore probable enough that the earlier movements were carried out under Hindu influences, and may have begun long before the historical date 1160. Menangkabau, however, was the first Mussulman State that acquired political supremacy in Sumatra, and this district thus became the chief centre for the later diffusion of the cultured Malays, their language, usages, and religion, throughout the Peninsula and the Archipelago. Here they are now found in compact masses chiefly in south Sumatra (Menangkabau, Palembang, the Lampongs); in all the insular groups between Sumatra and Borneo; in the Malay Peninsula as far north asthe Kra Isthmus, here intermingling with the Siamese as "Sam-Sams," partly Buddhists, partly Muhammadans; round the coast of Borneo and about the estuaries of that island; in Tidor, Ternate, and the adjacent coast of Jilolo; in the Banda, Sula, and Sulu groups; in Batavia, Singapore, and all the other large seaports of the Archipelago. In all these lands beyond Sumatra the Orang-Maláyu are thus seen to be comparatively recent arrivals[497], and in fact intruders on the other Malayan populations, with whom they collectively constitute the Oceanic branch of the Mongol division. Their diffusion was everywhere brought about much in the same way as in Ternate, where A. R. Wallace tells us that the ruling people "are an intrusive Malay race somewhat allied to the Macassar people, who settled in the country at a very early epoch, drove out the indigenes, who were no doubt the same as those of the adjacent island of Gilolo, and established a monarchy. They perhaps obtained many of their wives from the natives, which will account for the extraordinary language they speak—in some respects closely allied to that of the natives of Gilolo, while it contains much that points to a Malayan [Malay] origin. To most of these people the Malay language is quite unintelligible[498]."
The Malayans—two classes; Rude and Cultured.
The Malayan populations, as distinguished from the Malays proper, form socially two very distinct classes—theOrang Benua, "Men of the Soil," rude aborigines, numerous especially in the interior of the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Celebes, Jilolo, Timor, Ceram, the Philippines, Formosa, and Madagascar; and the cultured peoples, formerly Hindus but now mostly Muhammadans, who have long been constituted in large communities and nationalities with historical records, and flourishing arts and industries. They speak cultivated languages of the Austronesian family, generally much better preserved and of richer grammatical structure than the simplified modern speech of the Orang-Maláyu. Such are the Achinese, Rejangs, and Passumahs of Sumatra; theBugis, Mangkassaras and some Minahasans of Celebes[499]; the Tagalogs and Visayas of the Philippines; the Sassaks and Balinese of Lombok and Bali (most of these still Hindus); the Madurese and Javanese proper of Java; and the Hovas of Madagascar. To call any of these "Malays[500]," is like calling the Italians "French," or the Germans "English," because of their respective Romance and Teutonic connections.
The Javanese.
Preëminent in many respects amongst all the Malayan peoples are theJavanese—Sundanesein the west,Javanese properin the centre,Maduresein the east—who were a highly civilised nation while the Sumatran Malays were still savages, perhaps head-hunters and cannibals like the neighbouring Battas. Although now almost exclusively Muhammadans, they had already adopted some form of Hinduism probably over 2000 years ago, and under the guidance of their Indian teachers had rapidly developed a very advanced state of culture. "Under a completely organised although despotic government, the arts of peace and war were brought to considerable perfection, and the natives of Java became famous throughout the East as accomplished musicians and workers in gold, iron and copper, none of which metals were found in the island itself. They possessed a regular calendar with astronomical eras, and a metrical literature, in which, however, history was inextricably blended with romance. Bronze and stone inscriptions in the Kavi, or old Javanese language, still survive from the eleventh or twelfth century, and to the same dates may be referred the vast ruins of Brambanam and the stupendous temple of Boro-budor in the centre of the island. There are few statues of Hindu divinities in this temple, but many are found in its immediate vicinity, and from the various archaeological objects collected inthe district it is evident that both the Buddhist and Brahmanical forms of Hinduism were introduced at an early date.
"But all came to an end by the overthrow of the chief Hindu power in 1478, after which event Islam spread rapidly over the whole of Java and Madura. Brahmanism, however, still holds its ground in Bali and Lombok, the last strongholds of Hinduism in the Eastern Archipelago[501]."
Balinese and Sassaks.
Primitive and later Religions and Cultures.
On the obscure religious and social relations in these Lesser Sundanese Islands much light has been thrown by Capt. W. Cool, an English translation of whose workWith the Dutch in the Eastwas issued by E. J. Taylor in 1897. Here it is shown how Hinduism, formerly dominant throughout a great part of Malaysia, gradually yielded in some places to a revival of the never extinct primitive nature-worship, in others to the spread of Islam, which in Bali alone failed to gain a footing. In this island a curious mingling of Buddhist and Brahmanical forms with the primordial heathendom not only persisted, but was strong enough to acquire the political ascendancy over the Mussulman Sassaks of the neighbouring island of Lombok. Thus while Islam reigns exclusively in Java—formerly the chief domain of Hinduism in the Archipelago—Bali, Lombok, and even Sumbawa, present the strange spectacle of large communities professing every form of belief, from the grossest heathendom to pure monotheism.
As I have elsewhere pointed out[502], it is the same with the cultures and general social conditions, which show an almost unbroken transition from the savagery of Sumbawa to the relative degrees of refinement reached by the natives of Lombok and especially of Bali. Here, however, owing to the unfavourable political relations, a retrograde movement is perceptible in the crumbling temples, grass-grown highways, and neglected homesteads. But it is everywhere evident enough that "just as Hinduism has only touched the outer surface of their religion, it has failed to penetrate into their social institutions, which, like their gods, originate from the time when Polynesian heathendom was all powerful[503]."
Hindu Legends in Bali.
A striking illustration of the vitality of the early beliefs ispresented by the local traditions, which relate how these foreign gods installed themselves in the Lesser Sundanese Islands after their expulsion from Java by the Muhammadans in the fifteenth century. Being greatly incensed at the introduction of the Koran, and also anxious to avoid contact with the "foreign devils," the Hindu deities moved eastwards with the intention of setting up their throne in Bali. But Bali already possessed its own gods, the wicked Rakshasas, who fiercely resented the intrusion, but in the struggle that ensued were annihilated, all but the still reigning Mraya Dewana. Then the new thrones had to be erected on heights, as in Java; but at that time there were no mountains in Bali, which was a very flat country. So the difficulty was overcome by bodily transferring the four hills at the eastern extremity of Java to the neighbouring island. Gunong Agong, highest of the four, was set down in the east, and became the Olympus of Bali, while the other three were planted in the west, south, and north, and assigned to the different gods according to their respective ranks. Thus were at once explained the local theogony and the present physical features of the island.
Running Amok.
Despite their generally quiet, taciturn demeanour, all these Sundanese peoples are just as liable as the Orang-Maláyu himself, to those sudden outbursts of demoniacal frenzy and homicidal mania called by themmĕng-ámok, and by us "running amok." Indeed A. R. Wallace tells us that such wild outbreaks occur more frequently (about one or two every month) amongst the civilised Mangkassaras and Bugis of south Celebes than elsewhere in the Archipelago. "It is the national and therefore the honourable mode of committing suicide among the natives of Celebes, and is the fashionable way of escaping from their difficulties. A Roman fell upon his sword, a Japanese rips up his stomach, and an Englishman blows out his brains with a pistol. The Bugis mode has many advantages to one suicidically inclined. A man thinks himself wronged by society—he is in debt and cannot pay—he is taken for a slave or has gambled away his wife or child into slavery—he sees no way of recovering what he has lost, and becomes desperate. He will not put up with such cruel wrongs, but will be revenged on mankind and die like a hero. He grasps his kris-handle, and the next moment draws out the weapon and stabs a man to the heart. He runson, with bloody kris in his hand, stabbing at everyone he meets. 'Amok! Amok!' then resounds through the streets. Spears, krisses, knives and guns are brought out against him. He rushes madly forward, kills all he can—men, women, and children—and dies overwhelmed by numbers amid all the excitement of a battle[504]."
The Látah Malady.
Possibly connected with this blind impulse may be the strange nervous affection calledlátah, which is also prevalent amongst the Malayans, and which was first clearly described by the distinguished Malay scholar, Sir Frank Athelstane Swettenham[505]. No attempt has yet been made thoroughly to diagnose this uncanny disorder[506], which would seem so much more characteristic of the high-strung or shattered nervous system of ultra-refined European society, than of that artless unsophisticated child of nature, the Orang-Maláyu. Its effects on the mental state are such as to disturb all normal cerebration, and Swettenham mentions two látah-struck Malays, who would make admirable "subjects" at a séance of theosophic psychists. Any simple device served to attract their attention, when by merely looking them hard in the face they fell helplessly in the hands of the operator, instantly lost all self-control, and went passively through any performance either verbally imposed or even merely suggested by a sign.
The Malayan Seafarers and Rovers.
A peculiar feminine strain has often been imputed to the Malay temperament, yet this same Oceanic people displays in many respects a curiously kindred spirit with the ordinary Englishman, as, for instance, in his love of gambling, boxing, cock-fighting, field sports[507], and adventure. No more fearless explorers of the high seas, formerly rovers and corsairs, at all times enterprising traders, are anywhere to be found than the Menangkabau Malays and their near kinsmen, the renowned Bugis "Merchant Adventurers" of south Celebes. Their clumsy but seaworthy praus are met in every seaport from Sumatra to the Aru Islands, and they have established permanent trading stations and even settlements in Borneo, the Philippines, Timor, and as far east as New Guinea. On one occasion Wallace sailed from Dobboin company with fifteen large Makassar praus, each with a cargo worth about £1000, and as many of the Bugis settle amongst the rude aborigines of the eastern isles, they thus cooperate with the Sumatran Malays in extending the area of civilising influences throughout Papuasia.
Formerly they combined piracy with legitimate trade, and long after the suppression of the North Bornean corsairs by Keppel and Brooke, the inland waters continued to be infested especially by theBajaurovers of Celebes, and by theBalagniniof the Sulu Archipelago, most dreaded of all theOrang-Laut, "Men of the Sea," the "Sea Gypsies" of the English. These were the "Cellates" (Orang-Selat, "Men of the Straits") of the early Portuguese writers, who described them as from time immemorial engaged in fishing and plundering on the high seas[508].
Malaysia and Pelasgia—a Historical Parallel.
In those days, and even in comparatively late times, the relations in the Eastern Archipelago greatly resembled those prevailing in the Aegean Sea at the dawn of Greek history, while the restless seafaring populations were still in a state of flux, passing from island to island in quest of booty or barter before permanently settling down in favourable sites[509]. With the Greek historian's philosophic disquisition on these Pelasgian and proto-Hellenic relations may be compared A. R. Wallace's account of the Batjan coastlands when visited by him in the late fifties. "Opposite us, and all along this coast of Batchian, stretches a row of fine islands completely uninhabited. Whenever I asked the reason why no one goes to live in them, the answer always was 'For fear of the Magindano pirates[510].' Every year these scourges of the Archipelago wander in one direction or another, making their rendezvous on some uninhabited island, and carrying devastation to all the small settlements around; robbing, destroying, killing, or takingcaptive all they meet with. Their long, well-manned praus escape from the pursuit of any sailing vessel by pulling away right in the wind's eye, and the warning smoke of a steamer generally enables them to hide in some shallow bay, or narrow river, or forest-covered inlet, till the danger is passed[511]." Thus, like geographical surroundings, with corresponding social conditions, produce like results in all times amongst all peoples.
Malayan Folklore—The Were-tiger.
This fundamental truth receives further illustration from the ideas prevalent amongst the Malayans regarding witchcraft, the magic arts, charms and spells, and especially the belief in the power of certain malevolent human beings to transform themselves into wild beasts and prey upon their fellow-creatures. Such superstitions girdle the globe, taking their local colouring from the fauna of the different regions, so that the were-wolf of medieval Europe finds its counterpart in the human jaguar of South America, the human lion or leopard of Africa[512], and the human tiger of the Malay Peninsula. Hugh Clifford, who relates an occurrence known to himself in connection with a "were-tiger" story of the Perak district, aptly remarks that "the white man and the brown, the yellow and the black, independently, and without receiving the idea from one another, have all found the same explanation for the like phenomena, all apparently recognising the truth of the Malay proverb, that we are like unto thetámanfish that preys upon its own kind[513]." The story in question turns upon a young bride, whose husband comes home late three nights following, and the third time, being watched, is discovered by her in the form of a full-grown tiger stretched on the ladder, which, as in all Malay houses, leads from the ground to the threshold of the door. "Patímah gazed at the tiger from a distance of only a foot or two, for she was too paralysed with fear to move or cry out, and as she looked a gradual transformation took place in the creature at her feet. Slowly, as one sees a ripple of wind pass over the surface of still water, the tiger'sfeatures palpitated and were changed, until the horrified girl saw the face of her husband come up through that of the beast, much as the face of a diver comes up to the surface of a pool. In another moment Patímah saw that it was Haji Ali who was ascending the ladder of his house, and the spell that had hitherto bound her was snapped."
These same Malays of Perak, H. H. Rajah Dris tells us, are still specially noted for many strange customs and superstitions "utterly opposed to Muhammadan teaching, and savouring strongly of devil-worship. This enormous belief in the supernatural is possibly a relic of the pre-Islam State[514]."
Borneo.
We do not know who were the primitive inhabitants of Borneo. One would expect to find Negritoes in the interior, but despite the assertion of A. de Quatrefages[515]it is impossible to overlook the conclusions of A. B. Meyer[516]that no authoritative evidence of their occurrence is forthcoming, and A. C. Haddon[517]confidently states that there are none in Sarawak. It might be supposed that the Pre-Dravidian element found in Sumatra and Celebes might occur also in Borneo, but the only indication of such influence is the "black skin" noticed among certain Ulu Ayar of the Upper Kapuas in Western Dutch Borneo[518]. With the exception of certain peoples such as Europeans, Indians, Chinese, and Orang-Maláyu, whose foreign origin is obvious, the population as a whole may be regarded as being composed of two main races, the Indonesian and Proto-Malay. Probably all tribes are of mixed origin, but some, such as theMurut,Dusun,Kalabit, andLand Dayakare more Indonesian while theIban(Sea Dayak) are distinctly Proto-Malay. TheLand Dayakhave doubtless been crossed with Indo-Javans.
Punan.
Scattered over a considerable part of the jungle live the nomadPunanandUkit. They are a slender pale people with a slightly broad head. They are grouped in small communities and inhabit the dense jungle at the head waters of the principal rivers of Borneo.They live on whatever they can find in the jungle, and do not cultivate the soil, nor live in permanent houses. Their few wants are supplied by barter from friendly settled peoples, or in return for iron implements, calico, beads, tobacco, etc., they offer jungle produce, mainly gutta, indiarubber, camphor, dammar and ratans. They are very mild savages, not head-hunters, they are generous to one another, moderately truthful, kind to the women and very fond of their children.
Klemantan.
Bahau-Kenyah-Kayan.
Hose and Haddon have introduced the termKlemantan(Kalamantan) for the weak agricultural tribes such as theMurut,Kalabit,Land Dayak,Sebop,Barawan,Milanau, etc.[519]Brook Low[520], who knew the Land Dayak well, gives a very favourable account of the people and this opinion has been confirmed by other travellers. They are described as amiable, honest, grateful, moral and hospitable. Crimes of violence, other than head-hunting, are unknown. The circularpangais a "house set apart for the residence of young unmarried men, in which the trophy-heads are kept, and here also all ceremonial receptions take place[521]." Thebaloiof the Ot Danom of the Kahajan river is very similar[522]. The very energetic and dominatingBahau-Kenyah-Kayangroup are rather short in stature, with slightly broad heads. They occupy the best tracts of land which lie in the undulating hills at the upper reaches of the rivers, between the swampy low country and the mountains. The Kayan more especially have almost exterminated some of the smaller tribes. The Klemantan and Kenyah-Kayan tribes are agriculturalists. They clear the jungle off the low hills that flank the tributaries of the larger rivers, but always leave a few scattered trees standing; irrigation is attempted by the Kalabits only, aspadirice is grown like any other cereals on dry ground; swamppadiis also grown on the low land. In their gardens they grow yams, pumpkins, sugar cane, bananas, and sometimes coconuts and other produce. They hunt all land animals that serve as food, and fish, usually with nets, in the rivers, or spear thosefish that have been stupefied withtuba; river prawns are also a favourite article of diet.
They all live in long communal houses which are situated on the banks of the rivers. Among the Klemantan tribes the headman has not much influence, unless he is a man of exceptional power and energy, but among the larger tribes and especially among the Kayan and Kenyah the headmen are the real chiefs and exercise undisputed sway. The Kenyah are perhaps the most advanced in social evolution, holding their own by superior solidarity and intelligence against the turbulent Kayan.
All the agricultural tribes are artistic, but in varying degrees; they are also musical and sing delightful chorus songs. In some tribes the ends of the beams of the houses are carved to represent various animals, in some the verandah is decorated with boldly carved planks, or with painted boards and doors. The bamboo receptacles carved in low relief, the bone handles of their swords and the minor articles of daily life, are decorated in a way that reveals the true artistic spirit. Both Kenyah and Kayan smelt iron and make spear heads and sword blades, the former being especially noted for their good steel. The forge with two bellows is the form widely spread in Malaysia.
Iban (Sea Dayak).
The truculentIban(Sea Dayak) have spread from a restricted area in Sarawak[523]. They are short and have broader heads than the other tribes; the colour is on the whole darker than among the cinnamon coloured inland tribes. They have the same long, slightly wavy, black hair showing a reddish tinge in certain lights, that is characteristic of the Borneans generally. Most of the Iban inhabit low lying land; they prefer to live on the low hills, but as this is not always practicable they plant swamppadi; all those who settle at the heads of rivers plantpadion the hills in the same manner as the up-river natives. They also cultivate maize, sugar cane, sweet potatoes, gourds, pumpkins, cucumbers, melons, mustard, ginger and other vegetables. Generally groups of relations work together in the fields. Although essentially agricultural, they are warlike and passionately devoted to head-hunting. The Iban of the Batang Lupar and Saribas in the olden days joined the Malays in their large war praus on piratical raidsalong the coast and up certain rivers and they owe their name of Sea Dayaks to this practice. The raids were organised by Malays who went for plunder but they could always ensure the aid of Iban by the bribe of the heads of the slain as their share. The Iban women weave beautiful cotton cloths on a very simple loom. Intricate patterns are made by tying several warp strands with leaves at varying intervals, then dipping the whole into the dye which does not penetrate the tied portions. This process is repeated if a three-colour design is desired. The pattern is produced solely in the warp, the woof threads are self-coloured and are not visible in the fabric, which is therefore a cotton rep. Little tattooing is seen among the Iban women though the men have adopted the custom from the Kayan.
It is probable that the Iban belong to the same stock as the original Malay and if so, their migration may be regarded as the first wave of the movement that culminated in the Malay Empire. The Malays must have come to Borneo not later than the early part of the fifteenth century as Brunei was a large and wealthy town in 1521. Probably the Malays came directly from the Malay Peninsula, but they must have mixed largely with theKadayan,Milanauand other coastal people. The Sarawak and Brunei Malays are probably mainly coastal Borneans with some Malay blood, but they have absorbed the Malay culture, spirit and religion.
Summary.
From the sociological point of view the Punan, living by the chase and on exploitation of jungle produce, represent the lowest grade of culture in Borneo. Without social organisation they are alike incapable of real endemic improvement or of seriously affecting other peoples. The purely agricultural tribes that cultivatepadion the low hills or in the swamps form the next social stratum. These indigenous tillers of the soil have been hard pressed by various swarms of foreigners.
The Kenyah-Kayan migration was that of a people of a slightly higher grade of culture. They were agriculturalists, but the social organisation was firmer and they were probably superior in physique. If they introduced iron weapons, this would give them an enormous advantage. These immigrant agricultural artisans, directed by powerful chiefs, had no difficulty in taking possession of the most desirable land.
From an opposite point of the compass in early timescame another agricultural people who strangely enough have strong individualistic tendencies, the usually peaceable habits of tillers of the soil having been complicated by a lust for heads and other warlike propensities. But the Iban do not appear to have gained much against the Kenyah and Kayan. Conquest implies a strong leader, obedience to authority and concerted action. The Iban appear to be formidable only when led and organised by Europeans.
The Malay was of a yet higher social type. His political organisation was well established, and he had the advantage of religious enthusiasm, for Islam has no small share in the expansion of the Malay. He is a trader, and still more an exploiter, having a sporting element in his character not altogether compatible with steady trade. Then appeared on the scene the Anglo-Saxon overlord. The quality of firmness combined with justice made itself felt. At times the lower social types hurled themselves, but in vain, against the instrument that had been forged and tempered in a similar turmoil of Iberian, Celt, Angle and Viking in Northern Europe. Now they acknowledge that safety of life and property and almost complete liberty are fully worth the very small price that they have to pay for them[524].
Religion.
The cult of omen animals, most frequently birds, is indigenous to Borneo. These are possessed with the spirit of certain invisible beings above, and bear their names, and are invoked to secure good crops, freedom from accident, victory in war, profit in exchange, skill in discourse and cleverness in all native craft. The Iban have a belief inNgarongor spirit-helpers, somewhat resembling that of theManituof North America. TheNgarongis the spirit of a dead relative who visits a dreamer, who afterwards searches for the outward and visible sign of his spiritual protector, and finds it in some form, perhaps a natural object, or some one animal, henceforth held in special respect[525].
Early Man and his Works in Sumatra.
The Mentawi Islanders.
In Sumatra there occur some remains of Hindu temples[526],as well as other mysterious monuments in the Passumah lands inland from Benkulen, relics of a former culture, which goes back to prehistoric times. They take the form of huge monoliths, which are roughly shaped to the likeness of human figures, with strange features very different from the Malay or Hindu types. The present Sarawi natives of the district, who would be quite incapable of executing such works, know nothing of their origin, and attribute them to certain legendary beings who formerly wandered over the land, turning all their enemies into stone. Further research may possibly discover some connection between these relics of a forgotten past and the numerous prehistoric monuments of Easter Island and other places in the Pacific Ocean. Of all the Indonesian peoples still surviving in Malaysia, none present so many points of contact with the Eastern Polynesians, as do the natives of the Mentawi Islands which skirt the south-west coast of Sumatra. "On a closer inspection of the inhabitants the attentive observer at once perceives that the Mentawi natives have but little in common with the peoples and tribes of the neighbouring islands, and that as regards physical appearance, speech, customs, and usages they stand almost entirely apart. They bear such a decided stamp of a Polynesian tribe that one feels far more inclined to compare them with the inhabitants of the South Sea Islands[527]."
Javanese and Hindu Influences.
Indian Origin of the Malaysian Alphabets.
The survival of an Indonesian group on the western verge of Malaysia is all the more remarkable since theNiasislanders, a little farther north, are of Mongol stock, like most if not all of the inhabitants of the Sumatran mainland. Here the typical Malays of the central districts (Menangkabau, Korinchi, and Siak) merge southwards in the mixed Malayo-Javanese peoples of theRejang,Palembang, andLampongdistricts. AlthoughMuhammadans probably since the thirteenth century, all these peoples had been early brought under Hindu influences by missionaries and even settlers from Java, and these influences are still apparent in many of the customs, popular traditions, languages, and letters of the South Sumatran settled communities. Thus the Lampongs, despite their profession of Islam, employ, not the Arabic characters, like the Malays proper, but a script derived from the peculiar Javanese writing system. This system itself, originally introduced from India probably over 2000 years ago, is based on some early forms of the Devanagari, such as those occurring in the rock inscriptions of the famous Buddhist king As'oka (third centuryB.C.)[528]. From Java, which is now shown beyond doubt to be the true centre of dispersion[529], the parent alphabet was under Hindu influences diffused in pre-Muhammadan times throughout Malaysia, from Sumatra to the Philippines.
But the thinly-spread Indo-Javanese culture, in few places penetrating much below the surface, received a rude shock from the Muhammadan irruption, its natural development being almost everywhere arrested, or else either effaced or displaced by Islam. No trace can any longer be detected of graphic signs in Borneo, where the aborigines have retained the savage state even in those southern districts where Buddhism or Brahmanism had certainly been propagated long before the arrival of the Muhammadan Malays. But elsewhere the Javanese stock alphabet has shown extraordinary vitality, persisting under diverse forms down to the present day, not only amongst the semi-civilised Mussulman peoples, such as the Sumatran Rejangs[530], Korinchi, and Lampongs, the Bugis and Mangkassaras of Celebes, and the (now Christian)Tagalogs and Visayas of the Philippines, but even amongst the somewhat rude and pagan Palawan natives, the wild Manguianes of Mindoro, and the cannibal Battas[531]of North Sumatra.
The Battas—Cultured Cannibals.
These Battas, however, despite their undoubted cannibalism[532], cannot be called savages, at least without some reserve. They are skilful stock-breeders and agriculturists, raising fine crops of maize and rice; they dwell together in large, settled communities with an organised government, hereditary chiefs, popular assemblies, and a written civil and penal code. There is even an effective postal system, which utilises for letter-boxes the hollow tree-trunks at all the cross-roads, and is largely patronised by the young men and women, all of whom read and write, and carry on an animated correspondence in their degraded Devanagari script, which is written on palm-leaves in vertical lines running upwards and from right to left. The Battas also excel in several industries, such as pottery, weaving, jewellery, iron work, and house-building, their picturesque dwellings, which resemble Swiss chalets, rising to two stories above the ground-floor reserved for the live stock. For these arts they are no doubt largely indebted to their Hindu teachers, from whom also they have inherited some of their religious ideas, such as the triune deity—Creator, Preserver, and Destroyer—besides other inferior divinities collectively calleddiebata, a modified form of the Indiandevaté[533].