The process of parturition and childbearing a-
mong the nations of the Indian islanders is easy,
expeditious, and safe, compared to what it is. in
Europe. A Javanese woman, it is always reckoned,
may safely go abroad in five days after her
confinement. I am convinced that comparatively
very few lives are lost in childbirth.*
* Those wens oi the neck, called Goitres in Europe, are
very frequent throughout the Archipelago, among the inhabitants
of the valleys at the bottom of mountains, but can hardly
be called diseases, as they are not attended by either pain or
inconvenience. They seem to be caused by the dense and
moist air breathed in these situations, since they neither occur
in the plains nor in the pure air of the mountains.
CHAPTER II.
MANNERS AND CHARACTER OF THE INDIAN
ISLANDERS.
Classification o f the subject.—Bodily endowments.— Indian
islanders athletic, but never active.— Defective in personal
cleanliness— Temperate in their diet Their indolence occasioned
by moral agency, and not constitutional.— Their
fortitude.—Intellectual faculties.— Comparison between those
o f the Indian islanders and the people o f Europe and the
continent of Asia.— Are o f slow comprehension and narrow
judgment.— All their intellectual faculties in general feeble
Are good imitators, and have remarkably delicate ears fo r
musical sounds.— Their faculties weak from want <f exercise,
but not perverted by false impressions.—Moral and
social qualities.— Their virtues.— Distinguished from the
more polished nations o f Asia by theirfreedom from mendacity—
Their probity and candour— Are capable o f attachment
and gratitude— Free from the spirit o f litigation.—
Not naturally cruel.— Not irascible,— Seldom use opprobrious
language.— Hospitality.— Politeness.—Freedom from
bigotry. Weaknesses o f the Indian islanders.—Extraordinary
credulity and superstition.—Examples.— Revenge the
most prominent vice in the character o f the Indian islanders.
— Running o f mucks.— Disregard o f human life Indian
islanders accused of perfidy and faithlessness.— Insecurity
o f property.— Domestic relations— State o f women much
more favourable than among the more civilized nations o f
continental Asia— Not usually secluded.— Female chastity.—
Jealousy— Anecdotes.— Relation between parent and child.
—Iraternal {affection— Friendship a tie unknown to them.