The town is in latitude 40° 27'40", and lies between two small rivers which disembogue
at the port, and opposite to the island which once bore the same name, but
is now called Isla de Corregidor. The town has 233 houses, and a population of
1402 inhabitants. The chief productions of the neighbourhood are rice, maiz, sugar-
cane, cotton, and the abaca banana ; but fishing is the chief occupation of the
inhabitants, who have constructed weirs and stews in which great quantities ot hsh
are taken or preserved.
MARRIAGE. The only terms for marriage in Malay are the Arabic and Persian
ones, respectively, nïkah and kawin.the native ones having probably been displaced by
these and forgotten. In Javanese we have, besides theBe, the native words, krama and
rabi. Owing to the youth of the parties in a first marriage, the négociation is almost
always conducted by the parents. The courtship among the Malays and other nations
of Sumatra, consists in the lover sending his mistress a present of areca and betel
pepper the ceremony, from the name of the first of these, being called pmangan.
Children are frequently betrothed at an early age, and this goes under the name ot
The” conditions of the marriage contract vary considerably among the different
nations of the Archipelago; but generally there is more or less of a purchase of the
bride by the bridegroom, or more correctly by his parents. The most frequent form
of marriage among the Sumatrans goes under the name of jujur, and implies » complete
purchase of the wife, when she becomes the servant of the husband and his
family. Among the Javanese the money paid for the bride is, virtually, of the
nature of a marriage settlement on her, and is called, in the vulgar tongue, the pa-
tukon literally the “ purchase money,” and in the polite, the srahan, or “ deposit,
but more generally than either, the srikawin, which is in reality a dowry or settlement
In Sumatra, however, it is, in a few cases, the husband and not the wife that
is bought. This happens when the parents of the wife are of higher rank than those
of the husband. This is called the marriage by ambll-anak, which, literally translated
signifies “ adopting as a son.” In this case, the husband becomes the servant
of the family adopting him. Among the civilised nations of the Philippines, the
purchase of the wife takes a ruder form than even a money payment, for the lover
has to serve the parents of his mistress for a period of three or four years, much
after the manner of the ancient Hebrews. , $ • '
The marriage ceremony is everywhere a religious one ; and Sir Stamford Karnes
rives the following translation of that in Java as pronounced by the pnest. “ I join
vou, Raden-mas, in wedlock with Satiya, with a pledge of two reals weight in gold.
You take Satiya to be your wife for this world. You are obliged to pay the pledge
of vour marriage, (srikawin), or to remain debtor for the Bame. You are responsible
for vour wife in all and everything. If you should happen to be absent from her
for the space of seven months on shore, or one year at sea, without giving her any
sustenance, and are remiss in the duties you owe to your sovereign, your marriage
shall be dissolved, if your wife demand it, without any further form of process ;
and you will, besides, be subject to the punishment which the Mahommedan law
01 Marriages within certain degrees of consanguinity are prohibited ; but as with the
Jews, a man can intermarry with the widow of a brother, and then becomes liable
for all the obligations of the deceased husband. Polygamy and concubinage are legal
throughout the Malay Archipelago; but these are, froin the nature of things only
the riotous indulgences of the few rich and powerful. The first married wife being,
generally, the person of highest birth, takes, m Java rank of the rest. In
Sumatra, the highest rank belongs to her for whom the highest^ price has been paid.
Divorce, in Malay, charaïan and sarakan ; and in Javanese, pâgatan and pisahan,
all of them signifying “ a parting,’ or “ a separation,” are easily obtained. In Java,
as already seen, a seven months’ absence by land, or a year’s by sea, without provision
for the wife is declared to be a virtual divorce, should the wife demand one. Among
the simpler’inhabitants of the Archipelago, divorces are of rare occurrence ; but not
so in Java, where they are frequent.
MARSDEN (WILLIAM),—the author of the “ History of Sumatra,” was horn
in Dublin the son of a merchant of that city, and the second in descent from a
Derbyshire gentleman, which had settled in Ireland in the last years of the reign of
Queen Anne. After the usual school education in Dublin, he received a civil
appointment for Bencoolen, at sixteen years of age; proceeded to that place m l 771 ;
remained there eight years only, and returned to England in 1779. In 1782, he
published his “ History of Sumatra, ” which established his reputation as an oriental
scholar, and a man of clear and sound judgment. His well-earned reputation obtained
for him, first, the situation of Under Secretary; and, ultimately, of Chief Secretary
to the Admiralty; and these offices he discharged with great credit for the twelve
years from 1795 to 1807, when he retired, and returned to his favourite studies.
The fruits of these were his Grammar and Dictionary of the Malay language, the
first deserving the name which had been published in England, and the best which
had been published anywhere. This work had engaged more or less of his attention
for six-and-twenty years. In 1811, a new edition of his “ History of Sumatra,” which
had been translated into French and German, was called for and published. In 1817,
he published, with copious and valuable notes, his translation of the celebrated
travels of Marco Polo,—that singular work which gave the hints that led to the discovery
of the New World. In 1823, he published his “ Numismata Orientalia, or
Description of Eastern Coins,” a valuable collection of which had fallen into his
hands; and in 1834, in his seventy-eighth year, he gave to tho world his last work, a
“Collection of Essays,” the most valuable of which consists of a dissertation on the
“ Polynesian and East Insular ” languages. By his will he bequeathed his valuable
collection of Oriental coins, medals, and manuscripts to the British Museum; and his
library to King’s College, London.
Mr. Marsden’s long and meritorious career terminated on the 6th of October, 1836,
when he had nearly completed his eighty-second year. He was the first literary and
scientific Englishman who, with the advantages of local experience, treated of the
Malayan countries; all our knowledge before him being confined to the crude narratives
of mariners and voyagers unacquainted with the language, through which, alone,
accurate knowledge could be obtained. He was the cotemporary of Sir William
Jones, of Colebrooke, and of his own relative, Sir Charles Wilkins; and while they were
studying the philosophy of Continental Asia, he was doing the same thing for its
islands. The chief characteristics of his writings are laborious care and scrupulous
fidelity, ever under the control of a sound judgment, qualities in which he has
not been excelled, or even equalled, by any writer on the subjects he treated of,
foreign or native. He is, in fact, the model and example of all that has been done
since his time;—sometimes with more knowledge than he could have possessed, but
never with more care or integrity.
MARTABAN. Situated at the confluence of three fine rivers in the country of
the Mon, or Peguan nation, and now a portion of the British territory in India, is called
by the Malays, Maritanan. This place, which is in latitude 16° 28', was, probably, the
most northern limit of the navigation of the Malays. The Portuguese name, Marta-
bane', or Martavand, is most likely taken from the Malay one, for it is not a Peguan
word. That considerable intercourse subsisted between the Peguans and Malays,
before the arrival of Europeans, is testified by the fact, that the Portuguese found a
considerable number of Peguans settled at Malacca when they captured it. This is
asserted by all the narrators of that transaction; and in the “ Commentaries of
Alboquerque,” it is expressly stated, that they formed part of the auxiliaries that
accompanied the Portuguese commander when he went in pursuit of the fugitive
king, after his expulsion from the town. “ Alphonso Alboquerque,’’ say they,
“ learning that the king of Malacca had fortified himself on the river Muar, sent
against him seven of his captains with a force of 400 Portuguese, 600 Javanese
under Utemuta raja, and 300 Peguans under their native chiefs.”—Page 383. No
Peguan settlers now exist either at Malacca, or any other European settlement in
the same quarter; nor do they seem to have done so at any time after the overthrow
of the Malay government.
MARUWI. This is the name given by the Malays to the natives of the group of
islands on the western coast of Sumatra, lying between the third and fourth
degrees of north latitude, and of which the principal are Simalu and Sibanah.
; ~'5’San conjectures that the area of this group may be about 600 square miles;
and their population about 3000, or five inhabitants to the square mile.
MASA. This is the name of a considerable island lying off the western shore of
Sumatra; one of the group called by the Malays Pulo-batu, or the “ rock islands,”
and the most northerly of which touches on the equator. The word masa signifies
time, m Malay and in Javanese, but it is taken from the Sanscrit language, and is
anrilltl* many names of places having the same origin. It is certain, however,
that these were not imposed directly by a people speaking or using the Sanscrit