MALAY TOMBS, NEAR S IN G A PO R E .
well established, that those savages who are addicted to cannibalism become
passionately fond of their horribly unnatural food. There is a tribe of
Malays, called Battas, who, like their fellow Malay tigers, are said by Sir
Stamford Baffles to eat one another, and to prefer such food to any other.
Nor are they to be classed entirely among barbarians, for these Battas can
read and write, and have codes of laws of great antiquity; and yet, according
to the authority just named, not less than from sixty to a hundred
Battas are eaten annually, even during a time of peace.
In addition to the tigers there are deer and wild boars found upon the
island, and several varieties of smaller animals, the monkey, the wild hog
or peccary, the porcupine and the sloth. Birds abound, and among them are
some of great beauty. Serpents are not very numerous, but among them is
the venomous cobra. A singular animal, called the water buffalo, was more
particularly observed at Singapore. I t approaches in size to the ox of our
country, and like it is used as an animal for draught, being harnessed to the
shafts of a cart and guided by a driver, who holds a rope which is fastened
to a ring or thong passed through the cartilage which divides the nostrils of
the animal. The skin of this beast is rough, and not unlike that of the
rhinoceros, and though the water buffalo has somewhat the general appearance
of the ox, its head is altogether different. Notwithstanding the seeming
thickness and toughness of its hide, it suffers greatly from the flies, and to
avoid them keeps, except during feeding time, in the water; hence, probably,
its name.
Inquiries were made about two remarkable inhabitants of the waters
about Malacca and Sumatra, described by Baffles: the sailing fish, called
by the natives ikan layer, and the duyong, mentioned by Valentin, and so
long talked of as the mermaid; but the Commodore was told by the inhabitants
of Singapore that these fish had become very scarce, if not entirely
extinct. Shells collected upon the adjacent coasts and along the Straits of
Malacca are brought in large quantities to Singapore for sale, and some excellent
specimens were obtained.
The various people who inhabit Sumatra, the Malayan peninsula, and
the numerous islands in the adjacent seas, are all of the Malay family.
This race is widely distributed, not only over the Indian archipelago, but
throughout the South Sea islands, as it is generally conceded that the natives
of the latter are of the same origin as the former. Analogous physical
characteristics, customs and languages, would seem to prove this relationship.
The Mississippi having taken on board the necessary supplies of fuel,
left Singapore on the 29th of March. The ship proceeded through the
middle channel, passing near a light-house erected on the rock called “ Pedra
Branca.” This course was taken with the view of running up on the .Cochin
China and Hainan shores. I t is not necessary to say much in regard to the