2o6
Malay?
MALAYA OR MALACCA»
armed, and either at war amongft themfelves, or employed in pillaging
their* neighbours,
** This ferocity which the Malaya qualify under the name of courage,
is fo well known to the European compainies who have fettlements in
the Indies, that'they havcvUniverfaiMy agreed in prohibiting the captains
of their IbipS,* who may put into the Malay iflands, from taking on
board any feamen. of that nation^ except in the greateft diftrefs* and
then on no account to exceed two or three.
“ It is. nothing uncommon, for a'handful of thefe. horrid lavages £kd-
denly to embark, attack a veffel by furprize, poignard in hand, maf.
lacre. the people, and make themfelves^ mailers of her. Malay barks;
with 25 oe 30 men, have been known*to hoard European .fhips? pf 30
or 40 guns, in order to take peflbffion, of them, .and murder with their
pqignards great paart óf the crew. The. Malay hiftory..i^ fü^.'o£ fuch
eriterprifes, which mark the defperate ferocity of thefe bar iw i y n s,
“ The Malays who are? not Eaves go always armed; they"would
think themfelves difgraced if they went abroad without tfieir coignards,
which they call Crit ; the induftry of this nation even furpafles dtfelf in
the fabric of this deftru&ive weapon. t
Ê As their lives are a- perpetual round of agitation and tumult they
could never endure the long flowing habits which prevail among the other
Afiatics. .The'hahits of the Malays are exaftly* adapted to tliéif'fhapes,
and loaded with a multitude of buttons, which fatten them clofe to
their bodies in every part. I relate thefe feemingly trifling öbfervations
in order to prove that in climates the moft Oppofite the-fame laws-.pró-
duce fimilar manners, cufloras, and prejudices : their effedl is the fame
too with refpeft to agriculture.
“ The lands poflefled by the Malays are in general o f a fuperior
.quality; nature feems to have taken*; pleafure in there afle mblirig her
moft favourite'■ produriions. They have not only thpfe to; be found5 in
t?Ke territories of Siam, but a variety of others. The;£ountry is covered
with- odoriferous woods, fuch as the eagle, or. aloes wood, the fandal,
and thé Coffin odor at a, a fpecies of cinnamon; 'you there breathe an
air impregnated- with the odours of innumerable flowefs of the greateft
fragrance,, of which there is a perpetual fucceffion the year round, th.e
M S a |S B f g S ; ) I fweet
fweet flavour of which capriv^te^ithe foul,’ andirttpires the moft volup- ¥AlAY-s-
tucus.fenfatidas'. -, $ No trav^l'kii wandering ©v^rjifhe plafnsvof Malacca
but feels himfelf ftrongly 'impel’led’to wifln'his.rrefidgppe" fixed,in a place
To luxuriaffltvdn talhpe®aeri,ts, ^atu;Eejj,triumphs without the af-,
fittameSfe’of a«.-.. all j-hiji«»,; Ra$ure-<he .
Malay is miferable; the iculture.-of -the lands,? aha^oned .tp-flay.es, is
-Mlfe?drito ebnterqpt. Thefe Wretched labourers,* dragged mceflantly
from Sifeir'ruffiievemptoyments5.*by their treftlefs maflfers, who delight hi
waf and maritime --erltefprifesy havgf^raEdy .time^ ‘aridmel^fePs rpjfeluiifin*.
to»glve'-the' nee'ettafy attention to the labourih|*ip|ithsiUigfp$!pds; ifreir
lattds^h geherdi'Temain- Uncultivatedj-tandj-yiroduce no* kind- of grain for
thbtfubttfte'nfeb' bfthe' inhabitants .,,r
i, 'The-, reader who wifees .for,riipre ample/ioformationi’Conpgrnmg this
penMtila may be referred to ’the voyages1,©? Nhuh®?'jand,, Hamilton^
As fHe -latter atterts that the Inland 'inhabitants; ‘whom he vcalls the
Mbnocaboes, area different race-from the Malays^ and of, ffipclbligbter
complexion, it would feem probable that-\th’e Malays patted ifito this'
eountiy from the north or"’.foUth, and there is no final! difficulty iq ao
C6unting‘','fdr‘'their- origin. The language fhouid be ttrilfully ‘collated
with thpfe'of the neighbouring-couniries; and? even with the,, ancient
diale&s of Tiiadoftan, as perhaps' they may be- found to*be the fame
with the Pattis,~ traditionally faid to have been the.moft .early inhabitants
of tbateelebrated-;eottutry. * ■-
Oppofite tb the- coaft of Mfheed, though at ,a ,ponfiderable diftaqce, And«m?n,
are the iflands of Andaman and of' Nicobar. The great Andaman is
about 140 B. miles in length, but not "more than 20 in the greateft
breadth, indented by tteep.-bays affoxdir^. exGellent.barbGurs, *and m-
terfefted by vafe; inlets and-erfeeks, One'-of, which-,,navigable for Tfeall
- veflels, paffes quite?: through the ifte.® | The Toil is chieflyf|'lack, -feaifld,
the cliffs of a white arenacious ftpne. The extensive forefts afford ,
feme precious trees, as ebony, and the mellori, ^ ©r Nficobar bread fruit.
The only quadrupeds feem to he-wild hqgs; monkfes, and rats. . The
Tea fupplies numerous fife, among which are mullets, foies, and ex-
: * At Ret
cellent