The Malay archipelago : the land of the orang-utan ... - Wallace Online

—20 THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. [chap.English officials and of a few Portuguese merchants, embeddedin groves of palms and fruit-trees, whose varied and beautifulfoliage furnishes a pleasing relief to the eye, as well as mostgrateful shade.The old fort, the large Govei'nment House, and the ruins of acathedral, attest the former wealth and impoi'tance of this place,which was once as much tlie centre of Eastern trade as Singaporeis now. The following description of it by Linschott, whowrote two hundred and se\'enty years ago, strikingly exhibitsthe change it has undergone:" Malacca is inliabited by the Portuguese and by natives ofthe country, called ]\Ialays. The Portuguese have here afortress, as at Mozambique, and there is no fortress in all theIndies, after those of Mozambique and Ormuz, where thecaptains i^erform their duty better than in this one. This placeis the market of all India, of China, of the Moluccas, and of otherislands I'ound about, from all which places, as well as fromBanda, Java, Sumatra, Siam, Pegu, Bengal, Coromandel, andIndia, arrive ships, which come and go incessantly, charged withan infinity of merchandises. There would be in this place amuch greater number of Portuguese if it were not for the inconvenienceand unhealthiness of the air, which is hurtful notonly to strangers, but also to natives of the countiy. Thence itis that all who live in the country pay tribute of their health,suffering from a certain disease, whicli makes them lose eithertheir skin or their hair. And those who escape consider it amiracle, which occasions many to leave the country, while theardent desire of gain induces others to risk their health, and endeavourto endure such an atmosphere. The origin of this town,as the natives say, was very small, only having at the beginning,by reason of the unhealthiness of the air, but six or sevenfishermen who inhabited it. But the number was increased bythe meeting of fishermen from Siam, Pegu, and Bengal, whocame and built a city, and established a peculiar language,drawn from the most elegant modes of speaking of other nations,so that in fact the language of the Malays is at present the mostrefined, exact, and celebrated of all the East. The name ofMalacca was given to this town, which, by the convenience ofits situation, in a short time grew to such wealth, that it doesnot yield to the most powerful towns and regions round about.The natives, both men and women, are very courteous, and arereckoned the most skilful in the world in compliments, andstudy much to compose and repeat verses and love-songs. Theirlanguage is in vogue through the Indies, as the French is here."At present, a vessel over a hundred tons hardly ever entersits port, and the trade is entirely confined to a few petty productsof the forests, and to the fruit, which the trees planted bythe old Portuguese now produce for the enjoyment of theinhabitants of Singapore. Although rather subject to fevers,it is not at present considered very unhealthy.