The Malay archipelago : the land of the orang-utan ... - Wallace Online
The Malay archipelago : the land of the orang-utan ... - Wallace Online 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.
;III.] MALACCA AXD MOUXT OPHIR. 21Tlie population of Malacca consists of several races. Theubiquitous Chinese are perhaps the most numerous, keeping uptheir manners, customs, and language ; the indigenous Malaysare next in point of numbers, and their language is the Linguafrancaof the place. Next come the descendants of the Po'i'tuguese—amixed, degraded, and degenerate race, but who still^eep up the use of their mother tongue, though ruefullymutilated in grammar ; and tlien there are the English rulers,and tlie descendants of the Dutch, who all speak English. ThePortuguese spoken at ^lalacca is a useful philological phenomenon.The verbs have mostly lost their inflections, and oneform does for all moods, tenses, numbers, and persons. Eu vai,serves for "I go," "I went," or, "I will go." Adjectives, too,have been deprived of their feminine and plural terminations.so that the language is i-educed to a marvellous simpHcity, and,with the admixture of a few ^Malay words, becomes ratherpuzzling to one who lias heard only tlie pure Lusitanian.In costume these several peoples are as varied as in theirspeech. The English preserve the tight-fitting coat, waistcoat,and trousers, and the abominable hat and cravat ; the Portuguesepatronize a light jacket, or, more frequently, shirt and trousersonly ; the jMalays wear their national jacket and sarong (a kindof kilt), with loose dx-awers ;while the Chinese never depart inthe least from their national dress, which, indeed, it is impossibleto improve for a tropical climate, whether as regards comfort orappearance. The loosely-hanging trousers, and neat white halflshirt half-jacket, are exactly what•a dress should be in tliis low]latitude.I engaged two Portuguese to accompany me into the interiorone as a cook, the other to shoot and skin birds, which is quitea trade in Malacca. I first stayed a fortnight at a village calledGading, where I was accommodated in the house of someChinese converts, to whom I was recomuiended by the Jesuitmissionaries. The house was a mere shed, but it was kept clean,and I made myself sufiiciently comfortable. My hosts wereforming a pepper and gambir plantation, and in the immediateneigh bourliood Avere extensive tin-wasliings, emj^loying over athousand Chinese. The tin is obtained in the form of blackgrains from beds of quartzose sand, and is melted into ingots inrude clay furnaces. The soil seemed poor, and the forest wasvery dense with undergrowth, and not at all j^roductive ofinsects ; but, on the otlier hand, birds were abundant, and I wasat once introduced to the rich ornithological treasures of theMalaj^an region.The very first time I fired my gun I brought down one of themost curious and beautiful of the Malacca birds, the blue-liilledgaper (Cymbirhynchus macrorhyncli us), called by the Malaysthe "Piain-bird. ' It is about tlie size of a starling, black andrich claret colour with white shoulder sti'ipes, and a very largeand broad bill of the most pure cobalt blue above and orange
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;III.] MALACCA AXD MOUXT OPHIR. 21Tlie population <strong>of</strong> Malacca consists <strong>of</strong> several races. <strong>The</strong>ubiquitous Chinese are perhaps <strong>the</strong> most numerous, keeping up<strong>the</strong>ir manners, customs, and language ; <strong>the</strong> indigenous <strong>Malay</strong>sare next in point <strong>of</strong> numbers, and <strong>the</strong>ir language is <strong>the</strong> Linguafranca<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> place. Next come <strong>the</strong> descendants <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Po'i'tuguese—amixed, degraded, and degenerate race, but who still^eep up <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir mo<strong>the</strong>r tongue, though ruefullymutilated in grammar ; and tlien <strong>the</strong>re are <strong>the</strong> English rulers,and tlie descendants <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Dutch, who all speak English. <strong>The</strong>Portuguese spoken at ^lalacca is a useful philological phenomenon.<strong>The</strong> verbs have mostly lost <strong>the</strong>ir inflections, and oneform does for all moods, tenses, numbers, and persons. Eu vai,serves for "I go," "I went," or, "I will go." Adjectives, too,have been deprived <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir feminine and plural terminations.so that <strong>the</strong> language is i-educed to a marvellous simpHcity, and,with <strong>the</strong> admixture <strong>of</strong> a few ^<strong>Malay</strong> words, becomes ra<strong>the</strong>rpuzzling to one who lias heard only tlie pure Lusitanian.In costume <strong>the</strong>se several peoples are as varied as in <strong>the</strong>irspeech. <strong>The</strong> English preserve <strong>the</strong> tight-fitting coat, waistcoat,and trousers, and <strong>the</strong> abominable hat and cravat ; <strong>the</strong> Portuguesepatronize a light jacket, or, more frequently, shirt and trousersonly ; <strong>the</strong> j<strong>Malay</strong>s wear <strong>the</strong>ir national jacket and sarong (a kind<strong>of</strong> kilt), with loose dx-awers ;while <strong>the</strong> Chinese never depart in<strong>the</strong> least from <strong>the</strong>ir national dress, which, indeed, it is impossibleto improve for a tropical climate, whe<strong>the</strong>r as regards comfort orappearance. <strong>The</strong> loosely-hanging trousers, and neat white halflshirt half-jacket, are exactly what•a dress should be in tliis low]latitude.I engaged two Portuguese to accompany me into <strong>the</strong> interiorone as a cook, <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r to shoot and skin birds, which is quitea trade in Malacca. I first stayed a fortnight at a village calledGading, where I was accommodated in <strong>the</strong> house <strong>of</strong> someChinese converts, to whom I was recomuiended by <strong>the</strong> Jesuitmissionaries. <strong>The</strong> house was a mere shed, but it was kept clean,and I made myself sufiiciently comfortable. My hosts wereforming a pepper and gambir plantation, and in <strong>the</strong> immediateneigh bourliood Avere extensive tin-wasliings, emj^loying over athousand Chinese. <strong>The</strong> tin is obtained in <strong>the</strong> form <strong>of</strong> blackgrains from beds <strong>of</strong> quartzose sand, and is melted into ingots inrude clay furnaces. <strong>The</strong> soil seemed poor, and <strong>the</strong> forest wasvery dense with undergrowth, and not at all j^roductive <strong>of</strong>insects ; but, on <strong>the</strong> otlier hand, birds were abundant, and I wasat once introduced to <strong>the</strong> rich ornithological treasures <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>Malaj^an region.<strong>The</strong> very first time I fired my gun I brought down one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>most curious and beautiful <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Malacca birds, <strong>the</strong> blue-liilledgaper (Cymbirhynchus macrorhyncli us), called by <strong>the</strong> <strong>Malay</strong>s<strong>the</strong> "Piain-bird. ' It is about tlie size <strong>of</strong> a starling, black andrich claret colour with white shoulder sti'ipes, and a very largeand broad bill <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> most pure cobalt blue above and <strong>orang</strong>e