My life : a record of events and opinions - Wallace-online.org
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My life : a record of events and opinions - Wallace-online.org

My life : a record of events and opinions - Wallace-online.org My life : a record of events and opinions - Wallace-online.org

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—200 MY LIFEwith one or other of their four hands, to catch hold ofsomething. I estimated one jump by a long-tailedwhite monkey at thirty feet horizontal, and sixty feetvertical, from a high tree on to a lower one ;he fellthrough, however, so great was his impetus, on to alower branch, and then, without a moment's stop,scampered away from tree to tree, evidently quitepleased with his own pluck. When I startle a band,and one leader takes a leap like this, it is amusing towatch the others—some afraid and hesitating on thebrink till at last they pluck up courage, take a run atit, and often roll over in the air with their desperateefforts. Then there are the long-armed apes, whonever walk or run upon the trees, but travel altogetherby their long arms, swinging themselves from boughto bough in the easiest and most graceful mannerpossible." But I must leave the monkeys and turn to themen, who will interest you more, though there isnothing very remarkable in them. They are Malays,speaking a curious, half-unintelligible Malay dialectMohammedans, but retaining many pagan customsThey are very ignorant, very lazy,and superstitions.and live almost absolutely on rice alone, thrivingupon it, however, just as the Irish do, or did, uponpotatoes. They were a bad lot a few years ago, butthe Dutch have brought them into order by theiradmirable system of supervision and government.By-the-by, I hope you have read Mr. Money's bookon Java. It is well worth while, and you will seethat I had come to the same conclusions as to Dutchcolonial government from what I saw in Menado.Nothing is worse and more absurd than the sneeringprejudiced tone in which almost all English writersspeak of the Dutch government in the East. It

THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO 201never has been worse than ours has been, and it isnow very much better ;and what is greatly to theircredit and not generally known, they take nearly thesame pains to establish order and good governmentin those islands and possessions which are an annualloss to them, as in those which yield them a revenue.I am convinced that their system is right in principle,and ours wrong, though, of course, in the practicalworking there may and must be defects ;and amongthe Dutch themselves, both in Europe and the Indies,there is a strong party against the present system,but that party consists mostly of merchants andplanters, who want to get the trade and commerceof the country made free, which in my opinion wouldbe an act of suicidal madness, and would, moreover,seriously injure instead of benefiting the natives." Personally, I do not much like the Dutch outhere, or the Dutch officials ; but I cannot help bearingwitness to the excellence of their government ofnative races, gentle yet firm, treating their manners,customs, and prejudices with respect, yet introducingeverywhere European law, order, and industry."" Singapore, January 20, 1862." I cannot write more now. I do not know howlong I shall be here;perhaps a month. Then, ho !for England ! "While waiting at Singapore for the steamer totake me home I purchased two living specimens ofthe smaller bird of paradise. They were in a largecage, and the price asked was enormous. As theyhad never been seen alive in Europe I at once securedthem, and had a great deal of trouble with them on myjourney home, I had first to make an arrangement

THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO 201never has been worse than ours has been, <strong>and</strong> it isnow very much better ;<strong>and</strong> what is greatly to theircredit <strong>and</strong> not generally known, they take nearly thesame pains to establish order <strong>and</strong> good governmentin those isl<strong>and</strong>s <strong>and</strong> possessions which are an annualloss to them, as in those which yield them a revenue.I am convinced that their system is right in principle,<strong>and</strong> ours wrong, though, <strong>of</strong> course, in the practicalworking there may <strong>and</strong> must be defects ;<strong>and</strong> amongthe Dutch themselves, both in Europe <strong>and</strong> the Indies,there is a strong party against the present system,but that party consists mostly <strong>of</strong> merchants <strong>and</strong>planters, who want to get the trade <strong>and</strong> commerce<strong>of</strong> the country made free, which in my opinion wouldbe an act <strong>of</strong> suicidal madness, <strong>and</strong> would, moreover,seriously injure instead <strong>of</strong> benefiting the natives." Personally, I do not much like the Dutch outhere, or the Dutch <strong>of</strong>ficials ; but I cannot help bearingwitness to the excellence <strong>of</strong> their government <strong>of</strong>native races, gentle yet firm, treating their manners,customs, <strong>and</strong> prejudices with respect, yet introducingeverywhere European law, order, <strong>and</strong> industry."" Singapore, January 20, 1862." I cannot write more now. I do not know howlong I shall be here;perhaps a month. Then, ho !for Engl<strong>and</strong> ! "While waiting at Singapore for the steamer totake me home I purchased two living specimens <strong>of</strong>the smaller bird <strong>of</strong> paradise. They were in a largecage, <strong>and</strong> the price asked was enormous. As theyhad never been seen alive in Europe I at once securedthem, <strong>and</strong> had a great deal <strong>of</strong> trouble with them on myjourney home, I had first to make an arrangement

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