PERAK AND THE MALAYS.• PERAK—pronounced " Payrah "—came into notice,

as Major- McNair reminds us, in 1875-6, through the murder of the British. Resident, and the despatch by our Government of a combined naval and military force to exact satisfaction for the out- rage. Perhaps there is no place under the widely-spread " protection " of Great Britain less known than this curious country, where the cruelest piracy was, until quite recently, a profession, conducted on the hereditary principle and protected by the Rajahs, and where, though its perpetrators and pro- tectors are now punished by our Government, it is still far from extinct. Major McNair's work is full of interest, leaving no side of his subject untouched. He writes from the satisfactory position of twenty years' knowledge of the Malays, and though he has consulted a number of works on the origin and progress of this peculiar and wide-spread race, he omits all scien- tific terms, so that his method of conveying the exhaustive infor- mation which he offers his readers is pleasant and attractive. He has a theory that the Malay peninsula is the Ophir of the Scrip- tures, whither King Solomon's ships traded for " apes, peacocks, ivory, and gold," and he argues the point ingeniously, reminding

us of William Howitt's verses on the monkey, in which he sup- poses that creature to have been sent " with Prince Hiram's armament," and asks:— "Wert thou given, or wert thou sold, With the peacocks and the gold ?"

Not the mouth of the Indus, but that of the Perak, according to Major McNair, admitted the ships of Solomon ; and the riches of the now almost unexplored country may tempt many a fleet in the future, and send wondrous wealth out into the world, when• the petty labours of the Chinese, whose operations are carried on in a very primitive fashion, and chiefly directed to the silvery kind of tin which abounds in the country, shall be superseded by what Major McNair calls " the ceaseless energy of the Anglo-

Saxon." The author has come upon important traces of gold in- his own wanderings in the almost depopulated districts, and has seen Malay boys washing the soil left by some ancient flood. He reminds one a little of Ruth Pinch and her beefsteak pudding,. which " might turn out a stew, or a soup, or something," but would not, even under those circumstances, be a disappointment, when he says :—" Recompense of some description is almost certain to reward the explorer, for the finding of a rich lode of metal of any kind is not to be despised if instead of metal, a good vein of coal could be found, the finder would be a.

benefactor to the State."

The explorer would at least have a delightful scene for his hazardous labours, for thus the author describes the largest of the native States into which the Malay peninsula is divided :—

" Not a sun-baked region of parched desert and insufferable drought,_ but a rich, moist country, almost touching the Equator, but rarely suffering from excessive heat ; a land of eternal summer, where refresh- ing rains fall, where the monsoons blow regularly, where the frightful tempests of the East are unknown ; and which is, for the moat part,

covered with a luxuriant vegetation, the produce of a fertile soil 'Perak ' signifies ' silver '—a name probably given to it from the vast amount of silvery-looking tin which is one of its principal productions The depth inland of the State is about forty-five miles, giving an area of about 4,000 square miles, of a land metaphorically flowing with milk and honey, but badly ruled, thinly inhabitated, and poorly cultivated."

The author describes the scenery as very beautiful, and the silence and loneliness of the river-banks for a long distance inland from the mouth as deeply impressive. The traveller's boat seems to be penetrating into one of Nature's unexplored retreats, as it is paddled up the stream between the dense forests of man- grove on either side. An incident of the river journey which. gives us a specimen of the fanciful Malay superstitions occurs at the shooting of a dangerous rapid, called Jeram Panjang. " Here," says the author, "there is a huge boulder, and before attempting to pass it the boatmen make certain propitiatory offerings, in the shape of bananas and betel-nuts, accompanied by a speech, in which leave is asked to go down the rapid." Strange and beautiful things axe to be seen in the course of the

Perak and the Malays "Sarong" and "Kris." By Major Fred MoNair_ London: Tinsley Brothers.

river journey ; one may peer through the limpid water at sub- marine gardens of coral and madrepores, " through whose flowers and shrubs glide the brilliant fish of the tropic region, clad in armour of dazzling hues ;" and just when one wearies for a sign of life from the shore, it comes thus :—

"A white eagle glides with silent wing athwart the stream ; and farther on, suddenly, from some exposed mangrove-root, there is a flash of blue, and like a vivid azure streak away darts a kingfisher. one of the brilliantly-feathered birds of the country, disturbed while waiting for its gorgeously-scaled prey. As the light-winged is dis- appears, and the eye is still filled with its beauty, the ear s at last saluted with a sound to break the utter stillness of the river, for there is a dull, heavy splash, an eddying in the water, as, from amidst the

mud or mangrove-roots, a huge alligator rushes into the stream Beyond the tidal influence the character of the forest changes; the man- groves give place to jungle-growth, and on either side, columnar and beautiful, rise the stately- growths of palm, with their wondrously-straight trunks and tufted heads."

Perak is a land of jungle, for the most part, with rivers for its highways ; the native villages or " campongs " are clusters of bamboo houses raised on posts, in groves of cocoa palms. There is one good road, twenty-seven miles in length, which has been developed under the management of the British Resident from an elephant-track, and passes through a ravine of great beauty, in which granite of a fine grey variety, similar to our Aberdeen, crops out ; tall forest trees, rich in gorgeous green, tower up, "and at their feet cluster ground-orchids, quaint and curious in form, and far more beautiful than the stunted kinds seen in our hothouses at home." Wherever they settle the Malays plant fruit-trees extensively, which are extraordinarily prolific ; while the trees of the forests frequently rise up without a branch for a hundred feet before they interweave with their fellows, and form a canopy under which twilight reigns at midday. In these grand forests beautiful birds abound, " though," says the writer, " this is not the land of the wondrous bird of para- dise, whose brilliant plumes rise from beneath its wings, and curve down like the waters of a golden fountain." The glorious Argus pheasant and the jungle-cock ; the exquisite Javanese peacock, with glistening, green-scaled neck ; the love-bird, the minah (best imitator among birds of the human voice), the Straits nightingale, doves and pigeons of the most beautiful kinds, the grandly-crested hoopoe, the magnificent toucan, those living jewels the darting humming-birds, and the gorgeous, scaly sunbirds, are all dwellers in great numbers in Perak. On some of the forest trees the nests of what are there called tailor-birds—" probably," says Major McNair, " the sociable grosbeak "—are seen. They are " delicately woven out of grass and cocoa-nut fibre, and hanging from the boughs, they form a very curious feature in the scenery." Birds of prey abound also, and butterflies and moths of the most beautiful species gem the delicious atmosphere and dot the sunny landscape, while the swampy lands swarm with the voracious dragon-fly. " One of the most beautiful sights in Perak," says the author, " is a man- grove swamp on a soft, still, dark night, when the fireflies are out in myriads, flashing from leaf to leaf, and darting like brilliant sparks from tree to tree in showers of light."

The chapters which the author devotes to the country and the animals, both wild and domestic, are so interesting, that if his exhaustive study of the natives of Perak does not command equal attention he has no one to blame but himself.

The population of this fine country is very small and scattered —there is hardly a village of any large size in all Perak—and it consists of Malays, variously-named tribes of the people of Sumatra; the Bugis, who are distinct from the Malays, and come from the southern part of the island of Celebes ; and the wild tribes of the interior. The foreign settlement consists of a few European settlers and the ever industrious Chinese, " whose skilled labour in mining and agriculture is a valuable acquisition to the country." Of all these people, the Bugis are the most manageable and estimable. When the Malays were converted to the faith of Islam (a conversion which Major McNair holds to have had a great effect upon the character of the people), the Bugis were the last to go over to Mahommed. " They compare," he says, "most favourably with the Malays proper, and though very similar to them in appearance, they speak a different language. The Malays fear and respect them above all the other races of the Archipelago, and among them are to be found the principal native traders and merchants." The author does not report favourably of the Malays, of whom he says :— " The Malay is naturally dull, heavy, and listless, fond of a life of slothful ease, and takes a good deal of coaxing to make an effort for the improvement of his state, or even for his amusement. But when once

roused, his energy and dogged determination are remarkable One of their proverbs says, ' A wound may heal, but will always leave a scar.' Acting upon this, a Malay rarely forgets an offence, and as his idea is that the insult must be washed out in blood and he always carries the kris, fatal cases of retaliation are not uncommon."

Their houses, which, even in the case of the rich natives, are almost devoid of furniture, are dirty, but they are cleanly in their persons and habits, and they strictly adhere to the use of their traditional garment, the " sarong," and of their national weapon, the "kris." They are cunning in cookery, making use in a variety of ways of the simple materials always at hand in their rich country and beautiful climate, while they are never at a loss for cooking apparatus :-

" Should a convenient fire for cooking bo required, nature has sup- plied a stove and fuel ready to hand, which will go on burning at a powerful red-heat for many days. This nnpatontod stove is the mound of the white ant, which contains in itself all the necessaries for this sus- tained combustion, supplying a want and at the same time getting rid of a noxious pest."

The Malays eat fruit in enormous quantities, and chew betel ; the richer classes smoke opium ; none drink intoxicating liquors to excess. They are very warlike, and their piratical practices are known to all the world. The chapters in which Major McNair relates their exploits, and describes the flotillas of pirate prahus, are extremely interesting and vividly written, as is likewise his narrative of the events which called for British intervention, and of the murder of Mr. Birch, of whom he writes in the highest terms of commendation. On the whole, he does not reassure us for the future ; our protectorate in the province of Perak may prove, as Hans Breitmann says of himself, " a bad egg for us yet." In the following passage we have the best view of the Malay which the book affords :— " In demeanour among themselves and towards the European, the Malays are at all times courteous ; while with ono who speaks their language and understands and respects their manners and customs, they are extremely social and friendly ; but, from their own staid and rairing ways, they very quickly lose respect for any one who is boisterous in his mirth, impulsive and rude in his habits, and otherwise displays a thoughtless disposition, so foreign to their own nature. For a Malay, as a rule, speaks slowly, giving to every word a distinct em- phasis, while ho is utterly unable to take a joke, or to view it in the light in which it has been intended."

The author deals with the religious history and the existing superstitious of these strange people in a complete and in- teresting manner, and his account of the wild tribes of the interior is exceedingly curious ; we regret that we cannot give space to extracts from it. Perhaps the most remarkable chapter in the book is that entitled "An Amok." Every one has a notion of what this horrid frenzy means, but we fancy Major McNair is right when he says that probably few persons are aware of the extent to which the practice which has come to be called " running a muck " really obtains. The Malay is of an ex- tremely nervous temperament, and it is a common thing to see a man " whose will is under the influence of those be meets, and who seems bound to imitate every gesticulation or movement that is made." The nervous excitement reaches its climax in the "amok." Even while the author's work was in process of print- ing, Rajah Mansur, one of the sons of Yusuf, the present ruler of Perak, during a strange fit of excitement, drew his kris and rushed off, striking right and left, killing six and severely wound- ing two persons, and finally making his escape into the jungle. He was only twenty years old. On occasions of this kind, the " amok " may be the cause of death or severe injury to twenty or thirty people, before he is literally hunted down and destroyed like a mad dog. The Malay, speaking of amok, says, " My eyes got dark, and I ran on." Major McNair gives a terrible description of the scene when the cry of " Amok ! amok !" is raised, and the police turn out (for the object is now to take the man alive, try him by British law, and punish him for murder), armed with a huge, short-pronged pitchfork, to catch the mad- man by the throat and pin him to a wall, where he is driven to bay. Generally speaking, the amok is killed by the crowd of his pursuers, though occasionally, as in the case of the son of Sultan Yusuf, lie escapes to the jungle. Very few are brought to trial. Major McNair does not believe that the amok is a result of opium-eating (which is an imported cus- tom among these people) ; he holds it to have had its origin in the deed of some desperate Malay, to have been handed down by tradition to his highly-sensitive successors, and since then " re- garded as the right thing by those who are excited to frenzy by apprehension, or some injury that they regard as deadly, and to be washed out in blood."

The ancient history of the Malays, their trade, their wars, their systems of government, and domestic life, are all fully treated of in this very interesting and entertaining book ; indeed, we cannot think of any point concerning which his readers might wish to be informed that has been overlooked by Major McNair.