ments. When they arrived, Captain Newbold fired a poisoned arrow at a dog, which died from the effects at once, as the blood was seen; how especially then if men had been struck, how strong will be the poison; but God forbid, for ipoh is the chief of poisons amongst the Malays. Moreover, I have mentioned Jakuns in my account of my voyage to Tringunu as being in the interior of Pahang, whose employment is to bring down ivory, gum benzoin, and rattans, to sell or to exchange to the townspeople. By this means they are acquainted with the Malays, understanding their language and dressed in their costume. Thus they are very different from the Jakuns of Bukit Panchor, whose manners and customs I have above related.

I will now relate the circumstances of my intercourse with Captain Newbold. I remained with him for nearly three years, busy with Malay literature, translating even to the names of eatables and the various ingredients used in cooking, and their mode of preparation-the condiments, and their various kinds and tastes. For this purpose he gave me money to have them prepared two or three daily, which he ate, and he had other kinds the next day. This was the way between us both; we were well suited towards each other, and, having the highest regard for each other's feelings, we never had differences; so as he said I said, and what I said he said-we never made sour faces at each other. Our state was that of prince and counsellor from beginning to end. Such was the case between us when an order of the Government came to him to go, his successor having come from Madras; so he prepared to sail. His successor was Captain Ferrier. And two or three days before he sailed, he said to me that he was about to sail; 'But good-bye to you; if I live I will come back to Malacca. And I have a great wish that you may get employment here,

for if you go to Singapore, to get you back will be difficult, as I have a great deal for you to do yet, so I think I shall return quickly.' To this I replied, that I hoped he would return in safety, and that we might see each other again. So he grasped my hand. The bright day lowered into the gloom, the clouds bearing the rain now began to descend: such is the state of men about to part with their friends. So he let my hand go to wipe his eyes, and going into his room, he brought out a present for me like himself, when he told me not to forget him, and that this would be a sign to my children of our friendship. He also gave me a certificate stating how long I had taught him, and my competence in his work; for this was the custom of white people to call the good good, and the bad bad. On the same day he sailed. God had permitted me to see the face of a friend abounding with intelligence and amiability."

The expression "teaching Mr. Ebbison" sounds strange in the ears of an Englishman-a black man teaching the white one that had gone forth to regenerate the world! -yet this is one of the necessary paradoxes when universal objects are sought to be attained.

Captain Newbold was favourably known in the far East as having published the last work of its date (about 1834) on the Straits Settlements, and the introduction of our autobiographer to him is amusing. How rich the vanity displayed by poor Abdulla, yet how useful an ally must he have been to the English officer! Abdulla, by his own account, must have been sadly run upon by his friends. Towards Captain Newbold he approaches nearer than to any of his prior white friends, for now he calls himself brother. This sentiment is more agreeable in the distance, and can be perfectly safely indulged in under

such circumstances. We hope the gallant captain is still living, and will honour these remarks with a perusal.

In the visit to the Jakuns, or wild men, it will be noticed how much superiority over them Abdulla affects. This is a common fault with men of colour, and is surprising to Europeans. I have visited severally the primitive tribes, such as the Jakuns of Johore, the Sabmiba, and Muka Kuning, but could discover no physical difference between them and the Malays, though they were more simple, and not dressed in cotton prints. Yet they had none of the disgusting habits of filthiness which Abdulla seemed to have descried in the particular tribe he visited. Nature is always true to herself, and forms men in adaptation to the circumstances in which she places them, and when we look thoroughly into the reasons of their customs and habits, we find that there is a sensible reason for them. Abdulla, no doubt, writes of his brethren (now that he claimed that relationship with the gallant captain) as being able to speak only like the chirping of birds, yet from the vocabularies that I have seen of several of the races, such as the Samangs of Kiddah and the Mintera of Rumbau, we find that the languages are closely allied to Malay. Indeed, Malay and all the tropical languages, extending from New Guinea to Madagascar, were originally of a negroloid race, whose remnants are now only to be found in the remote districts and islands of the Malay Peninsula, Andamans, Cochin China, and the Philippines. It is the intrusion of the Mongolian that has extirpated the original race, though the language has remained almost intact,* from causes into which I need not here enter. It is a common idea with the Malacca people that the Jakuns were Portuguese; and the Jakuns allege this

* See paper on the Barata Races in vol. iv. Trans. New Zealand Institute: "Whence of the Maori," by Translator.

themselves. But it is to be understood only that they were at one time converts to the enterprising missionaries of St. Francis Xavier and other apostolic leaders, who followed the fortunes of Alphonse Albuquerque at the beginning of the 16th century. Thus the word Deus, and, it may be, many others, may have been implanted in their language.

The superstitions of these people may vary in form, but they are the same in principle as the negroes of the centre of Africa and the red races of the basin of the Amazon, which may be called Fetishism; that is, they personify good and evil influences, visible or invisible, and propitiate them by spells or sacrifices. The fullest and best account of these that I know of is from the pen of Mr. J. R. Logan in the Journal of the Indian Archipelago, vol. i.

Captain Newbold seems to have entered deeply into the study of the usages of the Malay. The part that would have suited me best would have been the testing of the culinary products of the fair (?) hands in Abdulla's kitchen; the practical opinion on this point, no doubt, was more palatable to the writer than the descriptions thereof could be to the reader.

At length the parting came, and the actor moved off the stage, but, as usual, with the intention of returning, which return was never realized. What can the natives think of us flitting creatures, who come and then go, whose objects in life they cannot understand, whose motives are unfathomable, and who are yet controlled by influences that seem overpowering? The sensations at parting are described by Abdulla, no doubt, as they ought to be, but not as they were. There can only be one first love, whatever oriental hyperbole may say to the contrary. We see that when our autobiographer was sick, his wife could not go one day's voyage to see him!

S

"I HAD now been engaged at Singapore for about four months, when a rumour came that the English were about to make war with Nanning, and that the people of Malacca, clamoured with fear, so all those engaged in trade or other pursuits at Singapore, belonging to Malacca, were for the most part returning home to see their families. So I returned also, because of numerous letters from my father calling me. And when I had arrived, I found the town in a great state of excitement, each and every one watching their houses in fear, with weapons in their hands. I heard various rumours- -some saying that in two days' time the interior folks intended to come down and massacre the townsfolks, others declaring they had come in thousands; so all took to their heels, with their weapons in their hands, some crying for their children, some falling and rising and running again. The sound of clashing of doors and windows was like a hurricane. So the thousands ran with their weapons, some crying they are yonder, others they are here. Thus there was a great hue and cry in the town, even to the drawing out of the cannons from the fort, chasing from here to there, and all this for nothing but lying rumours, just as people fight in their dreams. The Government now gave orders for the people to set