their conversion.

The Jakun are Malays, _minus_ those points of Malay civilization which
are referable to the religion of the Koran.

But the Jakun are only a few out of many; a single branch of a great
stem.

The most convenient term for the members in general of this class is
_Orang Binua_--a term already explained.

_The Biduanda Kallang._--The next, then, of the _Orang Binua_ that comes
in contact with a British dependency--many others _not_ thus politically
connected with us being passed over--are the _Biduanda Kallang_ of the
parts about Sincapore. Their present locality is the banks of the most
southern of the rivers of the peninsula, the Pulai. Thither they were
removed when the British took possession of the island of Sincapore; of
which they were previously the joint occupants--joint occupants, because
they shared it with the tribe which will be next mentioned. They were an
_Orang Laut_ in one sense of the word, but not in another. _Orang_ means
_men_ or _people_, and _laut_ means _sea_ in Malay; and the Biduanda
Kallang were boatmen rather than agriculturists. But they were only
freshwater sailors; since, though they lived on the water, they avoided
the open sea. They formerly consisted of one hundred families; but have
been reduced by small-pox to eight.

Their priest or physician is called _bomo_, and he invokes the _hantu_,
or deities, the _anito_ of the Philippine Islanders, the _tii_ of the
Tahitians; and, probably, the _Wandong_ and _Vintana_ of Australia and
Madagascar respectively.

They bury their dead after wrapping the corpse in a mat; and placing on
the grave one cup of woman's milk, one of water, and one of rice; when
they entreat the deceased to seek nothing more from them.

Persons of even the remotest degree of relationship are forbidden to
intermarry.

The accounts of their physical appearance is taken from too few
individuals to justify any generalization. Two, however, of them had the
forehead broader than the cheek-bones, so that the head was pear-shaped.
In a third, it was lozenge-shaped. The head was small, and the face
flat. The lower jaw projected; but not the upper--so that "when viewed
in profile, the features seem to be placed on a straight line, from
which the prominent parts rise very slightly."[65]

_The Orang Sletar._--The original joint-occupants of Sincapore with the
Biduanda Kallang, were the _Orang Sletar_, or _men of the river Sletar_;
differing but little from