ook no more care of it.

But this pretence of cultivation was nothing less than a greedy caprice
and did not in any way help their domestic economy. The products of the
planting which had cost them so little fatigue was deemed surplus food
and they would eat up in a few days what might have lasted them for
months, inviting friends even lazier than themselves (who had not taken
the trouble so much as to imitate this rudimental mode of agriculture)
to take part in the gorging feast.

It would be a real blessing to those Sakais who have already begun to
cultivate their fields, to work with me in the plantations I am making,
to help me in gathering in jungle produce and to apply themselves to
some simple industry, if a few good-hearted, thrifty families of
European agriculturists were to come and dwell amongst them. In this way
my forest friends would make rapid and immense progress for they have
already shown their aptitude and ability and the British Government
would in a very short time have a flourishing colony by thus bringing
them into direct contact with a wholesome civilization consisting of
kindness, rectitude and honest work without their losing any of their
characteristic integrity through the contaminating influence of spurious
evolutionary principles.

It is true that the wide dominions of England claim an immense amount of
care and energy but her rulers display sufficient activity and wisdom
for the need and would have no cause to regret, but rather rejoice, if
they were to extend their beneficence to the far off worthy tribes of
Sakais now wandering over Perak and Pahang.

* * * * *

Returning to the character of my no-longer new friends I must really
repeat that we should be fortunate if we could find similar traits in
many of the persons belonging to civilized society.

Whether I am prejudiced by the sympathy I feel for this people amongst
whom I live, and who have granted me hospitality without any limit, I
will leave you to judge, kind reader, you who have the patience to
peruse these modest pages written, not from an impulse of personal
vanity, but in all sincerity, and whose only aim is to do good to the
poor Sakais, unknown to the world in general and slandered by those who
know them and who are interested in preventing any sort of intercourse
with other outsiders besides themselves.

Nobody has ever been to teach the Sakai to be honest and as no kind of
moral max