d short, the hands small and rather
delicate. The face is a little broad, and inclined to be flat; the
forehead is rather rounded, the brows low, the eyes black and very
slightly oblique; the nose is rather small, not prominent, but straight
and well-shaped, the apex a little rounded, the nostrils broad and
slightly exposed; the cheek-bones are rather prominent, the mouth large,
the lips broad and well cut, but not protruding, the chin round and
well-formed.

In this description there seems little to object to on the score of
beauty, and yet on the whole the Malays are certainly not handsome. In
youth, however, they are often very good-looking, and many of the boys
and girls up to twelve or fifteen years of age are very pleasing, and
some have countenances which are in their way almost perfect. I am
inclined to think they lose much of their good looks by bad habits
and irregular living. At a very early age they chew betel and tobacco
almost incessantly; they suffer much want and exposure in their
fishing and other excursions; their lives are often passed in alternate
starvation and feasting, idleness and excessive labour,--and this
naturally produces premature old age and harshness of features.

In character the Malay is impassive. He exhibits a reserve, diffidence,
and even bashfulness, which is in some degree attractive, and leads the
observer to thinly that the ferocious and bloodthirsty character imputed
to the race must be grossly exaggerated. He is not demonstrative. His
feelings of surprise, admiration, or fear, are never openly manifested,
and are probably not strongly felt. He is slow and deliberate in speech,
and circuitous in introducing the subject he has come expressly to
discuss. These are the main features of his moral nature, and exhibit
themselves in every action of his life.

Children and women are timid, and scream and run at the unexpected sight
of a European. In the company of men they are silent, and are generally
quiet and obedient. When alone the Malay is taciturn; he neither
talks nor sings to himself. When several are paddling in a canoe, they
occasionally chant a monotonous and plaintive song. He is cautious of
giving offence to his equals. He does not quarrel easily about money
matters; dislikes asking too frequently even for payment of his just
debts, and will often give them up altogether rather than quarrel with
his debtor. Practical joking is utterly repugnant to his disposition;
for h