MALAYS

malays, the name given by europeans to the people calling themselves _orang malayu_, i.e. malayan folk, who are the dominant race of the malay peninsula and of the malay archipelago. broadly speaking, all the brown races which inhabit the portion of asia south of siam and indo-china, and the islands from the philippines to java, and from sumatra to timor, may be described as belonging to the malayan family, if the aboriginal tribes, such as the sakai and semang in the malay peninsula, the bataks in sumatra, and the muruts in borneo, be excepted. for the purposes of this article, however, only those among these races which bear the name of orang malayu, speak the malayan language, and represent the dominant people of the land, can be included under the title of malays. these people inhabit the whole of the malayan peninsula to the borders of lower siam, the islands in the vicinity of the mainland, the shores of sumatra and some portions of the interior of that island, sarawak and brunei in borneo, and some parts of dutch borneo, batavia and certain districts in java, and some of the smaller islands of the archipelago. though in these lands they have for not less than a thousand years enjoyed the position of the dominant race, they all possess a tradition that they are not indigenous, and that their first rulers "came out of the sea," with a large band of malayan warriors in their train. in the peninsula especially, where the presence of the malays is more recent than elsewhere, many traditions exist which point to a comparatively recent occupation of the country. it has been remarked that there is evidence that the malays had attained to a certain stage of civilization before ever they set foot in malaya. for instance, the names which they give to certain fruits, such as the _duri-an_, the _rambut-an_ and the _pulas-an_, which are indigenous in the malayan countries, and are not found elsewhere, are all compound words meaning respectively the thorny, the hairy and the twisted fruit. these words are formed by the addition of the substantial affix "-_an_," the use of which is one of the recognized methods by which the malays turn primitive words into terms of more complex meaning. this may be taken to indicate that when first the malays became acquainted with the fruits which are indigenous in malayan lands they already possessed a language in which most primary words were represented, and also that their tongue had attained to a stage of development which provided for the formation of compound words by a system sanctioned by custom and the same linguistic instinct which causes a malay to-day to form similar compounds from european and other foreign roots. for any aboriginal race inhabiting these countries, such important articles of diet as the _duri-an_, &c., could not fail to be among the first natural objects to receive a name, and thus we find primary terms in use among the sakai and semang, the aborigines of the peninsula, to describe these fruits. the use by the malays of artificially constructed terms to denote these things may certainly be taken to strengthen the opinion that the malays arrived in the lands they now inhabit at a comparatively late period in their history, and at a time when they had developed considerably from the original state of primitive man. in the malay peninsula itself there is abundant evidence, ethnological and philological, of at least two distinct immigrations of people of the malayan stock, the earlier incursions, it is probable, taking place from the eastern archipelago to the south, the later invasion spreading across the straits of malacca from sumatra at a comparatively recent date. the fact that the semi-wild tribes, which are ethnologically malayan and distinct from the aboriginal semang and sakai, are met with almost invariably in the neighbourhood of the coast would seem to indicate that they reached the peninsula by a sea, not by a land route, a supposition which is strengthened by their almost amphibious habits. many of these tribes have retained their pristine paganism, but many others it is certain have adopted the mahommedan religion and have been assimilated by the subsequent and stronger wave of sumatran immigrants. a study of the local dialects to be met with in some of the districts of the far interior, e.g. the tembeling valley in pahang, whose people are now mahommedans and in many respects indistinguishable from the ordinary malays of the peninsula, reveals the fact that words, current in the archipelago to the south but incomprehensible to the average peninsula malays, by whom these more ancient populations are now completely surrounded, have been preserved as local words, whereas they really belong to an older dialect once spoken widely in the peninsula, as to-day it is spoken in the malayan islands. this would seem to show that in some instances the earlier malay immigrants fell or were driven by the later invaders back from the coast and sought refuge in the far interior. theories of origin. until recently many eminent scientists held the theory that the malayan peoples were merely an offspring of the mongol stock, and that their advance into the lands they now inhabit had taken place from the cradle of the mongolian race--that is to say, from the north. in the fifth edition of his _malay archipelago_, a. r. wallace notes the resemblance which he traced between the malays and the mongolians, and others have recorded similar observations as to the physical appearance of the two races. to-day, however, fuller data are available than when wallace wrote, and the more generally accepted theory is that the malayan race is distinct, and came from the south, until it was stayed by the mongolian races living on the mainland of southern asia. the cranial measurements of the malays and an examination of their hair sections seem to bear out the theory that they are distinct from the mongolian races. their language, which is neither monosyllabic nor tonic, has nothing in common with that of the mon-annam group. it has, moreover, been pointed out that had the malays been driven southwards by the stronger races of the mainland of asia, it might be expected that the people inhabiting the country nearest to the border between siam and malaya would belong to the malayan and not to the mon-annam or mon-khmer stock. as a matter of fact the sakai of the interior of the peninsula belong to the latter race. it might also be anticipated, were the theory of a southward immigration to be sustained, that the malays would be new-comers in the islands of the archipelago, and have their oldest settlements on the malayan peninsula. the facts, however, are in exact contradiction to this; and accordingly the theory now most generally held by those who have studied the question is that the malays form a distinct race, and had their original home in the south. where this home lay it is not easy to say, but the facts recorded by many writers as to the resemblance between the polynesian and the malayan races, and the strong malayan element found in the languages of the former (see tregear's _maori and comparative polynesian dictionary_, london, 1891), have led some students to think that the two races may have had a common origin. john crawfurd, in the dissertation to his _dictionary of the malay language_, published in 1840, noted the prevalence of malayan terms in the polynesian languages, and attributed the fact to the casting away of ships manned by malays upon the islands of the polynesian archipelago. the appearance of the same malayan words in localities so widely separated from each other, however, cannot be satisfactorily accounted for by any such explanation, and the theory is now more generally held that the two races are probably allied and may at some remote period of history have shared a common home. it has been suggested that their separation did not take place until after the continent which once existed in the north pacific had become submerged, and that the malays wandered northward, while the polynesian race spread itself over the islands of the southern archipelago. all this, however, must necessarily be of the nature of the purest speculation, and the only facts which we are able to deduce in the present state of our knowledge of the subject may be summed up as follows: (a) that the malays ethnologically belong to a race which is allied to the polynesians; (b) that the theory formerly current to the effect that the sakai and other similar races of the peninsula and archipelago belonged to the malayan stock cannot be maintained, since recent investigations tend to identify them with the mon-annam or mon-khmer family of races; (c) that the malays are, comparatively speaking, new-comers in the lands which they now inhabit; (d) that it is almost certain that their emigration took place from the south; (e) and that, at some remote period of their history, they came into close contact with the polynesian race, probably before its dispersion over the extensive area which it now occupies. religion and superstitions. the malays to-day are sunni mahommedans of the school of shafi'i, and they habitually use the terms _orang malayu_, i.e. a malay, and _orang islam_, i.e. a mahommedan, as synonymous expressions. their conversion from paganism took place during the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries of our era. the raja of achin, in northern sumatra, is said to have been converted as early as 1206, while the bugis people in celebes are supposed not to have become mahommedans until 1495. mahommedanism undoubtedly spread to the malays of the peninsula from sumatra, but their conversion was slow and gradual, and may even now in some respects be regarded as imperfect. upon the bulk of the malayan peoples their religion sits but lightly. few are found to observe the law concerning the five hours of prayer, and many fail to put in an appearance at the friday congregational services in the mosques. the fast of ramadhan, however, is generally observed with some faithfulness. compared with other mahommedan peoples, the malays are not fanatical, though occasionally an outbreak against those of a different creed is glorified by them into a holy war. the reason of such outbreaks, however, is usually to be found in political and social rather than in religious grievances. prior to their conversion to mahommedanism the malays were subjected to a considerable hindu influence, which reached them by means of the traders who visited the archipelago from india. in the islands of bali and lombok the people still profess a form of hinduism, and hindu remains are to be found in many other parts of the archipelago, though their traces do not extend to the peninsula. throughout, however, the superstitions of the malays show indications of this hindu influence, and many of the demons whom their medicine-men invoke in their magic practices are clearly borrowed from the pantheon of india. for the rest, a substratum of superstitious beliefs, which survives from the days when the malays professed only their natural religion, is to be found firmly rooted in the minds of the people, and the influence of mahommedanism, which regards such things with horror, has been powerless to eradicate this. mr w. w. skeat's _malay magic_ (london, 1900) is a compilation of all the writings on the subject of malay superstitions by the best authorities and contains considerable original matter. mode of life, &c. the malays of the coast are a maritime people, and were long famous for the daring character of their acts of piracy. they are now peaceable fisher-folk, who show considerable ingenuity in their calling. inland the malays live by preference on the banks of rivers, building houses on piles some feet from the ground, and planting groves of coco-nut, betel-nut, sugar-palm and fruit-trees around their dwellings. behind their villages the rice-fields usually spread, and rice, which is the staple food of the people, is the principal article of agriculture among them. sugar-cane, maize, tapioca and other similar products are grown, however, in smaller quantities. in planting rice three methods are in use: the cultivation of swamp-rice in irrigated fields; the planting of ploughed areas; and the planting of hill-rice by sowing each grain separately in holes bored for the purpose. in the irrigated fields the rice plants are first grown in nurseries, and are subsequently transplanted when they have reached a certain stage of development. the malays also work jungle produce, of which the most important are gutta, rattans, agila wood, camphor wood, and the beautiful _kamuning_ wood which is used by the natives for the hilts of their weapons. the principal manufactures of the malays are cotton and silk cloths, earthenware and silver vessels, mats and native weapons. the best cotton cloths are those manufactured by the bugis people in celebes, and the _batek_ cloths which come from java and are stamped with patterns. the best silks are produced by the natives of pahang, kelantan and johor in the malay peninsula. lord leighton pronounced the silver ware from malaya to be the most artistic of any exhibited at the colonial exhibition held in london in 1886. the pottery of the malays is rude but curious. when the first europeans visited the malay archipelago the malays had already acquired the art of manufacturing gunpowder and forging cannon. the art of writing also appears to have been independently invented by the malayan races, since numerous alphabets are in use among the peoples of the archipelago, although for the writing of malay itself the arabic character has been adopted for some hundreds of years. the malays are excellent boat-builders. character, &c. while the malays were famous almost exclusively for their piratical expeditions they naturally bore an evil reputation among europeans, but now that we have come into closer contact with them, and have learned to understand them better, the old opinions concerning them have been greatly modified. they used to be described as the most cruel and treacherous people in the world, and they certainly are callous of the pain suffered by others, and regard any strategy of which their enemies are the victims with open admiration. in ordinary circumstances, however, the malay is not treacherous, and there are many instances recorded in which men of this race have risked their own lives on behalf of europeans who chanced to be their friends. as a race they are exceedingly courteous and self-respecting. their own code of manners is minute and strict, and they observe its provisions faithfully. unlike many orientals, the malays can be treated with a friendly familiarity without such treatment breeding lack of respect or leading to liberties being taken with the superior. the malays are indolent, pleasure-loving, improvident beyond belief, fond of bright clothing, of comfort, of ease, and they dislike toil exceedingly. they have no idea of the value of money, and little notion of honesty where money is concerned. they would always borrow rather than earn money, and they feel no shame in adopting the former course. they will frequently refuse to work for a wage when they most stand in need of cash, and yet at the invitation of one who is their friend they will toil unremittingly without any thought of reward. they are much addicted to gambling, and formerly were much given to fighting, though they never display that passion for war in the abstract which is characteristic of some of the white races, and their courage on the whole is not high if judged by european standards. it is notorious, however, on the coasts that a malay gang on board a ship invariably gets the better of any fight which may arise between it and the chinese crew. the sexual morality of the malays is very lax, but prostitution is not common in consequence. polygamy, though allowed by their religion, is practised for the most part among the wealthy classes only. the malays are an intensely aristocratic people, and show a marvellous loyalty to their rajas and chiefs. their respect for rank is not marred by any vulgarity or snobbery. the ruling classes among them display all the vices of the lower classes, and few of the virtues except that of courtesy. they are for the most part, when left to their own resources, cruel, unjust, selfish and improvident. much has been written concerning the acts of homicidal mania called amuck (_amok_), which word in the vernacular means to attack. it was formerly believed that these outbursts were to be attributed to madness _pur et simple_, and some cases of _amok_ can certainly be traced to this source. these are not, however, in any sense typical, and might equally have been perpetrated by men of another race. the typical _amok_ is usually the result of circumstances which render a malay desperate. the motive is often inadequate from the point of view of a european, but to the malay it is sufficient to make him weary of life and anxious to court death. briefly, where a man of another race might not improbably commit suicide, a malay runs _amok_, killing all whom he may meet until he himself is slain. the nervous affliction called _latah_, to which many malays are subject, is also a curious trait of the people. the victims of this affliction lose for the time all self-control and all sense of their own identity, imitating the actions of any person who chances to rivet their attention. accounts of these manifestations will be found in swettenham's _malay sketches_ (london, 1895) and clifford's _studies in brown humanity_ (london, 1897). costume, weapons, &c. the malays wear a loose coat and trousers, and a cap or head-kerchief, but the characteristic item of their costume is the _sarong_, a silk or cotton cloth about two yards long by a yard and a quarter wide, the ends of which are sewn together, forming a kind of skirt. this is worn round the waist folded in a knot, the women allowing it to fall to the ankle, the men, when properly dressed in accordance with ancient custom, folding it over the hilt of their waist-weapon, and draping it around them so that it reaches nearly to the knee. in the hall of a raja on state occasions a head-kerchief twisted into a peak is worn, and the coat is furnished with a high collar extending round the back of the neck only. this coat is open in front, leaving the chest bare. the trousers are short and of a peculiar cut and material, being coloured many hues in parallel horizontal lines. the _sarong_ is of celebes manufacture and made of cotton, to the surface of which a high polish is imparted by friction with a shell. the typical fighting costume of the malay is a sleeveless jacket with texts from the koran written upon it, short tight drawers reaching to the middle of the thigh, and the _sarong_ is then bound tightly around the waist, leaving the hilt of the dagger worn in the girdle exposed to view. the principal weapon of the malays is the _kris_, a short dagger with a small wooden or ivory handle, of which there are many varieties. the blade of a _kris_ may either be wavy or straight, but if wavy the number of waves must always be uneven in number. the _kris_ most prized by the malays are those of bugis (celebes) manufacture, and of these the kind called _tuasek_ are of the greatest value. besides the short _kris_, the malays use long straight _kris_ with very narrow blades, shorter straight _kris_ of the same form, short broad swords called _sundang_, long swords of ordinary pattern called _pedang_, somewhat shorter swords curved like scimitars with curiously carved handles called _chenangkas_, and short stabbing daggers called _tumbok lada_. the principal tools of the malays are the _parang_ or _golok_, a heavy knife used in the jungle, without which no peasant ever stirs abroad from his house, the _beliong_ or native axe, and the _pisau raut_, which is used for scraping rattan. their implements are very primitive, consisting of a plough fashioned from a fork of a tree, and a rude harrow. reaping is usually performed by the aid of a curious little knife which severs each ear of grain separately. the fisher-folk use many kinds of nets, which they manufacture themselves. sails, paddles, oars and punting-poles are all in use. malay language and literature the malay language is a member of the malayan section of the malayo-polynesian class of languages, but it is by no means a representative type of the section which has taken its name from it. the area over which it is spoken comprises the peninsula of malacca with the adjacent islands (the rhio-lingga archipelago), the greater part of the coast districts of sumatra and borneo, the seaports of java, the sunda and banda islands. it is the general medium of communication throughout the archipelago from sumatra to the philippine islands, and it was so upwards of three hundred and fifty years ago when the portuguese first appeared in those parts. there are no malay manuscripts extant, no monumental records with inscriptions in malay, dating from before the spreading of islam in the archipelago, about the end of the 13th century. by some it has been argued from this fact that the malays possessed no kind of writing prior to the introduction of the arabic alphabet (w. robinson, j. j. de hollander); whereas others have maintained, with greater show of probability, that the malays were in possession of an ancient alphabet, and that it was the same as the rechang (marsden, friederich), as the kawi (van der tuuk), or most like the lampong (kern)--all of which alphabets, with the battak, bugi and macassar, are ultimately traceable to the ancient cambojan characters. with the mahommedan conquest the perso-arabic alphabet was introduced among the malays; it has continued ever since to be in use for literary, religious and business purposes. where javanese is the principal language, malay is sometimes found written with javanese characters; and in palembang, in the menangkabo country of middle sumatra, the rechang or renchong characters are in general use, so called from the sharp and pointed knife with which they are cut on the smooth side of bamboo staves. it is only since the dutch have established their supremacy in the archipelago that the roman character has come to be largely used in writing and printing malay. this is also the case in the straits settlements. by the simplicity of its phonetic elements, the regularity of its grammatical structure, and the copiousness of its nautical vocabulary, the malay language is singularly well fitted to be the _lingua franca_ throughout the indian archipelago. it possesses the five vowels _a_, _i_, _u_, _e_, _o_, both short and long, and one pure diphthong, _au_. its consonants are _k_, _g_, _ng_, _ch_, _j_, _n_, _t_, _d_, _n_, _p_, _b_, _m_, _y_, _r_, _l_, _w_, _s_, _h_. long vowels can only occur in open syllables. the only possible consonantal nexus in purely malay words is that of a nasal and mute, a liquid and mute and vice versa, and a liquid and nasal. final _k_ and _h_ are all but suppressed in the utterance. purely arabic letters are only used in arabic words, a great number of which have been received into the malay vocabulary. but the arabic character is even less suited to malay than to the other eastern languages on which it has been foisted. as the short vowels are not marked, one would, in seeing, e.g. the word _bntng_, think first of _bintang_, a star; but the word might also mean a large scar, to throw down, to spread, rigid, mutilated, enceinte, a kind of cucumber, a redoubt, according as it is pronounced, _bantang_, _banting_, _bentang_, _buntang_, _buntung_, _bunting_, _bonteng_, _benteng_. malay is essentially, with few exceptions, a dissyllabic language, and the syllabic accent rests on the penultimate unless that syllable is open and short; e.g. datang, namana, besar, diumpatkannalah. nothing in the form of a root word indicates the grammatical category to which it belongs; thus, _kasih_, kindness, affectionate, to love; _ganti_, a proxy, to exchange, instead of. it is only in derivative words that this vagueness is avoided. derivation is effected by infixes, prefixes, affixes and reduplication. infixes occur more rarely in malay than in the cognate tongues. examples are--_guruh_, a rumbling noise, _gumuruh_, to make such a noise; _tunjuk_, to point, _telunjuk_, the forefinger; _chuchuk_, to pierce, _cheruchuk_, a stockade. the import of the prefixes--me (meng, men, men, mem), pe (peng, pen, pen, pem ber (bel), per, pel, ka, di, ter,--and affixes--an, kan, i, lah--will best appear from the following examples--root word _ajar_, to teach, to learn; _mengajar_, to instruct (expresses an action); _bleajar_, to study (state or condition); _mengajari_, to instruct (some one, trans.); _mengajarkan_, to instruct (in something, causative); _pengajar_, the instructor; _pelajar_, the learner; _pengajaran_, the lesson taught, also the school; _pelajaran_, the lesson learnt; _diajar_, to be learnt; _terajar_, learnt; _terajarkan_, taught; _terajari_, instructed; _[peraja_ (from _raja_, prince), to recognize as prince; _perajakan_, to crown as prince; karajaan, royalty]; _ajarkanlah_, teach! examples of reduplication are--_ajar-ajar_, a sainted person; _ajar-berajar_ (or _belajar_), to be learning and teaching by turns; similarly there are forms like _ajar-mengajar_, _berajar-ajaran_, _ajar-ajari_, _memperajar_, _memperajarkan_, _memperajari_, _terbelajarkan_, _perbelajarkan_, &c. altogether there are upwards of a hundred possible derivative forms, in the idiomatic use of which the malays exhibit much skill. see especially h. von dewall, _de vormveranderingen der maleische taal_ (batavia, 1864) and i. pijnappel, _maleisch-hollandsch woordenboek_ (amsterdam, 1875), "inleiding." in every other respect the language is characterized by great simplicity and indefiniteness. there is no inflexion to distinguish number, gender or case. number is never indicated when the sense is obvious or can be gathered from the context; otherwise plurality is expressed by adjectives such as _sagala_, all, and _banak_, many; more rarely by the repetition of the noun, and the indefinite singular by _sa_ or _satu_, one, with a class-word. gender may, if necessary, be distinguished by the words _laki-laki_, male, and _perampuan_, female, in the case of persons, and of _jantan_ and _betina_ in the case of animals. the genitive case is generally indicated by the position of the word after its governing noun. also adjectives and demonstrative pronouns have their places after the noun. comparison is effected by the use of particles. instead of the personal pronouns, both in their full and abbreviated forms, conventional nouns are in frequent use to indicate the social position or relation of the respective interlocutors, as, e.g. _hamba tuan_, the master's slave, i.e. i. these nouns vary according to the different localities. another peculiarity of malay (and likewise of chinese, shan, talaing, burmese and siamese) is the use of certain class-words or coefficients with numerals, such as _orang_ (man), when speaking of persons, _ekor_ (tail) of animals, _keping_ (piece) of flat things, _biji_ (seed) of roundish things; e.g. _lima biji, telor_, five eggs. the number of these class-words is considerable. malay verbs have neither person or number nor mood or tense. the last two are sometimes indicated by particles or auxiliary verbs; but these are generally dispensed with if the meaning is sufficiently plain without them. the malays avoid the building up of long sentences. the two main rules by which the order of the words in a sentence is regulated are--subject, verb, object; and qualifying words follow those which they qualify. this is quite the reverse of what is the rule in burmese. the history of the malays amply accounts for the number and variety of foreign ingredients in their language. hindus appear to have settled in sumatra and java as early as the 4th century of our era, and to have continued to exercise sway over the native populations for many centuries. these received from them into their language a very large number of sanskrit terms, from which we can infer the nature of the civilizing influence imparted by the hindu rulers. not only in words concerning commerce and agriculture, but also in terms connected with social, religious and administrative matters that influence is traceable in malay. see w. e. maxwell, _manual of the malay language_ (1882), pp. 5-34, where this subject is treated more fully than by previous writers. this sanskrit element forms such an integral part of the malay vocabulary that in spite of the subsequent infusion of arabic and persian words adopted in the usual course of mahommedan conquest it has retained its ancient citizenship in the language. the number of portuguese, english, dutch and chinese words in malay is not considerable; their presence is easily accounted for by political or commercial contact. the malay language abounds in idiomatic expressions, which constitute the chief difficulty in its acquisition. it is sparing in the use of personal pronouns, and prefers impersonal and elliptical diction. as it is rich in specific expressions for the various aspects of certain ideas, it is requisite to employ always the most appropriate term suited to the particular aspect. in maxwell's _manual_, pp. 120 seq., no less than sixteen terms are given to express the different kinds of striking, as many for the different kinds of speaking, eighteen for the various modes of carrying, &c. an unnecessary distinction has been made between _high malay_ and _low malay_. the latter is no separate dialect at all, but a mere brogue or jargon, the medium of intercourse between illiterate natives and europeans too indolent to apply themselves to the acquisition of the language of the people; its vocabulary is made up of malay words, with a conventional admixture of words from other languages; and it varies, not only in different localities, but also in proportion to the individual speaker's acquaintance with malay proper. a few words are used, however, only in speaking with persons of royal rank--e.g. _santap_, to eat (of a raja) instead of _makan_; _beradu_, to sleep, instead of ti_dor_; _gring_, unwell, instead of _sakit_; _mangkat_, to die, instead of _mati_, &c. the use is different as regards the term _jawi_ as applied to the malay language. this has its origin in the names great java and lesser java, by which the medieval java and sumatra were called, and it accordingly means the language spoken along the coasts of the two great islands. literature. the malays cannot, strictly speaking, be said to possess a literature, for none of their writings can boast any literary beauty or value. their most characteristic literature is to be found, not in their writings, but in the folk-tales which are transmitted orally from generation to generation, and repeated by the wandering minstrels called by the people _peng-lipor lara_, i.e. "soothers of care." some specimens of these are to be found in the _journal of the straits branch of the asiatic society_ (singapore). the collections of _malay proberbs_ made by klinkert, maxwell and clifford also give a good idea of the literary methods of the malays. their verse is of a very primitive description, and is chiefly used for purposes of love-making. there are numerous rhymed fairy tales, which are much liked by the people, but they are of no literary merit. the best malay books are the _hikayat hang tuak_, _bestamam_ and the _hikayat abdullah_. the latter is a diary of events kept during sir stamford raffle's administration by his malay scribe. authorities.--hugh clifford, _in court and kampong_ (london, 1897); _studies in brown humanity_ (london, 1898); _in a corner of asia_ (london, 1899); _bush-whacking_ (london 1901); clifford and swettenham, _dictionary of the malay language_, parts i. to v. a-g. taiping (perak, 1894-1898); john crawfurd, _history of the indian archipelago_ (3 vols., edinburgh, 1820); _grammar and dictionary of the malay language_ (2 vols., london, 1852); _a descriptive dictionary of the indian islands and adjacent countries_ (london, 1856); _journal of the indian archipelago_ (12 vols., singapore, 1847-1862); _journal of the straits branch of the royal asiatic society_, 33 nos. (singapore, 1878-1900); h. c. klinkert, _nieuw maleisch-nederlandisch woordenboek_ (leiden, 1893); john leyden, _malay annals_ (london, 1821); william marsden, _the history of sumatra_ (london, 1811); _malay dictionary_ (london, 1824); sir william maxwell, _a manual of the malay language_ (london, 1888); t. j. newbold, _political and statistical account of the british settlements in the straits of malacca_; w. w. skeat, _malay magic_ (london, 1900); skeat and blagden, _pagan races of the malay peninsula_ (london, 1906); sir frank swettenham, _malay sketches_ (london, 1895); _the real malay_ (london, 1899); _british malaya_ (london, 1906); h. von-de wall, edited by h. n. van der tuuk, _maleisch-nederlandisch woordenboek_ (batavia, 1877-1880); _malay dictionary_ (singapore, 1903), wilkinson. (h. cl.) malay states (british). the native states of the malay peninsula under british protection are divided into two groups: (1) federated, and (2) non-federated. i.--federated states the federated states, under the protection of great britain, but not british possessions, are perak, selangor and the confederation of small states known as the negri sembilan (i.e. nine states) on the west coast, and the state of pahang on the east coast. each state is under the rule of a sultan, who is assisted in his legislative duties by a state council, upon which the resident, and in some cases the secretary to the resident, has a seat, and which is composed of native chiefs and one or more chinese members nominated by the sultan with the advice and consent of the resident. the council, in addition to legislative and other duties, revises all sentences of capital punishment. the administrative work of each state is carried on by the resident and his staff of european officials, whose ranks are recruited by successful candidates in the competitive examinations held annually by the civil service commissioners. the sultan of each state is bound by treaty with the british government to accept the advice of the resident, who is thus practically paramount; but great deference is paid to the opinions and wishes of the sultans and their chiefs, and the british officials are pledged not to interfere with the religious affairs of the mahommedan community. in the actual administration of the malay population great use is made of the native aristocratic system, the peasants being governed largely by their own chiefs, headmen and village elders, under the close supervision of british district officers. the result is a benevolent autocracy admirably adapted to local conditions and to the character and traditions of the people. a recognition of the fact that the welfare of the malays, who are the people of the land and whose sultans have never ceded their territories to the british, must be regarded as the first consideration has been the guiding principle of the administration of the malay states, and this has resulted in an extraordinary amelioration of the condition of the natives, which has proceeded concurrently with a notable development of the country and its resources, mineral and agricultural. to the work of development, however, the malays have themselves contributed little, sound administration having been secured by the british officials, enterprise and capital having been supplied mainly by the chinese, and the labour employed being almost entirely chinese or tamil. meanwhile the malays have improved their ancestral holdings, have enjoyed a peace and a security to which their past history furnishes no parallel, have obtained easy access to new and important markets for their agricultural produce, and for the rest have been suffered to lead the lives best suited to their characters and their desires. each principal department of the administration has its federal head, and all the residents correspond with and are controlled by the resident-general, who, in his turn, is responsible to the high commissioner, the governor of the straits settlements for the time being. the estimated aggregate area of the federated malay states is 28,000 sq. m., and the estimated population in 1905 was 860,000, as against 678,595 in 1901. of these only about 230,000 are malays. the revenue of the federation in 1905 was $23,964,593 (about £2,795,000), and the expenditure was $20,750,395 (about £2,460,000). the imports for the same year were valued at $50,575,455 (about £5,900,000), and the exports at $80,057,654 (about £9,340,000), making a total trade of nearly 151⁄4 millions sterling. the principal sources of revenue are an export duty on tin, the rents paid for the revenue farms of the right to collect import duties on opium, wine and spirits, and to keep licensed gambling-houses for the exclusive use of the chinese population, railway receipts, land and forest revenue and postal revenue. the tin is won from large alluvial deposits found in the states of the western seaboard, and the mines are worked almost exclusively by chinese capital and labour. since 1889 the federated malay states have produced considerably more than half the tin of the world. recently there has been a great development in agricultural enterprise, especially with regard to rubber, which is now grown in large quantities, the estates being mainly in the hands of europeans, and the labour mostly tamil. the states are opened up by over 2500 m. of some of the best metalled cart-roads in the world, and by a railway system, 350 m. of which, extending from the mainland opposite penang to the ancient town of malacca, are open to traffic. another 150 m. of railway is under construction. the government offices at kuala lumpor, the federal capital of the states, are among the finest buildings of the kind in asia. the whole of this extraordinary development, it should be noted, has been effected by careful, sound and wise administration coupled with a courageous and energetic policy of expenditure upon public works. throughout, not one penny of debt has been incurred, the roads, railways, &c., being constructed entirely from current balances. this of course has only been rendered possible by the extraordinary mineral wealth which the states on the western seaboard have developed in the hands of chinese miners amid the peace and security which british rule has brought to these once lawless lands. the value of the tin output for the year 1905 amounted to $69,460,993 (£8,104,199). although agricultural enterprise in the malay states is assuming considerable proportions and a growing importance, the total value of the principal agricultural products, including timber, for the year 1905 only aggregated $2,435,513 (£289,143). the whole of the malay peninsula is one vast forest, through which flow countless streams that form one of the most lavish water-systems in the world. the rivers, though many of them are of imposing appearance and of considerable length, are uniformly shallow, only a few on the west coast being navigable by ships for a distance of some 40 m. from their mouths. in spite of the notable development above referred to, only a very small fraction of the entire area of the states has as yet been touched either by mining or agricultural enterprise. it is not too much to assert that the larger half of the forest-lands has never been trodden by the foot of man. (for information concerning the botany, geology, &c., of the malay states see malay peninsula. for the ethnology see malays.) perak is situated between the parallels 3° 37 and 6° 5 n. and 100° 3 to 101° 51 e. on the western side of the malay peninsula. it is bounded on the n. by the british possession of province wellesley and the malay state of kedah; on the s. by the protected native state of selangor; on the e. by the protected native state of pahang and the independent states of kelantan and petani; and on the w. by the straits of malacca. the coast-line is about 90 m. in length. the extreme distance from the most northerly to the most southerly portions of the state is about 172 m., and the greatest breadth from east to west is about 100 m. the total area of the country is estimated at about 10,000 sq. m. the perak river, which runs in a southerly direction almost parallel with the coast for nearly 150 m. of its course, is navigable for small steamers for about 40 m. from its mouth, and by native trading boats for nearly 200 m. the plus, batang, padang and kinta rivers are its principal tributaries, all of them falling into the perak on its left bank. the other principal rivers of the state are the krian, kurau, larut and bruas to the north of the mouth of the perak, and the bernam to the south. none of these rivers is of any great importance as a waterway, although the bernam river is navigable for small steamers for nearly 100 m. of its course. the mountain ranges, which cover a considerable area, run from the north-east to the south-west. the highest altitudes attained by them do not exceed 7500 ft., but they average about 2500 ft. they are all thickly covered with jungle. the ranges are two, running parallel to one another, with the valley of the perak between them. the larger is a portion of the main chain, which runs down the peninsula from north to south. the lesser is situated in the district of larut. there are several hill sanatoria in the state at heights which vary from 2500 to 4700 ft. above sea-level, but the extreme humidity of the atmosphere renders the coolness thus obtainable the reverse of enjoyable. geology. mr leonard wray, curator of the perak museum, writes as follows on the subject of the geological formation of the state: "there are really only four formations represented--firstly, the granitic rocks; secondly, a large series of beds of gneiss, quartzite, schist and sandstone, overlaid in many places by thick beds of crystalline limestone; thirdly, small sheets of trap rock; and fourthly, river-gravels and other quaternary deposits. the granites are of many varieties, and also, in all probability, of several different geological periods. the series of quartzites, schists, and limestone are of great age, but as no fossils have ever been found in any of them, nothing definite can be stated as to their exact chronological position. their lithological characteristics and the total absence of all organic remains point to the archaean period. the failure to discover signs of life in them is, of course, merely negative evidence, and the finding of a single fossil would at once upset it. however, until this happens they may be conveniently classed as laurentian. it is at present impossible to form anything approaching an accurate estimate of the thickness of this extensive series, but it is probable that it is somewhere between 4000 and 5000 ft. unconformability has been noticed between the limestones and the beds beneath, but whether this is sufficient to separate them or not is a matter for future investigation.... the taller hills are exclusively composed of granite, as also are some of the lower ones.... the ores of the following metals have been found in the formations named: granite--tin, lead, iron, arsenic, tungsten and titanium; laurentian--tin, gold, lead, silver, iron, arsenic, copper, zinc, tungsten, manganese and bismuth; quaternary--tin, gold, copper, tungsten, iron and titanium. this is not to be considered a complete list, as small quantities of other metals have also been found." history. the early history of perak is obscure, the only information on the subject being obtained from native traditions, which are altogether untrustworthy. according to these authorities, however, a settlement was first made by malays in perak at bruas, and the capital was later moved to the banks of the perak river, the site chosen being a little village called temong, which lies some miles up stream from kuala kangsar, the present residence of the sultan. when the malacca sultanate fell, owing to the invasion of the portuguese in 1511, a member of that royal house is said to have migrated to perak, and the present dynasty claims to have been descended from him. as this boast is also made by almost every ruling family in the peninsula, the tradition is not worthy of any special attention. what is more certain is the tradition that perak was twice invaded by the achinese, and its rulers carried off into captivity, one of them, sultan mansur shah, subsequently becoming the ruler of achin. the first european settlement in perak was made by the dutch in 1650, under a treaty entered into with the achinese, but the natives of the country rose against the dutch again and again, and it was abandoned in 1783, though it was afterwards reoccupied, the dutch being finally ejected by the british in 1795. in 1818 the siamese conquered perak, but its independence was secured by a treaty between the british and siamese governments in 1824. from that date until 1874 perak was ruled by its own sultans, but in that year, owing to internal strife, sultan abdullah applied to the then governor of the straits settlements, sir andrew clarke, for the assistance of a british resident. the treaty of pangkor was concluded on the 20th of january 1874, and the first resident, mr j. w. w. birch, was murdered on the 2nd of november 1875. a punitive expedition became necessary; sultan abdullah and the other chiefs concerned in the murder were banished, the actual murderers were hanged, and raja muda jusuf was declared regent. he died in 1888, and was succeeded by the sultan raja idris, k.c.m.g., a most enlightened ruler, who was from the first a strong and intelligent advocate of british methods of administration. sir hugh low was appointed resident, a position which he held until 1889, when he was succeeded by sir frank swettenham. since then the history of perak has been one of continuous peace and growing prosperity and wealth. although the federal capital is kuala lumpor in selangor, perak still enjoys the honour of being the senior and leading state of the federation. population. by the census taken on the 5th of april 1891 the population of perak was shown to be as follows: europeans, 366; eurasians, jews and armenians, 293; malays, 96,719; chinese, 94,345; tamils, 13,086; aborigines, 5779; other nationalities, 3666; thus making a grand total of 214,254, of whom 156,408 were males and 57,846 were females. the estimated population in 1905 was 400,000, of whom 200,000 were chinese and 160,000 were malays, but owing to the disparity of the proportions between the sexes the deaths in each year largely outnumber the births, and the increase in the population is accounted for solely by the number of immigrants, chiefly from the mainland of china, and to a lesser extent from india also. the revenue of perak in 1874 amounted to $226,333. that for 1905 amounted to $12,242,897. of this latter sum $4,876,400 was derived from duty on exported tin, $2,489,300 from railway receipts, $505,300 from land revenue and $142,800 from postal and telegraphic revenue. the remainder is mainly derived from the revenue farms, which are leased to chinese capitalists for a short term of years, conveying to the lessee the right to collect import duties upon opium, wine and spirits, to keep pawnbroking shops, and to keep public licensed gambling-houses for the use of chinese only. the expenditure for 1905 amounted to $10,141,980. of this sum $4,236,000 was expended upon railway upkeep and construction and $2,176,100 upon public works. the value of the imports into perak during 1905 was over $20,000,000, and that of the exports exceeded $40,000,000, making a total of over $60,000,000, equivalent to about seven million sterling. the output of tin from perak ranged between 18,960 tons, valued at $23,099,506 in 1899, and 26,600 tons, valued at $35,500,000, in 1905. the fluctuating character of the output is due, not to any exhaustion of the mineral deposits of the state--that is not to be anticipated for many years yet to come--but to the uncertainty of the labour supply. the mining population is recruited exclusively from the districts of southern china, and during certain years an increased demand for labourers in china itself, in french indo-china, in the dutch colonies, and in south africa temporarily and adversely affected immigration to the straits of malacca. the output has, moreover, been affected from time to time by the price of tin, which was $32.20 per pikul in 1896, rose to $42.96 in 1898, to $74.15 in 1900, and averaged $80.60 in 1905. exclusive of tin, the principal exports were $108,000 worth of para rubber, $181,000 of copra, $54,000 of hides, $48,000 of patchouli, and considerable quantities of timber, rattans and other jungle produce. the agricultural development of the state is still in its infancy, but rubber is cultivated in rapidly increasing areas, and the known fertility of the soil, the steady and regular rainfall, the excellent means of communication, and the natural and artificial conditions of the country, justify the expectation that the future of perak as an agricultural country will be prosperous. general. although so much has been done to develop the resources of perak, by far the greater portion of the state is still covered by dense and virgin forest. in 1898 it was calculated that only 330,249 acres of land were occupied or cultivated out of a total acreage of 6,400,000. the area of agricultural holdings has notably increased, but a considerable period must yet elapse before it will amount to even one-tenth of the whole. a line of railway connects the port of teluk anson with the great mining district of kinta, whence the line runs, crossing the perak river at enggor, to kuala kangsar, the residence of the sultan, thence to taiping, the administrative capital of the state, and via krian to a point opposite to the island of penang. a second line runs south from perak and connects with the railway system of selangor, which in its turn connects with the negri sembilan and malacca line, thus giving through railway communication between the last-named town and penang. perak also possesses some 600 miles of excellent metalled cart-road, and the length of completed road is annually increasing. for administrative purposes the state is divided into six districts: upper perak, kuala kangsar and lower perak, on the perak river; kinta; batany padang and larut and krian. of these, larut and kinta are the principal mining centres, while krian is the most prosperous agricultural district. the districts on the perak river are mostly peopled by malays. the administrative capital is taiping, the chief town of larut. kuala kangsar is chiefly memorable as having been the scene of the first federal meeting of native chiefs, who, with the british residents from each state, met together in 1897 for friendly discussion of their common interests for the first time in history, under the auspices of the high commissioner, sir charles h. b. mitchell. this, in the eyes of those who are acquainted with the character of the malays and of the relations which formerly subsisted between the rulers of the various states, is perhaps the most signal token of the changes which british influence has wrought in the peninsula. selangor is situated between the parallels 2° 32 and 3° 37 n. and 100° 38 and 102° e., on the western side of the malay peninsula. it is bounded on the n. by the protected native state of perak, on the s. by the protected states of the negri sembilan, on the e. by pahang and the negri sembilan, and on the w. by the straits of malacca. the coast-line is about 100 m. in length, greatest length about 104 m., and greatest breadth about 48 m., total area estimated at about 3000 sq. m. the state consists of a narrow strip of land between the mountain range which forms the backbone of the peninsula and the straits of malacca. compared with other states in the peninsula, selangor is poorly watered. the principal rivers are the selangor, the klang and the langat. the principal port of the state is port swettenham, situated at the mouth of the klang river, and is connected with the capital, kuala lumpor, by a railway. the geology of the state closely resembles that of perak. the state is possessed of most valuable deposits of alluvial tin, and mining for this metal is the chief industry of the population. kuala lumpor is also the federal capital of the malay states. history. according to native tradition, the ruling house of selangor is descended from a bugis raja, who, with two of his brothers, settled in the state in 1718, the son of the youngest brother eventually becoming ruler of the country. in 1783 the then sultan of selangor joined with the iang-di-per-tuan muda of riau in an unsuccessful attack upon the dutch who then held malacca. in retaliation the dutch, under admiral van braam, invaded selangor and drove the sultan out of his country. in 1785, aided by the bendahara of pahang, sultan ibrahim of selangor reconquered his state; but the dutch blockaded his ports, and eventually forced him to enter into a treaty whereby he consented to acknowledge their sovereignty. the earliest british political communication with selangor began in 1818, when a commercial treaty was concluded with the governor of penang. in 1867 sultan abdul samad of selangor appointed his son-in-law, tungku dia udin, to be viceroy; and this gave rise to a civil war which lasted almost without intermission till 1873, when the enemies of tungku dia udin were finally vanquished, largely by the agency of the bendahara of pahang, who, at the invitation of the governor of the straits settlements, sent a warlike expedition to the assistance of the viceroy. in 1874 the occurrence of an atrocious act of piracy off the mouth of the langat river led to the governor, sir andrew clarke, appointing, at the request of the sultan, a british resident to aid him in the administration of his kingdom. since that date there has been no further breach of the peace, and the prosperity of selangor has increased annually. by the census taken on the 5th of april 1891 the population of selangor was given at 81,592 souls, of whom 67,051 were males and only 14,541 were females. the census taken on the 5th of april 1901 gave a total population of 168,789 souls, of whom 136,823 were males and 31,966 females. of these 108,768 were chinese, 33,997 were malays, 16,748 were tamils, and only 487 were europeans. the returns deal with nearly a score of different nationalities. since 1901 the population has been much increased and now certainly exceeds 200,000 souls. now, however, that instead of a single port of entry there exist easy means of access to the state by rail both from the north and the south, it is no longer possible to estimate the annual increase by immigration with any approach to accuracy. it will be noted that the inhabitants of this erstwhile malayan state were, even at the time of the census of 1901, over 64% chinese, while the malays were little more than 20% of the population. in selangor, as elsewhere in the malay peninsula, the deaths annually far outnumber the births recorded (e.g. in 1905 births 8293, deaths 12,500). the disproportion of the female to the male sections of the population is greater in selangor than in any other part of the colony or malay states. the development of planting enterprise in selangor, and more especially the cultivation of rubber, has led during recent years to the immigration of a considerable number of tamil coolies, but the tamil population is still insignificant as compared with the chinese. finance, trade, &c. the revenue of selangor in 1875 amounted to only $115,656; in 1905 it had increased to $8,857,793. of this latter sum $3,195,318 was derived from duty on tin exported, $1,972,628 from federal receipts, and $340,360 from land revenue. the balance is chiefly derived from the revenue farms, which include the right to collect import duty on opium and spirits. the expenditure for 1905 amounted to $7,186,146, of which sum $3,717,238 was on account of federal charges and $1,850,711 for public works. the value of the imports in 1905 was $24,643,619 and that of the exports was $26,683,316, making a total of $51,326,935, equivalent to £5,988,000. tin is the principal export. the amount exported in 1905 was 17,254 tons. the total area of alienated mining land at the end of 1905 amounted to 65,573 acres, and it was estimated that over 60,000 chinese were employed in the mines. the main trunk line of the federated malay states railways passes through selangor. it enters the state at tanjong malim on the perak boundary, runs southward through kuala lumpor and so into the negri sembilan. it runs for 81 m. in selangor territory. a branch line 27 m. long connects kuala lumpor with port swettenham on the klang straits where extensive wharves, capable of accommodating ocean-going vessels, have been constructed. a second branch line, measuring rather more than 4 m. in length, has been opened to traffic. it connects the caves at batu with kuala lumpor. frequent communication is maintained by steamer between port swettenham and singapore, and by coasting vessels between the former port and those on the shores of the straits of malacca. all the principal places in the state are connected with one another by telegraph. for administrative purposes selangor is divided into six districts: kuala lumpor, in which the capital and the principal tin-fields are situated; ulu selangor, which is also a prosperous mining district; kuala selangor, which is agricultural, and poorly populated by malays; ulu langat, mining and agricultural; kuala langat, the residence of the late sultan abdul samad, agricultural; and klang, the only prosperous port of the state. much money has been expended upon the capital, kuala lumpor, which possesses some fine public buildings, waterworks, &c., and where the principal residence of the resident-general is situated. in some sort kuala lumpor is the capital not only of selangor, but also of the whole federation. its scenery is very attractive. negri sembilan (the nine states) is a federation of small native states which is now treated as a single entity, being under the control of a british resident, and is situated between parallels 2° 28 and 3° 18 n. and 101° 45 and 102° 45 e., on the western side of the malay peninsula. it is bounded on the n. by the protected state of pahang, on the s. by the territory of malacca, on the e. by pahang and the independent state of johor, and on the w. by the straits of malacca. the coast-line is about 28 m. in length, and the extreme distance from north to south is 55 m., and that from east to west about 65 m. the estimated area is about 3000 sq. m. port dickson, or arang-arang, is the only port on the coast. it is connected with the capital, seremban, by a railway 24 m. in length. most of the states comprising the federation depend largely for their prosperity upon agriculture, but in some of the districts tin is being worked in considerable quantities, with good results. history. as is the case with the history of most malayan states, much rests upon no surer ground than tradition, in so far as the records of the negri sembilan are concerned. at the same time the native story that the states which now form the federation of the negri sembilan were originally peopled by tribes of sakai, or aborigines of the peninsula, who descended from the mountains of the interior and peopled the valleys, is supported by much corroborative evidence. not only does the malay's contempt for the sakai make it exceedingly unlikely that the tradition, which is hardly a matter for pride, should have been preserved if it were not true, but also many of the laws and customs in force in these states are wholly foreign to those of the malays, and can plainly be traced to the aborigines. as an instance, the custom of inheriting rank and property through the mother instead of through the father may be mentioned. tradition further relates that towards the end of the 18th century a raja of the royal house of menangkabu came from sumatra to rule over the federation of small states, each of which continued to be governed in all its local affairs by its own chief and by the village and other councils sanctioned by ancient custom. the sumatran raja took the title of iang-di-per-tuan of sri menanti. although they bore the name of the "nine states," only six seem to have belonged to the federation during the time of which history speaks. these are sri menanti, johol, tampin, rembau, jelebu, and sungei ujong. later the two latter separated themselves from the confederation. ancient tradition says that the names of the nine states were originally klang, jelebu, sungei ujong, johol, segamat, pasir besar, naning, rembau and jelai. of these klang was annexed by selangor, segamat and pasir besar by johor, and naning by malacca. during the last years of the 18th century the iang-di-per-tuan appointed an iang-di-per-tuan muda to rule rembau, and the state of tampin was created to provide for the family of the new chief. in 1887 the governor of the straits settlements sent mr martin lister to the negri sembilan, which had become disintegrated, and by his influence the ancient federal system was revived under the control of a resident appointed by the governor. the states which formed this new confederation were johol, ulu muar, jempol, terachi, inas, gunong pasir, rembau, tampin and gemencheh. prior to this, in 1873, owing to a civil war in sungei ujong, sir andrew clarke sent a military force to that state, put an end to the disturbances, and placed the country under the control of a british resident. jelebu was taken under british protection in 1886, and was thenceforth managed by a magistrate under the orders of the resident of sungei ujong. in 1896, when the federation of all the malayan states under british control was effected, sungei ujong and jelebu were reunited to the confederation of small states from which they had so long been separated and the whole, under the old name of the negri sembilan, or nine states, was placed under one resident. the population of the negri sembilan, which according to the census taken in april 1891 was only 70,730, had increased to 96,028 by 1901, and was estimated at 119,454 in 1905. of these 46,500 are chinese, 65,000 malays, 6700 tamils, and 900 europeans and eurasians. the births registered slightly exceed the deaths in number, there being a large malay population in the negri sembilan among whom the proportion of women to men is fair, a condition of things not found in localities where the inhabitants are mostly chinese immigrants. finance and trade. the revenue of the negri sembilan amounted to only $223,435 in 1888. in 1898 it had increased to $701,334, in 1900 to $1,251,366, and in 1905 to $2,335,534. the revenue for 1905 was derived mainly as follows:--customs $1,268,602, land revenue $145,475, land sales $21,407, while the revenue farms contributed $584,459. the expenditure in 1905 amounted to $2,214,093, of which $1,125,355 was expended upon public works. the trade returns for 1905, which are not, however, complete, show an aggregate value of about $13,000,000. the value of the tin exported during 1905 exceeded $6,900,000, and the value of the agricultural produce, of which gambier represented $211,000 and damar $80,000, amounted to $407,990. general. seremban, the administrative capital of the negri sembilan, is connected with port dickson by a railway line, owned by the sungei ujong railway company, which is 241⁄2 m. in length. it is also situated on the trunk line of the federated malay states, and is thus joined by rail to selangor on the north and to malacca on the south. frequent steam communication is maintained between port dickson and the ports on the straits of malacca and with singapore. for administrative purposes the negri sembilan is divided into five districts, viz. the seremban district, the coast district, jelebu, kuala pilah and tampin. each of these is under the charge of a european district officer, who is responsible to the resident. the iang-di-per-tuan lives at kuala pilah, but the capital of the federation is at seremban in sungei ujong, where the resident is stationed. the hereditary chiefs of the various states aid in the government of their districts, and have seats upon the state council, over which the iang-di-per-tuan presides. the watering-place of magnolia bay, where excellent sea-bathing is obtainable, is one of the pleasure resorts of this part of the peninsula.