The Malays live in the Malay Peninsula, on the great islands near it,—Sumatra, Borneo, and Java,—and on a host of lesser islands in that part of the world. They also form part of the population of the great island, Madagascar, lying east of Africa.

They are short, with brown skin, dark eyes, straight and coarse black hair, and broad, round heads. Their forms are slight and graceful. They are active and gay, quick and intelligent; they are easily offended, do not readily forgive injuries, and are often deceitful and treacherous.

The Malays are believed to have come from the continent of Asia not more than three thousand years ago.

They are fairly industrious in working their fields, the most important crop from which is rice. They have other crops, however, and also raise many fruits. They use the buffalo as a help in field work and for drawing carts. Those Malays who live near the coast fish, and use both fresh and salted fish for food. They are good sailors, making journeys by water to China, Australia and other islands. They are shrewd in trading. Formerly, many Malays were bold pirates, as indeed in some parts they still are.

Malay houses are usually built of boards, are rectangular in form, and have a two-pitched roof. They are almost everywhere, set up on posts quite high above ground, and must be reached by means of ladders.

The Malays are great chewers of betel nut. A piece of the nut is mixed with a little lime, placed in a leaf, and chewed. It colors the saliva red and stains the teeth a brownish black. So used are the Malays to these stained teeth that they no longer admire white teeth. Of a man whose teeth are not stained with betel they will say, “he has teeth like a dog,” and seem to consider it a disgrace. They even chip off or file away the enamel on the front of the teeth of children so that they may become sooner blackened.

All Malays like amusement; even the most civilized celebrate many festivals. Animal fights and theatrical performances are favorites. Almost every man among the Malays keeps a fighting cock of which he is proud and fond; while he works in his field, the bird is tied by a cord to a stake near him, and he stops now and again to stroke and pet him. Cock-fights take place frequently, but the birds are not allowed—as in Mexico—to kill each other. The bull-fights in the Malay region are also much less cruel than those of Mexico and Spain. In these countries the bull is made to fight against a trained company of human fighters; among the Malays he fights another animal of his own kind. The Malay buffalo-tiger fight is famous. A buffalo and tiger are placed in a pen together and then excited until they attack each other. The buffalo is quite frequently the victor. Most curious, however, is the battle between crickets. The contest between these insects is watched with great interest and excitement by the Malays. It occurs also in Japan.

Malays delight in dances and the theatre. At the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago there was a complete Javanese village. It contained a dance house where dances were given to the sound of the strange gongs and other musical instruments of the Javan people. The dancing was by girls who were gayly dressed in velvet, silk, and satin with gold and silver tinsel. They wore curious gilt helmets. They did not dance with their feet, but kept time to the music by graceful movements of the arms, hands, head, and eyes. In the same building they gave plays, in which the players wore small and curious masks of wood. In other plays, somewhat like our Punch and Judy, puppets were moved and played the parts. The Javanese also have shadow plays, where jointed human figures, cut from cardboard, are moved by sticks and their shadows are thrown upon a screen.

“Running amuck” is fearfully common among Malays. Suddenly a man, on the street or in some public place, becomes insane with a desire to kill. Seizing a weapon, he starts down a street filled with people and strikes right and left at every one as he runs. The police hurry after the murderer and are usually compelled to kill him before his dreadful work can be stopped. The Malays are really a nervous and excitable people; it is said that frequently a steady look at a person will throw him into a trance or hypnotized state.

Of the various weapons used by the Malays the kris seems to be the favorite. In Java this was often a remarkable object. A kris is a short sword or dagger with a fine steel blade which ends in a point, and the sides of which are wavy instead of straight. Probably they think of this as a stinging serpent; anyway the handle is frequently in the form of a serpent’s head. Sometimes this handle is finely carved and often it is set with gems. Some that belonged to the old Javan princes were a mass of precious stones. The sheath for the kris might be plain, but it might also be decorated with carvings or encrusted with jewels.

Strangest of the Malays are the Dyaks of Borneo and the Battaks of Sumatra. Both are a little larger and have longer heads than the Javanese. The Dyaks are great “head-hunters.” No man is respected until he has brought in a head as a trophy. Usually only the skull is kept; sometimes this will be engraved with patterns or stained with coloring matter; sometimes designs are cut in the bone and foil is set in the patterns. The Battaks are industrious and have made progress in many ways. They have a system of writing. Inscriptions are usually carved upon staves of bamboo; they also have books made of strips of palm or other vegetable substances. The Battaks are among the most dreadful of cannibals.