Peninsula from Kedah to Point Romania.* In appearance and color they
greatly resemble the Malays, and there is a very strong general
resemblance between their dialects and pure Malayan. They have
remarkably bright and expressive eyes, with nothing Mongolian about
their internal angles, and the forehead is low rather than receding.
The mouth is wide and the lips are large, the lower part of the face
projects, the nose is small, the nostrils are divergent, and the cheek
bones are prominent. The hair is black, but it often looks rusty or
tawny from exposure to the sun, against which it is their only
protection. It is very abundant and long, and usually matted and curly,
but not woolly. They have broad chests and very sturdy muscular limbs.
They are, however, much shorter in stature than the Malays, the men in
some of the tribes rarely exceeding four feet eight inches in height,
and the women four feet four. Their clothing consists of a bark cloth
waist-cloth. Some of the tribes live in huts of the most primitive
description supported on posts, while others, often spoken of as the
"tree people," build wigwams on platforms, mainly supported by the
forking branches of trees, at a height of from twenty to thirty feet.
These wild people, says Mr. Daly, lead a gregarious life, rarely
remaining long in one place for fear of their wives and children being
kidnapped by the Malays. They fly at the approach of strangers. As a
rule, their life is nomadic, and they live by hunting, fishing, and on
jungle fruits. They are divided into tribes governed by elders. They
reverence the sun, but have no form of worship, and are believed to be
destitute of even the most rudimentary ideas of religion. Their weapon
is the sumpitan, a blow-gun, from which poisoned arrows are expelled.
They have no ceremonies at birth, marriage, or death. They are
monogamists, and, according to Mr. Syers, extremely affectionate. One
of their strongest emotions is fear, and their timidity is so great
that they frequently leave the gutta which they have collected at the