The Mountaineer. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1859-1861, 1860-03-17
VOL. II

i Oceans, from madagascar on the coast of Afris
Eca, e Easter Island, within few hundred
q miles q the South American coast: that ID.
throughout an extent Of fifteehlthonsand miles.
IN the Language Of tho people of New Zealand.
and tie sandwich islands, | can discover X
large PORTION of genuine Malay words: 40 Tint
!. ~ would taae me but short whiIe toconverse
with any native II the Islands 81 the PAri6a
pI Indian Oveansl N consequence u my know.
ledge ~ the Mhlay language. There has hean
Invented among the people Of the Indian An.
IchipelaGot nine different written alphabets.
Besides the Malay, there Is the Battah thn
tsejang, the Iampung, the JavAnasc the Bur.
hinsse, the Tagala, the KoFinehi, and Sundese
I written languages
IL The script used ~ the MaIay people. Or was
formerly dor they are now abandoning shels
eld system Of writing and adopting the Ara
bicl, are angular shaped characters there NOT
Il being q curve line I'M the whole alphabet On
II the contrary, the Battahs, q neighboFing PEG.
i pie, use curved lines altogether I'd the iurmas
ton Of their alphRbetic characters for writing i
The Malays before they had much inter-
Il course with the Eufupeans would write their
u ordinary communications upon peculiar leaf
D called Ioltar. This leaf has . fine glossy sur.
4 fnce, and is surrounded by deep indentatloIF,
orr sort Of fIinged border. With the point III 1
1 dirk, Malay can readily trace these angular
letters. and then be can skililllly interlace the
I fringed border 81 these leaves In such mani
I nlt ttlNe tllAtut fulAiluT
can pick Il apart without tearing IL and show.
ing that the letter had been opened
They write also upon pieces OF bamboo, q
/ few inches In length, which have q fine enafas
/ elled surface and arc of q rich cream color.
They car trace 40 finely on these pisces Of
bamboo, as not 10 be.obsergable 10 the naked
eye unless you look very closely. i had evidence
of this on one occasion, whilst was In prison,
In the island Of Java had been exceedingly
desiToua 10 communicate with q notable Malay
ehieftain, that Ind been taken prisoner ~ the
/ Dutch, like myself, and had been transported
toanother part in the islapd Of Java, some
hundreds Of miles distant from where was
confined, He became acquainted with my
whereabouts and was exceedingly desirous %
I communicats with me There came one day
into The prison yard, ~ often times happened,
! a pedleF woman with her basket, containing
little odd notions, which she had pegmissi0n
to sell 10 the prisoners; and with the permits
sion Of the guard, she would &c round To- all
the cells. She came 70 my prison ward, and
showed me. among other things. pretty
/ cigar ease, made out Of bamboo i had no use
for cigars, and never Rad for tobacco ID any
shape. Size still insisted on selling IL me, and
offered Il 10 me for such o. triiling value, that
i INV curiosity was at last aroused By her Inn:
4 Ioftunity, and i bought the bamboo cigar:
! case As soon as j had reiterated within my
cell, Conserved, on examining the case closely,
4 rnunicaied to me some interesting news, that
had an important bearing on my position and
4 affairs afterwards. 81 s3Yis..s
1t mightnot be unInteresiing were TO repeat
II a few words % their language, which might give
i yen an idea Of lie softness. In the FIRST place
4 wiltrepeat the numerals, that ls, from one 70
ten:--I eatu, 2 dua, 3teega, ampai, leema, 8
4 AMMAN, . tooioo, dslapan, 8 samhilsn, l0
sapnllo Another inptance viii give, IN y yefBe
from one 81 Ielr popular songs;
aApa guna passing pAlita,
JIka us ada dangan sumhunya.
Apa guna bermayin msta,
/ " Kalu tiyada dangan sungunya.
/ 1fdnslation. = 5z
] What IL the use OF lighting lamp,
If 1t be without a Wich2 .5ss
What b the use Of playing with the eyes,
II you be NOT In earnestf l.. =z
The Malay languages u most redundant ~
words, ~ hich max s II difficult 10 acquire There
10 d distinct word; not only for finger, but for
each Joint Rice in the husk il called padee;
when Ii Is cleaned il lie called heTassa and when
boiled and prepared for eating, Then Il l. called
nasses Then the language . singularly fgura-
tive. The sun IL called the eye Of day. A key
Is called the child of the lock. An eloquent man
is called sweet monthed, talkntiye scouldiDg
parsonage Is called long mouthed. The language
seems to be well fitted for poetry, OF rather for
ind1lge 80 much in verse; az oil the rest OF the
Asiaiies, thai possess language and literature.
They have some interesting poems. The moot
noted Of which Is the tragic story Of KIM
Tambahan. :4:.sat s.= -, 81.
but their chief interest l. IN romantic Or heroic
narratives They are the mosts inEeteTate sioTy-
tellers in the wsTid. Nothing delights Malay
80 much, as TO meet with an individual that can
relate 10 him personal adventures. never met
with q people that are 30 inqnigitiye, and that
seem 10 have sneh aD eager desire for the aeqnsi-
iion Of knowledge. There exists : sort Of pio'ee-
slonal wandering story iellers, who are peculiar
to SilmatTa. Whenever . chieftain eniertnins
stranger, OF his friends, these professional story
iellers arc always ON hand: They not only relate
Interesting romance, but they also sing and per-
form In . dramatic style thar amounts to sort
Of Malsy opera or thsatric plsy. lhaye . large
budget Of Interesting stories, Iomahces. and
poems translated from Malay manuscripts.
: i mist now make some mention Of the religious
views Of Tive Malays and other people o. these
islands Before any Europeans ever visited them
before the Portuguese aud Spaniards, and Arabs
visited this people, they believed In = euElous,
and may say harmless, mythology. They had
4 multitude Of dfyinities, who they supposed
peorIsd every rock and tree, like the Rymphs
called dry ads Of ancient Greek superstition. These
diViniiIss were called widadiTI, or sky nymphs;
and Ly the way, all the diyinitles of the Malays,
both coed and bad, are feminine; their devil y
also female. They otleredto these good or bad
spirits simple offerings Of fruits and howersI and
incense; and sometimes, like the Chinese, would
burn itch cloths and paper that had certain
prayers inscribed on the surfacei they suPPoslng
that the wofds Of the prayer being consumed
assembled up to the deiiies This is similar 70 ins
idea entertained by the King Of DAhomey,
chieftsin Of Africa, who, when he wants q send
a message 10 one Of his dead relatives, VIII can
ono OF his slaves, and say $50 TO my nacIe sna
tell him SO and soy aud then orders lhe bead %
the slave 20 be cut of. II he has forgotten sny
thing, he calls another man, eommpnicalsslo I'M
an additional poslschpA, and has hs % sassn
The Malays had similar idea pal ono MO- aus
such bloody means. 49,. It.T'
) speaking Of blood brings to my mind, what
wish to say about The Malay dee q sse, ,n .
ssniatIop 81 the shedding Of blood; and this ldea
n t6a IaIands When . mans ehAd -
yeIy sick. aud tho ordinary remedies have tallsds
he win klll, according 20 bic msanss sishef =