Journal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia/Series 1/Volume 1/Remarks on the Sletar & Samimba Tribes
REMARKS ON THE SLETAR AND SABIMBA TRIBES.
By J. T. THOMSON, Esq.
Hon. M. N. H. S. Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
In compliance with your request I send you a few notes on these tribes made during a late visit to the Old Straits of Singapore, when I came in contact with them. My duties have frequently led me to these parts, and my constant attention had been drawn to the fact of wild tribes existing in the creeks, and along the shores of the Strait above mentioned; but, notwithstanding all my anxiety to obtain an interview with any of them, my wishes had never been gratified. It is true that parties of the Slétar tribe had been often descried from the Gunboat, but we found them too shy and timid to allow of a near approach. This time we were more fortunate. A Panglima (i. e. Malay warrior) a notorious pirate, had been caught by one of the Tomungong's followers, who in former years had formed one of the crew of the Gunboat—elated with his success, he came to relate the circumstances of his bold feat; amongst these and other interesting matters regarding piracy, in which trade our friend had in former years even obtained honorable notoriety amongst his country men,—the wild men or Oráng Után were casually mentioned as being in the vicinity. The opportunity was not to be lost, and our friend, on certain conditions, agreed to bring several of their class to the Gunboat on the following day.
The next day, when anchored close to the shore, several small boats and canoes were seen skirting the mangrove, and slowly approaching to our anchorage; these proved to be two families of the Slétar tribe mentioned at the end of your article on the Oráng Binua of Johore. I found after careful examination that they were known to the Malays as the "Oráng Után Slétàr." On their first approach one could not help being struck with the extreme squalidness of their appearance, united as it was to a dull insensibility to what was going forward, a marked contrast to their pert Malay conductors, who assumed over them an air of superiority and command, which is never witnessed in the latter when in the presence of Europeans alone, and affording at once, I might say, a standard for judging of the place which the Oráng Slétar should hold in the ranks of civilization. The families consisted of two men, three women, and several children of hoth sexes; they were exceedingly shy at first, and could with great difficulty be prevailed on to speak, but by kindness of manner, and some trifling presents, the men were induced to throw off a considerable deal of their reserve,— so much so, that they daily visited the Gunboat, as long as we were in their vicinity, bringing fish and a few birds for barter, and a system of fair dealing being strictly kept up by the commander and his crew, on our leaving they promised always to visit the Gunboat, to supply such necessaries should she ever come in their neighbourhood again, and tell the people of their tribe to do the same. Our visit was productive of considerable benefit to them, as they were well supplied with many necessaries (luxuries to them) such as rice, tobacco and cloth. They took great trouble in procuring us what we were most in want of, fresh fish, and our parting we were led to believe, was attended with considerable regret on their side. On our better acquaintance, when asked why they used always to run away before the Gunboat, their simple reply was, that they were afraid we would carry them off to Gallang, a place noted for the fierceness of its pirátes, and for whom they bear a great dread.
On taking likenesses of two of them, a man and a woman, the man sat with great steadiness and composure, and seemed perfectly aware of its meaning; on finishing the sketch, and being shown the production, a slight smile was elicited:—with the other subject considerable difficulty was encountered, she at first hid her face beneath her shaggy matted locks, that strayed in wild abundance over her sealy shoulders, and would only now and then venture a glance at the operations of the pencil, no persuasions would induce her to show her face, till at last her young child was given her, when in a position natural to the mother, the sketch book was soon made to bear what was considered a tolerable likeness of the original.
This poor tribe are River nomades, their locality extends from the Santee, at the east end of Old Strait or Sálát Támbráu to Pándás on the west. The Slétar, a creck of the Island of Singapore, and distant from the town only 8 miles, gives its name to the tribe, and is situated nearly in the middle of their range. They number in all 40 boats, or 200 people, and are subject to a Batin or petty chief whose names is Keding. Their de facto sovereign is the Tomungong of Johore, who can command their services in the manner of a feudal lord. Their language is the Malayan, and considerable pains was taken to elicit any words foreign to that language, but without effect. Their dialect is the same as that of the Oráng Laut of Tulloh Blangah, but spoken with a slightly more guttural accent, and they clip their words as much as the natives of Keddáh. As a proof of their possessing the same language as the Malays, I may mention that the children were heard when playing to converse in this language, and were perfectly understood by the Malays amongst our crew. They are possessed of no weapons either offensive or defensive; their minds do not find a higher range than necessity compels, the satisfying of hunger is their only pursuit, of water they have abundance without search; with the serkap or fish spear, and the parang or chopper, as their only implements, they eke out a miser- able existence from the stores of the rivers and forest; they neither dig nor plant, and still live nearly independent of their fellow men, for to them the staple of lite in the east, rice, is a luxury; tobacco they procure by the barter of fish, and a few marketable products collected from the forests and coral reefs. Of esculent roots they have the prioh and kalana, both bulbous, and not unlike coarse yams, —of fruits they eat the támpuí, klédáng and búroh, when they come in season, and of animals they hunt the wild hog, but refrain from snakes, dogs, guanas and monkeys. Such are their principal means, of subsistence, for many minor products of the forests and creeks must, be left unmentioned.
On their manners and customs, I must needs be short, as only long acquaintance with their prejudices, and domestic feelings could afford. a clue to the impulse of their actions. Of a Creator they have not the slightest comprehension, a fact so difficult to believe, when we find the most degraded of the human race in other quarters of the globe, have an intuitive idea of this unerring and primary truth imprinted on their minds, that I took the greatest care to find a slight image of the deity within the chaos of their thoughts, even however degraded such might be, but was disappointed. They neither know the God nor Devil of the Christian or Mahomedan, though they confessed they had been told of such, nor any of the demigods of Hindoo mythology, many of whom were recounted to them. In the three great epochs of their individual lives, we consequently find no rites or ceremonies enacted; at birth the child is only welcomed to the world by the mother's joy; at marriage, a mouth full of tobacco and one chupah of rice handed to the mother, confirm the hymeneal tye. At death the deceased are wrapped in their garments, and committed to the parent earth. "The women weep a little, then leave the spot" were the words of our simple narrator. Of párís, dewás, mambángs and other light spirits that haunt each mountain, rock, and tree in the Malayan conception, they did not know the name,—nor had they any thing to be afraid of, as they themselves said, than the "Gállang Pirates," who are men like themselves. With this I was forced to be contented, and teazed them no more about the subject. They do not practice circumcision, nor other Mahomedan customs. Their women intermarry with the Malays which appears to be not unfrequent, they also give their women to Chinese, and an old woman told us of her having been united to individuals of both nations, in an early period of her life. It was further related to me, that many years ago, when they had a Malay as their Batin, nearly all the men now of their tribe were induced to undergo the rite of circumcision, though such a practice is not comformed with. Their tribe though confining their range within the limits of 30 miles square, may still be considered of a very wandering kind; in their sampans barely sufficicient to float their load they skirt the mangroves, collecting their food from the shores and forests as they proceed exhausting one spot and then searching for another. To one accustomed to the comforts and artificial wants of a civilized life, theirs as a contrast appears to be extreme; huddled up in a small boat hardly measuring 20 feet in length, they find all the domestic comfort that they are in want of; at one end is seen the fire-place, in the middle are the few utensils they may be in possession of, and at the other end beneath a kadjang or mat not exceeding six feet in length, is found the sleep- ing apartment of a family often counting 5 and 6, together with a cat and dog, under this they find shelter from the dews and rains of the night, and heat of the day. The Malays even in pointing out these stinted quarters cried out "how miserable," but of this the objects of their commiseration were not aware; in them they have provided all their wants; their children sport on the shore in search of shell fish at low water; and during high water they may be seen climbing the mangrove branches, and dashing from thence into the water, with all the life and energy of children of a colder clime, at once affording a proof that even they have their joys.
Their personal appearance is unprepossessing, their deportment lazy and slovenly, united to a great filthiness of body; the middle of both men and women is generally covered by a coarse wrapper, made from the bark of the Trap tree; this extends from the naval to the knee. The women affected a slight degree of modesty at first approach, which soon gave way. Instead of the wrapper of Trap, they frequently put on instead, an old patched up Malay sarong. The locks of the men are bound up with a tie of cloth, and sometimes by the Malay saputangan, those of the women fall in wild luxuriance over their face and shoulders. Their children go entirely naked until the age of puberty. Several of the men and women we afterwards saw, were subject to deformity in hands and limbs, a rather unusual circumstance for these parts, and their prevailing disease, was a cutaneous eruption, that covered the whole body with a scaly covering called Korup by the Malays. To this whole families were subject from the mother to the infant at the breast. With this disease nearly every other person appeared to be afflicted. The fingers of such poor creatures were seldom at rest. A species of leprosy also appeared to attack the feet of the old, and the features in the face in one or two cases were found to be contracted from some such disease, rendering those subjects hideous in appearance.
Upon the origin of the tribe little light can be thrown, for of their possession of traditions or superstitions after much enquiry I could find no trace, but before much can be said on this subject great caution must be used, as is well known to those who have to sift evidence, from wild, ignorant and indolent tribes, and who alone can estimate the difficulty of gaining a correct notion of the peculiarities of their ideas on such points. It is therefore to ethnographical enquiry that we may expect to be indebted for any slight glimpses of this interesting topic. As I before stated they speak the language of the Malays with much less a degree of difference in pronunciation, than may be found in stepping from one county in England to another. They may therefore be said with little fear of contradiction to be merely unconverted Malays in the general acceptation of the term, though a distinct class from the Malays properly so called, who poured their hordes over the Archipelago[1] prior to 1200 of the Christian era from the great river Malayoo in Sumatra. While all the tribes of Malays on the coast of the Malayan Peninsula, and adjoining islands have embraced the tenets of Mahomed, they have remained unaffected by the movement. The nomenclature of individuals, remains the same as when Hindooism held sway over the Archipelago, and we find in their proper names an astonishing degree of similarity to the names of Malayan heroes prior to the conversion of the race as men tioned in the Sijarah Malayu and other works.[2] As a list of proper names will be interesting, the following is a small collection.
Males.
- Kissah
- Kosan
- Nassap
- Dosan
- Kassap
- Nosan
- Kadang
- Masei
- Sadang
- Penis
- Awin
- Soning
- Singal
- Desan
Females.
- Nongei
- Neekang
- Sookang
- Sang Kang
- Boon teh
- Impang
In physiognomy they are closely allied to the "Biduanda Kallang" noticed in your paper on that tribe. This coupled with the fact that the Slétar and Kallang are both creeks of the island of Singapore, the original locality of each, and that sampans can approach the navigable part of either creek within two miles, there need not be any hesitation in proclaiming their identity of origin, though now they live as separate tribes. The most distinctive features of the tribe are, lowness of brow, retreating backwards, from the superciliary ridge, a protrusion of the lower part of the face, not in the manner of prognathous tribes but by the acuteness of the facial angle, in illustration of this the profile of a boy of 12 years of age is appended, drawn from the living subject who possessed the distinctive type of the race in an exaggerated degree. When viewed from the front they are found to possess an obliquity of eyes and eye brows, the eye lids being much closed and only showing half the pupil. The general contour of the face, obtains a decided character, by great breadth of forehead, expansion of zygoma, and rapid tapering to the chin which is lengthy and narrow. The nose is depressed and mouth moderate. Such may be considered the distintive features of the race, though many were seen possessing the Malayan type strongly marked.
The Orang Sabimba now remain to be noticed, and as an apology for the paucity of remarks and the errors that may be detected, I must mention that the morning on which I visited them it rained in torrents, which entirely prevented my reaching their encampment. It was therefore in a miserable Malay hut that I collected several of their number who were accidently on the spot, and to whom I am indebted for the following notes and information, though I am by no means satisfied with the result.
Their pysiognomy is of an entirely different type from the tribe already discussed, and they also differ as much in habits and customs. They are forest nomades, being in possession of no boats or canoes of the most simple construction, and regarding the water with a degree of terror, as already mentioned in your notice of them. To the sumpitan as their principal weapon they owe all that they can obtain of the animals that live in the trees of the forest, and with their dogs (a species of Pariah) they hunt the wild hog. Their food consists of rice as the staple article, but they add to this the flesh of the hog, monkey, snake and ape, birds of all kinds excepting that of the fowl, for the reasons stated in your paper. They also abstain from planting, and consequently their vegetables consist of the wild fruits of the jungle. This tribe is much more helpless than the Orang Slétar, being entirely dependant on the Malays for their arms and the greater part of their food. The sumpitan is the same as that used by the Dyaks of Sambas in Borneo from whence it is imported to Singapore, and from thence finds its way to Tambrau the river on which they are now located. The arrow of this is delicately fashioned, but the orang Sabimba make a ruder description themselves. The arrows are poisoned with the juice of the Upas tree, and is called ipoh. The tribe, consisting of 80 individuals young and old, are now employed in cutting rattans for the Malays who furnish rice, weapons and utensils in return; they hinted to me that they were a Boolang tribe, but appeared to have no distinct recollection of the period they had been deported from that island. The tribe is separate from all other tribes in the Peninsula, and the territory over which they now roam is unoccupied by others. They are unacquainted with the decoction of inebriating liquors, though they informed me that the tribe formerly possessed the art, their habits are therefore as temperate as the Malays. They do not intermarry with the Malays nor will they part with their offspring for any consideration; towards the Chinese they bear great detestation removing always from their vicinity; this fact may be accounted for by the smallness of their numbers and from the wish to avoid the extirpation of their race. Their Batin or chief is named Bintang, and they owe fealty to the Tomungong of Johore.
They are equally atheistical with the Oráng Slétar, nor are they imbued with any of the superstitions of the Malays; of ghosts and witches they were ignorant, a fact difficult to believe. Of marriage ceremonies I was told they had none;' the preparation of a shed, open on all sides, in size 6 feet by 4, covering a few sticks and leaves strewed on the ground, comprises all the bridegroom's care; the price of a wife was stated to be 10 needles, 3 hanks of thread, 16 cubits of cloth and 3 reals. On any of their tribe being near death they leave this hut until they think all is over; they then remove the corpse on a plank shrouded in its clothes to a grave in which are buried together the utensils of the deceased such as sumpitan, cooking utensils, parrangs, bliongs, &c.; these they place at the side; they then leave the spot and wander to other parts. The above account differs slightly from your own which shows that they are not guided by strict rules in the case of deaths and marriages.
Their language is the Malayan, spoken with a peculiar accent; whether or not they originally spoke another language I cannot offer an opinion. Their primary words are all the same, so it is probable that they speak the language unmixed with Arabic, but deeper research is required on this subject; an acquaintance with the philology of the Archipelago, might throw many interesting facts open to the world; your extensive enquiries on this subject will therefore be looked for with impatience. Their proper names differ entirely from the Slétar tribe, and are slightly mixed with the Malayan,[3] the following is a list,
Males.
- Lodang
- Jalee
- Angin
- Oomboo
- Solai
- Serong
- Rinnah
- Deman
- Ayin
- Nipis
- Bangas
- Mooloot
- Bootoon
- Rama
- Kassar
- Looioot
- Bintang
- Talei
- Kassaw
- Pang
Females.
- Reenee
- Bookit
- Tawei
- Teemah
- Meenah
- Nareemah
- Aisa
- Mungee
- Tengah
- Dyang
A copious list of proper names I would suggest as forming a criterion of what races they have been in contact with, and as not the least important of the branches of ethnological enquiry.
The personal appearance of these denizens of the forest is, to say the least, pleasing; well formed features in the young and a contented placidity of contenance in the old, would at once show them to be an improveable race; unshackled with the dogmas of the Islam and infantine in their preception of all things, they stand as its were on the threshold of such a faith as christianity presents in its primitive, most humble, and purest form, but they have no one to invite them in. It is such races as these that call for missionary enterprise. Their close relations with the Malays have given them a taste for dress, as I found them wearing cloth instead of the bark of trees. The women were dressed in sarongs in the manner of Malayan women, but the men only wore a strip of cloth of scanty dimensions, round the middle and passing between the thighs. Their address was open and simple, their demeanour respectful. The Malays spoke of them as being little better than baboons, and treated them as a much inferior class to themselves. The Malay women of the house in which I was afforded shelter commanded their less fortunate sisters in a manner not to be mistaken, and this was allowed as a matter of course; it afforded considerable amusement to see how the Malay women placed the arms, straightened the face, and directed the eyes of the female subject of my pencil, and when they had placed her in a position pleasing to themselves they sat themselves where they could best gratify their own curiosity.
Their physiognomy you have already described; the reader is therefore referred to the plates annexed to this paper for further information.
Plate No. 1. represents six heads of the river nomades, and though coarsely executed they may still be offered as correct portraits of the originals. Fig. 2. gives the facial outline and skull of a Boy of the Slétar tribes who possessed in rather an exaggerated degree the marked peculiarities of the physiognomy of his race, and in order to sender such peculiarities palpable to the eye of the observer I have enclosed the outline within a square constructed in the following manner. The lower containing line of Camper's celebrated facial angle drawn through the meatus auditorius to the base of the nose is taken as a basis, this line is produced either way until lines at right angles to it touching the posterior and anterior parts of the head and face, will intersect it. The line contained between those points of intersection is then bisected and upon it are formed four equal squares, two enclosing the superior part of the head and two the inferior and together making the large containing square above mentioned; three of these squares are again divided each into one hundred equal parts, and, for the sake of clearness, those small one-hundreth parts are only shown on such parts as are not filled up by the outline of the head. Again should the head reach beyond the square as in the case of fig. 1 extra squares are created to contain it. By careful measurement the relative proportions of the head may thus be reduced to numbers with mathematical correctness, and as the higher front square contains the front of the skull and upper part of the face it may be denominated the superior anterior square, the higher back square will be named the superior posterior square and so on, and by finding the number of 100ths. contained in each square the relative proportions in numbers can at once be ascertained; thus in figures No. 1. 2. 3. and 4. the proportions will be found as follows,
| Anterior Sup. Sq | Posterior Sup. Sq. | Anter. Infer. Sq. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fig. 1. | .88 | 1.01 | .56 |
| Fig.„ 2. | .71 | .92 | .62 |
| Fig.„ 3. | .60 | .90 | .50 |
| Fig.„ 4. | .44 | .90 | .85 |
which would place the Orang Slétar intermediate between the Euro- pean and Negro in expansion of the organs of intellect, and again shews them to possess a greater developement of the jaws and "organs subserviant to sensation and animal faculties than either."[4] The drawing of the Mias, sometimes called Orang Utan in this country and commonly Oráng Outáng in Europe, is given to show the wide difference be- tween it and the subjects of this paper, who are generally known to the Malays as Orang Utan, thus confounding them with the lower creation. The above mode of measurement is not given as the only one required to ascertain the physical peculiarities of the skulls of races, but only as a simple method of rendering palpable to the most unpractised eye, the differences of configuration of the outline, and its principle can also be applied to the other modes mentioned by Dr. Prichard as practised by Professors Blumenbach and Owen, the former measuring the area of the skull when looked upon vertically, and the latter the basis or under surface of the cranium after the lower jaw is removed, but both of which methods there is seldom opportunity to practice for sufficiently apparent reasons.
Plate No. 2. represents the facial outline and skull of a man and woman of the Sabimba tribe.
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