Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/68

60 MALAY PENINSULA be pecnliar to the peninsula. There is a species of wild goat, and a small species of domestic goat Three species of deer are met with in the peninsula, one of which is the small muntjac. The sheep and the rabbit are not indigenous, but have been introduced by Europeans. Swine and fowls are very abundant. The most re- markable birds are the marak or wild peacock, the double-spurred peacock, a small and beau- tiful species, several species of pheasants, a partridge, snipe, sun birds, woodpeckers, the wild cock, and the domestic cock, the last a small but very courageous bird. The species of pigeons are very numerous, and some are no larger than a thrush ; the prevailing color is green. The parrot family is numerous, but is not remarkable for brilliancy of plumage. The swallow whose nest is eaten by the Chinese is found in the caves of the islands. The birds of prey consist of a variety of kites and hawks. Among the reptiles are the alligator, the iguana, several species of small lizards, and about 40 species of snakes, of which three or four, among them the cobra, are venomous. Fish are very plentiful, and form the principal animal food of the mass of the people. The white pomf ret, called bawal by the Malays, is said to be one of the most delicate fishes in the world to the European palate. The only cetaceous ani- mal is the dugong. The neighboring seas af- ford a large and .beautiful variety of shells. The forests yield ebony, sapan, and eagle wood, and several species valuable for timber. Rattans, bamboos, and palms furnish most of the materials used by the Malays in construct- ing their houses. Rice, cocoanuts, yams, the sugar cane, and esculent fruits are the chief products of agriculture. The grain used on the peninsula is mostly imported from Sumatra and Bengal. Among the fruits, those most es- teemed are the durian and the mangosteen. The durian is an oval spine-covered fruit, of a green color and about as large as a cocoanut, while the mangosteen is reddish brown in color and spherical in shape. Pineapples are plenti- fully produced in great perfection. Caoutchouc and other valuable gums and resins, drugs, spi- ces, ivory, and horns are exported, and coffee, cotton, and tobacco are raised. The most re- markable and valuable product of the penin- sula, however, is the gutta percha tree, which was here first made known to Europeans. The tin mines in many parts of the country are ex- tensive; but they are imperfectly worked, and of late years, owing to the exhaustion of sur- J'.i. Ores, tlir |.r.)ill|i-t !i:t-.lr.-lillr(l. Si Mill- IT< !(! is produced. The climate of the peninsula is hot and moist. The mean annual temperature at the level of the sea is nearly 80, the mean range being from 70 to 90. There is no rainy season, but rain falls at short intervals throughout the year, and there are heavy dews find fiv(jiu-nt fogs. Generally the climate is ilii'jilthy, though there are some spots infected with a most pestiferous malaria. The native population of the peninsula, with MALBONE the exception of the northern portion and the black woolly-haired people known as the Se- mangs, who inhabit the interior, are of the Malay race, and speak the Malay language. Most of the Malays are settled and civilized, but others lead a nomad life on the land, the rivers, or the sea. The land nomads prac- tise a rude agriculture ; the river nomads live entirely in boats, and subsist on fish and wild roots. Their boats are about 20 ft. in length ; at one end is the fireplace, in the middle are their utensils, and at the stern is the sleep- ing place, where beneath a mat a family of five or six, together with a cat and dog, fre- quently find shelter. In these boats they skirt the shores of the rivers, collecting their food from the forests, and when one spot is ex- hausted proceed to another. These people are pagans, and are very ignorant and filthy in their mode of life. The sea rovers roam over the whole archipelago in their pralms or boats, and are genarally pirates. The civilized and settled Malays are Mohammedans, and their governments are despotic. The peninsula is supposed by some writers to have been the original seat of the Malay race. The civilized Malays all claim to be descended from emi- grants from Sumatra, who in the 12th century (about 1160) entered the peninsula at its S. E. extremity, where they founded Singapore, and gradually drove back the indigenous inhabi- tants into the mountains. At the close of the 13th century the Malays, who had been pagans up to that time, adopted Mohammedanism, and from the year 1276 Mohammedan monarchs reigned at Malacca. In the 15th century a large part of the peninsula became subject to Siam. In 1511 Mohammed Shah, the Malayan sultan, was overthrown by the Portuguese un- der Albuquerque. At present the peninsula is much less populous than formerly, owing to foreign and intestine wars and the incursions of pirates. (For British possessions on the peninsula, see MALACCA, PENANG, SINGAPORE, and STRAITS SETTLEMENTS.) MALBONE, Edward G., an American portrait painter, born in Newport, R. I., in August, 1777, died in Savannah, Ga., May 7, 1807. When very young he painted a landscape scene for the Newport theatre, afterward employed himself in drawing heads in miniature, and at 17 years of age settled in Providence as a portrait painter. He removed in the spring of 1796 to Boston, where he was well received, and du- ring the next four years pursued his art with industry in various cities. In 1800 he accom- panied Washington Allston to Charleston, and in 1801 sailed, for Europe. Malbone remained a few months in London, where he was urged by Benjamin West, the president of the royal academy, to take up his permanent residence ; but he returned to Charleston in December. For several years he painted miniatures in the chief cities of the United States; and in 1806 he visited the West Indies, hoping to regain his health, but in vain. His best picture is