Pagan races of the Malay Peninsula - Sabrizain.org

52 RACIAL AFFINITIES part
Sensitiveness to Pain.
The Semang appear to be less sensitive to pain than the Sakai (Blandas).^
Physioi^noiny.
The open mouth is sometimes covered by the hand, or the latter is carried up
to some part of the head.
When a man is indignant or defiant he frowns. He does not, however, at
the same time clench his fists.
In " simple " people the corners of the mouth are very slightly depressed, and
the adjacent extremities of the eyebrows raised, by the muscle that the French
call the " grief muscle."
In the more intelligent the eyes sparkle, the skin round and under them being
wrinkled, and the mouth slightly drawn back at the corners.
When one man sneers or jeers at another it rarely happens that the corners
of the upper lip over the canine or eye teeth are raised on the side facing the
man whom he addresses.
A dogged or obstinate expression can be very easily recognised among the
Semang.
It is uncertain whether any gesture of contempt exists.
Disgust is expressed by a sudden expiration of the breath, something like
incipient vomiting.
In the case of extreme fear the Semang children remain quite quiet. The
met sit down quietly and frequently utter a sharp hissing noise. Both men and
women open their mouths and eyes.
To show that he cannot prevent something being done, or cannot himself do
something, he slightly raises his eyebrows, and keeps his mouth somewhat open.
The children pout markedly when they are sulky, and run away quietly.
To express affirmation the head is thrust forwards, whereas to express negation
the eyes are cast dovvn.-
Physical Endurance.
Vaughan-Stevens remarks that he did not observe any difference between these
races in the power of enduring heat, e.g. when they had been exposed through
the whole day to the sun on a journey, except as regards their general \^sic,
? individual] power of enduring fatigue. Elsewhere he remarks that in the sensi-
tiveness of the head to the sun's heat very little difference (between the three
races) at first probably existed. [This point, however, is a difficult one to establish,
since] the Semang (Menik) wear nothing as a rule but a head-band, and hence
scarcely feel any special increase of the sun's heat.
There is never any appreciable degree of cold in the plains of the Peninsula,
and even such falls of temperature as occur are never of long duration. The
cold wet winds of the mountains are, however, felt more by the E. Semang
(Pangan) and Tembeh (Temia)^ than the Sakai. The wild E. Semang (Pangan),
however, can bear such low temperatures as occasionally occur without the least
sign of discomfort, when the more civilised tribes are reduced to cowering over a
fire with chattering teeth.
1 Z.f. E. xxix. 203. omitted. Even the answers given by
2 Answers to questions drawn up by Vaughan-Stevens with regard to the
Darwin, collected by V.-St., and pub- Semang are sometimes inconsistent,
lished in V. B. G. A. xxviii. 270-272. ^ Vaughan - Stevens ascribes this
The answers referring to the Sakai greater sensitiveness of the Tembeh to
and Jakun are valueless, the two races the fact of their constitution having
being confused by V.-St., and are hence been enfeebled by disease !