Pagan races of the Malay Peninsula - Sabrizain.org

RACE-CHARACTERS OF SAVAGE MALAYS 85
frequently more or less bloodshot. The teeth were
good, often slightly projecting, but free from caries ;
the lips well formed and thin ;
perforated and much distended.
Hearing.
the ear lobes invariably
The sense of hearing was certainly sharper among the Jakun ' [than among
either the Semang or the Sakai].
Hauds and Feet.
In the case of the Jakun, especially with the children, it is possible to
ascertain pretty exactly, by observing the feet, whether any kind of mixture with
Malay or other blood, at least of recent date, has taken place. The little toe
of the Jakun, especially in childhood, is very straight in comparison with that
of the Sakai (Blandas), and quite especially so in comparison with that of the
Malays and Chinese. It has much less of the talon-like crook which is so usual
in our own feet. I have, in fact, seen little toes in Jakun children which were
as straight and well-formed as any of the other toes of the foot.
When, moreover, the Jakun arrives at manhood, and especially by the time
he is upwards of thirty years old, his feet become covered all over with knobs
and knots, are stiff, ugly, scarred and diseased. The Jakun never wash,
and although their hands and feet are often in water, it is usually dirty, marshy,
and unhealthy water, which penetrates into the cracks of the skin, scratches and
pricks caused by thorns, etc., and causes the limbs to swell and stiffens them,
until they look like the work-worn hands of an old labourer in England who
has had to be out in all sorts of weather.
This is one result of the hardships of their life ; for the infants and children
have small, well-formed hands and feet. The contrast between those of the
father and of the youngest child is very great. The hands of the women, how-
ever, are beautiful and soft.
The half-blooded Orang Laut are skilful at thieving, especially with the toes.
I have been robbed of small objects which lay on the ground, while I have been
talking with a man, face to face, and never noticed that he took them off. I have
also seen from the corner of the eye how the toes of the foot slowly slid over the
desired object and dragged it along with them, till the foot could be raised to the
hand, when the thing could be grasped in the fingers and hidden.^
Climbing.
The oldest (!) method of climbing employed by the Jakun (or "Benua")
consists in binding the ankles with a head-rope (Kopf-sei/) as the Sinhalese do.^
Swimming.
The Jakun (Benua) swim well, and are good divers. They use the Malay
method. The Orang Laut is an excellent swimmer. He swims, like the Malay,
on the breast, so that his body is in a somewhat sidelong position. He stretches
the left and right arm alternately out of the water, and brings them back to the
side of the body, like the spokes of a wheel from the hub. The hands are
* Z,f. E. xxix. 182. 2 /j^ p_ ,QQ 3 /^_ p 200.