Pagan races of the Malay Peninsula - Sabrizain.org

Note on Diseases of the Aborigines.
Very little has been observed about the diseases to
which the wild aboriginal tribes are subject, and on the
whole it appears that they are not much troubled by
sickness, the reason being doubtless that as they live in
a state of nature only the hardiest of their children
survive. All of them are, however, in mortal terror
of one disease in particular, viz. small-pox, from which
many of their tribes have greatly suffered from time
to time.
I.
—
Semang.
Fever does not appear to trouble the Semang
so much as a malignant sort of ulcers and various
minor forms of cutaneous disease (Mai. " kurap ")
which are very prevalent locally. The wife of the
Semang chief (Pelima) at Siong was afflicted with
an ulcer which was one of the worst I have seen in
the East, and which had eaten deeply into the left leg.
Both Semang and Sakai are generally well formed,
and are not unfrequently described as showing a
magnificent physique. Deformed people and dwarfs
are extremely rare, probably for the reason already
given. One of the Semang (Pa' Gelugor) whom I
observed at J arum may, however, have approximated
to a dwarf type, all of his measurements proving to be
under the average. On the other hand, his back was