Pagan races of the Malay Peninsula - Sabrizain.org

SAKAI OF SELANGOR 53:
leave it until he had discovered the place of retreat
where they generally spent the night. Accompanied
by a few accomplices, he would then repair to the spot
at nightfall, and the party, concealing themselves until
dark, would wait to commence their raid until the
" Hill-men " were asleep. The Malays would then fire
several rifle shots, spreading terror and confusion
in every family, whose breaking up made them an
easy prey to their assailants, who would promptly
make a rush for the spot where they heard the shrieks
of the women and children. The girls were, as a rule,
at once knocked on the head, and the boys were carried
off and sold as slaves. There is hardly a family that
has not its own especial calamity to relate, the result
being the profound aversion that they avowedly
cherish for the Malay ;
no hatred, however, exists nor
desire for vengeance, as such a feeling would be
incompatible with the extraordinarily peaceful nature
of the race.^
Any act of vengeance, moreover, would be fatal to
them, in view of their insignificant numbers and lack
of means of defence. They prefer therefore to
sacrifice the part for the whole, and this is certainly
the only possible course open to them, so far as
regards the loss of their property. Since the arrival of
the English, however, they have grown much bolder,
for as the government has always befriended them
whenever they have chosen to make a complaint, they
are now able to hold their own in spite of the un-
-'
ceasing menaces of their enemy.
By the Chinese, on the other hand, they are very
much more kindly treated, and are consequently much
' Letessier, p. loi. - Ibid,