Pagan races of the Malay Peninsula - Sabrizain.org

RACIAL AFFINITIES 599
Hair.
In my opinion the hair of all Jakuns examined belongs to the same type, and
the contrast with the Sakais and Semangs is as sharp as can be imagined. This
is the more important as the question of the relation of the Jakuns to the other
tribes has always been a matter of dispute.^
The colour of the hair is usually not stated ; only in a few cases (two men,
one woman) is it expressly described as " black," yet it is doubtless to be
assumed that if the hair of any of these people had not been black, the fact
would have been expressly mentioned. Only once, in the case of a man forty
years old, is it described as grey. It is called "straight" in the case of four men
and thirteen women ; in the case of one man it is stated to be "slightly wavy.'"
One man, of twenty to twenty-five years (No. 12), is expressly singled out as an
exception ; his hair was curly and much matted, most of it being cut short to a
length of 70 to 80 mm., but longer on the crown. Vaughan-Stevens reports that
the genealogy of this man was known for five generations, and was free from
crossing ; it was said that he came from a stock which had never intermarried
with other than Jakun families ; moreover, he was the only member of his family
who possessed curly hair. In the case of a larger number of other men no exact
statement could be made, probably because the hair was either shaved or cut
short ; nevertheless it is true that in spite of cutting it still had a length of
10, perhaps 20, 80, 120, 200 mm. Often it is described as thick, sometimes at
the same time matted. In the case of the women, the same expression is used
throughout, viz. "long and straight."^
The Colour of the Eyes.
(The following table, compiled by Vaughan-Stevens, is given by Virchow. ) '
Nos.