The human inhabitants may be roughly divided into two races, the Malays and the Borneans, or aboriginals. The origin of both types is obscure. The Malays, however, are immigrants who inhabit the coasts of all the large Malay islands where, as here in Borneo, they have long held the dominant power. Some believe them to have originally been the descendants of Arabs who settled in the Celebes long before the Dutch became rulers in these seas, and this view gains some support from the fact of the Arabic character being used in writing, and their titles as Sultan, hadji, and sherrif, are of Arabic origin. They all profess Islam. The Bornean Malays may be said to have but little literature: the Koran, a few MS. poems, prayers, and tales are the only books generally seen in the island; but the people possess a vast amount of traditional lore, and many of their songs refer to the history of the country, the beauty of their women, or to the personal attributes and prowess of their former rulers.
The following may be taken as a fair sample of Malayan poetry, and was originally published in the Asiatic Journal. Many of the tales and legends of the Malays are in blank verse, with a good many repetitions; and choruses are extremely popular, as also are extemporaneous vocal performances:—
“Cold is the wind, the rain falls fast,
I linger, though the hour is past.
Why come you not? whence this delay!
Have I offended—say?
“My heart is sad and sinking too;
Oh! break it not! it loves but you!
Come, then, and end this long delay,
Why keep you thus away?