The Natural History of the Varieties of Man

by R. G. Latham

a. There is no tribe so different from the Mahometan Malays as the Samang are from the Malays of Malacca.

b. Still less is there any representative of a lower form of humanity; such as the fabulous Orang Gugu and Orang Cúbu of Sumatra are said to be; although, as in Sumatra, there are reports of the kind.

The tribes described by Mr. Brooke are chiefly the Lundu, Sakarran, the Sarebas, the Suntah, Sow, Sibnow, Meri, Millanow, and Kayan; also the Bajow, or Sea-Gipsies, who live as wanderers (pilots or pirates, as the case may be) on the ocean, and are found on Borneo, the Sulu islands, Celebes, and elsewhere.

The vocabularies given by Sir J. Brooke are—1. the Suntah; 2. Sow; 3. Sibnow; 4. Sakarran; 5. Meri; 6. Millanow; 7. Malo; 8. Kayan. These last are extended very nearly to the centre of the island.

In the way of intermixture, the nations that are most in contact with the Borneans, especially the Mahometan Malays, are the Arabs and Chinese.

CELEBES.

Languages or dialects.—a. The Bugis.[56] b. The Macassar. c. The Mandhar. d. The Harafura of Durville (Qu. the Turaja of Crawfurd and Raffles).

Alphabet of the Bugis.—Like, but probably formed independently of the Tagala alphabet of the Philippines; Sanskrit in origin.

Although the Mandhar and Macassar languages, or dialects, are less developed as the instruments of literature than the Bugis, and although the area over which they are spoken is less, whilst their commercial importance is inconsiderable, there is no reason to believe that they represent a civilization different in kind from that of the Bugis.

This is not the case with the fourth dialect. I have called it the Harafura of Durville, because the only vocabulary known to me has been collected by that voyager. It is Malay, as truly as the Dyak of Borneo is Malay; whilst those who speak it, although called Harafuras, are Dyaks in frame and complexion. They were seen by Durville; and especially described as being fairer in complexion than the other inhabitants of the island. I have little doubt but that the Harafuras of Durville are the Turajas of Crawfurd and Raffles.