The Rayat or Orang or men of the sea, live almost entirely upon fish. - They are altogether restless and impatient of control. They are passionately fond of music, and are most ingenious in handicrafts, specially in Kedah or Quedah, called in Siamese Muang Sai or the Sai kingdom, extends from the Trang river, in lat. 7° 20' N., to the Krian; in lat. 5° 10' N., which separates it from Perak. The purest Malay is written and spoken- in this state,' being often in the Archipelago influenced by mixture with other tongues. The highest detached hill is Gunong Gerai or Kedah peak. -Penang was sold by the -raja of Kedah for £2000 a year, which is paid at the present day to his successor. When the Kedah ` prince ceded Penang to the British he represented himself as independent, and as such was treated by the British.
Several tribes are within its limits, the Semang and Udai in the forests of the north ; the Rayat Utan, the Jakun, Sakei, Hale, Belanda, and Besisik in others to the south ; while the Akkye or Rayat Laut (lit. people of the sea) dwell upon the shores and islets of the Peninsula. Wherever scattered, they live totally apart from the Malays, and differ from them widely in person, habits, and religion ; in short, arc of a much lower grade in the scale of civilisation. The Malays themselves sometimes class the various .. tribes . under the general appellation of Orang Binua, men of the soil.
The names of inland places are chiefly Binua, terms. There is a striking resemblance in feature between the Binua' and the Malay, and scarcely less in their respective languages. Many Malay believe the Udai tribe . are a class of Jakun. The Tuanku Puteh of • Rarabowe informed Newbold that the Udai are thinlyseattered over the states of Jellabu, Pahang, Tringanu,, and Quedah, and resemble in feature the darker variety of Jakun. Their size is represented as smaller, and their habits more savage. According to Sir S. Reifies and Mr. Anderson, the Semang of Quedah has the woolly hair, protuberant belly, thick lips, black skin, flat nose, and receding forehead of the Papuan. Mr. Anderson described the Semang of Perak as resembling those of Quedah in personal appearance, but speaking a different dialect. 'They possess, he says, the same curling black hair, are a little darker in colour; and have not the thick lips of an'African ; they subsist by hunting, and make huts of the branches, and cloths of the bark of trees, shunning the haunts of more re fined beings. They are numerous in Quedah,
and reside generally on or near mountains, such as those of Jerrei and Juru, and are found in Tringanu, Perak, and Selangor. They live in rude huts, easily removed from place to place, constructed of leaves and branches.
• Perak lies between lat. 4° and 6° N. It is famed for its tin mines. Gold is met with in all its rivers. Perak (pronounced Payrab) is the*richest and most important of the states of the Peninsula, as well as one of the largest. Its coast-line is about 125 miles in length. Perak river is a most serpentine stream. Its population, 971,940, is chiefly Chinese and Malaya. Tin is the most abundant of the mineral products of Perak. Gold is found in tolerable quantities even by the Malay easy - going manner of searching for it, and diamonds and garnets occur.
Selangor is a small Malay state lying between lat. 2° 34' and 3° 42' N. Its coast-line is about 120 miles in length ; population about 20,000. Its rivers, up to 1871, were shelters for pirates. In Selangor and Perak are isolated hills of lime stone from 80 to 1000 feet in height. At Batu are magnificent limestone caves with stalactites and stalagmites. The roof of one cavern is 355 feet from the floor.
The Negri Sembilan or Nino States are inland, south of Selangor. These have been independ ent since the breaking up of the kingdom of Johore.
Sungei Wong is mainly an inland state, access to its very limited seaboard being by the river Linggi, its area about 700 square miles. Its aboriginal tribes, the Besisik, Jakun, Orang Bukit, Rayat Laut, Rayat Utan, and Semang, have been largely pushed aside by Malays. Its population in 1883 was 12,000, of whom the Chinese were 10,000. It is rich in tin. It is the great mineral product of the Peninsula, and is largely washed by the Chinese. The tin districts which have been most worked of late years have been those at Kiang• in Selangor, at Laroot in Perak, and at Linghie near Malacca. Gold, garnets, and sap phires likewise occur; and it is said diamonds also. — Rev. P. Fever, Apostolic Missionary, Malacca; Osborn's Quedah; Newbold's British Settlements; Sonnerat, ii. p. 177 ; St. John's Ind. Archip. Journ. Ind. Archip.; J. L. Bird, Golden Chersonese.