Page:Malay Annals.pdf/11

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new sources of enjoyment, encouraged industry and emulation.

The prejudice which has so long existed against the Malays, is fast subsiding. Among the Malay states, we shall find none of the obstacles which exist among the more civilized people of India, to the reception of new customs and ideas. Of the extensive and varied population inhabiting the Eastern Archipelago, and the continent adjacent, the gradations of civilization are wide, from the rude untutored Harafora, to the comparatively civilized Javan and Siamese; but the absence of inveterate prejudice, and a spirit of enterprise and freedom, distinguish the whole. In the interior of the larger islands, the population is almost exclusively devoted to agriculture; but, on the coasts, the adventurous character of the Bugguese, and the speculative industry of the Chinese, have given a stimulus and direction to the energies of the maritime and commercial states. Establishments are formed on each of the principal rivers; and while the less civilized inhabitant of the country is engaged in collecting its valuable raw products, in travers-