could hardly be devised. Black beetles also, it seems, can be effectually dealt with by the same chemical compound mixed with sand and applied copiously to the cavities at the junction of the leaves with the trunk. But the dreaded red beetle, which has won an unenviable distinction by its attacks upon coco-nut palms in different parts of the East, is not so readily exorcised. In the opinion of experts, once a tree is really infected with this pest the only thing to be done is to cut the tree down and destroy it. It is consoling, however, to know that the beetle can hardly ever attack the trees if proper attention be paid to them.

Agricultural products, other than rubber and coco-nuts, and possibly padi, to which 104,428 acres were devoted in the Federated Malay States in 1911, do not contribute materially to the prosperity of the territory. Coffee still has a footing, however, and a little sugar is grown, chiefly as a catch crop, while a certain amount of fruit is produced in the vicinity of the Settlements. It would be unsafe to predict that these conditions will continue to prevail in Malaya. In planting nothing is so uncertain as the future, and may be, before many years have run, the sturdy representatives of Britain in the Malayan planting community will be offering incense to some new god or goddess whose charms have captured their fancy. Meantime, however, we may be content to subscribe to the following sentiments in the last report of Mr. Lewton-Brain which seem admirably to fit the situation: "With two such highly paying and well-established industries as Para rubber and coco-nuts, Malaya is exceptionally well situated as regards agricultural prospects. Neither of these is, in my opinion, likely to show any signs of failure for many years to come. There may be bad times ahead when plantation rubber begins to supply the world's consumption, and some of the

weaker concerns may succumb to the drop in prices that will probably result. Speaking generally, however, rubber plantations in Malaya are quite capable of withstanding any competition that can at present be foreseen, and paying well at a much lower price for rubber than is likely to obtain for a few years, and at as low a price as is ever likely to obtain."

CHAPTER XVII

THE PEOPLE: THEIR MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND

OCCUPATIONS

Aboriginal tribes-Their traditions-The Creation and the Flood— The Malays-Their characteristics-Malay industries-The Straits Chinese-The Indian population-Changing aspects of the population.

MALAYA has sometimes been regarded as a country in which the interests are divided between British, Malays, Chinese, and Indians. Broadly speaking, this undoubtedly is the case, but a good many other elements go to make up the complete community. In point of fact, Malaya is ethnologically one of the most varied and interesting of the possessions of the Crown. The population, drawn from many widely separated centres-centres racially distinct and strongly marked in their peculiar anthropological characteristics-presents an extraordinary diversity, and affords, in consequence, a field of scientific investigation of the highest value. In this tongue of land stretching out into the ocean, and largely isolated from the Asiatic continent, have been racial currents and eddies which have baffled so far the skill of ethnologists to explain fully. The great question of the origin of the Malays, for example, has yet to be finally settled and with it those fascinating problems associated with the ancient Indian civilisation of Java, which have occupied the attention of every great Anglo-Malayan writer from the time of