religious periods, during
which they scrupulously attend to their duties and refrain from
gratifications of the appetite, together with gambling and cockfighting;
but these are not long nor very frequent. Even their great Fast or puasa
(the ramadan of the Turks) is only partially observed. All those who have
a regard for character fast more or less according to the degree of their
zeal or strength of their constitutions; some for a week, others for a
fortnight; but to abstain from food and betel whilst the sun is above the
horizon during the whole of a lunar month is a very rare instance of
devotion.

LITERATURE.

Malayan literature consists chiefly of transcripts and versions of the
koran, commentaries on the mussulman law, and historic tales both in
prose and verse, resembling in some respect our old romances. Many of
these are original compositions, and others are translations of the
popular tales current in Arabia, Persia, India, and the neighbouring
island of Java, where the Hindu languages and mythology appear to have
made at a remote period considerable progress. Among several works of
this description I possess their translation (but much compressed) of the
Ramayan, a celebrated Sanskrit poem, and also of some of the Arabian
stories lately published in France as a Continuation of the Thousand and
one Nights, first made known to the European world by M. Galland. If
doubts have been entertained of the authenticity of these additions to
his immortal collection the circumstance of their being (however
partially) discovered in the Malayan language will serve to remove them.
Beside these they have a variety of poetic works, abounding rather with
moral reflections and complaints of the frowns of fortune or of
ill-requited love than with flights of fancy. The pantun or short
proverbial stanza has been already described. They are composed in all
parts of the island, and often extempore; but such as proceed from
Menangkabau, the most favoured seat of the Muses, are held in the first
esteem. Their writing is entirely in the modified Arabic character, and
upon paper previously ruled by means of threads drawn tight and arranged
in a peculiar manner.

ARTS.

The arts in general are carried among these people to a greater degree of
perfection than by the other natives of Sumatra. The Malays are the sole
fabricators of the exquisite gold and silver filigree, the manufacture of
which has been particularly described.

FIRE