This city also belongs to the English, and it is of great use to them,
because the harbor is one of the best in the world. Many ships come there
to buy, and to sell, and amongst the rest, the Chinese junks. The city is
built on a small island, very near the coast. There are many beautiful
country houses perched on the hills, where English families live, and
there are long flights of stone steps leading from their houses to the
sea.
But many of the Malays have no home but a boat, hardly large enough to
lie down in. There they gain a living by catching fish, and collecting
shells, and coral, to exchange for sago, which is their food. These men
are called "Ourang-lout," which means "Man of the water." Does not this
name remind you of the apes called "Ourang-outang," which means "Man of
the woods?" There are Ourang-outangs in the forests of Malacca, and they
are more like men, and are more easily tamed than any other ape. Yet
still how different is the _tamest_ ape from the _wildest_ man; for the
one has an immortal soul, and the other has none.
The Malay language is said to be the easiest in the world, even as the
Chinese is the most difficult. The Malay language has no cases or
genders, or conjugations, which puzzle little boys so much in their Latin
Grammars. It is easy for missionaries to learn the Malay language. When
they know it, they can talk to the Chinese in Malacca in this language.
I will tell you of a school that an English lady has opened at Singapore
for poor Chinese girls.