Memorandum on the aborigines of the Jasin district of Malacca, dated 1892
A 1892 administrative memorandum by C.O. Blagden describing the non-Muhammadan aborigines of the Jasin district, Malacca, published in 1917 from an official file in the Malacca records at the suggestion of Resident L. E. Pipe Wolferstan.
Summary
The memorandum classifies the Jasin aborigines (Orang bukit, Orang utan, or Orang rayat) into three principal tribes — Mentera, Jakun, and Besisi — and notes the Mentera’s claim of superiority and shared descent with the Muhammadan Biduanda clan (p. 177). Blagden observes that the Mentera and Jakun dialects are so heavily impregnated with Malay as to be “little better than Malay patois,” while the Besisi language is entirely different and of Sakai stock (pp. 177–178). He provides a physical typology distinguishing the aborigines from the normal Malay type, noting prognathism, wavy or curly hair, and a generally lower stature, with the Jakun presenting a coarser type than the Mentera (p. 178).
On social customs, Blagden describes the Mentera as living in small Malay-style houses with plantations, practising monogamy (with occasional bigamy), and observing no religious ceremony beyond belief in malignant spirits and ghosts of the dead, which prompts them to shift settlements after a funeral (p. 179). He notes the influence of the French Mission in raising their standard of comfort, and records a 1891 census figure of 77 aborigines in the district, which he considers an understatement, estimating the true number at nearly double (p. 179).