ABSTRACT
The most primitive race extant in south-east Asia and the Malay archipelago is that of the dwarf Negritos, called Semang in Kedah and Perak, and Pangan in Kelantan. These little black woolly-headed nomads are related to the Aetas of the Philippines and the Mincopies of the Andaman Islands. In Malaya there are some thousands of them, living on jungle fruits, roots and game. Their weapon is the bow and arrow, but they have borrowed the blow-pipe of the Sakai, with whom they have intermarried. They build neither houses nor boats, but sleep round a forest fire on a floor of sticks under a wall-less leaf shelter propped on a stick. Innocent of the crimes that spring from greed and passion, they live in family groups with no ruling class or tribal organization. They fear thunder and lightning and draw blood from their shins to appease the unseen powers that cause them.
