The Malaysian Mission Field.
By George Teasdale
THIS field spreads over an area equal to Europe, and one island alone, Borneo, is large enough to cover the whole of the British Isles. There are three islands larger than Great Britain; Sumatra is about the same size as Great Britain; Java and the Celebes contain fifty thousand square miles each; eighteen more islands are as large as Jamaica; besides islands of smaller size and islets almost without number. In one island alone there are said to be thirty-two and different languages and dialects spoken, and among the written languages of the archipelago there are nine different alphabets. These native peoples are exceedingly interesting. One soon learns to love them. The simplicity of their lives draws us to them. I like to be at the door when they come making inquiries. It interests me to hear them ask for “Missi Tinggi” or “Missi Gmok” (tall or stout), or “Tuan Bsar” (Great Tuan Jones—of course referring to his position). Our names are just as difficult for them to remember and to say as are theirs for us. Their efforts at English are not less interesting. Here is the advertisement of a dhoby (washerman): “I wash ladies thirty cents a dozen, gentlemen thirty-five. All customers executed promptly.” Their lives are less artificial than are the lives of those who live in more civilized lands, and they are possessed of a simplicity of manners which is quite attractive.—George Teasdale.