Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 2.djvu/416

 37^ HISTORY OF THE MALAYS. is, however, beyond dispute, the parent country of the Malay race. Menangkabao, contrary to all other Malay states, is an inland country. Its original limits to the eastern side of the island were the great rivers of Palembang and Siak, and to the west those of Manjuta and SingkeL As the trans- action does not pretend to a very remote antiqui- ty, we may credit the universal assertion of the Malays tliemselves, though it would not be safe to trust to the details which they furnish, that all the Malayan tribes, wherever situated, emigrated, directly or indirectly, from this parent establish- ment. We are at first view struck with the im- probability of an inland people undertaking a ma- ritime emigration ; but their emigration, it will per- haps appear, on a closer examination, may really be ascribed to this peculiarity of situation. The coun- try which the primitive Malayan race inhabits is described as a great and fertile plain, well cultivat- ed, and having a frequent and ready communica- tion with the sea, by the largest rivers within the bounds of the Archipelago. The probability, then, is, that a long period of tranquillity, secured by the supremacy which the people of Menangkabao acquired over the whole island, occasioned a rapid and unusual start in civilization and population, — that the best lands became scarce, — and that, in consequence, the swarm which founded Smgahpu- ra in the Peninsula, was thrown off.