.HISTORY OF THE MALAYS. 377 last country was found by them almost unoccupied,* or inhabited scantily by two miserable races, who readily gave way to their superior power and civi- lization. The peninsula is the only great country of the Archipelago wholly occupied by this race ; for, in a general view, the miserable tribes of sa- vages need not be considered, and it is therefore no wonder that it should have assumed the general name of the country of the Malays, and that stran- gers should have naturally looked upon it as the primitive seat of the Malayan name and nation, t
- There is one circumstance mentioned by the Portuguese
writers, which would seem lo throw considerable doubt on this circumstance. Albuquerque wanted stones to build the forti- ■fication, and found near Maliicca abundant materials in the tombs of ancient kings. But eight Malay kings only had reign- ed at Malacca, whose tombs, even had it been the practice, which it was not, to erect splendid tombs to the Malayan kings, either Mahomedan or Hindu, would not have supplied materials for an extensive fortification. The supposed tombs were probably Hindu temples ; and if they were Hindu tem- ples, there must have been a Hindu population. . + The authorities quoted by Valentyn for the history of the Malays, are three works, one called Malcuta segala Rajarajaj "the crown of all kings;" another, Panurunan segala Raja' raja^ " the descent of all kings ;" and a third, caller! Hang Tuah, He calls these books ^Hhree jeixels" 0 the last he says, " I know not who is the author of the book Hang Tuah, but must declare that it is one of the most beautifully written works I ever perused." This favourite of Valentyn is the only QHQ «f the three which I have perused, and I have seen several
