#Religion#, _of the primitive Malayans somewhat undeveloped--a vague dread of ghosts and other spirits, but rites and ceremonies mainly absent although human sacrifices to the departed occurred in Borneo_; _the cultured Malayans formerly Hindus (Brahman and Buddhist), now mostly Moslem, but in the Philippines and Madagascar Christian_; _belief in witchcraft, charms, and spells everywhere prevalent_. #Culture#, _of the primitive Malayans very low--head-hunting, mutilation, common in Borneo_; _hunting, fishing; no agriculture; simple arts and industries_; _the Moslem and Christian Malayans semi-civilised_; _the industrial arts--weaving, dyeing, pottery, metal-work, also trade, navigation, house and boat-building--well developed_; _architecture formerly flourishing in Java under Hindu influences_; _letters widespread even amongst some of the rude Malayans, but literature and science rudimentary_; _rich oral folklore_. #Malayans (Proto-Malays)#: _Lampongs, Rejangs, Battas, Achinese, and Palembangs in Sumatra_; _Sundanese, Javanese proper, and Madurese in Java_; _Dayaks in Borneo_; _Balinese_; _Sassaks (Lombok)_; _Bugis and Mangkassaras in Celebes_; _Tagalogs, Visayas, Bicols, Ilocanos and Pangasinanes in Philippines_; _Aborigines of Formosa_; _Nicobar Islanders_; _Hovas, Betsimisarakas, and Sakalavas in Madagascar_. #Malays Proper# (_Historical Malays_): _Menangkabau (Sumatra)_; _Malay Peninsula_; _Pinang, Singapore, Lingga, Bangka_; _Borneo Coastlands_; _Tidor, Ternate_; _Amboina_; _Parts of the Sulu Archipelago_. * * * * * In the Oceanic domain, which for ethnical purposes begins at the neck of the Malay Peninsula, the Mongol peoples range from Madagascar eastwards to Formosa and Micronesia, but are found in compact masses chiefly on the mainland, in the Sunda Islands (Sumatra, Java, Bali, Lombok, Borneo, Celebes) and in the Philippines. Even here they have mingled in many places with other populations, forming fresh ethnical groups, in which the Mongol element is not always conspicuous. Such fusions have taken place with the Negrito aborigines in the Malay Peninsula and the Philippines; with Papuans in Micronesia, Flores, and other islands east of Lombok; with dolichocephalic Indonesians in Sumatra, Borneo, Celebes, Halmahera (Jilolo), parts of the Philippines[492], and perhaps also Timor and Ceram; and with African negroes (Bantu) in Madagascar. To unravel some of these racial entanglements is one of the most difficult tasks in anthropology, and in the absence of detailed information cannot yet be everywhere attempted with any prospect of success.