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os 
 
 
 
 THE 
 
 HISTORY OF SUMATRA. 
 
 CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT OF 
 
 THE GOVERNMENT, LAWS, CUSTOMS, AND MANNERS 
 
 OF 
 
 THE NATIVE INHABITANTS. 
 
 A DESCRIPTION OF THE NATURAL PRODUCTIONS, 
 
 AND A RELATION OF THE 
 
 ANCIENT POLITICAL STATE OF THAT ISLAND. 
 
 
 
 BY 
 WILLIAM MARSDEN, F.R.S. 
 
 iniciipallesinainseinislgctin ten fpntt 
 
 
 
 THE THIRD EDITION, WITH CORRECTIONS, ADDITIONS, AND PLATES. 
 
 LONDON: 
 PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR, 
 
 BY J. M‘CREERY, BLACK-HORSE-COURT, 
 
 AND SOLD BY 
 
 LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN, PATERNOSTER-ROW. 
 
 
 
 1811. 
 
 
 
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 36 
 
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PREFACE. 
 
 "Tue island of SUMATRA, which, in point of situation and extent, holds 
 a conspicuous rank on the terraqueous globe, and is surpassed by few 
 in the bountiful indulgences of nature, has in all ages been unaccount- 
 ably neglected by writers; insomuch, that it is at this day less known, 
 as to the interior parts more especially, that the remotest island of mo- 
 dern discovery ; although it has been constantly resorted to by Euro- 
 peans for some centuries, and the English have hada regular establish- 
 ment there for the last hundred years. It is true that the commercial 
 importance of Sumatra has much declined. It is no longer the Empo- 
 rium of Eastern riches, whither the traders of the West resorted with 
 their cargoes, to exchange them for the precious merchandise of the 
 Indian Archipelago: nor does it boast now the political consequence it 
 acquired, when the rapid progress of the Portuguese successes there first 
 received a check. That enterprising people, who caused so many kiig- 
 doms to shrink from the terrour of their arms, met with nothing but dis- 
 grace in their attempts against Achin, whose monarchs made them 
 tremble in their turn, Yet still the importance of this island, in the eye 
 of the natural historian, has continued undiminished, and has equally, at 
 all periods, laid claim to an attention, that does not appear, at any, to 
 
 have been paid to it. 
 
 The Portuguese being better warriors than philosophers, and more 
 AQ eager 
 
 
 
—— 
 
 a ‘aloe 
 
 | 
 i 
 
 
 
 SS 
 i ee 
 
 iV PREFACE. 
 
 eager to conquer nations than to explore their manners or antiquities, 
 it is not surprising that they should have been unable to furnish the 
 world with any particular and just description of a country which they 
 must have regarded with.an evil eye. The Dutch were the next people 
 from whom we hade@ right to expect information. ‘They had an early 
 ‘ntercourse vith the island, and have at different times formed settle- 
 ments in almost every part of it; yet they are almost silent with respect 
 to its history.* But to what cause are we to ascribe the remissness of 
 our own countrymen, whose opportunities have been equal to those of 
 their predecessors or cotemporaries? It seems difficult to account for it ; 
 but the fact is, that, excepting a short sketch of the manners prevailing 
 in a particular district of the island, published in the Philosophical 
 Transactions of the year 1778, not one page of information respecting 
 the inhabitants of Sumatra has been communicated to the public by 
 
 any Englishman who has resided there. 
 
 To form a general and tolerably accurate account of this country and 
 its inhabitants, is a work attended with great and peculiar difficulties. 
 The necessary information is not to be procured from the people them- 
 selyes, whose knowledge and inquiries are to the last degree confined, 
 scarcely extending beyond the bounds of the district where they first 
 
 drew breath ; and but very rarely have the almost impervious woods of 
 
 Sumatra 
 
 * At the period when this remark was written, I was not aware that an account of the 
 Dutch settlements and commerce in Sumatra, by M. Adolph Eschels-kroon, had in the pre- 
 ceding year been published at Hamburgh, in the German language; nor had the transac- 
 tions of a literary society, established at Batavia, whose first volume appeared there in 
 1779, yet reached this country. The work, indeed, of Valentyn, containing a general his- 
 tory of the European possessions in the East Indies, should have exempted a nation to which 
 
 oriental learning is largely indebted, from what I now consider as an unmerited reflection. 
 
PREFACE. v 
 
 Sumatra been penetrated, to amy considerable distance from the sea 
 coast, by Europeans, whose observations have been then imperfect ; 
 trusted perhaps to memory only; or if committed to paper, lost to the 
 world by their deaths. Other difficulties arise from the extraordinary 
 diversity of national distinctions, which, under a great variety of inde- 
 pendent governments, divide this island in many directions; and yet 
 not from their number merely, nor from the dissimilarity in their lan- 
 cuages or manners, does the embarrassment entirely proceed: the local 
 divisions are perplexed and uncertain; the extent of jurisdiction of the 
 various princes is inaccurately defined ; settlers from different countries, 
 and at different periods, have introduced an irregular, though powerful 
 influence, that supersedes in some places the authority of the established 
 governments, and imposes a real dominion on the natives, where a no- 
 minal one is not assumed. This, in a course of years, is productive of 
 innoyations that destroy the originality and genuineness of their customs 
 and manners, obliterate ancient distinctions, and render confused the 
 
 yath of an investigator. 
 I i. 
 
 These objections, which seem to have hitherto proved unsurmount- 
 able with such as might have been inclined to attempt the history of 
 Sumatra, ‘would also have deterred me from an undertaking apparently 
 so arduous, had I not reflected, that those circumstances in which con- 
 sisted the principal difficulty, were in fact the least interesting to the 
 public, and of the least utility in themselves. It is of but small import- 
 ance to determine with precision, whether a few villages on this or. that 
 particular river belong to one petty chief or to another; whether such 
 a nation is divided into a greater or lesser number of tribes; or which of 
 two neighbouring powers originally did homage to the other for its title. 
 History is only to be prized as it tends to improve our knowledge of 
 mankind, to which such investigations contribute in a very small degree. 
 
 I have 
 
 
 

 
 vi PREFACE. 
 
 I have therefore attempted rather to give a comprehensive, than a circum- 
 stantial description of the divisions of the country into its various go- 
 yernments; aiming at a more particular detail, in what respects the 
 customs, opinions, arts, and industry of the original inhabitants, in 
 their most genuinestate. The interests of the European powers who 
 have establish€d themselves on the island; the history of their settle- 
 ments, and of the revolutions of their commerce, I have not considered 
 as forming a part of my plan; but these subjects, as connected with the 
 accounts of the native inhabitants, and the history of their governments, 
 are occasionally introduced. : 
 
 I was principally encouraged to this undertaking by the promises of 
 assistance L received from some ingenious, and very highly esteemed 
 friends, who resided with me in Sumatra. It has also been urged to me 
 here in England, that.as the subject is altogether new, it is a duty in- 
 cumbent on me, to lay the information I am in possession of, however 
 defective, before the public, who will not object to its being circum- 
 scribed, whilst its authenticity remains unimpeachable. ‘This last qua- 
 lity is that which I can with the most confidence take upon me to youch 
 for. The greatest portion of what I have described, has fallen within 
 the scope of my own immediate observation; the remainder is either 
 matter of common notoriety to every person residing in the island, or 
 received upon the concurring authority of gentlemen, whose situation 
 in the East India Company’s service, long acquaintance with the na- 
 tives, extensive knowledge of their language, ideas, and manners, and 
 
 respectability of character, render them worthy of the most implicit 
 
 faith that can be given to human testimony. 
 
 I have been the more scrupulously exact in this particular, because 
 
 my view was not, ultimately, to write an entertaining book, to which 
 
 the 
 
PREFACE. vii 
 
 the marvellous might be thought not a little to contribute, but sincerely 
 and conscientiously to add the small portion in my power, to the ge- 
 neral knowledge of the age; to throw some glimmering light’on the 
 path of the naturalist; and more especially to furnish those philosophers, 
 whose labours have been directed to the investigation of the history of 
 Man, with facts to serve as data in their reasonings, which are too 
 often rendered nugatory, and not seldom ridiculous, by assuming as 
 truths, the misconceptions, or wilful impositions of travellers. The 
 study of their own species is doubtless the most interesting and impor- 
 tant that can claim the attention of mankind ; and this science, like all 
 others, it is impossible to improve by abstract speculation, merely. 
 A regular series of authenticated facts is what alone can enable us to 
 rise towards a perfect knowledge in it. To have added one new and 
 firm step in this arduous ascent, is a merit of which I should be proud 
 
 to boast. 
 
 Of this third edition it is necessary to observe, that the former two 
 having made their appearance so early as the years 1783 and 1784, it 
 would long since have been prepared for the public eye, had not the 
 duties of an official situation occupied for many years the whole of my 
 attention. During that period, however, I received from my friends 
 abroad various useful, and, to me at least, interesting communications, 
 which have enabled me to correct some inaccuracies, to supply defi- 
 ciencies, and to augment the general mass of information on the subject 
 of an island still but imperfectly explored. ‘To incorporate these new 
 materials requiring that many liberties should be taken with the original 
 contexture of the work, I became the less scrupulous of making further | 
 alterations, wherever I thought they could be introduced with advan- 
 
 tage 
 
 
 
Vill PREFACE. 
 
 tage. The branch of natural history in particular I trust will be found 
 
 to have received much improvement, and I feel happy to have had it in 
 
 my power to illustrate several of the most interesting productions of the 
 
 vegetable and animal kingdoms by engravings executed from time to 
 time, as the draywinigs were procured, and which are intended to accom- 
 
 pany the volume in a separate atlas. 
 
 
 
THE | a 
 
 HISTORY OF SUMATRA 
 
 
 
 Sttuation—Name—General Description of the Country, its Mountait: 
 Lakes, and RiversAir and Meteors—Monsoons, and Land and Sea- 
 Breezes—Minerals — and pchittitianernmareinn i Ri and 
 Tides. 
 
 » 
 
 IF antiquity holds up to us some models, in different arts and sciences, 
 which have been found inimitable; the moderns, on the other hand, 
 have carried their inventions and improvements, in a variety of instances, 
 to an extent and a degree of perfection, of which the former could 
 entertain no ideas. Among those discoveries in which we have stept SO - 
 far beyond our masters, there is none more striking, or more eminently 
 useful, than the means which the ingenuity of some, and the experrence 
 of others, have taught mankind, of determining with certainty and_pre- 
 cision the relative situation of the various countries of the earth. What 
 was formerly the subject of mere conjecture, et at best of vague and 
 arbitrary computation, is now the clear result of settled rule, founded 
 principles demonstratively just. It only remains for ‘the liberality 
 of princes and states, and the persevering industry of navigators and 
 travellers; to effect the application of these means to their proper en 
 
 by continuing to ascertain the unknown and uncertain positions of all the 
 parts of the world, which the barriers of nature will allow the skill and 
 
 industry of man to approach, 
 B SUMATRA, 
 
 00} | | | & 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 7: 
 
 i 
 I} Situation of the 
 island, 
 i 
 ite 
 iF Latitude. 
 
 Longitude. 
 
 Map. 
 
 
 
 44.) °° eo 
 TT SSE ease? cons Ge 
 
 SUMAT RA. 
 
 SUMATRA, the subject of the present work, is an extensive island in 
 the most western of those which may be termed the 
 lago, and constituting its boundary on that side. The 
 its general direction being north-west and 
 
 the East Indies, 
 Malayan Archipe 
 equator divides it obliquely, 
 south-east, intoalmostequal parts; the one extremity lying in five de- 
 grees thirty-three minutes north, and the other, in five degrees fifty-six 
 minutes south latitude. In respect to relative position, its northern 
 point stretches into the bay of Bengal ; its south-west coast is exposed to 
 the great Indian ocean; towards the south it is separated by the straits 
 of Sunda from the island of Java; on the east, by the commencement of 
 the Eastern and China seas, from Borneo and other islands ; and on the 
 north-east, by the straits of Malacca, from the peninsula of Malayo, to 
 which, according to a tradition noticed by the Portuguese historians, it 
 is’supposed to have been anciently united. 
 “a ~ 
 
 The only point of the island whose lon gitude has been settled by actual 
 observation, is Fort Marlborough, near Bencoolen, the principal English 
 settlement, standing in three degrees forty-six minutes of south latitude. 
 From eclipses of Jupiter’s satellites observed in June 1769, preparatory 
 fo an observation of the transit of the planet Venus over the sun’s disc, 
 Mr. Robert Nairne calculated its longitude to be 101° 42’ 45°; which 
 was afterwards corrected by the Astronomer Royal to 102° east of Green- 
 wich.- The situation of Achin Head is ory accurately fixed by compu- 
 tation at 95° 34’; and longitudes of places in the straits of Sunda are 
 well ascertained by the short runs from Batavia, which city has the ad- 
 vantage of an observatory. By the general use of chronometers in latter 
 times, the'means have been afforded of determining the positions of many 
 prominent points both on the eastern and western coasts, by which the 
 map of the island has been considerably improved: but particular sur- 
 veys, such as those of the%bays and islets from Batang-kapas to Padang, 
 made with great ability by Captain (now Lt, Col.) John Macdonald; of the 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 a from Priaman to the islands off Achin by Capt. George Robertson ; 
 
 and of Siak River by Mr. Francis Lynch, are much wanted ; and the in- 
 terior of the country is still very imperfectly known. From sketches of 
 the routes of Mr. Charles Campbell and of Lieut. Hastings Dare, I have 
 
 been enabled to delineate the principal features of the Sarampez, Sunger 
 Tenang 
 
SUMATRA. 3 
 
 Tenang and Korinchi countries, inland of Jpu, Moco-Moco, and Indra- 
 pura; and advantage has been taken of all other information that could 
 be procured. For the general materials from which the map is constructed, 
 I am chiefly indebted to the kindness of my friend, the late Mr. Alex- 
 ander Dalrymple, whose indefatigable labours during a long life, have 
 contributed more than those of any other person to the improvement of 
 Indian Hydrography. It may be proper to observe, that the map of 
 Sumatra, to be found in the fifth volume of Valentyn’s great work, is 
 so extremely incorrect, even in regard to those parts immediately subject 
 to the Dutch government, as to be quite useless, 
 
 Notwithstanding the obvious situation of this island, in the direct track Marre 
 from the ports of India to the spice islands and to China, it seems to 
 have been unknown to the Greek and Roman geographers, whose in- 
 formation or conjectures carried them no farther than Selan-dib or Ceylon, 
 which has claims to be considered as their Taprobane; although, during Taprobane. 
 the middle ages, that celebrated name was almost uniformly applied to 
 Sumatra. Thesingle circumstance, indeed, of the latter being intersected 
 by the equator (as Taprobane was said to be) is sufficient to justify the 
 doubts of those who were disinclined to apply it to the former; and 
 whether in fact the obscure and contradictory descriptions given by 
 Strabo, Pomponius Mela, Pliny, and Ptolemy, belonged to any actual 
 place, however imperfectly known; or whether, observing that a number 
 of rare and valuable commodities were brought from an island or islands 
 im the supposed extremity of the East, they might have been led to give . 
 place in their charts to one of vast extent, which should stand as the 
 representative of the whole, is a question not to be hastily decided. 
 
 The idea of Sumatra being the country of Opher, whither Solomon sent Ophir. $ 
 his fleets for cargoes of gold and iyory, rather than to the coast of Sofala, 
 or other part of Africa, is too v , and the subject wrapt in a veil of 
 too remote antiquity, to allow of satisfactory discussion ; and I shall only 
 observe, that no inference can be drawn from the name of Ophir found in 
 maps, as belonging to a mountain in this island and to another in the 
 peninsula; these having been applied to them by European navigators, 
 and the word being unknown to the natives. 
 
 B 2 Until 
 
 
 

 
 —- sage 
 ea Sa 
 
 aes ane 
 
 VETS TST PR Fa 5 
 LOE ER ES | ee 
 
 PEP) 
 
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 es 
 
 
 
 Arabian travel- 
 lers, 
 
 Edrisi, 
 
 Marco Polo. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 Until the discovery of the passage to India by the Cape of Good 
 Hope, the identity of this island ‘as described or alluded to by writers, 
 is often equivocal, or to be inferred only from corresponding circum- 
 
 stances. 
 
 The firse@f the two Arabian travellers of the ninth-century, the ac- 
 countof whose voyages to India and China was translated by Renaudot 
 from a manuscript written about the year 1173, speaks of a large island 
 called Ramni, in the track between Sarandib and Sin (or China), that from 
 the similarity of productions has been generally supposed to mean Suma- 
 tra; and this probability is strengthened by a circumstance I believe not 
 hitherto noticed by commentators. It is said to divide the sea of 
 Herkend, or Yndian ocean, from the sea of Shelahet (Salahet in Edrisi), and 
 Salat being the Malayan term both for a strait in general, and for the 
 well-known passage within the island of Sz#gapura in particular, this 
 may be fairly presumed to refer to the straits of Malacca. 
 
 Ed7isi, improperly called the Nubian geographer, who dedicated his 
 work to Roger, king of Sicily, in the middle of the twelfth century, de- 
 scribes the same island, in the first climate, by the name of A/l-Rami ; but 
 the particulars so nearly correspond with those given by the Arabian 
 traveller, as to shew that the one account was borrowed from the other. 
 He, very erroneously, however, makes the distance between Sarandib and 
 that island to be no more than three days’ sail, instead of fifteen. The 
 island of Svborma, which he places in the same climate, is evidently 
 Borneo, and the two passages leading to it, are the straits of Malaeca 
 and of Sunda. What is mentioned of Suwmandar, in the second climate, 
 
 has no relationwhatever to Sumatra, although from the name we are led 
 to expect it. 
 
 Marco POLo, the celebrated V@lttian traveller of the thirteenth 
 century, is the first European who: speaks of this island, but underthe 
 appellation of Java minor, which he gave to it by a sort of analogy, 
 having forgotten, or not having learned from the natives, its appropriate 
 name. His relation, though fora long time undervalued; and by many 
 considered as a romantic tale, and liable as it is to the charge of errors 
 
 and 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 and omissions, with some improbabilities, possesses, notwithstanding, 
 strong internal evidence of genuineness and good faith. Containing 
 few dates, the exact period of his visit to Sumatra cannot be ascer- 
 tained, but as he returned to Venice in 1295, and possibly five years 
 might have elapsed in his subsequent tedious voyages and journeys by 
 Ceylon, the Karnatick, Malabar, Guzerat, Persia, the sheres of the 
 Caspian and Euxine, to Genoa (in a prison at which place heissaid 
 to have dictated his narrative), we may yenture to refer it to the 
 
 year 1290. 
 
 Taking his departure, witha considerable equipment, from a southern 
 port of China, which he (or his transcriber) named Zaztum, they pro- 
 ceeded to Ziamba (Tsiampa or Champa, adjoining to the southern part 
 of Cochin-china) which he had previously visited in 1280, being then in 
 the service of the emperor Kublai Khan. From thence, he says, to the 
 island of Java major is a course of fifteen hundred miles, but it is evi- 
 dent that he speaks of it only from the information of others, and not as 
 an eye-witness; nor is it probable that the expedition should“haye devi- 
 ated so far from its proper route. He states truly that it is a mart for 
 spices, and much frequented by traders from the southern provinces of 
 China. He then mentions in succession the small uninhabited islands of 
 Sondur and Condur (perhaps Pulo Condore) ; the province of Boéach 
 otherwise Lochac (apparently Cambaqja, near to which Condore is situ- 
 ated); the island of Petan (either Patani or Pahang in the peninsula) the 
 passage to which, from Boéach, is across a gulf (that of Siam); and the 
 kingdom called Malaiur in the Italian, and Maletur in the Latin version, 
 which we can scarcely doubt to be the Malayan kingdom of SiS a-pura, 
 at the extremity of the peninsula, or Malacca, then beginning to flourish. 
 It is not, however, asserted that he touched at all these places, nor does 
 he seem to speak from personal knowledge, until his arrival at Java minor 
 ‘as he calls it) or Sumatra. This island, lying in. a south-eastern direc- 
 tion from Petan (if he does not rather mean from Malaiur, the place last 
 mentioned) he expressly says he visited, and describes it as being in cir- 
 cumference two thousand miles (not very wide of the truth im a matter 
 so vague), extending to the southward so far as to render the polar star 
 
 invisible, and divided into - kingdoms, two of which he did not see, 
 and 
 
 
 

 
 a. a 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 and the six others he enumerates as follows: Ferlech, which I apprehend to 
 be Parlak, at the eastern extremity of the northern coast, where they were 
 likely to have first made the land. Here he says the people in general 
 were idolaters; but the Saracen merchants who frequented the place 
 had converted to the faith of Mahomet the inhabitants of the towns, 
 whilst those ofthe mountains lived like beasts, and were in the practice 
 of eating human flesh. Basma or Basman: this nearly approaches in 
 sound to Pasaman on the western coast, but I should be more inclined to 
 refer it to Pasé (by the Portuguese written Pacem) onthe northern. The 
 manners of the people here, as in the other kingdoms, are represented 
 as savage; and such they might well appear to one who had long resided 
 in China. Wild elephants are mentioned, and the rhinoceros is well 
 described. Samara: this I suppose to be Samar-larga, likewise on the 
 northern coast, and noted for its bay. Here, he says, the expedition, 
 consisting of two thousand persons, was constrained to remain five 
 months, waiting the change of the monsoon; and being apprehensive of 
 injury from the barbarous natives, they secured themselves, by means of 
 a deep ditch, on the land side, with its extremities embracing the port, 
 and strengthened by bulwarks of timber. With provisions they were 
 supplied in abundance, particularly the finest fish. There is no wheat, and 
 the people live on rice. They are without vines, but extract an excel- 
 lent liquor from trees of the palm kind, by cutting off a branch, and 
 applying to it a vessel, which is filled in the course of a day and night. 
 A description is then given of the Indian or coco-nut. 
 
 name bearing some, though not much resemblance to Indra 
 eastern coast; but I doubt his having proceeded so far to th 
 asthatriver. The customs of the natives are painted as 
 
 cious in this district. When any of them are afflicted 
 pronounced b 
 
 them to be su 
 
 Dragoian, a 
 -giTi, on the 
 e southward 
 still more atro- 
 with disorders 
 y their magicians to be incurable, their relations cause 
 ffocated, and then dress atid eat their flesh ; justifying the 
 practice by this argument, that if it were suffered to corrupt and breed 
 worms, these must presently perish, and by their deaths subject the soul 
 of the deceased to great torments. They also kill and devour such 
 strangers caught amongst them as cannot pay aransom. Lambri might 
 be presumed a corruption of Jambi, but the circumstances related do not 
 justify the analogy. It is said to produce camphor, which is not found 
 
 ra 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 to the southward of the equinoctial line; and also verzino, or red-wood, 
 
 (though I suspect benzuin to be the word intended), together with a plant 
 
 which he names 6zrc?, supposed to be the bakam of the Arabs, or sappan 
 wood of the eastern islands, the seeds of which he carried with him to 
 Venice.. In the mountainous parts were men with tails a palm long ; 
 also the rhinoceros, and other wild animals. Lastly, Fanfur or Fansur, 
 which corresponds better to Campar than to the island of Panchur, which 
 some have supposed it. Here the finest camphor was produced, equal 
 in value to its weight in gold. The inhabitants live on rice, and draw 
 liquor from certain trees, in the manner before described. There are 
 likewise trees that yield a species of meal. They are of a large size, 
 have a thin bark, under which is a hard wood about three inches in thick- 
 ness, and within this the pith, from which, by means of steeping and 
 straining it, the meal (or sago) is procured, of which he had often eaten 
 with satisfaction. Each of these kingdoms is said to have had its pecu- 
 liar language. Departing from Lambri, and steering. northward from 
 Java minor, one hundred and fifty miles, they reached a small island 
 named Necuram or Norcueran (probably Nancowry, one of the Nitobars), 
 and afterwards an island named Angaman (Andaman), from whence 
 steering to the southward of west a thousand miles, they arrived at that 
 of Zeilan or Seilam, one of the most considerable in the world.—-The 
 editions consulted are chiefly the Italian of Ramusio, 1583, Latin of 
 Miller, 1671, and French of Bergeron, 1735, varying much from each 
 other in the orthography of proper names. 
 
 ODORICUS, a friar, who commenced his travels in 1318, and died at 
 Padua in 1331, had visited many parts of the East. From the southern 
 part of the coast of Coromandel he proceeded by a navigation of twenty 
 days, to a country named Lamori (perhaps a corruption of the Arabian 
 Al-rami), to the southward of which is another kingdom named Sumoltra, 
 and not far from thence a large island named Java. His account, which 
 was delivered orally to the person by whom it was written down, is ex- 
 tremely meagre and unsatisfactory. 
 
 Odoricus. 
 
 te 
 MANDEVILLE, who travelled in the fourteenth century, seems to Mandeville. 
 
 have 
 
 
 

 
 i 
 » 
 SSS - 
 re 
 
 emer --- 
 
 - ee ee 
 
 ee ae 
 
 as —_ 
 “eT 2 ee RS TE 8 eee ee 
 
 
 
 SUMAT RA. 
 
 have adopted the account of Odoricus, when he says, “Beside the ysle 
 of Lemery is another that is clept Sumobor; and fast beside, a great ysle 
 
 clept Java.” 
 
 N. di Conti. NICOLO DI CONTI, of Venice, returned from his oriental travels in 
 1449, andeommunicated to the secretary of Pope Eugenius 1V. a much 
 - more €onsistent and satisfactory account of what he had seen, than any 
 
 ni, of his predecessors. After giving a description of the cinnamon and 
 
 other productions of Zezlam, he says he sailed to a great island named 
 Sumatra, called by the ancients Taprobana, where he was detained one 
 year. His account of the pepper-plant, of the durian fruit, and of the 
 extraordinary customs, now well ascertained, of the Batech or Batta 
 people, prove him to have been an intelligent observer. 
 
 
 
 i Ftinerariam A small work entitled Itinerarium Portugallensium, ptiite at Milan 
 ortugailens, , 
 
 r in 1508, after speaking of the island of Sayla, says, that to the eastward 
 
 of this there is another Called Samotra, which we name Taprobane, dis- 
 \ 
 
 tant from the city of Calechut about three months’ voyage. The inform- 
 ation appears to have been obtained from an Indian of Cranganore, on 
 the coast of Malabar, who visited Lisbon in 1501. 
 
 Pai map vico Ba Lubovico BArRTHEMA (Vartoma) of Bologna, began his travels in 
 1503, and in 1505, after visiting Malacca, which he describes as being 
 the resort of a greater quantity of shipping than any other port in the 
 world, passed over to Pedir in Sumatra, which he concludes to be Ta- 
 probane. “The productions of the island, he says, were chiefly exported 
 to Catai° or China. From Sumatra he proceeded to Banda’ and the 
 
 Moluccas; ‘from thence ‘returned by Java and Malacca to the west of 
 India, and arrived at Lisbon in 1508. 
 
 a Bar- ~~ QDOARDUS BarBosa, of Lisbon, who concluded the journal of his 
 
 voyage in 1516, speaks with much preéision of Sumatra. 
 many places, both upon the coast, and inland, by the 
 bear, among which he considers Pedir ) 
 between the Mahometan inhabitants of ] 
 
 He enumerates 
 names they now 
 as the principal; distinguishes 
 1€ coast and the Pagans of the 
 
 inland 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
cj 
 
 “a 
 
 SUMATRA. 9 
 
 inland country; and mentions the extensive trade carried on by the for- 
 mer with Cambaia in the west of India. 
 
 ‘In the account given by Antonio Pigafetta, the companion of Ferdi- Antonio Piga- 
 nando de Magaglianes, of the'famous circumnavigatory voyage per- ag 
 formed by the Spaniards in the years 1519—22, it is stated, that from 
 their apprehension of falling in with Portuguese ships, they pursued 
 their westerly route from ‘the island of Timor, by the Laut Kidol, or 
 southern ocean, leaving on their right hand the island of Zamatra 
 (written in another part of the journal, Somatra) or Taprobana of the 
 ancients. Mention is also made ofa native of that island being on 
 board, who served them usefully as an interpreter in many of the 
 places they visited; and we are here furnished with the earliest speci- 
 
 men of the Malayan language. 
 
 Previously, however, to this Spanish navigation of the Indian seas, by Pissaguese €x- 
 ‘ ame + st peditions. 
 
 the way of South America, the expeditions of the Porttguese round the 
 Cape of Good Hope, had rendered the island well known, both in re- 
 gard to its local circumstances and the manners of its inhabitants. In 
 a letter from Emanuel king of Portugal to Pope Leo the tenth, dated jn Emanuel king 
 : rv o ’ 3 7 of Portugal. 
 1513, he speaks of the discovery of Samatra by his subjects; and the 
 writings of Joano de Barros, Castanheda, Osorius, and Maffzeus, detail 
 
 the operations of Diogo Lopez Sequeira at Pedir and Pasé in 1509, and 
 
 ‘those of the great Affonso d’Alboquerque at the same places, in 1511, 
 
 immediately before his attack upon Malacca. De Barros also enume- 
 rates the names of twenty of the principal places of the island with 
 considerable precision, and observes, that the peninsula or chersonesus 
 had the epithet of ‘* aurea” given to it on account of the abundance of 
 gold carried thither from Monancabo and Barros, countries in the island 
 of C,amatra. , 
 
 Flaving thus noticed what has been written by persons who actually 
 visited this part of India at an early period, or published from their 
 oral communication by cotemporaries, it will not be thought necessary 
 
 to multiply authorities by quoting the works of subsequent commenta- 
 
 C tors 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 SU MAT RA. 
 
 tors and geographers, who must have formed their judgments from the 
 xe 
 same original materials. 
 
 With respect to the,name of Sumatra, we perceive that it was un- 
 known both to the Arabian travellers and to Marco Polo, who indeed 
 was not likely to acquire it from the savage natives with whom he had 
 intercoutse. Lhe appellation of Java minor, which he gives to the 
 island, seems to have been quite arbitrary, and not grounded upon any 
 authority, European or Oriental, unless we can suppose that he had 
 determined it to be the ra€adés sioes of Ptolemy ; but from the other parts 
 of his relation it does not appear that he was acquainted with the work 
 of that great geographer, nor could he have used it with any practical 
 advantage. At all events it could not have led him to the distinction of 
 a greater and a lesser Java; and we may rather conclude, that having 
 visited (or heard of) the great island properly so called, and not being 
 able to learn the real name of another, which from its situation and size 
 might well be regarded as a sister island, he applied the same to both, 
 with the relative epithets of major and minor. That Ptolemy’s Jaba-dib 
 or dio was intended, however vaguely, for the island of Java, cannot be 
 doubted, It must have been known to the Arabian merchants, and he 
 was indefatigable in his inquiries; but at the same time that they com- 
 
 municated the name, they might be ill qualified to describe its geogra- 
 phical position. 
 
 In the rude narrative of Odoricus we perceive the first approach to 
 the modern name in the word Sumoltra. Those who immediately fol- 
 lowed him write it with a slight, and often inconsistent, variation in the 
 orthography, Swmotra, Samotra, Zamatra, and Sumatra. But none of 
 these travellers inform us from whom they learned it; whether from the 
 natives or from persons who had been in the habits of frequenting it 
 from the continent of India; which latter I think the more 
 Reland, an able oriental scholar, who directed his 
 guages of the islands, 
 
 probable. 
 attention to the lan- 
 says it obtains its appellation from a certain high 
 land called Samadra, which he supposes to signify in tl 
 
 1e language of 
 the country, a “large ant;’ 
 
 ’ but in fact there is not any spot so named; 
 
 and although there is some resemblance between semut, the word for an 
 
 ant, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 1] 
 
 he ant, and the name in question, the etymology is quite fanciful... Others 
 have imagined that they find an easy derivation in the word samatra, to 
 ce be met with in some Spanish or Portuguese dictionaries, as signifying a 
 “ sudden storm of wind and rain, and from whence our seamen may have 
 us borrowed the expression ; but it is evident that the order of derivation is 
 lad here reversed, and that the phrase is taken from the name of the land in 
 - the neighbourhood of which such squalls prevail. In a Persian work of 
 aly the year 1611, the name of Shamatrah occurs as one of those places 
 ad where the Portuguese had established themselves; and in some ver y 
 rts modern Malayan correspondence I find the word Samantara employed 
 nk (along with another more usual, which will be hereafter mentioned) to 
 cal designate this island. ‘These, it is true, are not entirely free from the 
 of suspicion of having found their way to the Persians and Malays through 
 ing the medium of European intercourse; but to a person who is conversant 
 ing with the languages of the continent oi India, it must be obvious that the 
 Ize name, however written, bears a strong resemblance to words in the 
 h, Sanskrit language: nor should this appear extraordinary, when we con- Probably de- 
 lib sider (what is now fully admitted) that a large proportion of the Miu: Securit ence 
 be layan is derived from that source, and that the names of many places i in 
 he this and the neighbouring countries (such as Jndra-pura and Indr Q-217rt 
 I- in Sumatra, Sviga-pura at the extremity of the peninsula, and Suka- 
 \- pura and the mountain of Maha-meru in Java) are indisputably of 
 Hindu origin. It is not my intention, however, to assign a precise ety- 
 mology; but in order to shew the general analogy to known Sanskrit 
 0 terms, it may be allowed to instance Samuder, the ancient name of the 
 . capital of the Carnatik, afterwards called Bider ; Samudra-duta, which 
 p occurs in the Hetopadesa, as signifying the ambassador of the sea; the 
 f. compound formed of su, good, and matra, measure; and more especially 
 ° the word samantara, which implying ‘a boundary,” ‘ intermediate,” 
 t or “what lies between,” might be thought to apply to the peculia, 
 ; situation of an island “intermediate” between two oceans and two 
 : straits, 
 h 
 f When on a former occasion it was asserted (and with too much confi- 
 
 dence) that ‘the name of Sumatra is unknown to the natives, who are Not entirely 
 
 : : . : : unknown to 
 ignorant of its being an island, and haye no general name for it,” the the natives, 
 
 C2 expression 
 
 D 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 i 
 | 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 expression ought to have been confined to those natives with whom kf 
 had an opportunity of conversing, in the southern part of the west- 
 coast, where much genuineness of manners prevails, with little of the 
 spirit of commercial enterprise or communication with other countries. 
 But even in situations more favourable for acquiring knowledge, I be- 
 lieve it will-bé found that the inhabitants of very large islands, and espe- 
 cially-if surrounded by smaller ones, are accustomed to consider their 
 own as ¢éerra firma, and to look to no other geographical distinction than 
 that of the district or nation to which they belong. 
 find that the more general names have commonly been given by fo- 
 reigners, and as the Arabians chose to call this island A/-Rami or Lameri, 
 
 so the Hindus appear to have named it Sumatra or Samantara. 
 
 Accordingly we 
 
 Since that period, however, having become much better acquainted 
 with Malayan literature, and perused the writings of various parts of 
 the peninsula and islands where the language is spoken and cultivated, 
 
 Malayannames [ am enabled to say that Sumatra is well known amongst the eastern 
 
 for the island, 
 
 Indalas. 
 
 Percha, 
 
 people and the better-informed of the natives themselves, by the two 
 names of Indalas and Pulo Percha, (or in the southern dialect, Précho). 
 Of the meaning or analogies of the former, which seems to have been 
 applied to it chiefly by the neighbouring people of Java, I have not 
 any conjecture, and only observe its resemblance (doubtless accidental) 
 to the Arabian denomination of Spain or Andalusia. In one passage I 
 find the straits of Malacca termed the sea of Jndalas, over which, we 
 are gravely told, a bridge was thrown by Alexander the Great. The 
 latter and more common name is from a Malayan word signifying 
 “fragments” or “tatters,” and the application is whimsically explained 
 by the condition of the sails of the vessel in which the island was cir- 
 cumnavigated for the first time; but it may with more plausibility be 
 supposed to allude to the broken or intersected land for which the 
 eastern coast is so remarkable. It will indeed be seen in the map, that 
 in the vicinity of what are calied Rupat’s Straits, there is a particular 
 place of this description named P*, Percha, or the Broken Islands. As 
 to the appellation of Ps, Ber-api, or Volcano Island, which has also 
 occurred, it is too indefinite for a proper name, in a region of the globe 
 
 where: 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 where the phenomenon is by no means rare or peculiar, and should 
 rather be considered as a descriptive epithet. 
 
 In respect to magnitude, it ranks amongst the largest islands in the Magnitude. 
 
 world; but its breadth throughout is determined with'so little accuracy, 
 that any attempt to calculate its superficies must be liable to yery con- 
 siderable error. Like Great Britain, it is broadest at the southern 
 extremity, narrowing gradually to the north ; and to this island it is 
 perhaps in size more nearly allied than in shape. 
 
 A chain of mountains runs through its whole extent, the ranges being Mountains. 
 
 in many parts double and treble, but situated, in general, much nearer 
 to the western than the opposite coast; being, on the former, seldom so 
 much as twenty miles from the sea, whilst on the eastern side the extent 
 of level country, in the broader part of the island, through which 
 run the great rivers of Siak, Indra-giri, Jambi, and Palembang, cannot 
 be less than an hundred and fifty. 1e height of these mountains, 
 though very great, is not sufficient to occasion their being covered with 
 snow, during any part of the year, as those in South America, between 
 the tropics, are found to be. Mount Ophir, or gunong Pasaman, situated 
 immediately under the equinoctial line, is supposed to be the highest visi- 
 ble from the sea; its summit being elevated thirteen thousand eight hun- 
 dred and forty-two feet above that level; which is no more than two-thirds 
 of the altitude the French astronomers have ascribed to the loftiest of the 
 
 Andes, but somewhat exceeds that of the Peak of ‘Feneriffe.’ Between 
 these 
 
 ‘ The following is the result of observations made by Mr. Robert Nairne, of the height of 
 
 Mount Opbir. 
 Height of the peak above the level of the sea, in feet - - 13,842 
 MRCS: ©» + = = 5s sn eee os 2,6216 
 ites ~- - - - «'<"= =< -oe 2 - - + = «eee 
 
 Inland, nearly - - - - - - = = = - * 7.7 * 26 Naut. miles. 
 
 Distance from. Massano Point - -  - - - * = =.* * 32 ditto. 
 Distance at sea before the peak is sunk under the horizon - 125 ditto. 
 Latitude of the peak - - - - - - - - - - - - & 6 Minutes, north. 
 
 pe vemano mountain, south of Ophir, is short of that im } 137¢:feete 
 height by - - - - SSu=eee > == 2 
 
 Inftand, 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 ee PONS Sy re ~ 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 these ridges of mountains, are extensive plains, considerably elevated 
 above the surface of the maritime lands, where the air is cool ; and from 
 this advantage they are esteemed the most eligible portion of the coun- 
 try, are consequently the best inhabited, and the most cleared from 
 woods, which elsewhere in general throughout Sumatra, cover both 
 hills and vallies*with an eternal shade. Here too are found many large 
 and beautiful lakes that extend, at intervals, through the heart of the 
 country, and facilitate much the communication between the diffe- 
 rent parts; but their dimensions, situation, or direction, are very little 
 known, though the natives make frequent mention of them in the ac- 
 counts of their journeys. Those principally spoken of are, one of great 
 extent, but unascertained situation, in the Batta country ; one in the 
 Korinchi country, lately visited by Mr. C. Campbel; and another in the 
 Lampong country, extending towards Pasummah, navigated by boats 
 of a large class, with sails, and requires a day and night to effect the 
 passage across it; which may be the case in the rainy season, as that 
 part of the island, through which the Tulang Bawang river flows, is 
 subject to extensive inundations, causing it to communicate with the 
 river of the Palembang. In a journey made many years since by a son 
 of the Sultan of the latter place, to visit the English resident at Croee, 
 hes said to have proceeded by the way of that lake. It is much to 
 be regretted, that the situation of so important a feature in the geogra- 
 
 phy of the island should be at this day the subject of uncertain con- 
 jecture. 
 
 Waterfalls and cascades are not uncommon, as may be supposed, in 
 a country of so uneven a surface as that of the western coast. A 
 
 remarkable 
 
 Inland, RERNY so wt. Ce BRR Sa fae 29 Naut. miles. 
 
 In order to form a comparison, I subjoin the height, as computed by mathematicians, of 
 other mountains in different parts of the world. 
 
 Chimborazo, the highest of the Andes, 3220 toises, or 20,633 English feet. Of this 
 about 2400 feet from the summit are covered with eternal snow. 
 
 Carazon, ascended by the French astronomers, - ~- ~ - 15,800 English feet. 
 
 Peak of Teneriffe. Feuillé - 2270 Moises, Or = - - - 13,965 feer 
 
 Mount Blane, Savoy. Sr. G. Shuckburgh - - - - - 15669 
 
 Mount Etna. Ditto - = = «= 40,954 
 
 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 15 
 
 “a remarkable one descends from the north-side of Mount Pugong. The 
 
 a island of Mansalar lying off, and affording shelter to the bay of Lappanuli, 
 
 i presents to the view a fall of very striking appearance, the reservoir of 
 
 ' 7 which the natives assert (in their fondness for the marvellous) to be a 
 
 in huge shell of the species called Kyma (chama gigas); found in great 
 
 ange quantities in that bay, as well as at New Guinea and other parts of 
 
 sai the east.2 At the bottom of this fall ships occasionally take in their 
 
 ie water, without being under the necessity of landing their casks; but 
 
 itl such attempts are liable to extreme hazard. <A ship from England (the 
 
 ae Elgin) attracted by the appearance from sea of a small but beautiful 
 
 i cascade descending perpendicularly from the steep cliff, that, like an 
 
 ie immense rampart, lines the sea-shore near Manna, sent a boat in 
 
 ihe order to procure fresh water; but she was lost in the surf, and the 
 
 a crew drowned. $ 
 
 the | 
 
 that No country inthe world is better supplied with water than the western 
 
 Is coast of the island. Springs are found wherever they are sought for, 
 
 the and the rivers are innumerable ; but they are in general too small and Rivers. 
 
 son rapid for the purpose of navigation. The vicinity of the mountains to 
 
 0ee, that side of the island occasions this profusion of rivulets, and at the 
 
 to same time the imperfections that attend them, by not allowing them 
 
 1a- space to accumulate to any considerable size. On the eastern coast, : 
 
 n- the distance of the range of hills not only affords a larger scope for the 
 course of the rivers before they disembogue, presents a greater surface 
 for the receptacle of rain and vapours, and enables them to unite a 
 
 iD greater number of subsidiary streams, but also renders the flux more . 
 
 A steady and uniform by the extent of level space, than where the torrent 
 
 le rolls more immediately from the mountains. But it is net to be understood 
 
 that on the western side there are no large rivers. Kataun, Indrapura, 
 
 Labuyong, 
 
 * The largest I have seen was brought from Tappanuli by Mr. James Moore, of Arno’s 
 8 Vale, in the north of Ireland. It is 3ft. 3inch. in its longest diameter, and 2ft. l1inch. across. 
 One of the methods of taking them, in deep water, is by thrusting a long bamboo between 
 the valves as they lie open, when by the immediate closure which follows, they are made 
 fast. The substance of the shell is perfectly white, several inches thick, is worked by the 
 natives into arm-rings, and in the hands of our artists is found to take a polish equal to the 
 finest statuary marble. 
 
 
 

 
 | 
 bt 
 H 
 
 a 
 
 ER a 
 
 --—— + 
 
 TS. 
 OS rn eR > 
 _ ——- 
 ——— 
 
 
 
 Air, 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 Tabuyong, and Sinkel, have a clarm to that title, although inferior in 
 size to Palembang, Jambi, Indragiri, and Siak. The latter derive 
 also a material advantage from the shelter given to them by the penin- 
 sula of Malacca, and Borneo, Banca, and the other islands of the Archi- 
 pelago, which, breaking the force of the sea, prevent the surf from 
 forming those”bars that choke the entrance of the south-western rivers, 
 and render them impracticable to boats of any considerable draught 
 of water. These labour too under this additional inconvenience, that 
 scarcely any, except the largest, run out to sea in a direct course. 
 The continual action of the surf, more powerful than the ordinary force 
 of the stream, throws up at their mouths a bank of sand, which, in 
 many instances, has the effect: of diverting their course to a direction 
 parallel with the shore, between the cliffs and the beach, until the ac- 
 cumulated waters at length force their way wherever there is found the 
 weakest resistance. In the southerly Monsoon, when the surfs are 
 usually highest, and the streams, from the dryness of the weather, least 
 rapid, this parallel course is of the greatest extent; and Moco-moco river 
 takes a-course, at times, of two or three miles, in this manner, before 
 it mixes with the sea; but as the rivers swell with the rain, they gradu- 
 ally remove obstructions and recover their natural channel. 
 
 The heat of the air is by no means so intense as might be expected, 
 in a country occupying the middle of the torrid zone. It is more tem- 
 perate than in many regions without the tropics, the thermometer, at the 
 most sultry hour, which is about two in the afternoon, generally fluc- 
 tuating between 82 and 85 degrees. I do not recollect to have ever 
 seen it higher than 86 in the shade, at Fort Marlborough; although at 
 Natal, in lat. 34’ N. it is not unfrequently at 87° and 88°. At sun-rise 
 it is usually as low as 70; the sensation of cold, however, 1s much 
 greater than this would seem to indicate, as it occasions shivering and a 
 chattering of the teeth ; doubtless from the greater relaxation of the body 
 and openness of the pores in that climate; for the same temperature in 
 England would be esteemed a considerable degree of warmth. These 
 observations on the state of the air apply only to the districts near the 
 sea-coast, where, from their comparatively low situation, and the greater 
 compression of the atmosphere, the sun’s rays operate more powerfully. 
 Inland, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. ] 
 
 ~J 
 
 in 
 Inland, as the country ascends, the degree of heat decreases rapidly, 
 
 ‘ive : : ; 
 insomuch, that beyond the first range of hills, the inhabitants find it 
 
 expedient to light fires in the morning, and continue them till the day 
 ma is advanced, for the purpose of warming themselves; a practice un- 
 me known in the other parts of the island ; and in the-journal of Lieut. 
 re Dare’s expedition it appears, that during one night's halt on the summit 
 hat of a mountain, in the rainy season, he lost several of his party fromthe 
 severity of the weather, whilst the thermometer was not lower than 40° 
 To the cold also they attribute the backwardness in growth of the coco- 
 m nut tree, which is sometimes twenty or thirty years in coming to per- 
 ie fection, and often fails to produce fruit. Situations are uniformly 
 . colder in proportion to their height above the level of the sea, unless 
 r where local circumstances, such as the neighbourhood of sandy plains, 
 ss contribute to produce a contrary effect; but in Sumatra the coolness 
 t of the air is promoted by the quality of the soil, which is clayey, and 
 the constant and strong verdure that prevails, which, by absorbing the 
 “f sun’s rays, prevents the effect of their reflection. “The, circumstance 
 of the island being so narrow contributes also to its general temperate- 
 lw ness, as wind directly or recently from the sea is seldom possessed of 
 any violent degree of heat, usually acquired in passing over large tracts 
 of land in the tropical climates. Frost, snow, and hail, I believe to 
 ; be unknown to the inhabitants. The hill-people in the country of 
 : Lampong speak, indeed, of a peculiar kind of rain that falls there, 
 e which some have supposed to be what we call sleet; but the fact is not 
 v sufficiently established. The atmosphere is in common more cloudy 
 el than in Europe, which is sensibly perceived, from the infrequency of 
 \ clear star-light nights. This may proceed from the greater rarefaction 
 e of the air occasioning the clouds to descend lower and become more 
 h opaque, or merely from the stronger heat exhaling from the land and 
 a sea a thicker and more plentiful vapour. The fog, called Kabut by 
 y the natives, which is observed to rise every morning among the distant 
 H hills, is dense to a surprising degree ; the extremities of it, even when 
 e near at hand, being perfectly defined; and it seldom is observed to dis- . 
 e perse till about three hours after sun-rise. 
 r 
 r That extraordinary phenomenon, the waterspout, so well known to Waterspout. 
 
 D and 
 
 
 
Thunder and 
 lightning. 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 and described by navigators, frequently makes its appearance in thesé 
 parts, and oecasionally on shore. I had seen many at sea; but the 
 largest and most distinct (from its proximity) that I had an opportunity 
 of observing, presented itself to me whilst on horseback. I was so near 
 to it, that I could perceive what appeared to be an inward gyration, 
 distinct fromethe volume surrounding it or body of the tube; but am 
 aware that this might have been a deception of sight, and that it was 
 the exterior part which actually revolved—as quiescent bodies seem to 
 persons in quick motion, to recede in a contrary direction. Like other 
 waterspouts, it was sometimes perpendicular and sometimes curved, 
 like the pipe of a still-head ; its course tending in a direction from Ben- 
 coolen Bay across the peninsula on which the English settlement stands ; 
 but before it reached the sea on the other side, it diminished by degrees, 
 as if from want of the supplies that should be furnished by its proper 
 element, and collected itself into the cloud from which it depended, 
 without any consequent fall of water or destructive effect. The whole 
 operation we may presume to be ofthe nature of a whirlwind, and the 
 
 violent ebullition in that part of the sea to which the lower extremity of 
 the tube points, to be a corresponding effect to the agitation of the 
 leaves or sand on shore, which in some instances are raised to a vast 
 height; but in the formation of the waterspout the rotatory motion of 
 the wind acts not only upon the surface of the land or sea, but also 
 upon the overhanging cloud, and seems to draw it downwards. 
 
 Thunder and lightning are there so very frequent, as scarcely to at- 
 tract the attention of persons long resident in the country. During the 
 north-west. monsoon, the explosions are extremely violent; the forked 
 lightning shoots in all directions, and the whole sky seems on fire; whilst 
 the ground is agitated in a degree, little inferior to the motion of a slight 
 earthquake. In the south-east monsoon, the lightning is more constant, 
 but the coruscations are less fierce or bright, and the thunder is scarcely 
 audible. It would seem that the consequences of these awful meteors 
 are not so fatal there as in Europe; few instances occurring of lives 
 being lost, or buildings destroyed by the explosions, although electrical 
 conductors have never been employed. Perhaps the paucity of inha- 
 bitants, in proportion to the extent of country, and the unsubstantial 
 
 materials 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 materials of the houses, may contribute to this observation. I have seen 
 some trees, however, that have been shattered in Sumatra by the action 
 of lightning.* 
 
 The causes which produce a successive variety of seasons in'the parts Monsoons. 
 
 of the earth without the tropics, having no relation or respect to the 
 region of the torrid zone, a different order takes place there, and the 
 year is distinguished into two divisions, usually called the rainy and dry 
 monsoons or seasons, from the weather peculiar to each. In the several] 
 parts of India these monsoons are governed by various particular laws, 
 in regard to the time of their commencement, period of duration, cir- 
 cumstances attending their change, and direction of the prevailing wind 
 according to the nature and situation of the lands and coasts where their 
 influence is felt. The farther peninsula of India, where the kingdom 
 of Siam lies, experiences at the same time the effects of opposite 
 seasons ; the wetern side, in the bay of Bengal, being exposed for half 
 the year tocontinual rains, whilst on the eastern side the finest weather 
 is enjoyed; and so on the different coasts of Indostan, the monsoons 
 exert their influence alternately; the one remaining serene and un- 
 disturbed, whilst the other is agitated by storms. Along the coast 
 of Coromandel, the change, or breaking up of the monsoon, as it 
 is called, is frequently attended with the most violent gales of 
 wind. 
 
 On the west coast of Sumatra, southward of the equinoctial, the 
 SE. monsoon, or dry season, begins about May, and slackens in Sep- 
 tember: the NW. monsoon begins about November, and the hard rains 
 cease about March. The monsoons for the most part commence and 
 leave off gradually there; the months of April and May, October 
 and November, generally affording weather and winds variable and 
 uncertain. 
 
 The causes of these pericdical winds have been investigated by several Cause’ of the 
 
 D 2 able 
 
 *Since the above was written, accounts have been received that a magazine, at Fort 
 Marlborough, containing four hundred barrels of powder, was fired by lightning, and 
 blown up, on the 18th of March, 1782, 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 able naturalists, whose systems, however, do not entirely correspond 
 either in the principles laid down, or in their application to the effects 
 known to be produced in different parts of the globe. I shall summa- 
 rily mention what appear to me the most evident, or probable at least, 
 among the general laws, or inferences, which have been deduced from 
 the examination of this subject. Ifthe sea were perfectly uninterrupted, 
 and free from the irregular influence of lands, a perpetual easterly wind 
 would prevail in all that space comprehended between the twenty-eighth 
 ‘or thirtieth degrees of north and south latitude. This is primarily ocea- 
 sioned by the diurnal revolution of the earth upon its axis from west to 
 east; but whether through the operation of the sun, proceeding westward, 
 upon the atmospheric fluid, or the rapidity of revolution of the solid 
 ‘body, which leaves behind it that fluid with which it is surrounded, and 
 thereby causes it virtually to recede in a contrary direction; or whether 
 these principles co-operate, or unequally oppose each other, as has been 
 ingeniously contended, I shall not take upon me to decide. It is suffi- 
 cient to say, that such an effect appears to be the first general law of the 
 tropical winds. Whatever may be the degree of the sun’s influence upon 
 the atmosphere, in his.transient diurnal course, it cannot be doubted 
 but that in regard to his station in the path of the ecliptic, his power is 
 considerable. Towards that region of the air which is rarefied by the 
 more immediate presence of the heat, the colder and denser parts will 
 naturally flow. Consequently from about, and a few degrees beyond, 
 the tropics, on either side, the air tends towards the equator; and 
 combining with the general eastern current before-mentioned, produces 
 (or would, if the surface were uniform) a NE. wind in. the northern 
 division;,and'a SE. in the southern; varying in the extent of its course, 
 as the sun happens to be more or less remote at the time. These are 
 denominated the trade-winds, and are the subject of the second general 
 observation. It is evident that with respect to the middle space between 
 the tropics, those parts which at one season of the year lie to the north- 
 ward of the sun, are, during another, to the southward of him; and of 
 course, that an alteration of the effects last described must takeplace, ac- 
 cording to the relative situation of the luminary; or, in other words, that 
 the principle which causes at one time a NE. wind to prevail at any 
 particular spot in those latitudes, must, when the circumstances are 
 changed, 
 
SUMATRA. 21 
 
 ond changed, occasion a SE. wind. Such may be esteemed the outline of 
 ct the periodical winds, which undoubtedly depend upon. the alternate 
 Ma- course of the sun, northwards and southwards; and this I state ‘as the 
 ast, third general law. But although this may be conformable with ex- 
 ‘om perience in extensive oceans, yet in the vicinity of continents, and great 
 ted, islands, deviations are remarked that almost seem to overturn the princi- 
 vind ple. Along the western coast of Africa, and in some parts of the Indian 
 rhth seas, the periodical winds, or monsoons, as they are termed in the latter, 
 Cas blow fromthe WNW. and SW. according to the situation, extent, 
 ‘to and nature of the nearest lands; the effect of which upon the in- 
 ard, cumbent atmosphere, when heated by the sun, at those seasons in which 
 solid he is vertical, is prodigious, and possibly superior to that of any other 
 and cause which contributes to the production or direction of wind. To 
 ther trace the operation of this irregular principle through the several winds 
 een prevalent in India, and their periodical failures and changes, would 
 
 ii. prove an intricate, but I conceive by no means an impossible task." It 
 is foreign, however, to my present purpose, and-t shall only observe, that 
 the NE. monsoon is changed, on the western coast of Sumatra, to NW. 
 
 )0N 
 
 ted or WNW. by the influence of the land. During the SE. monsoon, 
 
 Is the wind is found to blow there, between that point and south. 
 
 he Whilst the sun continues near the equator, the winds are variable, nor is 
 
 ill their direction fixed till he has advanced several degrees towards the 
 
 d, tropic: and this is the cause of the monsoons usually setting in, as I 
 
 d have observed, about May and November, instead of the equinoctial 
 
 a months. 
 
 P Thus much is sufficient with regard to the periodical winds. T shall Land and sea 
 
 e, fe Seay : i . breezes. 
 proceed to give an account of those distinguished by the appellation of 
 
 if land and sea breezes, which require from me a minuter investigation, 
 
 al both because, as being more local, they more especially belong to my 
 
 $ subject, and that their nature has hitherto been less particularly treated 
 
 ht of by naturalists, © 
 
 o In 
 
 C- 
 
 *It has been attempted, and with much ingenious reasoning, by Mr. Semeyns, in the 
 third yol. of the Haerlem Transactions, which have but lately fallen intomy hands.’ 
 
 
 
Cause of the 
 land and se 
 breezes, 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 In this island, as well as all other countries between the tropics, of 
 any considerable extent, the wind uniformly blows from the sea to the 
 land, for a certain number of hours in the four and twenty, and then 
 changes, and blows for about as many from the land to the sea; except- 
 ing only when the monsoon rages with remarkable violence, and even 
 at such time the*wind rarely fails to incline a few points, in compliance 
 with the,efforts of the subordinate cause, which has not power, under 
 these-cireumstances, to produce an entire change. On the west coast 
 of Sumatra, the sea-breeze usually sets in, after an hour or two of 
 calm, about ten in the forenoon, and continues till near six in the 
 evening. About seven the land-breeze comes off, and prevails through 
 the night till towards eight in the morning, when it gradually dies 
 away. 
 
 These depend upon the same general principle that causes and regu- 
 “lates all other wind. Heat acting upon air, rarefies it, by which it 
 becomes specifically lighter, and mounts upward. The denser parts of 
 the atmosphere, which surround that so rarefied, rush into the vacuity 
 from their superior weight; endeavouring, as the laws of gravity re- 
 quire, to restore the equilibrium. Thus in the round buildings where 
 the manufactory of glass is carried on, the heat of the furnace in the 
 centre being intense, a violent current of air may be perceived to force 
 its way in, through doors or crevices, on opposite sides of the house. 
 As the general winds are caused by the direct influence of the sun’s 
 rays upon the atmosphere, that particular deviation of the current dis- 
 tinguished by the name of land and sea breezes, is caused by the influ- 
 ence of his reflected rays, returned from the earth or sea on which they 
 strike. The surface of the earth is more suddenly heated by the rays of 
 the sun, than that of the sea, from its greater density and state of rests 
 consequently it reflects those rays sooner and with more power: but 
 owing also to its density, the heat is more superficial than that imbibed 
 by the sea, which becomes more intimately warmed, by its transparency, 
 and by its motion, continually presenting a fresh surface to the sun. I 
 shall now endeayour to apply these principles. By the time the rising 
 sun has ascended to the height of thirty or forty degrees above the 
 horizon, the earth has acquired, and reflected on the body of air situated 
 
 over 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ast 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 over it, a degree of heat sufficient to rarefy it and destroy its equili- 
 brium ; in consequence of which, the body of air above the sea, not 
 being equally, or scarcely at all rarefied, rushes towards the land; and 
 the same causes operating so long as the sun continues above the hori- 
 zon, a constant sea-breeze, or current of air from sea to land, prevails 
 during that time. From about an hour before sun-set, the surface of 
 the earth begins to lose the heat it has acquired from the more per- 
 pendicular rays. That influence of course ceases, and a calm suc- 
 ceeds. The warmth imparted to the sea, not so violent as that of the 
 land, but more deeply imbibed, and consequently more permanent, 
 now acts in turn, and by the rarefaction it causes, draws towards its 
 region the land air, grown cooler, more dense, and heavier, which con- 
 tinues thus to flow back, till the earth, by a renovation of its heat in 
 the morning, once more obtains the ascendency. Such is the general 
 rule, conformable with experience, and founded, as it seems to me, in 
 the laws of motion, and the nature of things. “The following obserya- 
 tions will serve to corroborate what I have advanced, and t6 throw 
 
 additional light on the subject, for the information and guidance of any 
 future investigator. 
 
 The periodical winds which are supposed to blow during six months 
 from the NW. and as many from the SE, rarely observe this regula- 
 rity, except in the very heart of the monsoon; inclining, almost at all 
 times, several points to seaward, and not unfrequently blowing from 
 the SW. or in a line perpendicular to the coast. This must be attri- 
 buted to the influence of that principle which causes the land and sea 
 winds proving on these occasions more powerful than the principle of the 
 periodical winds; which two seem here to act at right angles with each 
 other; and as the influence of either is prevalent, the winds draw towards 
 a course perpendicular to, or parallel with the line of the coast. Except- 
 ing when a squall, or other sudden alteration of weather, to which these 
 climates are particularly liable, produces an irregularity, the tendency 
 of the land-wind at night has almost ever a correspondence with the sea- 
 wind of the preceding or following day ; not blowing in a direction 
 immediately opposite to it (which would be the case, if the former 
 were, as some writers have supposed, merely the effect of the accumu- 
 
 lation 
 
 25 
 
 
 

 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 lation and redundance of the latter, without any positive cause), but 
 forming an equal and contiguous angle, of which the coast is the com- 
 Thus, if the coast be conceived to run N. and S., the same 
 influence, ot combination of influences, which produces a sea-wind 
 at NW. produees a land-wind at NE. ; or adapting the case to Su- 
 matra, «which lies NW. and SE., a sea-wind at S. is preceded or 
 followed by a land-wind at E. This remark must not be taken in 
 too strict a sense, but only as the result of general observation. If 
 the land-wind, in the course of the night, should draw round from E. 
 to N. it would be looked upon as an infallible prognostic of a W. or 
 NW. wind the next day. On this principle it is that the natives 
 foretel the direction of the wind by the noise of the surf at night, 
 which if heard from the northward, is esteemed the forerunner of a 
 northerly wind, and vice versd. The quarter from which the noise is 
 heard depends upon the course of the land-wind, which brings the 
 sound with it, and drowns it to leeward—the land-wind has a corres- 
 pondence with the next day’s sea-wind—and thus the divination is 
 
 mon side. 
 
 accounted for. 
 
 The effect of the sea-wind is not perceived to the distance of more 
 than three or four leagues from the shore in common, and for the most 
 part it is fainter in proportion to the distance. When it first sets in, it 
 does not. commence at the remoter extremity of its limits, but very 
 near the shore, and gradually extends itself farther to sea, as the day 
 advances ; probably taking the longer or shorter course as the day is 
 more or less hot: . I have frequently observed the sails of ships, at the 
 distance of.four, six, or eight miles, quite becalmed, whilst a fresh sea- 
 
 breeze was at the time blowing’ upon the shore. In an hour afterwards 
 they have felt its effect, 
 
 Passing along the beach about six o’clock in the evening, when the 
 sea-breeze is making its final efforts, I have perceived it to blow with a 
 
 considerable 
 
 * This observation, as well as many others I have made on the subject, I find corroborated 
 in the Treatise before quoted from the Haerlem Transactions, which I had not seen when 
 the present work was first published. | 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EB, 
 sO 
 tives 
 ioht, 
 
 lore 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 considerable degree of warmth, owing to the heat the sea had by that 
 time acquired, which would soon begin to divert the current of air to- 
 wards it, when it had first overcome the vis inertie that preserves motion 
 in a body after the impelling power has ceased to operaté,” I have like- 
 wise been sensible of a degree of warmth on passing, “within two hours 
 after sun-set, to leeward of a lake of fresh water; which proves the as- 
 sertion of water imbibing’a more permanent heat than earth. Inthe 
 day-time the breeze would be rendered cool in crossing the same lake 
 
 Approaching an island situated at a distance from any other land, | 
 was struck with the appearance of the clouds about nine in the morning, 
 which then formed a perfect circle round it, the middle being a clear 
 azure, and resembled what the painters call a glory. This I account 
 for from the reflected rays of the sun rarefying the atmosphere imme- 
 diately over the island, and equally in all parts, which caused a conflux 
 of the neighbouring air, and with it the cireumjacent clouds. These last, 
 tending uniformly to the centre, compressed each other at a certain dis- 
 tance from it, and, like the stones in an arch of masonry, prevented each 
 other’s nearer approach. ‘That island, however, does not experience the 
 vicissitude of land and sea breezes; being too small, and too lofty, and 
 situated in a latitude where the trade or perpetual winds prevail in their 
 utmost force. In sandy countries the effect of the sun’s rays penetrating 
 deeply, a more permanent heat is produced, the consequence of which 
 should be, the longer continuance of the sea-breeze in the evening; and 
 agreeably to this supposition I have been informed, that on the coast of 
 Coromandel it seldom dies away before ten at night. I shall only add on 
 this subject, that the land-wind on Sumatra is cold, chilly, and damp; 
 an exposure to it is therefore dangerous to the health, and sleeping in it 
 almost certain death. 
 
 The soil of the western side of Sumatra may be spoken of generally as 
 a stiff, reddish clay, covered with a stratum or layer of black mould, of 
 no considerable depth. From this there springs a strong and perpetual 
 verdure, of rank grass; brush wood, or timber trees, according as the 
 country has remained a longer or shorter time undisturbed by the conse- 
 quences of population, whieh being in most places extremely thin, it 
 
 E follows 
 
 Soil. 
 
 
 

 
 a 
 
 ee Ma 
 
 i? ae =. . — Res Le. 
 — aii — at ana eee mons ls oy 
 SS So : — 
 
 ——— 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 follows that a great proportion of the island, and especially to the south- 
 
 ward, is an impervious forest. 
 
 Unevemness of Along the western coast of the island, the low country, or space of land 
 
 which extends fromm the sea-shore to the foot of the mountains, is inter- 
 sected and rendered uneven to a surprising degree by swamps, whose ir- 
 regular.and winding course may in some places be traced in a continual 
 chain for many miles, till they discharge themselves either into the sea, 
 some neighbouring lake, or the fens that are so commonly found near the 
 banks of the larger rivers, and receive their overflowings in the rainy mon- 
 soons. ‘The spots of land which these swamps encompass become so 
 many islands and peninsulas, sometimes flat at top, and often mere 
 ridges; having in some places a gentle declivity, and in others descending 
 almost perpendicularly to the depth of an hundred feet, In few parts of 
 the country of Bencoolen, or of the northern districts adjacent to it, could 
 a tolerably level space of four hundred yards square be marked out. I 
 have often, from an elevated situation, where a wider range was sub- 
 jected to the eye, surveyed with admiration the uncommon face which 
 nature assumes, and made inquiries and attended to conjectures on the 
 causes of these mequalities. Some chuse to attribute them to the succes- 
 sive concussions of earthquakes, through a course of centuries. But they 
 do not seem to be the effect of such a cause. There are no abrupt fis- 
 sures 5 the hollows and swellings are for the most part smooth and regu- 
 larly slooping, so as to exhibit not unfrequently the appearance of an am- 
 phitheatre, and they are clothed with verdure from the summit to the 
 edge of theswamp. From this latter circumstance it is also evident that 
 they are not, as others suppose, occasioned by the falls of heayy rains 
 that deluge the country for one half of the year; which is likewise to be 
 inferred from many of them having no apparent outlet, and commencing 
 where no torrent could be conceived to operate. The most summary 
 way of accounting for this extraordinary unevenness of surface were to 
 conclude, that in the original construction of our globe, Sumatra was 
 thus formed by the same hand which spread out the sandy plains of 
 Arabia, and raised up the Alps and Andes beyond the region of the 
 clouds, But this is a mode of solution,’ which, if generally adopted, 
 would become an insuperable bar to all progress in natural knowledge, 
 
 by 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
S.UMATR A. 27 
 
 ith by damping curiosity and restraining research. Nature, we know from 
 sufficient experience, is not only turned from her original course by the 
 industry of man, but also sometimes checks and crosses her own career. 
 and What has happened in some instances, it is not unfair to suppose may 
 let. happen in others ; nor is it presumption to trace the intermediate causes 
 elt of events, which are themselves derived from one first, universal, and 
 Dual eternal principle. ‘Io me it would seem, that the springs of water with 
 sea, which these parts of the island abound in an uncommon degree, operate Causes of this 
 the directly, though obscurely, to the producing this irregularity of the sur. ‘™““"% 
 Ol. face of the earth. They derive their number, and an extraordinary por- 
 2 $0 tion of activity, from the loftiness of the ranges of mountains that occu- 
 mete py the interior country, and intercept and collect the floating vapours. 
 ding Precipitated into rain at such a height, the water acquires in its descent 
 3.04 through the fissures or pores of these mountains, a considerable force, 
 ould which exerts itself in every direction, lateral and perpendicular, to pro- 
 i cure a vent. he existence of these copious springs is proved, in the 
 ibe facility with which wells are every where sunk ; requiring no choice of 
 ch ground, but as it may respect the convenience of the proprietor; all si- 
 the tuations, whether high or low, being prodigal of this valuable element. 
 a Where the approaches of the sea have rendered the cliffs abrupt, innu- 
 ey merable rills, or rather a continued moisture is seen to ooze through, 
 a and trickle down the steep... Where, on the contrary, the sea has retired 
 m and thrown up banks of sand in its retreat, I have remarked thestreams 
 : of water, at a certain level, and commonly between the boundaries 
 
 he of the tide, effecting their passage through the loose and feeble barrier 
 opposed to them. In short, every part of the low country is pregnant 
 with springs that labour for the birth ; and these continual struggles, this 
 violent activity of subterraneous waters, must gradually undermine the 
 
 é : rad 
 plains above. The earth is imperceptibly excavated, the surface settles 
 g 2 me 
 in, and hence the inequalities we speak of. The operation is slow, but 
 unremitting, and, I conceive, fully capable of the effect, 
 {0 
 The earth of Sumatra is rich in minerals and other fossil productions. Mineral pro. 
 : tions, 
 ; No country has been more famous in all ages for gold, and though the god. 
 e 
 
 sources from whence it is drawn may be supposed in some measure ex- 
 hausted, by the avarice and industry of ages, yet at this day the quan- 
 
 tity 
 
 
 

 
 | Copper. Iron. 
 Pic AM Tin. Sulphur. 
 
 a i ie Saltpetre. 
 
 Coal, 
 
 Hot springs. 
 
 
 
 Earth oil. 
 
 Soft rock. 
 
 
 
 UMATRA. 
 tity procured is very considerable, and doubtless might be much increas- 
 ed, were the simple labour of the gatherer assisted by a knowledge of the 
 arts of mineralogy. There are also mines of copper, iron, and tin.. Sul- 
 phur is gathered in large quantities about the numerous volcanos. Salt- 
 petre the natives,sprocure, by a process of their own, from the earth 
 which is found impregnated with it; chiefly in extensive caves that have 
 been, from the beginning of time, the haunt of a certain species%of birds, 
 of whose dung the soil is formed. Coal, mostly washed down by the 
 floods, is collected in several parts, particularly at Kattaun, Ayer-ram- 
 mi, and Bencoolen, It is light, and not esteemed very good; but I am 
 informed that this is the case with all coal found near the surface of the 
 earth, and as the veins are observed to run in an inclined direction, un- 
 til the pits have some depth, the fossil must be of an indifferent quality. 
 The little island of Pisang, near the foot of Mount Pugong, was suppos- 
 ed to be chiefly a bed of rock crystal, but upon examination of speci- 
 mens taken from thence, they proved to be calcareous spar. Mineral 
 and hot springs have been discovered in many districts. In taste the 
 waters mostly resemble those of Harrowgate, being nauseous to the pa- 
 late. Theoleum terre, or earth oil, used chiefly as a preservative against 
 the destructive ravages of the white ants, is collected at /pu and else- 
 where.* There is scarcely any species of hard rock to be met with in 
 the low parts of the island, near the sea-shore. Besides the ledges of 
 coral, which are covered by the tide, that which generally prevails is 
 the napal, as it is called by the inhabitants, forming the basis of the red 
 cliffs, and not unfrequently the beds of the rivers. ‘Though this napal 
 has the appearance of rock, it possesses in fact so little solidity, that it is 
 difficult.to pronounce whether it be a soft stone or only an indurated 
 clay. The surface of it becomes smooth and glossy by a slight attrition, 
 and to the touch resembles soap, which is its most striking characteris- 
 tic; but itis not soluble in water, and makes no effervescence with acids. 
 Its colour is either grey, brown, or red, according to the nature of the 
 earth that prevails in its composition. The red napal has by much the 
 smallest proportion of sand, and seems. to possess all the qualities of the 
 
 steatite 
 
 * The fountain of Naphtha or liquid balsam, found at Pedir, so much celebrated by the 
 Portuguese writers, is doubtless this oleum terre, or meniak tanah,as it is called by the Malays, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sil. 
 alt. 
 arth 
 rave 
 
 Inds, 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 steatite or soap earth, found in Cornwall and other countries. © The spe- 
 cimens of stone which I brought from the hills in the neighbourhood of 
 Bencoolen, were pronounced, by some mineralogists to whom I shewed 
 them at the time, to be Granite; but upon more particular examination 
 they appear to be a species of Trap, consisting prineipally of Feldtspar 
 and Hornblend, of a greyish colour, and nearly similar to the mountain 
 
 stone of North Wales. 
 
 Where the encroachments of the sea have undermined the land, the 
 cliffs are left abrupt and naked, in some places to a very considerable 
 height. In these many curious fossils are discovered, such as petrified 
 wood, and sea-shells of various sorts. Hypotheses on this subject have 
 been so ably supported and so powerfully attacked, that I shall not pre- 
 sume to intrude myself in the lists. I shall only observe, that being so 
 near thesea, many would hesitate to allow such discoveries to be of any 
 weight in proving a violent alteration to have taken place in the surface 
 of the terraqueous globe ; whilst, on the other hand, it is unaccountable 
 how, in the common course of natural events, such extraneous matter 
 should come to be lodged in: strata, at. the height, perhaps, of fifty feet 
 above the level of the water, and as many below the surface of the 
 land. Here are likewise found various species of earths, which might 
 be applied to valuable purposes, as painters’ colours, and otherwise. 
 The most common are the yellow and red, probably ochres, and the 
 white, which answers the description of the mzlenum of the ancients. 
 
 There are a number of volcano mountains in this, as in almost all the 
 other islands of the eastern Archipelago. ‘They are called in the Malay 
 language gunong-api, or, more correctly, gunong ber-api. Lava has been 
 seen to flow from a considerable one near Priamang ; but I have never 
 heard of its causing any other damage than the burning of woods. This, 
 however, may be owing to the thinness of population, which does not 
 render it necessary for the inhabitants to settle in a situation that exposes 
 them to danger of this kind, The only yolcano I had an opportunity 
 of observing, opened in the side of a mountain, about twenty miles 
 inland of Bencoolen, one-fourth way from its top, as nearly as I can 
 
 judge. It scarcely ever failed to emit smoke; but the column was only 
 visible 
 
 Petrifaction. 
 
 Coloured 
 earths. 
 
 Volcanos. 
 
 
 

 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 visible for two or three hours in the morning, seldom rising and pre- 
 serving its form, above the upper edge of the hill, which is not of a 
 conical shape, but extending with a gradual slope. The high trees 
 with which the country thereabout is covered, prevent the crater from 
 being discernible ata distance; and this proves, that the spot is not 
 considerably raised or otherwise affected by the eruptions. I could never 
 
 Earthquakes, perceive Mat it had any connection with the earthquakes, which are 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 very frequently felt there. Sometimes it has emitted smoke upon these 
 occasions, and in other instances, not. Yet, during a smart earthquake 
 which happened a few years before my arrival, it was remarked to send 
 forth flame, which it is rarely known to do.t The apprehension of the 
 European inhabitants, however, is rather more excited, when it con- 
 tinues any length of time without a tendency to an eruption, as they 
 conceive it to be the vent by which the inflammable matter, escapes, 
 that would otherwise produce these commotions of the earth. Com- 
 paratively with the descriptions I have read of earthquakes in South 
 America, Calabria, and other countries, those which happen in Sumatra, 
 are generally yery slight; and the usual manner of building, renders them 
 but little formidable to the natives. The most severe that I have known, 
 was chiefly experienced in the district of Manna, in the year 1770. A 
 village was destroyed by the houses falling down and taking fire, and 
 several lives were lost.” The ground was in one place rent a quarter 
 of amile, the width of two fathoms, and depth of four or five. A bitu- 
 minous matter is described to have swelled over the sides of the Cavity, 
 and the earth, for a long time after the shocks, was observed to con- 
 tract and dilate alternately. Many parts of the hills far inland could 
 be distinguished to have given way, and a consequence of this was, 
 that during. three weeks, Manna River was <o much impregnated with 
 particles of clay, that the natives could not bathe in it. At this time 
 
 was 
 
 conjecture, 
 » arising from a con- 
 
 * Some ene who deny the fact of its having at any time emitted flame, 
 that what exhibits the appearance of smoke, is more probably vapour 
 siderable hot spring. The natives speak of it as a volcano. 
 
 » I am informed that in 17 63, an entire village was swallowed up by 
 Nias, one of the islands which lie off the western coast of Sumatra, 
 the same year, a severe one was felt in Bengal. 
 
 an earthquake in Poolo 
 In July or August of 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
le. 
 fa 
 Tees 
 ‘Om 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 was formed near to the mouth of Padang Guchi, a neighbouring 
 
 river, south of the former, a large plain, seven miles 
 
 long and half 
 
 a mile broad; where there had been before only a narrow beach. The 
 quantity of earth brought down on this occasion was so considerable, that 
 
 the hill upon which the English resident’s house stands, 
 
 appears, from 
 
 indubitable marks, less elevated by fifteen feet than it was before the event. 
 Earthquakes have been remarked by some to happen usually upon sud- 
 den changes of weather, and particularly after violent heats; but I do 
 not vouch this upon my own experience, which has been pretty ample; 
 
 They are preceded by a low rumbling noise like distant 
 
 thunder. The 
 
 domestic cattle and fowls are sensible of the preternatural motion, and 
 seem much alarmed ; the latter making the cry they are wont to do on 
 the approach of birds of prey. Houses situated on a low sandy soil are 
 least affected, and those which stand on distinct hills, suffer most from 
 the shocks, because the further removed from the centre of motion, 
 the greater the agitation; and the loose contexture of the one founda- 
 tion, making less resistance than the solidity of the other, subjects the 
 
 building to less violence. Ships at anchor in the road, 
 
 though several 
 
 miles distant from the shore, are strongly sensible of the concussion. 
 
 Besides the new land formed by the convulsions above 
 sea by a gradual recess in some parts, produces the same 
 
 described, the New land 
 ormed, 
 effect. Many 
 
 instances of this kind, of no considerable extent, however, have been 
 observed within the memory of persons now living. But it would seem to 
 me, that that large tract of land, called Pulo Point, forming the bay of the 
 name, near to Silebar, with much of the adjacent country, has thus been 
 left by the withdrawing, or thrown up by the motion of the sea. Per- 
 haps the point may have been at first an island (from whence its ap- 
 
 - pellation of Pulo) and the parts more inland, gradually 
 
 united to it. 
 
 Various circumstances tend to corroborate such an opinion, and to evince 
 the probability that this was not an original portion of the main, 
 but new, half-formed Jand. All the swamps and marshy grounds that 
 
 * Since I formed this conjecture, L have been told that sucha tradition, 
 date, prevails amongst the inhabitants, 
 
 he 
 
 of no very ancient 
 
 51 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Y -7 a - 
 i ; aay 
 6 FS TE me Oa ne me 
 = - = 
 oy 
 4 =~ * pe a » 
 
 Encroachment 
 
 of the sea. 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 lie within the beach, and near the extremity there are little else, 
 are known, in consequence of repeated surveys, to be lower than the 
 level of high water; the bank of sand alone preventing an inundation. 
 The country is not only quite free from hills or inequalities of any kind, 
 but has scarcelywa visible slope.  Silebar River, which empties itself into 
 Pulo Baygei$ totally unlike those in other parts of the island. The mo- 
 tion.of its stream is hardly perceptible; it is never affected by floods ; its 
 course is marked out, not by banks covered with ancient and venerable 
 woods, but by rows of mangroves and other aquatics, springing from the 
 ooze, and perfectly regular. Some miles from the mouth, it opens into 
 a beautiful and extensive lake, diversified with small islands, flat, and ver- 
 dant with rushes only. The point of Pulo is covered with the Arau tree 
 (casuarina) or bastard pine, as some have called it, which never grows but 
 in the sea-sand, and rises fast. None such are found toward. Sun ger-lamo 
 and the rest of the shore northward of Marlborough Point, where, on 
 the contrary, you perceive the effects of continual depredations by the 
 ocean. The old forest trees are there yearly undermined, and falling, 
 obstruct the traveller ; whilst about Pulo, the Arau trees are continually 
 springing up, faster than they can be cut down or otherwise destroyed. 
 Nature will not readily be forced from her course. The last time I 
 visited that part, there was a beautiful rising grove of these trees, esta- 
 blishing a possession in their proper soil. ‘Lhe country, as well imme- 
 diately hereabout, as to a considerable distance inland, is an entire bed 
 of sand, without any mixture of clay or mould, which I know to have 
 been in vain sought for, many miles up the neighbouring rivers. To 
 the northward of Padang there is a plain, which has evidently been, in 
 former times, a bay. ‘Traces of a shelving beach are there distinguish- 
 able at the distance of one hundred and fifty yards from the present 
 boundary of the sea. 
 
 But upon what hypothesis can it be accounted for, that the sea should 
 commit depredations on the northern coast, of which there are the most 
 evident tokens, as high up at least as Zpu, and probably to Jndrapura, 
 where the shelter of the neighbouring islands may put a stop to them, 
 and that it should restore the land to the southwardy in the manner I 
 have described? I am aware that according to the general motion of 
 the 
 
ed 
 ave 
 To 
 I 
 sh- 
 
 ent 
 
 ould 
 ost 
 rd, 
 
 em; 
 
 Ol 
 the 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 the tides from east to west, this coast ought to receive a continual acces- 
 sion, proportioned to the loss which others, exposed to the direction of 
 this motion, must and do sustain; and it is likely that it does gain upon 
 the whole. But the nature of my work obliges me to be more attentive 
 to effects than causes, and to record facts, though they should clash 
 with systems the most just in theory, and most respectable im/point of 
 authority. 
 
 ee ee Oe 
 
 33 
 
 The chain of islands which lie parallel with the west coast of Sumatra, Islands near 
 
 may probably have once formed a part of the main, and been separated 
 from it, either by some violent effort of nature, or the gradual attrition 
 of the sea. I should scarcely introduce the mention of this. apparently 
 vague surmise, but that a circumstance presents itself on the coast, 
 which affords some stronger colour of proof than can be usually obtained 
 in such instances. In many places, and particularly about Pally, we 
 observe detached pieces of land standing singly, as islands, at the distance 
 of one or two hundred yards from the shore, which were head-lands of 
 points running out into the sea, within the remembrance of the inhabitants. 
 The tops continue covered with trees or shrubs; but the sides are bare, 
 abrupt, and perpendicular. The progress of insulation here is obvious 
 and incontrovertible, and why may not larger islands, at a greater dis- 
 tance, have been formed, in the revolution of ages, by the same acci- 
 dents? ‘The probability is heightened by the direction of the islands, 
 Nias, Batu, Mantawei, Pagi, Mego, &c. the similarity of rock, soil, 
 and productions, and the regularity of soundings between them and the 
 main, whilst without them the depth is unfathomable. . 
 
 Where the shore is flat or shelving, the coast of Sumatra, as of all 
 other tropical islands, is defended from the attacks of the sea by a reef 
 or ledge of coral rock, on which the surfs exert their violence without 
 further effect than that of keeping its surface even, and reducing to 
 powder those beautiful excrescences and ramifications which have been 
 so much the object of the naturalist’s curiosity, and which some in- 
 genious men, who have analysed them, contend to be the work of insects. 
 The coral powder is in particular places accumulated on the shore in 
 
 F great 
 
 the west 
 coast, 
 
 Coral rocks. 
 
 
 

 
 =e = 
 
 2 oa 2 = a a = - x oe 2 ee 4 a 5 - — 
 “ => Sonne > as * -: x _ “ = - ~ <  ———— —y = v . Pa 
 
 See OO : ; = ere z 
 
 = — 
 
 Surf. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 great quantities, and appears, when not closely inspected, like a fine 
 
 white sand. 
 
 The surf (a word not to be found, I believe, in our dictionaries) is 
 used in India, and by navigators in general, to express a peculiar swell 
 and breakingwof the sea upon the shore; the phenomena of which not 
 having been hitherto much adverted to by writers, I shall be the more 
 circumstantial in my description of them. 
 
 ‘The surf forms sometimes but a single range along the shore. At 
 other times there is a succession of two, three, four, or more, behind 
 each other, extending perhaps half a mile out to sea. The number 
 of ranges is generally in proportion to the height and violence of the 
 surf, " 
 
 The surf begins to assume its form at some distance from the place 
 where it breaks, gradually accumulating as it moves forward, till it 
 gains a height, in common, of fifteen to twenty feet,* when it over- 
 hangs at top, and falls, like a cascade, nearly perpendicular, involving 
 itself as it descends. The noise made by the fall is prodigious, and, 
 
 during the stillness of the night; may be heard many miles up the 
 country. 
 
 Though in the rising and formation of the surf, the water seems to have 
 a quick progressive motion towards the land, yet a light body on the 
 surface is not carried forward, but, on the contrary, if the tide is ebbing, 
 will recede from the shore; from which it would follow, that the motion 
 is only propagated in the water, like sound in air, and not the mass of 
 water protruded. A similar species of motion is observed on shaking 
 at one end, a long cord held moderately slack, which is expressed by 
 the word undulation. I have sometimes remarked, however, that a body 
 which sinks deep, and takes hold of the water, appears to move towards 
 
 shore 
 
 nate 
 
 * It may be presumed that in this estimation of its height I was considerably deceived. 
 
 « 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ine 
 
 
 
 Ig 
 
 vell 
 
 hore 
 
 ind 
 nber 
 ‘the 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 shore with the course of the surf, as is perceptible in a boat landing, 
 which seems to shoot swiftly forward on the top of the swell ; though pro- 
 bably itis only after having reached the summit, and may owe its velocity 
 to its own weight in the descent. 
 
 Countries where the surfs prevail, require boats of a partienular con- 
 struction, and the art of managing them demands the experience of a 
 man’s life. All European boats are more or less unfit, and seldom fail 
 to occasion the sacrifice of the people on board them, in the imprudent 
 attempts that are sometimes made'to land: with them on the open coast. 
 The natives of Coromandel are remarkably expert in the management of 
 their craft; but itis to be observed, that the intervals between the break. 
 ing of the surfs are usually on that coast much longer than on the coast 
 of Sumatra. 
 
 The force of the surf is extremely great. I have known it to ‘overset 
 a country vessel in such a manner, that the top of the mast has stuck 
 in the sand, and the lower end made its appearance through her bottom. 
 Pieces of cloth have been taken up from a wreck, twisted and rent by 
 its involved motion. In some places the surfs are usually greater at high, 
 and in others at low, water; but I believe they are uniformly more 
 violent during the spring-tides. 
 
 I shall proceed to inquire into the efficient cause of the surfs. The Considerations 
 
 winds have doubtless a strong relation to them.. If the air was in all 
 places of equal density, and not liable to any motion, I suppose the water 
 would also remain perfectly at rest, and its surface even; abstracting 
 from the general course of the tides, and the partial irregularities occa- 
 sioned by the influx of rivers. The current of the air impels the wa- 
 ter, and causes a swell, which is the regularrising and subsiding of the 
 waves. [his rise and fall is similar to the vibrations of a pendulum, 
 and ‘subject to like laws. When a wave is at its height, it descends 
 by the force of gravity, and the momentum acquired in descending, 
 impels the neighbouring particles, which, in their turn, rise and impel 
 others, and thus form a succession of waves. This is the case in the 
 open sea; but when the swell approaches the shore, and the depth of 
 
 F2 water 
 
 respecting 
 the cause of 
 the surf. 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 water is not in proportion to the size of the swell, the subsiding wave, 
 instead of pressing on a body of water, which might rise in equal quan- 
 tity, presses on the ground, whose re-action causes it to rush on in that 
 manner, which we call asurf. Some think that the peculiar form of it 
 may be plainly accounted for from the shallowness and shelving of the 
 beach. Whema swell draws near to such a beach, the lower parts of 
 the water’meeting first with obstruction from the bottom, stand still, 
 whilst the higher parts respectively move onward, by which a rolling 
 and involyed motion is produced, that is augmented by the return of the 
 preceding swell. I object, that this solution is founded on the supposition 
 of an actual progressive motion of the body of water in forming a surf; 
 and that certainly not being the fact, it seems deficient. ‘The only real 
 progression of the water is occasioned by the perpendicular fall, after the 
 breaking of the surf, when, from its weight, it foams on to a greater or 
 less distance, in proportion to the height from which it fell, and the 
 slope of the shore, 
 
 That the surfs are not, like common waves, the immediate effect of 
 the wind, is evident from this, that the highest and most violent often 
 
 happen when there is the least wind, and vice versd. And sometimes the 
 
 surfs will continue with an equal degree of violence during a variety of 
 weather. On the west coast of Sumatra, the highest are experienced 
 during the SE. monsoon, which is never attended with such gales of 
 wind as the NW. The motion of the surf is not observed to follow 
 the course of the wind, but often the contrary; and when it blows hard 
 from the land, the spray of the sea may be seen to fly in a direction 
 opposite to the body of it, though the wind has been for many hours in 
 the same point. 
 
 Are the surfs the effect of gales of wind at sea, which do not happen 
 to extend to the shore, but cause a violent agitation throughout a con- 
 siderable tract of the waters, which motion communicating with less dis- 
 tant parts, and meeting at length with resistance from the shore, occa- 
 sions the sea to swell and break in the manner described ? To this I ob- 
 ject, that there seems no regular correspondence between their magni- 
 tude, and the apparent agitation of the water without them: that gales 
 
 of 
 
SUMATRA. 37 
 
 
 
 r of wind, except at particular periods, are very unfrequent in the Indian 
 seas, where the navigation is well known to be remarkably safe, whilst 
 7" the surfs are almost continual ; and that gales are not found to produce 
 this effect in other extensive oceans. ‘Lhe west coast of Ireland borders 
 he a sea nearly as extensive, and much more wild than the coast of Sumatra, 
 a and yet there, though when it blows hard the swell on the shore is high 
 it and dangerous, is there nothing that resembles the surfs of India. 
 ing 
 the These, so general in the tropical latitudes, are, upon the most proba- Probablecause 
 on ble hypothesis I have been able to form, after long observation, and much Nal 
 ue thought and inquiry, the consequence of the trade or perpetual winds 
 real which prevail, at a distance from shore, between the parallels of thirty 
 the degrees north and south, whose uniform and invariable action causes a 
 Ot long and constant swell, that exists even in the calmest weather, about 
 the the line, towards which its direction tends from either side. This swell 
 or libration of the sea, is so prodigiously long, and the sensible effect of 
 its height, of course, so much diminished, that at is not often attended 
 ot to; the gradual slope engrossing almost the whole horizon, when the eye 
 ten is not very much elevated above its surface: but persons who have sailed 
 the in those parts may recollect that even when the sea is apparently the 
 of most still and level, a boat or other object at a distance from the ship, 
 ed will be hidden from the sight of one looking towards it from the lower 
 of deck, for the space of minutes together. This swell, when a squall hap- 
 \W pens, or the wind freshens up, will, for the time, have other subsidiary 
 rd waves on the extent of its surface, breaking often in a direction contrary 
 ‘on to it, and which will again subside as a calm returns, without having 
 in produced on it any perceptible effect. Sumatra, though not continual- 
 ly exposed to the south-east trade-wind, is not so distant but that its in- 
 fluence may be presumed to extend to it, and accordingly at Pulo Pi- 
 " sang, near the southern extremity of the island, a constant southerly sea 
 mn is observed, even after a hard north-west wind. This incessant and pow- 
 is erful swell rolling in from an ocean, open even to the pole, seems 
 a an agent adequate to the prodigious effects produced on tlie coast; 
 whilst its very size contributes to its being overlooked. It reconciles 
 
 almost all the difficulties which the phenomena seem to present, and in 
 
 particular it accounts for the decrease of the surf during the NW, mon- 
 | soon, 
 
 
 
- a Cat i ts SE eee 8 
 
 Sd 
 
 ae 
 eo ha 
 
 Nt 
 4 ee ot 
 
 Ail 
 
 Tides. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 soon, the local wind then counteracting the operation of the general one ; 
 and it is corroborated by an observation I have made, that the surfs on 
 the Sumatran coast ever begin to break at their southern extreme, the 
 motion of the swell not being perpendicular to the direction of the shore. 
 This manner of explaining their origin seems to carry much reason with 
 it: but there o@curs to me one objection which I cannot get over, and 
 @hich aregard to truth obliges me to state. ‘The trade-winds are remark- 
 ably steady and uniform, and the swell generated by them is the same. 
 The surfs are much the reverse, seldom persevering for two days in the 
 same degree of violence; often mountains high in the morning, and 
 nearly subsided by night. How comes an uniform cause to produce ef- 
 fects so unsteady, unless by the intervention of secondary causes, whose 
 nature and operation we are unacquainted with? 
 
 It is clear to me that the surfs, as above described, are peculiar to 
 those climates which lie within the remoter limits of the trade-winds, 
 though in higher latitudes large swells and irregular breakings of the sea 
 are to be met with after boisterous weather. Possibly the following 
 causes may be judged to conspire, with that I have already specified, 
 towards, occasioning this’ distinction. The former region being exposed 
 to the immediate influence of the two great luminaries, the water, from 
 their direct impulse, is liable to more violent agitation than nearer 
 the poles, where their power is felt only by indirect communication. 
 The equatorial parts of the earth performing their diurnal revolution, 
 with greater velocity than the rest, a larger circle being described in 
 the same time, the waters thereabout, from the stronger centrifugal 
 force, may be supposed to feel less restraint from the sluggish principle 
 of matter; to have less gravity ; and therefore to be more obedient to 
 
 external impulses of every kind, whether from the winds or any other 
 cause. 
 
 The spring-tides on the west coast of Sumatra.are estimated to rise in 
 general no more than four feet, owing to its open, unconfined situation, 
 which prevents any accumulation of the tide, as is the case im narrow 
 seas. It is always high water there when the moon js 4n the horizon, 
 and consequently at six o’clock nearly, on the days of conjunction and 
 
 opposition 
 
 
 
ir to 
 nds, 
 sea 
 ing 
 ied, 
 ised 
 om 
 
 rer 
 
 SUMATRA 
 
 opposition throughout the year, in parts not far remote from the 
 equator.*. This, according to Newton’s theory, is about three hours 
 later than the uninterrupted course of nature; owing to the obvious 
 impediment the waters meet with in revolving from the eastward. 
 
 * Owing to this uniformity it becomes an easy matter for the natives to ascertain the height 
 of the tide at any hour that the moon is visible. Whilst she appears to ascend, the water 
 falls, and vice versd; the lowest of the ebb happening when she is in her meridian. The 
 vulgar rule for calculating the tides is rendered also to Europeans more simple and practical 
 from the same cause. There only needs to add together the epact, number of the month, 
 and day of the month; the sum of which, if under thirty, gives the moon’s age—the excess, 
 if over. Allow forty-eight minutes for each day, or which is the same, take four-fifths of 
 the age, and it will give you the number of hours after six o’clock, at which high water 
 happens. _ A readiness at this calculation is particularly useful in a country where the sea- 
 beach isthe general road for travelling. 
 
 Distinction 
 
 39 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 General ac- 
 
 count of the 
 
 Distinction of Anhabitants.—Rejangs chosen for General Description.— 
 
 Persons and Complexion.—Clothing and Ornaments. 
 
 HAVING exhibited a general view of the island, as it is in the hands 
 
 inhabitants: of nature, I shall now proceed to a description of the people who inhabit 
 
 Various modes 
 
 of division, 
 
 and cultivate it, and shall endeayour to distinguish the several species or 
 classes of them, in such a mantier as may best tend to perspicuity, and 
 to furnish clear ideas of the matter. 
 
 The most obvious division, and which has been usually made by the 
 writers of voyages, is that of Mahometan inhabitants of the sea coast, and 
 Pagans of the inland country. This division, though not without its 
 degree of propriety, is vague and imperfect; not only because each 
 description of people differ considerably among themselves, but that the 
 inland inhabitants are, in some places, Mahometans, and those of the 
 coast, in others, what they term Pagans. It is not unusual with persons 
 who have not resided in this part of the East, to call the inhabitants of the 
 islands indiscriminately by the name of Malays. This is a more consi- 
 derable error, and productive of greater confusion than the former. By 
 attempting to reduce things to heads too general, we defeat the very end 
 we propose to ourselves in defining them at all: we create obscurity 
 where we wish to throw light. On the other hand, to attempt enumerat- 
 ing and distinguishing the variety, almost endless, of petty sovereignties 
 and nations, into which this island is divided, many of which differ no- 
 thing in person or manners from their neighbours, would be a task both 
 insurmountable and useless. I shall aim at steering a middle course, and 
 accordingly shall treat of the inhabitants of Sumatra under the following 
 summary distinctions, taking occasion as it may offer to mention the 
 principal subdivisions. And first, it is proper to distinguish the empire 
 of 
 
nd 
 ty 
 
 SUM A T-R.A, 
 
 of Menangkabau and the Malays; in the next place the Achinese; then 
 the Batias ; the Rejangs; and . 4 to them the people of Lampong: 
 ’ * 
 
 Menangkabau being the principal sovereignty of the island, which for- 
 merly comprehended the whole, and still receives a shadow of ‘homage 
 from the most powerful of the other kingdoms, which have sprung up 
 from its ruins, would seem to claim a right to precedence in description; 
 but I have a sufficient reason for deferring it to a subsequent part of the 
 work ; which is, that the people of this empire, by their conversion to 
 Mahometanism, and consequent change of manners, have lost in a greater 
 degree than some neighbouring tribes, the genuine Sumatran character, 
 which is the immediate object of my investigation. They are distin- 
 guished from the other inhabitants of this island by the appellation of 
 Orang Malayo, or Malays, which, however, they have in comnion with 
 those of the coast of the Peninsula, and of many othefislands; and the 
 name is applied to every Mussulman speaking the Malayan as his proper 
 language, and either belonging to, or claiming descent from, the an- 
 cient kingdonfof Menangkabau ; wherever the place of his residence 
 may be. Beyond Bencoolen to the southward there are none to be met 
 
 with, 
 
 * In the course of my inquiries amongst the natives, concerning the aborigines of the 
 island, I have been informed of two different species of people dispersed in the woods, and 
 avoiding all communication with the other inhabitants. These they call Orang Kubu, and 
 Orang Gugu. The former are said to be pretty numerous, especially in that part of the country 
 which lies between Palembang and Jambi. Some have at times been caught and kept as slaves 
 in Labun ; and a man of that place is now married to a tolerably handsome Kubu girl, who 
 was carried off by a party that discovered their huts. They haye a language quite peculiar 
 to themselves, and they eat promiscuously whatever the woods afford, as deer, elephant, 
 rhinoceros, wild hog, snakes, or monkeys. The Gugu are much scareer than these, differing 
 in little but the use of speech, from the Orang Utan of Borneo; their bodies being covered 
 with long hair. There have not been above two or three instances of their being met with 
 by the people of Labun whom my information is derived), and one of these was 
 entrapped many years ago, in much the same manner as the carpenter in Pilpay’s Fables 
 caught the monkey. He had children by a Labun woman, which also were more hairy than 
 the common race ; but the third generation are not to be distinguished from others. The 
 reader will bestow what measure of faith he thinks due to this relation, the veracity of which 
 I do not pretend to vouch for, It has probably some foundation in truth, but is exaggerated 
 in the circumstances. 
 
 G 
 
 “©? 
 
 Malays. 
 
 4] 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 with, excepting such as have been drawn thither by, and are in the pay 
 of, Europeans. On the eastern side of the island they are settled at the 
 entrance of almost all the navigable rivers, where they more conveniently 
 indulge their habitual bent for trade and piracy. It must be observed, 
 indeed, that in common speech the term Malay, like that of Moor in 
 the continent of India, is almost synonymous with Mahometan ; and 
 when the natives of other parts learn to read the Arabic character, sub- 
 mit to circumcision, and practise the ceremonies of religion, they are 
 often said men-jadi Malayo, “‘ to become Malays,” instead of the more 
 correct expression sudah masuk islam, ‘‘ have embraced the faith.” The 
 distinction will appear more strongly from this circumstance, that whilst 
 the sultan of Anak Surgei (Moco-moco), ambitious of imitating the sultan 
 of Menargkabau, styles himself and his immediate subjects Malays, his 
 neighbour, the Parigeran of Surge: Lamo, chief of the #ejangs, a very 
 civilized Mahometan, and whose ancestors for some generations were of 
 the same faith, seemed offended, in a conversation I had with him, at 
 my supposing him (as he is usually considered) a Malay, and replied, 
 with some emotion, *‘ Malayo tidah, sir; drang ulu betul sayo. No 
 Malay, sir; I am a genuine, aboriginal countryman.” The two lan- 
 guages he wrote and talked (I know not if he be still living) with equal 
 facility ; but the Rejang he esteemed his mother tongue. 
 
 Attempts to ascertain from what quarter Sumatra was peopled, must 
 rest upon mere conjecture. The adjacent peninsula (called by Euro- 
 peans or other foreigners the Malayan Peninsula) presents the most 
 obvious source of population; and it has accordingly been presumed 
 that emigrants from thence supplied it and the other islands of the 
 eastern Archipelago with inhabitants. By this opinion, adopted without 
 examination, I was likewise misled, and, on a former occasion, spoke 
 of the probabili® of a colony from the peninsula having settled upon the 
 western coast of the island; but I have since leafited from the histories 
 and traditions of the natives of both countries, that the reverse is the 
 fact, and that the founders of the celebrated kingdoms of Johor, Sinigapura, 
 and Malacca, were adventurers from Sumatra. Even at this day the 
 inhabitants of the interior parts of the peninsula are a race entirely dis- 
 tinct from those of the two coasts. 
 
 Thus 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 Thus much it was necessary, in order to avoid ambiguity, to say in 
 the first instance concerning the Malays, of whom a more particular 
 account will be given in a subsequent part of the work. * 
 
 As the most dissimilar among the other classes into which I have di- 
 vided the inhabitants, must of course have very many points of mutual 
 resemblance, and many of their habits, customs, and ceremonies, in come 
 mon, it becomes expedient, in order to avoid a troublesome and useless 
 repetition, to single out one class from among them, whose manners shall 
 undergo a particular and full investigation, and serve as a standard 
 for the whole ; the deviation from which, in other classes, shall after- 
 wards be pointed out, and the most singular and striking usages peculiar 
 to each, superadded. Various circumstances induce me, on this occa- 
 sion, to give the preference to the Rejangs, though a nation of but small 
 account in the political scale of the island. They are placed in what 
 may be esteemed a central situation, not geographically, but with re- 
 spect to the encroachments of foreign manners and opinions, introduced 
 by the Malays, from the north, and Javans from the south ; which gives 
 them a claim to originality, superior to that of most others. They are 
 a people whose form of government and whose laws extend, with very 
 little variation, oyer a considerable part of the island, and principally 
 that portion where the connexions of the English lie. There are tra- 
 ditions of their having formerly sent forth colonies to the southward; and 
 in the country of Passummah, the site of their villages is still pointed out; 
 which would prove that they have formerly been of more consideration 
 than they can boast at present. They have a propet language, and a 
 perfect written character. These advantages point out the Rejang people 
 as an eligible standard of description; and a motive equally strong that 
 induces me to adopt them as such, is, that my situation and connexions 
 in the island, led me to a more intimate and minute acquaintance with 
 their laws and manners, than with those of any other class. I must 
 premise, however, that the Malay customs having made their way, in a 
 greater or less degree, to every part of Sumatra, it will be totally im- 
 possible to discriminate with entire accuracy, those which are original, 
 from those which are borrowed: and of course, what I shall say of the 
 Rtejangs, will apply for the most part, not only to the Sumatrans in ge- 
 
 G & “ neral 
 
 Nation of the 
 Rejangs a- 
 dopted as a 
 standard of 
 description. 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 neral, but may sometimes be, in strictness, proper to the Malays alone, 
 and by them taught to the higher rank of country people. 
 Situation of | The country of the Rejangs 1s divided, to the north-west, from the 
 cay. kingdom of Anak Sumger (of which Moco-moco is the capital) by the 
 small river of Uri, near that of Kattaun ; which last, with the district 
 i, of Labiin on its banks, bounds it. on the north or inland side. The 
 | country of Musi, where Palembang River takes its rise, forms its limit 
 to the eastward. Bencoolen River, precisely speaking, confines it on the 
 south-east; though the inhabitants of the district called Lemba, extend- 
 ing from thence to Silebar, are entirely the same people, in manners and 
 language. The principal rivers, besides those already mentioned, are 
 Laye, Pally, and Swigeilamo ; on all of which the English have factories, 
 the resident or chief being stationed at Laye. 
 
 Persons ofthe The persons of the inhabitants of the island, though differing con- 
 siderably in districts remote from each other, may in general be com- 
 prehended in the following description ; excepting the Achinese, whose 
 commixture with the Moors of the west of India, has distinguished them 
 
 from the other Sumatrans. 
 
 os They are rather below the middle stature ;. their bulk is in proportion ; 
 their limbs are for the most part slight, but well shaped, and particularly 
 
 small at the wrists and ancles, Upon the whole they are gracefully 
 
 formed, and I scarcely recollect to have ever seen one deformed person 
 
 among the natives.* The women, however, have the preposterous custom 
 
 of flattening the noses, and compressing the heads of children newly 
 
 born, whilst the skull is yet cartilaginous, which increases their natural 
 
 tendency to that shape. I could never trace the origin of the practice, 
 
 or learn any otffer reason for moulding the features to this uncouth ap- 
 
 pearance, 
 
 * Ghirardini, an Italian painter, who touched at Sumatra on his way to China in 1698, 
 observes of the Malays, 
 Son di persona tanto ben PPmate 
 Quanto mai finger san pittori industri. 
 He speaks in high terms of the country, as being beautifully picturesque. 
 
 %, & 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 pearance, but that it was an improvement of beauty in their estimation. 
 Captain Cook takes notice of a similar operation at the island of Ulietea. 
 They likewise pull out the ears of infants, to make them stand at an angle 
 from the head. Their eyes are uniformly dark and clear, and among some, 
 especially the southern women, bear a strong resemblance to.those of the 
 Chinese, in the peculiarity of formation so generally observed of that 
 people. Their hair is strong, and of a shining black ; the improvement 
 
 ee ee ee ee 
 
 ef both which qualities it probably owes, in great measure, to the | 
 
 early and constant use Of coco-nut oil, with which they keep it moist. 
 The men frequently cut their hair short, not appearing to take any pride 
 in it; the women encourage theirs to a considerable length, and I have 
 known many instances of its reaching the ground. The men are beard- 
 less, and have chins so remarkably smooth, that were it not for the 
 priests displaying a little tuft, we should be apt to conclude that nature 
 had refused them this token of manhood, It is the same in respect to 
 other parts of the body, with both sexes; and this particular attention 
 to their persons, they esteem a point of delicacy, and the contrary 
 an unpardonable neglect. The boys, as they approach to the age of 
 puberty, rub their chins, upper lips, and those parts of the body that 
 are subject to superfluous hair, with chunam, (quick line) especially of 
 shells, which destroys the roots of the incipient beard. The few pilx 
 that afterwards appear, are plucked out from time to time with tweezers, 
 which they always carry about them for that purpose. Were it not for 
 the numerous and very respectable authorities, from which we are assured 
 that the natives of America are naturally beardless, I should think. that 
 the common opinion on that subject had been rashly adopted, and that 
 their appearing thus at a mature age, was only the consequence of an 
 early practice, similar to that observed among the Sumatrans. Even 
 now I must confess that it would remove some small degree of doubt 
 
 from my mind, could it be ascertained, that no such custom preyails.* 
 Their 
 
 * It is allowed by travellers, that the Patagonians have tufts of hair on the upper lip and 
 chin. Captain Carver says, that among the tribes he visited, the people made a regular 
 practice of eradicating their beards with pincers. At Brussels is preserved, along with a 
 variety of ancient and curious suits of armour, that of Montezuma, king of Mexico, of which 
 
 
 

 
 Colour not 
 ascribable 
 to climate. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 Their complexion is properly yellow, wanting the red tinge that con- 
 stitutes a tawny or copper colour. They arein general lighter than the 
 Mestees, or half breed, of the rest of India; those of the superior class, 
 who are not exposed to the rays of the sun, and particularly their women 
 of rank, approaching to a great degree of fairness. Did beauty consist 
 in this one quality, some of them would surpass our brunettes in Europe. 
 The major part of the females are ugly, and many of them even to dis- 
 gust, yet there are those among them, whose appearance is strikingly 
 beautiful; whatever composition of person, features, and complexion, 
 that sentiment may be the result of, 
 
 The fairness of the Sumatrans, comparatively with other Indians, 
 situated as they are, under a perpendicular sun, where no season of the 
 year affords an alternative of cold, is, I think, an irrefragable proof, that 
 the difference of colour in the various inhabitants of the earth, is not the 
 immediate effect of climate. The children of Europeans born in this 
 island are as fair as those born in the country of their parents. I have 
 observed the same of the second generation, where a mixture with the 
 people of the country has been avoided. On the other hand, the off- 
 spring and all the descendants of the Guinea and other African slaves 
 imported there, continue in the last instance as perfectly black as in the 
 original stock. I do not mean to enter into the nei of the question 
 which naturally connects with these observations; but shall only remark, 
 that the sallow and adust countenances, so commonly acquired by Eu- 
 ropeans who have long resided in hot climates, are more ascribable to 
 the effect of bilious distempers, which almost all are subject to in a 
 greater or less degree, than of their exposure to the influence of the 
 weather, which few but seafaring people are liable to, and of which the 
 impression is seldom permanent. From this circumstance I have been 
 led to conjecture that the general disparity of complexions in different 
 
 nations, 
 
 the visor, or mask for the face, has remarkably large whiskers ; 
 
 an ormament which those 
 Americans could not have imitated, unless nature 
 
 e had presented them with the model.—See 
 a paper in the Phil. Trans. for 1786, which puts this matter beyond a doubt. In a French 
 
 dictionary of the Huron language, published in 1632, I observe a term corresponding to 
 * arracher la barbe.” 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
> 
 ™ 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 Ol 
 nations, might possibly be owing to the more or less copious secretion, 
 
 | 
 : or redundance of that juice, rendering the skin more or less dark ac- 
 * cording to the qualities of the bile prevailing in the constitutions of each. 
 ist But I fear such an hypothesis would not stand the test of experiment, 
 pe as it might be expected to follow, that upon dissection, the contents of 
 is. a negro’s gall-bladder, or at least the extravasated bile, should wniformly 
 ay be found black. Persons skilled in anatomy will determine whether it 
 . is possible that the qualities of any animal secretion can so far affect the 
 frame, as to render their consequences liable to be transmitted to pos- 
 terity in their full force.’ 
 7 The small size of the inhabitants, and especially of the women, may 
 " be in some measure owing to the early communication between the 
 é sexes; though, as the inclinations which lead to this intercourse are 
 oj prompted here by nature sooner than in cold climates, it is not unfair 
 ” to suppose, that being proportioned to the period of maturity, this is also 
 , sooner attained, and consequently that the earlier cessation of growth of 
 : these people, is agreeable to the laws of their constitution, and not 
 i occasioned by a premature and irregular appetite. 
 €3 
 + Persons of superior rank encourage the growth of their hand-nails, 
 : particularly those of the fore and little fingers, to an extraordinary 
 s length; frequently tinging them red, with the expressed juice of a shrub, 
 which they call inez, the henna of the Arabians; as they do the nails of rn 
 0 their feet also, to which, being always uncovered, they pay as much 
 a attention as to their hands. The hands of the natives, and even of the 
 e half breed, are always cold to the touch; which I cannot account for 
 ; otherwise than by a supposition, that from the less degree of elasticity 
 1 in the solids, occasioned by the heat of the climate, the internal action 
 t of the body, by which the fluids are put in motion, is less vigorous, 
 , the circulation is proportionably languid, and of course the diminished 
 effect 
 
 *In an “ Essay on the Causes of the Variety of Complexion and Figure in the Human 
 Species,” published at Philadelphia in 1787, the permanent effect of the bilious secretion, 
 in determining the colour, is strongly insisted upon. 
 
 
 

 
 Hill people 
 subject to 
 wens. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 effect is most perceptible in the extremities, and a coldness there 1s the 
 
 natural consequence. 
 
 The natives of the hills, through the whole extent of the island, are 
 subject to those monstrous wens from the throat, which have been ob- 
 served of the*Vallaisans, and the inhabitants of other mountainous dis- 
 tricts in Europe. It has been usual to attribute this affection to the _ 
 badness, thawed state, mineral quality, or other peculiarity of the waters; 
 many skilful men having applied themselves to the investigation of the 
 subject. My experience enables me to pronounce without hesitation, 
 that the disorder, for such it is, though it appears here to mark a dis- 
 tinct race of people (orang-gunong), is immediately connected with the 
 hilliness of the country, and of course, if the circumstances of the water 
 they use contribute thereto, it must be only so far as the nature of the 
 water is affected by the inequality or height of the land. But in 
 Sumatra neither snow nor other congelation is ever produced, which 
 militates against the most plausible conjecture that has been adopted 
 concerning the Alpine goitres. From every research that I have been 
 enabled to make, I think I have reason to conclude, that the complaint 
 is owing, among the Sumatrans, to the fogginess of the air in the vallies 
 between the high mountains, where, and not on the summits, the natives 
 of these parts reside. I before remarked, that between the ranges of hills, 
 the kabut or dense mist was visible for several hours every morning; 
 rising in a thick, opaque, and well-defined body, with the sun, and sel- 
 dom quite dispersed till afternoon. ‘This phenomenon, as well as that 
 of the wens, being peculiar to the regions of the hills, affords a presump- 
 tion that they may be connected ; exclusive of the natural probability 
 that a cold vapour, gross to an uncommon degree, and continually 
 enveloping the habitations, should affect with tumours the throats of 
 the inhabitants. I cannot pretend to say how far this solution may 
 apply to the case of the goitres, but I recollect it to have been men- 
 tioned, that the only method of curing the people, is by removing 
 them from the vallies to the clear and pure air on the tops of the hills; 
 which seems to indicate a similar source of the distemper to what I 
 have pointed out. The Sumatrans do not appear to attempt any remedy 
 for it, the wens being consistent with the highest health in other respects. 
 The 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
the 
 
 unt 
 hes 
 
 SUMMA FRA: 
 
 The personal difference between the Malays’ of the coast, and the 
 country inhabitants, is not so strongly marked but that it requires some 
 experience to distinguish them. The latter, however, possess an evident 
 superiority in point of size and strength, and are fairer complexioned, 
 which they probably owe to their situation, where the atmosphere. is 
 colder; and it is generallyobserved, that people living near the séa- 
 shore, and especially when accustomed to navigation, are darker than 
 their inland neighbours, Some attribute the disparity in constitutional 
 vigour, to the more frequent use of opium among the Malays, which is 
 supposed to debilitate the frame; but I have noted that the Liman 
 and Batang Asei gold traders, who are a colony of that race settled in 
 the heart of the island, and who cannot exist a day without opium, are 
 remarkably hale and stout; which I have known to be observed with a 
 degree of envy by the opium-smokers of our settlements. The inhabi- 
 tants of Pasummah, also, are described as being more robust in their 
 persons, than the planters of the low country. ‘ 
 
 The original clothing of the Sumatrans is the same with that found 
 by navigators among the inhabitants of the South Sea islands, and now 
 generally called by the name of Otaheitean cloth. It is still used 
 among the Hejangs for their working dress, and I have one in my pos- 
 session, procured from these people, consisting of a jacket, short draw- 
 ers, and acap for the head. This is the inner bark of a certain species 
 of tree, beaten out to the degree of fineness required; approaching the 
 more to perfection, as it resembles the softer kind of leather, some 
 being nearly equal to the most delicate kid-skin ; in which character 
 it somewhat differs from the South Sea cloth, as that bears a resem- 
 blance rather to paper, or to the manufacture of the loom. The coun- 
 try people now conform in a great measure to the dress of the Malays, 
 which I shall therefore describe in this place, observing that much 
 more simplicity still prevails among the former, who look upon the 
 others as coxcombs, who lay out all their substance on their backs, 
 
 whilst, in their turns, they are regarded by the Malays with contempt, 
 as unpolished rusties, 
 
 H A man’s 
 
 AQ 
 
 Difference ig 
 person be- 
 tween Ma- 
 lays and 
 other Suma- 
 trans. 
 
 Clothing. 
 
 
 

 
 50 
 
 Man’s dress, 
 
 Woman’s 
 dress. 
 
 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 A man’s dress consists of the’ following parts. A close waistcoat, 
 without sleeves, but having a neck like a shirt, buttoned close up to the 
 top, with buttons, often of gold filagree. This is peculiar to the Ma- 
 lays. Over this they wear the baju, which resembles a morning gown, 
 open at the neck, but generally fastened close at the wrists and half way 
 up the arm, with nine buttons to each sleeve. ‘The sleeves, however, 
 are often wide and loose, and others again, though nearly tight, reach 
 not far beyond the elbow; especially of those worn by the younger: fe- 
 males, which, as well as those of the young men, are open in front no 
 farther down than the bosom, and reach no lower than the waist, 
 whereas the others hang loose to the knees, and sometimes to the ancles. 
 They are made usually of blue or white cotton cloth; for the better 
 sort, of chintz; and for great men, of flowered silks. 
 js not unlike a Scots highlander’s plaid in appearance, being a piece of 
 and three or four wide, 
 sewed together at the ends; forming, as some writers have described it, 
 
 The -kain sarong 
 party-coloured cloth about six or eight feet long, 
 
 a wide sack without a bottom. This is sometimes gathered up, and 
 slung over the shoulder like a sash, or else folded and tucked about the 
 waist and hips; and in full dress it is bound on by the belt of the kris 
 (dagger), which is of crimson silk, and wraps several times round the 
 body, with a loop at tae end, in which the sheath of the Aris hangs. 
 They wear short drawers, reaching half way down the thigh, generally 
 of red or yellow taffeta. 
 
 Round their heads they fasten, in a particular manner, a fine, coloured 
 
 There is no covering to their legs or feet. 
 
 handkerchief, so as to resemble a small turban; the country people 
 The 
 crown of their head remains uncovered, except on journeys, when they 
 wear a tudong or umbrella-hat, which completely screens them from the 
 weather. 
 
 usually twisting a piece of white or blue cloth for this purpose. 
 
 The women have a kind of bodice, or short waistcoat rather, that 
 defends the breasts, and reaches to the hips. The sain sarongy before 
 described, comes up as high as the armpits, and extends to the feet, 
 being kept on simply by folding and tucking it over, at the breast, ex- 
 cept when the ¢ali-peniing, or zone, is worn about the waist, which forms 
 an 
 
SU. M'A, T)R. A. 
 
 an additional and necessary security. This is usually of embroidered 
 cloth, and sometimes a plate of gold or silver, about two inches broad, 
 fastening in the front with a large clasp of filagree or chased work, with 
 some kind of precious stone, or imitation of such, in the centre. The 
 baju, or upper gown, differs little from that of the men, buttoning in the 
 same manner at the wrists. A piece of fine, thin, cotton cloth, or slight 
 silk, about five feet long, and worked or fringed at each end, called a 
 salendang, is thrown across the back of the neck, and hangs down before; 
 serving also the purpose of a veil to the women of rank when they walk 
 abroad. The handkerchief is carried, either folded small in the hand, or 
 in a long fold, over the shoulder. There are two modes of dressing the 
 hair, one termed kundez, and the other saziggol. The first resembles much 
 the fashion in which we see the Chinese women represented in paintings, 
 and which I conclude they borrowed from thence, where the hair is wound 
 circularly over the centre of the head, and fastened with a silver bodkin or 
 pin. In the other mode, which is more general, they give the hair a 
 single twist as it hangs behind, and then doubling it up, they pass it cross- 
 wise, under a few hairs separated from the rest, on the back of the head, 
 for that purpose. A comb, often of tortoise-shell, and sometimes fila- 
 greed, helps to prevent it from falling down. The hair of the front, 
 and of all parts of the head, is of the same length, and when loose, 
 hangs together behind, with most of the women, in very great quantity. 
 It is kept moist with oil, newly expressed from the coco-nut ; but those 
 persons who can afford it make use also of an empyreumatic oil ex- 
 tracted from gum benzoin, as a grateful perfume. They wear no cover- 
 ing, except ornaments of flowers, which, on particular occasions, are 
 the work of much labour and ingenuity. The head-dresses of the danc- 
 ing girls by profession, who are usually Javans, are very artificially 
 wrought, and as high as any modern English lady’s cap, yielding only 
 to the feathered plumes of the year 1777. It is impossible to describe 
 in words these intricate and fanciful matters, so as to convey a just idea 
 of them. The flowers worn in undress are, for the most part, strung in 
 wreaths, and have a very neat and pretty effect, without any degree of 
 gaudiness, being usually white or pale yellow, small, and frequently 
 only half-blown. Those generally chosen for these occasions, are the 
 
 buriga-tanjong and burnga-mellir: the buriga-chumpaka is used to give 
 H 2 the 
 
 
 

 
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 SUMATRA. 
 
 the hair a fragrance, but is concealed from the sight. They sometimes 
 
 farsety of fers in such a manner as to appear li 
 combine a variety of flowers suc | ppear like one | 
 and fix them on a single stalk; but these, being more formal, are less 
 elegant, than the wreaths. 
 
 Among the country people, particularly in the southern countries, the 
 virgins (anak gaddis, or goddesses, as it is usually pronounced) are 
 distinguished by a fillet which goes across the front of the hair, and 
 fastens behind. This is commonly a thin plate of silver, about half an 
 inch broad: those of the first rank have it of gold, and those of the 
 lowest class have their fillet of the leaf of the ntpah tree. Beside this 
 peculiar ornament, their state is denoted by their having rings or 
 bracelets of silver or gold on their wrists. Strings of coins round the 
 neck are universally worn by children, and the females, before they are 
 of an age to be clothed, have, what may not be inaptly termed, a 
 modesty-piece, being a plate of silver in the shape of a heart (called 
 chaping) hung before, by a chain of the same metal, passing round the 
 waist. The young women in the country villages manufacture them- 
 selves the cloth that forms the body-dress, or katn-sarong, which, for 
 common occasions, is their only covering, and reaches from the breast 
 no lower than the knees. The dresses of the women of the Malay bazars, 
 on the contrary, extend as low as the feet; but here, as in other in- 
 stances, the more scrupulous attention to appearances does not accom- 
 pany the superior degree of real modesty. ‘This cloth, for the wear both 
 of men and women, is imported from the island of Celebes, or, as it 
 is here termed, the Bugg7s country. 
 
 Both sexes have the extraordinary custom of filing and otherwise dis- 
 
 figuring their teeth, which are naturally very white and beautiful from 
 
 the simplicity of theirfood. For files, they make use of small whetstones 
 of different degrees of fineness, and the patients lie on their back during 
 the operation. Many, particularly the women of the Lampong country, 
 have, their teeth rubbed down quite even with the gums; others have 
 them formed in points; and some file off no more than the outer coat 
 and extremities, in order that they may the better receive and retain the 
 jetty blackness, with which they almost universally adorn them. The 
 
 black 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
or 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 ™ black used on these occasions is the empyreumatic oil of the coconut 
 ns shell. When this is not applied, the filing does not, by destroying what 
 te we term the enamel, diminish the whiteness of the teeth; but the use of 
 
 betel renders them black, if pains be not taken to prevent it, The great 
 men sometimes set theirs in gold, by casing, with a plate of that metal, 
 
 ‘the the under row; and this ornament, contrasted with the black dye, has, 
 ate by lamp or candle light, a very splendid effect. It is sometimes in- 
 and dented to the shape of the teeth, but more usually quite plain. They 
 at do not remove it either to eat or sleep. 
 
 the 
 
 his At the age of about eight or nine, they bore the ears and file the 
 or teeth of the female children; which are ceremonies that must necessarily 
 the precede their marriage. The former they call betendé, and the latter 
 are bedabong ; and these operations are regarded in the family, as the oeca- 
 a sion of a festival. ‘They do not here, as in some of the adjacent islands, 
 led (of Nias in particular) increase the aperture of the ear to a monstrous 
 the size, so as in many instances to be large enough to admit the hand, the 
 * lower parts being stretched till they touch the shoulders. Their ear- 
 tt rings are mostly of gold filagree, and fastened, not with a clasp, but in 
 va the manner of a rivet or nut screwed to the inner part. 
 
 Us, | 
 
 in- 
 
 m- 
 
 ith 
 
 it 
 
 IS- 
 
 m 
 
 1€s 
 
 ing 
 
 r, 
 
 ve 
 
 at 
 
 he 
 
 ‘i Villages. 
 
 
 
ep eo 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 Villages. —-Buildings.—Domestic Utensils.—Food. 
 
 I SHALL now attempt a description of the villages and buildings of the 
 Sumatrans, and proceed to their domestic habits of economy, and those 
 simple arts, on which the procuring of their food and other necessaries 
 depends. ‘These are not among the least interesting objects of philoso- 
 phical speculation. In proportion as the arts in use with any people are 
 connected with the primary demands of nature, they carry the greater 
 likelihood of originality, because those demands must have been admi- 
 nistered to, from a period coeval with the existence of the people them- 
 selves. Or if complete originality be regarded as a visionary idea, en- 
 gendered from ignorance and the obscurity of remote events, such arts 
 must be allowed to have the fairest claim to antiquity at least. Arts of 
 accommodation, and more especially of luxury, are commonly the effect 
 of imitation, and suggested by the improvements of other nations, which 
 have made greater advances towards civilisation. These afford less 
 striking and characteristic features, in delineating the picture of man- 
 kind, and though they may add to the beauty, diminish from the genu- 
 ineness of the piece. We must not look for unequivocal generic marks, 
 where the breed, in order to mend it, has been crossed by a foreign 
 mixture. All the arts of primary necessity are comprehended within 
 two distinctions: those which protect us from the inclemency of the 
 weather and other outward accidents; and those which are employed in 
 securing the means of subsistence. Both are immediately essential to the 
 continuance of life, and man is involuntarily and immediately prompted 
 to exercise them, by the urgent calls of nature, even in the merest 
 possible state of savage and uncultivated existence. In climates like 
 that of Sumatra, this impulse extends not far. The human machine is 
 kept going with small effort, in so fayourable a medium. The spring 
 of importunate necessity there soon loses its force, and consequently the 
 wheels of invention that depend upon it, fail to perform more than a 
 
 few 
 
 
 
ich 
 E55 
 ie 
 
 S, 
 on 
 hin 
 he 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 few simple revolutions. In regions less mild, this original motive to in- 
 dustry and ingenuity, carries men to greater lengths, in the application 
 of arts to the occasions of life; and these, of course, in an equal space 
 of time, attain to greater perfection, than among the inhabitants of the 
 tropical latitudes, who find their immediate wants supplied with facility, 
 and prefer the negative pleasure of inaction, to the enjoyment of any 
 conveniences that are to be purchased with exertion and labour. This 
 consideration may perhaps tend to reconcile the high antiquity univer- 
 sally allowed to Asiatic nations, with the limited progress of arts and 
 sciences among them; in which they are manifestly surpassed by people 
 who, compared with them, are but of very recent date. 
 
 The Sumatrans,. however, in the censtruction of their habitations, 
 have stept many degrees beyond those rude contrivances which writers 
 describe the inhabitants of some other Indian countries to have been 
 contented with adopting, in order to screen themselves from the im- 
 mediate influence of surrounding elements. Their houses are not only 
 permanent, but convenient, and are built in the vicinity of each other, 
 that they may enjoy the advantages of mutual assistance and protection, 
 resulting from a state of society.* 
 
 The dusuns or villages (for the small number of inhabitants assembled 
 in each does not entitle them to the appellations of towns) are always 
 situated on the banks of a river or lake, for the convenience of bathing, 
 and of transporting goods. An eminence difficult of ascent is usually 
 made choice of for security. The access to them is by foot-ways, narrow 
 and winding, of which there are seldom more than two; one to the 
 country, and the other to the water; the latter in most places so steep, 
 as to render it necessary to cut steps in the cliff or rock. The dusuns 
 being surrounded with abundance of fruit trees, some of considerable 
 height, as the durian, coco, and betel-nut, and the neighbouring country, 
 
 for 
 
 «In several of the small islands near Sumatra (including the Nicobars) whose inhabitants 
 in general are in a very low state of civilisation, the houses are built circularly. Vid. As. 
 
 Researches, vol, iv. p. 129. plate. 
 
 Villages. 
 
 ee et ae 
 
 595 
 
 
 

 
 SUMATRA: 
 
 ‘ for'a little space about, being in some degree cleared of wood for the 
 rice and pepper plantations, these villages strike the eye at a distance 
 as clumps merely, exhibiting no appearance of a town or any place 
 of habitation. ‘he rows of houses form commonly a quadrangle, with 
 passages or lanes at intervals between the buildings, where, in the more 
 considerablewvillages, live the lower class of inhabitants, and where also 
 
 their padi-houses or granaries are erected. In the middle of the square 
 
 i! stands the balez or town hall, a room about fifty toan hundred feet long, 
 
 Kt and twenty or: thirty wide, without division, and open at the sides, 
 
 HM excepting when on particular occasions it is hung with mats or chintz ; 
 
 Hi} but sheltered in a lateral direction by the deep overhanging roof, 
 
 Buildings. In their buildings neither stone, brick, nor clay, are ever made use of, 
 which is the case in most countries where timber abounds, and where 
 the warmth of the climate renders the free admission of air, a matter 
 rather to be desired, than guarded against: but in Sumatra the frequency 
 of earthquakes is alone sufficient to have prevented the natives from 
 adopting a substantial mode of building. The frames of the houses are 
 of wood, the underplate resting on pillars of about six or eight feet in 
 height, which have a sort of capital, but no base, and are wider at top 
 than at bottom. The people appear to have no idea of architecture as 
 a science, though much ingenuity is often shewn in the manner of work. 
 ing up their materials, and they have, the Malays at least, technical 
 terms corresponding to all those employed by our house carpenters. 
 Their conception of proportions is extremely rude, often leaving those 
 parts of a frame which have the greatest bearing, with the weakest sup- 
 port, and lavishing strength upon inadequate pressure. For the floorings 
 they lay whole bamboos (a well known species of large cane) of four or 
 five inches diameter, close to each other, and fasten them at the ends to 
 the timbers. Across these are laid laths of split bamboo, about an inch 
 wide and of the length of the room, which are tied down with filaments of 
 the rattan; and over these are usually spread mats of different kinds. 
 This sort of flooring has an elasticity alarming to strangers when they 
 first tread on it, The sides of the houses are generally closed in with 
 palupo, which is the bamboo opened, and rendered fat by notching 
 or splitting the circular joints on the outside, chipping away the corres- 
 
 ponding 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 ponding divisions within, and laying it to dry in the sun, pressed: down 
 with weights. This is sometimes nailed on to the upright timbers or 
 bamboos, but in the country parts, it is more commonly interwoven, 
 or matted, in breadths of six inches, and a piece, or sheet, formed 
 at once of the size required. In some places they use. for the same 
 purpose the /udithayu, or coolicoy, as it is pronounced by the Euro- 
 peans, who employ it on board ship, as dunnage, in pepper and other 
 cargoes. ‘This is a bark procured from some particular trees, of which 
 the dbunut and ibu are the most common. When they prepare to take it, 
 the outer rind is first torn or cut away; the inner, which affords the 
 material, is then marked out with a prang, pateel, or other tool, to the 
 size required, which is usually three cubits by one; itis afterwards 
 beaten for some time with a heavy stick, to loosen it from the stem, and 
 beeing peeled off, is laid in the sun to dry, care being taken to prevent 
 its warping. ‘The thicker or thinner sorts of the same species of ku- 
 litkayu, owe their difference to their being: taken nearer to, or farther 
 from, the root, ‘That which is used in building has nearly the texture 
 and hardness of wood. ‘The pliable and delicate bark of which clothing 
 is made, is procured from a tree called halawi, a bastard species of the 
 bread-fruit. 
 
 The most general mode of covering houses is with the afap, which 
 is the leaf of a species of palm called napah, These, previous to their 
 being laid on, are formed into sheets of about five feet long, and as deep 
 as the length of the leaf will admit, which is doubled at one end over a 
 slip or lath of bamboo; they are then disposed on the roof, so as that 
 one sheet shall lap over the other, and are tied to the bamboos which 
 serve for rafters. “There are various other and more durable kinds of 
 covering used. The sulitkayu, before described, is sometimes employed 
 for this. purpose: the galumpei—this is a thatch of narrow, split bam- 
 boos, six feet in length, placed in regular layers, each reaching within 
 two feet of the extremity of that beneath it, by which a treble covering 
 is formed: yu—this is a vegetable production, so nearly resembling 
 horse-hair, as scarcely to be distinguished from it. It envelops the stem 
 of that species of palm called anau, from which the best toddy or palm 
 wine is procured, and is employed by the natives for a great variety of 
 
 I purposes. 
 
 Gr 
 ~~} 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 eS 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 purposes. It is bound on as a thatch, in the manner we do straw, and 
 not unfrequently over the galumpei ; in which case the roof is so durable 
 as never to require renewal, the zu being of all vegetable substances the 
 least prone to decay, and for this reason it is a common practice to wrap 
 a quantity of it round the ends of timbers or posts which are to be fixed 
 in the ground. I saw a house about twenty miles up Manna River, 
 belonging to Dupati Bandar Agung, the roof of which was of fifty years 
 standing. The larger houses have three pitches in the roof; the middle 
 one, under which the door is placed, being much lower than the other 
 two. In smaller houses there are but two pitches which are always of 
 unequal height, and the entrance is in the smaller, which covers a kind 
 of hall, or cooking room. 
 
 There is another kind of house, erected mostly for a temporary pur- 
 pose, the roof of which is flat, and is covered in a very uncommon, 
 simple, and ingenious manner. Large, straight bamboos are cut of a 
 length: sufficient to lie across the house, and being split exactly in two, 
 and the joints knocked out, a first layer of them is disposed in close 
 order, with the inner or hollow sides up; after which a second layer, 
 with the outer or convex sides up, is placed upon the others in such 
 manner, that each of the convex falls into the two contiguous concave 
 pieces, covering their edges ; the latter serving as gutters to carry off the 
 water that falls upon the upper or convex layer.’ 
 
 The mode of ascent to the houses is by a piece of timber, or stout 
 bamboo, cut in notches, which latter an European cannot avail himself 
 of, especially as the precaution is seldom taken of binding them fast. 
 These are the wonderful light scaling ladders, which the old Portuguese 
 writers described to have been used by the people of Achin in their wars 
 with their nation. It is probable that the apprehension of danger from 
 the wild beasts, caused them to adopt and continue this rude expedient, 
 in preference to more regular and commodious steps. The detached 
 
 buildings 
 
 * Tfind that the original inhabitants of the Philippine islands covered their buildings in the 
 same manner, 
 
he 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 buildings in the country, near to their plantations, called talangs, they 
 raise to the height of ten or twelve feet from the ground, and make a 
 practice of taking up their ladder at night, to secure themselves from 
 the destructive ravages of the tigers. I have been assured, but do not 
 
 pledge myself for the truth of the story, that an elephant, attempting to 
 
 pass under one of these houses, which stand on four or six posts, stuck 
 
 by the way; but disdaining to retreat, carried it, 
 contained, on his back, to a considerable distance. 
 
 with the family it 
 
 In the buildings of the dusuns, particularly where the most respectable 
 families reside, the wood-work in front is carved, in the style of bas- 
 relief, in a variety of uncouth ornaments and grotesque figures, not 
 
 mystic or historical allusion. 
 
 The furniture of their houses, corresponding with their manner of Furniture. 
 
 much unlike the Egyptian hieroglyphics, but certainly without any 
 
 living, is very simple, and consists of but few articles, Their bed is a 
 mat, usually of fine texture, and manufactured for the purpose, with 
 a number of pillows, worked at the ends, and adorned with a shining 
 substance that resembles foil. A sort of canopy or valance, formed of 
 various coloured cloths, hangs over head. Instead of tables, they have 
 what resemble large wooden salvers, with feet, called dulang ; round 
 each of which three or four persons dispose themselves; and on these 
 are laid the talams or brass waiters, which hold the cups that contain 
 their curry, and plantain leaves, or matted vessels, filled with rice. 
 Their mode of sitting is not cross-legged, as the inhabitants of Turkey 
 and our tailors use, but either on the haunches, or on the left side, 
 supported by the left hand, with the legs tucked in on the right side ; 
 leaving that hand at liberty, which they always, from motives of deliéacy, 
 scrupulously eat with; the left being reserved for less cleanly offices. 
 Neither knives, spoons, nor any substitutes for them, are employed ; 
 they take up the rice, and other victuals, between the thumb and fin- 
 gers, and dexterously throw it into the mouth by the action of the thumb, 
 
 dipping frequently their hands in water as they eat. 
 Ihe have a little coarse china ware, imported by 
 12 
 
 the eastern praws, Utensils. 
 which 
 
 
 
— 
 
 a 
 
 ae Ter 
 
 > 
 _- = a? 2 > 
 
 
 
 =: Ca mr at > em 
 - elena mnie’ 
 = 
 
 —+— eae al 
 
 q| 
 - 
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 e« aa. 
 a a 
 
 Hes 2 
 i, 
 ar = ig 
 
 rT a 1 
 : J Soper ‘ PE? ae. se ae e Te — al 
 > - - ’ 
 i. wx a — ae : aed . he : Ls a a ——— — : ~ : rl atin es = oR — - me 
 a = ——— = =; : ——— —~ . = — —— - = se ———— a — = = a > . — _— = —— ——— ————— 
 > es 2 2 = aa dl = oe . r 
 a — = ie ~ — —-- + : —_ —————__ = —-— = . . re . a. nie . . 
 dee ea ee a, | =e ai >t FBiiek shits a _ = _ - - +. a ---~ —_— i ~ —— Hi - ie eS ~ - - wom —s 
 _ “ o- - . . - - - rT § = % a ? _ > —~ ad = " aa = » 7 r ie: =e - —_ — = 
 =" B; . oe See =. ap ~ _ - ~ = * -~ * = — E. --= —~ - =e Ey ——— - S—--—— “= ao ye yee ~ - a a 
 — - + —— = = —— > . = = ie re 2a = — « - - — <=: ve — om “ ~ ~ . a = 
 = : == =< : * = * = == - = _ —- a4 - = E ~— ----— ae oe = - 
 x 
 
 Ate. = a = . 
 ” 22> . 
 LE ete ee =< a - = . 
 “ es wee —— — 
 - J — = 
 
 Fires, 
 
 Mode of kin- 
 dling them. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 which-is held'a matter of luxury. In cooking they employ a kind of 
 iron vessel, well known 1n India by the name of qualle or tauch, resem- 
 bling in.shape the pans used in some of our manufactures, having the 
 rim wide, and bottom narrow. These are likewise brought from the 
 eastward. The priw and balaiga, species of earthen pipkins, are in more 
 common use,,being made in small quantities in different parts of the is- 
 land, particularly in Lampong, where they give them a sort of glazing ; 
 but the greater number of them are imported from Bantam. The original 
 Sumatran vessel for boiling rice, and which is still much used for that 
 purpose, is the bamboo; that material of general utility, with which 
 bountiful nature has supplied an indolent people. By the time the rice 
 is dressed, the utensil is nearly destroyed by the fire, but resists the 
 flame so long as there is moisture within. 
 
 Fire being wanted among these people but occasionally, and only 
 when they cook their victuals, there is not much attention paid, in their 
 buildings, to provide conveniences for it. ‘Their houses have no chim- 
 neys, and their fire-places are no more than a few loose bricks or stones, 
 disposed in a temporary manner, and frequently on the landing-place 
 before the doors: The fuel-made use of is wood alone; the coal which 
 the island produces. never being converted by the inhabitants to that 
 purpose. ‘The flint and steel for striking fire are common in the country, 
 but it is a practice certainly borrowed from some other people, as that 
 species of stone is not a native of the soil. These generally form part 
 of their travelling apparatus, and especially with those men called risaus 
 (spendthrifs that turn freebooters), who find themselves often obliged to 
 take up»their habitation in the woods, or in deserted houses. But they 
 also frequently kindle fire from the friction of two sticks. They chuse 
 a piece of dry, porous wood, and cutting smooth a spot of it, lay 
 it in an horizontal direction. They then apply a smaller piece, of 
 a harder substance, with a blunt point, in a perpendicular position, 
 and turn it quickly round, between the two hands, as chocolate is mill- 
 ed, pressing it downwards at the same time. A hole is soon formed 
 by this motion of the smaller stick; but it has not penetrated far be- 
 fore the larger one takes fire. I have also seen the same effect produced, 
 more 
 
 
 
 
 
tof 
 ‘eM. 
 the 
 
 the 
 hore 
 Ing 5 
 thal 
 hat 
 ich 
 
 ie 
 
 nll. 
 
 be- 
 ed, 
 
 ore 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 more simply, by rubbing one bit of bamboo, with a sharp edge, across 
 another.* 
 
 Water is conveyed from the spring, in bamboos, which, for this pur- 
 pose are cut, either to the length of five or six feet, and carmed over the 
 shoulder, or into a number of single joints, that are put together in a 
 basket. It is drunk out of the fruit called abu here, resembling the 
 calabash of the West Indies, a hole being made in the side of the neck, 
 and another at top for vent. In drinking, they generally hold the vessel 
 at a distance above their mouths, and catch the stream as it falls; the 
 liquid descending to the stomach without the action of swallowing. 
 Baskets (bronong, bakil) are a considerable part of the furniture of a 
 
 man’s 
 
 wr 
 
 * This mode of kindling fire is not peculiar to Sumatra: we read of the same practice in 
 Africa, and even in Kamtschatka. It is surprising, but confirmed by abundant authority, 
 that many nations of the earth, have, at certain periods, being ignorant of the use of fire. 
 To our immediate apprehension, human existence would seem in such circumstances im- 
 possible, Every art, every convenienge, every necessary of life, is now in the most intimate 
 manner connected with it: and yet the Chinese, the Egyptians, the Phoenicians, and 
 Greeks, acknowledeed traditions concerning its first discovery in their respective countries. 
 But, in fact, if we can once suppose a man, or society of men, unacquainted with the being 
 and uses of this element, I see no difficulty in conceiving the possibility of their supporting 
 life without it ; I mean in the’ tropical climates; and of centuries passing before they should 
 arrive at the important discovery. It is true, that lightning and its effects, volcanos, the 
 firing of dry substances by fortuitous attrition, or of moist, by fermentation, might give 
 them an idea of its violent and destructive properties; but far from being thence induced to 
 appropriate and apply it, they would, on the contrary, dread and avoid it, even in its less 
 formidable appearances. They might:be led to worship it as their deity, but not to cherish 
 it as their domestic. ‘There is some reason to conclude that the man who first reduced it to 
 subjection, and rendered it subservient to the purposes of life, procured it from the collision 
 of two flints; but the sparks thus produced, whether by accident or design, might be ob- 
 served innumerable times, without its suggesting a beneficial application. In countries 
 where those did not present themselves, the discovery had, most probably, its origin in the 
 rubbing together of dry sticks, and in this operation, the agent and subject co-existing, flame, 
 with its properties and uses, became more immediately apparent. Still, as no previous idea 
 was conceived of this latent principle, and consequently no search made, no endeavours 
 exerted, to bring it to light, I see not the impossibility d priori, of its remaining almost as 
 long concealed from mankind, as the properties of the loadstone, or the qualities of gun- 
 powder. 
 
 6} 
 
 
 

 
 Food, 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 man’s house, and the number of these seen hanging up, are tokens of 
 the owner’s substance; for in them his harvests, of rice or pepper, are’ 
 gathered and brought home ; no. carts being employed in the interior 
 parts of the island which I am now describing. They are made of 
 slips of bamboo, connected by means of split rattans; and are carried, 
 
 chiefly by the women, on the back, supported by a string or band 
 across the forehead. 
 
 Although the Sumatrans live, in a great measure, upon vegetable food, 
 they are not restrained, by any superstitious opinion, from other ali- 
 ments, and accordingly, at their entertainments, the flesh of the buffalo 
 (karbau), goat, and fowls, are served up. Their dishes are almost all 
 prepared in that mode of dressing to which we have given the name of 
 curry (from a Hindostanic word), and which is now universally known 
 in Europe. It is called in the Malay language, gile?, and may be com- 
 posed of any kind of edible, but is generally of flesh or fowl, with a 
 variety of pulse and succulent herbage, stewed down with certain ingre- 
 dients, by us termed, when mixed and ground together, curry-powder. 
 These ingredients are, among others, the cayenne or chili pepper, tur- 
 meric, sare’ or lemon-grass, cardamums, garlick, and the pulp of the 
 coconut bruised to a milk resembling that of almonds, which is the 
 only liquid made use of. This differs from the curries of Madras and 
 Bengal, which have greater variety of spices, 
 It is not a little remarkable, that the common pepper, the chief produce 
 and staple commodity of the country, is never mixed by the natives in 
 their food. They esteem it heating to the blood, and ascribe 
 effect to the cayenne; which, I can 
 A great diversity of curries is usually served up at the. same time, in 
 small vessels, each flavoured, to a nice discerning taste, in a different 
 manner; and in this consists all the luxury of their tables. Let their quan- 
 tity, or variety, or meat, be what it may, the principle article of their 
 food is rice, which is eaten in a large proportion with every dish, and 
 very frequently without any other accompaniment than salt and chjlj 
 i It is prepared by boiling in a manner peculiar to India; its 
 perfection, next to cleanness and whiteness, consisting in its being, 
 when thoroughly dressed and soft to the heart, at the same time whole 
 
 and want the coconut. 
 
 a contrary 
 say, MY own experience justifies. 
 
 and 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
IS of 
 ) are 
 
 letigr 
 
 i 
 
 e a 
 
 ned, 
 and 
 
 004, 
 
 ali. 
 alo 
 
 of 
 Wi 
 
 » SUMATRA. 
 
 and separate, so that no two grains shall adhere together. ‘Ihe manner 
 of effecting this, is by putting into the earthen or other vessel in which it 
 is boiled a quantity of water sufficient to cover it ; letting it simmer over 
 a slow fire; taking off the water by degrees with a flat ladle or spoon, 
 that the grain may dry, and removing it when just short of burning. At 
 their entertainments, the guests are treated with rice prepared also in a 
 variety of modes, by frying it in cakes, or boiling a particular species of 
 it, mixed with the kernel of the coconut and fresh oil, in small joints of 
 bamboo. This is called lemmang. Before it is served up, they cut off 
 the outer rind of the bamboo, and the soft inner coat is peeled away by 
 
 the person who eats. 
 
 They dress their meat immediately after killing it, while it is still 
 warm, which is conformable with the practice of the ancients, as re- 
 corded in Homer and elsewhere, and in this state it is said to eat tenderer 
 than when kept for a day: longer the climate will not admit of, unless 
 when it is preserved in that mode called dinding. This 1s the flesh of the 
 buffalo cut into small thin steaks, and exposed to the heat of the sun in 
 fair weather, generally on the thatch of their houses, till it is become so 
 dry and hard as to resist putrefaction, without any assistance from salt. 
 Fish is preserved in the same manner, and cargoes of both are sent from 
 parts of the coast, where they are in plenty, to those where provisions 
 are in more demand. It is seemingly strange, that heat, which, in a 
 certain degree, promotes putrefaction, should, when violently increased, 
 operate to prevent it; but it must be considered that moisture also is 
 requisite to the former effect, and this is absorbed in thin substances, by 
 the sun’s rays, before it can contribute to the production of maggots. 
 
 Blachang, a preservation, if it may be so termed, of an opposite kind, 
 is esteemed a great delicacy among the Malays, and is by them exported 
 to the west of India. The country Sumatrans seldom procure it. It is 
 a species of caviare, and is extremely offensive and disgusting to persons 
 who are not accustomed to it, particularly the black kind, which is the 
 most common. ‘The best sort, or the red blachang, is made of the spawn 
 of shrimps, or of the shrimps themselves, which they take about the 
 mouths of rivers. They are, after boiling, exposed to the sun to dry» 
 
 then 
 
 63 
 
 Flesh-meat. 
 
 
 

 
 ) Sarre ae 
 
 .- 
 
 -_ 
 Sat 
 
 os >> ea ‘ = ew 
 SES eS ee See 
 
 a a 
 
 ee 
 
 = - geet, mg an > = =—— he 7 -- = soe we a 
 a on 4 - See = = = ? ’ a - é 4 = - ° . » ae : 3 : : — 
 ee a a a mais — 4 _ - - : - _ — — - “ ~ — — — 
 - 2 "or oe. .--— . s ° - “ ‘ oe - 
 ~ ee ee a i * ee. a Sex 5ee*. 08 A P - =e 
 . Sea Se - one - = - . = _ 
 ‘ Rial a ~ 4 aa = ee >*.i,. . Sea —— “~~ “Sar ; rT = oS 3 yee =... Sts; = of = = 
 = ‘ “ 2a ory y er Pa = . ~~ > Ww "8: =" ae = 
 — wate - or. seh 12a! Oe = 4 1 7 on st x ra “ ‘ 
 . = + oun = i iv ox oe - aarar = ly x 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 then pounded in a mortar, with salt, moistened with a little water, and 
 formed into cakes, which is all the process. The black sort, used by 
 the lower class, is made of small fish, prepared in the same manner. 
 On some parts of the east coast of the island, they salt the roes of a large 
 fish of the shad kind, and preserve them perfectly dry, and well flavoured. 
 These are called trobo. 
 
 When the natives kill a buffalo, which is always done at their public 
 meetings, they do not cut it up into joints, as we do an ox, but into 
 small pieces of flesh, or steaks, which they call banteiz. The hide of the 
 buffalo is sometimes scalded, scraped, and hung up to dry in their 
 houses, where it shrivels and becomes perfectly hard. When wanted 
 for use, a piece is chopped off, and being stewed down for a great 
 number of hours, in a small quantity of water, forms a rich jelly, which, 
 properly seasoned, is esteemed a very delicate dish. 
 
 The sago (sagu), though common on Sumatra, and used occasionally 
 by the natives, is not an article of food of such general use among them, 
 as with, the inhabitants of many other eastern islands, where it is em- 
 ployed as a substitute for rice. Millet (randa jawa) is also cultivated for 
 food, but not in any considerable quantity. 
 
 When these several articles of subsistence fail, the Sumatran has re- 
 course to those wild roots, herbs, and leaves of trees, which the woods 
 abundantly afford in every season, without culture, and which the ha- 
 bitual simplicity of his diet teaches him to consider as no very extraordi- 
 nary circumstance of hardship. Hence it is that famines in this island, 
 or, more properly speaking, failures of crops of grain, are never attended 
 with those dreadful consequences, which more improved countries and 
 
 more provident nations experience. 
 
 Agriculture, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Mn, 
 
 or 
 
 SUMATRA: 
 
 Agriculture. —Rice, its Cultivation, &c.—Plantations of Cocomit, Betel: 
 nut, and other Vegetables for domestic Use.—Dye Stiffs, 
 
 FROM their domestic ceconomy Iam led to take a view of their labours 
 in the field, their plantations and the state of agriculture amongst them, 
 which an ingenious writer esteems the justest criterion of civilization. 
 
 The most important article of cultivation, not in Sumatra alone, but Rice. 
 
 throughout the East, is rice. It is the grand material of food, on which 
 an hundred millions of the inhabitants of the earth subsist, and although 
 chiefly confined by nature to the regions included between, and bordering 
 on the tropics, its cultivation is probably more extensive than that of 
 wheat, which the Europeans are wont to consider as the universal staff 
 of life. In the continent of Asia, as you advance to the northward, you 
 come to the boundary where the plantations of rice disappear, and the 
 wheat fields commence; the cold felt in that climate, owing in part to 
 the height of the land, being unfriendly to the production of the former 
 article. 
 
 Rice (oryza sativa) whilst in the husk is called padi by the Malays 
 (from whose language the word seems to have found its way to the mari- 
 time parts of the continent of India), bras when deprived of the husk, 
 and nas? after it has been boiled ; besides which it assumes other names 
 in its various states of growth and preparation. This minuteness of dis- 
 tinction applies also to some other articles of common use, and may be 
 accounted for upon this principle; that amongst people whose general 
 objects of attention are limited, those which do of necessity occupy 
 them, are liable to be more the subject of thought and conversation than 
 in more enlightened countries, where the ideas of men have an extensive 
 range. The kinds of rice also (whether technically of different species 
 I cannot pronounce) are very numerous, but divided in the first place 
 
 K into 
 
 65 
 
 Agriculture. 
 
 oe 
 
 tt At ce A Ae 
 
 ee 
 
 SE TT TT nm = 
 
 ie! 
 
 
 

 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 into the two comprehensive classes of padi ladang or upland, from its 
 growing In high, dry grounds, and padi sawah (vulgarly pronounced 
 sawur or sour) or low-land, from its being planted in marshes; each of 
 which is said to contain ten or fifteen varieties, distinct in shape, size, and 
 colour of the grain, modes of growth, and delicacy of flavour; it being 
 observed that in general the larger grained rice is not so much prized by 
 the natives as that which is smail, when at the same time white and in 
 some degree transparent. To M. Porvre, in his Travels of a Philoso- 
 pher, we are indebted for first pointing out these two classes, when speak- 
 ing of the agriculture of Cochin-china. The qualities of the /adang, or 
 upland rice, are held to be superior to those of the sawah, being whiter, 
 more nourishing, better tasted, and having the advantage in point of 
 keeping. Its mode of culture, too, is free from the charge of unhealthi- 
 ness attributed to the latter, which is of a watery substance, is attended 
 
 with 
 
 * The following sorts of dry-ground padi have come under my notice, but as the names 
 vary in different districts, it is possible that some of these may be repetitions, where there 
 is no striking difference of character—Padi Ebbas, large grain, very common ;—Andalong, 
 short round grain, grows in whorles or bunches round the stalk, common ;—Galu, light 
 coloured, scarce ;—Sini, small grain, deep coloured, scarce ;—7z, lightish colour, scarce;— 
 Kuning, deep yellow, crooked and pointed, fine rice ;—Kukur-ballum, small, much crooked 
 and resembling a dove’s claw, from whence the name; light coloured, highly esteemed for 
 its delicate flavour ;—Pisang, outer coat light brown, inner red, longer, smaller, and less 
 crooked than the preceding ;—Brivgin, long, flattish, ribbed, pointed, dead yellow ;— 
 Bizjzt, shaped like the preceding, but with a tinge of red in the colour ;—Chariap, short, 
 roundish, reddish yellow ;—Jan ggut or bearded, small, narrow, pale brown ;—Jambi, small, 
 somewhat crooked and pointed, light brown;—Laye, gibbous, light coloured ;—Musang, 
 long, small, crooked and pointed, deep purple ;—Pandan, small, light coloured ;—Paz, 
 long, crooked and pointed, light yellow ;—Pzyuh, small, delicate, crooked and pointed, 
 bright ochre ;—Rakkun, roundish grain, resembles the andalong, but larger and deeper 
 colour ;—Szhong, much resembles the Laye in shape and colour ;—Sutar, short, roundish, 
 bright, reddish brown ;—Pdlut gading or ivory, long, nearly straight, light yellow ;— 
 Pilut kechil, small, crooked, reddish yellow ;—Pilut bram, long and rather large grain, purple, 
 when fresh more nearly red;—Pulut bram lematong, in shape like the preceding, but of a 
 dead pale colour. Beside these four there is also a black kind of Palut. Samples of most of 
 these have been in my possession for a number of years, and still continue perfectly sound. 
 Of the sorts of rice growing in low grounds I have not specimens. The padi santong, 
 which is small, straight, and light coloured, is held to be the finest. In the Lampong 
 country they make a distinction of padi krawang and padi jerru, of which I know nothing 
 more than that the former is a month earlier in growth than the latter, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 67 
 ; with less increase in boiling, and is subject to a. swifter decay; but of 
 ‘ this the rate of produce from the seed is much greater, and the certainty 
 rf of the crops more to be depended on. Itis accordingly cheaper, and in 
 d more common use. The seed of each sort is kept separate by the natives, 
 - who assert that they will not grow reciprocally. 
 ’ a5 Pi , , Riseh 
 . For the cultivation of upland padi the site of woods is universally pre- Upland rice. 
 
 ferred, and the more ancient the Woods the better, on account of the 
 superior richness of the soil; the continual fall and rotting of the leaves 
 forming there a bed of vegetable mould, which the open plains do not 
 afford, being exhausted by the powerful operation of the sun’s rays, and 
 the constant production of a rank grass called lalang. When this grass, 
 
 , common to all the eastern islands, is kept under by frequent mowing or 
 : the grazing of cattle (as is the case near the European settlements), its 
 a room is supplied by grass of a finer texture. Many suppose that the 
 v same identical species of vegetable undergoes this alteration, as no fresh 
 seeds are sown, and the substitution uniformly takes place, But this is 
 an evident mistake, as the generic characters of the two are essentially 
 : different; the one being the gramen caricosum, and the other the gra- 
 : men aciculatum, described by Rumphius. The former, which grows to 
 3 the height of five feet, is remarkable for the whiteness and softness of the . 
 d down or blossom, and the other for the sharpness of its bearded seeds, 
 or which prove extremely troublesome to the legs of these who walk among 
 , it... If old woods are not at hand, ground covered with thatof younger 
 3 growth, termed balukar, is resorted to; but not, if possible, under the 
 ‘i K 2 age 
 i, 
 i, * Gramen hoc (caricosum) totes occupat campos, nudosque colles tam densé et late 
 d, germinans, ut e longinquo haberetur campus oryza consitus, tam luxuriosé ac fortiter crescit, 
 or ut neque hortos neque sylvas evitet, alque tam vehementer prorepit, ut aree vix depurari 
 h, ac servari possint, licet quotidie deambulentur......... Potissimum amat solum 
 a flavum arguillosum.” (Gramen aciculatum) “ Usus ejus feré nullus est, sed hic detegendum 
 fe est tediosum ludibrium, quod quis habet, si quis per campos vel in sylvis procedat, ubi hoc 
 A gramen ad vias publicas crescit, quum pretereuntium vestibus, hoc semen quam maxime 
 if inheret.” Rumphius, vol. vi. lib. x. chap. 8. and 13. M. Poivre describes the plains of 
 d Madagascar and Java as covered with a long grass which he calls Fatak, and which from the 
 
 analogy of the countries in other respects, I should suppose to be the lalang; but he praises 
 it as affording excellent pasturage ; whereas in Sumatra it is reckoned the worst, and 
 except when very young it is not edible by the largest cattle ; for which reason the carters 
 
 ie; 
 vY 
 
 f 
 I 
 
 
 

 
 Mode of clear- 
 ing the 
 ground. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 age of four or five years. Vegetation is there so strong, that spots whichs 
 had been perfectly cleared for cultivation, will, upon being neglected for 
 a single season, afford shelter to the beasts of the forest; and the same 
 being rarely occupied for two successive years, the face of the country 
 continues to exhibit the same wild appearance, although very extensive 
 tracts are annually covered with fresh plantations. From this it will be 
 seen, thatin consequence of the fertility to which it gives occasion, the 
 abundance of wood in the country is not considered by the inhabitants 
 as an inconvenience, but the contrary. Indeed I have heard a native 
 prince complain of a settlement made by some persons of a distant tribe 
 in the inland part of his dominions, whom he should be obliged to expel 
 from thence, in order to prevent the waste of his oldwoods. ‘This seemed 
 a superfluous act of precaution in an island which strikes the eye as one 
 general, impervious, and inexhaustible forest. 
 
 On the approach of the dry monsoon (April and May) or in the course 
 of it, the husbandman makes choice of a spot for his ladang, or plantation 
 of upland:riee, for that season, and marks it out. Here it must be ob- 
 served that property in land depends upon occupancy, unless where 
 fruit-bearing trees have been planted, and as there is seldom any deter- 
 mined boundary between the lands of neighbouring villages, such marks 
 are rarely disturbed. Collecting his family and dependants he next pro- 
 ceeds to clear the ground. ‘This is an undertaking of immense labour, 
 and would seem to require herculean force, but it is effected by skill and 
 perseverance. The work divides itself into two parts. The first (called 
 tebbas, menebbas) consists in cutting down the brushwood, and rank vege- 
 tables, which are suffered to dry during an interval of a fortnight, or 
 more or less, according to the fairness of the weather, before they pro- 
 ceed to the second operation (called tebbang, menebbang) of felling the 
 large trees. Their tools, the prang and billiong (the former resembling 
 a bill-hook, and the latter an imperfect adze) are seemingly inadequate 
 to the task, and the saw is unknown in the country. Being regardless 
 of the timber, they do not fell the tree near the ground, where the stem 
 
 is 
 
 and drovers are in the practice of setting fire to that which grows on the plains, by the road- 
 side, that the young shoots which thereupon shoot up, may afterwards supply food to their 
 buffaloes. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
\Y 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 is thick, but erect a stage, and begin to hew, or chop rather, at the 
 height of ten or twelve, to twenty or thirty feet, where the dimensions 
 are smaller (and sometimes much higher, taking off little more than the 
 head) until it is sufficiently weakened to admit of their pulling it down 
 with rattans made fast to the branches, instead of ropes.* And 
 thus by slow degrees the whole is laid low. In some places, however, a 
 more summary process is attempted. It may be conceived that in the 
 woods the cutting down trees singly. is a matter of much difficulty, on 
 account of the twining plants which spread from one to the other and 
 connect them strongly together. “To surmount this, itis not an uncom- 
 mon practice to cut a number of trees half-through, on the. same side, 
 and then fix upon one of great bulk, at the extremity of the space 
 marked out, which they cut nearly through, and. having disengaged it 
 from these /2anes (as they are termed in the western world), determine its 
 fallin such a direction as may produce the effect. of its bearing down by. 
 its prodigious weight all those trees which had. been previously weakened 
 for the purpose. By this much time and labour are sayed, and the ob- 
 ject being to destroy and not to save the timber, the rending,er otherwise 
 spoiling the stems is of no moment. I could never behold.this devasta- 
 tion without a strong sentiment of regret: Perhaps the prejudices of a 
 classical education taught me to respect. those aged trees as the habita- 
 tion or material frame of an order of sylvan deities, who were now de- 
 prived of existence by the sacrilegious hand of a rude, undistinguishing 
 savage. But without having recourse to superstition, it is not difficult to 
 account for such feelings on the sight of a venerable wood, old, to appear- 
 ance, as the soil it stood on, and beautiful beyond what pencil can de- 
 scribe, annihilated for the temporary use of the space it occupied. It 
 seemed a violation of nature, in the too arbitrary exercise of power. The 
 timber, from its abundance, the smallness.of consumption, and its dis- 
 tance in most cases from the banks of. navigable rivers, by which means 
 alone it could be transported to any distance, is of no value; and trees 
 whose bulk, height, straightness of stem, and extent of limbs, excite the 
 admiration of a traveller, perish indiscriminately. Some, of the branches 
 
 are lopped off, and when these, together with, the underwood, are be- 
 come 
 
 ‘ ‘ . : : ; . . bP 
 # A similar mode of felling is deseribed in the “ Maison rustique de Cayenne. 
 
 
 

 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 come sufficiently arid, they are set fire to, and the country, for the 
 space of a month or two, is in a general blaze and bbe until the whole 
 is consumed, and the ground effectually cleared. The expiring wood, 
 benificent to its ungrateful destroyer, fertilizes for his use, by its ashes 
 and their salts, the earth which it so long adorned. 
 
 Unseasonable wet weather at this period, which sometimes happens,. 
 and especially when the business is deferred till the close of the dry or 
 south-east monsoon, whose termination is at best irregular, produces 
 much inconvenience by the delay of burning, till the vegetation has 
 had time to renew itself ; in which case the spot is commonly abandoned ; 
 or, if partially burned, it is not without considerable toil that it can be 
 afterwards prepared for sowing. On such occasions there are impostors 
 ready to make a profit of the credulity of the husbandman who, like all 
 others whose employments expose them to risks, are prone to supersti- 
 tion, by pretending to a power of causing or retarding rain. One of 
 these will receive, at the time of burning the Jadang:, a dollar or more 
 from each family in the neighbourhood, under the pretence of insuring 
 favourable weather for their undertaking. To accomplish this purpose, 
 he abstains, or pretends to abstain, for many days and nights, from food 
 and sleep, and performs various trifling ceremonies ; continuing all the 
 time in the open air. If he espies a cloud gathering, he immediately 
 begins to smoke tobacco with great vehemence, walking about with a 
 quick pace, and throwing the puffs towards it with all the force of his 
 lungs. How far he is successful it is no difficult matter to judge. His 
 skill, in fact, lies in chusing his time, when there is the greatest pros- 
 pect of the continuance of fair weather in the ordinary course of nature: 
 but should he fail, there is an effectual salvo. He always promises to 
 fulfil his agreement with a Deo volente clause, and so attributes his occa- 
 sional disappointments to the particular interposition of the deity. The 
 cunning men who, in this and many other instances of conjuration, im- 
 pose on the simple country people, are always Malayan adventurers, and 
 not unfrequently priests. The planter whose labour has been lost by 
 such interruptions, generally finds it too late in the season to begin on 
 another ladang, and the ordinary resource for subsistin g himself and fami- 
 ly, is to seek a spot of sawah ground, whose cultivation is less dependant 
 
 upon 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
——— - - Se 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 upon accidental variations of weather. In some districts much confusion 
 in regard to the period of sowing is said to have arisen from a very extra- 
 ordinary cause. Anciently, say the natives, it was regulated by the 
 stars, and particularly by the appearance (heliacal rising) of the bintang 
 baniak or pleiades; but after the introduction of the Mahometan religion, 
 they were induced to follow the returns of the puasa or great annual fast, 
 and forgot their old rules. The consequence of this was obvious; for 
 the lunar year of the hejrah being eleven days short of the sydereal or 
 solar. year, the order of the* seasons was soon inverted ; and it is only 
 astonishing that its inaptness to the purposes of agriculture should not 
 have been immediately discovered, 
 
 When the periodical rains begin to fall, which takes place gradually 
 about October, the planter assembles his neighbours (whom he assists in 
 turn), and with the aid of his whole family proceeds to sow his ground, 
 endeavouring to complete the task in the course of one day. In order 
 to ensure success, he fixes, by the priest’s assistance, on a lucky day, 
 and vows the sacrifice of a kid, if his crop should prove favourable; the 
 performance of which is sacredly observed, and is the occasion ofa feast 
 in every family after harvest. ‘The manner of sowing (¢ugal-menigal) 
 is this. [wo or three men enter the plantation, as it is usual to call the 
 padi-field, holding in each hand sticks about five feet long and two 
 inches diameter, bluntly pointed, with which, striking them into the 
 ground as they advance, they make small, shallow holes, at the distance 
 of about five inches from each other. ‘These are followed by the women 
 and elder children with small baskets containing the seed-grain (saved 
 with care from the choicest of the preceding crop) of which they drop 
 four or five grains into every hole, and passing on, are followed by the 
 younger children, who with their feet (in the use of which the natives 
 are nearly as expert as with their hands) cover them lightly from the 
 adjacent earth, that the seed may not be too much exposed to the birds, 
 which, as might be expected, often prove destructive foes. The ground, 
 it should be observed, has not been previously turned up by any instru- 
 ment of the hoe or plough kind, nor would the stumps and roots of trees 
 remaining in it admit of the latter being worked; although employed 
 
 onder other circumstances, as will hereafter appear. If rain succeeds, 
 the 
 
 Sowing. 
 
 71 
 
 
 

 
 Reaping. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 the padi is above ground in four or five days; but by an unexpected run 
 of dry weather, it is sometimes lost, and the field sowed a second time, 
 When it has attained a month or six weeks’ growth, it becomes necessary 
 to clear it of weeds (seang-menyiang), which is repeated at the end of 
 two months or tem weeks; after which the strength it has acquired is 
 sufficient to preserve it from injury in that way. Huts are now raised 
 in different parts of the plantation, from whence a communication is 
 formed over the whole by means of rattans, to which are attached scare- 
 crows, rattles, clappers, and other machines for frightening away the 
 birds, in the contrivance of which they employ incredible pains and 
 ingenuity ; so disposing them that a child, placed in the hut, shall be 
 able, with little exertion, to create a loud, clattering noise, to a great 
 extent; and on the borders of the field are placed at intervals a species 
 of windmill fixed on poles, which, on the unexperienced traveller, have an 
 effect as terrible as those encountered by the knight of La Mancha, 
 Such precautions are indispensable for the protection of the corn, when 
 in the ear, against the numerous flights of the pzpi, a small bird with a 
 hight browm body, white head, and bluish beak, rather less than the 
 sparrow, which in its general appearance and habits it resembles. | Se- 
 veral. of these lighting at once upon a stalk of padi, and bearing it 
 
 down, soon clear it of its produce, and thus, if unmolested, destroy 
 whole crops. 
 
 At the time of sowing the padi, it is a common practice to sow also, 
 in the interstices, and in the same manner, jagong or maiz, which grows 
 ing up faster, and ripening before it (in little more than three months) 
 
 is gathered without injury to the former. It is also customary to raise 
 
 in the same ground a species of momordica, the fruit of which comes for- 
 ward in the course of two months. 
 
 The nominal time allowed from the sowing to the reaping of the crop 
 is five lunar months and ten days; but from this it must necessarily vary 
 with the circumstances of the season. When it ripens, if all at the same 
 time, the neighbours are again summoned to assist, and entertained for 
 the day: if a part only ripens first, the family begin to reap it, and proceed 
 through the whole by degrees, In this operation, called tuwei-menuwes 
 
 from 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
of 
 lis 
 sel 
 Lk 
 ie. 
 
 05 
 Ws 
 s) 
 
 eC 
 
 SUM A TRrA, 
 
 from the instrument used, they take off the head of corn (the term of 
 “ear”? not being applicable to the growth of this plant) about six inches 
 below the grain, the remaining stalk or halm being left as of no value. 
 The tuwei is a piece of wood about six inches long, usually of carved 
 work, and about two inches diameter, in which is fixed lengthwise a 
 blade of four or five inches, secured at the extremes by points bent to a 
 right angle, and entering the wood. ‘To this is added a piece of very 
 small bamboo from two to three inches long, fixed at right angles across 
 the back of the wood, with a notch for receiving it, and pinned through 
 by asmall peg. ‘This bamboo rests in the hollow of the hand, one end 
 of the piece of wood passing between the two middle fingers, with the 
 blade outwards ; the natives always cutting from them.? With this in 
 the right hand, and a small basket slung over the left shoulder, they 
 very expeditiously crop the heads of padi one by one, bringing the stalk 
 to the blade with their two middle fingers, and passing them, when cut, 
 from the right hand to the left. As soon as the left hand is full, the 
 contents are placed in regular layers in the basket (sometimes tied up in 
 a little sheaf), and from thence removed to larger baskets, in which the 
 harvest is to be conveyed to the dusun or village, there to be lodged in 
 the ¢angkian or barns, which are buildings detached from the dwelling- 
 houses, raised like them from the ground, widening from the floor to- 
 wards the roof, and well lined with boards or coolitcoy. In each 
 removal care is taken to preserve the regularity of the layers, by which 
 means it is stowed to advantage, and any portion of it readily taken out 
 for use. 
 
 Sawahs are plantations of padi in low, wet ground, which, during the 
 growth of the crop, in the rainy season between the months of October 
 and March,” are for the most part overflowed to the depth of six inches 
 
 or 
 
 * The inhabitants of Menangkabau are said to reap with an instrument resembling a 
 sickle. 
 
 » In the Trans. of the Batavian Society the following mention is made of the cultivation 
 of rice in Java. The padi sawa is sown in low, watered grounds, in the month of March, 
 transplanted in April, and reaped in August. The padi spar is sown in high, ploughed 
 
 L lands, 
 
 73 
 
 Low ground 
 rice, 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 or a foot, beyond which latter the water becomes prejudicial. Leve 
 marshes, of firm bottom, under a moderate stratum of mud, and not 
 liable to deep stagnant water, are the situations preferred; the narrower 
 hollows, though very commonly used for small plantations, being more 
 liable to accidents’ from torrents and too great depth of water, which 
 the inhabitants have rarely industry enough to regulate to advantage by 
 permanent embankments. They are not, however, ignorant of such 
 expedients, and works are sometimes met with, constructed for the pur- 
 pose, chiefly, of supplying the deficiency of rain to several adjoining 
 sawahs, by means of sluices, contrived with no small degree of skill and 
 attention to levels. 
 
 In new ground, after clearing it from the brushwood, reeds, and aqua- 
 tic vegetables with which the marshes, when neglected are overrun, and 
 burning them at the close of the dry season, the soil is, in the begin- 
 ning of the wet, prepared for culture by different modes of working. 
 In some places a number of buffaloes, whose greatest enjoyment con- 
 sists in wading and rolling in mud, are turned in, and these by their 
 motions contribute to give it amore uniform consistence, as well as en- 
 , rich it by their dung. In other parts less permanently moist, the soil 
 is turned up either with a wooden instrument between a hoe and a pick- 
 axe, or with the plough, of which they use two kinds; their own, drawn 
 by one buffalo, extremely simple, and the wooden share of it doing little 
 more than scratch the ground to the depth of six inches; and one they 
 have borrowed from the Chinese, drawn either with one or two buffa- - 
 loes, very light, and the share more nearly resembling ours, turning the 
 soil over as it passes, and making a narrow furrow. In sawahs, how- 
 ever, the surface has in general so little consistence, that no furrow is 
 perceptible, and the plough does little more than loosen the stiff mud to 
 some depth, and cut the roots of the grass and weeds, from which it is 
 afterwards cleared by means of a kind of harrow or rake, being a thick 
 
 plank 
 
 lands, in November, and reaped in March (earlier in the season than I could have sup- 
 posed). When sown where woods have been recently cut down, or in the clefts of the hills 
 (klooven van het gebergte) it is named padi gaga. Vol. 1. p. 27. 
 
—- 
 fo i) 
 
 | tl 
 — 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 plank of heavy wood, with strong wooden teeth, and loaded with earth 
 where necessary. This they contrive to drag along the surface, for the 
 purpose, at the same time, of depressing the rising spots and filling up 
 the hollow ones. The whole being brought as nearly as possible to a 
 level, that the water may lie equally upon it, the sawah is, for the more 
 effectual securing of this essential point, divided into portions nearly 
 square or oblong (called pering, which signifies a dish), by narrow banks 
 raised about eighteen inches, and two feet wide. These drying become 
 harder than the rest, confine the water, and serve the purpose of foot- 
 ways throughout the plantation. When there is more water in one 
 division than another, small passages are cut through the dams, to pro- 
 ducean equality. Through these apertures water is also, in some in- 
 stances, introduced from adjacent rivers or reservoirs, where such exist, 
 and the season requires their aid. The innumerable springs and rivulets 
 with which this country abounds, render unnecessary the laborious pro- 
 cesses by which water is raised and supplied to the rice grounds in the 
 western part of India, where the soil is sandy: yet still the principal 
 art of the planter consists, and is required, in the management of this 
 article ; to furnish it to the ground in proper and moderate quantities, 
 and to carry it off from time to time by drains; for if suffered to be long 
 stagnant, it would occasion the grain to rot, 
 
 Whilst the sawahs have been thus in preparation to receive the padi, a 
 small, adjacent, and convenient spot of good soil has been chosen, in 
 which the seed-grain is sown as thick as it can well lie on the ground, 
 and is then often covered with layers of lalang (long grass, instead of 
 straw) to protect the grain from the birds, and perhaps assist the vege- 
 tation. When it has grown to the height of from five to eight inches, or 
 generally at the end of forty days from the time of sowing, it is taken 
 up, in showery weather, and transplanted to the sawah, where holes are 
 made four or five inches asunder to receive the plants. If they appear 
 too forward, the tops are cropped off. A supply is at the same time 
 reserved in the seed-plots to replace such as may chance to fail upon 
 removal. These plantations, in the same manner as the ladangs, it 
 is necessary to cleanse from weeds at least twice in the first two or 
 three months ; but no maiz or other seed is sown among the crop. When 
 
 L 2 the 
 
 ~] 
 vu t 
 
 Transplanta 
 tion. 
 
 
 

 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 the ear, or to blossom, as the natives express it, 
 
 the padi begins to form 
 n off, and at the expiration of four months from 
 
 the water is finally draw 
 the time of transplanting, it arrives at maturity. The manner of guard- 
 ing against the birds 1s similar to what has been already described; but 
 the low ground crop has a peculiar and very destructive enemy: in the 
 rats, which sometimes consume the whole of it, especially when the 
 plantation has been made somewhat out of season; to obviate which 
 evil, the inhabitants of a district sow by agreement pretty nearly at the 
 same time; whereby the damage is less perceptible. In the mode of 
 reaping, likewise, there is nothing different. Uponthe conclusion of the 
 harvest it is an indispensable duty to summon the neighbouring priests 
 to the first meal that is made of the new rice, when an entertainment is 
 given according to the circumstances of the family. Should this cere- 
 mony be omitted, the crop would be accursed (haram), nor could the 
 whole household expect to outlive the season. ‘This superstition has 
 been by the Mahometans judiciously engrafted on the stock of credulity 
 
 in the country people. 
 
 The same spot of low ground is for the most part used without regu- 
 lar intermission for several successive years, the degree of culture they 
 bestow by turning up the soil, and the overflowing water, preserving 
 its fertility. They are not, however, insensible to the advantage of oc- 
 casional fallows. In consequence of this continued use the value of the 
 sawah grounds differs from that of ladangs, the former being, in the 
 neighbourhood of populous towns particularly, distinct property, and of 
 regularly ascertained value. At Natal, for example, those containing 
 between one and two acres sell for sixteen to twenty Spanish dollars. In 
 the interior country, where the temperature of the air is more favourable 
 to agriculture, they are said to sow the same spot with dadang rice for 
 three successive years; and there also it is common to sow onions as soon 
 as the stubble is burned off. Millet (randa jawa) is sown at the same 
 time with the padi. In the country of Manna, southward of Bencoolen, 
 a progress in the art of cultivation is discovered, superior to what appears 
 in almost any other part of the island; the Batta country, perhaps, 
 alone excepted. Here may be seen pieces of land in size from five to 
 
 fifteen acres, regularly ploughed and harrowed, The difference is thus 
 | accounted 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 7 
 
 accounted for. Itis the most populous district in that southern part, 
 with the smallest extent of sea-coast. The pepper plantations and Ja- 
 dangs together having m a great measure exhausted the old woods in the 
 accessible parts of the country, and the inhabitants being therein de- 
 prived of a source of fertility which nature formerly supplied, they 
 must either starve, remove to another district, or improve by cultivation 
 the spot where they reside. The first is contrary to the inherent prin- 
 ciple that teaches man to preserve life by every possible means: their 
 attachment to their native soil, or rather their veneration for the sepul- 
 chres of their ancestors, is so strong, that to remove would cost them a 
 struggle almost equal to the pangs of death: necessity, therefore, the 
 parent of art and industry, compels them to cultivate the earth. The Rate of pro- 
 : ‘ ; duce. 
 produce of the grounds thus tilled is reckoned at thirty for one; from 
 those in the ordinary mode about an hundred fold on the average, the 
 ladangs yielding about eighty, and the sawahs an hundred and twenty. 
 Under favourable circumstances I am: assured the rate of produce is 
 sometimes so high as an hundred and forty fold. The quantity sown 
 by a family is usually from five to ten bamboo measures or eallons. These 
 returns are very extraordinary compared with those of our wheat-fields 
 in Europe, which, I believe, seldom exceed fifteen, and are often under 
 ten. ‘To what is this disproportion owing? to the difference of grain, 
 as rice may be in its nature extremely prolific ? to the more genial in- 
 fluence of a warmer climate? or to the earth’s losing by degrees her 
 fecundity, from an excessive cultivation? Rather than to any of these 
 causes, I am inclined to attribute it to the different process followed in 
 sowing. In England the saving of labour and promoting of expedition 
 are the chief objects, and in order to effect these, the grain is almost 
 universally scattered in the furrows; excepting where the drill has been 
 introduced. The Sumatrans, who do not calculate the value of their 
 own labour or that of their domestics on such occasions, make holes in 
 
 the ground, as has been described, and drop into each a few grains ;* 
 or 
 
 @ In an address from the Bath Agricultural Society, dated 12th October, 1795, it isstrongly 
 recommended to the cultivators of land (on account of the then existing scarcity of grain) 
 
 to adopt the method of dibbling wheat, The holes to be made either by the common dibble, 
 or 
 
 xv 
 
 
 

 
 Fertility of 
 soil. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 or by a process still more tedious, raise the seed in beds, and then plant 
 it out. Mr. Charles Miller, in a paper published in the Phil. Trans. 
 has shewn us the wonderful effects of successive transplantation. How 
 far it might be worth the English farmer’s while to bestow more labour 
 in the business of sowing the grain, with the view of a proportionate in- 
 crease in the rate of produce, I am not competent, nor is it to my pre- 
 sent purpose, toform a judgment. Possibly as the advantage might be 
 found to lie rather in the quantity of grain saved in the sowing, than 
 gained in the reaping, it would not answer his purpose; for although 
 half the quantity of seed-corn bears reciprocally the same proportion to 
 the usual produce, that double the latter does to the usual allowance of 
 seed, yet in point of profit the scale is different. To augment this, it 
 is of much more importance to increase the produce from a given quan- 
 
 tity of land, than to diminish the quantity of grain necessary for sowing 
 it. 
 
 Notwithstanding the received opinion of the fertility of what are call- 
 ed the Malay Islands, countenanced by the authority of M. Poivre and 
 other celebrated writers, and still more by the extraordinary produce of 
 grain, as above stated, I cannot help saying that I think the soil of the 
 western coast of Sumatra is in general rather steril than rich. It is for 
 the most part a stiff, red clay, burned nearly to the state of a brick, 
 where it is exposed to the influence of the sun. The small proportion 
 of the whole that is cultivated, is either ground from which old woods 
 have been recently cleared, whose leaves had formed a bed of vegetable 
 earth some inches deep, or else ravines into which the scanty mould of 
 the adjoining hills has been washed by the annual torrents of rain. It is 
 true, that in many parts of the coast there are, betweeen the cliffs and the 
 
 sea-beach, 
 
 or with an implement having four or more points in a frame, at the distance of about four 
 inches every way, and to the depth of an inch and half; dropping two grains into every 
 
 hole. The man who dibbles is to move backwards, and to be followed by two or three women 
 or children, who drop in the grains. A bush-hurdle, drawn across the furrows by a single 
 horse, finishes the business. About six pecks of seed-wheat per acre are saved by this me- 
 thod. The expense of dibbling, dropping, and covering, is reckoned, in’ Norfolk, at about 
 six shillings per acre. (Times Newspaper of 20th of October, 1795.) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
a 
 
 SUMATRA, 
 
 sea-beach, plains varying in breadth and extent, of a sandy soil, proba- 
 bly left by the sea, and more or less mixed with earth in proportion to 
 the time they have remained uncovered by the waters; and such are 
 found to prove the most favourable spots for raising the productions of 
 other parts of the world. But these are partial and insufficient proofs of 
 fertility. Every person who has attempted to make a garden of any kind 
 near Fort Marlborough, must well know how ineffectual a labour it 
 would prove, to turn up with the spade a piece of ground adopted at 
 random. It becomes necessary for this purpose to form an artificial soil 
 of dung, ashes, rubbish, and such other materials as can be procured. 
 From these alone he cah expect to raise the smallest supply of vegetables 
 for the table. I have seen many extensive plantations of coconut, pinang, 
 lime, and coffee-trees, laid out at a considerable expense by different 
 gentlemen, and not one do I recollect to have succeeded ; owing, as it 
 would seem, to the barrenness of the soil, although covered with long 
 grass. These disappointments have induced the Europeans almost en- 
 tirely to neglect agriculture. The more industrious Chinese colonists, 
 who work the ground with indefatigable pains, and lose no opportunity 
 of saving and collecting manure, are rather more successful ; yet have I 
 heard one of the most able cultivators among this people, who, by the 
 dint of labour and perseverance, had raised what then appeared to me a 
 delightful garden, designed for profit as well as pleasure, declare that 
 his heart was almost broken in struggling against nature; the soil being 
 so ungrateful, that instead of obtaining an adequate return for his trouble 
 and expense, the undertaking was likely to render him a bankrupt; and 
 which he would inevitably have been, but for assistance afforded him 
 by the East India Company.* The natives, it is true, without much or 
 
 any 
 
 * Some particular plants, especially the tea, Key Sin used to tell me he considered as his 
 children: his first care in the morning, and his last in the evening, was to tend and cherish 
 them. I heard with concern of his death soon after the first publication of this work, and 
 could have wished the old man had lived to know that the above small tribute of attention 
 had been paid to his merits as a gardener. 
 
 In a letter received from the late ingenious Mr. Charles Campbell, belonging to the me- 
 dical establishment of Fort Marlborough, whose communications I shall have future occasion 
 to 
 
 A RE — 
 
 79 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 any cultivation raise several useful trees and plants ; but they are in very 
 small quantities, and immediately about their villages, where the ground 
 is fertilized in spite of their indolence, by the common sweepings.of their 
 houses and streets and the mere vicinity of their buildings. I have often 
 had occasion toobserve, in young plantations, that those few trees which 
 surrounded the house of the owner, or the hut of the keeper, considera- 
 bly over-topped their brethren of the same age. Every person at first 
 sight, and on a superficial view of the Malayan countries, pronounces 
 them the favourites of nature, where she has lavished her bounties with 
 a profusion unknown in other regions, and laments the infatuation of the 
 people, who neglect to cultivate the finest soil in the world. But I have 
 scarcely known one, who, after a few years’ residence, has not entirely 
 altered his opinion. Certain it is, that in point of external appearance 
 they may challenge all others to comparison. In many_parts of Suma- 
 tra, rarely trodden by human foot, scenes present themselves adapted 
 to raise the sublimest sentiments in minds susceptible of the impression. 
 But how rarely are they contemplated by minds of that temper! and yet 
 it is alone 
 
 ‘¢ For such the rivers dash their foaming tides, 
 The mountain swells, the vale subsides, 
 The stately wood detams the wand’ring sight, 
 And the rough barren rock grows pregnant with delight.” 
 
 Even 
 
 to notice, he writes on the 29th of March, 1802, “I must not omit to say a word about my 
 attempts to cultivate the land. The result of all my labours in that way was disappoint- 
 ment, almost as heart-breaking as that of the unlucky Chinaman; whose example, however, 
 did not deter me. After many vexatious, I descended from the plains into the ravines, and 
 there met with the success denied me on the elevated land. In one of these, through 
 which runs a small rivulet emptying itself into the lake of Dusun Besdr, I attempted a plan- 
 tation of coffee, where there are now upwards of seven thousand plants firmly rooted and 
 putting out new leaves.” This cultivation has since been ‘so much increased, as to become 
 an important article of commerce. 
 
 It should at the same time be acknowledged, that our acquaintance with the central and 
 eastern parts of the island is very imperfect, and that much fertile land may be found be- 
 yond the range of mountains. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 SUMATRA, 81 
 Ter ‘ven where there are inhabitants, to how little purpose, as it respects 
 a them, has she been profuse in ornament! In passing through places 
 the where my fancy was charmed with more luxuriant, wild; and truly pic- 
 often turesque views than I had ever before met with, I could notayoid regrets 
 ich ting, that a country so captivating to the eye should be allotted to a race 
 den. of people who seem totally insensible of its beauties. But it is time to 
 tf return from this excursion, and pursue the progress of the husbandman 
 Inces through his remaining labours. 
 mith 
 ‘the Different nations have adopted various methods of separating the grain Modes of 
 rave from the ear. The most ancient we read of was that. of driving cattle ew 
 rely over the sheaves, in order to trample it out. Large planks; blocks of 
 ance marble; heavy carriages, have been employed in later times for this end. 
 al In most parts of Europe the flail is now in use, but in England begins 
 pte to be superseded by the powerful and expeditious, but complicated thresh- 
 i ing-machine. The Sumatrans have a mode differing from all these. 
 ye The bunches of padi in the ear being spread on mats,- they rub out the 
 
 grain between and under their feet ; supporting themselves, in common, 
 for the more easy performance of this labour, by holding with their hands 
 a bamboo placed horizontally over their heads. Although, by going 
 always unshod, their feet are extremely callous, and therefore adapted 
 to the exercise, yet the workmen when closely tasked by their masters, 
 sometimes continue shuffling till the blood issues from their soles. This 
 | is the universal practice throughout the island. 
 
 yeu : 
 
 After treading out, or threshing, the next process is to winnow the corn, 
 it DY (mengirei), which is done precisely in the same manner as practised by 
 ~ us. Advantage being taken of a windy day, it is poured out from a 
 % sieve or fan; the chaff dispersing, whilst the heavier grain falls to the 
 e ground. This simple mode seems to have been followed in all ages and 
 oa countries, though now giving place, in countries where the saving of 
 and labour is-a principal object, to mechanical contrivances, 
 ont 
 
 In order to clear the grain from the husk, by which operation the padi 
 nl acquires the name of rice (dras), and loses one half of its measured quan- 
 by: tity, two bamboos of the former yielding only one of the latter, it is first 
 
 M spread 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 spread out in the sunshine to dry (jumur), and then pounded in large 
 wooden mortars (/esting), with heavy pestles (a/z) made of a hard species 
 of wood, until the outer coat is completely separated from it ; when it is 
 again fanned. This business falls principally to the lot of the females of 
 the family, two of whom commonly work at thesame mortar. In some 
 places (but not frequently) it is facilitated by the use of a lever, to the end 
 of which a short pestle or pounder is fixed; and in others by a machine 
 which is a hollow cylinder or frustum of a cone, formed of heavy wood, 
 placed upon a solid block of the same diameter, the contiguous surfaces 
 of each being previously cut in notches or small grooves, and worked back- 
 wards and forwards, horizontally, by two handles or transverse arms; a 
 spindle fixed in the centre of the lower cylinder serving as an axis to the 
 upper or hollow one. Into this the grain is poured, and it is thus made 
 to perform the office of the hopper, at the same time with that of the 
 upper, or moveable stone, in our mills. In working, it is pressed down- 
 wards to increase the friction, which is sufficient to deprive the padi of 
 its outer coating. 
 
 The rice is now in a state forsale, exportation, or laying up. To 
 render it perfectly clean for eating, a point to which they are particu- 
 larly attentive, it is puta second time into a lesiing of smaller size, and 
 being sufficiently pounded without breaking the grains, it is again 
 winnowed, by tossing it dexterously in a flat sieve, until the pure and 
 spotless corns are separated from every particle of bran. ‘They next wash 
 it in cold water, and then proceed to boil it in the manner before de- 
 scribed. | 
 
 As an article of trade, the Sumatran rice seems to be of a more perish- 
 able nature than that of some other countries, the upland rice not being 
 expected to keep longer than twelve months, and the low-land shewing 
 signs of decay after six. At Natal there is a practice of putting a quan- 
 tity of the leaves of a shrub called lagundi {vitex trifolia) amongst it, in 
 granaries, or the holds of vessels, on the supposition of its possessing the 
 property of destroying or preventing the generation of weevils that usu- 
 ally breed in it. In Bengal, it is said, the rice intended for exportation 
 is steeped. in hot water, whilst still in the husk, and afterwards dried by 
 exposure 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ie 
 Cis 
 Iti 
 8 of 
 ame 
 end 
 ine 
 00d, 
 Ces 
 
 ck. 
 
 the 
 ale 
 the 
 ie 
 ; of 
 
 ICU: 
 ind 
 ain 
 ind 
 ash 
 
 SUMATRA, 
 
 exposure to the sun; owing to which precaution, it will continue sound 
 for two or three years, and is on that account imported for garrison store 
 at the European settlements. If retained in the state of padi, it will keep 
 very long without damaging.* The country people lay it up unthreshed 
 from the stalk, and beat it out (as we render their word tumbuk) from 
 time to time as wanted for use or sale. 
 
 The price of this necessary of life differs considerably throughout the 
 island, not only from the circumstances of the season, but according to 
 the general demand at the places where it is purchased, the degree of 
 industry excited by such demand, and the aptitude of the country to 
 supply it. The northern parts of the coast, under the influence of the 
 Achinese, produce large quantities ; particularly Susu and Tampat-tian, 
 where it is (or used to be) purchased at the rate of thirty bamboos (gal- 
 lons) for the Spanish dollar, and exported either to Achin or to the set- 
 tlement of Natal for the use of the Residency of Fort Marlborough. At 
 Natal also, and for the same ultimate destination, is collected the pro- 
 duce of the small island of Nias, whose industrious inhabitants, living 
 themselves upon the sweet potatoe (convolvulus batatas) cultivate rice 
 for exportation only, encouraged by the demand from the English and 
 (what were) the Dutch factories. Not any is exported from Natal of its 
 actual produce; a little from Ayer Buzigi; more from the extensive but 
 neglected districts of Pasaman and Masang, and many cargoes from the 
 country adjacent to Padang. Our pepper settlements to the northward 
 of Fort Marlborough, from Moco Moco to Laye inclusive, export each a 
 small quantity, but from thence southward to Kroi, supplies are required 
 for the subsistence of the inhabitants, the price varying from twelve to 
 four bamboos, according to the season. At our head settlement the con- 
 sumption of the civil and military establishments, the Com pany’s labourers, 
 together with the Chinese and Malayan settlers, so much exceeds the 
 produce of the adjoining districts (although exempted from any obligation 
 to cultivate pepper) that there is a necessity for importing a quantity 
 
 from 
 
 * Ihave in my possession specimens of a variety of species which were transmitted to-me 
 twelve years ago, and are still perfectly sound. 
 
 M 2 
 
 SF 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Coconut. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 from the islands of Java and Bally, and from Bengal, about three to six 
 
 thousand bags annually.’ 
 
 The rice called pulut or bras se-pulut (oryza gelatinosa) of which men- 
 tion has been made in the list (p. 66) is in its substance of a very pecu- 
 liar nature, and not used as common food, but with the addition of coco- 
 nut kernel, in making a viscous preparation called lemang which I have 
 seen boiled in a green bamboo, and other juadahs or friandises. It is 
 commonly distinguished into the white, red, and black sorts, among 
 which the red appears to be the most esteemed. The black chiefly is: 
 employed by the Chinese colonists at Batavia and Fort Marlborough in 
 the composition of a fermented liquor called bram or brum, of which the 
 basis is the juice extracted from a species of palm, 
 
 The Coconut tree, kalapa, nior (cocos nucifera) may be esteemed the 
 next important object of cultivation, from the uses to which its produce 
 is applied; although by the natives of Sumatra it 1s not converted to such 
 a variety of purposes as in the Maldives and those countries where nature 
 has been less bountiful in other gifts. Its value consists principally in 
 the kernel of the nut, the consumption of which is very great, being an 
 essential ingredient in the generality of their dishes. From this also, 
 but in a state of more maturity, is procured the oil in common use near 
 the sea-coast, both for anointing the hair, in cookery, and for burning 
 inlamps. In the interior country other vegetable oils are employed, and 
 light is supplied by a kind of links made of dammar or resin. A liquor, 
 commonly known in India by the name of toddy, is extracted from this 
 as well as from other trees of the palm-kind. Whilst quite fresh it 1s 
 sweet and pleasant to the taste, and is called mira. After four and 
 twenty hours it acidulates, ferments, and becomes intoxicating, in which 
 state it is called tuak. Being distilled with molasses and other ingredi- 
 ents, it yields the spirit called arrack. In addition to these, but of tri- 
 
 fling importance, are the cabbage or succulent pith at the head of the 
 tree, 
 
 * This has reference to the period between 1770 and 1780, generally. So far as respects 
 the natives there has been no material alteration. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
x 
 
 luce 
 uch 
 ure 
 ly 
 ea 
 iIs0, 
 neal 
 ing 
 and 
 01; 
 thi 
 t 1s 
 and 
 ich 
 
 ed 
 
 ects 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 tree, which, however, can be obtained only when it is cut down, and 
 the fibres of the leaves, of which the natives form their brooms. The 
 stem is never used for building, nor any carpenter's purposes, in a 
 country where fine timber so much abounds, The fibrous substance of 
 the husk is not there manufactured into cordage, asin the west of India, 
 where it is known by the name of coz; rattans and ¢ju (a substance to 
 be hereafter described), being employed for that purpose. ‘The shell of 
 the nut is but little employed as a domestic utensil, the lower class of 
 people preferring the bamboo and the labu (cucurbita lagenaria); and the 
 better sort being possessed of coarse china-ware. If the filaments sur- 
 rounding the stem are any where manufactured into cloth, as has been 
 asserted, it must be in countries that do not produce cotton, which is a 
 material beyond all comparison preferable: besides that certain kind of 
 trees, as before observed, afford, in their soft and pliable inner bark, 
 what may be considered as a species of cloth ready woven to their 
 hands. 
 
 This tree, in all its species, stages, fructification, and appropriate 
 uses, has been so elaborately and justly described by many writers, es- 
 pecially the celebrated Rumphius, in his Herbarium Amboinense, and 
 Van Rheede, in his Hortus Malabaricus, that to attempt it here would 
 be an unnecessary repetition, and I shall only add a few local observa- 
 tions on its growth. Every dusun is surrounded with a number of fruit- 
 bearing trees, and especially the coconut, where the soil and tempera- 
 ture will allow them to grow, and near the bazars or sea-port towns, 
 where the concourse of inhabitants is in general much greater than in 
 the country, there are always large plantations of them, to supply the 
 extraordinary demand. The tree thrives best in a low, sandy soil, near 
 the sea, where it will produce fruit m four or five years; whilst in the 
 elayey ground it seldom bears in less than seven to ten years. As you 
 recede from the coast the growth is proportionably slower, owing to the 
 creater degree of cold among the hills; and it must attain there nearly 
 its full height before it is productive, whereas in the plains a child can 
 generally reach its first fruit from the ground. Here, said a countryman 
 at Laye, if I plant a coconut, or durian tree, I may expect to reap the 
 
 fruit of it; but in Labun (an inland district) I should only plant for 
 my 
 
 
 
ie Pa ap 
 nS 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 
 
 
 
 my great-grandchildren. In some parts, where the land is particularly 
 high, neither these, the betelnut, nor pepper-vines, will produce fruit 
 at all. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 It has been remarked by some writer, that the great date-bearing 
 palm-tree, and the coconut, are never found to flourish in the same coun- 
 try. However this may hold good as a general assertion, it is a fact that 
 not one tree of that species is known to grow in Sumatra, where the 
 latter, and many others of the palm kind, so much abound. All the 
 small low islands which lie off the western coast are skirted, near the 
 sea-beach, so thickly with coconut trees, that their branches touch each 
 other, whilst the interior parts, though not on a higher level, are en- 
 tirely free from them. This, beyond a doubt, is occasioned by the 
 accidental floating of the nuts to the shore, where they are planted by 
 the hand of nature, shoot up, and bear fruit; which, falling when it 
 arrives at maturity, causes a successive reproduction. Where uninha- 
 bited, as is the case with Pulo Mego, one of the southernmost, the nuts 
 become a prey to the rats and squirrels; unless when occasionally dis- 
 turbed by the crews of vessels, which go thither to collect cargoes for 
 market on the main-land. In the same manner, as we are told by Fla- 
 court,* they have been thrown upon the coast of Madagascar, and are 
 not there indigenous; as I have been also assured by a native. Yet it 
 appears that the natives call it voaniou, which is precisely the name by 
 
 which it is familiarly known in Sumatra, being biah-nior; the v being 
 
 uniformly substituted for 6, and f for p, mm the numerous Malayan 
 
 words occurring in the language of the former island. On the other 
 hand, the singular production to w 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 hich the appellation of sea-coconut 
 (4alapalqut) has been given, and which is known to be the fruit of a 
 
 species of borassus growing in one of the Séchelles Islands,” not far from 
 Madagascar, are sometimes floated as far as the Malayan coasts, where 
 they are supposed to be natives of the ocean, and were held in high vye- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 neration 
 
 
 
 
 * Histoire deVisle Madagascar, p. 127, 
 
 
 
 ® See a particular description of the sea-coconut, with plates, in the Voyage a la Nou- 
 velle Guinée, par Sonnerat, p. 3. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 neration for their miraculous effects in medicine, until about the year 
 1772 a large cargo of them was brought to Bencoolen by a French ves- 
 sel, when their character soon fell with their price. ¢ 
 
 The pinang (areca catechu L.) or betel-nut tree (as itis usually, but 
 improperly, called, the betel being a different plant) is in its mode of 
 growth and appearance not unlike the coconut. It is, however, straight- 
 er in the stem, smaller in proportion to the height, and more graceful. 
 The fruit, of which the varieties are numerous, (such as the pinang betul, 
 pinang ambun, and pinang wang?) is, in its outer-coat, about the size of 
 a plumb ; the nut, something less than that of the nutmeg, but rounder. 
 This is eaten with the leaf of the strzh or betel (piper betel L.) a climbing 
 plant, whose leaf has a strong aromatic flavour, and other stimulating 
 additions ; a practice that shall be hereafter described. Of both of these 
 the natives make large plantations. 
 
 In respect to its numerous and valuable uses, the bambu or bamboo- 
 eane (arundo bambos) holds a conspicuous rank amongst the vegetables 
 of the island, though I am not aware that it is any where cultivated for 
 domestic purposes, growing wild, in most parts, in great abundance. 
 In the Batta country, and perhaps some other inland districts, they 
 plant a particular species very thickly about their kampongs or fortified 
 villages, as a defence against the attacks of an enemy; the mass of hedge 
 which they form being almost impenetrable. It grows in common to 
 the thickness of a man’s leg, and some sorts to that of the thigh. The 
 joints are from fifteen to twenty inches asunder, and the length about 
 twenty to forty feet. In all manner of building it is the chief material, 
 both in its whole state, and split into laths and otherwise, as has already 
 appeared in treating of the houses of the natives; and the various other 
 modes of employing it will be noticed either directly or incidentally in the 
 course of the work. 
 
 The sugar-cane (tubbu) is very generally cultivated, but not in large 
 quantities, and more frequently for the sake of chewing the juicy reed, 
 which they consider as a delicacy, than for the manufacture of sugar. 
 
 Yet this is not unattended to, for home consumption, especially in the 
 northern 
 
 8 
 
 Pinang or 
 betel-nut. 
 
 Bamboo. 
 
 Sugar-cane. 
 
 YY 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Jaggri. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 northern districts. By the Europeans and Chinese large plantations 
 have been set on foot near Bencoolen, and worked from time to time 
 with more or less effect; but in no degree to rival those of the Dutch at 
 Batavia, from whence, in time of peace, the exportation of sugar (gula), 
 sugar-candy (gua batu) and arrack, is very considerable. In the southern 
 parts of the island, and particularly in the district of Manna, every vil- 
 lage is provided with two or three machines, of a peculiar construction, 
 for squeezing the cane; but the inhabitants are content with boiling the 
 juice to a kind of sirop. In the Lampong country they manufacture 
 from the liquor yielded by a species of palm-tree, a moist, clammy, 
 imperfect kind of sugar, called jaggri in most parts of India. 
 
 This palm, named in Sumatra anau, and by the eastern Malays go- 
 muto, is the borassus gomutus of Loureiro, the saguerus pinnatus of the 
 Batavian Transact. and the cleophora of Gzertner. Its leaves are long 
 and narrow, and though naturally tending to a point, are scarcely ever 
 found perfect, but always jagged at the end. The fruit grows in bunches 
 of thirty or forty together, on strings three or four feet long, several of 
 which hang from one shoot. In order to procure the ma or toddy (held 
 in higher estimation than that from the coconut-tree), one of these shoots 
 for fructification is cut off a few inches from the stem, the remaining 
 part is tied up and beaten, and an incision is then made, from which 
 the liquor distils into a vessel or bamboo closely fastened beneath. This 
 is replaced every twenty-four hours. The anau palm produces also (be- 
 side a little sago) the remarkable substance called 7jz and gomuto, exactly 
 resembling coarse black horse-hair, and used for making cordage of a 
 very excellent kind, as well as for many other purposes, 
 incorruptible. It encompasses the stem of the tree, and is seemingly 
 bound to it by thicker fibres or twigs, of which the natives make pens 
 
 for writing. . Toddy is likewise procured from the lontar or borassus 
 flabellifer, the tala of the Hindus. 
 
 being nearly 
 
 The Rambiya, puhn sagu, or proper sago tree, is also of the palm kind. 
 
 Its 
 
 * This word is evidently the shakar of the Persians, the Latin saccharum, 
 
 and our sugar. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 SUMATRA. 89 
 
 tin f " , ‘ P : 2 
 , {ts trunk contains a fariaceous and glutinous pith, that being soaked, 
 
 dried, and granulated, becomes the sago of our shops, atid has been too 
 frequently and accurately described (by Rumphius, in particular; Vol. I. 
 ch. 17 and 18, and by M. Poivre) to need a repetition here. 
 
 — 
 i—J 
 co 
 
 cha 
 ua), 
 her 
 The nibong (caryota urens), another species of palm, grows wild in Nibong. 
 such abundance, as not to need cultivation. ‘The stem is tall, slender, 
 and straight, and being of a hard texture on the outer part, it is much 
 used for posts in building the slight houses of the country, as well as for 
 ny, paling of a stronger kind than the bamboo usually employed. Within- 
 side it is fibrous and soft, and when hollowed out, being of the nature 
 of.a pipe, is well adapted to the purpose of gutters or channels to con- 
 
 cto, 
 
 o th 
 
 tuys 
 
 5 gle vey water. The cabbage, as it is termed, or pith at the head of the 
 I the tree (the germ of the foliage) is eaten as a delicacy, and preferred to 
 long that of the coconut. 
 ever 
 shes The ntpah, (cocos nypa, Lour.) a low species of palm, is chiéfly valu- Nipab. 
 1 of able for its leaves, which are much used as thatch for the roofs of howsés. 
 held The pulpy kernels of the fruit (called biah atap) are preserved as a 
 o0ts sweetmeat, but are entirely without flavour. 
 ing 
 ich The paku bindu (cycas circinalis) has the general appearance of a Cycas. 
 his young, or rather dwarf coconut-tree, and like that and the xibong pro- 
 hes duces a cabbage that is much esteemed as a culinary vegetable. The 
 atl tender shoots are likewise eaten. The stem is short and knobby, the 
 fi lower part of each branch (if branches they may be called) prickly, and 
 ly the blossom yellow. The term paku, applied to it by the Malays, shews 
 sly that they consider it as partaking of the nature of the fern (filix), and 
 ie Rumphius, who names it sayor calappa and olus ¢alappoides, describes 
 » it as an arborescent species of osmunda. It is well depicted in Vol. I. 
 tab. 22. 
 F The maiz or Turkey-corn (zea mays), called jagong, though very Maiz. 
 lis generally sown, 1s not cultivated in quantities as an article of food, ex- 
 
 cepting in the Batta country. The ears are plucked whilst green, and, 
 being slightly roasted on the embers, are eaten as a delicacy. Chili or 
 Y | N Cayenne 
 
 
 
SU M-A TRA. 
 
 Cayenne pepper (capsicum), calléd improperly Jlada panjang or long 
 pepper, and also ada mérah, red pepper, which, in preference to the 
 common or black pepper, is used in their curries and with almost every 
 article of their food, always finds a place in their irregular and inartifi- 
 cial gardens. To these, indeed, their attention is very little directed, 
 in consequence of the liberality with which nature, unsolicited, supplies 
 their wants. Turmeric (curcuma) is a root of general use. Of this 
 there are two kinds, the one called kunyit mérah, an indispensable ingre- 
 dient in their curries, pilaws, and sundry dishes; the other, hunyit tummu 
 (a variety with coloured leaves, and a black streak running along the 
 mid-rib) is esteemed a good yellow dye, and is sometimes employed in 
 medicine. Ginger (amomum zinziber) is planted in small quantities. 
 Of this, also, there are two kinds, alia jai (zinziber majus), and alia 
 padas (zinziber minus), familiarly called se-padé or se-pudde, from a.word 
 signifying that pungent, acrid, taste in spices, which we express by the 
 vague term “hot.” The éwmmu (costus arabicus), and lampuyang (amo-— 
 mum zerumbet), are found both in the wild and cultivated state, being 
 used medicinally; as is also the galangale (kempferia galanga). The 
 coriander, called katumbar, and the cardamum, piah lako, grow in abund- 
 ance. Of the puah (amomum) they reckon many species, the most com- 
 mon of which has very large leaves, resembling those of the plantain 
 and possessing an aromatic flavour not unlike that of the bay tree. 
 The jintan or cumin-seed (cuminum) is sometimes an ingredient in cur- 
 ries. Of the Morurggei or kelor (guilandina moringa L. hyperanthera 
 moringa Wilden.), a tall shrub with pinnated leaves, the root has the 
 appearance, flavour, and pungency of the horse-radish, and the long 
 pods are dressed as a culinary vegetable; as are also the young shoots of 
 the priggi (cucurbita pepo), various sorts of the lapang or cucumber, 
 and of the lobak or radish. The tnez or henna of the Arabians (lawsonia 
 inermis) is a shrub with small light-green leaves, yielding an expressed 
 juice, with which the natives tinge the nails of their hands and feet. 
 -Ampalas (delima sarmentosa and ficus ampelos) is a shrub whose blossom 
 resembles that of our hawthorn in appearance and smell. Its. leaf has 
 an extraordinary roughness, on which account it is employed to give the 
 ast fine polish to carvings in wood and ivory, particularly the handles 
 and sheaths of their krises, on which they bestow much labour. The 
 
 leaf 
 
 
 
ain 
 
 ur- 
 era 
 the 
 ong 
 sof 
 
 nla 
 
 sed 
 
 om 
 Nas 
 he 
 es 
 he 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 leat of the stpit also, a climbing species of fig, having the same quality, 
 is put to the same use. Ganja or hemp (cannabis) is extensively ‘cul- 
 tivated, not for the purpose of making rope, to which they never apply 
 it, but to make an intoxicating preparation, called bang, which they 
 smoke in pipes along with tobacco. In other parts of India a drink is 
 prepared by bruising the blossoms, young leaves, and tender parts of the 
 stalk. Small plantations of tobacco, which the natives cal] tambaku, are 
 met with in every part of the country. The leaves are cut, whilst green, 
 into fine shreds, and afterwards dried in the sun. The species is the 
 same as the Virginian, and were the quantity increased, and people 
 more expert in the method of curing it, a manufacture and trade of con- 
 siderable importance might be established. 
 
 The kaluwi is a species of urtica or nettle, of which excellent twine, 
 called pulas, is made. It grows to the height of about four feet, has a 
 stem imperfectly ligneous, without branches. When cut down, dried, 
 and beaten, the rind is stripped off, and then twisted as we do the hemp. 
 It affords me great satisfaction to learn that. the manufacture of rope 
 from this useful plant has lately attracted the attention of the Company’s 
 Government, and that a considerable nursery of the kaluwi has been 
 established in the Botanic Garden at Calcutta, under the zealous and 
 active management of Dr. Roxburgh, who expresses his Opinion, that so 
 soon as a method shall be discovered of removing a viscid matter found to 
 adhere to the fibres, the kaluwwi hemp, or putas, will supersede every 
 other material. The bagu tree (gnetum gnemon, L.) abounds on the 
 southern coast of the island, where its bark is beaten, like hemp, and the 
 twine manufactured from it is employed in the construction of large 
 fishing nets. The young leaves of the tree are dressed in curries, In 
 the island of Nias they make a twine of the baru tree (hibiscus tiliaceus), 
 which is afterwards woven into a coarse cloth for bags. From the pisang 
 (musa) a kind of sewing-thread is procured by stripping filaments from 
 the mid-ribs of the leaves as well as from the stem. In some places this 
 thread is worked in the loom. The kratau, a dwarf species of mulberry 
 (morus, foliis profunde inCisis) is planted for the food of the silk-worms, 
 which they rear, but not to any great extent, and the raw silk produced 
 from them seems of but an indifferent quality. The samples I have seen 
 
 N 2 were 
 
 OI 
 
 Pulas twine. 
 
 
 
Elastic gum. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 were white instead of yellow, in large, flat cakes, which would require 
 much trouble to wind off, and the filaments appeared coarse; but this 
 may be partly occasioned by the method of loosening them from the bags, 
 which is by steeping them in hot water. Jarak (ricinus and palma 
 christi) from whence the castor oil is extracted, grows wild in abundance, 
 especially near the sea-shore. Byin (sesamum indicum) 1s sown exten- 
 sively. in. the interior districts, for the oil it produces, which is there used 
 for burning, in place of the coconut-oil so common near the coast. 
 
 In the description of the urceola elastica, or caowt-chouc vine, of Su- 
 matra and Pulo-Pinang, by Dr. W. Roxburgh, in the Asiat. Res. Vol. V. 
 p. 167, he says, “ For the discovery of this useful vine, we are, I be- 
 lieve, indebted to Mr. Howison, late surgeon at P. Pinang ; but it would 
 appear he had. no opportunity of determining its botanical character. 
 To Dr. Charles Campbell, of Fort Marlborough, we owe the gratifica- 
 tion arising from a knowledge thereof. About twelve months ago I 
 received from that gentleman, by means of Mr. Fleming, very complete 
 specimens, in full foliage, flower, and fruit. From these I was enabled 
 to reduce it to. its class and order in the Linnean system. It forms a 
 new genus immediately after tabernezmontana, and consequently belongs 
 to the class called contortz. One of the qualities of the plants of this 
 order is, their yielding, on being cut, a juice which is generally milky, 
 and for the most part deemed of a poisonous nature.’”’. Of another plant, 
 producing a similar substance, I received the following information from 
 Mr. Campbell, in a letter dated in November, 1803: ‘“‘ You may re- 
 member a trailing plant with a small yellowish flower, and a seed vessel 
 of an oblong form, containing one seed; the whole plant resembling 
 much the caout-chouc.. To this, finding it wholly non-descript, I have 
 taken the liberty to attach your name. It has no relationship to a 
 genus yielding a similar substance, of which I sent a specimen to Dr. 
 Roxburgh at Bengal, who published an account of it under the name of 
 urceola. It is called jintan by the Malays, and of its three species I 
 have accurately ascertained.two, the jintan itam and jintan burong, the 
 latter very rare. Its leaves are of a deep glossy green, and the flowers 
 lightly tinged with a pale yellow; it belongs to the tetrandria, and is a 
 handsome plant—but more of this with the drawing.” Unfortunately, — 
 
 however, 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 9S 
 
 ” however, neither this drawing, nor any part of his valuable collection 
 
 ba of materials for improving the natural history of that mteresting country, 
 
 is which he bequeathed to me by his will, have yet reached my hands. 
 
 lms 
 
 it, Mr. Charles Miller observed in the country, near Bencoolen, a gum Gum. 
 te. exuding spontaneously from the paty tree, which appeared very much 
 
 sed to resemble the gum-arabic ; and as they belong to the same genus of 
 
 plants, he thought it not improbable that this gum might be used for the 
 same purposes. In the list of new species by F. Norona (Batay. Trans. 
 
 Su Vol. V.) he gives to the pete of Java the name of acacia gigantea; which 
 y, I presume to be the same plant. 
 
 be- ° | 
 
 uld Kachang is a term applied to all sorts of pulse, of which a great variety Pulse. 
 et, is cultivated; as the kachang chana (dolichos sinensis), kachang putih 
 fcae (dolichos katjang), &. ka-karah (d. lignosus), #. kechil (phaseolus radiatus), 
 0 | hk. ka-karah gatal (dolichos pruriens) and many others. The kachang 
 lete tanah (arachis hypogzea) is of a different class, being the granulose roots 
 bled (or, according to some, the self-buried pods) of an herb with a yellow, 
 nS @ papilionaceous flower, the leaves of which have some resemblance to the 
 ong’ clover, but double only, and like it, affords rice pasture for cattle. “The 
 this seeds are always eaten fried or parched, from whence they obtain their 
 ky, common appellation of kachang goring. 
 
 The variety of roots of the yam and potatoe kind, under the general Yams. 
 
 ve name of 2, is almost endless; the dioscorea being generally termed 
 
 ie ubi kechil (small), and the convolvulus, «bz gaddng (large) ; some of which 
 
 ine latter, of the sort called at Bencoolen the China yam, weigh as much as 
 
 ~ forty pounds, and are distinguished into the white and the purple. The 
 
 ie fruit of the trong (melongena), of which the egg-plant is one species, is 
 
 Dr much eaten by the natives, split and fried. They are commonly known 
 
 : by the name of brinjals, from the beringélhas of the Portuguese. 
 
 | Tarum or indigo (indigofera tinctoria) being the principal dye-stuff Dyestufs. 
 ne they employ, the shrub is always found in their planted spots; but they — 
 - do not manufacture it into.a.solid substance, asis the practice elsewhere. 
 
 ~ The stalks and branches haying lain for some days in: water tosoak and 
 
 ly, macerate, 
 
 vel; 
 
 
 
Kasumba. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 macerate, they then boil it, and work among it with their hands a small 
 quantity of chunam (quick lime, from shells), with leaves of the paku 
 sabba { a species of fern) for-fixing the colour. It is afterwards drained 
 
 off, and made use of in the liquid state. 
 
 There is another kind of indigo, called in Sumatra tarum akar, which 
 appears to be peculiar to that country, and was totally unknown to bo- 
 tanists to whom I shewed the leaves upon my return to England. in the 
 beginning of the year 1780. [he common kind is known to have small. 
 pinnated leaves growing on stalks imperfectly ligneous. This, on the 
 contrary, is a vine, or climbing plant, with leaves from three to five inches 
 in length, thin, of a dark green, and in the dried state discoloured with 
 blue stains. It yields the same dye as the former sort ; they are pre- 
 pared also in the same manner, and used indiscriminately, no preference 
 being given to the one above the other, as the natives informed me ; ex- 
 cepting inasmuch as the tarum akar, by reason of the largeness of the 
 foliage, yields a greater proportion of sediment. Conceiving it might 
 prove a valuable plant in our colonies, and that it was of importance. in 
 the first instance that its identity and class should be accurately ascer- 
 tained, I procured specimens of its fructification, and deposited them 
 in the rich and extensively useful collection of my friend Sir Joseph 
 Banks. In a paper on the Asclepiadex, highly interesting to botanical 
 science, communicated by Mr. Robert Brown (who has lately explored 
 the vegetable productions of New Holland and other parts of the East) 
 to the Wernerian Society of Edinburgh, and printed in their Transac- 
 tions, he has done me the honour of naming the genus to which this 
 plant belongs, MARSDENIA, and this particular species Marsdenia tinc- 
 foria.* 
 
 Under the name of faswmba are included two plants yielding materials 
 for dying, but very different from each other. The kasumba (simply) or 
 
 kasumba 
 
 * «2. M. caule volubili, foliis cordatis ovato-oblongis acuminatis elabriusculis basi anticé 
 glandulosis, thyrsis lateralibus, fauce barbat4. Tarram akkar Marsd. Sumat. p. 78, edit. 9d. 
 Hab. In insula Sumatra. (v.s. in Herb. Banks.) 
 
 
 
Mall 
 
 Taine 
 
 Ute: 
 ence 
 EX: 
 ‘the 
 ht 
 
 Cer. 
 hem 
 ep 
 cal 
 
 st} 
 ace 
 this 
 Ti 
 
 ils 
 
 ba 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 fasumba jawa, as it is sometimes called, is the carthamus tinctorius, of 
 which the flowers are used. to produce a saffron colour, as the name im- 
 ports. . The kasumba kling or galuga is the bixa orellana, or arnotto of 
 the West Indies. Of this the capsule, about an inch in length, is co- 
 vered with soft prickles or hairs opens like a bivalve shell, and contains 
 in its cavities a dozen or more seeds, the size of grape-stones, thickly 
 covered with a reddish farina, which is the part that constitutes the 
 
 dye. 
 
 Sapang, the Brazil-wood, (cesalpinia sappan), whether indigenous or 
 not, is common in the Malayan countries. The heart of this being cut 
 into chips, steeped for a considerable time in water, and then boiled, is 
 used for dying here, as in other countries. The cloth or thread is re- 
 peatedly dipped in this liquid, and hung to dry between each wetting, 
 
 till itis brought to the shade required. To fix the colour, alum is added 
 
 in the boiling. 
 2 
 
 Of the tree called barigkiidu in some districts, and in others mangkudu 
 (morinda umbellata) the outward parts of the root, being dried, pounded, 
 and boiled in water, afford a red dye; for fixing which, the ashes pro- 
 cured from the stalks of the fruit and midribs of the leaves of the coconut 
 are employed. Sometimes the bark or wood of the sapang tree is mixed 
 with these roots. It is to be observed that another species of bavrigkudu, 
 with broader leaves (morinda citrifolia) does not yield any colouring mat- 
 ter; but is, as I apprehend, the tree commonly planted in the Malayan 
 peninsula and in Pulo Pinang, as a support to the pepper vine. 
 
 Ubar is a red wood resembling the logwood (hamatoxylon) of Hondu- 
 ras, and might probably be employed for the same purpose. It is used 
 by the natives in tanning twine for fishing nets, and appears to be the 
 okir or tanarius major of Rumph. Vol. III. p. 192. and jambolifera rezi- 
 noso of Lour, Fl. C.C. p. 231. Their black dye is commonly made 
 from the coats of the mangostin fruit and of the kataping (terminalia 
 catappa). With this the blue cloth from the west of India is changed to 
 a black, as usually worn by the Malays of Menargkabau. It is said to 
 be steeped in mud in order to fix the colour. 
 
 The 
 
 Red wood. 
 
 
 
To strengthen the 
 
 (the kiunyit tumma or variety of curcuma already 
 
 n of) is mixed with it, and alum to fix it; but as the yellow does 
 
 ed in water produce a yellow dye. 
 ll, it is necessary that the operation of steeping and drying 
 
 should be frequently repeated. 
 
 net 
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 into chips and boil 
 tint, a little turmeric 
 not hold we 
 
 spoke 
 
 20 See ee ee 
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a em 
 et the 
 lead 
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 tying 
 
 ma 
 
 a eS oo 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 Fruits, Flowers, Medicinal Shrubs and Herbs, 
 
 a 
 
 97 
 
 NATURE, says a celebrated writer,’ seems to have taken a pleasure in Fruits 
 
 assembling in the Malayan countries her most favourite productions ; 
 and with truth I think it may be affirmed, that no region of the earth 
 can boast an equal abundance and variety of indigenous fruits; for al- 
 though the whole of those hereafter enumerated cannot be considered as 
 such, yet there is reason to conclude that the greater part may; for the 
 natives, who never appear to bestow the smallest labour in improving or 
 even in cultivating such as they naturally possess, can hardly be sus- 
 pected of taking the pains to import exotics. The larger number grow 
 wild, and the rest are planted in a careless, irregular manner about their 
 
 villages. 
 
 The mangustin, called by the natives mariggis and maziggista (garcinia 
 mangostana, L.) is the pride of these countries, to which it exclusively 
 belongs, and has, by general consent, obtained, in the opinion of Eu- 
 ropeans, the pre-eminence amongst Indian fruits. Its characteristic 
 quality is extreme delicacy of flavour, without being rich or luscious. It 
 is a drupe of a brownish red colour, and the size of a common apple, 
 consisting of a thick rind, somewhat hard on the outside, but soft and 
 succulent within, encompassing kernels which are covered with a juicy 
 
 and 
 
 * « Les terres possédées par les Malais, sont en général de trés-bonne qualité, La nature 
 semble ayoir pris plaisir d’y placer ses plus excellentes productions. On y voit tous les 
 fruits délicieux que j’ai dit se trouver sur le territoire de Siam, et une multitude d’autres 
 fruits agréables qui sont particuliers 4 ces isles.” ‘On y respire un air embaumeé par une 
 multitude de fleurs agréables qui se succédent toute année, et dont Vodeur suave pénétre 
 jusqu’ 4 lame, et inspire la volupté Ja plus seduisante. Il n’est point de voyageur qui en 
 se promenant dans les campagnes de Malacca, ne se sente invité a fixer son séjour dans un 
 lieu si plein d’ agrémens, dont la nature seule a fait tous les frais.” 
 
 Voyages @’un Philosophe, par M. Povvre, p. 56. 
 O . 
 
 Mangustia 
 
 
 
a. 
 a bial 
 A a 
 
 , Wil 
 
 —_—s- - 
 sua iene corer ailieee 
 _— _ oe ee . 
 
 Durian. 
 
 Bread-fruit. 
 
 Jack-fruit. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 and perfectly white pulp, which is the part eaten, or, more properly, 
 sucked, for it dissolves in the mouth. Its qualities are as innocent as 
 they are grateful, and the fruit may be eaten in any moderate quantity 
 without danger of surfeit, or other injurious effects. The returns of its 
 season appeared to be irregular, and the periods short. 
 
 The durian (durio zibethinus) is also peculiar to the Malayan coun- 
 tries. It is a rich fruit, but strong, and even offensive, in taste as well as 
 smell, to those who are not accustomed to it, and of a very heating qua- 
 lity; yet the natives (and others who fall into their habits) are passion- 
 ately addicted to it, and during the time of its continuing in season live. 
 almost wholly upon its luscious and cream-like pulp; whilst the rinds, 
 thrown about in the bazars, communicate their scent to the surrounding 
 atmosphere. The tree is large and lofty ; the leaves are small in pro- 
 portion, but in themselves long and pointed. The blossoms grow in 
 clusters on the stem and larger branches, The petals are five, of a yel- 
 lowish white, surrounding five branches of stamina, each bunch con- 
 taining about twelve, and each stamen having four anther. The pointal 
 is knobbed at top. When the stamina and petal fall, the empalement 
 resembles a fungus, and nearly in shape, a Scot’s bonnet. The fruit is 
 
 in its general appearance not unlike the bread-fruit, but larger, and its 
 coat is rougher. 
 
 The sukan kapas, and sukun by or kalawi, are two species of the 
 bread-fruit tree (artocarpus incisa). The former is the genuine, edible 
 kind, without kernels, and propagated by cuttings of the roots. Though 
 by no means uncommon, it is said not to be properly a native of Suma- 
 tra. The kalawi, on the contrary, is in great abundance, and its bark 
 supplies the country people with a sort of cloth for their working dresses. 
 The leaves of both species are deeply indented, like those of the fig, but 
 considerably longer. The bread-fruit is cut in slices, and, being boiled 
 or broiled on the fire, is eaten with sugar, and much esteemed. It can- 
 not, however, be considered as an article of food, and I suspect that 
 in quality it is inferior to the bread-fruit of the South-Sea Islands, 
 
 The Malabaric name of jacca, or the jack-fruit, is applied both to 
 
 
 
On- 
 ive 
 ds, 
 ing 
 DI0- 
 Wi 
 yel- 
 O- 
 ntal 
 nent 
 it Is 
 its 
 
 he 
 ble 
 
 ut 
 led 
 
 lat 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 the champadak or chapada (artocarpus integrifolia, L. and polyphema jaca, 
 Lour.) and to the nangka (artocarpus integrifolia, L. and polyphema 
 champeden, Lour). Of the former the leaves are smooth and pointed ; 
 of the latter they are roundish, resembling those of the Cashew. This 
 is the more common, less esteemed, and larger fruit, weighing, — in 
 some instances, fifty or sixty pounds. Both grow in a peculiar manner 
 from the stem of the tree. ‘The outer coat is rough, containing a num- 
 ber of seeds or kernels (which, when roasted, have the taste of chesnuts) 
 inclosed in a fleshy substance, of a rich, and to strangers too strong smell 
 and flavour, but which gains upon the palate. When the fruit ripens, 
 the natives cover it with mats, or the like, to preserve it from injury by 
 the birds. Of the viscous juice of this tree they make a kind of bird- 
 lime: the yellow wood is employed for various purposes, and the root 
 yields a dye-stuff. 
 
 The mango, called marigga and mampalam (mangifera indica, L.) is 
 well known to be a rich, high-flavoured fruit of the plumb kind, and is 
 found here in great perfection; but there are many inferior varieties, 
 beside the ambachang, or mangifera foetida, and the fais. 
 
 Of the jambu (eugenia, L.) there are several species, among which 
 the jambu merah or kling (eug. malaccensis) is the most esteemed for the 
 table, and is also the largest. In shape it has some resemblance to the 
 pear, but is not so taper near the stalk. The outer skin, which is very 
 fine, is tinged with a deep and beautiful red, the inside being perfectly 
 white. Nearly the whole substance is edible, and when properly ripe 
 it is a delicious fruit; but otherwise, it is spongy and indigestible. In 
 smell, and even in taste, it partakes much of the flavour of the rose; but 
 this quality belongs more especially to another species, called jambu ayer 
 mawar, or the rose-water jambu. Nothing can be more beautiful than 
 the blossoms, the long and numerous stamina of which are of a bright pink 
 colour. ‘The tree grows in a handsome, regular, conical shape, and has 
 large, deep-green, pointed leaves. The jambu ayer (eugenia aquea) is 
 a delicate and beautiful fruit in appearance, the colour being a mixture 
 of white and pink; but in its flavour, which is a faint, agreeable acid, 
 it does not equal the jambu merah. 
 
 QO 2 Of 
 
 Mango. 
 
 Jambu. 
 
 99 
 
 ie 
 
 
 
100 
 
 Plantain. 
 
 Pine-apple. 
 
 Custard-apple, 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 Of the pisang, or plantain (musa paradisiaca, L.) the natives reckon 
 above twenty varieties, including the banana of the West Indies. Among 
 these the pisang amas, or small yellow plantain, is esteemed the most 
 delicate; and next to that the pisang raja, pisang dingen, and pisang 
 kallé. 
 
 The nanas, or pine-apple (bromelia ananas), though certainly not 
 indigenous, grows here in great plenty with the most ordinary culture. 
 Some think them inferior to those produced from hot-houses in England; 
 but this opinion may be influenced by the smallness of their price, which 
 does not exceed two or three pence. With equal attention, it is pro- 
 bable, they might be rendered much superior, and their variety is con- 
 siderable. The natives eat them with salt. 
 
 Oranges (limau manis) of many sorts, are in the highest perfection. 
 That called dimau japin, or Japan orange, is a fine fruit, not commonly 
 known in Europe. In this the cloves adhere but slightly to each other, 
 and scarcely at all to the rind, which contains an unusual quantity of 
 the essential oil. The dimau gaddéng, or pumple-nose (citrus aurantium) 
 
 called in the West Indies the shaddock (from the name of the captain 
 
 who carried them thither), is here very fine, and distinguished into the 
 white and red sorts. Limes or limau kapas, and lemons, limau kapas 
 panjang, are inabundance. The natives enumerate also the limau largea, 
 limau kambing, limau prpit, limau sindi masam, and limau sindi manis. 
 The true citron, or limau karbau, is not common, nor in esteem. 
 
 The guava (psidium pomiferum) called jambu bzji, and also jambu pro- 
 tukal (for Portugal, in consequence, as we may presume, of its haying 
 been introduced by the people of that country) has a flavour which some 
 admire, and others equally dislike. The pulp of the red sort is some- 
 times mixed with cream by Europeans, to imitate strawberries, from a 
 fond partiality to the productions of their native soil; and it is not un- 
 usual, amidst a profusion of the richest eastern fruits, to sigh for an 
 English codling or gooseberry. 
 
 The sirt kaya, or custard-apple (annona squamosa), derives its name 
 from 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 10] 
 
 ho from the likeness which its white and rich pulp bears to a custard, and. 
 ig it is accordingly eaten with a spoon. The nona, as it is called by the 
 mn natives (annona reticulata), is another species of the same fruit, but not 
 is so grateful to the taste. 
 
 The kaliki, or papaw (carica papaja), is a large, substantial, and Papaw. 
 
 ) Na wholesome fruit, in appearance not unlike a smooth sort of melon, but 
 tar, not very highly flavoured. The pulp is of a reddish yellow, and the 
 and seeds, which are about the size of grains of pepper, have a hot taste like 
 nich cresses. The water-melon, called here samangka (cucurbita citrullus) 1s 
 Dn of very fine quality. The rock, or musk melons, are not common. 
 
 on 
 
 Tamarinds, called asam jawa, or the Javan acid, are the produce of Tamarind. 
 a large and noble tree, with small pinnated leaves, and supply a grateful 
 
 tion, relief in fevers, which too frequently require it. The natives preserve 
 only them with salt, and use them as an acid ingredient in their curries and 
 her, other dishes. . It may be remarked, that in general they are not fond of 
 v of sweets, and prefer many of their fruits whilst green, to the same in their 
 sl ripe state. 
 stain 
 the The rambutan (nephelium lappaceum, L, Mant.) is in appearance not Rambutap. 
 pas much unlike the fruit of the arbutus, but larger, of a brighter red, and 
 v4, covered with coarser hair or soft spines, from whence it derives its name. 
 ms The part eaten is a gelatinous and almost transparent pulp surrounding 
 
 the kernel, of a rich and pleasant acid. 
 
 The lanseh, likewise but little known to botanists, is a small, oval Lanseh. 
 
 sh fruit, of a whitish brown colour, which, being deprived of its thin outer 
 mg coat, divides into five cloves, of which the kernels are covered with a 
 e fleshy pulp, subacid, and agreeable to the taste. Ihe skin contains a 
 a clammy juice, extremely bitter, and, if not stripped with care, it is apt 
 hg to communicate its quality tothe pulp.. M. Corréa de Serra, in les An- 
 Ul nales du Mus. d’ Hist. Nat. Tom. X. p. 157. pl. 7. has given.a description 
 
 of the lansium domésticum, from specimens of the fruit preserved in the 
 collection of Sir Joseph Banks. The chupak, ayer-ayer, and rambé are 
 species or varieties of the same fruit. 
 
 ne Of 
 
 pt 
 
 
 
ee ee 
 
 7 
 met a on EE Sere pee 
 Sh ey 
 * a i ee ES SS ’ 
 — — . 
 - & = > 
 — = 
 
 __ 
 
 me 
 
 ——— Oe od 
 
 ee 
 ee 
 
 patina — 
 . —— ——— > = 
 a — mir ta et 
 oan , — << PI Ae ao - = 
 ee ~ se a « , 
 
 _: <2 
 . oe 
 
 ya vem 
 
 Rae Ae 
 
 +2 Pe 
 
 102 
 
 Blimbing. 
 
 Kataping. 
 
 Species of » 
 
 chesnut, 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 Of the blimbing (averrhoa carambola) a pentagonal fruit, containing 
 five flattish seeds, and extremely acid, there are two sorts, called pen- 
 juru and best. The leaves of the latter are small, opposite, and of a sap- 
 green; those of the former grow promiscuously, and are of a silver green. 
 There is also the biimbing bulu (averrhoa billimbi), or smooth species, 
 Their uses are chiefly in cookery, and for purposes where a strong acid 
 is required, asin cleaning the blades of their krises and bringing out the 
 damask, for which they are so much admired. The cherem; (averrhoa 
 acida) is nearly allied to the blimbing bes?, but the fruit is smaller, of an 
 irregular shape, growing in clusters close to the branch, and containing 
 each a single hard seed or stone. It isa common substitute for our acid 
 fruits in tarts. 
 
 The kataping (terminalia catappa, L. and juglans catappa, Lour.) 
 resembles the almond both in its outer husk and the flavour of its kernel : 
 but instead of separating into two parts, like the almond, it is formed of 
 spiral folds, and is developed somewhat like a rose-bud, but continuous, 
 and not in distinct lamine. 
 
 The bararigan (a species of fagus) resembles the chesnut. The tree 
 is large, and the nuts grow sometimes one, two, and three in a husk. 
 The jerring, a species of mimosa, resembles the same fruit, but is larger 
 and more irregularly shaped than the barangan. The tree is smaller. The 
 tapus (said to be anew genus belonging to the tricoccz) has likewise some 
 analogy, but more distant, to the chesnut. There are likewise three 
 nuts in one husk, forming in shape an oblong spheroid. If eaten un- 
 boiled, they are said to inebriate. The tree is large. 
 
 The fruit named kamiri, kamiling, and more commonly buah kras, or 
 the hard fruit (camirium cordifolinm, Geert. and juglans camirium, Lour.) 
 bears much resemblance to the walnut in the flavour and consistence of 
 the kernel; but the shell is harder, and does not open in the same 
 manner. The natives of the hills make use of it as a substitute for the 
 coconut, both in their cookery, and for procuring a delicate oil. 
 
 The rotan salak (calamus zalacca, Geert.) yields a fruit, the pulp of 
 7 which 
 
 
 
ree 
 Kk. 
 or 
 
 SS ee 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 which is sweetish, acidulous, and pleasant. Its outer coat, like those 
 of the other rotans, is covered with scales, or the appearance of nice 
 basket-work. It incloses sometimes one, two, and three kernels, of a 
 peculiar horny substance. 
 
 SEE 6 PE ok ak wl Es ok no 
 ees 
 
 105 
 
 The cashew-apple and nut, called jambu muniet, or monkey-jambu Cashew. 
 
 (anacardium occidentale), are well known for the strong acidity of the 
 former, and the caustic quality of the oil contained in the latter, from 
 tasting which the inexperienced often suffer. 
 
 The pomegranate or dalima (punica granatum) flourishes here, as in Pomegranate. 
 
 all warm climates. 
 
 Grape-vines are planted with success by Europeans for their tables, Grapes, &c. 
 
 but not cultivated by the people of the country. There is found in the 
 woods a species of wild grape, called prigat (vitis indica); and also a 
 strawberry, the blossom of which is yellow, and the fruit has little fla- 
 vour. Beside these there are many other, for the most part wild fruits, 
 of which some boast a fine flavour, and others are little superior to our 
 common berries, but might be improved by culture. Such are the buak 
 kandis, a variety of garcinia (it should be observed that buah, signifying 
 fruit, is always prefixed to the particular name), buah malaka (phyllan- 
 thus emblica), rukam (carissa spinarum), baigkudu or maigkudu (mo- 
 
 rinda citrifolia), sikaduduk (melastoma), kitapan (callicarpa japonica). 
 
 << You breathe in the country of the Malays (says the writer before 
 quoted) an air impregnated with the odours of innumerable flowers of 
 the greatest fragrance, of which there is a perpetual succession through- 
 out the year, the sweet flavour of which captivates the soul, and inspires 
 the most voluptuous sensations,’ Although this luxurious picture may 
 be drawn in tuo warm tints, it is not, however, without its degree of 
 justness, The people of the country are fond of flowers in the ornament 
 of their persons, and encourage their growth, as well as that of various 
 odoriferous shrubs and trees. 
 
 The kanaviga (uvaria cananga, L.) being a tree of the largest size, sur- 
 passed 
 
 Flowers. 
 
 Kananga. 
 
 
 
Champaka, 
 
 Hibiscus. 
 
 Plumeria. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 passed by few in the forest, may well take the lead, on that account, in 
 a description of those which bear flowers. These are of a greenish yel- 
 low, scarcely distinguishable from the leaves, among which the bunches 
 hang down in a peculiar manner. About sun-set, if the evening be 
 calm, they diffuse a fragrance around that affects the sense at the distance 
 of some hundred yards. 
 
 Champaka (michelia champaca). This tree grows in a regular, co- 
 nical shape, and is ornamental in gardens. The flowers are a kind of 
 small tulip, but close and pointed at top; their colour a deep yellow; the 
 scent strong, and at a distance agreeable. They are wrapped in the 
 folds of the hair, both by the women, and by young men who aim at 
 gallantry. 
 
 Bunga tanjong (mimusops elengi, L.) A fair tree, rich in foliage, of 
 a dark green; the flowers small, radiated, of a yellowish white, and 
 worn in wreaths by the women; their scent, though exquisite at a dis- 
 tance, is too powerful when brought nigh. The fruit is a drupe, con- 
 
 taining a large, blackish, flatted seed. 
 
 Saigklapa (gardenia flore simplice). A handsome shrub with leaves 
 of very deep green, long-pointed; the flowers a pure white, without 
 visible stamina or pistil, the petals standing angularly to each other. 
 It has little or no scent. The pachah-piring (gardenia florida, described 
 by Rumph. under the name of catsjopiri) is a grand, white, double flower, 
 emitting a pleasing and not powerful odour. : 
 
 The buriga raya (hibiscus rosa sinensis) is a well-known shrub, with 
 leaves of a yellowish green, ‘serrated and curled. Of one sort the flower 
 is red, yielding a juice of deep ‘purple, and when applied to leather 
 produces a bright black; from whence its vulgar name of the shoe-flower. 
 Of another sort the blossom is white. They are without smell. 
 
 Burga or kumbang kamboja (plumeria obtusa) is likewise named buriga 
 kubur-an, from its being always planted about graves. The flower is large, 
 white, yellow towards the centre, consisting of five simple, smooth, 
 
 thick 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 thick petals, without visible pistil or stamina, and yielding a strong scent. 
 The leaf of the tree is long, pointed, of a deep green, remarkable in this, 
 that round the fibres proceeding from the midrib rtm another set near 
 the edge, forming a handsome border. ‘The tree grows in a stunted, irre- 
 gular manner, and even whilst young has a venerable, antique appear- 
 ance. 
 
 The buriga malati and bwiga malur (nyctanthes sambac) are different 
 names for the same humble plant, called mugri in Bengal. It bears a 
 pretty, white flower, diffusing a more exquisite fragrance, in the opinion 
 of most persons, than any other of which the country boasts. It is much 
 worn by the females ; sometimes in wreaths, and various combinations, 
 along with the buziga tanjong, and frequently the unblown buds are 
 strung in imitation of rows of pearls. It should be remarked, that the 
 appellative buxga, or flower, (pronounced burigo in the south-western 
 parts of Sumatra), is almost ever prefixed to the proper name, as buah 
 is to fruits. There is also the malati china (nyctanthes multiflora) ; the 
 elegant buriga malati sisun (nyctanthes acuminata); and the celebrated 
 bwiga tonking (pergularia odoratissima), whose fascinating sweets have 
 been widely dispersed in England by the successful culture and liberal 
 participation of Sir Joseph Banks. At Madras it obtained the appella- 
 tion of West-coast, z.e. Sumatran creeper, which marks the quarter from 
 whence it was obtained. At Bencoolen, the same appellation is familiarly 
 applied to the buziga tali-tali (ipomcea quamoclit), a beautiful, little, 
 monopetalous flower, divided into five angular segments, and closing at 
 sunset. From its bright crimson colour, it received from Rumphius the 
 name of flos cardinalis. The plant is a luxuriant creeper, with a hair- 
 like leaf. 
 
 The arigstika, or buiga jarum-jarum (pavetta indica), obtained from 
 Rumphius, on account of the glowing red colour of its long calices, the 
 name of flamma sylvyarum peregrina. The buriga marak (poinciana pul- 
 cherrima) is a most splendid flower, the colours being a mixture of yellow 
 and scarlet, and its form being supposed to resemble the crest of the 
 
 peacock, from whence its Malayan name, which Rumphius translated. 
 
 P The 
 
 Nyctanthes, 
 
 Pergularia. 
 
 Pavetta in- 
 dica, &c. 
 
 
 
ry 
 ee 
 
 lll ie a — 
 a 
 
 Fo Ee ea a 
 
 See a 
 . . a ae 
 
 ‘oe. 
 
 Epidendra. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 The nagasari (calophyllum nagassari) bears a much admired blossom, 
 
 well known in Bengal; but in the upper parts of India, called nagakeh- 
 sir, and in the Batavian Trans. acacia aurea. ‘The bakong, or salandap 
 (crinum Asiaticum), is a plant of the lily kind, with six large, white, 
 turbinated petals of an agreeable scent. It grows wild, near the beach, 
 amongst those plants which bind the loose sands. Another and beauti- 
 ful species of the bakong has a deep shade of purple mixed with the white. 
 
 The kachubong (datura metel) appears also to flourish mostly by the sea- 
 side. It bears a white, infundibuliform flower, rather pentagonal than 
 round, with a small hook at each angle. The leaves are dark green, 
 pointed, broad and unequal at the bottom. The fruit is shaped like an 
 apple, very prickly, and full of small seeds. Sundal malam or harlot 
 of the night (polyanthes tuberosa), is so termed, from the circumstance 
 of its diffusing its sweet odours at that season. It is the tuberose of our 
 gardens, but growing with great vigour and luxuriance. The burga 
 mawur (rosa semperflorens, Curtis, No. 284), is small, and of a deep crim- 
 son colour. Its scent is delicate, and by no means so rich as that yielded 
 by the roses of our climate. The amaranthus cristatus ( celosia castrensis, 
 L.) is probably a native, being found commonly in the interior of the 
 
 -Batta country, where strangers have rarely penetrated. The various 
 
 species of this genus are called by the general name of buyam, of which 
 some are edible, as before observed. 
 
 Of the pandan (pandanus), a shrub with very long, prickly leaves, like 
 those of the pine-apple or aloe, there are many varieties, of which some 
 are highly fragrant, particularly the pandan wag? (pandanus odoratis- 
 sima, L.), which produces a brownish white spath or blossom, one or 
 two feet in length. ‘This the natives shred fine and wear about their per- 
 sons. The pandan pudak, or keura of Thunberg, which is also fragrant, 
 I have reason to believe the same as the wavigi. The common sort is 
 employed for hedging, and called caldera by Europeans in many parts 
 of India. In the Nicobar islands it is cultivated, and yields a fruit 
 called the melori, which is one of the principle articles of food. 
 
 Buriza anggrek (epidendrum). The species or varieties of this re- 
 markable tribe of parasitical plants are very numerous, and may be 
 said 
 
 
 
me 
 is. 
 
 ['- 
 t, 
 
 rhs 
 ult 
 
 SUMATRA, 
 
 said to exhibit a variety of loveliness. Keempfer describes two kinds by 
 the names of angurek warna and katong’ging ; the firstof which I appre- 
 hend to be the avigerek buriga putri (angreecum scriptum, R.) and the 
 other the avggrek kasturi (angreecum moschatum, R.) or scorpion flower, 
 from its resembling that insect, as the former does the butter-fly.. The 
 musky scent resides at the extremity of the tail.* 
 
 The buriga tarati or serwja (nymphzea nelumbo) as well as several other 
 
 beautiful kinds of aquatic plants, are found upon the inland waters of W 
 
 this country. Daum gundi or tabung bru (nepenthes destillatoria) can 
 scarcely be termed a flower, but isa very extraordinary climbing plant. 
 From the extremity of the leaf a prolongation of the mid-rib, resem- 
 bling the tendril of a vine, terminates in a membrane formed like a 
 tankard with the lid or valve half opened; and growing always nearly 
 erect, it is commonly half full of pure water from the rain or dews. 
 This monkey-cup (as the Malayan name implies) is about four or five 
 inches long and an inch in diameter. Giring landak (erotalaria retusa) 
 is a papilionaceous flower, resembling the lupin, yellow, and tinged 
 at the extremities with red. From the rattling of its seed in the pod it 
 obtains its name, which signifies porcupine-bells, alluding to the small 
 bells worn about the ancles of children. The daup (bauhinia) is a small, 
 white, semiflosculous flower, with a faint smell. The leaves alone 
 attract notice, being double, as if united by a hinge, and this peculi- 
 arity suggested the Linnzan name, which was given in compliment to 
 
 two brothers of the name of Bauhin, celebrated botanists, who always 
 worked conjointly. 
 
 To the foregoing list, in every respect imperfect, many interesting 
 
 plants 
 
 *** Habetur hec planta apud Javanos in deliciis et magno studio colitur 3 tum ob floris 
 eximium odorem, quem spirat, moschi, tum ob singularem elegantiam et figuram scorpionis, 
 quam exhibet....... spectaculo sané jocundissimo, ut negem quicquam elegantius et 
 admiratione dignius in regno vegetabili me vidisse....... Odorem flos moschi ex- 
 quisitissimum atque adeo copiosum spargit, ut unicus stylus floridus totum conclave 
 impleat. Qui vero odor, quod maximé mireris, in extrema parte petali caudam referentis, 
 residet; qua abicissd, omnis cessat odoris expiratio.” Ameen exotice, p. 868. 
 
 r 
 
 ater lilies, 
 &e, 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 plants might be added by an attentive and qualified observer. The 
 natives themselves have a degree of botanical knowledge that surprises 
 Europeans. They are in general, and at a very early age, acquainted 
 not only with the names, but the properties of every shrub and herb 
 amongst that exuberant variety with which the island is clothed. They 
 distinguish the sexes of many plants and trees, and divide several of 
 the genera into as many species as our professors. Of the paku or fern 
 I have had specimens brought to me of twelve sorts, which they told 
 me were not the whole, and to each they gave a distinct name. 
 
 Medicinal Some of the shrubs and herbs employed medicinally are as follows. 
 sigs Scarcely any of them are cultivated, being culled from the woods or 
 plains as they happen to be wanted. 
 
 Lagundi (vitex trifolia, L.). The botanic characters of this shrub are 
 well known. The leaves, which are bitter and pungent rather than 
 aromatic, are considered as a powerful antiseptic, and are employed 
 in fevers in the place of Peruvian bark. They are also put into 
 granaries, and among cargoes'of rice to prevent the destruction of the 
 grain by weevils. 
 
 Katupong resembles the nettle in growth; in fruit the blackberry. 
 I have not been able to identify it. The leaf,. being chewed, is used 
 in dressing small fresh wounds. Stup, a kind of wild fig, is applied 
 to the scurf or leprosy of the Nias people, when not inveterate. 
 Sikaduduk (melastoma) has the appearance of a wild rose. A decoction 
 of its leaves is used for the cure of a disorder in the sole of the foot, 
 called maltus, resembling the impetigo or ring-worm. Ampadu-bruang 
 or bear’s gall (brucea, foliis serratis) is the lussa raja of Rumphius, 
 excessively bitter, and applied in infusion, forthe relief of disorders in 
 the bowels. Kabu (unknown). Of this the bark and root are used for 
 curing the kidis or itch, by rubbing it on the part affected. Maram- 
 puyan (a new genus). The young shoots of this, being supposed to 
 have a refreshing and corroborating quality, are rubbed over the body 
 and limbs after violent fatigue. Mali-mali (unknown). The leaf of 
 this plant, which bears a white umbellated blossom, is applied to reduce 
 
 swellings. 
 
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eth 
 
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 SUMATRA. 
 
 swellings. Chapo (conyza balsamifera) resembles the sage (salvia) in 
 colour, smell, taste, and qualities, but grows to the height of six feet, 
 has a long jagged leaf, and its blossom resembles that of groundsel. 
 Murribuigan (unknown). The leaves of this climber are broad, round- 
 ish, and smooth. The juice of its stalk is applied to heal excoriations 
 of the tongue. Ampi-ampi (unknown). A climbing plant, with leaves 
 resembling the box, and a small flosculous blossom. it is used as a 
 medicine in fevers. Kadu (sp. of piper), with a leaf in shape and taste 
 resembling the betel. It is burned to preserve children newly-born 
 from the influence of evil spirits. Gumbai (unknown). A shrub with 
 monopitalous, stillated, purple flowers, growing in tufts. The leaves 
 are used in disorders of the bowels. Tabulan bukan (unknown). A 
 shrub bearing a semiflosculous blossom, applied to the cure of sore eyes. 
 Kachang prang (dolichos ensiformis). The pods of this are of a huge 
 size, and the beans, of a fine crimson colour, are used in diseases of 
 the pleura. Spit, a species of fig, with a large oval leaf, rough to the 
 touch, and-rigid. An infusion of it is swallowed in iliac affections, 
 Daun se-dirigin (cotyledon laciniata). This leaf, as the name denotes, 
 is of a remarkably cold quality. It is applied to the forehead to cure 
 the head-ach, and sometimes to the body in fevers. Long pepper (piper 
 longum) is used medicinally. Turmeric, also, mixed with rice reduced 
 to powder, and then formed into a paste, is much used outwardly, in 
 eases of colds, and pains in the bones; and chunam or quick lime, is 
 likewise commonly rubbed on parts of the body affected with pain. In 
 the cure of the kura or boss (from the Portuguese word bago), which is 
 an obstruction of the spleen, forming a hard lump in the upper part of 
 the abdomen, a decoction of the following plants is externally applied : 
 siptt turiggul ; madang tandok (a new genus, highly aromatic); at: ayer 
 (sp. of arum?) ¢apa best ; paku tiong (a most beautiful fern, with leaves 
 like a palm; genus not ascertained) ; capa badak (a variety of callicarpa); 
 laban (vitex altissima); pisang ruko (sp. of musa) ; and paku lamiding 
 (sp. of polypodium ?); together with a juice extracted from the akar 
 malabatei (unknown). In the cure of the kurap, tetter or ringworm, 
 they apply the daun galiiggan (cassia quadri-alata) an herbaceous shrub, 
 with large pinnated leaves and a yellow blossom. In the more inveterate 
 cases, barargan (coloured arsenic, or orpiment), a strong poison, is rubbed 
 
 in, 
 
 109 
 
 
 
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 lid 
 
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 Wi 
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 UTE E 
 
 Upas tree. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 in. The milky exsudation from the sudu-sudu (euphorbia nerii folia) is 
 valued highly by the natives for medical purposes. Its leaves eaten 
 by sheep or goats occasion present death. 
 
 On the subject of the pithn upas or poison tree (arbor toxicaria, R.), 
 of whose properties so extraordinary an account was published in the 
 London Magazine for September, 1785, by Mr. N.P Foersch, a surgeon 
 in the service of the Dutch East India Company, at that time in Eng- 
 land, I shall quote the observations of the late ingenious Mr. Charles 
 Campbell, of the medical establishment at Fort Marlborough. ‘*On 
 my travels in the country at the back of Bencoolen I found the upas 
 tree, about which so many ridiculous tales have been told. Some seeds 
 must by this time have arrived in London in a packet I forwarded to 
 Mr. Aiton at Kew. ‘The poison is certainly deleterious, but not in so 
 terrific a degree as has been represented. Some of it in an inspissated 
 state you will receive by an early opportunity. As to the tree itself, it 
 does no manner of injury to those around it. I have sat under its shade, 
 and seen birds alight upon its branches ; and as to the story of grass 
 not growing beneath it, every one who has been in a forest must know 
 that grass is not found in such situations.” For further particulars re- 
 specting this poison-tree, which has excited so much interest, the reader 
 is referred to Sir George Staunton’s Account of Lord Macartney’s Em- 
 bassy, Vol. I. p.272.; to Pennant’s Outlines of the Globe, Vol. IV. 
 p. 42. where he will find a copy of Foersch’s original narrative ; and to 
 a Dissertation by Professor C. P. Thunberg upon the Arbor toxicaria 
 Macassariensis, in the Mem. of the Upsal Acad. for 1788. The in- 
 formation given by Rumphius upon the subject of the Jpo or Upas, in 
 his Herb. Amboin. Vol. II. p. 263. will also be perused with satisfac- 
 tion." It is evident that some of the exaggerated stories related to him 
 
 * Since the above was written I have seen the “ Dissertation sur les Effets d’un Poison 
 de Java, appelé Upas tieuté, &c.; présentée a Ja Faculté de Médicine de Paris le 6 Juillet 
 1809, par M. Alire Raffeneau-Delile,” in which he details a set of curious and interesting 
 experiments on this very active poison, made with specimens brought from Java by M. 
 Leschenault; and also a second dissertation, in manuscript, (presented to the Royal Society,) 
 upon the effects of similar experiments made with what he terms the upas antiar. The 
 
 former he states to be a decoction or extract from the bark of the roots OF a climbing plant 
 
 of 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. ill 
 
 by the people of Celebes (the plant not being indigenous at Amboina) 
 suggested to Mr. Foersch, the fables with which he amused the world. 
 
 | of the genus strychnos, called tieuté by the natives of Java; and the latter to be a milky, 
 bitter, and yellowish juice, running from an incision in the bark of a large tree (new genus) 
 called antiar ; the word uwpas meaning, as M. Leschenault understands, vegetable poison of 
 al) any kind. A small branch of the puhn upas, with some of the poisonous gum, was brought to 
 Ne. England in 1806, by Dr. Roxburg, who informed Mr. Lambert that a plant of it which he 
 Jes had procured from Sumatra was growing rapidly in the Company’s Botanic Garden at 
 " Calcutta. A specimen of the gum, by the favour of the latter gentleman, is in my pos< 
 session, 
 
 ASS 
 
 g 
 I 
 
 ! Beasts. | 
 
 
 
SUMAT RA. 
 
 Beasts.—Reptiles.—Fish.—Birds.—JInsects. 
 
 THE animal kingdom claims attention, but the quadrupeds of the island 
 being in general the same as are found elsewhere throughout the East, 
 already well described, I shall do little more than furnish a list of those 
 which have occurred to my notice; adding a few observations on such as 
 may appear to require them. 
 
 The karbau, or buffalo, constituting a principal part of the food of 
 the natives, and being the only animal employed in their domestic la- 
 bours, it is proper that I should enter into some detail of its qualities 
 and uses; although it may be found not to differ materially from the 
 buffalo of Italy, and to be the same with that of Bengal. The indivi- 
 
 duals of the species, as is the case with other domesticated cattle, differ 
 extremely from each other in their degree of perfection, and a judgment 
 is not to be formed of the superior kinds, from such as are usually fur- 
 nished as provision to the ships from Europe. They are distinguished 
 into two sorts; the black and the white. Both are equally employed in 
 work, but the latter is seldom killed for food, being considered much 
 inferior in quality, and by many as unwholesome, occasioning the body 
 to break out in blotches. If such be really the effect, it may be pre- 
 sumed that the light flesh-colour is itself the consequence of some original 
 disorder, as in the case of those of the human species who are termed 
 white negroes. ‘The hair upon this sort is extremely thin, scarcely serv- 
 ing to cover the hide; nor have the black buffaloes a coat like the cattle 
 of England. The legs are shorter than those of the ox, the hoofs larger, 
 and the horns are quite peculiar, being rather square or flat than round, 
 excepting near the extremities ; and whether pointing backward, as in 
 general, or forwards, as they often do, are always in the plane of the 
 forehead, and not at an angle, as those of the cow-kind. They contain 
 much solid substance, and are valuable in manufacture. The tail hangs 
 
 down 
 
 
 
a ee ee Se ee ee ee a ane Sekai eben eS OF es a bens — 
 
 ® 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 down to the middle joint of the leg only, is small, and terminates in a 
 bunch of hair. The neck is thick and muscular, nearly round, but 
 somewhat flatted at top, and has little or no dewlap dependant from it. 
 The organ of generation in the male has an appearance as if the extre- 
 mity were cut off. It is not a salacious animal. The female goes: nine 
 months with calf, which it suckles during six, from four teats. When 
 crossing a river it exhibits the singular sight of carrying its young one on 
 
 its back. It has a weak cry, in a sharp tone, very unlike the lowing - 
 
 of oxen. The most part of the milk and butter required for the Euro- 
 peans (the natives not using either) is supplied by the buffalo, and its 
 milk is richer than that of the cow, but not yielded in equal quantity. 
 What these latter produce is also very small compared with the dai- 
 ries of Europe. At Batavia, likewise, we are told that their cows are 
 small and lean, from the scantiness of good pasture, and do not give 
 more than about an English quart of milk, sixteen of which are required 
 to make a pound of butter. 
 
 The inland people, where the country is tolerably practicable, avail 
 themselves of the strength of this animal to draw timber felled in the 
 woods: the Malays and other people on the coast train them to the draft, 
 and in many places to the plough. Though apparently: of a dull, ob- 
 stinate, capricious nature, they acquire from habit a surprising docility, 
 and are taught to lift the shafts of the cart with their horns, and to place 
 the yoke, which is a curved piece of wood attached to the shafts, across 
 their necks ; needing no further harness than a breast-band, anda string 
 that is made to pass through the cartilage of the nostrils. They are also, 
 for the service of Europeans, trained to carry burthens suspended from 
 each side of a pack-saddle, in roads, or rather paths, where carriages 
 cannot be employed. It is extremely slow, but steady in its work. The 
 labour it performs, however, falls short of what might be expected from 
 its size and apparent strength, any extraordinary fatigue, particularly 
 during the heat of the day, being sufficient to put a period to its life, 
 which is at all times precarious. The owners frequently experience the 
 loss of large herds, in a short space of time, by am epidemic distemper, 
 called bandung (obstruction), that seizes them suddenly, swells their bo- 
 
 Q cies, 
 
 ALS 
 
 2 
 
 
 
itt 
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 4) a bee 
 es TP 
 ey ci SATE 
 agit b 
 f SH 
 Pere . 
 
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 SUMATRA. 
 
 dies, and occasions, as it is said, the serum of the blood to distil through 
 
 the tubes of the hairs. 
 
 The luxury of the buffalo consists in rolling itself in a muddy pool, 
 which it forms, in any spot, for its convenience, during the rainy sea- 
 son. This it enjoys in a high degree, dexterously throwing with its horn 
 the water and slime, when not of a sufficient depth to cover it, over its 
 back and sides. Their blood is perhaps of a hot temperature, which 
 may render this indulgence, found to be quite necessary to their health, 
 so desirable to their feelings; and the mud, at the same time, forming a 
 crust upon their bodies, preserves them from the attack of insects, which 
 otherwise prove very troublesome. ‘Their owners light fires for them in 
 the evening, in order that the smoke may have the same effect, and they 
 have the instinctive sagacity to lay themselves down to leeward, that 
 they may enjoy its full benefit. 
 
 Although common in every part of the country, they are not under- 
 stood to exist in the proper wild or indigenous state, those found in the 
 woods being termed karbau jalang, or stray buffaloes, and considered as 
 the subject of property; or if originally wild, they may afterwards, from 
 their use in labour and food, have been all catched and appropriated by 
 degrees. They are gregarious, and usually found in large numbers to- 
 gether, but sometimes met with singly, when they are more dangerous 
 to passengers. Like the turkey, and some other animals, they have an 
 antipathy to a red colour, and are excited by it to mischief. When in 
 a state of liberty they run with great swiftness, keeping pace with the 
 speed of an ordinary horse. Upon an attack or alarm they fly to a short 
 distance, and then suddenly face about and draw up in battle-array with 
 surprising quickness and regularity; their horns being laid back, and 
 their muzzles projecting. Upon the nearer approach of the danger that 
 presses on them, they make a second flight, and a second time halt and 
 form; and this excellent mode of retreat, which but few nations of the 
 human race have attained to such a degree of discipline as to adopt, they 
 continue till they gain the fastnesses of a neighbouring wood. Their 
 
 ' principal foe, next to man, is the tiger; but only the weaker sort, and the 
 
 females 
 
 
 
v 
 
 at 
 
 e 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 females fall a certain prey to this ravager, as the sturdy male buffalo 
 can support the first vigorous stroke from the tiger’s paw, on which.the 
 fate of the battle usually turns. 
 
 The cow, called sapi (in another dialect sampr) and jawt, is obviously 
 a stranger to the country, and does not appear to be yet naturalized. 
 The bull is commonly of what is termed the Madagascar breed, with a 
 large hump upon the shoulders, but from the general small size of the 
 herds, I apprehend that it degenerates, from the want of good pasture, 
 the spontaneous production of the soil being too rank. 
 
 The horse, kuda: the breed is small, well made, and hardy. The 
 country people bring them down in numbers for sale in nearly a wild 
 state; chiefly from the northward. In the Batta country they are eaten 
 as food; which is a custom also amongst the people of Celebes. 
 
 Sheep, birt-birt_ and domba: small breed, introduced probably from 
 Bengal. Goat, kambing : beside the domestic species, which is in ge- 
 neral small and of a light brown colour, there is the kambing utan, or wild 
 goat. One which I examined was three feet in height, and four in the 
 length of the body. It had something of the gazelle in its appearance, 
 and, with the exception of the horns, which were about six inches long 
 and turned back with an arch, it did not much resemble the common 
 goat. The hinder parts were shaped like those of a bear, the rump slop- 
 ing round off from the back ; the tail was very small, and ended in a 
 point; the legs clumsy; the hair along the ridge of the back rising coarse 
 and strong, almost like bristles; no beard; over the shoulder was a large 
 spreading tuft of greyish hair; the rest of the hair black throughout ; the 
 scrotum globular. Its disposition seemed wild and fierce, and it is said 
 by the natives to be remarkably swift. Hog, babi: that breed we call 
 Chinese. The wild hog, babi utan. Dog, anjing : those brought from 
 Europe lose in a few years their distinctive qualities, and degenerate at 
 length into the cur with erect ears, kuyu, vulgarly called the pariah dog. 
 An instance did not occur of any one going mad during the period of 
 my residence. Many of them are affected with a kind of. gonorrhea. 
 Otter, anjing ayer (mustela lutra). Cat, kuching: these in every respect 
 
 Q 2 resemble 
 
 115 
 Cow. 
 Horse. 
 Sheep, &c. 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 resemble our common domestic cat, excepting that the tails of all are 
 more or less imperfect, with a knob or hardness at the end, as if they 
 
 had been cut or twisted off. In some the tail is not more than a few 
 ‘ches in length, whilst in others it is so nearly perfect, that the defect 
 can be ascertained only by the touch. Rat, tikis: of the grey kind. 
 Mouse, tikus kechil. 
 
 Elephant. Elephant, gajah: these huge animals abound in the woods, and from 
 their gregarious habits usually traversing the country in large troops to- 
 gether, prove highly destructive to the plantations of the mhabitants, 
 obliterating the traces of cultivation by merely walking through the 
 erounds; but they are also fond of the produce of their gardens, particu- 
 Jarl y of plantain trees and the sugar-cane, which they devour with eager- 
 ness. This indulgence of appetite often proves fatal to them, for the 
 owners knowing their attachment to these vegetables, have a practice of 
 poisoning some part of the plantation, by splitting the canes and putting 
 yellow arsenic into the clefts; which the animal unwarily eats of, and 
 dies. Not being by nature carnivorous, the elephants are not fierce, and 
 seldom attack a man but when fired at or otherwise provoked. Except- 
 ing a few kept for state by the king of Achin, they are not tamed in any 
 part of the island. ’ 
 
 Rhinoceros. The rhinoceros, badak, both that with a single horn and the double 
 horned species, are natives of these woods. The latter has been particu- 
 larly described by the late ingenious Mr. John Bell (one of the pupils of 
 Mr. John Hunter) in a paper printed in Vol. LXXXIII. of the Phil. 
 Trans. for 1793. The horn is esteemed an antidote against poison, and 
 on that account formed into drinking cups. I do not know any thing to 
 warrant the stories told of the mutual antipathy, and the desperate en- 
 counters of these two enormous beasts. 
 
 Hipp opota- Hippopotamus, kuda ayer: the existence of this quadruped in the 
 sa island of Sumatra having been questioned by M. Cuvier, and not having 
 myself actually seen it, I think it necessary to state that the immediate 
 
 authority upon which I included it m the list of animals found there, 
 
 was a drawing made by Mr. Whalfeldt, an officer employed on a survey 
 of 
 
 
 
ible 
 
 cul- 
 
 s of 
 
 Phil. 
 and 
 {0 
 ell- 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 of the coast, who had met with it at the mouth of one of the southern 
 rivers, and transmitted the sketch along with his report to the govern- 
 ment, of which I was then secretary. Of its general resemblance to that 
 well-known animal there could be no doubt. M. Cuvier suspects that 
 I may have mistaken for it the animal called by naturalists the dugong, 
 and vulgarly the sea-cow, which will be hereafter mentioned; and it 
 would indeed be a grievous errour to mistake for a beast with four legs, a 
 fish with two pectoral fins serving the purposes of feet; but, independ- 
 ently of the authority I have stated, the /uda-ayer, or river-horse, is 
 familiarly known to the natives, as is also the duyong (from which Ma- 
 layan word the dugong of naturalists has been corrupted); and I have 
 only to add, that in a register given by the Philosophical Society of Ba- 
 tavia, in the first Vol. of their Transactions, for 1799, appears the article 
 ‘<< couda aijeer, rivier paard, hippopotamus” amongst the animals of 
 Java. | 
 
 Bear, briiang: generally small and black: climbs the coconut trees in 
 order to devour the tender part or cabbage. Of the deer kind there 
 are several species: rusa, the stag, of which some are very large; kiang, 
 the roe, with unbranched horns, the emblem of swiftness and wildness 
 with the Malayan poets; palandok, napu, and kanchil, three varieties, 
 of which the last is the smallest, of that most delicate animal, termed by 
 Buffon the chevrotin, but which belong to the moschus. Of a kanchil 
 measured at Batavia, the extreme length was sixteen inches, and the 
 height ten behind, and eight at the shoulder. Babz-rusa, or hog-deer: 
 an animal of the hog kind, with peculiar tusks:resembling horns. Of 
 this there is a representation in Valentyn, Vol. III. p. 268. fig. c. and 
 also in the very early travels of Cosmas, published in Thevenot’s Collect. 
 Vol. I. p. 2. of the Greek Text. The varieties of the monkey tribe are 
 innumerable: among them the best known are the muniet, karra, bru, 
 siamang (or simia gibbon of Buffon), and lutong. With respect to the 
 appellation of orang utan, or wild man, it is by no means specific, but 
 applied to any of these animals of a large size that occasionally walks 
 erect, and bears the most resemblance to the human figure. Sloth, Au- 
 kang, ka-malas-an (lemur tardigradus), Squirrel, ¢upez; usually small 
 and dark-coloured. Teleggo, stinkard. 
 
 Tiger, 
 
 117 
 
 Bear, &e. 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 Tiger, arimau, machang : this beast 1s here of a very large size, and proves 
 a destructive foe to man as well as to most other animals. The heads 
 being frequently brought in to receive the reward given by the East India 
 Company for killing them, I had an opportunity of measuring one, which 
 was eighteen inches across the forehead. Many circumstances respect- 
 ing their ravages, and the modes of destroying them, will occur in the 
 course of the work. Tiger-cat, kuching-rimau (said to feed on vegeta- 
 bles as well as flesh). Civet-cat, tanggalong (viverra civetta) : the na- 
 tives take the civet, as they require it for use, from a peculiar receptacle 
 under the tail of the animal. It appears from the Ayin Akbari (Vol. I. p. 
 103.) that the civet used at Dehli was imported from Achin. Pole-cat, 
 musang (viverra fossa, or a new species). Porcupine (hystrix longicauda) 
 landak, and, for distinction, babi landak. Hedge-hog (erinaceus) lan- 
 Peng-goling. dak. Peng-goling, signifying the animal which rolls itself up; or pan- 
 _ golin of Buffon: this is distinguished into the peng-goling rambut, or 
 hairy sort (myrmophoga), and the perig-goling sisik, or scaly sort, called 
 more properly ¢aziggiling (species of manis) ; the scales of this are esteemed 
 by the natives for their medicinal properties. See Asiat. Researches, Vol. 
 
 I. p. 376. and Vol. IL. p. 353. 
 
 Of the bat kind there is an extraordinary variety : the churi-churi is 
 the smallest species, called vulgarly burong tikus, or the mouse-bird ; 
 next to these is the halalawar ; then the kalambit ; and the kaluwang (noc- 
 tilio) is of considerable size; of these I have observed very large flights 
 
 | occasionally passing at a great height in the air, as if migrating from one 
 
 4 i country to another, and Captain Forrest notices their crossing the straits 
 aa inert of Sunda from Java head to Mount Pugong ; they are also seen hanging 
 uid) by hundreds upon trees. The flying foxes and flying squirrels (lemur vo- 
 
 Hh lans), which by means of a membrane extending from what may be 
 i Ted _ termed the fore-legs to those behind, are enabled to take short flights, 
 Lat are also not uncommon. 
 
 ae st Aligators, buaya, (crocodilus biporcatus of Cuvier) abound in most of 
 the rivers, grow to a large size, and do much mischief. The guana, or 
 iguana, biawak (lacerta iguana) is another animal of the lizard kind, 
 about three or four feet in length, harmless, excepting to the poultry 
 
 and 
 
 
 
SUMATRA, ~ 119 
 Oey 
 al and young domestic cattle, and sometimes itself eaten as food. The 
 ni bingkarong is next in size, has hard, dark scales on the back, and is often 
 m found under heaps of decayed timber ; its bite venomous. The koké, goké, 
 mn or foké, as it is variously called, is a lizard, about ten or twelve inches 
 ‘th long, frequenting old buildings, and making a very singular noise. Be- 
 
 tween this and the small house-lizard (chichak) are many gradations in 
 size, chiefly of the grass-lizard kind, which is smooth and glossy. The 
 former are in length from about four inches down to an inch or less, and 
 
 are the largest reptiles that can walk in an inverted situation: one of 
 - these, of size sufficient to devour a cockroach, runs on the ceiling of a 
 ‘at room, and in that situation seizes its prey with the utmost facility. This 
 sa) they seem to be enabled to do, from the rugose structure of their feet, 
 a with which they adhere strongly to the smoothest surface. Sometimes, 
 ra however, on springing too eagerly at a fly, they lose their hold, and 
 he drop to the floor; on which occasions a circumstance occurs not un- 
 all deserving of notice. The tail being frequently separated from the body 
 ned by the shock (as it may be, at any of the vertebre, by the slightest force, 
 ol without loss of blood or evident pain to the animal, and sometimes, as 
 it would seem, from the effect of fear alone) within a little time, like 
 
 | the mutilated claw of a lobster, begins to renew itself. They are pro- 
 1h duced from eggs about the size of the wren’s, of which the female carries 
 id; two at a time, one in the lower, and one in the upper part of the abdo- 
 te men, on opposite sides ; they are always cold to the touch, and yet the 
 hts transparency of their bodies gives an opportunity of observing that their 
 one fluids have as brisk a circulation as those of warm blooded animals : in 
 alts none have I seen the peristaltic motion so obyious as in these. It may not 
 ing be useless to mention that these pheenomena were best observed at night, 
 10- when the lizard was on the outside of a pane of glass, with a candle on 
 be the inside. There is, I believe, no class of living creatures in which 
 is, the gradations can be traced with such minuteness and regularity as in 
 this; where, from the small animal just described, to the huge aligator 
 
 or crocodile, a chain may be traced containing almost innumerable links, 
 
 tol of which the remotest have a striking resemblance to each other, and 
 
 of seem, at first view, to differ only in bulk. The cameleon, runing + Cameleon. 
 
 , these are about a foot and half long, including the tail; the colour, green 
 ry with brown spots, as I had it preserved; when alive in the woods they 
 
 nd are 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 are generally green, but not from the reflection of the leaves, as some 
 have supposed. When first caught they usually turn brown, apparently 
 the effect of fear or anger, as men become pale or red; but, if undis- 
 turbed, soon resume a deep green on the back, and a yellow green on 
 the belly, the tail remaining brown. Along the spine, from the head 
 to the middle of the back, little membranes stand up like the teeth of a 
 saw. As others of the genus of lacerta they feed on flies and grass- 
 hoppers, which the large size of their mouths, and peculiar structure of 
 their bony tongues, are well adapted for catching. The flying lizard, 
 kubin, or chachak terbang (draco volans), 1s about eight inches in its 
 extreme length, and the membranes which constitute the wings are 
 about two or three inches in extent. ‘These do not connect with the 
 fore and hind legs, as in the bat tribe, but are supported by an elonga- 
 tion of the alternate ribs, as pointed out by my friend Mr. Everard Home. 
 They have flapped ears, and a singular kind of pouch or alphorges, under 
 the jaws. In other respects they much resemble the cameleon in ap- 
 pearance. They do not take distant flights, but merely from tree to 
 tree, or from one bough to another. The natives take them by springes 
 fastened to the stems. 
 
 With animals of the frog kind (kodok) the swamps every where teem ; 
 and their noise upon the approach of rain is tremendous. They furnish 
 prey to the snakes, which are found here of all sizes and in great variety 
 of species; the larger proportion harmless, but of some, and those ge- 
 nerally small and dark-coloured, the bite is mortal. If the cobra capelo, 
 oer hooded snake, be a native of the island, as some assert, it must be 
 extremely rare. The largest of the boa kind (ular sauh) that I had an 
 opportunity of observing, was no more than twelve feet long. This was 
 killed in a hen-house, where it was devouring the poultry. It is very 
 surprising, but not less true, that saakes will swallow animals of twice 
 or three times their own apparent circumference; having in their jaws 
 or throat a compressive force that gradually and by great efforts reduces 
 the prey to a convenient dimension. I have seen a small snake (war 
 sini) with the hinder legs of a frog sticking out of its mouth, each of them 
 nearly equal to the smaller parts of its own body, which in the thickest 
 did not exceed a man’s little finger. The stories told of their swallowing 
 
 deer, 
 
 
 
ity 
 Mi. 
 D 0 
 heat 
 Of 4 
 urs 
 ane 0 
 Zaul, 
 nik 
 art 
 » the 
 nga 
 ome 
 nde 
 n aj 
 e ti 
 nge 
 
 ell ; 
 nish 
 ety 
 , £e 
 pelo, 
 st be 
 ud al 
 : Was 
 
 verf 
 twit 
 a 
 oduct 
 
 (ul! 
 ‘thet 
 ckes 
 Wilf 
 
 dees 
 
 we 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 deer, and even buffaloes, in Ceylon and J ava, almost choke belief, but 
 I cannot take upon me to pronounce them false ; for ifa snake of three 
 inches diameter can gorge a fowl of six, one of thirty feet in length, and 
 proportionate bulk and strength, might well be wan capable of 
 swallowing a beast of the size of a goat; and I have respectable autho- 
 rity for the fact, that the fawn of a Ayang or roe was cut out of the body 
 of a very large snake killed at one of the southern settlements. The 
 poisonous kinds are distinguished by the epithet of ular bisa, among 
 which is the biludak or viper. The ular §4rang, or sea-snake, is coated 
 entirely with scales, both on the belly and tail, not differing from those 
 on the back, which are small and hexagonal; the colour is grey, with 
 here and there shades of brown. The head and about one-third of the 
 body from thence is the smallest part, and it increases in bulk towards 
 the tail, which resembles that of the eel. It has not any dog-fangs. 
 
 The tortoise, kura-kura, and turtle, katong, are both found in these 
 seas ; the former valuable for its scales, and the latter as food; the land- 
 tortoise (testudo greeca) is brought from the Sechelles Islands. There is 
 also an extensive variety of shell-fish. The cray-fish, udang laut (cancer 
 homarus or écrevisse de mer), is as large as the lobster, but wants its 
 biting claws. The small fresh water cray-fish, the prawns and shrimps, 
 (all named wdang, with distinctive epithets) 
 The crab, hapiting and katam (Cancer), is not equally fine, but exhibits 
 many extraordinary varieties. The sima, or gigantic cockle, (chama) 
 has been already mentioned (p. 15). The oysters, tram, are by no 
 means so good as those of Europe. The smaller ea are generally found 
 adhering to the roots of the mangrove, in the wash of the tide. The 
 muscle, kupang (mytilus), rimis (donax), kapang (teredo navalis), sea-. 
 egg, bulu babi (echinus), bia papeda (nautilus), ruma gorita (argonauta), 
 bia unam (murex), bia baléng (cuprea), and many others may be added 
 to the list. The beauty of the madrepores and corallines, of which the 
 finest specimens are found in the recesses of the Bay of Tappanuli, is not 
 to be surpassed in any country. Of these a superb collection is in the: 
 possession of Mr. John Griffiths, who has given, in Vol. XCVI. of the 
 Phil. Trans. the « Description of a rare species of Worm-Shells, disco- 
 vered at an island lying off the NW. coast of Sumatra.” In the same 
 
 R. volume 
 
 Tortoise. 
 
 » are in great perfection, _ 
 
 
 
ee 
 
 “°° 
 
 Voilier. 
 
 volume is also a Papert by Mr. Everard Home, containing ** Observations 
 on the Shell of the Sea Worm found on the Coast of Sumatra, proving 
 it to belong to a species of Teredo ; with an Account of the Anatomy of 
 the Teredo Navalis.”’ The former he proposes to call the teredo gigan- 
 tea. The sea-grass, or ladang /aut, concerning which Sir James Lan- 
 caster tells some wonderful stories, partakes of the nature of a sea-worm 
 and of a coralline ; in its original state it is soft and shrinks into the sand 
 from the touch; but when dry it is quite hard, straight, and brittle. 
 
 The diiyong isa very large sea-animal or fish, of the order of mamma- 
 lia, with two large pectoral fins serving the purposes of feet. By the 
 early Dutch voyagers it’ was, without any obvious analogy, called the 
 sea-cow ; and from the circumstance of the head being covered with a 
 kind of shaggy hair, and the mammez of the female being placed imme- 
 diately under the pectus, it has given rise to the stories of mermaids in 
 the tropical seas. The tusks are applied to the same uses as ivory, espe- 
 cially for the handles of krises, and being whiter are more prized. It has 
 much general resemblance to the manati or lamantin of the West Indies, 
 
 and has been confounded with it; but the distinction between them has 
 
 been ascertained by M. Cuvier, Annales du Mus. d’H. Nat. XXII. 
 cahier, p. 308.° | & 
 * 
 
 The grampus whale (species of delphinus) 1s well known to the na- 
 tives by the names of pawus and gajah mina ; but I do not recollect to 
 have heard any instance of their being thrown upon the coast. Of the 
 ikan layer (genus novum schombro affine) a grand specimen is preserved 
 ‘1 the British Museum, where it was deposited by Sir Joseph Banks “i 
 and a description of it by the late M. Brousonet, under the name of le 
 Voilier, is published in the Mem, del’ Acad. de Scien. de Paris for 1786, 
 
 p. 450; 
 
 pe Sometime ago (says Captain Forrest) a large fish, with valuable teeth, being cast ashore 
 in the Iilano districts, there arose a dispute who should have the teeth, but the Magindanoers 
 carried it.” Voyage to New Guinea, p. 972. See also Valentyn, Vol. IIL. p. 341. 
 
 > This fish was hooked by Mr. John Griffiths near the southern extremity of the west 
 coast of Sumatra, and was given to Captain Cumming of the Britannia indiaman, by whom 
 it was presented to Sir Joseph Banks. 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 123. 
 
 NS 
 
 ‘ p- 450, pl. x. It derives its appellation from the peculiarity of its dorsal 
 * fin, which rises so high as to suggest the idea of a sail; but it is most 
 % remarkable for what should rather be termed its snout than its horn, being 
 y an elongation of the frontal bone, and the prodigious force with which 
 a it occasionally strikes the bottoms of ships, mistaking them, as we may 
 si presume, for its enemy or prey. A large fragment of one of these bones, 
 
 which had transfixed the plank of an East India ship, and penetrated 
 about eighteen inches, is likewise preserved in the same national collec- 
 
 = tion, together with the piece of plank, as it was cut out of the ship’s 
 he bottom upon her being docked in England. . Several accidents of a simi- 
 the _ lar nature are known to have occurred. There is an excellent represent- 
 sy ation of this fish, under the name of fetisso, in Barbot’s Description of the 
 
 Coasts of Guinea, plate 18, which is copied in Astley’s Collection of 
 
 me. 
 
 si Voyages, Vol. II. plate 73. 
 
 a | | | | 
 
 “ To attempt an enumeration of the species of fish with which these seas Various fish. 
 b] 
 
 abound, would exceed my power, and I shall only mention briefly some 
 
 : of the most obvious; as the shark, hiyw (squalus); skate, chan pari, 
 (raya) ; zkan mua (mureena); ikan chanak (gymnotus); chan gajah (ce- 
 ll pole); zkan karang or bonna (cheetodon), described by Mr. John Bell, in 
 Vol. LX XXII. of the Phil. Trans. It is remarkable for certain tumours 
 filled with oil, attached to its bones. There are also the zkan krapo, a 
 
 ies, 
 
 24 kind of rock-cod or sea-perch ; ikan marrang or kitang (teuthis), com- 
 ier monly named the leather fish, and among the best brought to table ; 
 the jinmhin, a rock-fish shaped like a carp ; bawal or pomfret (species of 
 ve chzetodon) ; balanak, jumpul, and marra, three fish of the mullet kind 
 fs; (mugil) ; kuru (polynemus); ikan lidah, a kind of sole; tiigéri, resem- 
 le bles the mackerel; gagu, cat-fish ; summa, a river fish, resembling the 
 86, salmon; rizigkis, resembles the trout, and is noted for the size of its roe; 
 Ail akan tambarah, I believe the shad of Siak River; can gadis, good river 
 fish, about the size of a carp; ikan bada, small, like white bait ; ikan 
 sho gorita, sepia; zkan terbang, flying-fish (exoceetus). The little sea-horse 
 
 et (syngnathus hippocampus) is commonly found here. 
 wes! 
 
 Of birds the variety is considerable, and the following list contains but Birds. 
 “jou 
 
 2 small portion of those that might be discovered in the island by a qua- 
 R. 2 lified 
 
 
 
Peacock, &c. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 lified person, who should confine his researches to that branch of natural 
 
 history. 
 
 The kuwau, or Sumatran pheasant (phasianus argus), is a bird of un- 
 common magnificence and beauty ; the plumage being perhaps the most 
 rich, without any mixture of gaudiness, of all the feathered race. It is 
 found extremely difficult to keep it alive for any considerable time after 
 catching it in the woods, yet it has in one instance been brought to 
 England; but having lost its fine feathers by the voyage, it did not 
 excite curiosity, and died unnoticed. There is now a good specimen 
 in the Liverpool Museum. It has, in its natural state, an antipathy 
 to the light, and in the open day is quite moped and inanimate. When 
 kept in a darkened place it seems at its ease, and sometimes makes use 
 of the note or call from which it takes its name, and which is rather 
 plaintive than harsh. The flesh, of which I have eaten, perfectly resem- 
 bles that of the common pheasant (tugang), also found in the woods, but 
 the body is of much larger size. I have reason to believe that it is not, 
 as supposed, a native of the North or any part of China. From the 
 Malayan Islands, of which it is the boast, it must be frequently carried 
 thither. The peacock, burong marak (pavo), appears to be well known 
 to the natives, though, I believe, not common. I should say the same 
 of the eagle and the vulture (coracias), to the one or the other of which 
 the name of raja walt is familiarly applied. The kite, alang (falco), is 
 very common, as is the crow, gadak (corvus), and jack-daw, pong 
 (sracula), with several species of the wood-pecker. The king-fisher 
 (alcedo) is named burong buaya, or the aligator bird. The bird of 
 paradise, burong supan, or elegant bird, is known here only in the dried 
 state, as brought from the Moluccas and coast of New Guinea (tanah 
 
 papuah). 
 
 The rhinoceros bird, horn-bill, or calao (buceros), called by the na- 
 tives anggang and burong taun, is chiefly remarkable for what is termed 
 the horn, which in the most common species extends half way down the 
 upper mandible of its large beak, and then turns up ; but the varieties of 
 shape are numerous. The length of one I measured whilst alive was ten 
 inches and an half; the breadth, including the horn, six and an half; 
 
 length 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 length from beak to tail four feet; wings four feet six inches ; height one 
 foot ; length of neck one foot ; the beak whitish ; the horn yellow and red ; 
 the body black; the tail white ringed with black; rump, and feathers 
 on the legs down to the heel, white; claws three before and one behind; 
 the iris red. In a hen chick there was no appearance of a horn, and the 
 iris was whitish. ‘They eat either boiled rice or tender fresh meat, Of 
 the use of such a singular cavity I could not learn any plausible conjee- 
 ture. As a receptacle for water, it must be quite unnecessary in the 
 country of which it is a native. 
 
 Of the stork kind there are several species, some of great height and 
 otherwise curious, as the burong kambing and burong ular, which fre- 
 quent the rice plantations in wet ground. We find also the heron, bu- 
 rong kuntul (ardea); the snipe, kandidi (scolopax); the coot, or water 
 hen, ayam ayer (fulica); and the plover, cheruling (charadrius). The 
 cassawary, burong rusa, is brought from the island of Jaya, 
 
 The domestic hen is as common as in most other countries, In some the 
 bones (or the periostea) are black, and these are at least equally good as 
 food. The hen of the woods, ayam barugo, or ayam utan, (which latter 
 name is in some places applied to the pheasant) differs little from the 
 common sort, excepting in the uniformity of its brown colour. In the 
 Lampong country, of Sumatra, and western part of Java lying opposite 
 to it, there is a very large breed of fowls, called ayam jago; of these I 
 have seen a cock peck from off of a common dining table ; when inclined 
 to rest, they sit on the first joint of the leg, and are then taller than the 
 ordinary fowls. It is singular, if the same country produces likewise 
 the diminutive breed that goes by the name of Bantam. A species of 
 partridge is called ayam gunong, or mountain hen. 
 
 Stork, &c. 
 
 Beside the pigeon, merapeti and burong darah (columba), and two Doves. 
 
 common species of doves, the one of a light brown or dove-colour, called 
 ballum, and the other green, called punei, there are of the latter some 
 most exquisite varieties ; the punei jambu is smaller than the usual size of 
 doves; the back, wings, and tail, are green; the breast and crop are 
 white, but the front of the latter has a slight shade of pink; the fore- 
 
 part 
 
 Gr 
 
 
 
Insects, 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 part of the head is of a deep pink, resembling the blossom of the yambu 
 fruit, from whence its name; the white of the breast is continued in a 
 narrow streak, having the green on one side and the pink on the other, 
 half round the eye, which is large, full, and yellow; of which colour is 
 also the beak. It will live upon boiled rice and padi; but its favourite 
 food, when wild, is the berry of the rumpunnei (ardisia coriacea), perhaps 
 from this circumstance so called. The selaya, or punet andu, another 
 variety, has the body and wings of deep crimson, with the head, and ex- 
 
 . tremity of its long indented tail, white; the legs red. It lives on the 
 
 worms generated in the decayed part of old trees, and is about the size 
 of a blackbird. Of the same size is the burong sawe?, a bird of a bluish 
 black colour, with a dove-tail, from which extend two very long feathers, 
 terminating circularly. It seems to be what is called the widow bird, 
 and is formidable to the kite. The bwrong pipit resembles the sparrow in 
 its appearance, habits, numbers, and the destruction it causes to the 
 grain. The quail, puwyuh (coturnix); but whether a native or a bird of 
 passage, I cannot determine. The starling (sturnus), of which I know 
 not the Malayan name. The swallow, layang-layang (hirundo), one 
 species of which, called dayang buhi, from its being supposed to collect 
 the froth of the sea, is that which constructs the edible nests. The mu- 
 rei, or dial-bird, resembling a small magpie, has a pretty but short note. 
 There is not any bird in the country that can be said to sing. The ¢- 
 yong, or mino, a black bird with yellow gills, has the faculty of imitating 
 human speech in greater perfection than any other of the feathered tribe. 
 There is also a yellow species, but not loquacious. Of the parrot kind 
 the variety is not so great as might be expected, and consists chiefly of 
 those denominated paroquets. The beautiful lur7, though not uncom- 
 mon, is brought from the eastward. The kakatia is an inhabitant 
 chiefly of the southern extremity of the island. 
 
 The Indian goose, azgsa and gavigsa (anser); the duck, bebck and 
 atik (anas); and the teal, belzbi, are common. 
 
 With insects the island may truly be said to swarm ; and I doubt whe- 
 ther there is any part of the world where greater variety is to be found. 
 Of these I shall only attempt to enumerate a few: the kunang, or fire- 
 
 fly, 
 
 
 
ald 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 fly, larger than the common fly, (which it resembles), with the phos. 
 phoric matter in the abdomen, regularly and quickly intermitting its 
 light, as if by respiration; by holding one of them in my hand I could 
 see to read at night; lipas, the. cockroach (blatta); chizigkarek, the 
 cricket (gryllus) ; /ebah, taun, the bee (apis), whose honey is gathered 
 in the woods; sumbang, a species of apis, that bores its nest in timber, 
 and thence acquires the name of the carpenter ; sumut, the ant (formica), 
 the multitudes of which overrun the country, and its varieties are not 
 less extraordinary than its numbers. ‘The following distinctions are the 
 most obvious: the krangga, or great red ant, about three-fourths of an 
 inch long, bites severely, and usually leaves its head, as a bee its sting, 
 in the wound; it is found mostly on trees and bushes, and forms its nest 
 by fastening together, with a glutinous matter, a collection of the leaves 
 of a branch, as they grow; the common red ant; the minute red ant; 
 the large black ant, not equal in size to the krarigga, but with a head of 
 disproportioned bulk; the common black ant; and the minute black 
 ant: they also differ from each other in a circumstance which I believe 
 has not been attended to; and that is the sensation with which they af- 
 fect the taste when put into the mouth, as frequently happens uninten- 
 tionally : some are hot and acrid, some bitter, and some sour. Perhaps 
 this will be attributed to the different kinds of food they have accidentally 
 devoured; but I never found one which tasted sweet, though I have 
 caught them in the fact of robbing a sugar or honey-pot. Each species 
 of ant is a declared enemy of the other, and never suffers a divided em- 
 pire. Where one party effects a settlement, the other is expelled; and 
 in general they are powerful in proportion to their bulk, with the excep- 
 tion of the white ant, swmut putih (termes), which is beaten from the field 
 by others of inferior size; and for this reason it is a common expedient 
 to strew sugar on the floor of a warehouse, in order to allure the formic 
 to the spot, who do not fail to combat and overcome the ravaging, but 
 unwarlike termites. Of this insect and its destructive qualities I had in- 
 tended to give some description, but the subject is so elaborately treated 
 (though with some degree of fancy) by Mr. Smeathman in Vol. LXXI. 
 of the Phil. Trans. for 1781, who had an opportunity of observing them 
 in Africa, that I omit it as superfluous. Of the wasp kind there are 
 several curious varieties. One of them may be observed building its nest 
 
 of 
 
 9 
 ~} 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 of moistened clay against a wall, and inclosing in each of its numerous 
 compartments a living spider; thus revenging upon this blood- -thirsty 
 race the injuries sustained by harmless flies, and providently securing for 
 its own young a stock of food. Lalat, the common fly (musca) ; dalat 
 kuda {tabanus); lalat karbau (cestrus); niamok, agas, the gnat or mos- 
 quito (culex), producing a degree of annoyance equal to the sum of all 
 the other physical plagues of a hot climate, but even to these I found 
 that habit rendered me almost indifferent; hala-jingking, the scorpion 
 (scorpio), the. sting of which is highly inflammatory and painful, but 
 not dangerous; sipasan, centipede (scholopendra), not so venomous as 
 the preceding; alipan (jules) ; alintah, water-leech (hirudo); achih, 
 small land-leech, dropping from the leaves of trees whilst moist with 
 dew, and troublesome to travellers in passing through the woods. To 
 this hst I shall only add the suala, tripan, or sea-slug (holothurion), 
 which, being collected from the rocks and dried in the sun, is exported 
 to China, where it is an article of food. 
 
 Vegetable 
 
 
 
— 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 Vegetable productions of the island considered as articles of commerce. 
 Pepper.— Cultivation of Pepper.—Camphor.— Benzoin.—=Cassia, Xc., 
 
 129 
 
 OF those productions of Sumatra, which are regarded as articles of Pepper. 
 
 commerce, the most important and most abundant is pepper. This is 
 the object of the East India Company’s trade thither, and this alone it 
 keeps in its own hands; its servants, and merchants under its protec- 
 tion, being free to deal in every other commodity. 
 
 Many of the princes or chiefs in different parts of the island having in- 
 vited the English to form settlements in their respective districts, factories 
 were accordingly established, and a permanency and regularity thereby 
 given to the trade, which was very uncertain whilst it depended upon the 
 success of occasional voyages to the coast; disappointments ensuing not 
 only from failure of adequate quantities of pepper to furnish cargoes when 
 required, but also from the caprices and chicanery of the chiefs with 
 whom the disposal of it lay, the motives of whose conduct could not be 
 understood by those who were unacquainted with the language and 
 manners of the people. These inconveniencies were obviated when the 
 agents of the Company were enabled, by their residence on the spot, to 
 obtain an influence in the country, to inspect the state of the planta- 
 tions, secure the collection of the produce, and make an estimate of the 
 tonnage necessary for its conveyance to Europe. 
 
 In order to bind the chiefs to the observance of their original promises 
 and professions, and to establish a plausible and legal claim, in opposi- 
 tion to the attempts of rival European powers to interfere in the trade of 
 the same country, written contracts, attended with much form and so- 
 lemnity, were entered into with the former; by which they engaged to 
 oblige all their dependants to cultivate pepper, and to secure to us the 
 exclusive purchase of it; in return for which they were to be protected 
 
 S from 
 
 Establishment 
 of the trade. 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 from their enemies, supported in the rights of sovereignty, and to be 
 paid a certain allowance or custom, on the produce of their respective 
 
 territories. 
 
 The price for many years paid to the cultivators for their produce, 
 was ten Spanish dollars or fifty shillings per bahar of five hundred weight 
 or five hundred and sixty pounds. About the year 1780, with a view to 
 their encouragement and the increase of investment, as it is termed, the 
 sum was augmented to fifteen dollars. To this cost is to be added the 
 custom shana mentioned, varying in different districts according to spe- 
 cific agreements, but amounting in general to one dollar and an half, 
 or two dollars on each bahar, which is distributed amongst the chiefs at an 
 annual entertainment ; and presents are made at the same time to plant- 
 ers who have distinguished themselves by their industry. This low 
 price, at which the natives.submit to cultivate the plantations, affording 
 to each man an income of not more than from eight to twelve dollars 
 yearly, and the undisturbed monopoly we have so long possessed of the 
 trade, from near Jndrapura northward to Flat Point southward, are 
 doubtless in a principal degree to be attributed to the peculiar manner in 
 which this part of the island is shut up, by the surfs which prevail along 
 the south-west coast, from communication with strangers, whose com- 
 petition would naturally produce the effect of enhancing the price of the 
 commodity. The general want of anchorage too, for so many leagues 
 to the northward of the Straits of Sunda, has in all ages deterred the Chi- 
 nese and other eastern merchants from attempting to establish an inter- 
 course, that must be attended with imminent risk to unskilful navigators ; 
 indeed, I understand it to be a tradition among the natives who border 
 on the sea-coast, that it is not many hundred years since these parts 
 began to be inhabited, and they speak of their descent as derived from 
 the more inland country. Thus it appears that those natural obstruc- 
 tions, which we are used to lament as the greatest detriment to our trade, 
 are in fact advantages to which it in a great measure owes its existence. 
 In the northern countries of the island, where the people are numerous 
 and their ports good, they are found to be more independent also, and 
 refuse to cultivate plantations upon any other terms than those on which 
 they can deal with private traders. 
 
 In 
 
 
 
mg 
 
 le 
 oS 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 o a 
 Ns hl A OO Le oS = 
 
 13) 
 
 In the cultivation of pepper (piper nigrum, L.)* the first circumstance Cultivation of 
 
 that claims attention, and on which the success materially depends, isthe 
 choice of a proper site for the plantation. A preference is usually given to 
 level ground lying along the banks of rivers or rivulets, provided they are 
 not so low as to be inundated, both on account of the vegetable mould 
 commonly found there, and the convenience of water-carriage for the 
 produce. Declivities, unless very gentle, are to be avoided, because the 
 soil loosened by culture, is liable in such situations to be washed away 
 by heavy rains. When these plains, however, are naked, or covered 
 with long grass only, they will not be found to answer without the as- 
 sistance of the plough and of manure ; their fertility being exhausted by 
 exposure to the sun. How far the returns in general might be increased 
 by the introduction of these improvements in agriculture I cannot take 
 upon me to determine; but I fear, that from the natural indolence of the 
 natives, and their want of zeal in the business of pepper-planting, occa- 
 sioned by the smallness of the advantage it yields to them, they will 
 never be prevailed upon to take more pains than they now do. The 
 planters, therefore, depending more upon the natural qualities of the soil 
 than on any advantage it might receive from their cultivation, find none 
 to suit their purpose better than those spots which, having been covered. 
 with old woods and long fertilized by decaying foliage and trunks, have 
 recently been cleared for ladangs or padi fields, in the manner already 
 described ; where it was also observed, that being allured by the cer- 
 tainty of abundant produce from a virgin soil, and having land for the 
 most part at will, they renew their toil annually, and desert the ground 
 so laboriously prepared, after occupying it for one, or at the furthest for 
 
 two, seasons. Such are the most usual situations chosen for the pepper 
 
 plantations (/abin) or gardens, as they are termed ; but, independently 
 
 of the culture of rice, land ‘is very frequently cleared for the pepper in 
 
 the first instance, by felling and burning the trees. 
 
 pepper. 
 
 The ground is then marked out in form of a regular square or oblong, Formation of 
 
 S 2 with 
 
 * See Remarks on the Speciesof Pepper (and on its -_ at Prince of Wales Island, 
 by Dr. William Hunter, in the Asiat. Res. Vol. IX. p. 385. 
 
 the garden. 
 
 
 
Vegetating 
 props, 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 with intersections throughout, at the distance of six feet, (being equal to 
 five cubits of the measure of the country) the intended interval between 
 the plants, of which there are commonly either one thousand or five hun- 
 dred in each garden; the former number being required from those who 
 are heads of families (their wives and children assisting them in their 
 work), and the latter from single men. Industrious or opulent persons 
 sometimes have gardens of two or three thousand vines. A border twelve 
 feet in width, within which limit no tree is suffered to grow, surrounds 
 each garden, and it is commonly separated from others by a row of 
 shrubs or irregular hedge. Where the nature of the country admits of 
 it, the whole or greater part of the gardens of a dusun or village lie adja- 
 cent to each other, both for the convenience of mutual assistance in 
 labour, and mutual protection from wild beasts; single gardens being 
 often abandoned from apprehension of their ravages, and where the own- 
 er has been killed in such a situation, none will venture to replace him. 
 After lining out the ground, and marking the intersections by slight 
 stakes, the next business is to plant the trees that are to become props 
 to the pepper, as the Romans planted elms, and the modern Italians 
 more commonly plant poplars and mulberries, for their grape-vines. 
 These are cuttings of the chiigkariang (erythrina corallodendron), usu- 
 ally called chinkareens, put into the ground about a span deep, suffici- 
 ently early to allow time for a shoot to be strong enough to support the 
 young pepper-plant when it comes to twine about it. The cuttings are 
 commonly two feet in length, but sometimes a preference is given to the 
 length of six feet, and the vine is then planted as soon as the chinkareen 
 has taken root: but the principal objections to this method are, that in 
 such state they are very liable to fail and require renewal, to the preju- 
 dice of the garden; and that their shoots are not so vigorous as those of 
 the short cuttings, frequently growing crooked, or in a lateral instead of 
 a perpendicular direction. The circumstances which render the chinka- 
 reen particularly proper for this use, are its readiness and quickness of 
 growth, even after the cuttings have been kept some time in bundles,* 
 if 
 
 ¢ It is a common and useful practice to place these bundles of cuttings in water about 
 
 two inches deep, and afterwards to reject such of them as in that state do not shew signs of 
 yegetation, ¥ 
 
 
 
.) 
 
 e 
 al} 
 ID 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 if put into the ground with the first rains; and the little thorns with 
 which it is armed enabling the vine to take a firmer hold. They are dis- 
 tinguished into two sorts, the white and red, not from the colour of the 
 flowers (as might be supposed) for both are red, but from the tender 
 shoots of the one being whitish, and of the other being of a reddish hue. 
 The bark of the former is of a pale ash colour, of the latter brown; the 
 former is sweet, and the food of elephants, for which reason it is not 
 much used in parts frequented by those animals ; the latter is bitter and 
 unpalatable to them; but they are not deterred by the short prickles 
 which are common to the branches of both sorts. 
 
 Trial has frequently been made of other trees, and particularly of the 
 bangkudu or margkudu (morinda citrifolia), but none have been found to 
 answer so well for these vegetating props. It has been doubted, indeed, 
 whether the growth and produce of the pepper-vine are not considerably 
 injured by the chinkareen, which may rob it of its proper nourishment 
 by exhausting the earth; and on this principle, in other of the eastern 
 islands, (Borneo, for instance) the vine is supported by poles, in the 
 manner of hops in England. Yet it is by no means clear to me, that 
 the Sumatran method is so disadvantageous in the comparison as it may 
 seem ; for, as the pepper-plant lasts many years, whilst the poles, ex- 
 posed to sun and rain, and loaded with a heavy weight, cannot be sup- 
 posed to continue sound above two seasons, there must be a frequent 
 renewal, which, notwithstanding the utmost care, must lacerate and 
 often destroy the vines. It is probable also that the shelter from the vio- 
 lence of the sun’s rays afforded by the branches of the vegetating prop, 
 and which, during the dry monsoon, is of the utmost consequence, may 
 counterbalance the injury occasioned by their roots; not to insist on the 
 opinion of a celebrated writer, that trees, acting as siphons, derive from 
 the air and transmit to the earth as much of the principle of vegetation, 
 as is expended in their nourishment, 
 
 When the most promising shoot of the chinkareen reserved for rearing 
 has attained the height of twelve to fifteeen feet (which latter it is not to 
 exceed), or in the second year of its growth, it must be headed or top- 
 
 ped 3 
 
 133 
 
 
 
Description 
 of the pep- 
 per vine. 
 
 Modes ef pro- 
 pagating it. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 ped; and the branches that then extend themselves laterally, from the 
 upper part only, solong as their shade is required, are afterwards lopped 
 annually at the commencement of the rainy season (about November), 
 leaving little more than the stem; from whence they again shoot out to - 
 afford their protection during the dry weather. By this operation also 
 the damage to the plant that would ensue from the droppings of rain 
 from the leaves, is avoided. 
 
 The pepper-vine is, in its own climate, a hardy plant, growing rea- 
 dily from cuttings or layers, rising in several knotted stems, twining 
 round any neighbouring support, and adhering to it by fibres that shoot 
 from every joint at intervals of six to ten inches, and from which it pro- 
 bably derives a share of its nourishment, If suffered to run along the 
 ground, these fibres would become roots; but in this case (like the ivy) 
 it would never exhibit any appearance of fructification, the prop being 
 necessary for encouraging it to throw out its bearing shoots. It climbs 
 to the height of twenty or twenty-five feet, but thrives best when re- 
 strained to twelve or fifteen, as in the former case the lower part of the 
 vine bears neither leaves nor fruit, whilst in the latter it produces both 
 from within a foot of the ground. The stalk soon becomes ligneous, and 
 in time acquires considerable thickness. The leaves are of a deep green 
 and glossy surface, heart-shaped, pointed, not pungent to the taste, and 
 have but little smell, The branches are short and brittle, not projecting 
 above two feet from the stem, and separating readily at the joints. The 
 blossom is small and white; the fruit round, green when young and full- 
 grown, and turning to a bright red when ripe and in perfection, It 
 grows abundantly from all the branches, in long, small clusters of twenty 
 to fifty grains, somewhat resembling bunches of currants, but with this 
 difference, that every grain adheres to the common stalk, which oc- 
 
 casions the cluster of pepper to be more compact, and it is also less 
 pliant. 
 
 The usual mode of propagating the pepper is by cuttings, a foot or 
 two in length, of the horizontal shoots that run along the ground from the. 
 foot of the old vines (called Jado sulur), and one or two of these are plant- 
 
 ed 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 135 
 
 rt ed within a few inches of the young chinkareen, at the same time with 
 ed it, if of the long kind, or six months after, if of the short kind, as before 
 t) described. Some, indeed, prefer an interval of twelve months; as in 
 t good soil the luxuriancy of the vine will often overpower and bear down 
 so the prop, if it has not first acquired competent streneth. In such soil 
 all the vine rises two or three feet in the course of the first year, and four or 
 
 five more in the second, by which time, or between the second and third 
 year of its growth, it begins to shew its blossom (be-gagang), if in fact 
 
 C4: it can be called such, being nothing more than the germ of the future 
 ng bunch of fruit, of a light straw colour, darkening to green as the fruit 
 ot forms. ‘These germs or blossoms are liable to fall untimely (gugur) in 
 - very dry weather, or to be shaken off in high winds (although from this 
 he accident the gardens are in general well sheltered by the surrounding 
 y woods), when, after the fairest promise, the crop fails. In the rainy 
 7” weather that succeeds the first appearance of the fruit, the whole vine is 
 . loosened from the chinkareen, and turned down again into the earth, a Tarning down 
 él hole being dug to receive it, in which it is laid circularly or coiled, leay- ™*™™* 
 he ing only the extremity above ground, at the foot of the chinkareen, which 
 th it now reascends with redoubled vigour, attaining in the following season 
 ad the height of eight or ten feet, and bearing a full crop of fruit. There 
 a is said to be a great nicety in hitting the exact time proper for this ope- 
 F ration of turning down ; for if it be done too soon, the vines have been 
 " known not to bear till the third year, like fresh plants; and on the other 
 i hand, the produce is ultimately retarded, when they omit to turn them 
 down until after the first fruit has been gathered; to which, avarice of 
 present, at the expense of future advantage, sometimes inclines the own- 
 
 ers. It is not very material how many stems the vine may have in its 
 
 y first growth, but now one only, if strong, or two at the most, should be 
 suffered to rise and cling to the prop: more would be superfluous and 
 only weaken the whole. The supernumerary shoots, however, are use- 
 fully employed, being either conducted through narrow trenches to ad- 
 jacent chinkareens, whose vines have failed, or taken off at the root and 
 transplanted to others more distant, where, coiled round and buried as 
 the former, they rise with the same vigour, and the garden is completed 
 of uniform growth, although many of its original vines haye not suc- 
 ceeded. 
 
 
 
Progress of 
 bearing, 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 ceeded. With these off-sets or layers (called aziggor and tettas) new gar- 
 dens may be at once formed; the necessary chinkareens being previously 
 planted, ‘and of sufficient growth to receive them. 
 
 This practice of turning down the vines, which appears singular, but 
 certainly contributes to the duration as well as strength of the plants, 
 may yet amount to nothing more than a substitute for transplantation. 
 Our people observing that vegetables often fail to thrive when permitted 
 to grow up in the same beds where they were first set or sown, find it 
 advantageous to remove them, at a certain period of their growth, to 
 fresh situations. The Sumatrans observing the same failure, have had 
 recourse to an expedient nearly similar in its principle, but effected in a 
 different and perhaps more judicious mode. 
 
 In order to lighten the labour of the cultivator, who has also the in- 
 dispensable task of raising grain for himself and his family, it is a com- 
 mon practice, and not attended with any detriment to the gardens, to 
 sow padi in the ground in which the chinkareens have been planted, and 
 when this has become about six inches high, to plant the cuttings of the 
 vines, suffering the shoots to creep along the ground until the crop has 
 been taken off; when they are trained to the chinkareens; the shade of 
 the corn being thought favourable to the young plants, 
 
 The vines, as has been observed, generally begin to bear in the course 
 of the third year from the time of planting, but the produce is retarded 
 for one or two seasons by the process just described; after which it in- 
 creases annually for three years, when the garden (about the seventh or 
 eighth year) is esteemed in its prime, or at its utmost produce; which 
 state it maintains, according to the quality of the soil, from one to four 
 years, when it gradually declines, for about the same period, until it is 
 noe longer worth the labour of keeping it in order. From some, in good 
 ground, fruit has been gathered at the age of twenty years; but such 
 instances are uncommon. On the first appearance of decline it should 
 be renewed, as it is termed; but, to speak more properly, another gar- 
 den should be planted to succeed it, which will begin to bear before the 
 old one ceases. 
 
 The 
 
 
 
the 
 
 » of 
 
 nse 
 Jed 
 
 oF 
 ch 
 out 
 t 18 
 004 
 cl 
 ald 
 al 
 the 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 137 
 
 The vine having acquired its full growth, and being limited by the Mode of prun- 
 height of the chinkareen, sometimes grows bushy and overhangs at top, ras 
 which, being prejudicial to the lower parts, must be corrected by prun- 
 ig or thinning the top branches, and this is done commonly by hand, 
 as they break readily at every joint. Suckers too, or superfluous side- 
 shoots (charang), which spring luxuriantly, are to be plucked away. 
 The ground of the garden must be kept perfectly clear of weeds, shrubs, 
 and whatever might injure or tend to choke the plants, During the hot 
 months of June, July, and August, the finer kinds of grass may be per- 
 mitted to cover the ground, as it contributes to mitigate the effects of the 
 sun’s power, and preserves for a longer time the dews, which at that 
 season fall copiously; but the rank species, called lalang, being particu- 
 larly difficult to eradicate, should not be suffered to fix itself, if it can be 
 avoided, As the vines increase in size and strength less attention to the 
 ground is required, and especially as their shade tends to check the 
 growth of weeds. In lopping the branches of the chinkareens prepara- 
 tory to the rains, some dexterity is required that they may fall clear of 
 the vine, and the business is performed with a sharp prang or bill that 
 generally separates at one stroke the light, pithy substance of the bough. 
 For this purpose, as well as that of gathering the fruit, light, triangular 
 ladders made of bamboo are employed. As soon as any of the berries or Time of ga 
 corns redden, the bunch is reckoned fit for gathering, the remainder being 
 then generally full-grown, although green ; nor would it answer to wait 
 for the whole to change colour, as the most mature would drop off. It 
 is collected in small baskets slung over the shoulder, and with the assist- 
 ance of the women and children conveyed to a smooth, level spot of 
 clean, hard ground, near the garden or the village, where it is spread, 
 sometimes upon mats, to dry in the sun; but exposed at the same Mode of dry- 
 time to the vicissitudes of the weather, which are not much regarded, 
 nor thought to injure it. In this situation it becomes black and shri- 
 velled, as we see it in Europe, and as it dries is hand-rubbed occasion- 
 ally to separate the grains from the stalk, It is then winnowed in large, 
 round, shallow sieves, called nyiru, and put in large vessels made of bark 
 (Aulitkayu) under their houses, until the whole of the crop is gathered, or 
 a sufficient quantity for carrying (usually by water) to the European 
 
 factory or gadong, at the mouth of the river. 
 T 
 
 That which has been ga- 
 thered 
 
 thering. 
 
 ing and 
 cleansing. 
 
 
 
White pepper. 
 
 ge lag 
 of the gar- 
 dens, 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 thered at the properest stage of maturity will shrivel the least; but, if 
 plucked too soon, ‘t will in a short time, by removal from place to place, 
 become mere dust. Of this defect trial may be made by the hand ; but 
 as light pepper may have been mixed with the sound, it becomes neces- 
 sary that the whole should be garbled at the scale by machines con- 
 structed for the purpose. Pepper that has fallen to the ground overripe, 
 and been gathered from thence, will be known by being stripped of its 
 outer coat, and in that state is an inferior kind of white pepper. 
 
 This was for centuries supposed in Europe to be the produce of a dif- 
 ferent plant, and to possess qualities superior to those of the common 
 black pepper; and accordingly it sold at a considerably higher price. 
 But it has lost in some measure that advantage since it has been known 
 that the secret depended merely upon the art of blanching the grains of 
 the other sort, by depriving it of the exterior pellicle. For this purpose 
 the ripest red grains are picked out and put in baskets to steep, either in 
 running water (which is preferred), in’ pits dug for the occasion, near 
 the banks of rivers, or in stagnant pools. Sometimes it is only buried in 
 the ground. In any of these situations it swells, and, in the course of a 
 week or ten days, bursts its tegument, from which it is afterwards care- 
 fully separated by drying in the sun, rubbing between the hands, and 
 winnowing. It has been much disputed, and is still undetermined, to 
 which sort the preference ought to be given. The white pepper has this 
 obvious recommendation, that it can be made of no other than the best 
 and soundest grains, taken at their most perfect stage of maturity: but, 
 on the other hand, it is argued, that by being suffered to remain the ne- 
 cessary time in water, its strength must be considerably diminished; and 
 that the outer husk, which is lost by the process, has a peculiar flavour 
 distinct from that of the heart, and though not so pungent, more aroma- 
 tic. For the white pepper the planter receives the fourth part of a dollar, 
 or fifteen-pence, per bamboo or gallon measure, equal to about six pounds 
 weight. At the sales in England the prices are at this time in the pro- 
 portion of seventeen to ten or eleven, and the quantity imported has for 
 some years been inconsiderable. 
 
 The gardens being planted in even rows, running parallel, and 
 
 at 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 at right angles with each other, their symmetrical appearance is very 
 beautiful, and rendered more striking by the contrast they exhibit to the 
 wild scenes of nature which surround them. In highly cultivated coun: 
 tries, such as England, where landed property is all lined out, and 
 bounded and intersected with walls and hedges, we endeayour to give our 
 gardens and pleasure grounds the charm of variety and novelty, by imi- 
 tating the wildness of nature, in studied irregularities. W indinge walks, 
 hanging woods, craggy rocks, falls of water, are all looked upon as im- 
 provements; and the stately avenues, the canals, and rectangular lawns 
 of our ancestors, which afforded the beauty of contrast, in ruder times, 
 are now exploded. This difference of taste is not merely the effect of 
 caprice, nor entirely of refinement, but results from the change of cir- 
 cumstances. A man who should attempt to exhibit in Sumatra, the 
 modern, or irregular style of laying out grounds, would attract but little 
 attention, as the unimproved scenes adjoining on every side, would pro- 
 bably eclipse his labours. Could he, on the contrary, produce, amidst 
 its magnificent wilds, one of those antiquated parterres, with its canals 
 and fountains, whose precision he has learned to despise, his work would 
 create admiration and delight. A pepper garden cultivated in England, 
 would not, in point of external appearance, be considered as an object 
 of extraordinary beauty, and would be particularly found fault with for 
 its uniformity ; yet, in Sumatra, I never entered one, after travelling 
 many miles, as is usually the case, through the woods, that I did not 
 find myself affected with a strong sensation of pleasure. Perhaps the 
 simple view of human ‘industry, so scantily presented in that island, 
 might contribute to this pleasure, by awakening those social feelings 
 that nature has inspired us with, and which make our breasts glow on 
 the perception of whatever indicates the prosperity and happiness of our 
 fellow-creatures. 
 
 Once in every year, a survey of all the pepper-plantations is taken 
 by the Company’s European servants, resident at the various settlements, 
 in the neighbourhood of which that article is cultivated. The number 
 of vines in each particular garden is counted; accurate observation is 
 made of its state and condition; orders are given, where necessary, for 
 further care, for completion of stipulated quantity, renewals, changes 
 
 T2 of 
 
 Surveys. 
 
 139 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 of situation for better soil; and rewards and punishments are distributed 
 to the planters, as they appear, from the degree of their industry or re- 
 missness, deserving of either. Minutes of all these are entered in the 
 survey-book, which, beside giving present information to the chief, and 
 to the governor and council, to whom a copy is transmitted, serves as a 
 guide and check for the survey of the succeeding year. An abstract of 
 the form of the book is as follows. It is divided into sundry columns, 
 containing the name of the village ; the names of the planters; the num- 
 ber of chinkareens planted; the number of vines just planted ; of young 
 vines, not ina bearing state, three classes or years ; of young vines in a 
 bearing state, three classes; of vines in prime; of those on decline; of 
 those that are old, but still productive; the total number; and lastly the 
 quantity of pepper received during the year.. A space is left for occa- 
 sional remarks, and at the conclusion is subjoined.a comparison of the 
 totals of each column, for the whole district or residency, with those of 
 the preceding year. This business the reader will perceive to be at- 
 tended with considerable trouble, exclusive of the actual fatigue of the 
 surveys, which, from the nature of the country, must necessarily be 
 performed on foot, in a climate not very favourable to such excursions. 
 The journeys in few places can be performed in less than a month, and 
 often require a much longer time. 
 
 The arrival of the Company’s Resident at each dusun is considered 
 as a period of festivity. The chief, together with the principal inha- 
 bitants, entertain him and his attendants with rustic hospitality, and 
 when he retires to rest, his sltumbers are soothed,. or interrupted, by the 
 songs of young females, who never fail to pay this compliment to the 
 respected guest; and receive. in return some trifling ornamental and 
 useful presents (such as looking-glasses, fans, and needles) at his depar- 
 ture. 
 
 — of The inhabitants, by the original contracts of the head men with the 
 Company, are obliged to plant a certain number of vines; each family one 
 thousand, and each young unmarried man five hundred; and, in order 
 to keep up the succession of produce, so soon as their gardens attain to 
 their prime state, they are ordered to prepare others, that they may be- 
 
 gin 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 141 
 d 
 
 ‘ gin to bear as the old ones fall off; but as this can seldom be enforced, 
 
 . till the decline becomes evident, and as young gardens are liable to ya- 
 
 rious accidents which older ones are exempt from, the succession is 
 rendered incomplete, and the consequence is, that the annual produce 
 et of each district fluctuates, and is greater or less, in the porportion of the 
 quantity of bearing vines to the whole number. To enter minutely into 
 the detail of this business, will not afford much information or entertain- 
 
 . ment to the generality of readers, who will, however, be surprised to 
 8 hear that pepper-planting, though scarcely an art, so little skill appears 
 , to be employed in its cultivation, has nevertheless been rendered an ab- 
 At struse science, by the investigations which able men have bestowed upon 
 ie the subject. These took their rise from censures conveyed for supposed 
 “ mismanagement, when the inyestment, or annual provision of pepper, 
 te decreased in comparison with preceding years, and which was not sa- 
 tt tisfactorily accounted for by unfavourable seasons. To obviate such 
 at charges, it became necessary for those who superintended the business, 
 he to pay attention to, and explain the efficient causes which unavoidably 
 be occasioned this fluctuation, and to establish general principles of cal- 
 Is culation, by which to determine at any time, the probable future pro- 
 nd duce of the different residencies. These will depend upon a knowledge 
 
 of the medium produce of a determinate number of vines, and the me- 
 
 dium number to which this produce is to be applied ; both of which are 
 d to be ascertained only from a comprehensive view of the subject, and a 
 \ nice discrimination. Nothing general can be determined from detached 
 id instances. It is not the produce of one particular plantation in one 
 he particular stage of bearing, and in one particular season; but the mean 
 ie produce of all the various classes of bearing vines collectively, drawn 
 d from the experience of several years, that can alone be depended on in 
 t. calculations of this nature. So in regard to the medium number of vines 
 
 presumed to exist at any residency in a future year, to which the me- 
 
 dium produce of a certain number, one thousand, for instance, is to be 
 he applied, the quantity of young vines of the first, second, and third year, 
 re must not be indiscriminately advanced, in their whole extent, to the 
 er next annual stage, but a judicious allowance, founded on experience, 
 
 must be made, for the accidents to which, in spite of a resident’s ut- 
 most care, they will be exposed. Some are lost by neglect or death of 
 the 
 
 
 
i 
 i 
 } 
 ' 
 } 
 } 
 
 : : — a 
 = “Senne RENE —~-ree oT 
 
 a. : : 
 ose i : 
 —————~——<e-— -- 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 the owners; some are destroyed by inundations, others by elephants and 
 
 wild buffaloes, and some by unfavourable seasons and from these several 
 considerations, the. number of vines will ever be found considerably de- 
 creased, by the time they have arrived at a bearing state. Another 
 important object of consideration, in these matters, is the comparative 
 state of a residency at any particular period, with what may be justly 
 considered as its medium state. There must exist a determinate propor- 
 tion between any number of bearing vines, and such a number of young 
 as are necessary to replace them when they go off and keep up a regular 
 succession. This will depend in general upon the length of time before 
 they reach a bearing state, and during which they afterwards continue in 
 it. . If this certain proportion happens at any time to be disturbed, the 
 produce must become irregular. ‘Thus, if at any period, the number of 
 bearing vines shall be found to exceed their just proportion to the total 
 number, the produce, at such period, is to be considered as above the 
 mean, and a subsequent decrease may with certainty be predicted, and 
 vice versd. If then this proportion can be known, and the state of po- 
 pulation in a residency ascertained, it becomes easy to determine the 
 true medium number of bearing vines in that residency. 
 
 There are, agreeably to the form of the survey book, eleven stages 
 or classes of vines, each advanced one year. Of these classes, six are 
 bearing, and five young. If, therefore, the gardens were not liable to 
 accidents, but passed on from column to column undiminished, the true 
 proportion of the bearing vines to the young would be as six to five, or 
 to the total, as six to eleven. But the various contingences above hinted 
 at, must tend to reduce this proportion ; while, on the other hand, if any 
 of the gardens should continue longer than is necessary to pass through 
 all the stages on the survey-book, or should remain more than one year 
 in a prime state, these circumstances would tend to increase the porpor- 
 tion. What then is the true medium proportion, can only be deter- 
 mined from experience, and by comparing the state of a residency at 
 various successive periods. In order to ascertain this point, a very in- 
 genious gentleman, and able servant of the East India Company,’ to 
 
 whom 
 
 * Mr. John Crisp. 
 
 
 
lage: 
 - are 
 le t0 
 true 
 re, 0 
 pinted 
 fany 
 ough 
 : yéa 
 Or per 
 dete 
 icy 
 v Ih 
 #0 
 
 yhoo 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 whom I am indebted for the most part of what I have laid before the 
 reader on this part of the subject, drew out, in the year 1777; a general 
 comparative view of Manna residency, from the surveys of twelve years, 
 annexing the produce of each year. From the statement it appeared, 
 that the proportion of the bearing vines to the whole number, in that 
 district, was no more than 5,1 to 11, instead of 6 to 11, which would 
 be the proportion, if not reduced by accidents; and further, that when 
 the whole produce of the twelve years was diffused over the whole num- 
 ber of bearing vines during that period, the produce of one thousand 
 vines came out to be four hundred and fifty-three pounds, which must 
 therefore be estimated as the medium produce of that residency. The 
 same principle of calculation being applied to the other residencies, it 
 appeared, that the mean annual produce of one thousand vines, in all 
 the various stages of bearing, taken collectively throughout the coun- 
 try, deduced from the experience of twelve years, was four hundred and 
 four pounds. It likewise became evident from the statements drawn 
 out by that gentleman, that the medium annual produce of the Com- 
 pany’s settlements on the west coast of Sumatra, ought to be estimated 
 at twelve hundred tons, of sixteen hundred weight; which is corrobo- 
 rated by an average of the actual receipts for any considerable number 
 of years. 
 
 Thus much will be sufficient to give the reader an idea of pepper- 
 planting as a kind of science. How far, in a commercial light, this 
 produce answers the Company’s views in supporting the settlements, is 
 foreign from my purpose to discuss, though it is a subject on which 
 not a little might be said. It is the history of the island, and its inha- 
 bitants, and not of the European interests, that I attempt to lay before 
 the public. 
 
 The natives distinguish three species of pepper, which are called at 
 different places by different names. At Laye, in the Rejang country, 
 they term them lado kawur, lado manna, and lado jambi, from the parts 
 where each sort is supposed to prevail, or from whence it was first 
 brought to them. The lado kawur, or Lampong pepper, is the strong- 
 est plant, and bears the largest leaf and fruit; is slower in coming to 
 
 perfection 
 
 143 
 
 Species of 
 pepper. 
 
 
 
Seasons, 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 perfection than the second, but of much longer duration. The leaf and 
 fruit of the lado manna are somewhat smaller, and it has this peculiarity, 
 that it bears soon and in large quantities, but seldom passes the third 
 or fourth year’s crop. The jambi, which{has deservedly fallen into dis- 
 repute, is of the smallest leaf and fruit, very short lived, and not with- 
 out difficulty trained to the chinkareen. In some places to the south- 
 ward they distinguish two kinds only, lado sudul and lado jambi. Lado 
 sulur and lado arggor are not distinctions of species; the former denot- 
 ing the cuttings of young creeping shoots commonly planted, in oppo- 
 sition to the latter, which is the term for planting by layers. 
 
 The season of the pepper-vines bearing, as well as that of most other 
 fruits-trees on Sumatra, is subject to great irregularities, owing, perhaps, 
 to the uncertainty of the monsoons, which are not there so strictly peri- 
 odical, as on the western side of India. Generally speaking, however, 
 the pepper produces two crops in the year; one called the greater crop 
 (pupul agung) between the months of October and March; the other 
 called the lesser or half crop (buah sello) between the months of April and 
 September, which is small in proportion as the former has been consider- 
 able, and vice versd. Sometimes, in particular districts, they will be 
 employed in gathering it in small quantities, during the whole year 
 round, whilst, perhaps, in others, the produce of that year is confined 
 to one crop; for although the regular period between the appearance of 
 the blossom and maturity is about four months, the whole does not ripen 
 at once, and blossoms are frequently found on the same vine with green 
 and ripe fruit. In Zaye residency, the principal harvest of pepper, in 
 the year 1'766, was gathered between the months of February and May; 
 in 1767 and 1768, about September and October; in 1778, between 
 June and August; and for the four succeeding years was seldom received 
 earlier than November and December. Long continued droughts, which 
 sometimes happen, stop the vegetation of the vines, and retard the pro- 
 duce. This was particularly experienced in the year 1775, when, fora 
 period of about eight months, scarcely a shower of rain fell to moisten 
 the earth. The vines were deprived of their foliage; many gardens pe- 
 rished, and a general destruction was expected. But this apparent ca- 
 lamity was attended with a consequence not foreseen, though analogous 
 
 to 
 
 
 
m SUMATRA. 145 
 ly, to the usual operations of nature in that climate. The natives, when 
 mi they would force a tree that is backward, to produce fruit, strip it of its 
 i leaves, by which means the nutritive juices are reseryed for that more 
 th important use, and the blossoms soon begin to shew themselves in a- 
 th bundance. A similar effect was displayed in the pepper gardens, by 
 La the inclemency of the season. The vines, as soon as the rains began 
 Not to descend, threw out blossoms in a profusion unknown before ; old gar- 
 Tm dens, which had been unprolific for two or three years, began to bear ; 
 and accordingly the crop of 1776-7 considerably surpassed that of many 
 preceding years, 
 her 
 5, The pepper is mostly brought down from the country on rafts (rakit), Transportation 
 : : : of pepper. 
 re which are sometimes composed of rough timbers, but usually of large 
 ™ bamboos, with a platform of split bamboos, to keep the cargo dry. 
 a They are steered at both head and stern, in the more rapid rivers, witha 
 i kind of rudder, or scull rather, having a broad blade, fixed in a fork or 
 - crutch. ‘Those who steer are obliged to exert the whole strength of the 
 , body, in those places especially where the fall of water is steep, and the 
 wh course winding ; but the purchase of the scull is of so great power, that 
 i they can move the raft bodily across the river, when both ends are acted 
 ‘® upon at the same time. But, notwithstanding their great dexterity, and 
 “s their judgment in chusing the channel, they are liable to meet with ob- 
 at struction in large trees and rocks, which, from the violence of the stream, 
 om occasion their rafts to be overset, and sometimes dashed to pieces. 
 eel | 
 | It is a generally received opinion, that pepper does not sustain any da- 
 ay mage by an immersion in sea water; a circumstance that attends, per- 
 en haps, a fourth part of the whole quantity shipped from the coast. The 
 ed surf, through which it is carried in an open boat, called a sampan lon- 
 ich chore, renders such accidents unavoidable. This boat, which carries one 
 10 or two tons, being hauled up on the beach, and there loaded, is shoved 
 ord off, with a few people in it, by a number collected for that purpose, 
 fe who watch the opportunity of a lull, or temporary intermission of the 
 pe swell. <A tambaiigan, or long narrow vessel, built to contain from ten to 
 ae twenty tons, (peculiar to the southern part of the coast) lies at anchor 
 us without, to receive the cargoes from the sampans. At many places, 
 
 (0 U where 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 where the ‘wallas, or mouths of the rivers, are tolerably practicable, the 
 pepper is sent out at once in the tambazigans over the bar; but this, ow- _ 
 ing to the common shallowness of the water, and violence of the surfs, 
 ‘s attended with considerable risk. Thus the pepper is conveyed, either 
 to the warehouses at the head-settlement, or to the ship from Europe 
 lying there to receive it. About one-third part of the quantity of black 
 pepper collected, but none of the white, is annually sent to China. Of 
 the extent and circumstances of the trade in pepper carried on by private 
 merchants (chiefly American) at the northern ports of Nalabu, Susu, and 
 Mukki, where it is managed by the subjects of Achim, J have not any 
 accurate information, and only know that it has increased considerably 
 during the last twelve years. 
 
 Natmegsand Lt is well known with what jealousy and rigour the Batavian govern- 
 ment has guarded against the transplantation of the trees producing nut- 
 megs and cloves from the islands of Banda and Amboia to other parts of 
 India. To elude its vigilance many attempts have been made by the Eng- 
 lish, who considered Sumatra to be well adapted, from its local circum- — 
 
 cloves. 
 
 stances, to the cultivation of these valuable spices; but all proved inef- 
 fectual, until the reduction of the eastern settlements in 1796, afforded 
 the wished for opportunity, which was eagerly seized by Mr. Robert 
 Broff, at that period chief of the Residency of Fort Marlborough. As the 
 culture is now likely to become of importance to the trade of this coun- 
 try, and the history of its introduction may hereafter be thought inte- 
 resting, I shall give it in Mr. Broff’s own words. ‘* The acquisition of 
 the nutmeg and clove plants became an object of my solicitude the mo- 
 ment I received by Capt. Newcombe, of his Majesty’s ship Orpheus, 
 the news of the surrender of the islands where they are produced; being 
 convinced, from the information I had received, that the country in the 
 neighbourhood of Bencoolen, situated as it is in the same latitude with 
 the Moluccas, exposed to the same periodical winds, and possessing the 
 same kind of soil, would prove congenial to their culture. Under this 
 impression I suggested to the other members of the Board the expediency 
 of freighting a vessel for the two-fold purpose of sending supplies to the 
 forces at Amboina, for which they were in distress, and of bringing in 
 return as many spice-plants as could be conveniently stowed: The 
 
 proposition 
 
 
 
he 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 proposition was acceded to, and a vessel, of which “I was the principal 
 owner (no other could be obtained) was accordingly dispatched in J uly, 
 1806; but the plan was unfortunately frustrated by the imprudent con- 
 duct of a person on the civil establishment, to whom the-execution was 
 entrusted. Soon afterwards, however, I had the good fortune te-be more 
 successful, in an application I made to Capt. Hugh Moore, who com- 
 manded the Phoenix country ship, to undertake the importation ; stipu- 
 lating with him to pay a certain sum for every healthy plant he should 
 deliver. Complete success attended the measure: he returned in July, 
 
 ‘1798, and I had the satisfaction of planting myself, and distributing for 
 
 that purpose, a number of young nutmeg and a few clove trees, in the 
 districts of Bencoolen and Stlebar, and other more distant spots, in order 
 to ascertain from experience the situations best adapted to théir growth. 
 I particularly delivered to Mr. Charles Campbell, botanist, a portion to 
 be under his own immediate inspection; and another to Mr. Edward 
 Coles, this gentleman having in his service a family who were natives of 
 a spice island, and had been used to the cultivation. 'When I quitted 
 the coast in January, 1799, I had the gratification of witnessing the 
 prosperous state of the plantations, and of receiving information from the 
 quarters where they had been distributed, of their thriving luxuriantly ; 
 and since my arrival in England various letters have reached me, to the 
 same effect. ‘lo the merit, therefore, of introducing this important 
 article, and of forming regulations for its successful culture, I put in my 
 exclusive claim; and am fully persuaded that if a liberal policy is adopt- 
 ed, it will become of the greatest commercial advantage to the Company 
 and to the nation.” . 
 
 Further light will be thrown upon this subject, and the progress of the 
 cultivation, by the following extract of a letter to me from Mr. Camp- 
 bell, dated in November, 1803. “Early in the year 1798, Mr. Broff, 
 to whom the highest praise is due for his enterprising and eonsiderative 
 scheme of procuring the spice trees from our newly-conquered islands 
 (after experiencing much disappointment and want of support) overcame 
 every obstacle, and we received, through the agency of Mr. Jones, com- 
 mercial resident at Amboina, five or six hundred nutmeg plants, with 
 about fifty cloves ; but these latter were not in a vigorous state. They 
 
 U2 | were 
 
 147 
 
 First introduc. 
 tion. 
 
 
 
me 
 ‘ 
 
 2-24 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 ~ ed es ‘ —7 — - 3 - - = 
 ? 
 - ree eee cee er ' 
 o = SS SS ee ee ri 
 
 were distributed, and put generally under my inspection. Their culture 
 was attended with various success, but Mr. Coles, from the situation of 
 his farm, near Silebar River, but not too close to the sea-shore, and. 
 from, I believe, bestowing more personal attention than any of us, has 
 outstripped his competitors. Some trees which I planted as far inland 
 as the Sugar-loaf Mountain, blossomed with his, but the fruit was first 
 perfected in his ground. The plants were dispatched from Amboina 
 in March, 1798, just bursting from the shell, and two months ago I 
 plucked the perfect fruit, specimens of which I now send you; being a 
 period of five years and nine months only ; whereas in their native land 
 eight years at least are commonly allowed. Having early remarked the 
 great promise of the trees, I tried by every means in my power to interest 
 the Bengal government in our views, and at length, by the assistance of 
 Dr. Roxburgh, I succeeded. A few months ago his son arrived here 
 
 Secondim. from Amboina, with twenty-two thousand nutmeg plants, and upwards 
 portation 
 
 of plants. of six thousand cloves, which are already in my nurseries, and flourish- 
 
 ing like those which preceded them. About the time the nutmegs 
 fruited, one clove tree flowered. Only three of the original importation 
 
 had survived their transit and the accidents attending their planting out. 
 Its buds are now filling, and I hope to transmit specimens of them also. 
 The Malay chiefs have eagerly engaged in the cultivation of their re-- 
 spective shares. I have retained eight thousand nutmegs as a plantation, 
 from which the fruit may hereafter be disseminated. Every kind of soil, 
 and every variety of situation, has been tried. ‘The cloves are not yet 
 
 widely dispersed, for being a tender plant, I chuse to have them under 
 
 my own eye.” Since the death of Mr. Campbell, Mr. Roxburgh has 
 
 been appointed to the superintendance, and the latest accounts from 
 
 thence justify the sanguine expectations formed of the ultimate impor- 
 
 tance of the trade; there being at that period upwards of twenty thou- 
 
 sand nutmeg trees in full bearing, capable of yielding annually two hun- 
 
 dred thousand pounds weight of nutmegs, and fifty thousand pounds of 
 
 mace. ‘The clove plants have proved more delicate, but the quality of 
 
 their spice equal to any produced in the Moluccas. It is understood, 
 
 that the Company has declined the monopoly of the trade, and left the 
 
 Caltare cultivation to individual exertion; directing, however, that its own im- 
 viduals. mediate plantations be kept up by the labour of convicts from Bengal, 
 and 
 
 
 
a eS eR me 
 oe Oe ee ee ee el ee oe ee 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 and reserving to itself an export duty of ten per cent. on the valué of the 
 spices. 
 
 Among the valuable productions of the island as articles of commerce, 
 a conspicuous place belongs to the camphor. 
 
 This peculiar substance, called by the natives kapur-barus,* and dis- 
 tinguished by the epithet of native camphor from another sort which 
 shall be mentioned hereafter, is a drug for which Sumatra and Borneo 
 have been celebrated from the earliest times, and with the virtues of 
 which the Arabian physicians appear to have been acquainted. Che- 
 mists formerly entertained opinions extremely discordant in regard to the 
 nature and the properties of camphor ; and even at this day they seem 
 to be but imperfectly known. It is considered, however, as a sedative 
 and powerful diaphoretic: but my province is to mention such particu- 
 lars of its history as have come within my knowledge, leaving to others 
 to investigate its most beneficial uses. 
 
 The tree is a native of the northern parts of the island only, not being 
 found to the southward of the line, nor yet beyond the third degree of N. 
 latitude. It grows, without cultivation, in the woods lying near to the 
 sea-coast, and is equal in height and bulk to the largest timber trees, 
 being frequently found upwards of fifteen feet in circumference. For 
 carpenters’ purposes the wood is in much esteem, being easy to work, 
 light, durable, and not liable to be injured by insects, particularly by 
 the kumbang, a species of the bee, whose destructive perforations have 
 been already mentioned; but is also said to be more affected than most 
 others by the changes of the atmosphere. The leaf is small, of a round- 
 ish oval, the fibres running straight and parallel to each other, and ter- 
 minates in a remarkably long and slender point. The flower has not yet 
 been brought to England. The fruit is described by C. F, Gaertner (De 
 
 Seminibus, 
 
 * The word kapur appears to be derived from the Sanskrit karpzra, and the Arabic and 
 Persian kafzr (from whence our camphor), to have been adopted from the language of the 
 country where the article is produced. Barus is the name of a place in Sumatra. 
 
 149 
 
 Camphor. 
 
 Place of 
 growth. 
 
 Wood. 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 Seminibus, Vol. III. p. 49. tab. clxxxvi.) by the name of Dryobalanops 
 aromatica, from specimens in the collection of Sir Joseph Banks; but he 
 has unaccountably mistaken it for the cinnamon tree, and spoken of it 
 as a native of Ceylon. It is also described, from the same specimens, 
 by M. Corréa de (Serra Annales du Muséum d’ Histoire Naturelle, Tom. 
 X. p. 159. pl. 8.) by the name of Péerigium teres 5 without any refer- 
 ence whatever to the nature of the tree as yielding this valuable drug. 
 A beautiful engraving of its very peculiar foliage has been made under 
 the direction of Mr. A. B. Lambert. 
 
 Camphor The camphor is found in the concrete state in which we see it, in 
 found in the , sis 
 
 fissures,  wnnatural fissures or crevices of the wood, but does not exhibit any exte- 
 riour appearance by which its existence can be previously ascertained, 
 
 and the persons whose employment it is to collect it, usually cut down a 
 
 number of trees, almost at random, before they find one that contains a 
 sufficient quantity to repay their labour, although always assisted in their 
 research by a professional conjurer, whose skill must be chiefly employed 
 
 in concealing or accounting for his own mistakes. It is said, that not a 
 tenth part of the number felled is productive either of camphor or of 
 eamphor-oil (méniak kapur), although the latter is less rare; and that 
 
 parties of men are sometimes engaged for two or three months together 
 
 in the forests, with very precarious success. This scarcity tends to en- 
 
 hance the price. The tree, when cut down, is divided transversely into 
 
 several blocks, and these again are split with wedges into small pieces, 
 
 from the interstices of which the camphor, if any there be, is extracted. 
 
 That which comes away readily in large flakes, almost transparent, 1s 
 esteemed the prime sort or head; the smaller, clean pieces are considered. 
 
 as belly, and the minute particles, chiefly scraped from the wood, and 
 
 often mixed with it, are called foot; according to the customary terms 
 
 adopted in the assortment of drugs. The mode of separating it from 
 
 these and other impurities, is by steeping and washing it in water, and 
 sometimes with the aid of soap. It is then passed through sieves or 
 
 screens of different apertures, in order to make the assortment, so far as 
 
 that depends upon the size of the grains; but much of the selection is 
 
 also made by hand, and particular care is taken to distinguish from the 
 
 more 
 
 
 
Du 
 
 it he 
 
 xte. 
 ined, 
 wnt 
 ANS 
 thei 
 ovel 
 nota 
 or 
 that 
 thet 
 el 
 into 
 CES, 
 cted 
 it, 3 
 ered 
 and 
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 fro 
 
 es ot 
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 the 
 
 nore 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 more genuine kinds, that which is produced by an artificial concretion 
 of the essential oil. 
 
 The inquiries I formerly made on the subject (not having been myself Camphor oil. 
 
 in the district where the tree grows) led me to believe with confidence 
 that the oil, and the dry crystallized resin were not procured from the 
 same individual tree; but in this I was first undeceived by Mr. R, 
 Maidman, who, in June 1788, wrote to me from TZappanuli, where he 
 was resident, to the following effect: “‘ I beg your acceptance of a 
 piece of camphor wood, the genuine quality of which I can answer 
 for, being cut by one of my own people, who was employed in making 
 charcoal, of which the best for smiths’ work is made from this wood. 
 On cutting deep into a pretty large tree, the fine oil suddenly gushed 
 out, and was lost for want ofa receiver. He felled the tree, and haying 
 split it, brought me three or four catties (four or five pounds) of the 
 finest camphor I ever saw, and also this log, which is very rich. My 
 reason for being thus particular is, that the country people have a me- 
 thod of pouring oil.of inferior camphor trees into a log of wood that has 
 natural cracks, and by exposing this to the sun every day for,a week, 
 it appears like genuine camphor; but is the worst sort.” ‘This coex- 
 istence of the two products has been since confirmed to me by others, 
 and is particularly stated by Mr. Macdonald in his ingenious paper on 
 certain “* Natural Productions of Sumatra’? published in the Asiat. 
 Res. Vol. IV. Calcutta 1795. It seems probable on the whole, that as 
 the tree advances in age, a greater proportion of this essential oil takes 
 a concrete form, and it has been observed to me, that svhen the fresh 
 oil has been allowed to stand and settle, a sediment of camphor is pro- 
 
 cured; but the subject requires further examination by well informed 
 
 persons on the spot. 
 
 Head camphor is usually purchased from those who procure it, at 
 the rate of six Spanish dollars the pound, or eight dollars the catty, and 
 sells in the China market at Canton for nine to twelve dollars the 
 pound, or twelve to fifteen hundred dollars the pekul of a hundred cat- 
 ties or one hundred thirty-three pounds and a third, ayoirdupoise. 
 
 When of superior quality it sells for two thousand dollars, and I have 
 been 
 
 Price. 
 
 
 
= 
 | 
 | 
 
 Ss Ee ee 
 sae ee ee ee eS a 
 
 e aE 
 
 >a 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 mer: - 
 
 been assured, that some small, choice samples, have produced upwards, 
 of thirty dollars per catty.’ It is estimated that the whole quantity 
 annually brought down for sale, on the western side of the island, does 
 not exceed fifty pekul. The trade is chiefly in the hands of the Achi- 
 nese settled at Sinkell, who buy the article from the Batta people, and 
 dispose of it to the Europeans and Chinese settlers. 
 
 = — — = 
 - a —— 
 —_ 
 
 =. =e 
 
 Japan cam- — _[t has been commonly supposed that the people of China or Japan 
 
 ee prepare a factitious substance resembling native camphor, and impreg- 
 nated with its virtues by the admixture of a small quantity of the ge- 
 nuine, which is sold to the Dutch factory for thirty or forty dollars the 
 pekul, sent to Holland, and afterwards refined to the state in which we 
 see it in our shops, where it is sold at eight to twelve shillings the 
 pound. It appears, however, an extraordinary circumstance, that any 
 article could possibly be so adulterated, bearing at the same time the - 
 likeness and retaining the sensible qualities of its original, as that the 
 dealers should be enabled, with profit to themselves to re-sell it for the 
 fiftieth part of the price they gave. But upon inquiry of an ingenious 
 person long resident in China, I learned that the Japan camphor is by 
 no means a factitious substance, but the genuine produce of a tree 
 growing in abundance in the latter country, different in every character 
 from that of Samatra or Borneo, and well known to our botanists by 
 the name of laurus camphora,L. He further informed me that the 
 Chinese never mix the Sumatran camphor with that from Japan, but 
 purchase the former for their own use, at the before-mentioned extrava- 
 gant price, from an idea of its efficacy, probably superstitious, and 
 export the latter as a drug not held in any particular estimation. Thus 
 we buy the leaves of their tea-plant, at a high rate, and neglect herbs, 
 the natives of our own soil, possessing perhaps equal virtues. It is 
 
 known 
 
 * See Price Currents of the China trade. Camphor was purchased in Sumatra by 
 Commodore Beaulieu, in 1622, at the rate of fifteen Sp. dol. for twenty eight ounces, 
 which differs but little from the modern price. _In the Trans. of the Society at Batavia, it 
 
 appears that the camphor of Borneo sells in their market for 3200 rix dollars, and that of 
 Japan for 50 rix dollars the pekul. 
 
 
 
Wig try 
 
 rave 
 “and 
 [hus 
 rbs, 
 [t is 
 ow) 
 
 a by 
 unces 
 rit, It 
 nat of 
 
 SUMATRA, 
 
 known also that the Japan camphor, termed factitious, will eyaporate till 
 it wholly disappears, and at all stages of its diminution retain its full pro- 
 portion of strength; which does not seem the property of an adulterat- 
 ed or compounded body, Kzempfer informs us that it is prepared from 
 a decoction of the wood and roots of the tree, cut into small pieces ; 
 and the form of the lumps in which it is brought to us shews that it has 
 undergone a process. The Sumatran sort, though doubtless from its 
 extreme volatility it must be subject to decrease, does not lose any yery 
 sensible quantity from being kept, as I find from the experience of 
 many years that it has been in my possession. It probably may not 
 be very easy to ascentain its superiority over the other in the materia me- 
 dica, not being brought for sale to this country, nor generally admi- 
 nistered; but from a medical person who practised at Bencoolen, I 
 learned that the usual dose he gave was from half a grain to one or two 
 grains at the most. The oil, although hitherto of little importance as 
 an article of commerce, is a valuable domestic medicine, and much 
 used by the natives as well as Europeans, in cases of strains, swellings, 
 and rheumatic pains; its particles, from their extreme subtilty, readily 
 entering the pores, It undergoes no preparation, and is used in the 
 state in which, upon incision, it has distilled from the tree. The kayu 
 putith (melaleuca leucadendron) oil, which is somewhat better known 
 in England, is obtained in the same manner; but to procure the meniak 
 kayu or common wood-oil, used for preserving timber or boards exposed 
 to the weather, from decay, and for boiling with dammar to pay the 
 bottoms of ships and boats, the following method is practised. They 
 make a transverse incision into the tree, to the depth of some inches, 
 and then cut sloping down from the notch, till they leave a flat super- 
 ficies. This they hollow out to a capacity to receive about a quart. 
 They then put into the hollow a bit of lighted reed, and let it remain 
 for about ten minutes, which acting as a stimulus, draws the fluid to 
 that part. In the space of a night the liquor fills the receptacle pre- 
 pared for it, and the tree continues to yield a lesser quantity for three 
 successive nights, when the fire must be again applied: but ona few 
 repetitions it is exhausted. 
 
 xX Benzoin. 
 
 153 
 
 
 
Mode of pro- 
 curing it. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 Benzoin or Benjamin (styraz benzoin*) called by the Malays kam- 
 nian, is, like the camphor, found almost exclusively in the Batta coun- 
 try, to the northward of the equator, but not in the Achinese dominions 
 immediately beyond that district. It is also met with, though rarely, 
 south of the line, but there, either from natural inferiority or want of 
 skill in collecting it, the small quantity produced. is black and of little 
 value. The tree does not grow to any considerable size, and is of no 
 value as timber. The seeds or nuts, which are round, of a brown co- 
 lour, and about the size of a moderate bolus, are sown in the padi- 
 fields, and afterwards require no other cultivation than to clear away 
 the shrubs from”about the young plants. In some places, especially 
 near the sea-coast, large plantations of it are formed, and it is said that 
 the natives, sensible of the great advantage accruing to them from the 
 trade, in a national point of view, oblige the proprietors, by legal re- 
 culation, to keep up the succession. 
 
 When the trees have attained the age of about seven years, and are 
 six or eight inches in diameter, incisions are made in the bark, from 
 whence the balsam or gum (as it is commonly termed, although being 
 
 -soluble in spirits and not in water, it is rather a resin) exudes, which is 
 
 carefully pared off. The purest of the gum, or Head benzoin, is that 
 which comes from these incisions during the first three years, and is 
 white, inclining to yellow, soft, and fragrant; after which it gradually 
 changes to the second sort, which is of a reddish yellow, degenerating 
 to brown; and at length when the tree, which will not bear a repeti- 
 tion of the process for more than ten or twelve years, is supposed to be 
 worn out, they cut it down, and when split in pieces procure, by 
 scraping, the worst sort, or Foot benzoin, which is dark coloured, hard, 
 and mixed more or less with parings of the wood and other impurities. 
 The Head is further distinguished into Europe and India-head, of 
 which the first is superior, and is the only sort adapted to the home- 
 market: the latter, with most of the inferior sorts, is exported to Ara- 
 
 bia, 
 
 ® See a Botanical Description of this tree by my friend Mr. Jonas Dryander, with a 
 plate, in Vol. LX XVII. p. 307. of the Phil. Trans. for the year 1787. 
 
 
 
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 from 
 peng 
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 onl? 
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 SUMATRA. 
 
 bia,” Persia, and some parts of India, where it is burned, to perfume 
 with its smoke their temples and private houses, expel troublesome 
 insects, and obviate the pernicious effects of unwholesome air or 
 noxious exhalations ; in addition to which uses, in the Malayan coun- 
 tries, it is always considered as a necessary part of the apparatus in ad- 
 ministering an oath. It is brought down from the country for sale in 
 large cakes, called tampang, covered with mats; and these, as a staple 
 commodity, are employed in their dealings for a standard of value, to 
 which the price of other things have reference, as in most parts of the 
 world to certain metals. In order to pack it in chests, it is necessary to 
 soften the coarser sorts with boiling water ; for the finer, it is sufficient 
 to break the lumps and to expose it to the heat of the sun. . The greater 
 part of the quantity brought to England is re-exported from thence to 
 countries where the Roman Catholic and Mahometan religions prevail, 
 to be there burnt as incense in the churches and temples.” The re- 
 mainder is chiefly employed in medicine, being much esteemed as an 
 expectorant and styptic, and constitutes the basis of that valuable bal- 
 sam distinguished by the name of Turlington, whose very salutary 
 effects, particularly in healing green and other wounds, is well known 
 to persons abroad who cannot always obtain surgical assistance. It is 
 also employed, if I am not misinformed, in the preparation of court 
 
 sticking plaister. The gum or resin called dulang is named by us. 
 
 scented benzoin from its peculiar fragrance. ~The rasamala (lignum pa- 
 puanum of Rumphius, and altingia excelsa of the Batavian Trans.) is 
 a sort of wild benzoin, of little value, and not, in Sumatra, considered 
 as an object of commerce. 
 
 Cassia 
 
 * Les Arabes tirent beaucoup d’autres sortes d’encens.de ? Habbesch, de Sumatra, Siam, 
 Jaca, &e. et parmi celles-la une qu’ils appellent Bachér (bakhér) Java, & que les Anglois 
 nomment Benzoin, est trés-semblable 4 Olibdn. On en exporte en grande quantité en 
 Turquie parles golfes d’Arabie & de Perse, & la moindre des trois espéces de Benzoin, que 
 les marchands vendent, est estimée meilleure que P’Olibin d’Arabie. Niebuhr, Description 
 
 de PArabie, p. 126. 
 
 * According to Mr. Jackson the annual importation of Benzoin at Mogodor, from Lon- 
 don, is about 13,000 1b. annually, 
 xX 2 
 
 1535 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 Cassia oF Kulit manis (laurus cassia) is a coarse species of cinnamon 
 which’ flourishes chiefly, as well as the two foregoing articles, in the 
 northern part of the island; but with this difference, that the camphor 
 and benzoin grow only near the coast, whereas the cassia is a native of 
 the central parts of the country. It is mostly procured im those dis-. 
 fricts which lie inland of Tapanulz, but it is also found in Musz, where 
 Palembang River takes its rise. The leaves are about four inches long, 
 narrower than the! bay (to which tribe it belongs) and more pointed; 
 deep’ green; smooth surface, and plain edge. The principal fibres 
 fake their rise from the peduncle. The young leaves are mostly of 
 reddish hue. ‘Fhe blossoms grow six in number upon slender foot- 
 stalks, close to the bottom of the leaf. They are monopetalous, small, 
 white, stellated in six points. The stamina are six, with one stile, 
 growing from the germen, which stands up in three brownish segments, 
 resembling a cup. The trees grow from fifty to sixty feet high, with 
 large, spreading, horizontal branches, almost as low as the earth. The 
 root is said to contain much camphor, that may be obtained by boiling 
 or other processes unknown on Sumatra. No pains is bestowed on the 
 cultivation of the cassia. ‘The bark, which is the part in use, 1s com- 
 monly taken from such of the trees as are a foot or eighteen inches 
 diameter, for when they are younger, it is said to be so thin, as to lose 
 all its qualities very soon. The difference of soil and situation alters 
 considerably the value of the bark. Those trees which grow in a high, 
 rocky soil, have red shoots, and the bark is superior to that which is 
 produced in a moist clay, where the shoots are green. I have been 
 assured by a person of extensive knowledge, that the cassia produced on 
 Sumatra, is from the same tree which yields the true cinnamon, and that 
 the apparent difference arises from the less judicious manner of quilling 
 it. Perhaps the younger and more tender branches should be prefer- 
 red; perhaps the age of the tree, or the season of the year, ought to be 
 more nicely attended to; and lastly, I have known it to be suggested, 
 that the mucilaginous slime which adheres to the inside of the fresh 
 peeled rind, does, when not carefully wiped off, injure the flavour of 
 the cassia, and render it inferior to that of the cinnamon. I am inform- 
 ed that it has been purchased by Dutch merchants at our India sales, 
 
 where it sometimes sold to much loss, and afterwards by them shipped 
 | for 
 
 
 
Lat 
 Ie 
 Dp 
 tne 
 dis 
 Wee 
 oy, 
 nt 
 fibre 
 iy ol 
 loot. 
 mall, 
 tile, 
 nents, 
 ) wit 
 
 The 
 ling 
 mt 
 Coit 
 inche 
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 [ters 
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 sh 18 
 peel 
 pet 
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 lio 
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 t toh 
 vest 
 ¢ fe 
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 form 
 sales 
 inp 
 
 i 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 for Spain, as cinnamon, being packed in boxes which had come from 
 Ceylon with that article. The price it bears in the island is about ten 
 or twelve dollars the pecul. 
 
 Rattans, or vofan (calamus rotang) furnish annually many large car= 
 goes, chiefly from the eastern side of the island, where the Dutch buy 
 them to send to Europe; and the country traders for the western parts 
 of India. Walking-canes, or fovigkat, of various kinds, are also produe- 
 ed riear the rivers which open to the straits of Malaceéa. 
 
 In almost every part of the country two species of cotton are culti- 
 vated, namely, the annual sort named sapas (gossypium herbaceum), 
 and the shrub cotton named sapas besar (gossyprum herboreum). The 
 cotton produced from both appears to be of very good quality, and 
 might, with encouragement, be procured in any quantities; but the na- 
 tives raise no more than is necessary for their own domestic manufactures. 
 The silk cotton or kapok (bombax) is also’ to be met with in évéry village. 
 This is, to appearance, one of the most beautiful raw materials the hand 
 of nature has presented. Its fineness, gloss, and delicate softness, ren- 
 der it, to the sight and touch, much superior to the labour of the silk- 
 worm; but owing to the shortness and brittleness of the staple, it is es- 
 teemed unfit for the reel and loom, and is only applied to the unworthy 
 purpose of stuffing pillows and mattresses. Possibly it has not undergone 
 a fair trial in the hands of our ingenious artists, and we may yet see it 
 converted into a valuable manufacture. It grows in pods,. from four to 
 six inches long, which burst open when ripe. The seeds éntirely resem- 
 ble the black pepper, but are without taste. The tree is remarkable, 
 from the branches growing out perfectly straight and horizontal, and be- 
 ing always three, forming equal angles, at the same height : the diminu- 
 tive shoots likewise grow flat; and the several gradations of branches 
 observe the same’ regularity to the top. Some travellers have called it 
 the umbrella tree, but the piece of furniture called 4 dumb waiter, éx- 
 hibits a more striking picture of it. 
 
 The betel-nut or pinang (area catechu) before mentioned, is a con- 
 siderable 
 
 Rattans. 
 
 Cotton. 
 
 Betel-nut. 
 
 7 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 siderable article of traffic to the coast. of Coromandel or Telinga, particu- 
 larly from Achin. 
 
 The coffee trees are universally planted, but the fruit produced here 
 is not excellent in quality, which is probably owing entirely to the want 
 of skill in the management of them. The plants are disposed too close 
 to each other, and are so much overshaded by other trees, that the sun 
 i catia to the fruit; owing to which the juices are not well 
 
 2 
 
 ripened, and the berries, which become large, do not acquire a proper 
 flavour. Add to this, that the berries are gathered whilst red, which is 
 before they have arrived at a due degree of maturity, and which the 
 Arabs always permit them to attain to, esteeming it essential to the 
 goodness of the coffee. As the tree is of the same species with that 
 cultivated in Arabia, there is little doubt, but with proper care, this 
 article might be produced of a quality equal, perhaps superior, to that 
 imported from the West Indies; though probably the heavy rains on 
 Sumatra, may prevent its attaining to the perfection of the coffee of 
 Mocha.” 
 
 The dammar is a kind of turpentine or resin from a species of pine, 
 and used for the same purposes to which that and pitch are applied. It 
 is exported in large quantities to Bengal and elsewhere. It exudes, or 
 
 flaws 
 
 * For these observations on the growth of the coffee, as well as many others on the vegeta- 
 ble productions of the island, I am indebted to the letters of Mr. Charles Miller, entered om 
 the Company’s records at Bencoolen, and have to return him my thanks for many communi- 
 cations since his return te England. On the subject of this article of produce I have since 
 received the following interesting information from the late Mr. Charles Campbell, in a let- 
 ter dated November, 1803. “<The coffee you recollect on this coast I found so degenerated 
 from want of culture and care, as not to be worth the rearing. _ But this objection has been 
 removed, for more than three years ago I procured twenty-five plants from Mocha ; they 
 produced fruit in about twenty months, are now in their second crop, and loaded be- 
 yond any fruit trees I ever saw. The average produce is about eight pounds a tree ; butso 
 much ‘cannot be expected in extensive plantations, nor in every soil. The berries are in no 
 respect inferior in flavour to those of the parent country.” This cultivation, I am happy te 
 hear, has since been carried to a great extent. 
 
 
 
Hey. 
 
 the 
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 that 
 S OL 
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 pile, 
 It 
 
 WS 
 
 elas 
 ed 00 
 mull 
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 rated 
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 jp 00 
 
 py 0 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 flows rather, spontaneously, from the tree in such plenty, that there is 
 no need of making incisions to procure it. The natives gather it in 
 lumps from the ground, where it has fallen, or collect it from the shores 
 of bays and rivers, whither it has floated. It hangs from the bough of 
 the tree which produces it, in large pieces, and hardening in the air it 
 becomes brittle, and is blown off by the first high wind. Whena quan- 
 tity of it has fallen in the same place, it appears like a rock, and thence, 
 they say, or more probably from its hardness, it is called dammat batu ; 
 by which name it is distinguished from the dammar kruyen. This is 
 another species of turpentine, yielded by a tree growing in Lampong, 
 called kruyen, the wood of which is white and porous. It differs from 
 the common sort, or dammar batu, in being soft and whitish, having 
 the consistence, and somewhat the appearance of putty. It is in much 
 estimation for paying the bottoms of vessels, for which use, to give it 
 firmness and duration, it ought to be mixed with some of the hard kind, 
 of which it corrects the brittleness. The natives, in common, do not 
 boil it, but rub or smear it on with their hands; a practice which is pro- 
 bably derived from indolence, unless, as I have been informed, that 
 boiling it, without oil, renders it hard. To procure it, an incision is 
 made in the tree. 
 
 Dragon’s blood, sanguis draconis, or jaranang, is a drug obtained from 
 a large species of rattan, called rotan jaranang, growing abundantly in 
 the countries of Palembang and Jambi, where it is manufactured and ex- 
 ported, in the first instance to Batavia, and from thence to China, where 
 it is held in much estimation ; but whether it be precisely the drug of 
 our shops, so named, I cannot take upon me to determine. I am in- 
 formed that it is prepared in the following manner: the stamina and 
 others parts of fructification of this plant, covered with the farina, are mix- 
 ed with a certain proportion of white dammar, and boiled in water until 
 the whole is well incorporated, and the water evaporated ; by which time 
 the composition has acquired a red colour, and, when rubbed between 
 the fingers, comes off in a dry powder. Whilst soft, it is usually poured 
 into joints of small bamboo, and shipped in that state. According to 
 this account, which I received from my friend Mr. Philip Braham, 
 who had an opportunity of acquiring a knowledge of the process, the 
 
 resinous 
 
 Dragon's 
 blood. 
 
 159 
 
 
 
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 ee ' ary 4 
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 MS 
 
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 Ps 
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 4 Be ae Ue Dt 
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 mil 
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 : 
 { * fi 
 t 
 
 Gambir. 
 
 Lignum aloes. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 resinous quality of the drug belongs only to the dammar, and not to the 
 
 rolan. 
 
 Gambir, or gatah gambir, is a juice extracted from the leaves of a 
 plant of that name, inspissated by decoction, strained, suffered to cool 
 and harden, and then cut into cakes of different shapes, or formed into 
 balls.. It-is yery generally eaten by the natives with their szrzh or be- 
 tel, and is supposed to have the property of cleansing and sweetening 
 the mouth ; for which reason it is also rubbed to the gums of infants. 
 For a minute detail of the culture and manufacture of this article at Ma- 
 lacca, see the Batavian Trans. Vol. II. p. 356, where the plant is classed 
 between the portlandia and roélla of L. In other places it is obtained 
 from a climbing or trailing plant, evidently the funis uncatus of Rum- 
 phius.s See also “ Observations on the Nauclea Gambir,” by Mr. W. 
 Hunter, in the Linnean Trans. Vol. LX. p, 218. At Siak, Kampar, 
 and Indragiri, on the eastern side of Sumatra, it is an important article 
 of commerce. 
 
 The agallochin, agila-wood, or lignum aloes, called by the natives 
 kalambak and kayu gahru, is highly prized in all parts of the East, for 
 the fragrant scent it emits in burning. I find these two names used in- 
 discriminately in Malayan writings, and sometimes coupled together ; 
 but Valentyn pronounces the gahru to be an inferior species, and the 
 Batavian Catalogue describes it as the heart of the rasamala, and differ- 
 ent from the genuine kalambak. This unctuous substance, which burns 
 like a resin, is understood to be the decayed, and probably disordered, 
 part of the tree. Itis described by Kempfer (Amenit, p. 903), under 
 the Chinese name of sinkoo, and by Dr. Roxburgh under that of aquilla- 
 ria agallocha. 
 
 The forests contain an inexhaustible store and endless variety of timber 
 trees, 
 
 * « Hoc unum adhuc addendum est, in Sumatra nempe ac forte in Java aliam quoque 
 esse plantam repentem gatta gambir akar dictam, que forte une ezdemque erunt plante ; 
 
 ac verbum akar Malaiensibus denotat non tantum radicem, sed repentem quoque fruticem.” 
 Vol. V. p. 64. 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 161 
 
 he trees, many sorts of which are highly valuable, and capable of being 
 applied to ship-building and other important purposes. On the western 
 coast the general want of navigable rivers has materially hindered both 
 fi the export and the employment of timber ; but those on the eastern side, 
 00 particularly Stak, have heretofore supplied the city of Batavia with great 
 nto abundance, and latterly the naval arsenal at P°. Pinang with what is 
 be required for the construction of ships of war. The teak, however, the Teak. 
 Mi pride of Indian forests, called by the Malays jati (tectona grandis, I..), 
 ints, does not appear to be indigenous to this island, although flourishing to 
 Ma. the northward and southward of it, in Pegu and Java; and I believe it 
 seq is equally a stranger to the Malayan peninsula, Attempts have been 
 ned made by the servants of the Company to promote its cultivation. Mr. 
 Im: Robert Hay had a plantation near Bencoolen, but the situation seemed 
 JV unfavourable. Mr. John Marsden, when resident of Laye in thé year 
 pal 1776, sowed some seeds of it, and distributed a quantity amongst the 
 tick inhabitants of his district. The former, at least, throve exceedingly, as 
 if in their natural soil. The appearance of the tree is stately, the leaves 
 are broad and large, and they yield, when squeezed, a red juice. The 
 ties wood is well known to be, in many respects, preferable to oak, working 
 fy more kindly, surpassing it in durability, and having the peculiar pro- 
 1 in. perty of preserving the iron bolts driven into it from rust; a property 
 ier ; that may be ascribed to the essential oil or tar contained in it, and which 
 the has lately been procured from it in large quantities by distillation at Bom- 
 fer: bay. Many ships built at that place have continued to swim so long, 
 urn that none could recollect the period at which they were launched. For 
 ered masts and yards the wood preferred is the red bintangur (a species of 
 nde! uvaria), which in all the maritime parts of India has obtained the name 
 ila of poon or puhn, from the Malayan word signifying tree in general; as Poon, &e. 
 payu upas, the poison tree, puhn kayu, a timber tree, &c. The cam- 
 phor wood, so useful for carpenters’ purposes, has been already men- 
 aby tioned. Kayu pindis or kapini (species of metrosideros), is named also 
 trees kyau best, or iron-wood, on account of its extraordinary hardness, which 
 turns the edge of common tools. Marbau (metrosideros am boinensis, R.) 
 va grows to a large size, and is used for beams both in ship and house- 
 tt building, as well as for other purposes to which oak is applied in Europe. 
 cen Pinaga is valuable as crooked timber, and used for frames and knees of 
 
 Y ships, 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 ships, being also very durable. It frequently grows in the wash of the 
 
 sea, Juar, ebony, called in the Batavian Catalogue kayu arang, or 
 charcoal-wood, is found here in great plenty. Kayu gadis, a wood pos- 
 sessing the flavour and qualities of the sassafras, and used for the same 
 purposes in medicine, but in the growth of the tree resembling rather 
 our elm than the laurus (to which latter tribe the American sassafras be- 
 longs), is very common in the plains near Bencoolen. Kayu arau (ca- 
 suarina littorea) is often termed a bastard pine, and as such gave name 
 to the Isle of Pines discovered by Capt. Cook. By the Malays it is 
 usually called kayu chamara, from the resemblance of its branches to the 
 ornamental cow-tails of Upper India. It has been already remarked of 
 this tree, whose wood is not particularly useful, that it delights in a low 
 sandy soil, and is ever the first that springs up from land relinquished by 
 the sea. The razgas or raigi, commonly supposed to be the manchi- 
 neel of the West Indies, but perhaps only from the noxious quality of 
 its juices, is the arbor vernicis of Rumphius, and particularly described 
 inthe Batay. Trans. Vol. V. under the name of Manga deleteria sylves- 
 tris, fructu paryo cordiformi. In a list of plants in the same volume, by 
 F, Norona, it is termed anacardium encardium. The wood has some 
 resemblance to mahogany, is worked up into articles of furniture, and 
 resists the destructive ravages of the white ant, but its hardness and 
 acrid sap, which blisters the hands of those employed about it, are ob- 
 jections to its general use. I am not aware of the natives procuring a 
 varnish from this tree. Of the various sorts of tree producing dammar, 
 some are said to be valuable as timber, particularly the species called 
 dammar laut, not mentioned by Rumphius, which is employed at Pe, 
 Pinang for frame timbers of ships, beams, and knees. Kamuning (ca- 
 munium, R. chalcas paniculata, Lour.) is a light coloured wood, close, 
 and finely grained, takes an exquisite polish, and is used for the sheaths 
 of krises, ‘There is also a red grained sort, in less estimation. The ap- 
 pearance of the tree is very beautiful, resembling in its leaves the larger 
 myrtle, with a white flower. The Jlazigsani likewise is a wood hand- 
 somely veined, and is employed for cabinet and carved work. Beside 
 these the kinds of wood most in use are the madang, ballam, maranti, 
 laban, and marakuli, The variety is much greater, but many, from 
 their porous nature and proneness to decay, are of very little value, 
 and scarcely admit of seasoning before they become rotten. 
 
 I cannot 
 
 
 
—_ —_— as a $e a ee 
 
 SUMATRA. 163 
 
 I cannot quit the vegetable kingdom without noticing 4 tteey which 
 although of no use in manufacture or commerce, not peculiar to the is- 
 
 ‘ land, and has been often described, merits yet, for its extreme singula- 
 | rity, that it should not be passed over im silence. This is the jawi-jawi 
 " and wlang-ulang of the Malays, the banian tree of the continent, the 
 i grossularia domestica of Rumphius, and the ficus indica or ficus race- 
 ja mosa of Linnzus. .It possesses the uncommon property of dropping 
 me roots or fibres from certain parts of its boughs, which, when they touch 
 is the earth, become new stems, and go on increasing to such an extent, 
 he that some have measured, in circumference of the branches, upwards of 
 af a thousand feet, and have been said to afford shelter to a troop of horse.* 
 ow These fibres, that leok like ropes attached to the branthes, wher they 
 by meet with any obstruction in their descent; conform themselves to the 
 th shape of the resisting body, and thus occasion many curious metamor- 
 y of phoses. I recollect seemg them: stand in ‘the perfect shape of a gate, 
 bed long after the original posts and cross piece had decayed and disappeared ; 
 ee and I have been told of their lining the mternal circumferénce of a large 
 by bricked well, like the worm in a distiller’s tub; there exhibiting the view 
 me of a tree turned inside out, the branches pointing to the centre, instead 
 and of growing from it. It is not more extraordinary in its manner of 
 nd growth, than whimsical and fantastic in its choice of situations. From 
 b- the side of a wall, or the top of a house, it seems to spring spontaneously. 
 i Even from the smooth surface of a wooder pillar, turned and painted, I 
 tN, have seen it shoot forth, as if the vegetative juices of the seasoned timber 
 led had renewed their circulation, and begun to produce leaves afresh. I 
 pe have seeen it flourish in the centre of a hollow tree, of a very different 
 ¥‘: species, which, however, still retained its verdure, its branches encom- 
 2, passing those of the adventitious plant, whilst its decayed trunk enclosed 
 hs the stem, which was visible, at interstices, from nearly the level of the 
 Y2 plain 
 ape 
 ge « The following is an account of the dimensions of a remarkable banian or burr tree, near 
 nt Manjee, twenty miles west of Patna in Bengal. Diameter 363 to 375 feet. Circumference 
 ide of shadow at noon, 1116 feet. Circumference of the several stems, in number fifty or sixty, 
 ib, 921 feet. Under this tree sat a naked Fakir, who had occupied that situation for twenty-five 
 rm years; but he did not continue there the whole year through, for his vow obliged him to lie, 
 
 during the four cold months, up to his neck in the waters of the river Ganges. 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 plain on which they grew. This, in truth, appeared so striking a cu- 
 riosity; that I have often repaired to the spot, to contemplate the singu- 
 larity of it. How the seed, from which it is produced, happens to 
 occupy stations seemingly so unnatural, is not easily determined. Some 
 have imagined the berries carried thither by the wind, and others, with 
 more appearance of truth, by the birds; which, cleansing their bills 
 where they light, or attempt to light, leave, in those places, the seeds, 
 adhering by the viscous matter which surrounds them. However this 
 be, the jawi-jawi, growing on buildings without earth or water, and de- 
 riving from the genial atmosphere its principle of nourishment, proves in 
 its increasing growth highly destructive to the fabric where it is har- 
 boured ; for the fibrous roots, which are at first extremely fine, penetrate 
 common cements, and overcoming, as their size enlarges, the most pow- 
 erful resistance, split, with the force of the mechanic wedge, the most 
 substantial brickwork. When the consistence is such as not to admit 
 the insinuation of the fibres, the root extends itself along the outside, and 
 to an extraordinary length, bearing, not unfrequently, to the stem, the 
 proportion of eight to one, when young. I have measured the former 
 
 sixty inches, when the latter, to the extremity of the leaf, which took 
 up a third part, was no more than eight inches. I have also seen it wave 
 its boughs at: the apparent height of two hundred feet, of which the 
 roots, if we may term them such, occupied at least one hundred ; form- 
 ing, by their close combination, the appearance of a venerable gothic 
 pillar. It stood near the plains of Krakap, but, like other monuments of 
 antiquity, it had its period of existence, and is now no more. 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 Gold, Tin, and other Metals.—Bees-wax.—Ivory,—Bird s-nest, Xe. 
 Import-Trade. 
 
 BESIDE those articles of trade afforded by the vegetable kingdom, Gold. 
 
 Sumatra produces many others, the chief of which is gold. This valu- 
 able metal is found mostly in the central parts of the island; none (or 
 with few exceptions) being observed to the southward of Limun, a branch 
 of Jambi River, nor to the northward of Nalabu, from which port Achin 
 is principally supplied. Menangkabau has always been esteemed the 
 richest seat of it; and this consideration probably induced the Dutch to 
 establish their head factory at Padang, in the immediate neighbourhood 
 of that kingdom. Colonies. of Malays from thence have settled them- 
 selves in almost all the districts where gold is procured, and appear to be 
 the only persons who dig for it in mines, or collect it in streams ; the 
 proper inhabitants or villagers confining their attention to the raising of 
 provisions, with which they supply those who search for the metal. Such 
 at least appears to be the case in Limun, Batang Asei, and Pakalang 
 jambu, where a considerable gold-trade is carried on. 
 
 It has been generally understood at the English settlements that earth 
 taken up from the beds of rivers, or loosened from the adjacent banks, 
 and washed by means of rivulets diverted towards the newly-opened 
 ground, furnishes the greater proportion of the gold found in the island, 
 and that the natives are not accustomed to venture upon any excavation 
 that deserves the name of mining; but our possession, during the present 
 war, of the settlements that belonged to the Dutch, has enabled us to 
 form juster notions on the subject, and the following account, obtained 
 from well-informed persons on the spot, will shew the methods pursued 
 in both processes, and the degree of enterprise and skill employed by the 
 workmen. 
 
 In the districts situated inland of Padang, which is the principal mart 
 for 
 
 165 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 for this article, little is collected otherwise than from mines (¢ambang) 
 by people whose profession it is to work them, and who are known by 
 the appellation of orang gulla. The metal brought down for sale is for 
 the most part of two sorts, distinguished by the terms amas supayang and 
 amas sungei-abu, from the names of places where they are respectively 
 procured. The former is what we usually call rock-gold, consisting 
 of pieces of quartz more or less intermixed with veins of gold, generally 
 of fine quality, running through it in all directions, and forming beauti- 
 ful masses, which, being admired by Europeans, are sometimes sold by 
 weight as if the whole were solid metal. The mines yielding this sort 
 are commonly situated at the foot of a mountain, and the shafts are 
 driven horizontally, to the extent of from eight to twenty fathoms. 
 The gold to which suzigei-abu gives name is, on the contrary, found in 
 the state of smooth, solid Jumps, in shape like gravel, and of various 
 sizes, the largest lump that I have seen, weighing nine ounces, fifteen 
 grains, and one in my possession (for which I am indebted to Mr. Charles 
 Holloway) weighing eight grains less than nine ounces. This sort is al- 
 so termed amas lichin or smooth gold, and appears to owe that quality to 
 
 5 
 
 ij a of the earth, to. the action of running water, and deprived of its sharp 
 
 ; 
 i cH 
 ae 
 
 7 
 5 
 
 | i aa its having been exposed, in some prior state of the soil or conformation 
 
 i sth and rough edges by attrition. This form of gravel is the most common 
 in which gold is discovered. Gold-dust or amas urez is collected either 
 in the channels of brooks running over ground rich in the metal, in 
 standing pools of water occasioned by heavy rains, or in a number of 
 
 holes dug in a situation to which a small rapid stream can be directed. 
 
 The tools employed in working the mines are an iron crow three feet 
 in length, called tabah, a shovel called charigkul, and a heavy iron mal- 
 Jet or hammer, the head of which is eighteen inches in length and as 
 thick as a man’s leg, with a handle in the middle. With this they beat | 
 the lumps of rock till they are reduced to powder, and the pounded. 
 mass is then, put into a sledge or tray, five or six feet long and one and 
 an half broad, in the form of a boat, and thence named ézdu. To this 
 vessel a rope of yu is attached, by which they draw it, when loaded, 
 out of the horizontal mine, to the nearest place where they can meet 
 
 with 
 
 
 
uy} 
 ny 
 8 by 
 an 
 ney 
 sin 
 
 att 
 d by 
 sort 
 are 
 ymns, 
 id in 
 ri0ts 
 feet 
 arles 
 sal. 
 ty t0 
 ation 
 sharp 
 mon 
 ther 
 , In 
 ar of 
 ted, 
 
 feet 
 nal- 
 das 
 peal 
 nde 
 e al 
 9 thi 
 del, 
 pect 
 with 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 with a supply of water, which alone is employed to separate the gold 
 from the pulverized quartz. 
 
 > 
 In the perpendicular mines the smooth or gravel-gold is often found 
 near the surface, but in small quantities, improving as the workmen. ad- 
 vance, and again often vanishing suddenly. This they say is most likely 
 to be the case, when, after pursuing a poor vein they suddenly come to 
 large lumps. When they have dug to the depth of four, six, or some- 
 times eight fathoms, (which they do at a venture, the surface not afford- 
 ing any indications on which they can depend) they work horizontally, 
 supporting the shaft with timbers; but to persons acquainted with the 
 berg-werken of Germany or Hungary, these pits would hardly appear to 
 merit the appellation of mines.* In Siberia, however, as in Sumatra, 
 the hills yield their gold by slightly working them. Sand is commonly 
 met with at the depth of three or four fathoms, and beneath this a stra- 
 tum of napal or steatite, which is considered as a sign that the metal 
 is near; but the least fallible mark is a red stone, called batu kawi, lying 
 in detached pieces. It is mostly found in red and white clay, and often 
 adhering to small stones, as well as in homogeneous lumps. The gold is 
 separated from the clay by means of water poured on a hollow board, in 
 the management of which the persons employed are remarkably expert. 
 
 In these perpendicular mines the water is drawn off by hand in pails 
 or buckets. In the horizontal, they make two shafts or entries in a di- 
 
 rection parallel to each other, as far as they mean to extend the work, © 
 
 and there connect them by a cross trench. One of these, by a difference 
 in their respective levels, serves as a drain to carry off the water, whilst 
 the other is kept dry. They work in parties of from four or five, to forty 
 or fifty in number; the proprietor of the ground receiving one half of 
 the produce, and the undertakers the other; and it does not appear that 
 the prince receives any established royalty. The hill people affect a 
 | kind 
 
 * It has been observed to me, that it is not so much the want of windlasses or machines 
 (substitutes for which they are ready enough at contriving) that prevents excavation to a 
 
 great depth, as the apprehension of earthquakes, the effect of which has frequently been 
 to overwhelm them before they could escape-even from their shallow mines. 
 
 167 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 kind of independence or equality, which they express by the term of 
 
 sama rata. 
 ¥ 
 
 It may well be imagined that mines of this description are very nume- 
 rous, and in the common estimation of the natives they amount to no 
 fewer than twelve hundred in the dominions of Menarigkabau. A consider- 
 able proportion of their produce (perhaps one half) never comes into the 
 hands of Europeans, but is conveyed to the eastern side of the island, 
 and yet I have been assured on good authority, that from ten to twelve 
 thousand ounces have annually been received, on public and private ac- 
 count, at Padang alone; at Nalabu about two thousand, Natal eight 
 hundred, and Moco-moco six hundred. The quality of the gold collect- 
 ed in the Padang districts is inferior to, that purchased at Natal and 
 Moco-moco, in consequence of the practice of blending together the un- 
 equal produce of such a variety of mines, which in other parts it is cus- 
 tomary to keep distinct. The gold from the former is of the fineness of 
 from nineteen to twenty-one, and from the latter places is generally of 
 from twenty-two to twenty-three carats. The finest that has passed 
 through my hands was twenty-three carats, one grain and an half; as- 
 sayed at the Tower of London. Gold of an inferior touch, called amas 
 muda from the paleness of its colour, is found in the same countries 
 where the other is produced. I had some assayed which was two carats 
 three grains worse than standard, and contained an alloy of silver; but 
 not in a proportion to be affected by the acids. I have seen gold brought 
 from Mampawah in Borneo, which was in the state of a fine, uniform 
 powder, high coloured, and its degree of fineness not exceeding fifteen 
 or sixteen carats. The natives suppose these differences to proceed from 
 an original essential inferiority of the metal, not possessing the art of se- 
 parating it from the silver or copper. In this island itis never found in 
 the state of ore, but is always completely metallic. A very little pale 
 gold is now and then found in the Lampong country. 
 
 Of those who dig for it, the most intelligent, distinguished by the name 
 of sudagar or merchants, are intrusted by the rest with their collections, 
 who carry the gold to the places of trade on the great eastern rivers, or 
 to the settlements on the west coast, where they barter it for iron (of 
 
 which 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 169 
 0 ‘2. , 
 
 which large quantities are consumed in tools for working the mines), 
 
 opium, and the fine piece-goods of Madras and Bengal, with which 
 ‘. they return, heavily loaded to their country.. In some parts of the 
 journey they have the convenience of water carriage, on lakes and rivers ; 
 but in others they carry on their backs a weight of about eighty pounds, 
 through woods, over streams, and across mountains ; in parties general- 
 ly of one hundred or more, who have frequent occasion to defend their 
 property against the spirit of plunder and extortion which prevails among 
 
 has in fact been made, and experience and calculation may have taught 
 them that it is not a scheme likely to be attended with success, owing 
 os among other causes, to the dearness of labour, and the necessity it 
 
 (0 Z would 
 
 je the poorer nations, through whose districts they are obliged to pass. 
 sl Upon the proposal of striking out any new road, the question always 
 ght asked by these intermediate people is, « apa ontong kami, what is to be 
 ect: our advantage ?”’ 
 and 
 Ul When brought to our settlements it was formerly purchased at the rate Price. 
 Cus of eighteen Spanish dollars the ¢ail, or about three pounds five shillings 
 $8 0 the ounce, but in later times it has risen ‘to twenty-one dollars, or to 
 y oi three pounds eighteen shillings the ounce. Upon exportation to Eu- 
 ssed rope, therefore, it scarcely affords.a profit to the original buyer, and 
 a6 others who employ it as a remittance, incur a loss, when insurance and | 
 ms other incidental charges are deducted. A duty of five per cent which it Af | 
 ries had been customary to charge at the East India-house, was, about twenty Ve 
 ats years ago, most liberally remitted by the Company, upon a representa- iM 
 but tion made by me to the Directors of the hardship sustained in this respect 
 oh by its servants,at Fort Marlborough, and the public benefit that would ac- i 
 orm crue from giving encouragement to the importation of bullion. The i; | 
 1008 long continuance of war, and peculiar risk of Indian navigation re- F 
 = sulting from it, may probably have operated to counteract these good 4 
 Nid effects. | | 
 ‘i Ni 
 \ It has generally been thought surprising that the European Compa- Ih 
 i nies who have so long had establishments in Sumatra, should not have t 
 considered it an object to work these mines upon a regular system, with it 
 4 proper machinery, and under competent inspection; but the attempt i 
 pa 
 | 
 
 a 
 —_ A 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 the protection of the persons engaged and the property collected. | Euro- 
 peans cannot be em ployed upon such work in that climate, and the natives 
 are unfit for (nor would they submit to) the laborious exertion required 
 to render the undertaking profitable. A detailed, and in many respects 
 interesting account of the working a gold mine at Sileda, with a plate 
 representing a section of the mine, is given by Elias Hesse,* who, in the 
 year 1682, accompanied the Bergh-Hoofdman, Benj. Olitzsch, and a 
 party of miners from Saxony, sent out by the Dutch East-India Com- 
 pany for that purpose. The superintendant, with most of his people, 
 lost their lives, and the undertaking failed. It is said at Padang that 
 the metal proved to be uncommonly poor. Many years later, trial was 
 made of a vein running close to that settlement ; but the returns not be- 
 ing adequate to the expense, it was let to farm, and in a few years fell 
 into such low repute as to be at length disposed of by public auction, at 
 a rent of two Spanish dollars.” The English company also having intel- 
 ligence of a mine said to be discovered near Fort Marlborough, gave 
 orders for its being worked; but if it ever existed, no trace now re- 
 
 mains. 
 
 would occasion for keeping up a force in distant parts of the country, for 
 
 Before the gold dust is weighed for sale, in order to cleanse it from all 
 impurities 
 
 2 Ost-Indische Reise-beschreibung oder Diarium. Leipzig, 1690, 8vo. See also J. W. 
 Vogel’s Ost-Indianische Reise-beschreibung. Altenburg, 1704, Svo. 
 
 > The following is an extract of a letter from Mr. James Moore, a servant of the Com- 
 pany, dated from Padang, in 1778. “ They have lately opened a vein of gold in the country 
 inland of this place, from which the governor at one time received an hundred and fifty tials 
 (two hundred ounces). He has procured a map to be made of a particular part of the gold 
 country, which points out the different places where they work for it; and also the situation 
 of twenty-one Malay forts, allinhabited and in repair. These districts are extremely po- 
 pulous, compared to the more southern part of the island. They collect and export annual- 
 ly to Batavia, about two thousand five hundred tials of gold from this place: the quantity 
 never exceeds three thousand tials, nor falls short of two thousand.” This refers to the pub- 
 lic export on the Company’s account, which agrees with what is stated in the Batav. Trans. 
 «In een goed Jaar geeven de Tigablas cottas omtrent 3000 Thail, zynde 6 Thail een Mark, 
 dus omtrent 500 Mark Goud, van ’t gchalte van 19. tot 20. carat.” 
 
iy, for 
 En. 
 natives 
 Hyulred 
 reets 
 1a pl 
 ), In the 
 and j 
 Com: 
 cople, 
 g that 
 al was 
 not be 
 ears fel 
 ton, a 
 r intel. 
 gave 
 W Te: 
 
 m all 
 irities 
 
 oJ. W. 
 
 he Com- 
 country 
 ifty tia 
 the gol 
 -situatio! 
 emmely PP 
 wrt apni 
 e quot 
 be po 
 m Tr. 
 en Hat 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 impurities and heterogeneous mixtures, whether natural or fraudulent, 
 (such as filings of copper or of iron) a skilful person is employed, who, 
 by the sharpness of his eye, and long practice, is able to effect this to a 
 surprising degree of nicety. The dust is spread out on a kind of wooden 
 platter, and the base particles (lanchong) are touched out fromthe mass 
 and put aside one by one, with an instrument, if such it may be termed, 
 made of cotton cloth rolled.up to a point. If the honesty of these gold- 
 cleaners can be depended upon, their dexterity is almost infallible; and 
 as some check upon the former, it is usual to pour the contents of each 
 parcel when thus cleansed, into a vessel of aqua-fortis, which puts their 
 accuracy to the test. The parcels or bulses in which the gold is packed 
 up, are formed of the integument that covers the heart of the buffalo. 
 This has the appearance of bladder, but is both tougher and more pli- 
 able. In those parts of the country where the traffic in the article is 
 considerable, it is generally employed as currency instead of coin ; every 
 man carries small scales about him, and purchases are made with it so 
 low as to the weight of a grain or two of padi. Various seeds are used 
 
 as gold weights, but more especially these two: the one called rakat or 
 
 saga-timbangan (glycine abrus L. or abrus maculatus of the Batay. Trans.) 
 being the well-known scarlet pea with a black spot; twenty-four of 
 which constitute a mas, and sixteen mas a tail: the other called saga- 
 puhn and kondort batang (adenanthera pavonia, L.), a scarlet or rather 
 coral bean, much larger than the former, and without the black spot. 
 It is the candarin-weight of the Chinese, of which an hundred make a 
 tail, and equal, according to the tables published by Stevens, to 5,7984 
 gr. troy; but the average weight of those in my possession is 10,50 
 grains. The ¢ail differs however in the northern and southern parts of 
 the island, being at Natal twenty-four penny-weights, nine grains, and 
 at Padang, Bencoolen, and elsewhere, twenty-six penny weights, twelve 
 grains. At <dchin the bangkal of thirty penny-weights, twenty-one 
 grains, is the standard. Spanish dollars are every where current, and ac- 
 counts are kept in dollars, sukus (imaginary quarter dollars) and kepping 
 or copper cash, ef which four hundred go to the dollar. _ Beside these, 
 there are silver fanams, single, double, and treble (the latter called éal’) 
 coined at Madras; twenty-four fanams or eight talis being equal to the 
 Spanish dollar, which is always valued in the English settlements at five 
 
 Z 2 shillings 
 
 17} 
 
 a 
 
 ae PPS DBE 8 en ee ee 
 
 | 
 LI 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Tin. 
 
 Copper. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 shillings sterling. Silver rupihs have occasionally been struck in Bengal, 
 for the use of the settlements on the: coast.of Sumatra, but not in suffi- 
 cient quantities to become a-general currency ; and in the year 1786, 
 the Company contracted with the late Mr. Boulton of Soho, for a cop- 
 per coinage, the proportions of which I was desired to adjust, as well 
 as to furnish the inscriptions ; and the same system, with many improve- 
 ments suggested by Mr. Charles Wilkins, has since been extended to 
 the three Presidencies of India. At Achin, small, thin gold and silver 
 coins were formerly struck and still are current; but I have not seen any 
 of the pieces that bore the appearance of modern coinage; nor am I 
 aware that this right of sovereignty is exercised by any other power in 
 the island. 
 
 Tin, called timar, is a very considerable article of trade, and many 
 cargoes of it are yearly carried to China, where the consumption is chiefly 
 for religious purposes.. The mines are situated in the island of Bangka, 
 lying near Palembang, and are said to have been accidentally discovered 
 there in 1710, by the burning of a house. They are worked by a colo- 
 ny of Chinese (said in the Batay. Trans. to consist of twenty-five thou- 
 sand persons) under the nominal direction of the king of Palembang, 
 but for the account and benefit of the Dutch Company, which has en- 
 deavoured to monopolize the trade, and actually obtained two millions 
 of pounds yearly; but the enterprising spirit of private merchants, 
 chiefly English and American, finds means to elude the vigilance 
 of its cruizers, and the commerce is largely participated by them. It is 
 exported for the most part in small pieces or cakes called tampang, and 
 sometimes in slabs. M. Sonnerat reports that this tin (named calin by 
 the French writers), was analised by M. Daubenton, who found it to be 
 the same metal as that produced in England; but it sells something 
 higher than our grain-tin. In different parts of Sumatra, there are in- 
 dications of tin-earth, or rather sand, and it is worked at the mountain of 
 Suigei-pagu, but not to any great extent. Of this sand, at Bangka, a 
 pikul, or 133lb. is said to yield about 75lb. of the metal. 
 
 A rich mine of copper is worked at Mukki near Labuan-haji, by the 
 Achinese. The ore produces half its original weight in pure metal, and 
 
 1S 
 
ba 
 D si. 
 TB, 
 A 00D. 
 & yell 
 Wits 
 nded to 
 | silve 
 N any 
 am | 
 er in 
 
 ‘many 
 ohielly 
 mghka, 
 rered 
 colo- 
 thou- 
 bang, 
 ; €ll- 
 Hons 
 ants, 
 ance 
 
 It is 
 ; and 
 lin by 
 to be 
 thing 
 re 10: 
 tain 0 
 ight d 
 
 by the 
 il, and 
 i 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 is sold at the rate of twenty dollars the pikul. A lump which I deposited 
 in the Museum of the East-India Company, is pronounced to be native 
 copper. The Malays are fond of mixing this metal with gold, in equal 
 quantities, and using the composition, which they name swasa, in the 
 manufacture of buttons, betel boxes, and heads of krises. I have never 
 heard silver spoken of as a production of this part of the East. Iromore 
 is dug at a place named Jurawang, in the eastern part of Menangkabau, 
 and there smelted, but not, I apprehend, in large quantities, the con- 
 sumption of the natives being amply supplied with English and Swedish 
 bar-iron, which they are in the practice of purchasing by measure in- 
 stead of weight. 
 
 Sulphur (balérang) as has been mentioned, is abundantly procured 
 from the numerous volcanos, and especially from that very great one 
 which is situated about a day’s journey inland from Priaman. Yellow 
 Arsenic (barazgan) is also an article of traffic. 
 
 In the country of Kattaun, near the head of Urei river, there are ex- 
 tensive caves (goha) from the soil of which saltpetre (mesiyu mantah) is 
 extracted. M: Whalfeldt, who was employed as a surveyor, visited 
 them in March 1773. Into one he advanced seven hundred and forty- 
 three feet, when his lights were extinguished by the damp vapour. Into 
 a second he penetrated six hundred feet, when after getting through a 
 confined passage, about three feet wide and five in height, an opening 
 in the rock led to a spacious place forty feet high. ‘The same caves were 
 visited by Mr. Christopher Terry and Mr. Charles Miller. They are the 
 habitation of innumerable birds, which are perceived to abound the 
 more, the farther you proceed. Their nests are formed about the up- 
 per parts of the cave, and it is thought to be their dung simply that 
 forms the soil (in many places from four to six feet deep, and from fifteen 
 to twenty broad) which affords the nitre. A cubic foot of this earth, 
 measuring seven gallons, produced on boiling seven pounds, fourteen 
 ounces of saltpetre, and a second experiment gave a ninth part more. 
 This I afterwards saw refined to a high degree of purity; but I conceive 
 that its value would not repay the expense of the process. 
 
 The 
 
 173 
 
 Tron. 
 
 Sulphur. 
 
 Saltpetre. 
 
 
 

 
 dt Ss a Be! ee Sete ey 7 - — Dioks « \ , : “a ‘ 
 ” ——- ee . 7 , 
 
 174 
 
 Birds-nest. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 The edible birds-nest, so much celebrated as a peculiar luxury of the 
 table, especially amongst the Chinese, is found in similar caves in dif- 
 ferent parts of the island, but chiefly near the sea-coast, and in the 
 greatest abundance at its southern extremity. Four miles up the river 
 Krot there is one of considerable size. The birds are called layang-la- 
 yang, and resemble the common swallow, or, perhaps, rather the mar- 
 tin. I had an opportunity of giving to the British Museum some of these 
 nests with the eggs in them. They are distinguished into white and 
 black, of which the first are by far the more scarce and valuable, being 
 found in the proportion of one only to twenty-five. The white sort sells 
 in China at the rate of a thousand to fifteen hundred dollars the pikul, 
 (according to the Batay. Trans. for nearly its weight in silver) the black 
 is usually disposed of at Batavia at about twenty or thirty dollars for the 
 same weight, where I understand it is chiefly converted into a kind of 
 glue. The difference between the two sorts has by some been supposed 
 to be owing to the mixture of the feathers of the birds with the viscous 
 substance of which the nests are formed; and this they deduce from the 
 experiment of steeping the black nests for a short time in hot water, 
 when they are said to become white to a certain degree. Among the 
 natives I have heard a few assert, that they are the work of a different 
 species of bird. It was also suggested to me, that the white might pro- 
 bably be the recent nests of the season in which they were taken, and the 
 black, such as had been used for several years successively. This Opi- 
 nion appearing plausible, I was particular in my inquiries as to that 
 point, and learned what seems much to corroborate it. When the natives 
 prepare to take the nests, they enter the cave with torches, and forming 
 ladders of bamboos notched, according to the usual mode, they ascend and 
 pull down the nests, which adhere in numbers together, from the sides and 
 top of the rock. I was informed, that the more regularly the cave is 
 thus stript, the greater proportion of white nests they are sure to find, 
 and that on this experience they often make a practice of beating down 
 and destroying the old nests in larger quantities than they trouble them- 
 selves to carry away, in order that they may find white nests the next 
 season in their room. The birds, I am assured, are seen, during the 
 building time, in large flocks upon the beach, collecting in their beaks 
 the: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 175 
 Of the 
 sini the foam thrown up by the surf, of which there appears little doubt of 
 int _ their constructing their gelatinous nests, after it has undergone, perhaps, 
 
 some preparation from commixture with their saliva or other secretion 
 in the beak or the craw; and that this is the received opmion of the na- 
 
 he river 
 
 Wng.tq. 
 - tives appears from the bird being very commonly named layang-buhi, the 
 ot foam-swallow. Linneus, however, has conjectured, and with much 
 iw plausibility, that it is the animal substance frequently found on the 
 ieiy beach, which fishermen call blubber or jellies, and not the foam of the 
 sll sea, that these birds collect; and it is proper to mention, that in a De- 
 | scription of these Nests by M. Hooyman, printed in Vol. III. of the 
 pa, Batay. Trans. he is decidedly of opinion, that the substance of them has 
 black nothing to do with the sea-foam, but is elaborated from the food of the 
 e me bird. Mr. John Crisp informed me that he had seen at Padang a com- 
 ‘in mon swallow’s nest, built under the eaves of a house, which was com- 
 pp posed partly of common mud, and partly of the substance that constitutes 
 — the edible nests. The young birds themselves are said to be very deli- 
 om the cate food, and not inferior in richness of flavour to the beceafico. 
 , Waler, 
 ong the The swala, tripan, or sea-slug (holothurion), is likewise an article of Trip. 
 differen trade to Batavia and China, being employed, as birds-nest or vermicelll, 
 it pro- for enriching soups and stews, by a luxurious people. It sells at the 
 nd the former place for forty-five dollars per pikul, according to the degree of 
 8 Ople whiteness and other qualities. 
 0 that 
 natives Bees wax is a commodity of great importance in all the eastern islands, Wax. 
 orming from whence it is exported, in large oblong cakes, to China, Bengal, 
 ond and and other parts of the continent. No pains are taken with the bees, 
 les and which are left to settle where they list (generally on the boughs of trees) 
 ave 1s and are never collected in hives. ‘Their honey is much inferior to that 
 » find, of Europe, as might be expected from the nature of the vegetation. 
 dow 
 wee Gum-lac, called by the natives ampalu or ambalu, although found upon Gum-le. 
 fi i trees, and adhering strongly to the branches, is known to be the work 
 a of insects, as wax is of the bee. It is procured in small quantities from 
 M5 4 the country inland of Bencoolen; but at Padang is a considerable article 
 ‘ A of trade. Foreign markets, however, are supplied from the countries of 
 
 Siam 
 
 
 
176 
 
 ivory. 
 
 Fish-roes. 
 
 Import-trade. 
 
 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 Siam and Camboja._ It is chiefly valued in Sumatra for thé animal part, 
 found in the nidus of the insect, which is soluble in water, and yields a 
 very fine purple dye, used for colouring their silksand other webs of do- 
 mestic manufacture. Like the cochineal it would probably, with the 
 addition of a solution of tin, become a good scarlet. I find in a Bisayan 
 dictionary, that this substance is employed by the people of the Philip- 
 pine Islands, for staining their teeth red. For an account of the lac 
 insect, see in the Phil. Trans. Vol. LXXI. p. 374. a paper by Mr. James 
 Kerr. | 
 
 The forests abounding with elephants, ivory (gading) is consequently 
 
 found in abundance,and is carried both tothe China and Europe markets. 
 
 The animals themselves were formerly. the objects of a considerable traf- 
 fic from Achin to the coast of Coromandel, or kling country, and vessels 
 were built expressly for their transport; but it has declined, or perhaps 
 ceased altogether, from the change which the system of warfare has un- 
 dergone, since the European tactics have been imitated by the princes 
 of India. 
 
 The large roes of aspecies of fish (said to be like the shad, but more 
 
 probably of the mullet-kind) taken in great quantities at the mouth. of 
 
 Stak River, are salted and exported from thence to all the Malayan 
 countries, where they are eaten with boiled rice, and esteemed a deli- 
 cacy. This is the botarga of the Italians, and here called trobo and 
 telur-trobo. 
 > 
 
 _ The most general articles of import-trade are the following. From 
 the coast of Coromandel various cotton goods, as long-cloth, blue 
 and white, chintz, and coloured handkerchiefs, of which those manu- 
 factured at Pulicat are the most prized; and salt: from Bengal, mus- 
 lins, striped and plain, and several other kinds of cotton goods, as 
 cossaes, baftaes, hummums, &c. taffetas and some other silks; and opi- 
 um in considerable quantities: from the Malabar coast, various cotton 
 goods, mostly of a coarse, raw fabrick: from China, coarse porcelain, 
 kwalis or iron pans, in sets of various sizes, tobacco shred very fine, gold 
 thread, fans, and a number of small articles: from Celebes (known here 
 
 by 
 
 
 
bart, 
 Tan 4 
 of dy. 
 ith th 
 Daan 
 Phi. 
 the a 
 Jan 
 
 uently 
 arkets, 
 le traf: 
 vessel 
 perhapi 
 148 ull 
 rinces 
 
 more 
 ith. of 
 layan 
 - deli- 
 
 0 and 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 by the names of its chief provinces, Mazigkasar, Bugis, and Mandar) 
 Java, Balli, Ceram, and other eastern islands, the rough, striped cot- 
 ton cloth, called hain sarong, or vulgarly bugis-clouting, being the uni- 
 versal body-dress of the natives; krises and other weapons,, silken kris- 
 belts, ¢wdongs or hats, small pieces of ordnance, commonly of brass, 
 called ranitaka, spices, and also salt of a large grain, and sometimes 
 rice, chiefly from Balli: from Europe, silver, iron, steel, lead, cutlery, 
 various sorts of hardware, brass wire, and broad cloths, especially scar- 
 let. It is not within my plan to enlarge on this subject, by entering 
 into a detail of the markets for, or prices of, the several articles, which 
 are extremely fluctuating, according to the more or less abundant or 
 scanty supply. Most of the kinds of goods above enumerated are inci- 
 dentally mentioned in other parts of the work, as they happen to be 
 connected with the account of the natives who purchase them. 
 
 QA Aris 
 
 > 
 
 177 
 
 
 
Arts and Ma- 
 nufactures, 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 Arts and Manufactures.—Art of Medicine.—Sciences.—Arithmetic.— 
 ~Geography.—Astronomy.—Music, Sc. 
 
 1 SHALL now take a view of those arts and manufactures which the 
 Sumatrans are skilled in, and which are not merely domestic, but con- 
 tribute rather to the conveniences, and in some instances to the luxuries, 
 than to the necessaries of life: I must remind the reader that my ob- 
 servations on this subject are mostly drawn from the Rejangs, or those 
 people of the island who are upon their level of improvement. We 
 meet with accounts in old writers, of great founderies of cannon in the 
 dominion of Achin, and it is certain that fire-arms, as well as krises, 
 are at this day manufactured in the country of Menarghkabau ; but my 
 present description does not go to these superior exertions of art, which 
 certainly do not appear among those people of the island whose manners, 
 
 ‘ more immediately, I am attempting to delineate. What follows, how- 
 
 Filagree. 
 
 Mode of — 
 working it. 
 
 
 
 ever, would seem an exception to this limitation; there being no manu- 
 facture in that part of the world, and perhaps I might be justified in 
 saying, in any part of the world, that has been more admired and cele- 
 brated, than the fine gold and silver filagree of Sumatra, This, in- 
 deed, is, strictly speaking, the work of the Malayan inhabitants ; but 
 as it is in universal use and wear throughout the country, and as the 
 goldsmiths are settled every where along the coast, I cannot be guilty of 
 much irregularity in describing here the process of their art. 
 
 There is no circumstance that renders the filagree a matter of greater 
 curiosity, that the coarseness of the tools employed in the workmanship, 
 and which, in the hands of an European, would not be thought suffi- 
 ciently perfect for the most ordinary purposes. They are rudely and 
 inartificially formed, by the goldsmith (pandez), from any old iron he can 
 procure. When you engage one of them to execute a piece of work, 
 his 
 
1 the 
 con- 
 res, 
 y ob- 
 those 
 We 
 in the 
 rises, 
 MY 
 which 
 ’ 
 nels, 
 how- 
 anu- 
 ad in 
 cele- 
 3, In 
 i“ but 
 qs the 
 
 ilty of 
 
 reall 
 sanshil 
 ht al 
 det and 
 ye cal 
 af work; 
 
 his 
 
 a —— —- 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 his first request is usually for a piece of iron hoop, to make his wire- 
 drawing instrument; an old hammer head, stuck in a block, serves. for 
 an anvil; and I have seen a pair of compasses composed of two old 
 nails tied together at one end. The gold is melted in a piece of a priuk 
 or earthen rice pot, or sometimes in a crucible of their own making, of 
 common clay. In general they use no bellows, but blow the fire with 
 their mouths, through a jomt of bamboo, and if the quantity of metal 
 to be melted is considerable, three or four persons sit round their furnace, 
 which is an old broken Awali or iron pot, and blow together. At Pa- 
 dang alone, where the manufacture is more considerable, they have 
 adopted the Chinese bellows. Their method of drawing the wire dif- 
 fers but little from that used by European workmen, When drawn to 
 a sufficient fineness, they flatten it, by beating it on their anyil; and 
 when flattened, they give it a twist, like that in the whalebone handle of 
 a punch-ladle, by rubbing it on a block of wood, with a flat stick. Af- 
 ter twisting, they again beat it on the anvil, and. by these means it be- 
 comes flat wire with indented edges. With a pair of nippers they. fold 
 down the end of the wire, and thus form a leaf, or element of a flower 
 in their work, which is cut off. The end is again folded and cut off, 
 till they have got a sufficient number of leaves, which are all laid on 
 singly. Patterns of the flowers or foliage, in which there is not very 
 much variety, are prepared on paper, of the size of the gold plate on 
 which the filagree is to be laid. According to this, they begin to dis- 
 pose on the plate the larger compartments of the foliage, for which they 
 use plain flat wire of a larger size, and fill them up with the leaves before 
 mentioned. To fix their work they employ a glutinous substance, made of 
 the small red pea with a black spot before mentioned, ground to a pulp, on 
 arough stone. ‘This pulp they place on a young coconut, about the size 
 of a walnut, the top and bottom being cut off. I at first imagined that ca- 
 price alone might have directed them to the use of the coconut for this 
 purpose; but I have since reflected on the probability of the juice of 
 the young fruit being necessary fo keep the pulp moist, which would 
 otherwise speedily become dry and unfit for the work. After the 
 leaves have been all placed in order, and stuck on, bit by bit, a solder 
 is prepared of gold filings and borax, moistened with water, which they 
 strew or daub over the plate with a feather, and then putting it in the 
 2A2 fire 
 
 179 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 fre for a short time, the whole becomes united. This kind of work on 
 a gold plate, they call karrang papan: when the work is open, they call 
 it karrang tris. In executing the latter, the foliage is laid out on a 
 card, or soft kind of wood covered with paper, and stuck on, as before 
 described, with the paste of the red seed ; and the work, when finished, 
 being strewed over with their solder, is put into the fire, when the card 
 or soft wood burning away, the gold remains connected, The greatest 
 skill and attention is required in this operation, as the work is often made 
 to run by remaining too long, or in too hot a fire. If the piece be large, 
 they solder it at several times. When the work is finished, they give it 
 that fine, high colour they so much admire, by an operation which they 
 term sapoh. This consists in mixing nitre, common salt, and alum, 
 reduced to powder and moistened, laying the composition on the fila- 
 ‘gree, ‘and keeping it over ‘a moderate fire until it dissolves and becomes 
 yellow. In this situation the piece is kept for a longer or shorter time, 
 according to the intensity of colour they wish the gold to receive. It is 
 then thrown into water, and cleansed. In the manufacture of baju but- 
 tons, they first make the lower part flat, and having a mould formed .of 
 a piece of buffalo’s horn, indented to several sizes, each like one half of 
 a bullet mould, they lay their work over one of these holes, and with a 
 horn’punch they press it into the form of the button. After this they 
 complete the upper part.” The manner of making the little balls, with 
 which their works are sometimes ornamented, is as follows. They take 
 a piece of charcoal, and having cut it flat and smooth, they make init a 
 small hole, which they’ fill with gold dust, and this melted in the fire 
 becomes a little ball. ‘They are very inexpert at finishing and polishing 
 the plain parts, hinges, screws, and the like, being in this as much ex- 
 celled’ by the European artists, as these fall short of them in the fineness 
 and minuteness of the foliage. The Chinese also make filagree, mostly 
 of silver, which looks elegant, but wants likewise the extraordinary 
 delicacy of the Malayan work. ‘The price of the workmanship depends 
 upon the difficulty or novelty of the pattern. In some articles of usual 
 demand, it does not exceed one-third of the value of the gold; but, 
 in matters of fancy, it is generally equal to it. The manufacture is 
 not now (1780) held in very high estimation in England, where cost- 
 liness is not so much the object of luxury, as variety; but, in the 
 revolution 
 
0k On 
 ey cll 
 ON a 
 defore 
 she, 
 he cat 
 great 
 D mate 
 large, 
 ive it 
 1 they 
 alum, 
 he fila- 
 eCOMEs 
 er time, 
 It 1 
 ju but 
 med.of 
 half of 
 with 4 
 s they 
 with 
 y take 
 inita 
 the fire 
 lishing 
 uch eX- 
 
 fineness 
 
 -mostl 
 ordinal 
 , depet 
 5 Of ps 
 ll bt 
 ctor 
 here cost 
 t iN tht 
 reroll! 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 revolution of taste, it may probably be again sought after, and admired 
 as fashionable. ; 
 
 But little skill is shewn amongst the country people in forging iron. 
 They make nails, however, though not much used by them an building, 
 wooden pins being generally substituted ; also various kinds of tools, as 
 the prang or bill, the banchi, rembé, billiong, and papatil, which are dif- 
 ferent species of adzes, the kapak or axe, and the pangkur or hoe. 
 Their fire is made with charcoal ; the fossil coal which the country pro- 
 duces being rarely, if ever, employed, except by the Europeans; and 
 not by them of late years,,on the complaint of its burning away too 
 quickly: yet the report made of it in 1719 was, that it gave a surer heat 
 than the coal from England. The bed of it (described rather as a large 
 rock above ground) lies four days’ journey up Bencoolen River, from 
 whence quantities are washed down by the floods. The quality of coal 
 is rarely good near the surface. Their bellows are thus constructed: 
 two bamboos, of about four inches diameter and five feet in length, 
 stand perpendicularly near the fire; open at the upper end, and stopt 
 below. About an inch or two from the bottom a small joint of bamboo 
 is inserted into each, which serve as nozles, pointing to, and meeting at, 
 the fire. To produce a stream of air, bunches of feathers, or other soft 
 substance, being fastened to long handles, are worked up and down in 
 the upright tubes, like the piston of a pump. These, when pushed 
 
 downwards, force the air through the small horizontal tubes; and by 
 
 raising and sinking each alternately, a continual current or blast is kept 
 up; for which purpose a boy is usually placed on a high seat or stand. 
 I cannot refrain from remarking, that the description of the bellows used 
 in Madagascar, as given by Sonnerat, Vol. II. p. 60, so entirely corres- 
 ponds with this, that the one might almost pass for a copy of the other, 
 
 The progress they have made im carpenter’s work ‘has been already 
 pointed out, where there buildings were described. They are ignorant 
 of the use of the saw, excepting where we have introduced it among 
 them. ‘Trees are felled by chopping at the stems, and in procuring 
 boards, they are confined to those, the direction of whose grain, or 
 
 other 
 
 13] 
 
 Tron manu- 
 factures. 
 
 Carpenter's 
 work. 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 beste" 
 
 Tools. 
 
 Cements. 
 
 Ink. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 other qualities, admit of their being easily split asunder. In this repect 
 the species called marantz and marakuli have the preference. The tree, 
 being stripped of its branches and its bark, is cut to the length required, 
 and by the help of wedges split into boards. These being of irregular 
 thickness, are usually dubbed upon the spot. The tool used for this 
 purpose is the rembé, a kind of adze. Most of their stnaller work, and 
 particularly on the bamboo, is performed with the papatil, which resem- 
 bles in shape, as much as in name, the patupatu of the New-Zealanders, 
 but has the vast superiority of being made of iron. The blade, which is 
 fastened to the handle with a nice and curious kind of rattan-work, is so 
 contrived as to turn in it, and by that means can be employed either as 
 an adze or small hatcliet.. Their houses are generally built with the assist- 
 ance of this simple instrument alone. The. billiong is no other than a 
 large papatil, with a handle of two or three feet in length, turning, like 
 that, in its socket. 
 
 The chief cement they employ, for small work, is the curd of buffalo- 
 milk, called prakat. It is to be observed that butter is made (for the use 
 of Europeans only; the words used by the Malays, for butter and cheese, 
 monteiga and quezjo, being pure Portuguese) not as with us, by churn- 
 ing, but by letting the milk stand till the butter forms of itself on the 
 top. It is then taken off with a spoon, stirred about with the same in a 
 flat vessel, and well washed in two or three waters. The thick sour milk 
 left at the bottom, when the butter or cream is removed, is the curd here 
 meant. This must be well squeezed, formed into cakes, and left to dry, 
 when it will grow nearly as hard as flint. For use, you must scrape 
 some of it off, mix it with quick lime, and moisten it with milk. I 
 think there is no stronger cement in the world, and it is found to hold, 
 particularly in a hot and damp climate, much better than glue; prov- 
 ing also effectual in mending china-ware. The viscous juice of the 
 saga-pea (abrus) is likewise used in the country as a cement. 
 
 Ink is made by mixing lamp-black with the white of ege. To pro- 
 
 cure the former they suspend over a burning lamp an earthen pot, the 
 bottom of which is moistened, in order to make the soot adhere to it. 
 
 Painting 
 
SUMATR 4A. ig3 
 
 Tet 
 
 i. Painting and drawing they are quite strangers to. In carving, both Designing. 
 ure, in wood and ivory, they are curious and fanciful, but their designs are 
 
 rete always grotesque and out of nature. The handles of the krises are the 
 
 ts ti most common subjects of their ingenuity in this art, which usually ex- 
 
 Hk ah hibit the head and beak of a bird, with the folded arms of a human 
 
 Nei. creature, not unlike the representation of one of the Egyptian deities. 
 
 biden In cane and basket work they are particularly neat and expert; as well 
 
 ith as in mats, of which some kinds are much prized for their extreme fine- 
 J) } 
 ness and ornamental borders. 
 
 “Is $0 
 let Silk and cotton cloths, of varied colours, manufactured by themselves, Looms. 
 anid are worn by the natives in all parts of the country; especially by the 
 han women. Some of their work is very fine, and the patterns prettily fan- 
 Ig, lke cied. Their loom or apparatus for weaving (tunun) is extremely de- 
 fective, and renders their progress tedious. One end of the warp being 
 made fast to a frame, the whole is kept tight, and the web stretched out 
 alo by means of a species of yoke, which is fastened behind the body, when 
 he use the person weaving sits down. Every second of the longitudinal threads, 
 cheese or warp, passes separately through a set of reeds, like the teeth of a 
 churn- comb, and the alternate ones through another set. These cross each 
 n the other, up and down, to admit the woof, not from the extremities, as in 
 mn a our looms, nor effected by the feet, but by turning edge-ways two flat 
 milk sticks which pass between them. The shuttle (turak) is a hollow reed, 
 here about sixteen inches long, generally ornamented on. the outside, and 
 o dry, closed at one end, having in.it a small bit of stick, on which is rolled the 
 scrape woof or shoot. “he silk cloths haye usually a gold head. They use 
 ik I sometimes another kind of loom, still more simple than. this, being no 
 hold, more than a frame in which the warp is fixed, and the woof darned with 
 prov a long, small-pointed shuttle. For spinning the cotton they make use of 
 f the a machine very like ours. The women are expert at embroidery, the 
 gold and silyer thread for which is procured from China, as well as their 
 needles. _For.common work, their thread is the pulas before mentioned, 
 pi or id filaments of the pisang (musa). 
 
 ot, the 
 | Different kinds of earthenware, I pare elsewhere observed, are manu- Earthenware. 
 
 factured in the island, 
 They 
 
 
 

 
 O7U. 
 
 Torches, 
 
 Perfumes. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 They have a practice of perfuming their hair with oil of benzoin, 
 which they distil themselves from the gum, by a process doubtless of 
 their own invention. In procuring it, a priwk, or earthen rice pot, co- 
 vered close, is used for a retort. A small bamboo is inserted in the side 
 of the vessel, and well luted with clay and ashes, from which the oil 
 drops as it. comes over. Along with the benzoin they put into the retort, 
 a mixture of sugar cane and other articles, that contribute little or no- 
 thing to the quantity or quality of the distillation ; but no liquid is added. 
 This oil is valued among them at a high price, and can only be used by 
 the superior rank of people. 
 
 The oil in general use is that of the coconut, which is procured in the 
 following manner. The fleshy part being scraped out of the nut, which 
 for this use must be old, is exposed for some time to the heat of the san. 
 It is then put into a mat bag, and placed in the press (kampahan) between 
 two sloping timbers, which are fixed together in a socket in the lower 
 part of the frame, and forced towards each other by wedges in a groove 
 at top, compressing by this means the pulp of the nut, which yields an 
 oil, that falls into a trough made for its reception below. In the farther 
 parts of the country, this oil also, owing to the scarcity of coconuts, is 
 dear, and not so much used for burning as that from other vegetables, 
 and the dammar or rosin, which is always at hand. When travelling at 
 night they make“use of torches or links, called suduh, the common sort of 
 which are nothing more than dried bamboos of a convenient length, 
 beaten at the joints, till split in every part; without the addition of any 
 resinous or other inflammable substance. A superior kind is made by 
 filling with dammar a young bamboo, about a cubit long, well dried, and 
 having the outer skin taken off. 
 
 These torches are carried with a view, chiefly, to frighten away the 
 tigers, which are alarmed at the appearance of fire; and for the same 
 reason it is common to make a blaze with wood, in different parts round 
 their villages. The tigers prove to the inhabitants, both in their jour- 
 nies and even their domestic occupations, most fatal and destructive 
 enemies.’ The number of people annually slain by these rapacious ty- 
 rants of the woods, is almost incredible. I haye known instances of 
 
 ‘ whole 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Main, 
 
 es3 Of 
 
 y CO 
 é side 
 the oil 
 Tetort, 
 OF 10. 
 added 
 ed by 
 
 in the 
 which 
 he su, 
 etweel 
 lower 
 groove 
 lds an 
 farther 
 uts, 1s 
 ables, 
 ing at 
 sort of 
 ength, 
 of aly 
 ade by 
 o(, and 
 
 y ay the 
 he sal 
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 pet JOU" 
 sce 
 ons 'Y 
 nes © 
 
 whol 
 
 SUMATRA, 
 
 while villages being depopulated by them. Yet, froma superstitious pre- 
 judice, it is with difficulty they are prevailed upon, by a large reward 
 which the India Company offers, to use methods of destroying them, 
 till they have sustained some particular injury in their own family or kin- 
 dred, and their ideas of fatalism contribute to render them insensible to 
 the risk. Their traps, of which they can make variety, are very inge- 
 niously contrived. Sometimes they are in the nature of strong cages, 
 with falling doors, into which the beast is enticed by a goat or dog 
 enclosed as a bait ; sometimes they manage that a large timber shall fall, 
 in a groove, across his back; he is noosed about the loins with strong 
 rattans, or he is led to ascend a plank, nearly balanced, which, turning 
 when he is past the centre, lets him fall upon sharp stakes prepared be- 
 low. Instances have occurred of a tiger being caught by one of the for- 
 mer modes, which had many marks in his body of the partial success of 
 this last expedient. The escapes, at times, made from them by the na- 
 tives are surprising, but these accounts in general carry too romantic an 
 air to admit of being repeated as facts. ‘The size and strength of the 
 species which prevails on this island are prodigious. They are said to 
 break with a stroke of their fore paw, the leg of a horse or a buffalo; 
 and the largest prey they kill is without difficulty dragged by them into 
 the woods. This they usually perform on the second night,’ being sup- 
 posed, on the first, to gratify themselves with sucking the blood only. 
 Time is by this delay afforded to prepare for their destruction ; and to 
 the methods already enumerated, beside shooting them, I should add that 
 of placing a vessel of water, strongly impregnated with arsenic, near the 
 carcase, which is fastened to a tree to prevent its being carried off. The 
 tiger having satiated himself with the flesh, is prompted to assuage his 
 thirst with the tempting liquor at hand, and perishes in the indulgence. 
 Their chief subsistence is most probably the unfortunate monkeys with 
 which the woods abound. They are described as alluring them to their 
 fate, by a fascinating power, similar to what has been supposed of the 
 snake, and I am not incredulous enough to treat the idea with contempt, 
 having myself observed that when an aligator, in a river, Comes under 
 an overhanging bough of a tree, the monkeys, in a state of alarm and 
 distraction, crowd to the extremity, and chattering and trembling, ap- 
 proach nearer and nearer to the amphibious monster that waits to devour 
 
 2B them 
 
 185 
 
 Tiger-traps. 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Fishing. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 them as they drop, which their fright and number renders almost ‘una- 
 yoidable. These aligators likewise occasion the loss of many inhabi- 
 tants, frequently destroying the people as they bathe in the river, ac- 
 cording to their regular custom, and which the perpetual evidence of the 
 risk attending it cannot deter them from. <A superstitious idea of their 
 sanctity also (or, perhaps, of consanguinity, as related in the journal of 
 the Endeavour’s voyage) preserves these destructive animals from molest- 
 ation, although, with a hook of sufficient strength, they may be taken 
 without much difficulty. A musket ball appears to have no effect upon 
 
 their impenetrable hides. 
 
 Besides the common methods of taking fish, of which the seas that 
 wash the coasts of Sumatra afford.an.extraordinary variety and abund- 
 ance, the natives employ a mode, unpractised, I apprehend, in any 
 part of Europe. They steep the root of a certain climbing plant, called 
 tuba, of strong narcotic qualities, in the water where the fish are observed, 
 which produces such an effect, that they become intoxicated and to ap- 
 pearance dead, float on the surface of the water, and are taken with the 
 hand. This is generally made use of in the basons of water, formed by 
 the ledges of coral rock which, having no outlet, are left full when the 
 tide has ebbed.* In the manufacture and employment of the casting-net 
 they are particularly expert, and scarcely a family near the sea-coast is 
 without one. To supply this demand, great quantities of the pulas twine 
 are brought down from the hill-country to be there worked up; and in 
 this article we have an opportunity of observing the effect of that con- 
 formation which renders the handy-work of orientals (unassisted by ma- 
 chinery) so much more delicate than that of the western people. Mr. 
 
 Crisp 
 
 * In Capain Cook’s second voyage is a plate representing a plant used for the same pur- 
 pose at Otaheite, which is the exact delineation of one whose appearance I was well ac- 
 quainted with in Sumatra, and which abounds in many parts of the sea-beach ; but which 
 is a different plant from the twba-akar, but may be another kind, named tuba-bij?. In South 
 America also, we are informed, the inhabitants procure fish after this extraordinary manner, 
 employing three different kinds of plants ; but whether any of them be the same with that 
 of Otaheite or Sumatra, Lam ignorant. /I have lately been informed that this practice is 
 
 not unknown in England, but has been prohibited. It is termed “foxing :” thedrug made 
 use of was the coculus indicus. 
 
SUMATRA. . 187 
 
 ~ Crisp possessed a net of silk, made in the country behind Padang, the 
 
 ; meshes of which were no wider than a small finger-nail, that opened 
 
 a sixteen feet in diameter. With such they are said to catch small fish in 
 
 ft the extensive lake situated on the borders of Menarizkabau. Birds, par- Bird-catching. 
 ei ticularly the plover (cheruling) and quails (puyu) are caught by snares or 
 
 a springes laid for them in the grass. These are of zju, which resembles 
 
 ole 
 
 horsehair, many fathoms in length, and disposed in such a manner as to 
 entangle their feet ; for which purpose they are gently driven towards 
 “Upa the snares. In some parts of the country they make use of clasp-nets. 
 I never observed a Sumatran to fire a shot at a bird, though many of 
 them, as well as the more eastern people, have a remarkably fine aim ; 
 
 take 
 
 that but the mode of letting off the match-locks, which are the pieces. most 
 bund. habitual to them, precludes the possibility of shooting flying» Gun- Gunpowder. 
 _—° powder is manufactured in various parts of the island, but less in the 
 called southern provinces than amongst the people of Menargkabau, the Bat- 
 ervel, tas, and Achinese, whose frequent wars demand large supplies. It ap- 
 0 ap- pears, however, by an agreement upon record, formed in 1728, that 
 h the the inhabitants of Anak-swiget were restricted from the manufacture, 
 ed by which they are stated to have carried to a considerable extent. It is 
 n the made, as with us, of proportions of charcoal, sulphur, and nitre, but 
 g-net the composition is very imperfectly granulated, being often hastily pre- 
 sst_ is pared, in small quantities, for immediate use. The last article, though 
 wine found in the greatest quantity in the saltpetre-caves before spoken of, 
 rd in is most commonly procured from goat’s dung, which is always'to be had 
 - CO in plenty. 
 yy me 
 Mr. Sugar (as has already been observed) is commonly made, for domestic Sugar. 
 Crisp use, from the juice of a species of palm, boiled till a consistence is 
 formed, but scarcely at all granulated, being little more than a thick 
 me pur syrup. This spread upon leaves to dry, made into cakes, and afterwards 
 well # folded up in a peculiar vegetable substance, called upih, which is the 
 ¥ 4 sheath that envelopes the branch of the pinang tree, where it is inserted 
 - in the stem, In this state it is called jaggri, and beside its ordinary uses 
 Tis as sugar, it is mixed with chunam in making cement for buildings, and 
 it that exquisite plaster for walls which, on the coast of Coromandel, equals 
 gat Parian marble in whiteness and polish. But in many parts of the island 
 
 2B2 sugar 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 sugar is also made from the sugar-cane.. The rollers of the mill used for 
 this purpose are worked by the endless screw instead of cogs, and are 
 turned ‘with the hand, by means of a bar passing through one of the 
 rollers which is higher than the other. As an article of traffic amongst 
 the natives it is not considerable, nor have they the art of distilling ar- 
 rack, the basis of which is molasses, along with the juice of the anaw or 
 of the coconut palm in a state of fermentation, Both, however, are 
 manufactured by Europeans.’ wt 
 
 Salt is here, as in most. other countries, an article of general con-~ 
 sumption. The demand for it is mostly supplied by cargoes imported, 
 but they also manufacture it themselves. The method is tedious. They 
 kindle a fire close to the sea beach, and gradually pour upon it sea 
 water. When this has been continued for a certain time, the water eva- 
 porating, and the salt being precipitated among the ashes, they gather 
 these in baskets, or in funnels made of the bark or leaves of trees, and. 
 again pour sea water on them, till the particles of salt are well sepa- 
 rated, and. pass, with the water, into a vessel placed below to receive 
 them. This water, now strongly impregnated, is boiled till the salt ad- 
 heres ina thick crust to the bottom and sides of the vessel. In burning 
 a. square fathom of firewood, a skilful person procures about five gallons 
 of salt. What is thus made, has so considerable a mixture of the salt of 
 the wood, that it soon dissolves, and cannot be carried far into the coun- 
 try. The coarsest grain is preferred. 
 
 The art of medicine, among the Sumatrans, consists almost entirely 
 in 
 
 * Many attempts have been made by the English to bring to perfection the manufacture 
 of sugar and arrack from the canes; but the expences, particularly of the slaves, were al- 
 ways found to exceed the advantages. Within these few years (about 1777) that the plan. 
 tations and works were committed to the management of Mr. Henry Botham, it has mani- 
 festly appeared that the end is to be obtained, by employing the Chinese in the works of the 
 field, and allowing them a proportion of the produce, for their labour. The manufacture 
 had arrived at considerable perfection, when the breaking out of war gave a check to its, 
 progress ; but the path is pointed out, and it may be worth pursuing. The sums of money 
 thrown into Batavia for arrack and sugar have been immense. 
 
 
 
el fop 
 dare 
 f the 
 ones, 
 W a 
 Mutu or 
 el, ale 
 
 cons 
 ted, 
 They 
 it sea 
 mT EVA: 
 gathe 
 5, and 
 sepa- 
 ecelve 
 alt al: 
 urning 
 allons 
 alt of 
 UN 
 
 atirely 
 mn 
 
 facture 
 were a 
 he pha 
 ag {nell 
 rks fhe 
 pofacttre 
 ook to 
 of mney 
 
 SUMATRA, 
 
 in the application of simples, in the virtues of which they are well skil- 
 led. Every old man and woman is a physician, and their rewards de- 
 pend upon their success; but they generally procure a small sum in 
 advance, under the pretext of purchasing charms.* The mode of prac- 
 tice is either by administering the juices of certain trees and “herbs in- 
 wardly, or by applying outwardly a poultice of leaves chopped small, 
 upon the breast or part affected, renewing it as soon as it becomes dry. 
 For internal pains, they rub oil on a large leaf of a stimulant quality, 
 and heating it before the fire, clap it on the body of the patient, as a 
 blister, which produces very powerful effects. Bleeding they never use, 
 but the people of the neighbouring island of Nias are famous for their 
 skill in cupping, which they practise in a manner peculiar to them- 
 selves. 
 
 In fevers they give a decoction of the herb lakin, and bathe the pa- 
 tient, for two or three mornings, in warm water. If this does not prove 
 effectual, they pour over him, during the paroxysm, a quantity of cold 
 water, rendered more chilly by the daun sedizgin (cotyledon laciniata) 
 which, from the sudden revulsion it causes, brings on a copious perspi- 
 ration. Pains and swellings in the limbs are likewise cured by sweating; 
 but for this purpose, they either cover themselves over with mats, and 
 sit in the sunshine at noon, or if the operation be performed within 
 
 doors, 
 
 * Charms are there hung about the necks of children, as in Europe, and also worn by 
 persons whose situations expose them to risk. They are long narrow scrolls of paper, filled 
 with incoherent scraps of verse, which are separated from each other by a variety of fanci- 
 ful drawings. A charm against an ague I once accidentally met with, which from circum- 
 stances I conclude to be a translation of such as are employed by the Portuguese Christians 
 in India. Though not properly belonging to my subject, I present it to the reader. “ (Sign 
 of the cross), When Christ saw the cross he trembled and shaked ; and they said unto him 
 hast thou an ague? and he said unto them, I have neither ague nor fever; and whosoever 
 bears these words, either in writing or in mind, shall never be troubled with ague or fever. 
 So help thy servants, O Lord, who put their trust in thee!” From the many folds that ap- 
 pear in the original, I have reason to apprehend that it had been worn, and by some Eng- 
 lishmen, whom frequent sickness and the fond love of life, had rendered weak and superstic 
 tious enough to try the effects of this barbarous and ridiculous quackery, 
 
 Fevers, 
 
 189 
 
 
 

 
 Leprosy. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 doors, a lamp, and sometimes a pot of boiling herbs, is enclosed in the 
 covering with them. 
 
 There are two species of leprosy known in these parts. The milder 
 sort, or impetigo, as I apprehend it to be, is very common among the 
 inhabitants of Nias; great numbers of whom are covered with a white 
 scurf or scales, that renders them loathsome to the sight. But this dis- 
 temper, though disagreeable from the violent itching and other imconve- 
 niences with which it is attended, does not appear immediately to affect 
 the health ; slaves in that situation being bought and sold for field and 
 other out-door work. It is communicated from parents to their offspring, 
 but though hereditary; it is not contagious. I have sometimes been in- 
 duced to think it nothing more than a confirmed stage of the serpigo or 
 ringworm, or it may be the same with what is elsewhere termed the 
 shingles. I have known a Nias man who has effected a temporary re- 
 moval of this scurf, by the frequent application of the golinggang or 
 daun kurap (cassia alata) and such other herbs as are used to cure the 
 ringworm, and sometimes by rubbing gunpowder and strong acids to 
 his skin; but it always returned after some time. The other species 
 with which the country people are in some instances affected, is doubt- 
 less, from the description given of its dreadful symptoms, that severe 
 kind of leprosy which has been termed elephantiasis, and is particularly 
 described in the Asiat. Res. Vol. II. the skin coming off in flakes, and 
 the flesh falling from the bones, as in the lues venerea. ‘This disorder 
 being esteemed highly infectious, the unhappy wretch who labours un- 
 der it, is driven from the village he belonged to, into the woods, where 
 victuals are left for him, from time to time, by his relations. A prang 
 and a knife are likewise delivered to him, that he may build himself a 
 hut, which is generally erected near to some river or lake, continual 
 bathing being supposed to have some effect in removing the disorder, or 
 alleviating the misery of the patient. Few instances of recovery have 
 been known. There is a disease called the nambi which bears some 
 affinity to this, attacking the feet chiefly, the flesh of which it eats 
 away. Asnone but the lowest class of people seem to suffer from this 
 complaint, I imagine it proceeds in a great degree from want of clean-. 
 liness. 
 
 The 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
D the 
 
 ldey 
 
 t the 
 
 White 
 
 8 dis 
 
 Conve. 
 
 affect 
 1 and 
 ring, 
 Nin 
 190 of 
 ed the 
 uy te 
 ng 0 
 re the 
 ids to 
 pecie' 
 loubt- 
 evere 
 larly 
 and 
 order 
 rs Un 
 where 
 prang 
 self a 
 tinwal 
 der, 0! 
 ‘y hart 
 rg, S0llt 
 “it eal 
 on ti 
 olealle 
 
 The 
 
 2 - = ate —— i SE a 
 ee ee eye 
 
 SUMATRA, 19] 
 
 The small pox (katwmbuhan) sometimes visits the island and makes Small-pox. 
 terrible ravages. It is regarded as a plague, and drives from the country 
 thousands whom the infection spares. Their method of stopping its 
 progress (for they do not attempt a cure) is by converting into an hos- 
 pital or receptacle for the rest, that village where lie the greatest num- 
 ber of sick, whither they send all who are attacked by the disorder, from 
 the country round. The most effectual methods are pursued to prevent 
 any person’s escape from this village, which is burnt to the ground as 
 soon as the infection has spent itself, or devoured all the victims thus 
 offered to it. Inoculation was an idea long unthought of, and as it could 
 not be universal, it was held to be a dangerous experiment for Europeans 
 to introduce it partially, in a country where the disorder makes its ap- 
 pearance at distant intervals only; unless those periods could be seized, 
 and the attempts made, when and where there might be well founded 
 apprehension of its being communicated in the natural way. Such an 
 opportunity presented itself in 1780, when great numbers of people 
 (estimated at a third of the population) were swept away in the course of 
 that and the two following years; whilst upon those under the immediate 
 influence of the English and Dutch settlements inoculation was prac- 
 tised with great success. I trust that the preventive blessing of vaccina- 
 tion has or will be extended to a country so liable to be afflicted with 
 this dreadful scourge. A distemper called chachar, much resembling 
 the small pox, and in its first stages mistaken for it, is not uncommon. 
 It causes an alarm, but does not prove mortal, and is probably what we 
 term the chicken pox. 
 
 The venereal disease, though common in the Malay bazars, is in the Venereal dis. 
 inland country almost unknown. A man returning to his village with 
 the infection, is shunned by the inhabitants as an unclean and interdict- 
 ed person. The Malays are supposed to cure it with the decoction of a 
 china root, called by them gadong, which causes a salivation. 
 
 When a man is by sickness, or otherwise, deprived of his reason, or Insanity. 
 when subject to convulsion fits, they imagine him possessed by an evil 
 spirit, and their ceremony of exorcism is performed by putting the un- 
 fortunate wretch into a hut, which they set fire to about his ears, suffer- 
 
 ing 
 
 
 

 
 Sciences. 
 
 Measures. 
 
 Arithmetic, 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 ing him to make his escape through the flames in the best mannet he 
 can. The fright, which would go nigh to destroy the intellects of a 
 reasonable man, may perhaps have, under contrary circumstances, an 
 
 opposite effect. 
 
 The skill of the Sumatrans in any of the sciences, is, as may be pre- 
 sumed, very limited. Some, however, I have met with, who, in arith- 
 metic, could multiply and divide, by a single multiplier or divisor, seve- 
 ral places of figures. Tens of thousands (/aksa) are the highest class of 
 numbers the Malay language has a name for. In counting over a quan- 
 tity of small articles, each tenth, and afterwards each hundredth piece, 
 is put aside; which method is consonant with the progress of scientific 
 numeration, and probably gave-it origin. . When they may have occa- 
 son to recollect at a distance of time, the tale of any commodities they 
 are carrying to market, or the like, the country people often assist their 
 memory by tying knots on a string, which is produced when they want 
 to specify the number. The Peruvian quipos were, I suppose, an im- 
 provement upon this simple invention. 
 
 They estimate the quantity of most species of merchandize by what 
 we call dry measure, the use of weights, as applied to bulky articles, 
 being apparently introduced among them by foreigners ; for the pikul 
 and catti are used only on the sea coast, and places which the Malays 
 frequent. The kulah or bamboo, containing very-nearly a gallon, is the 
 general standard of measure among the Rejangs: of these eight hundred 
 make a koyan: the chupah is one quarter of a bamboo. By this measure 
 almost all articles, even elephants’ teeth, are bought and sold; but by a 
 bamboo of ivory they mean so much as is equal in weight to a bamboo 
 of rice. This still includes the idea of weight, but is not attended with 
 their principal objection to that mode of ascertaining quantity, which 
 arises, as they say, from the impossibility of judging by the eye of the 
 justness of artificial weights, owing to the various materials of which 
 they may be composed, and to which measurement is not liable. The 
 measures of length here, as perhaps originally among every. people upon 
 earth, are taken from the dimensions of the human body, The deppa, 
 or fathom, is the extent of the arms from each extremity of the fingers: 
 the 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
hep he 
 S of 4 
 (OS, at 
 
 be Ihe. 
 D art: 
 I, Sete 
 Class 0 
 quan: 
 piece, 
 entific 
 occa: 
 es they 
 ist ther 
 y Wall 
 an IM 
 
 y wha 
 rticles, 
 » piku 
 [alays 
 is the 
 nde’ 
 meastt 
 but by’ 
 hambo0 
 ded with 
 7, whit 
 ve of th 
 af wie 
 le, TF 
 ape ype 
 he a4 . 
  pgers: 
 
 he 
 th 
 
 oes ee ne ————————E——————————— 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 the etta, asta, or cubit, is the fore-arm and hand; sakz is the foot ; 
 jangka isthe span; and jarri, which signifies a finger, is the inch. These 
 are estimated from the general proportions of middle-sized men, others 
 making an allowance in measuring, and not regulated by an exact 
 standard. 
 
 The ideas of geography, among such of them as do not frequent the 
 sea, are perfectly confined, or rather they entertain none. Few of them 
 know that the country they inhabit is an island, or have any general 
 name for it. Habit renders them expert in travelling through the woods, 
 where they perform journeys of weeks and months without seeing a dwel- 
 ling. In places little frequented, where they have occasion to strike 
 out new paths, (for roads there are none) they make marks on trees, for 
 the future guidance of themselves and others. I have heard a man say, 
 ** I will attempt a passage by such a route, for my father, when living, 
 told me that he had left his tokens there.”’ They estimate the distance of 
 places from each other, by the number of days, or the proportion of the 
 day, taken up in travelling it, and not by measurement of the space. 
 Their journey, or day’s walk, may be computed at about twenty miles; 
 but they can bear a long continuance of fatigue. 
 
 The Malays, as well as the Arabs and other Mahometan nations, fix 
 the length of the year at three hundred and fifty-four days, or twelve 
 lunar months of twenty-nine days and an half; by which mode of reckon- 
 ing, each year is thrown back about eleven days. The original Su- 
 matrans rudely estimate their annual periods from the revolution of the 
 seasons, and count their years from the number of their crops of grain 
 (taun padi); a practice, which, though not pretending to accuracy, 
 is much more useful for the general purposes of life, than the lunar pe- 
 riod, which is merely adapted to religious observances. ‘They, as well 
 as the Malays, compute time by lunations, but do not attempt to 
 trace any relation or correspondence, between these smaller measures 
 and the solar revolution. Whilst more polished nations were multiplying 
 mistakes and difficulties, in their endeavours to ascertain the completion 
 of the sun’s course through the ecliptic, and in the mean while suffering 
 
 2C their 
 
 Geography. 
 
 Astronomy. 
 
 
 

 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 their nominal, seasons to become.almost,the reyerse of nature, these peo- 
 ple, without an idea of intercalation, preserved, ina rude way, the account 
 of their.years free from essential,, or at least progressive errour, and the 
 confusion which attends it,, The division. of the month into weeks I be- 
 lieve to be unknown, except where it has been taught with Mahometan- 
 ism; the day of the moon’s age being used instead of it, where aceuracy 
 is required; nor do.they subdivide the day into hours. To denote the 
 time of day, at which any circumstance they find it necessary to speak 
 of, happened, they point with their finger to the height in the sky at 
 which the sun then stood. And this mode is the more general and pre- . 
 cise, as the sun, so near the equator, ascends and descends almost per- 
 pendicularly,, and rises and sets, at all seasons of the year, within a few 
 minutes of six o’clock. Scarcely any of the stars or constellations are dis- 
 tinguished by them... They notice, however, the planet Venus, but do 
 not imagine her to be the same.at the different periods of her revolution ; 
 when she precedes the rising, and follows the setting sun. They are 
 aware of the night on which the new moon should make its appearance, 
 and the Malays salute it with the discharge of guns. They also know 
 when, to expect the returns of the tides, which are at. their height, on 
 the south-western coast of the island, when that luminary is in the ho- 
 rizon, and ebb as it rises. When they observe a bright star near the 
 
 , ., moon.(or rubbing against her, as they express it), they are apprehensive 
 
 
 
 of a.storm; as European. sailors foretel a gale from the sharpness of her 
 horns. ‘These are both, in part, the consequence of an unusual clear- 
 ness in the air, which, proceeding from an extraordinary alteration of 
 the state of the atmosphere, may naturally be followed by a violent rush- 
 ing of the circumjacent parts, to restore the equilibrium, and thus prove 
 the prognostic of high wind. During an eclipse they make a loud noise 
 with sounding instruments, to prevent one luminary from devouring the 
 other, as the Chinese, to frighten away the dragon; a superstition that 
 has its source in the ancient systems of astronomy (particularly the Hindu) 
 where the nodes of the moon are identified with the dragon’s head and 
 tail. They tell of a man in the moon, who is continually employed in 
 _ Spinning cotton, but that every night a rat gnaws his thread, and ob- 
 liges him to begin his work afresh. This they apply as an emblem of 
 endless 
 
 
 
 
 
€ Deo. 
 CON, 
 and thy 
 Is Tbe 
 Metan. 
 Creep 
 Lote the 
 0 speak 
 sky 9 
 d pre: 
 t per- 
 a few 
 ie dis. 
 but dy 
 ution; 
 ley ar 
 rance, 
 know 
 ht, on 
 he ho- 
 ar the 
 ensive 
 f her 
 clear- 
 on of 
 t rush: 
 ; prove 
 | noise 
 ng the 
 vn. that 
 indy) 
 nad al 
 oye! 
 and ol. 
 bem of 
 endless 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 endless and ineffectual labour, like'the stone of Sisyphus, and the sieves 
 of the Danaides. 
 
 With history and chronology the country people are But little -ae- 
 quainted ; the memory of past events being preserved by tradition only. 
 
 They are fond of music, and have many instraments in-use among 
 them, but few, upon inquiry, appear to be original, being mostly bor- 
 rowed from the Chinese and other more eastern people; particularly the 
 kalintang, gong, and sulin. The violin has found its way to them from 
 the westward. The kalintang resembles the sticcado and the harmonica; 
 the more common ones having the cross pieces, which are struck with 
 two little hammers, of split bamboo, and the more perfect, of a certain 
 composition of metal which is very sonorous. The gongs, a kind of bell, 
 but differing much in shape, and struck on the outside, are cast in sets 
 regularly tuned to thirds, fourth, fifth, and octave, and often serve as a 
 bass, or under part, to the kalintang. They are also sounded for the 
 purpose of calling together the inhabitants of the village upon any par- 
 ticular occasion ; but the more ancient and still common instrument for 
 this use, is a hollowed log of wood, named katut. The sulin is the 
 Malayan flute. The country flute is called serdum. It is made of bam- 
 boo, is very imperfect, having but few stops, and resembles much an 
 instrument described as found among the people of Otaheite. A single 
 hole underneath, is covered with the thumb of the left hand, and the 
 hole nearest the end at which it is blown, on the upper side, with a 
 finger of the same hand. The other two holes are stopt with the right 
 hand fingers. In blowing they hold it inclined to the right side. They 
 have various instruments of the drum kind, particularly those called 
 tingkah, which are in pairs, and beaten with the hands at each end. 
 They are made of a certain kind of wood hollowed out, covered with dried 
 goat-skins, and laced with split rattans. It is difficult to obtain a pro- 
 per knowledge of their division of the scale, as they know nothing of it 
 in theory. ‘The interval we call an octave, seems to be divided with 
 them into six tones, without any intermediate semitones, which must con- 
 fine their music to one key. It consists in general of but few notes, and 
 the third is the interval that most frequently occurs. Those who perform 
 
 2C2Q on 
 
 Music. 
 
 ~~ 
 
 Gr 
 
 
 

 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 on the violin, use the same notes as in our division, and they tune the 
 instrument, by fifths, to a great nicety. ‘They are fond of playing the 
 octave, but scarcely use any other chord. The Sumatran tunes very 
 much resemble, to my ear, those of the native Irish, and have usually, 
 like them, a flat third: the same has been observed of the music of Ben- 
 gal, and, probably, it will be found that the minor key obtains a prefer- 
 ence amongst all people at a certain stage of civilization. 
 
 Languages— 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 SUMATRA. 197 
 
 le the 
 
 ig the 
 
 very 
 
 ually, ; | | 
 Ben. Languages~-Malayan—Arabic character used— Languages of the interior 
 rel, people—Peculiar characters——Specimens of languages and of alphabets. 
 
 BEFORE I proceed to an account of the laws, customs, and manners Languages. 
 of the people of the island, it is necessary that I should say something 
 
 of the different languages spoken on it; the diversity of which has been 
 
 the subject of much contemplation and conjecture. 
 
 The Malayan language, which has commonly been supposed original Mlsy 
 in the peninsula of Malayo, and from thence to have extended itself 
 throughout the eastern islands, so as to become the dingua franca of that 
 part of the globe, is spoken every where along the coasts of Sumatra, 
 prevails without the mixture of any other, in the inland country of Me- 
 nangkabau and its immediate dependencies, and is understood in almost 
 every part of the island. It has been much celebrated, and justly, for 
 the smoothness and sweetness of its sound, which have gained it the ap- 
 pellation of the Italian of the East. This is owing to the prevalence of 
 vowels and liquids in the words (with many nasals which may be thought 
 an objection) and the infrequency of any harsh combination of mute 
 consonants. These qualities render it well adapted to poetry, which 
 the Malays are passionately addicted to. They amuse all their leisure 
 hours, including the greater portion of their lives, with the repetition of 
 songs which are, for the most part, proverbs illustrated, or figures of Songs. 
 speech applied to the occurrences of life. Some that they rehearse, in 
 a kind of recitative, at their bzmbangs or feasts, are historical love tales, 
 like our old English ballads, and are often extemporaneous productions. id ' 
 An example of the former species is as follows :— 
 
 Apa guna passang palita, 
 
 Kallo tidah dargan sum|nenia ? 
 
 Apa guna bermine maita, 
 
 Kallo tiduh dan gan sur ggu'nia ? 
 What 
 
 Teas 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ee ee 
 
 Arabic cha- 
 racter used 
 by Malays. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 What signifies attempting to light a lamp, 
 If the wick be wanting ? 
 
 What signifies playing with the eyes, 
 
 If nothing in earnest be intended? 
 
 It must be observed, however, that it often-proves a very difficult matter — 
 to trace the connexion between the figurative and the literal sense of the 
 stanza. The essentials in the composition of the pantun, for such these 
 little pieces are called, the longer being called dendang, are the rhyth- 
 mus and the figure, particularly the latter, which they consider as thé 
 life and spirit of the poetry, I had a proof of this in an attempt which 
 I made to impose a pantun of my own composing on the natives, as a. 
 work of their countrymen. The subject was a dialogue between a lover 
 and a rich, coy mistress: the expressions were proper to the occasion, 
 and in some degree characteristic. It passed with several, but an old 
 lady who was a more discerning critic than the others, remarked that it 
 was “ katta katta saja’’—mere conversation ; meaning that it was desti- 
 tute of the quaint and figurative expressions -which adorn their own 
 poetry. Their language, in common speaking, is proverbial and senten- 
 tious. If a young woman prove with child before marriage, they ob- 
 serve it is © daulu buah, kadian buriga’—** the fruit before-the flower.” 
 Hearing of a person’s death, they say, ‘ nen matti, matti; nen idup, be- 
 kraja: kallo sampi janji’nia, apa bul buat ?”’—*.Those who are dead, are 
 dead; those who survive must work: if-his allotted time was expired, 
 what resource is there?”’? The latter phrase they always make use of, to 
 
 express their sense of inevitability, and has more force than any transla- 
 tion of it I can employ. 
 
 Their writing is in the Arabic character, with modifications to adapt 
 that alphabet to their language, and in consequence: of the adoption of 
 their religion from. the same quarter, a great_ number of Arabic words 
 are incorporated with the Malayan. The Portuguese too have furnish- 
 ed them with several terms, chiefly for such ideas as they have acquired 
 since the period of European discoveries to the eastward. They write on 
 paper, using ink of their own composition,. with pens made of the twig of 
 the anau tree. I could never discover that.the Malays had any original 
 written characters, peculiar to themselves, before they acquired those 
 
 how 
 
—— » ee ~ A+ 
 a 
 
 SUMATRA. 199 
 
 now in use; but it is possible that such might have. been lost; a fate 
 that may hereafter attend.the Batta, Rejang, and others of Sumatra, on 
 which the Arabic daily makes encroachments. Yet I have had frequent 
 occasion. to-observe the former language written by inland people, in the 
 country character; which would indicate that the speech is likely to 
 
 oe perish first. The Malayan.books are very numerous, both in prose and 
 b he verse, Many of them are commentaries on the koran, and others, ro* 
 mances or heroic tales. 
 
 rhyth. 
 
 as th The purest or. most elegant Malayan is said, and with great appear- 
 which ance of reason, to. be spoken at Malacca. It differs from the dialect 
 8a used in Sumatra chiefly in. this, that words, in the latter, made to ter_ 
 lover minate in ‘*‘ 0,” are in the former, sounded as ending in “@.” Thus 
 Pasion, they pronounce lada (pepper) instead of lado. ‘Those words which end 
 an ol with “4” in writing, are, in Sumatra, always softened in speaking, by 
 that it omitting it; as ‘ tabbé bannia,” ‘* many compliments,” for ‘ tabbek 
 dest banniak ;” but the Malaccans, and especially the: more eastern people, 
 own who speak a very broad dialect, give them generally the full sound. 
 eniten- The personal pronouns also differ materially in the respective coun- 
 ey ob. tries. 
 
 ower,” 
 
 p, be. Attempts have been made to compose a grammar of this tongue, upon 
 d, are the principles on which those of the European languages are formed. 
 pired, But the inutility of such productions is obvious. -Where there is no in- 
 af,to flexion of either nouns or verbs, there can be no cases, declensions, 
 ansle- moods, or conjugations. All this is performed by the addition of certain 
 
 words expressive of a determinate meaning, which should not be consi- 
 dered as mere auxiliaries, or as. particles subservient to other words. 
 adapt Thus, in the instanceof rumah, a house; deri pada rumah signifies “ from 
 
 
 
 jon of a house ;”. but it would be talking without use or meaning, to say that 
 
 wal deri pada is the sign of the ablative case of that noun, for then every 
 
 nish preposition should equally require an appropriate case, and as well as ew 
 a << of,” **to,” and ‘ from,” we should have a case for dedtas rumah “ on 
 
 bal top of the house.” So of verbs: “< kallo saya bule il’ “If I could 
 
 ure walk:” this may be termed the preter-imperfect tense of the subjunctive 
 
 sei or potential mood, of the verb jalan ; whereas it is in facet a sentence, of 
 
 orig! 
 
 which 
 | those 
 
 now 
 
 
 

 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 which jalan, buli, &c. are constituent words. It is improper, I say, to 
 talk of the case of a noun, which does not change its termination, 
 or the mood of a verb, which does not alter its form. An useful set 
 of observations might be collected, for speaking the language with cor- 
 rectness and propriety, but they must be independent of the technical 
 rules of languages founded on different principles." 
 
 interior people Beside the Malayan there are a variety of languages spoken in Suma- 
 use languages 
 
 mtra, which, however, have not only a manifest affinity among them- 
 
 alayan. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 selves, but also to that general language which is found to prevail in, 
 and to be indigenous to all the islands of the eastern sea; from Mada- 
 gascar to the remotest of Captain Cook’s discoveries ; comprehending a 
 wider extent than the Roman, or any other tongue, has yet boasted. 
 Indisputable examples of this connexiomand similarity, I have exhibited 
 in a paper which the Society of Antiquaries have done me the honour to 
 publish in their Archzologia, Vol. VI. In different places it has been 
 more or less mixed and corrupted, but between the most dissimilar 
 branches, an evident sameness of many radical words is apparent, and 
 in some, very distant from each other in point of situation, as for in- 
 stance the Philippines and Madagascar, the deviation of the words is 
 scarcely more than is observed in the dialects of neighbouring provinces 
 of the same kingdom. To render this comparison of languages more 
 extensive, and, if possible, to bring all those spoken throughout the 
 world, into one point of view, is an object of which I have never lost 
 
 sight, but my hopes of completing such a work are by no means san- 
 guine. 
 
 The principal of these Sumatran languages are the Batta, the Rejang, 
 and the Lampong, whose difference is marked, not so much by the want 
 of correspondence in the terms, as by the circumstance of their being © 
 expressed in distinct and peculiar written characters.. But whether this 
 apparent difference be radical and essential, or only produced by acci- 
 
 dent 
 % 
 
 * Ihave ventured to make this attempt, and have also prepared a Dictionary of the lan- 
 guage, which it is my intention to print with as little delay as circumstances will admit. 
 
 
 
Say, t 
 Dation 
 ful set 
 th coy 
 chinical 
 
 D Sung 
 > then 
 Vall in 
 Mada: 
 ding 3 
 oasted, 
 chibitey 
 nour ty 
 148 beet 
 ssimilat 
 Mt, and 
 for in: 
 rords I 
 
 ovINCes — 
 
 3 more 
 ut the 
 et lost 
 18 sail 
 
 Rejang, 
 e want 
 r being 
 her thi 
 by act! 
 
 deat 
 
 of the am 
 | ada 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 dent and the lapse of time, may be thought to admit of doubt ;. and in 
 order that the reader may. be enabled to form his own judgment, a plate 
 containing the Alphabetical characters of each, with the mode of ap- 
 plying the orthographical marks to those of the Rejang language in par- 
 ticular, is annexed. It would indeed be extraordinary, and perhaps 
 singular in the history of human improvement, that divisions of people 
 in the same island, with equal claims to originality, in stages of civiliza- 
 tion nearly equal, and speaking languages derived from the same source, 
 should employ characters different from each other, as well as from the 
 rest of the world. It will be found, however, that the alphabet used in 
 the neighbouring island of Java (given by Corneille Le Brun), that used 
 by the Tagala people of the Philippines (given by Thevenot), and by 
 the Bugis people of Celebes (given by Capt. Forrest), vary at least as 
 much from these and from each other, as the Rejang from the Batta, 
 The Sanskrit scholar will at the same time perceive in several of them an 
 analogy to the rythmical arrangement, terminating with a nasal, which 
 distinguishes the alphabet of that ancient language, whose influence is. 
 known to have been extensive in this quarter. In the country of Achin, 
 where the language differs considerably from the Malayan, the Arabic 
 
 character has nevertheless been adopted, and on this account it has less 
 claim to originality. 
 
 201 
 
 Their manuscripts of any bulk and importance are written with ink of On bark of 
 
 their own making, on the inner bark of a tree cut into slips of several 
 feet in length, and folded together in squares; each square or fold an- 
 swering to a page or leaf. For more common occasions they write on 
 the outer coat of a joint of bamboo, sometimes whole, but generally 
 split into pieces of two or three inches in breadth, with the point of the 
 weapon worn at their side, which serves the purpose of a stylus; and 
 these writings, or scratchings rather, are often performed with a consi- 
 derable degree of neatness. Thus the Chinese also are said by their his- 
 
 torians to have written on pieces of bamboo, before they invented paper. 
 
 Of both kinds of manuscript, I have many specimens in my possession. 
 
 The lines are formed from the left hand towards the right, contrary to 
 the practice of the Malays and the Arabians. 
 2D In 
 
 t 
 b 
 
 amboo. 
 
 rees and 
 
 
 

 
 - oe | anand 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 In Java, Siam, and other parts of the East, beside the common lan- 
 guage of the country, there is established a court language spoken by 
 persons of rank only; a distinction invented for the purpose of keeping 
 the vulgar at a distance, and inspiring them with respect for what they 
 
 do not understand. The Malays also have their bhasa dalam, or courtly 
 
 style, which contains a number of expressions not familiarly used in 
 common conversation or writing, but yet by no means constituting a se- 
 parate language, any more than, in English, the elevated style of our 
 poets and historians. Amongst the inhabitants of Sumatra in general, 
 disparity of condition is not attended with much ceremonious distance 
 
 of behaviour between the persons. 
 
 SPECIMENS 
 
 
 
H 
 { 
 | 
 | 
 
 = 
 
 a 
 
 2 
 
 100 lap, 
 
 Oked Hp 
 
 kein 
 
 hat they 
 
 r courtly 
 
 “Used i 
 
 Dg as. 
 
 eof cit 
 
 rener 
 
 a 
 
 stance . 
 
 EN! 
 b 
 
 
 
 cpEC iM 
 

 
 
 
 
 SUMATRAN ALPHABETS. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Re} ano’ 
 
 
 
 
 KDR MMMKMM MS KL XX 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ka Ja nga ta da MHA Pa ba ra 
 SYM pe /) NNW RNS BR MM WK 
 ha ja na aes 7a la ya wa ha mba nya nda wa a. 
 
 The terminating sounds ef these letters are varied by the application of the frollowmg Signs; 
 
 a 
 
 4 Duo de-atas changes ka. to “~ han 4 Ka-tilang Fe ODMe POEL ha al GO kang 
 
 | ~,fayma, a . Aa-mitan .. | 00 I Pe 
 ey Kajungung . : lo ‘* kar ) Ka-tiling to Ky ka. ke | 
 A fa-lawan ..-20... 0. oe to KR ki © Aa-tulung. to & kausou | 
 x Ha-micha to A kei hed lee 0 Mati or bunuh-an to Rh; 
 
 which last, Lhe the JORnNa or _ the Arabians, serves to att off or deaden the vocal UMTANLE, 
 as the term exprefaes . Of these Stgns more than one may be applted to the same characte, 
 as lin, “WN lin, Au nuh, YW gung, A ban, < Pit. SS maths the Commencement 
 of ~— the: ~—o writing, which proceeds horizontally, trom the lat hand te the right, the series 
 of lines descending, most wsually, from the top of the page: but net untfrequently 
 the bottom lne ww the first written, and the others tw sueccofston towards the top. 
 
 | 
 
 . . A . . pe a Y pe P 4 
 
 This practice / common to other tribes } appears to have gwen rise to the rtdea / noticed 
 at Pp: 363 ) that the Battas are accustomed to write papendiearly "trom the bottom to the 
 
 |. top of the line.” 
 
 4 
 Batta. 
 were a eC CO Nr a SS - > — 2s eS ..>S 
 77s < Meer os << eet ea 
 a@ ha Ra ma ta da ba pa wa va Sa ga la Ta Nga Ja nia L Uz 
 The Signs whith govern the terminating sounds of these letters are ~e, to Cth me 4 
 y > ; “<< 
 2? @g, and > w or ung; a RK te Rw Vu Fz tang, and XK tu or tung. The oe 
 
 final 4 ha takes the sound of ke. With the exception of the first two Tetters, tt does 
 not appear that any adetermunate order ws observed in the arrangement of the Alphabd, 
 which iw tound to vary Weete or los um every SP CORRE | a 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 = Lampong. 
 . 
 ‘ 
 . <7 7 AY W= me tt AE UT PS Li: < ae es Oo 7 JM 
 Pes ee eS ee eee SR , Joa 
 os | ka qa nga pa ba ma ta da na 
 es. CSS FEO MW ew ww te i => ae as 
 : AE ee ae : tes id ee eee gail 4 a ee Se = wen — es “ERE. =, gee 
 | 2 cha Ja ua va a la 7 sa*- wa ha | ‘ 
 CG r =e f a : . . . é -“ 4 
 : lo these Letters z the Signs are appleed wm the following manne A Ta. 7 = hang. \- 
 cul z ; Z ‘ “ ‘ 
 z is or “WF fete. “TT Jatt, Fa kar, 3 faorké, ZW kaw or ku, 7T ka,ko. “1% feak | 
 : | WY far. “WM ide 2! mati as ai oe fon tampat. | 
 b - Wiig,» f  . ‘ se : a "mn 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 SPECIMENS OF LANGUAGES SPOKEN IN SUMATRA. 
 
 
 
 —_—- 
 
 hang Malay. Achin. Batta. Rejang. Lampong. 
 hi 
 wa One Satu Sah Sadah Do Sye 
 i, Two Dua Dua Duo Duy , Rowah 
 Three Tiga Tlu Tolu Tellau Tulli 
 | Four Ampat Pat Opat *Mpat Ampah 
 sui Five Lima Limung Limah Lemo Limah 
 hara Six Anam Nam Onam Num Anam 
 i Seven Tujyu Tuju Paitu Tujua Pitu 
 Eight Slappan Dlappan Uallu Delapun Vallu 
 Nine Sambilan Sakurang Siah Sembilan Siwah 
 erase Ten Sapuluh Saplu Sapulu Depulu Pulu 
 es Husband | Laki Lakai Morah Lakye Kajun 
 ee Wife Bini Binai Abu Suma Kajun 
 note Father Bapa Ba Ammah Bapa Bapah 
 7 Mother Ma Ma Inang Indo Inah 
 Head Kapala Ulu Ulu Ulau Uluh 
 Eyes Mata Matah Mahta Matty Mattah 
 Nose Idong Idun Aygong long long 
 Hair Rambut Oh Obu Bu Buho 
 Teeth Gigi Gegui Ningi Aypin Ipun 
 Hand Tangan Jarruai Tan gan Tan gun Chulu 
 Day Ari Urai Torang-hari | Bili-lueng Ranni 
 Night Malam Malam Borgning B. kalemun Binghi 
 ==: White Putih Putih Nabottar Putiah Mandak 
 " Black Itam Hetam Nabirong Melu Mallum 
 Good Baik Gaét Dengan Baye Butti 
 p, 0 Die Mati Mattay Mahtay Mattoi Jahal 
 au Fire Api Apuy Ahpi Opoay Appuy 
 ae Water Ayer Ir Ayk Beole Wye 
 tm Earth Tanah Tano Tana Pita Tanah 
 {Iphabi Coconut | Kalapa. Nior | U Krambi Niole Klappah 
 Rice Bras Briagh Dahano Blas Bias 
 Fish Ikan Inkur Dakay Konn Iwah 
 Hog Babi Buy Babi Suitemba Babui 
 Sun Mata-ari Mattaural Mahtah-hari | Matty-bily Mata-ranni 
 Moon Bulan Bulun Bulan Bulun Bulan 
 I Amba. Aku Ulun Ahu Uku Gniah 
 God Allah-tala Allah Daibattah Ula-tallo Allah-tala 
 jy 
 ph 
 2D2 Comparative 
 
 7 ern as 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Comparative 
 state of 
 Sumatrans 
 in society. 
 
 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 Comparative state of the Sumatrans in civil society—Difference of Character 
 between the Malays and other inhabitants. Government—Titles and power 
 of the chiefs among the Rejangs. Influence of the Europeans—Govern- 
 ment in Passummah. 
 
 CONSIDERED as a people occupying a certain rank in the scale of 
 civil society, it is not easy to determine the proper situation of the inha- 
 bitants of this island. Though far distant from that point to which the 
 polished states of Europe have aspired, they yet look down, with an 
 interval almost as great, on the savage tribes of Africa and America. 
 Perhaps if we distinguish mankind summarily into five classes; but of 
 which each would admit of numberless subdivisions; we might assign a 
 third place, to the more civilized Sumatrans, and a fourth, to the re- 
 mainder. In the first class, I should of course include some of the re- 
 publics of ancient Greece, in the days of their splendour ; the Romans, 
 for some time before and after the Augustan age; France, England, and 
 other refined nations of Europe, in the latter centuries; and perhaps 
 China, The second might comprehend the great Asiatic empires at 
 the period of their prosperity ; Persia, the Mogul, the Turkish, with 
 some European kingdoms. In the third class, along with the Suma- 
 trans, and a few other states of the eastern archipelago, I should rank 
 the nations on the northern coast of Africa, and the more polished Arabs. 
 The fourth class, with the less civilized Sumatrans, will take in the peo- 
 ple of the new discovered islands in the South Sea; perhaps the celebrated 
 Mexican and Peruvian empires; the Tartar hordes, and all those so- 
 cieties of people in various parts of the globe, who, possessing personal] 
 property, and acknowledging some species of established subordination, 
 rise one step above the Caribs, the New Hollanders, the Laplanders, 
 
 and the Hottentots, who exhibit a picture of mankind in its rudest and 
 most humiliating aspect. 
 
 As 
 
100; 
 
 lets, 
 
 and 
 
 7 
 - ae 8 ee. 1 
 A I le os 5 ee Oe ee ee eS 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 205 
 
 As mankind are by nature so prone to imitation, it may seem surpris- Few improve- 
 
 ing that these people have not derived a greater share of improvement, 
 in manners and arts, from their long connection with Europeans, par- 
 ticularly with the English, who have now been settled among them for 
 an hundred years. Though strongly attached to their own habits, they 
 are nevertheless sensible of their inferiority, and readily admit the pre- 
 ference to which our attainments in science, and especially in mechanics, 
 entitle us. I have heard a man exclaim, after contemplating the struc- 
 ture and uses of a house-clock, “Is it not fitting that such as we, should 
 be slaves to people who haye the ingenuity to invent, and the skill to 
 construct, so wonderful a machine as this ?”’ ‘“* The sun,” he added, “is 
 a machine of this nature.” ‘ But who winds it up ?”’ said his companion. 
 «© Who but Allah,” he replied. This admiration of our superior attain- 
 ments is, however, not universal; for, upon an occasion similar to the 
 above, a Sumatran observed, with a sneer, ‘“* How clever these people 
 are in the art of getting money.” 
 
 Some probable causes of this backwardness may be suggested. We 
 carry on few or no species of manufacture at our settlements; every thing 
 is imported ready wrought to its highest perfection; and the natives, 
 therefore, have no opportunity of examining the first process, or the pro- 
 gress of the work. Abundantly supplied with every article of convenience 
 from Europe, and prejudiced in their favour. because from thence, we 
 make but little use of the raw materials Sumatra affords. We do not spin 
 its cotton ; we do not rear its silk-worms; we do not smelt its metals 3 
 we do not even hew its stone: neglecting these, it is in vain we ex- 
 hibit to the people, for their improvement in the arts, our rich brocades, 
 our time-pieces, or display to them, in drawings, the elegance of our 
 architecture. Our manners likewise are little calculated to excite their 
 approval and imitation. Not to insist on. the licentiousness that has at 
 times been imputed to our communities; the pleasures. of the. table; 
 emulation in wine; boisterous mirth ; juvenile frolics, and puerile amuse- 
 ments, which do not pass without serious, perhaps contemptuous, ani- 
 madversion—setting these, aside, it appears to me, that even our. best 
 models are but ill adapted for the imitation of a rude, incurious, and 
 unambitious people. Their senses, not their reason, should be acted 
 
 on, 
 
 ments adopt- 
 ed from 
 Europeans. 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 on, to rouse them from their lethargy; their imaginations must be 
 warmed; a spirit of enthusiasm must pervade and animate them, before 
 they will exchange the pleasures of indolence for those of industry. 
 The philosophical influence that prevails, and characterizes the present 
 age, in the western world, is unfavourable to the producing these effects, 
 A modern man of sense and manners despises, or endeavours to despise, 
 ceremony, parade, attendance, superfluous and splendid ornaments in 
 his dress or furniture: preferring ease and convenience, to cumbrous 
 pomp, the person first in rank is no longer distinguished by his apparel, 
 his equipage, or his number of servants, from those inferior to him ; 
 and though ‘possessing real power, is divested of almost every external 
 mark of it. Even our religious worship partakes of the same simplicity. 
 It is far from my intention to condemn or depreciate these manners, con- 
 sidered in a general scale of estimation. Probably, in proportion as the 
 prejudices of sense are dissipated by the light of reason, we advance 
 towards the highest degree of perfection our natures are capable of; 
 possibly perfection may consist in a certain medium which we have 
 already stept beyond; but certainly all this refinement is utterly incom- 
 prehensible to an uncivilized mind, which cannot discriminate the ideas 
 of humility and meanness. We appear to the Sumatrans to have dege- 
 nerated from the more splendid virtues of our predecessors. Even the 
 richness of their laced suits, and the gravity of their perukes, attracted 
 a degree of admiration ; and I have heard the disuse of the large hoops 
 worn by the ladies, pathetically lamented. The quick, and to them 
 inexplicable, revolutions of our fashions, are subject of much astonish- 
 ment, and they naturally conclude, that those modes can have but little 
 ‘trinsic merit which we are so ready to change; or at least that our 
 caprice renders us very incompetent to be the guides of their improve- 
 ment. Indeed, im matters of this kind, it is not to be supposed that an 
 imitation should take place, owing to the total incongruity of manners 
 in other respects, and the dissimilarity of natural and local circumstances. 
 - But, perhaps, I am superfluously investigating minute and partial causes 
 of an effect, which one general one may be thought sufficient to pro- 
 duce. Under the frigid, and more especially the torrid zone, the inha- 
 bitants will naturally preserve an uninterrupted similarity and consistency 
 
 of manners, from the uniform influence of their climate. In the tem- 
 perate 
 
 
 
ene et ee 
 <i ee ee a 
 
 SUMATRA. 207 
 
 uit b perate zones, where this influence is equivocal, the manners will be 
 
 le fluctuating, and dependent rather on moral than physical causes. . 
 duty 
 
 nee The Malays and the other native Sumatrans differ more in the features of Difference in 
 
 sec their mind than in those of their person. Although we Know not that Secece the 
 
 dai this island, in the revolutions of human grandeur, ever made a distinguish- = omar 
 
 ed figure in the history of the world (for the Achinese, though powerful ™"* 
 
 in the sixteenth century, were very low in point of civilization) yet the 
 
 eLis i 
 
 mbn 
 a Malay inhabitants have an appearance of degeneracy, and this renders 
 “a their character totally different from that which we conceive of a savage, 
 ea however justly their ferocious spirit of plunder on the eastern coast, may 
 rae have drawn upon them that name. They seem rather to be sinking into 
 : i obscurity, though with opportunities of improvement, than emerging 
 J from thence to a state of civil or political importance. They retain a 
 1 2s tt ; 
 ne strong share of pride, but not of that laudible kind which restrains men 
 i from the commission of mean and fraudulent actions. ‘They possess 
 ble 0 = : 
 much low cunning and plausible duplicity, and know how to dissemble 
 ; 7 the strongest passions and most inveterate antipathy, beneath the utmost 
 _ composure of features, till the opportunity of gratifying their resentment 
 he i offers. Veracity, gratitude, and integrity, are not to be found in the 
 . ts list of their virtues, and their minds are almost strangers to the sentiments 
 ven {i of honour and infamy. They are jealous and vindictive. Their courage 
 trac is desultory, the effect of a momentary enthusiasm, which enables them 
 hoo to perform deeds of incredible desperation ; but they are strangers to that 
 o the steady magnanimity, that cool heroic resolution in ‘battle, which con- 
 stone stitutes in our idea the perfection of this quality, and renders it a virtue.* 
 but lit Yet it must be observed, that from an apathy almost paradoxical, they 
 that 0 ~ gyfer under sentence of death, in cases'where no indignant passions could 
 mpror operate to buoy up the mind to a contempt of punishment, with astonish- 
 that! ing composure and indifference ; uttering little more on these occasions, 
 man! than a proverbial saying, common among them, expressive of the inevi- 
 stall tability 
 tial 
 thot 2 In the history of the Portuguese wars in this part of the East, there appear some excep- — 
 + tions to this remark, and particularly in the character of Laksamanna (his title of commander 
 i 4 in chief being mistaken for his proper name), who was truly a great man and most consum- 
 set mate warrior. 
 
 the 
 pe 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Character of 
 native Su- 
 matrans, 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 tability of fate—‘‘ apa buli buat?” To this stoicism, their belief in 
 predestination, and very imperfect ideas of a future, eternal existence, 
 doubtless contribute. 
 
 Some writer has remarked, that a resemblance is usually found, between 
 the disposition and qualities of the beasts proper to any country, and 
 those of the indigenous inhabitants of the human species, where an in- 
 tercourse with foreigners has not destroyed the genuineness of their cha- 
 racter. “The Malay may thus be compared to the buffalo and the tiger. 
 
 In his domestic state, he is indolent, stubborn, and voluptuous as the 
 
 former, and in his adventurous life, he is insidious, blood-thirsty, and 
 rapacious as the latter. Thus also the Arab is said to resemble his camel, 
 and the placid Hindu his cow. 
 
 The Sumatran of the interior country, though he partakes in some de- 
 gree of the Malayan vices, and this partly from the contagion of example, 
 possesses many exclusive virtues; but they are more properly of the ne- 
 gative than the positive kind. He is mild, peaceable, and forbearing, 
 unless his anger be roused by violent provocation, when he is implacable 
 in his resentments. He is temperate and sober, being equally abstemious 
 in meat and drink. The diet of the natives is mostly vegetable; water is 
 their only beverage ; and though they will kill a fowl or a goat for a 
 stranger, whom perhaps they never saw before, nor ever expect to see 
 again, they are rarely guilty of that extravagance for themselves; nor 
 even at their festivals (bimbang), where there is a plenty of meat, do they 
 eat much of any thing but rice. Their hospitality is extreme, and bound- 
 ed by their ability alone. Their manners are simple ; they are generally, 
 except among the chiefs, devoid of the Malay cunning and chicane; yet 
 endued with a quickness of apprehension, and on many occasions disco- 
 vering a considerable degree of penetration and sagacity. In respect to 
 women, they are remarkably continent, without any share of insensibility. 
 They are modest; particularly guarded in their expressions ; courteous in 
 their behaviour ; grave in their deportment, being seldom or never ex- 
 cited to eka and patient to a great degree. On the other hand, 
 they are litigious ; indolent ; addicted to gaming; dishonest in their 
 dealings with strangers, er they esteem no rival defect; suspicious; 
 ~ regardless 
 
2¢ de. 
 mple, 
 e ne- 
 ring, 
 cable 
 MOUS 
 ater's 
 for 3 
 0 see 
 
 nor 
 they 
 und. 
 rally, 
 3 Je 
 {isc0- 
 ect 10 
 bility 
 Sols 
 ver 
 ; haat 
 t thet 
 cious 
 antes 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 , regardless of truth; mean in their transactions; servile ; though cleanly 
 
 in their persons, dirty in their apparel, which they never wash. They are 
 careless and improvident of the future, because their wants are few, for 
 though poor, they are not necessitous; nature supplying, with extraor- 
 dinary facility, whatever she has made requisite for their existence. 
 Science and the arts have not, by extending their views, contributed to 
 enlarge the circle of their desires ; and the various refinements of luxury, 
 which in polished societies become necessaries of life, are totally unknown 
 to them. The Makassar and Bugis people, who come annually in their 
 praws from Celebes to trade at Sumatra, are looked up to by the inha- 
 bitants, as their superiors in manners. The Malays affect to copy their 
 style of dress, and frequent. allusions to the feats and achievements of 
 these people are made in their songs... Their reputation for courage, 
 which certainly surpasses that of all other people in the eastern seas, ac- 
 quires them this flattering distinction. They also derive part of the re- 
 spect paid them, from the richness of the cargoes they import, and the 
 spirit with which they spend the produce in gaming, cock- fighting, and 
 opium-smoking. 
 
 Having endeavoured to trace the character of these people, with as 
 much fidelity and accuracy as possible, I shall now proceed to give an 
 account of their government, laws, customs, and manners ; and, in or- 
 der to convey to the reader the clearest ideas in my power, I shall de- 
 velope the various circumstances in such order and connection as shall 
 appear best to answer this intent, without confining myself, in every 
 instance, to a rigid and scrupulous arrangement under distinct heads. 
 
 The ejang people, whom, for reasons before assigned, I have fixed 
 upon for a standard of description, but which apply generally to the 
 orang ulu, or inhabitants of the inland country, are distinguished into 
 tribes, the descendants of different ancestors. Of these there are four 
 principal, who are said to trace their origin to four brothers, and to have 
 been united from time immemorial in a league offensive and defensive : 
 though it may be presumed, that the permanency of this bond of union 
 is to be attributed rather to considerations of expediency resulting from 
 their situation, than to consanguinity, or any formal compact. The in- 
 
 QE habitants 
 
 209 
 
 Government. 
 
 Rejangs di- 
 
 vided into 
 tribes. 
 
 
 
210 
 
 Their go- 
 yvernment, 
 
 Pangeran. 
 
 His authority. 
 
 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 habitants live in villages, called dusun, each under the government of a 
 head man or magistrate, styled dupati, whose dependants are termed 
 his ana-buah, and in number seldom exceed one hundred. The dupatis 
 belonging to each river (for here the villages being almost always situ- 
 ated by the water-side, the names we are used to apply to countries or 
 districts, are properly those of the rivers) meet in a judicial capacity at 
 the kwalo, where the European factory is established, and are then dis- 
 tinguished by the name of proatiin. The paigeran (a Javanese title) or 
 feudal chief of the country, presides over the whole. It is not an easy 
 matter to describe in what consists the fealty of a dupatt to his pangeran, 
 or of his ana-buah to himself, so very little in either case is practically 
 observed. Almost without arts, and with but little industry, the state 
 of property is nearly equal among all the inhabitants, and the chiefs 
 scarcely differ, but in title, from the bulk of the people. Their authority 
 is no more than nominal, being without that coercive power, necessary 
 to make themselves feared and implicitly obeyed. This is the natural 
 result of poverty among nations habituated to peace; where the two 
 great political engines, of interest and military force, are wanting. Their 
 government is founded in opinion, and the submission of the people is 
 yoluntary. Thedomestic rule of a private family, beyond a doubt, sug- 
 gested first the idea of government in society, and this people having 
 made but small advances in civil policy, theirs continues to retain a 
 strong resemblance of its original. It is connected also with the princi- 
 ple of the feudal system, into which it would probably settle, should it 
 attain to a greater degree of refinement. All the other governments 
 throughout the island are likewise a mixture of the patriarchal and feu- 
 dal; and it may be observed, that where a spirit of conquest has reduced 
 the inhabitants under the subjection of another power, or has added fo- 
 reign districts to their dominion, there the feudal maxims prevail: where 
 the natives, from situation or disposition, have long remained undisturbed 
 by revolutions, there the simplicity of patriarchal rule obtains; which 
 is not only the first, and natural form of government, of all rude nations 
 rising from imperceptible beginnings, but is perhaps also the highest state 
 of perfection at which they can ultimately arrive. It is not in this art 
 alone that we perceive the next step from consummate refinement, lead- 
 ing to simplicity. | 
 
 The 
 
 
 
SUMATRA, P13 
 
 te The foundation of right to government among these people, seems, Muck limited. 
 
 Me as I said, to be the general consent. If a chief exerts an undue autho- 
 We rity, or departs from their long established customs and usages, they con- 
 sta ceive themselves at liberty to relinquish their allegiance. A command- 
 8 0 ing aspect, an insinuating manner, a ready fluency in discourse, and a 
 ity a penetration and sagacity in unravelling the little intricacies of their dis- 
 n ti putes, are qualities which seldom fail to procure to their possessor re- 
 le) spect and influence, sometimes, perhaps, superior to that of an acknow- 
 eas) ledged chief. ‘The pargean, indeed, claims despotic sway, and as far as 
 ord, he can find the means, scruples not to exert it; but his revenues being 
 ally insufficient to enable him to keep up any force, for carrying his mandates 
 state into execution, his actual powers are very limited, and he -has seldom 
 hiefs found himself able to punish a turbulent subject, any otherwise than by 
 hon private assassination. In appointing the heads of dusuns, he does little 
 _ more than confirm the choice already made among the inhabitants, and 
 tural were he arbitrarily to name a person of a different tribe, or from another 
 ste place, he would not be obeyed. He levies no tax, nor has any revenue, 
 Thee (what he derives from the India Company being out of the question) 
 
 or other emolument from his subjects, than what accrues to him from the 
 determination of causes. Appeals lie to him in all cases, and none of the 
 inferior courts, or assemblies of proatiins, are competent to pronounce 
 sentence of death. But all punishments being, by the laws of the country, 
 
 ple i 
 , si 
 raving 
 
 it commutable for fines, and the appeals being attended with expence and 
 oe loss of time, the parties generally abide by the first decision, Those 
 uld dusuns which are situated nearest to the residence of the pasigeran, at 
 met Surigey-lamo, acknowledge somewhat more of subordination than the 
 fe distant ones, which, even in case of war, esteem themselves at liberty to 
 duos assist or not, as they think proper, without being liable to consequences. 
 ied fo In answer to a question on this point, ‘‘ we are his subjects, not his slaves,”’ 
 “where replied one of the proatims. But from the pazgeran you hear a tale 
 stub widely different. He has been known to say, in a political conversation ; 
 whi “such and such dusuns there will be no trouble with; they are. my 
 patil powder and shot ;” explaining himself by adding, that he could dispose 
 est sat of the inhabitants, as his ancestors had done, to purchase ammunition 
 this in time of war. 
 
 rf, lead . 2K2 | The 
 
 Th 
 
 
 
Q12 
 
 Origin of the 
 
 title of pang- 
 
 eran in Re- 
 jang. 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 The father of Pazigeran Margko Raja (whose name is preserved from 
 oblivion by the part he took in the expulsion of the English from Fort 
 Marlborough in the year 1719,) was the first who bore the title of pavig- 
 eran of Surigey-lamo. He had before been simply Baginda Sabyam. Until — 
 about an hundred years ago, the southern coast of Sumatra, as far as 
 Urei River, was dependant on the king of Bantam, whose Jennang (lieu- 
 tenant or deputy) came yearly to Silebar or Bencoolen, collected the pep- 
 per and filled up the vacancies, by nominating, or rather confirming in 
 their appointments, the proattins. Soon after that time, the English hay- 
 ing established a settlement at Bencoolen, the jennang informed the chiefs 
 that he should visit them no more, and raising the two head men of 
 Suwigey-lamo and Swigey-itam, (the latter of whom is chief of the Lemba 
 country, in the neighbourhood ef Bencoolen River ; on which, however, 
 the former possesses some villages, and is chief of the Rejang tribes) to 
 the dignity of pavizeran, gave into their hands the government of the 
 country, and withdrew his master’s claim. Such is the account given 
 by the present possessors, of the origin of their titles, which nearly cor- 
 résponds with the recorded transactions of the period. It followed natu- 
 rally that the chief thus invested should lay claim to the absolute autho- 
 rity of the’king whom he represented, and, on the other-hand, that the 
 proattins should still consider him but as one of themselves, and pay him 
 little more than nominal obedience. He had no power. to enforce his 
 plea, and they retain their privileges, taking no oath of allegiance, nor 
 submitting to be bound by any positive engagement. They speak of 
 him, however, with respect, and in any moderate requisition, that does 
 not affect their adat or customs, they are ready enough to aid him, (¢o- 
 long, as they express it) but rather-as matter of favour than acknowledged 
 obligation. | 
 
 The exemption from absolute subjection, which the dupatis contend 
 for, they allow in turn to their ana-buahs, whom they govern by the influ- 
 ence of opinion only. The respect paid to one of these, is little more 
 than as to an elder of a family held in esteem, and this the old men of the 
 dusun share with him, sitting by his side in judgment. on the little dif- 
 ferences that arise among themselves. If they cannot determine the 
 
 ' cause, 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 213 
 
 toy 
 I cause, OF the dispute be with one of a separate village, the neighbouring 
 
 . proattins of the same tribe meet for the purpose. From these litigations 
 a) arise some small emoluments to the dupati, whose dignity, in other re- 
 bi spects, is rather an expence than an advantage. In the erection of pub- 
 nt lic works, such as the ballez or town-hall, he contributes a larger share 
 i of materials. He receives and entertains all strangers, his dependants 
 Dt furnishing their quotas of provision, on particular occasions; and their 
 td hospitality is such, that food and lodging are never refused to those by 
 ‘a whom they are required. 
 hiels 
 n of Though the rank of dupati is not strictly hereditary, the son, when Succession of 
 emba of age, and capable, generally succeeds the father, at his decease: if too —_— 
 ever, young, the father’s brother, or such one of the family as appears most 
 es) th qualified, assumes the post; not as a regent, but in his own right; and 
 of the the minor comes in, perhaps, at the next vacancy. If this settlement 
 given happens to displease any portion of the inhabitants, they determine 
 ly co. amongst themselves what chief they will follow, and remove to his village, 
 d natu or a few families, separating themselves from the rest, elect a chief; but 
 autho. without contesting the right of him whom they leave. The chiefs, when 
 bat the nominated, do not, however, assume the title of dupati, until confirmed 
 y. hin by the pavigeran, or by the Company’s Resident. . On every river there 
 ‘ his is at least one superior proatiin, termed a pambarab, who is chosen by 
 , nor the rest, and has the right or duty of presiding at those suits and festi- 
 ak of vals in which two or more villages are concerned, with a larger allotment 
 t does of the fines, and (like Homer’s distinguished heroes) of the provisions 
 + Ue also. If more tribes than one are settled on the same river, each has 
 et usually its pambarab. — Not only the rivers or districts, but, indeed, each 
 
 ; dusun, is independent of, though not unconnected with, its neighbours; 
 
 acting in concert with them by specific consent. 
 
 nie The system. of government among the people near the sea-coast, who, tfuence of 
 in towards the southern extreme of the island, are the planters of pepper, ee 
 : a is much influenced by the power of the Europeans, who are virtually 
 nol th 
 
 the lords paramount, and exercise, in fact, many of the functions of 
 sovereignty. —The advantages derived to the subject from their sway, 
 both in a political and civil sense, are infinitely greater than persons at 
 
 tle di 
 ine the 
 
 case; a distance 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 a distance are usually inclined to suppose. Oppressions may be some- 
 times complained of at the hands of individuals, but, to the honour of 
 the Company’s service let me add, they have-been very rare, and of 
 inconsiderable magnitude. Where a degree of discretionary power is 
 intrusted to single persons, abuses will, in the nature of things, arise 
 in some instances; Cases may occur, in which the private passions of 
 the Resident will interfere with his public duty ; but the door has ever 
 been open for redress, and examples have been made. To destroy this 
 influence and authority, in order to prevent these consequences, were to 
 cut off a limb in order to remove a partial complaint. By the Com- 
 pany’s power, the districts over which it extends are preserved in un- 
 interrupted peace. Were it not for this power, every dusun of every 
 river would be at war with its neighbour. The natives themselves al- 
 low it, and it was evinced, even in the short space of time during which 
 the English were absent from the coast, in a former war with France. 
 Hostilities of district against district, so frequent among the independ- 
 ent nations to the northward, are, within the Company’s jurisdiction, 
 things unheard of; and those dismal catastrophes, which in all the | 
 Malayan islands are wont to attend on private feuds, but very rarely 
 
 happen... ‘*_I tell you honestly,” said a dupati, much irritated against 
 one of his neighbours, “* that it is only you,” pointing to the Resident 
 of Laye, ‘‘ that prevents my plunging this weapon into his breast.” 
 The Resident is also considered as the protector of the people from the ? 
 injustice and oppression of the chiefs. This oppression, though not 
 carried on in the way of open force, which the ill-defined nature of their 
 authority would not support, is scarcely less grievous to the sufferer. 
 Expounders of the law, and deeply versed in the chicanery of it, they 
 are ever lying in wait to take advantage of the necessitous and ig- 
 norant, till they have stripped them of their property, their family, and 
 their personal liberty, To prevent these practices; the partial adminis- 
 tration of justice in consequence of bribes; the subornation of wit- 
 nesses; and the like iniquities; a continual exertion of the Resident’s 
 
 attention and authority is required; and as that authority is accidentally 
 relaxed, the country falls into confusion. 
 
 It is true, that this interference is not strictly consonant with the 
 spirit 
 
nn 
 
 LOU 9 
 
 ald ¢ 
 
 wer 
 
 y ase 
 
 08 
 
 a8 ere 
 
 Oy th 
 
 vere t 
 Com. 
 0 Un- 
 every 
 res al: 
 - which 
 France 
 epent 
 iction, 
 all the 
 r rane 
 agails 
 Resident 
 east, 
 m the 
 h nol 
 f ther 
 suflere, 
 it, thy 
 ind if 
 y, an 
 Aminit 
 of wi 
 psideat 
 
 ental 
 
 ith. the 
 sith 
 
 SUMATRA. Q15 
 
 spirit of the original contracts entered into by the Company with the 
 native chiefs; who, in consideration of protection from their enemies ; 
 regular purchase of the produce of their country; and a gratuity to 
 themselves, proportioned to the quantity of that produce, undertake, 
 on their part, to oblige their dependants to plant pepper; to refrain from 
 the use of opium, the practice of gaming, and other vicious excesses ; 
 and to punish them in case of non-compliance. But however prudent 
 or equal these contracts might have been at the time their form was 
 established, a change of circumstances; the gradual and necessary in- 
 crease of the Company’s sway, which the peace and good of the country 
 required ; and the tacit consent of the chiefs themselves, (among whom 
 the oldest living have never been used to regard the Company; who have 
 conferred on them their respective dignities, as their equals, or as trading 
 in their districts upon sufferance) have long antiquated them; and cus- 
 tom and experience have introduced in their room, an influence on one 
 side, and a subordination on the other, more consistent with the power of 
 the Company, and more suitable to the benefits derived from the mode- 
 rate and humane exercise of that power. Prescription has given its sanc- 
 tion to this change, and the people have submitted to it without mur- 
 muring ; as it was introduced, not suddenly, but with the natural course 
 of events, and bettered the condition of the whole while it tended to 
 curb the rapacity of the few. Then let not short-sighted or designing 
 persons, upon false principles of justice, or ill-digested notions of liberty, 
 rashly endeavour to overturn a scheme of government, doubtless not per- 
 fect, but which seems best adapted to the circumstances it has respect to, 
 and attended with the fewest disadvantages. Let them not vai nly exert 
 themselves to procure redress of imaginary grievances, for persons who 
 complain not, or to infuse a spirit of freedom and independence, in a 
 climate where nature possibly never intended they should flourish, and 
 which, if obtained, would apparently be attended with effects, that all 
 their advantages would badly compensate. 
 
 In Pussummak, which nearly borders upon Rejang, to the southward, Government ix 
 there appears some difference in the mode of government, though the P*™™". 
 same spirit pervades both; the chiefs being equally without a regular 
 coercive power, and the people equally free in the choice of whom they 
 
 will 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 will serve. This is an extensive, and, comparatively, populous country, 
 bounded on the north by that of Lamattang, and on the south-east by 
 that of Lampong ; the river of Padang-guchi marking the division from 
 the latter, near the sea-coast. It is distinguished into Passummah lebbar, 
 or the broad, which lies inland, extending to within a day’s journey of 
 Muaro Mulang, on Palembang River; and Passummah wlu Manna, which 
 is on the western side of the range of hills, whither the inhabitants are 
 said to have mostly removed, in order to avoid the government of Pa- 
 
 lembang. 
 
 It is governed by four pazigerans, who are independent of each other, 
 but acknowledge a kind of sovereignty in the sultan of Palembang, from 
 whom they hold a chap (warrant) and receive a salin (investiture), on 
 their accession. This subordination is the consequence of the king of 
 Bantam’s former influence over this part of the island, Palembang being 
 a port anciently dependant on him, and now on the Dutch, whose in- 
 _strument the sultan is. There is an inferior pavigeran in almost every 
 dusun (that title being nearly as common in Passummah, as dupati to- 
 wards the sea-coast) who are chosen by the inhabitants, and confirmed 
 by the»superior pazigeran, whom they assist in the determination of 
 causes. In the low country, where the pepper-planters reside, the title 
 of kalippah prevails; which is a corruption of the Arabic word khalifah, 
 signifying a vicegerent. Each of these presides over various tribes, which 
 have been collected at different times (some of them being colonists from 
 Rejang, as well as from a country to the eastward of them, named Haji) 
 and have ranged themselves, some under one, and some under another 
 chief; having also their superior proatitn, or pambarab, as in the north- 
 ern districts. On the rivers of Peeno, Manna, and Bankannon, are two 
 kalippahs respectively, some of whom are also pavigerans, which last 
 seems to be here rather a title of honour, or family distinction, than of 
 magistracy. They are independent of each other, owning no superior; 
 and their number, according to the ideas of the people, cannot be in- 
 creased. 
 
ants a 
 of 
 
 other 
 , from 
 re\, OL 
 king ¢ 
 ee 
 hose it 
 st ever} 
 ypats 
 mnfirmel 
 ation ( 
 the tik 
 halifah, 
 which 
 s from 
 1 Haj) 
 anotiie 
 > nortl 
 are til 
 
 oh las 
 than ¢ 
 
 yperil 
 
 be i 
 
 SUMATRA igen 
 
 Laws and Customs—Mode of deciding Causes—Code of Laws. 
 
 THERE is no word in the languages of the island which properly and Laws or cum . 
 strictly signifies law; nor is there any person or class of persons among “™ 
 the Hejaugs regularly invested with a legislative power. They are go- 
 verned in their various disputes, by a set of long-established customs 
 (adat), handed down to them from their ancestors, the authority of 
 which is founded on usage and general consent. The chiefs, in pro- 
 nouncing their decisions, are not heard to say, “‘ so the law directs,” but 
 ** such is the custom.” It is true, that if any case arises, for which there 
 is no precedent on record (of memory), they deliberate and agree on 
 some mode, that shall serve as a rule in future similar circumstances. 
 If the affair be trifling, that is seldom objected to; but when it is & mat- 
 ter of consequence, the pangeran, or kalippah, (in places where such are 
 present} consults with the proatiimns, or lower order of chiefs, who fre- 
 quently desire time to consider of it, and consult with the inhabitants of 
 their dusun. When the point is thus determined, the people voluntarily 
 submit to observe it as an established custom; but they do not acknow- 
 ledge a right in the chiefs, to constitute what laws they think proper, or 
 to repeal or alter their ancient usages, of which they are extremely te- 
 nacious and jealous, It is, notwithstanding, true, that by the influence 
 of the Europeans, they have at times been prevailed on, to submit to 
 innovations in their customs ; but, except when they perceived a mani- 
 fest advantage from the change, they have generally seized an opportu- 
 nity of reverting to the old practice. 
 
 All causes, both civil and criminal, are determined by the several Mode of 
 chiefs of the district, assembled together, at stated times, for the purpose come 
 of distributing justice. These meetings are called becharo, (which sig- 
 nifies also to discourse or debate) and among us, by an easy corruption, 
 bechars. ‘Their manner of settling litigations, in points of property, is 
 
 2F rather 
 
 
 

 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 of arbitration, each party previously binding himself to 
 ard, than the exertion of a coercive power, possessed by 
 
 rather a species 
 submit to the aw 
 the court, for the redress of wrongs. 
 
 The want of a written criterion of the laws, and the imperfect stability 
 must frequently, in the intricacies of their suits, 
 
 of traditionary usage, 
 give rise to contradictory decisions ; particularly as the interests and 
 determination of 
 
 passions of the chiefs are but too often concerned in the 
 the causes that come before them. This evil had long been perceived by 
 the English Residents, who, in the countries where we are settled, pre- 
 side at the bechars, and being instigated by the splendid example of the 
 Governor-generat of Bengal (Mr. Hastings), under whose direction a 
 code of the laws of that empire was compiled (and translated by Mr. 
 Halhed), it was resolved, that the servants of the Company at each of 
 the subordinates, should, with the assistance of the ablest and most ex- 
 perienced of the natives, attempt to reduce to writing, and form a system 
 of the usages of the Sumatrans, in their respective residencies. This 
 was accordingly executed in some instances, and a translation of that 
 compiled in the residency of Laye coming into my possession, I insert 
 it here, in the original form, as being attended with more authority and 
 precision, than any account furnished from my own memorandums 
 
 could pretend to. 
 
 <¢ REJANG LAWS. 
 
 «¢ For the more regular and impartial administration of justice in the 
 Residency of Laye, the laws and customs of the Rejangs, hitherto pre- 
 served by tradition, are now, after being discussed, amended, and rati- 
 fied, in an assembly of the pangeran, pambarabs, and proatiins, com- 
 mitted to writing, in order that they may not be liable to alteration ; 
 that those deserving death or fine may meet their reward; that causes 
 may be brought before the proper judges, and due amends made for de- 
 faults ; that the compensation for murder may be fully paid; that pro- 
 perty may be equitably divided ; that what is borrowed may be restored; 
 that gifts may become the undoubted property of the receiver; that 
 
 debts may be paid, and credits received, agreeably to the customs that 
 have 
 
 
 
 
 
‘ 
 
 in tit 
 0 piv 
 d ral 
 
 ; com 
 
 ratio 
 t cae 
 
 e for (¢ 
 that 
 
 restore 
 he 
 bi 
 
 (of | 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 have been ever in force, beneath the heavens and on the face of the earth. 
 
 By the observance of the laws, a country is made to flourish, and where 
 they are neglected or violated, ruin ensues. 
 
 ** BECHARS, SUITS, OR TRIALS. 
 
 “ The plaintiff and defendant first state to the bench the general cir- 
 cumstances of the case. If their accounts differ, and they consent to 
 refer the matter to the decision of the proatiins or bench, each party is 
 to give a token, to the value of a suku, that he will abide by it, and 
 to find security for the chogo, a sum stated to them, Supposed to ex- 
 ceed the utmost probable damages. 
 
 DOLLAKS, 
 
 DOLLARS, 
 ‘« If the chogo do not exceed 30 the bio or fee paid by each is 13 
 Ditto: 3 Sa Os GU 20 GO atte ee okie Qi 
 Ditto ST tora . ditto Sek oe 
 Ditto 100 and upwards ditto . . . 9 
 
 “ All chiefs of dusuns, or independent tallangs, are entitled to a seat on 
 the bench upon trials. 
 
 “« If the pavigeran sits at the bechar, he is entitled to one half of all bio, 
 and of such fines, or shares of fines, as fall to the chiefs , the pambarabs 
 and other proattins dividing the remainder. 
 
 ‘¢ If the pangeran be not present, the pambarabs have one-third, and the 
 other proatiins two-thirds of the foregoing. Though a single pambarab 
 only sit, he is equally entitled to the above one-third. Of the other 
 proattins, five are requisite to make a quorum. 
 
 ““ No bechar, the chogo of which‘exceeds five dollars, to be held by the 
 proatitns, except in the presence of the Company’s Resident, or his 
 assistant. 
 
 “‘ If a person maliciously brings a false accusation, and it is proved such, 
 he is liable to pay a sum equal to that which the defendant would 
 have incurred, had his design succeeded ; which sum is to be divided 
 between the defendant and the proatiins, half and half. 
 
 ‘« The fine for bearing false witness, is twenty dollars and a buffalo. 
 
 ‘< The punishment of perjury is left to the superior powers (orang aliis). 
 Evidence here is not delivered on previous oath. 
 
 2FQ ** INHERITANCE. 
 
 219 
 
 Process in 
 sults. 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Laws of in- 
 heritance. 
 
 SUMATRA 
 ‘© INHERITANCE. 
 
 << If the father leaves a will, or declares before witnesses his intentions 
 relative to his effects or estate, his pleasure is to be followed in the 
 distribution of them amongst his children. 
 
 <¢ If he dies intestate, and without declaring his intentions, the male 
 children inherit, share and share alike, except that the house and 
 pusako (heirlooms, or effects on which, from various causes, super- 
 stitious value is placed) devolve invariably to the eldest. — 
 
 « The mother (if by the mode of marriage termed jwur, which, with 
 the other legal terms, will be hereafter explained) and the daughters 
 are dependant on the sons. 
 
 << Ifa man, married by semando, dies, leaving children, the effects re- 
 main to the wife and children. If the woman dies, the effects remain 
 to the husband and children. If either dies, leaving no children, the 
 family of the deceased is entitled to half the effects. 
 
 © OUTLAWRY. 
 
 ‘Of outlawry. «¢ Any person unwilling to be answerable for the debts or actions of his 
 
 son, or other relation under his charge, may outlaw him, by which 
 “he, from that period, relinquishes all family connexion with him, and 
 is no longer responsible for his conduct. 
 
 «© The outlaw to be delivered up to the Resident or pangeran, accom- 
 panied with his writ of outlawry, in duplicate, one copy to be lodged 
 with the Resident, and one with the outlaw’s pambarab. 
 
 «¢ The person who outlaws must pay all debts to that day. 
 
 « On amendment, the outlaw may be recalled to his family, they pay- 
 ing such debts as he may have contracted whilst outlawed, and redeem- 
 ing his writ by payment of ten dollars and a goat, to be divided among 
 the pangeran and pambarabs. 
 
 <¢ Tf an outlaw commits murder, he is to suffer death. 
 
 << If murdered, a bavgun, or compensation, of fifty dollars, is to be 
 paid for him to the pangeran. 
 
 << If an outlaw wounds a person, he becomes a slave to the Company or 
 paigeran for three years. If he absconds, and is afterwards killed, no 
 
 barigun is to be paid for him. 
 ce Tf 
 
tions 
 athe 
 
 mal 
 an 
 
 per 
 
 vith 
 ters 
 
 5 Tee 
 mall 
 1, the 
 
 comm. 
 
 nivel 
 
 pay: 
 deem 
 among 
 
 is 10 
 
 pal Of 
 
 ed, 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 *« If an outlaw wounds a person, and is killed in the scuffle, no barigun 
 is to be paid for him. 
 
 ‘* If the relations harbour an outlaw, they are held willing to redeem 
 him, and become answerable for his debts. 
 
 °° THEFT. 
 
 ‘* A person convicted of theft, pays double the value of the goods stolen, 
 with a fine of twenty dollars and a buffalo, if they exceed the value 
 of five dollars: if under five dollars, the fine is five dollars and a goat; 
 the value of the goods still doubled. 
 
 *« All thefts under five dollars, and all disputes for property, or offences 
 to that amount, may be compromised by the proattins whose depen- 
 dants are concerned. 
 
 ** Neither assertion, nor oath of the prosecutor, are sufficient for con. 
 viction, without token (chino) of the robbery, viz. some article re- 
 covered of the goods stolen; or evidence sufficient. 
 
 ** If any person, having permission to pass the night in the house of 
 another, shall leave it before day-break, without giving notice to the 
 family, he shall be held accountable for any thing that may be that 
 night missing. 
 
 ** If a person passing the night in the house of another, does not com- 
 mit his effects to the charge of the owner of it, the latter is not ac- 
 countable, if they are stolen during the night. If he has given them 
 in charge, and the stranger’s effects only are lost during the night, the 
 owner of the house becomes accountable. If effects both of the owner 
 and lodger are stolen, each is to make oath to the other that he is not 
 concerned in the robbery, and the parties put up with their loss, or 
 retrieve it as they can. 
 
 “* Oaths are usually made on the koran, or at the grave of an ancestor, 
 according as the Mahometan religion prevails more or less. The party 
 intended to be satisfied by the oath, generally prescribes the mode and 
 purport of it, 
 
 ** BANGUN. 
 
 Theft. 
 
 221 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 ‘¢ BANGUN. 
 | DOLLARS. 
 
 Palacoe. « The bangun, or compensation for the murder of a pambarab, is 500 
 ES) oo, of an inferior proatiin’ 250 
 
 tion for Ditto 
 
 murder, 
 
 Ditto =... ..-. of a common person—man or boy 80 
 
 PRT 06 eae aan eer ditto . . . womanorgirl 150 
 
 Ditto . of the legitimate children or wife of a pambarab 250 
 
 Exclusive of the above, a fine of fifty dollars and a buffalo, as f7ppong 
 
 bumi (expiation), is to be paid on the murder of a pambarab ; of 
 
 twenty dollars and a buffalo, on the murder of any other; which goes 
 to the pambarab and proattims. 
 
 «¢ The bavigun of an outlaw is fifty dollars, without ¢7ppong bumi. 
 
 «« No bavgun is to be paid for a~person killed in the commission of a 
 robbery. 
 
 « The bargun of pambarabs and proattins is to be divided between the 
 pangeran and pambarabs, one half; and the family of the deceased, 
 the other half. 
 
 «“ The barigun of private persons is to be paid to their families; de- 
 ducting the adat ulasan of ten per cent. to the pambarabs and. pro- 
 attins. | | : 
 
 « Ifa man kills his slave, he pays half his price, as bazigun, to the pang- 
 eran, and the tippong bumi to the proatiins. 
 
 « Ifa man kills his wife by jujur, he pays her bazigun to her family, or 
 to the proafiins, according as the tali kulo subsists or not. 
 
 « Ifa man kills or wounds his wife by semando, he pays the same as for 
 a stranger. 
 
 « If a man wounds his wife by jujur, slightly, he pays one tad or two 
 dollars. 
 
 << If a man wounds his wife by jujur, with a weapon, and an apparent 
 intention of killing her, he pays a fine of twenty dollars. | 
 
 «¢ If the /ali kulo (tie of relationship) is broken, the wife’s family can no 
 longer claim bavigun or fine: they revert to the proattins. | 
 
 « If a pambarab wounds his wife by jujur, he pays five dollars and a 
 
 goat. 
 * If a pambarab’s daughter, married by jwur, is wounded by her hus- 
 
 band, he pays five dollars and a goat. 
 ct Ear 
 
SUMATRA. 225 
 
 ** For a wound occasioning the loss of an eye or limb, or imminent dan- 
 ger of death, half the bangun is to be paid. 
 
 ‘* For a wound on the head, the pampas, or Compensation, is twenty 
 dollars. 
 
 ‘“* For other wounds, the pampas from twenty dollars downwards. 
 
 ; “* If a person is carried off and sold beyond the hills, the offender, if 
 
 : convicted, must pay the barigun. If the person has been recovered 
 
 previous to the trial, the offender pays half the bavigun. 
 
 Dp " ‘« Ifa man kills his brother, he pays to the proattins the tippong bumi. 
 
 io ‘* Ifa wife kills her husband, she must suffer death. 
 
 - ‘© If a wife by semando wounds her husband, her relations must pay 
 what they would receive if he wounded her. : 
 
 ol 8 ’ 
 
 ‘* DEBTS AND CREDITS. 
 
 en the ‘* On the death of a person in debt (unless he die an outlaw, or married Debts. Je 
 
 eased, by ambel-anqk) his nearest relation becomes accountable to the cre- 
 ditors. 
 
 a5: de “* Of a person married by ambel-anak, the family he married into is an- 
 
 nd pre swerable for debts contracted during the marriage: such as were pre- : 
 vious to it, his relations must pay. 
 
 poi ‘* A father, or head of a family, has hitherto been in all cases liable to 
 the debts of his sons, or younger relations under his care; but to pre- 
 
 ly, or vent as much as possible his suffering by their extravagance, it is now 
 
 resolyed— | 3 
 
 eas ft ‘« That if a young, unmarried man (ujang) borrows money, or pur- t 
 chases goods without the concurrence of his father, or of the head of 
 
 Forth his family, the parent shall not be answerable for the debt. Should 
 the son use his father’s name in borrowing, it shall be at the lender’s 
 
 f risk, if the father disavows it. 
 
 am ‘« If any person gives credit to the debtor of another (publicly known as 
 
 ih such, either in the state of mengiring, when the whole of his labour 
 
 y call 
 
 belongs to the creditor, or of be-blah, when it is divided) the latter 
 
 creditor can neither disturb the debtor for the sum, nor oblige the 
 
 former to pay it. He must either pay the first debt (membulati, con- " 
 solidate), 
 
 sa! 
 
 oe NUS 
 .¥" 
 per! 
 (( fi 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 —— y 
 — empties ~ 
 ieee —— ---——— —— 
 
 _— 
 
 rere 
 = - 
 eae 
 
 os «=? 
 + = 
 ew 
 
 wae ae <i 
 ————————— 
 TR ~* £ 
 = 223 
 
 es gt ee 
 = ao —— 
 
 we 
 Ky al ei P 
 ee ee ene nee = eae 
 Ae eae 
 
 : . — — - ~ > a a - nae : 
 - se = = » eee w - oF ~ 7 + ~— = ar a 
 es eer: Fe eer 4 — a aie - aa ™ seed ~ - > — rrr » ~- ae ; 
 . =, z =. Ges 
 = . .: — bs . 7 — — ~ — . - — - — -- . - — — 
 . os a a * - 7 eae ie : . : 4 : F 
 =" 5 : : 2 ow ars =a — SSser> —_ 3 =: 4 z =: ‘ = 
 sie : eo a TORS an ¢ 7 ia : 
 a . . — ee 
 tees > > eee ~ —_ — he : - » 
 5 : : > - : ’ ae oath ae oY” re P 
 : . r P " ken) ao ie ‘ “+ babies: : ° < g eo, =a “ Ses ies 2 = < vt ts ra 1 ta a 
 ——s — I Wawro mes tase os Cece = SSeS yee —— ciaiamnenne rte et ge Oe ET : 
 x a 2a Mein Veo" i .: - af + ™ =) res , eee eds Mat pc: = eaA.s wes % 5 . 
 ¥¥. 
 4 . 
 - 
 2 - 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 solidate), or let his claim lie over till the debtor finds means to dis- 
 charge it. 
 
 « Interest of money has hitherto been three fanams per dollar per 
 month, or one hundred and fifty per cent. per annum. It is now 
 reduced to one fanam, or fifty per cent. per annum, and no person is 
 to receive more, under penalty of fine, according to the circumstances 
 of the case. 
 
 ‘¢ No more than double the principal can in any case be recovered at 
 law. A person lending money at interest, and letting it hie over be- 
 yond two years, loses the surplus. 
 
 “ No pepper planter to be taken as a debtor mevigiring, under penalty 
 of forty dollars. 
 
 «« A planter in debt may engage in any work for hire that does not inter- 
 fere with the care of his garden, but must on no account mengiring, 
 even though his creditor offers to become answerable for the care of 
 his garden. 
 
 «. If a debtor mengiring absconds from his master (or creditor, who has a 
 right to his personal service) without leave of absence, he is liable to 
 an increase of debt, at the rate of three fanams per day. Females 
 have been hitherto charged six fanams, but are now put upon a 
 footing the same as the men. , 
 
 ‘« Ifa debtor mengiring, without security, runs away, his debt is liable 
 to be doubled if he is absent above a week. 
 
 << If a man takes a person mevigiring, without security for the debt, 
 should the debtor die in that predicament, the creditor loses his mo- 
 ney, having no claim on the relations for it. 
 
 «¢ If a person takes up money, under promise of mevgiring at a certain 
 period, should he not perform his agreement, he must pay interest for 
 the money, at one fanam per dollar per month. 
 
 ‘© If a person, security for another, is obliged to pay the debt, he is en- 
 
 titled to demand double from the debtor ; but this claim to be mode- 
 
 rated according to circumstances. 
 ‘* If a person sues for a debt which is denied, the onus proband: lies with 
 the plaintiff. If he fails in proof, the defendant, on making oath to 
 
 the justness of his denial, shall be acquitted. 
 ce Tf 
 
SUMATRA. 225 
 
 Tis “ If a debtor taking care of a pepper garden, or one that gives half pro- 
 
 duce to his creditor (be-blah), neglects it, the person in whose debt he 
 
 t De is, must hire a man to do the necessary work; and the hire so paid 
 
 + Noy shall be added to the debt. Previous notice shall, however, be given to 
 
 rn the debtor, that he may, if he pleases, avoid the payment of the hire, 
 ne by doing the work himself. 
 
 ‘“* If a person’s slave, or debtor mengiring, be carried off, and sold. be- 
 
 ed a yond the hills, the offender is liable to the bangun, if a debtor, or to 
 
 he his price, if a slave. Should the person be recovered, the offender is 
 
 liable to a fine of forty dollars, of which the person that recovers him 
 
 " has half, and the owner or creditor, the remainder. If the offender be 
 my not secured, the reward shall be only five dollars to. the-person that 
 brings the slave, and three dollars the debtor, if on this side the hills ; 
 me if from beyond the hills, the reward is doubled. 
 purng, 
 are ol 
 ** MARRIAGE. 
 has *« The modes of marriage prevailing hitherto, have been principally by Laws regard- 
 able to jujur, or by ambel-anak ; the Malay semando being little used. The 
 ermal obvious ill consequences of the two former, from the debt or slavery 
 Ipon @ they entailed upon the man that married, and the endless lawsuits 
 they gave rise to, have at length induced the chiefs to concur in their 
 liable being, as far as possible, laid aside; adopting in lieu of them, the 
 semando malayo, or mardeko; which they now strongly recommend to ; 
 debt, their dependants, as free from the incumbrances of the other modes, 
 $ M0- and tending, by facilitating marriage, and the consequent increase of 
 population, to promote the welfare of their country. Unwilling, 
 certil however, to abolish arbitrarily a favourite custom of their ancestors, 
 rest {0 marriage by jwur is still permitted to take place, but under such re- 
 strictions as will, it is hoped, effectually counteract its hitherto per- 
 eis eh nicious consequences. Marriage by ambel-anak, which rendered a 
 er man and his descendants the property of the family he married into, 
 is now prohibited, and none permitted for the future, but by semando, 
 vee or gujur, subject to the following regulations. 
 A » <« The jwur of a virgin (gadis) has been hitherto one hundred and 
 
 2G twenty 
 «| 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 twenty dollars: the adat annexed to it, have been fulis taviggil, fifteen 
 dollars; wpah daun kodo, six dollars, and tali kulo, five dollars : 
 
 <¢ The jujur of a widow, eighty dollars, without the adat; unless her 
 children by the former marriage went with her, in which case the 
 
 jujur gadis was paid in full. 
 
 ‘© It is now determined, that on a man’s giving his daughter in. mar- 
 riage, by jujur, for the future, there shall, in lieu of the above, be 
 fixed a sum not exceeding one hundred and fifty dollars, to be in full 
 for jujur and all adat whatever. That this sum shall, when the mar- 
 riage takes place, be paid upon the spot; that if credit is given for 
 the whole, or any part, it shall not be recoverable by course of law ; 
 and as the sum includes the tali kulo, or bond of relationship, the wife 
 thereby becomes the absolute property of the husband. The marriage 
 by jujur being thus rendered equivalent to actual sale, and the difficulty 
 enhanced by the necessity of paying the full price upon the spot, it 1s 
 probable, that the custom will in a great measure cease, and though 
 not positively, be virtually abolished. Nor can a lawsuit follow from 
 any future ywjur. 
 
 « The adat, or custom, .of the semando malayo or mardtko, to be paid by 
 the husband to the wife’s family upon the marriage taking place, is 
 fixed at twenty dollars and a buffalo, for such as can afford it; and at 
 ten dollars and a goat, for the poorer class of people. 
 
 «© Whatever may be acquired by either party during the subsistence of 
 the marriage, becomes joint property, and they are jointly liable to 
 debts incurred, if by mutual consent. Should either contract debts 
 without the knowledge and consent of the other, the party that con- 
 tracts, must alone bear them, in case of a divorce. 
 
 « If either party insists upon, or both agree in it, a divorce must follow. 
 No other power can separate them. The effects, debts, and credits, 
 in all cases to be equally divided. If the man insists upon the di- 
 
 vorce, he pays a charo of twenty dollars to the wife’s family, if he 
 obtained her a virgin; if a widow, ten dollars. If the woman insists 
 on the divorce, no charo is to be paid. If both agree in it, the man 
 pays half the charo. : 
 
 << If a man married by semando dies—Vide “‘ Inheritance.” 
 
 < if 
 
ite 
 
 5 fp 
 as ] 
 aN fhe 
 
 My. 
 
 Ove, le 
 
 nN fl 
 e mal: 
 an for 
 laws 
 e wile 
 tmlage 
 fheulty 
 ot, It 
 though 
 yw fon 
 
 paid hy 
 place, i 
 and 3 
 
 ance of 
 ble to 
 , debts 
 at COl 
 
 t follor. 
 credits, 
 ‘the di 
 xn ins 
 the 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 ‘* Ifa man carries off a woman with her consent, and is willing either 
 
 ¢ 
 
 ¢ 
 
 €¢ 
 
 ce 
 
 c¢ 
 
 é¢ 
 
 ¢ 
 
 “ 
 
 to pay her price at once by jujur, or marry her by semando, as the fa- 
 ther or relations please, they cannot reclaim the woman, and the mar- 
 riage takes place. 
 If a man carries off a girl under age, (which is determined by her not 
 having her ears bored, and teeth filed—dulum bertindé berdabong) 
 though with her own consent, he pays, exclusive of the adat jujur, or 
 semando, twenty dollars, if she be the daughter of a pambarabd ; and 
 ten dollars for the daughter of any other, whether the marriage takes 
 place or not. 
 If a risau, or persom without property and character, carries off a wo- 
 man (though with her own consent) and can neither pay the jujur, 
 nor adat semando, the marriage shall. not take place, but the man be 
 fined five dollars and a goat for misdemeanour. If she be under age, 
 his fine ten dollars and a goat. 
 If a man has but one daughter, whom, to keep her near him; he wishes 
 to give in marriage by semando ; should a man carry her off, he shall 
 not be allowed to keep her by jujur, though he offer the money 
 upon the spot. If he refuses to marry her by semando, no marriage 
 takes place, and he incurs a fine tothe father of ten dollars and a 
 goat. 
 If a man carries off a woman under pretence of marriage, he must 
 lodge her immediately with some reputable family. If he carries her 
 elsewhere, for a single night, he incurs a fine of fifty dollars, payable 
 to her parents or relations. 
 If a man carries off a virgin against her inclination (me-ulih) he incurs 
 a fine of twenty dollars and a buffalo: if a widow, ten dollars and a 
 goat, and the marriage does not take place. If he commits a rape, 
 and the parents do not chuse to give her to him in marriage; he incurs 
 a fine of fifty dollars. 
 The adat ibe’, or custom of giving one woman in exchange for 
 another taken in marriage, being a modification’ of the jujur, is still 
 admitted of; but if the one be not deemed an equivalent for the other, 
 the necessary compensation (as the pangalappang, for nonage) must be 
 paid upon the spot, or it is not recoverable by course of law. If a 
 virgin is carried off (¢e-dari gadis) and another is given in exchange for 
 2G2 her; 
 
 
 
t 
 
 > gre ing o 
 
 + tem ah hae 
 ee — +e 
 
 am 
 
 —— ot... «ds. ee 
 a een ce 
 - eae 
 
 ee 
 
 4 
 
 U 
 — 7S : 
 ee 
 
 © Nel 
 a eee 
 
 ee 
 
 = a 
 
 St ee ens: — i 
 =e —— = Saar - ——— 
 — . we we - aed ~ 
 _ — i aan 
 _ ys =z 
 eas | oo wa 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 her, by adat libet, twelve dollars must be paid with the latter, as adat 
 ka-salah. 
 
 «¢ A man married by ambel-anak, may redeem himself and family, on 
 payment of the jujur and adat of a virgin before-mentioned. 
 
 «¢ The charo of a jujur marriage is twenty-five dollars. If the jujur be 
 not yet paid in full, and the man insists on a divorce, he receives back 
 what he has paid, less twenty-five dollars. If the woman insists, no 
 charo can be claimed by her relations. If the ¢alz kulo is putus (bro- 
 ken) the wife is the husband’s property, and he may sell her s he 
 pleases. 
 
 «If a man compels a female debtor of his to cohabit with him, her 
 debt, if the fact be proved, is thereby discharged, if forty dollars 
 and upwards: if under forty, the debt is cleared, and he pays the 
 difference. If she accuses her master, falsely, of this offence, her 
 debt is doubled. If he cohabits with her by her consent, her parents 
 may compel him to marry her, either by jujur or semando, as they 
 please. 
 
 «¢ If an unmarried woman proves with child, the man against whom the 
 fact is proved, must marry her; and they pay to the proattins a joint 
 fine of twenty dollars and a buffalo, This fine, af the-parties agree to 
 it, may be levied in the country by the neighbouring proatiins (with- 
 out bringing it before the regular court). 
 
 «© Tf a woman proves with child by a relation within the stonibreel de- 
 grees, they pay to the proatiins a joint fine of twice fifty dollars, and 
 two buffaloes (hukum duo akup). 
 
 ‘< A marriage must not take place between relations, within the third 
 degree, or ‘wigal nené. But there are exceptions for the descendants 
 of females, who passing into other families become as strangers. Of 
 two brothers, the children may not intermarry. A sister’s son may 
 marry a brother’s daughter; but a brother’s son may not marry a sister’s 
 daughter. ‘ 
 
 « Tf relations within the prohibited degrees intermarry, they incur a 
 fine of twice fifty dollars and two buffaloes, and the marriage is not 
 valid. 
 
 « On the death of a man married by jwur or purchase, any of his 
 brothers, the eldest in preference, if he pleases, may succeed to his 
 
 bed, 
 
, her 
 ollars 
 rs the 
 e. her 
 arents 
 } they 
 
 om the 
 a join 
 oree to 
 (with. 
 
 d de- 
 
 , and 
 
 > third 
 ndants 
 ; Of 
 ) may 
 sisters 
 
 wncur 4 
 
 { to hi 
 bed 
 
 a Si i oak eS : 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 bed. If no brother chuses it, they may give the woman in marriage 
 to any relation on the father’s side, without adat ; the person who 
 marries her replacing the deceased (mangabalu). If no relation takes 
 her, and she is given in marriage to a stranger, he may be either 
 adopted into the family, to replace the deceased, without ddat, or 
 he may pay her jwur, or take her by semando, as her relations please. 
 
 © 
 
 " 
 
 If a person lies with a man’s wife, by force, he is deserving of death; 
 
 but may redeem his head by payment of the bangun, eighty dollars, to 
 
 be divided between the husband and proatizns. 
 
 «¢ If a man surprises his wife in the act of adultery, he may put both 
 man and woman to death upon the spot, without being liable to any 
 
 _ baigun. If he kills the man and spares his wife, he must redeem her 
 life, by payment of fifty dollars to the proattins. If the husband 
 spares the offender, or has only information of the fact from other 
 persons, he may not afterwards kill him, but has his remedy at law, 
 the fine for adultery being fifty dollars, to be divided between the hus- 
 band and the proattins. If he divorces his wife on this account, he 
 pays no charo. 
 
 «< If a younger sister be first married, the husband pays six dollars, ada¢ 
 
 pelalu, for passing over the elder. 
 
 ‘* GAMING. 
 
 é 
 
 “ 
 
 All gaming, except cock-fighting at stated periods, is absolutely pro- 
 hibited. The fine for each offence is fifty dollars. The person in 
 whose house it is carried on, if with his knowledge, is equally liable 
 to the fine with the gamesters. A proatii knowing of gaming in 
 his dusun, and concealing it, incurs a fine of twenty dollars. One 
 half of the fines goes to the informer; the other to the Company, to be 
 distributed among the industrious planters, at the yearly payment of 
 
 the customs. 
 
 ‘¢ OPIUM FARM, 
 
 “«“ The fine for the retailing of opium by any other than the person who 
 farms 
 
 Gaming. 
 
 Opium. 
 
 229 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 hee & | 
 
 Executive 
 power. 
 
 Laws or Adat 
 
 of Manna. 
 
 SUMATRA, 
 
 farms the license, is fifty dollars for each offence: one half to the 
 farmer, and the other to the informer. 
 
 «© The executive power for enforcing obedience to these laws and cus- 
 toms, and for preserving the peace of the country, is, with the con- 
 currence of the pazigeran and. proattins, vested in the Company’s Re- 
 sident. | 
 
 «© Done at Laye, in the month Rabia-al akhir, in the year of the 
 Hejra 1193, answering to April 1779. 
 
 ‘¢ JOHN MARSDEN, Resident.” 
 
 Having procured likewise a copy of the regulations sanctioned by the 
 chiefs of the Passummah country assembled at Manna, I do not hesitate 
 to insert it, not only as varying in many circumstances from the pre- 
 ceding, but because it may eventually prove useful to record the docu- 
 ment. 
 
 ** INHERITANCE, 
 
 \ 
 
 Inheritance. ** If a person dies, having children, these inherit his effects in equal por- 
 
 Debts. 
 
 tions, and become answerable for the debts of the deceased. If any 
 of his brothers survive, they may be permitted to share with their ne- 
 phews, but rather as matter of courtesy than of right, and only when 
 the effects of the deceased devolved to him from his father or grand- 
 father. If he was a man of rank, it is common for the son who suc- 
 ceeds him in title to have a larger share. This succession is not con- 
 fined to the eldest born, but depends much on private agreement in 
 the family. Ifthe deceased person leaves no kindred behind him, the 
 
 tribe to which he belonged shall inherit his effects, and be answerable 
 for his debts. 
 
 ** DEBTS. 
 
 «< When a debt becomes due, and the debtor is unable to pay his cre- 
 ditors, 
 
ed byt 
 ot hes 
 1 the pr 
 the docu 
 
 qual po 
 If any 
 their WF 
 nly whe 
 Or gral 
 who s 
 3 not Cv! 
 eomelt 
 d hin, ! 
 sister 
 
 die 
 
 ¢ 
 
 “ 
 
 nn 
 
 ae ne ee ee —— 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 ditors, or has no effects to deposit, he shall himself,,or his wife, or his 
 children, live with the creditor as a bond-slave or slaves, until redeemed 
 by the payment of the debt. 
 
 If a debt is contracted without any promise of interest, none shall be 
 demanded, although the debt be not paid until some time after it first 
 became due. The rate of interest is settled at twenty per cent. per 
 annum ; but in all suits relating to debts on interest, how long soever 
 they may have been outstanding, the creditor shall not be entitled to 
 more interest than may amount to a sum equal to the capital: if the 
 debt is recent, it shall be calculated as above. If any person lends to 
 another a sum exceeding twenty-five dollars, and sues for payment 
 before the chiefs, he shall be entitled only to one year’s interest on the 
 sum lent. If money is lent to the owner of a pedi-plantation, on an 
 agreement to pay interest in grain, and after the harvest is over the 
 borrower omits to pay the stipulated quantity, the lender shall be en- 
 titled to receive at the rate of fifteen dollars for ten lent; and if the 
 omission should be repeated another season, the lender shall be entitled 
 to receive double the principal. In all cases of debt contested, the 
 onus probandi lies with the demandant, who must make good his claim 
 by creditable evidence, or in default thereof, the respondent may by 
 oath clear himself from the debt. On the other hand, if the respond- 
 ent allows such a debt to have existed, but asserts a previous payment, 
 it rests with him to prove such payment by proper evidence, or in de- 
 fect, the demandant shall by oath establish his debt. 
 
 *¢ EVIDENCE AND OATHS. 
 
 In order to be deemed a competent and unexceptionable evidence, a 
 person must be of a different family and dusun from the person in whose 
 behalf he gives evidence, of good character, and a free man: but if 
 the dispute be between two inhabitants of the same dusun, persons of 
 such dusun are allowed to be complete evidence. In respect to the 
 oath taken by the principals in a dispute, the hukuman (or comprehen- 
 sive quality of the oath) depends on the nature of the property in dis- 
 pute: ifit relates to the effects of the grandfather, the hukuman must 
 
 extend to the descendants from the grandfather; if it relates to the 
 effects 
 
 23 1 
 
 Evidence. 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Pawns, 
 
 Cattle. 
 
 ee 
 
 <¢ 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 effects of the father, it extends to the descendants of the father, &c. 
 If any of the parties proposed to be included in the operation of the 
 oath refuse to subject themselves to the oath, the principal in the suit 
 loses his cause. | 
 
 *¢ PAWNS OR PLEDGES. 
 
 If any person holding a pawn or pledge, such as wearing-apparel, 
 household effects, or krises, swords, or kujur (lances), shall pledge it 
 for a larger sum than he advanced for it, he shall be answerable to the 
 owner for the full value of it, on payment of the sum originally advanc- 
 ed. If any person holding as a pledge, man, woman, or child, shall 
 pledge them to any other at an advanced sum, or without the know- 
 ledge of the owner, and by these means the person pledged should be 
 sold as a slave, he shall make good to the owner the full value of such 
 slave, and pay a fine of twenty-eight dollars. If any person whatever, 
 holding man, woman, or child, as a pawn, either with janji lalu (term 
 expired) or not, or with or without the consent of the original owner, 
 shall sell such person as a slave without the knowledge of the Resident 
 and Chiefs, he shall be fined twenty-eight dollars. 
 
 7-9 «ee 
 
 ** BUFFALOES. 
 
 All persons who keep buffaloes shall register at the godong (factory- 
 house) their ¢27gas or mark ; and, in case any dispute shall arise about a 
 marked buffalo, no person shall be allowed to plead a mark that is not 
 registered. If any wild (stray) buffalo or buffaloes, unmarked, shall 
 
 _ be taken in a kandang (staked inclosure) they shall be adjudged the 
 
 property of any who takes upon himself to swear to them; and if it 
 should happen that two or more persons insist upon swearing to the 
 same buffaloes, they shall be divided among them equally. If no 
 individual will swear to the property, the buffaloes are to be con- 
 sidered as belonging to the hkalippah or magistrate of the district where 
 they were caught. The person who takes any buffaloes in his kun- 
 dang shall be entitled to a gratuity of two dollars per head. If any 
 buffaloes get into a pepper-garden, either by day or night, the owner 
 
 of 
 
appa 
 
 ledge 
 le tot} 
 advanc 
 \d, she 
 1¢ knoy 
 should b 
 e of si 
 rhatere 
 alu (tern 
 al owne 
 
 Resider 
 
 factory: 
 about 
 
 vat 15 IM 
 
 cod, sil 
 
 idged i 
 
 and if 
 g {0 ¥ 
 li 
 be ci 
 rict met 
 i his ih 
 1 Ia 
 
 the ov" 
 
 *\ 
 
 
 
 TS 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 of the garden shall have liberty to kill them, without being answerable 
 
 to the owner of the buffaloes: yet, if it shall appear on examination 
 that the garden was not properly fenced, and from this defect suffers 
 damage, the owner shall be liable to such fine as the Resident and 
 Chiefs shall judge it proper to impose. 
 
 “THEFT. 
 
 A person convicted of stealing money, wearing-apparel, household ef- 
 fects, arms, or the like, shall pay the owner double the value of the 
 goods stolen, and be fined twenty-eight dollars. A person convicted 
 of stealing slaves, shall pay to the owner at the rate of eighty dollars 
 per head, which 1s estimated to be double the value, and fined twenty- 
 eight dollars. A person convicted of stealing betel, fowls, or coconuts, 
 shall pay the owner double the value, and be fined seven dollars; half 
 of which fine is to be received by the owner. If buffaloes are stolen, 
 they shall be valued at twelve dollars per head: padi at four bakul 
 (baskets) for the dollar. If the stolen goods be found in the possession 
 of a person who is not able to account satisfactorily how he came by 
 them, he shall be deemed the guilty person. If a person attempting 
 to seize a man in the act of thieving, shall get hold of any part of his 
 clothes which are known, or his kris or szwah, this shall be deemed a 
 sufficient token of the theft. If two witnesses can be found who saw 
 the stolen goods in possession of a third person, such person shall be 
 deemed guilty, unless he can account satisfactorily how he became 
 possessed of the goods. The oath taken by such witnesses shall either 
 ‘nclude the deseendants of their father, or simply their own descend- 
 ants, according to the discretion of the chiefs who sit as judges. If 
 several people sleep in one house, and one of them leaves the house in 
 the night without giving notice to any of the rest, and a robbery be 
 committed in the house that night, the person so leaving the house 
 shall be deemed guilty of the crime, provided the owner of the stolen 
 goods be willing to subject himself to an oath on the occasion; and 
 provided the other persons sleeping in the house shall clear themselves 
 by oath from being concerned in the theft: but if it should happen 
 
 that a person so convicted, being really innocent, should in after time 
 2H discover 
 
 Theft. 
 
 233 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Murder, 
 
 ce 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 discover the person actually guilty, he shall have liberty to bring his 
 suit and recover. If several persons are sleeping in a house, and a rob- 
 bery is committed that night, although none leave the house, the 
 whole shall be obliged to make oath that they had no knowledge of, 
 or concern in, the theft, or on refusal shall be deemed guilty. In 
 all cases of theft where only a part of the stolen goods is found, the 
 owner must ascertain upon oath the whole amount of his loss. 
 
 «© MURDER, WOUNDING, AND ASSAULT. - 
 
 A person convicted of murder shall pay to the relations of the deceased 
 a bargun of erghty-eight dollars, one suku, and seventy-five cash ; to 
 the chiefs a fine of twenty-eight dollars; the bhasa lurah, which is 
 a buffalo and one hundred bamboos of rice; and the palantan, which 
 is fourteen dollars. If a son kills his father, or a father his son, or a 
 man kills his brother, he shall pay a fine of twenty-eight dollars, and 
 the bhasa lurah as above. If aman kills his wife, the relations of the 
 deceased shall receive half a baigun: if any other kills a man’s wife, 
 the husband is entitled to the bazgun, but shall pay out of it, to the 
 relations of the wife, ten dollars. In wounds a distinction is made in 
 the parts of the body> A» wound inany part from the hips upward, 
 is,esteemed more considerable than in the lower parts. If a person 
 wounds another with sword, kris, kujur, or other weapon, and the 
 wound is considerable, so as to maim him, he shall pay to the person 
 wounded a half-barigun, and to the chiefs, half of the fine for murder, 
 with half of the bhasa lurah, &c. If the wound is trifling, but fetches 
 blood, he shall pay the person wounded the ¢epong of fourteen dollars, 
 and be fined fourteen dollars. If a person wounds another with a 
 stick, bamboo, &c. he shall simply pay the ¢epong of fourteen dollars. 
 If in any dispute between two people krises are drawn, the person who 
 first drew his kris shall be fined fourteen dollars. If any person hav- 
 
 ing a dispute assembles together his friends with arms, he shall be fined 
 twenty-eight dollars. 
 
 ‘© MARRIAGE; 
 
SUMATRA. 935 
 
 Ne 
 dan | 
 i, i “¢ MARRIAGE, DIVORCE, &c. 
 - «* There are two modes of marriage used here: one by purchase, called Marriage. 
 i jujur or kulu, the other by adoption, called ambel anak. First of 
 mM jujur. 
 ‘* When a person is desirous of marrying, he deposits a sum of money Jujar. 
 in the hands of the father of the virgin, which is called the pagatan. 
 This sum is not esteemed part of the purchase, but as an equivalent 
 for the dandanan (paraphernalia, or ornamental apparel) of the bride, 
 peased and is not fixed, but varies according to the circumstances and rank 
 hs ta of the father. The amount of the jujur is fixed at seventy dollars, in- 
 hich cluding the hurup niawa (price of life), forty dollars, a kris with gold 
 , Which about the head and silver about the sheath, valued at ten dollars, and 
 OD, OF’ the meniudakan billi or putus kulo. (completion of purchase) at twenty. 
 Is, and If a young man runs away with a gadis or virgin, without the consent 
 of the of the father, he does not act contrary to the laws of the country ; but 
 's wile, if he refuses to pay the full jajur on demand, he shall be fined twenty- 
 , to the eight dollars. Ifthe father, having received the pagatan of one man; 
 made it marries his daughter to another before he returns the money to the 
 pw first, he shall be fined fourteen dollars, and the man who marries the 
 petsou daughter shall also be fined fourteen dollars. In case of divorce (which 
 nd the may take place at the will of either party) the dandanan brought by 
 person the wife is to be valued and to be deducted from the purchase-money. 
 surder, If a divorce originates from the man, and before the whole purchase- 
 fotches money is paid, the man shall receive back what he has advanced, 
 dolla after deducting the dandanan as above, and fourteen dollars, called 
 sith penusutan. If the divorce originates with the woman, the whole pur- 
 ols chase-money shall be returned, and the children, if any, remain with 
 the father. If a divorce originates with the man, when the whole 
 nw purchase-money has been paid, or kulo sudah putus, he shall not be en- 
 - titled to receive back the purchase-money, but may recal his wife 
 ie 
 
 whenever it shall be agreeable to him. An exact estimation is made 
 of the value of the woman’s ornaments, and what are not restored with 
 her, must be made good by the husband. If there are children, they 
 are in this case to be divided, or if there be only one, the husband is 
 
 9H 2 to 
 pRIAGE 
 
 
 

 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 to allow the woman fifteen dollars, and to take the child. Secondly, 
 of ambel anak. 
 Ambel anak. “© When a man marries after the custom, called ambel anak, he pays no 
 . money to the father of the bride, but becomes one of his family, and 
 is entirely upon the footing of a son; the father of his wife being 
 thenceforward answerable for his debts, &c. in the same manner as 
 for his own children. The married man becomes entirely separate 
 from his original family, and gives up his right of inheritance. It is, 
 however, in the power of the father of the wife to divorce from her his 
 adopted son whenever he thinks proper, in which case the husband is 
 not entitled to any of the children, nor to any effects other than sim- 
 ply the clothes on his back: but if the wife is willing still to live with 
 him, and he is able to redeem her and the children by paying the fa- 
 ther an hundred dollars, it is not at the option of the father to refuse 
 accepting this sum ; and in that case the marriage becomes a kulo or 
 jujur, and is subject to the same rules. If any unmarried woman is 
 convicted of incontinence, or a married woman of adultery, they shall 
 pay to the chiefs a fine of forty dollars, or in defect thereof, become 
 slaves, and the man with whom the crime was committed shall pay a 
 fine of thirty dollars, or in like manner become a slave ; andthe par- 
 ties between them shall also be at the expence of a buffalo and an 
 hundred bamboos of rice. This is called the gawé pati or panjingan. 
 If an unmarried woman proves with child, and refuses to name the 
 man with whom she was guilty, she shall pay the whole fine of seventy 
 dollars, and furnish the buffalo, &c. If a woman after marriage 
 brings forth a child before the due course of nature, she shall be fined 
 twenty-eight dollars. Ifa man keeps a young woman in his house 
 for any length of time, and has a child by her without being regu- 
 larly married, he shall be fined twenty-eight dollars, and furnish a 
 buffalo and an hundred bamboos of rice. If a person detects the of- 
 fenders in the act of adultery, and attempting to seize the man, is 
 obliged to kill him in self-defence, he shall not pay the bangun, nor 
 be fined, but only pay the bhasa lurah, which is a buffalo and an 
 hundred bamboos of rice. On the other hand, if the guilty person 
 kills the one who attempts to seize him, he shall be deemed guilty of 
 murder, and pay the bavigun and fine accordingly. If a man holding 
 @ woman 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Cony 
 
 Days 
 ly, an 
 e bene 
 net , 
 separ 
 It i 
 her bis 
 and 1s 
 1 sim 
 e with 
 the fy 
 ) Telus 
 kulo ot 
 mali 1s 
 y shall 
 yecomne 
 | pay @ 
 he pat 
 and al 
 nngan 
 e the 
 venty 
 riage 
 e fined 
 hous 
 reg 
 nish a 
 he of 
 nan, } 
 un, Bi 
 and i 
 pers 
 all 
 holding 
 womal 
 
 SUMATRA. . 
 
 a woman as a pawn, or in the condition of mevigiring shall commit 
 fornication with her, he shall forfeit his claim to the debt, and the 
 woman become free. 
 
 ‘* OUTLAWRY. 
 
 If the members of afamily have suffered inconvenience from the jj] con- 
 duct of any of theirrelations, by having béen rendered answerable for their 
 debts, &c. it shall be in their power to clear themselves from all future 
 responsibility on his account by paying to the chiefs the sum of thirty 
 dollars, a buffalo, and an hundred bamboos of rice. This is termed buang 
 surat. Should the person so cast out be afterwards murdered, the re- 
 
 lations have forfeited their right to the bazigun, which devolves to the 
 - chiefs. 
 
 “‘ Dated at Manna, July 1807. 
 
 ‘* JOHN Crisp, Resident.” 
 
 Remarks 
 
 237 
 
 Outlawry. 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Remarks on 
 the forego- 
 ing laws. 
 
 Mode of 
 pleading. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 Remarks on, and elucidation of, the various Laws and Customs—Modes of 
 Pleading—Nature of Evidence--Oaths—Inheritance—Outlawry—Theft, 
 Murder, and compensation for it—Account of a Feud—Debts—Slavery. 
 
 * 
 
 THE foregoing system of the adat, or customs of the country, being 
 digested chiefly for the use of the natives, or of persons well acquainted — 
 with their manners in general, and being designed, not for an illustra- 
 tion of the customs, but simply as a standard of right, the fewest and 
 concisest terms possible have been made use of, and many parts must 
 necessarily be obscure to the bulk of readers. I shall, therefore, revert 
 to those particulars that may require explanation, and endeavour to 
 throw a light upon the spirit and operation of such of their laws espe- 
 cially, as seem most to clash with our ideas of distributive justice. This 
 comment is the more requisite, as it appears that some of their regula- 
 tions, which were judged to be inconsistent with the prosperity of the 
 people, were altered and amended, through the more enlightened reason 
 of the persons who acted as the representatives of the English company ; 
 and it may be proper to recal the idea of the original institutions. 
 
 The plaintiff and defendant usually plead their own cause, but if cir- 
 cumstances render them unequal to it, they are allowed to pinjam mulut, 
 (borrow a mouth). Their advocate may be a proattin, or other person 
 indifferently ; nor is there any stated compensation for the assistance, 
 though, if the cause be gained, a gratuity is generally given, and too 
 apt to be rapaciously exacted by these chiefs from their clients, when 
 their conduct is not attentively watched. The proattin also, who is se- 
 curity for the damages, receives privately some consideration ; but none 
 is openly allowed of. A refusal on his part to become security for his 
 dependant or client, is held to justify the latter in renouncing his civil 
 dependance, and chusing another patron. 
 
 Evidence 
 
SUMATRA, 95 
 
 Evidence is used among these people in a manner very different from tvidence. 
 the forms of our courts of justice. They rarely admit it on both sides of 
 the question; nor does the witness first make a general oath to speak 
 | the truth, and nothing but the truth. When a fact is to be established, 
 ali either on the part of the plaintiff, or of the defendant, he is asked if he 
 ‘Sey can produce any evidence to the truth of what-he asserts. On answering 
 in the affirmative, he is directed to mention the person. This witness 
 must not be a relation, a party concerned, nor even belong to the same 
 dusun. He must be a responsible man, having a family, and a deter- 
 
 » Deing minate place of residence.. Thus qualified, his evidence may be ad- 
 naintei mitted. They have a settled rule in respect to the party that is to pro- 
 Lustre. duce evidence. For instance ; A, sues B. for a debt: B. denies the 
 rest a debt: A. is now to bring evidence to the debt, or, on failure thereof, it 
 arts mee remains with B. to clear himself of the debt, by swearing himself not 
 e, revel indebted. Had B. acknowledged that such a debt had formerly sub- 
 rour t sisted, but was since paid, it would be incumbent on B. to prove the 
 18 pe payment by evidence, or on failure it would rest with A. to confirm the 
 
 > Thi debt’s being still due, by his oath. This is an invariable mode, observed 
 in all cases of property. 
 
 t regula 
 ty of the . > : 
 Skin As their manner of giving evidence differs from ours, so also does the Oaths. 
 iam nature of an oath among them differ from our idea of it. In many cases 
 it is requisite that they should swear to what it is not possible in the na- 
 ture of things they should know to be true. A: sues B. for a debt due 
 “ from the father or grandfather of B. to the father or grandfather of A. 
 sili The original parties are dead, and no witness of the transaction sur- 
 m ma vives. How is the matter to be decided ? It remains with B. to make 
 : aig oath, that his father or grandfather never was indebted to those of A. ; 
 anal or that if he was indebted, the debt had been paid. This, among us, 
 and t0 would be esteemed a very strange method of deciding causes ; but among 
 Wht these people, something of the kind is absolutely necessary. As they 
 10 have no sort of written accounts, nor any thing like records or registers 
 but ue among them, it would be utter] y impossible for the plaintiff to establish 
 ty fo is the debt, by a positive proof, in a multitude of cases; and were the suit 
 hs ci to be dismissed at once, as with us, for want of such proof, numbers 
 of innocent persons would lose the debts really due to them, through 
 the 
 
 Ryden 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 the knavery of the persons indebted, who would scarce ever fail to deny 
 a debt. On the side of the defendant again ; if he was not permitted 
 to clear himself of the debt by oath, but that it rested with the plaintiff 
 only, to establish the fact by a single oath, there would be a set of un- 
 principled fellows daily swearing debts against persons who never were 
 indebted to any of their generation. In such suits, and there are many 
 of them, it requires no small discernment to discover, by the attendant 
 circumstances, where the truth lies; but this may be done, in most in- 
 _ stances, by a person who is used to their manners, and has a personal 
 knowledge of the parties concerned. But what they mean by their 
 oath, in those cases, where it is impossible they should be acquainted 
 with the facts they design to prove, is no more than this; that they are 
 so convinced of the truth of the matter, as to be willing to subject them- 
 selves to the paju sumpah (destructive consequences of perjury) if what 
 they assert is believed by them to be false. The form of words used is 
 nearly as follows: “‘ If what I now declare, namely” (here the fact 1s 
 recited) ‘ is truly and really so, may I be freed and clear from my oath: 
 if what I assert is wittingly false, may my oath be the cause of my de- 
 struction.” But it may be easily supposed, that where the punishment 
 for a false oath rests altogether with the invisible powers,;-where no di- 
 rect infamy, no corporal punishment is annexed to the perjury, there 
 cannot fail to be many, who would makan sumpah (swallow an oath), 
 and willingly incur the guilt, in order to acquire a little of their neigh- 
 bour’s property. 
 
 Although an oath, as being an appeal to the superior powers, is suppos- 
 ed to come within their cognizance alone, and that it is contrary to 
 the spirit of the customs of these people, to punish a perjury by human 
 means, even if it were clearly detected; yet, so far prevalent is the 
 opinion of their interposition in human affairs, that it is very seldom 
 any man of substance, or who has a family that he fears may suffer by 
 it, will venture to forswear himself; nor are there wanting apparent ex- 
 amples to confirm them in this notion. Any accident that happens to 
 a man, who has been known to take’a false oath, or to his children or 
 grandchildren, is carefully recorded in memory, and attributed to this 
 sole cause. The dupati of Gunong Selong and his family have afforded an 
 
 instance 
 
wh 
 
 ever Were 
 
 ate nay 
 
 attend: 
 
 most 
 
 person: 
 by the 
 quainte 
 they 2 
 ject then 
 y) it We 
 rds used: 
 he fact ' 
 my oath 
 f my & 
 punish 
 ere 110 ( 
 ay, the 
 an oath 
 ir neigh 
 
 1s Supe 
 ontrary 
 by hunt 
 ont is | 
 ry seltt 
 y gufler 
 patel é 
 happets 
 chile 
 uted ob 
 afd! 
 
 insta 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 instance that is often quoted among the Rejangs, and has evidently had 
 great weight. It was notorious, that he had, about the year 1770, taken 
 in the most solemn manner, a false oath. He had at that time five sons 
 grown up to manhood. One of them, soon after, in a scuffle with some 
 bugis (country soldiers) was wounded, and died. The dupati, the 
 next year, lost his life in the issue of a disturbance he had raised in the 
 district. ‘Two of the sons died afterwards, within a week of each other. 
 Mas Kaddah, the fourth, is blind; and Treman, the fifth, lame. All 
 this is attributed to, and firmly believed to be the consequence of, the 
 father’s perjury. 
 
 In administering an oath, if the matter litigated respects the property 
 of the grandfather, all the collateral branches of the family descended 
 from him, are understood to be included in its operation: if the father’s 
 effects only are concerned, or the transaction happened in his life time, 
 his descendants are included: if the affair regards only the present 
 parties, and originated with them, they and their immediate descend- 
 ants only, are comprehended in the consequences of the oath; and if 
 any single one of these descendants refuses to join in the oath, it-vitiates 
 the whole ; that is, it has the same effect, as if the party himself refused 
 to swear; a case that not unfrequently occurs. It may be observed that 
 the spirit of this custom tends to the requiring a weight of evidence, and 
 an increase of the importance of the oath, in proportion as the distance 
 of time renders the fact to be established less capable of proof in the 
 ordinary way. —— 
 
 a 
 atl 
 -_— 
 
 Sometimes the difficulty of the case alone, will induce the court to 
 insist on administering the oath to the relations of the parties, although 
 they are nowise concerned in the transaction. I recollect an instance 
 where three people were prosecuted for a theft. There was no positive 
 proof against them, yet the circumstances were so strong, that it appeared 
 proper to put them to the test of one of these collateral oaths: They 
 were all willing, and two of them swore. When it came to the turn of 
 the third, he could not persuade his relations to join with him, and he 
 was accordingly brought in for the whole amount. of the goods stolen, 
 and penalties annexed. 
 
 ie | These 
 
 24, } 
 
 Collateral 
 oaths. 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ceremony 
 
 ap oath, 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 These customs bear a strong resemblance to the rules of proof esta- 
 blished among our ancestors, the Anglo-Saxons, who were likewise oblig- 
 ed, in the case of oaths taken for the purpose of exculpation, to produce 
 a certain number of compurgators; but, as these might be any indif- 
 ferent persons, who would take upon them to bear testimony to the 
 truth of what their neighbour swore, from an opinion of his veracity, 
 there seems to be more refinement, and more knowledge of human na- 
 ture in the Sumatran practice. The idea of devoting to destruction, by 
 a wilful perjury, not himself only, but all, even the remotest branches 
 
 of a family which constitutes his greatest-pride;-and of which the de- 
 ceased heads are regarded with the veneration that was paid to the dit 
 
 lares ofthe antients, has doubtless restrained many a man from taking 
 a false oath, who, without much compunction, would suffer thirty or an 
 hundred compurgators of the former description to take their chance 
 of that fate. Their strongest prejudices are here converted to the most 
 beneficial purposes. 
 
 The place of greatest solemnity for administering an oath, is the 
 krammat or burying ground of their ancestors, and several superstitious 
 ceremonies are observed_on_the occasion... The people near the sea-coast, 
 in general, by long intercourse with the Malays, have an idea of the 
 Koran, and usually employ this in swearing, which the priests do not 
 fail to make them pay for ; but the inland people keep, laid up in their 
 houses, certain old reliques, called in the Rejung language pesakko, and 
 in Malayan, sactian, which they produce when an oath is to be taken. 
 The person who has lost his cause, and with whom it commonly rests to 
 bind his adversary by an oath, often desires two or three days’ time, to 
 get ready these his swearing apparatus, called on such occasions sumpa- 
 han, of which some are looked upon as more sacred, and of greater effi- 
 cacy than others. They consist of an old rusty kris, a broken gun 
 barrel, or any antient trumpery, to which chance or caprice has annexed 
 an idea of extraordinary virtue. These they generally dip in-water, which 
 the person who swears drinks off, after having pronounced the-form of 
 words before-mentioned.* The pasizeran of Suiivei-lamo has. by him cer- 
 
 tain 
 
 * The form of taking an oath among the people of Madagascan very nearly resembles the 
 
 ceremonies used by the Sumatrans. There is a strong similarity in the articles they swear 
 on, and in the circumstance of their drinking the consecrated water. 
 
erat, 
 ral We 
 on, bj 
 anchies 
 he de. 
 the dit 
 taking 
 ty oral 
 chance 
 he mos 
 
 1s the 
 rstitious 
 4-C04, 
 1 of the 
 do not 
 1 therr 
 0, and 
 » takell 
 pests 
 me, " 
 sump 
 
 ter effi 
 
 en gil 
 annex? 
 WH 
 fia 
 py 06" 
 
 tall 
 wet 
 bi 
 
 SUMATRA, 
 
 tain copper bullets, which had been steeped in water, drunk by the Suri gei- 
 etam chiefs, when they bound themselves never to molest his districts: 
 which they have only done since, as often as they could venture it with 
 safety, from the relaxation of our government. But these were political 
 oaths. The most ordinary swmpahan is a kris, and on the blade of this 
 they sometimes drop lime-juice, which occasions a stain on the lips of 
 the person performing the ceremony ; a circumstance that may not im- 
 probably be supposed to make an impression on a weak and guilty mind. 
 Such would fancy that the external stain conveyed to the beholders an 
 
 image of the internal. At Manna the sumpahan most respected is a gun 
 barrel. When produced to be swuiu vn, it 4 earried to the spot in 
 
 state, under an umbrella, and wrapt in silk. This parade has an ad- 
 vantageous effect, by influencing the mind of the party, with an high 
 idea of the importance and solemnity of the business. In England, the 
 familiarity of the object, and the summary method of administering 
 oaths, are well known to diminish their weight, and to render them too 
 often nugatory. They sometimes swear by the earth, laying their hands 
 upon it, and wishing that it may never produce aught for their nou- 
 rishment, if they speak falsely. In all these ceremonies, they burn on 
 the spot a little gum benzoin—* Eé acerra thuris plena, positusgue carbo 
 in cespite vivo.” 
 
 It is a striking circumstance, that practices which boast se little of 
 reason in their foundation ; which are in fact so whimsical and childish, 
 should yet be common to nations, the most remote in situation, climate, 
 language, complexion, character, and every thing-that can distinguish 
 one race of people from another. Fornted of like materials, and furnish- 
 ed with like original sentiments, the uncivilized tribes of Europe and of 
 India, trembled from the same apprehensions, excited by similar ideas, 
 at a time when they were ignorant, or even denied the possibility of each 
 other’s existence. Mutual wrong and animosity, attended with disputes 
 and accusations, are not by nature confined to either description of 
 people. Each, in doubtful litigations, might seek to prove their inno- 
 cence, by braving, on the justice of their cause, those objects which in- 
 spired amongst their countrymen, the greatest terrour. ‘The Sumatran, 
 
 impressed with an idea of inyisible powers, but not of his own immor- 
 
 212 tality, 
 
 245 
 
 
 

 
 Inheritance. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 tality, regards with awe the supposed instruments of their agency, and 
 swears on krises, bullets, and gun barrels ; weapons of personal destruc- 
 tion. The German Christian of the seventh century, more indifferent 
 to the perils of this life, but not less superstitious, swore on bits of rotten 
 wood, and rusty nails, which he was taught to revere, as possessing 
 efficacy to secure him from eternal perdition. 
 
 When a man dies, his effects, in common course, descend to his male 
 children in equal shares; but if one among them is remarkable for his 
 abilities above the rest, though not the eldest, he usually obtains the 
 
 largest ep ae tuiggian or house; the 
 others yelustarily yielding him the superiority. A pangeran of Manna 
 
 left several children; none of them succeeded to the title, but a name 
 of distinction was given to one of the younger, who was looked upon as 
 chief of the family, after the father’s decease. Upon asking the eldest 
 how it happened that the name of distinction passed over him, and was 
 conferred on his younger brother, he answered with great naiveté, ‘* be- 
 cause I am accounted weak and silly.” If no male children are left, and 
 a daughter only remains, they contrive to get her married by the mode 
 of ambel anak, and thus the turiggian of the father continues. An equal 
 distribution of property among children is more natural, and conform- 
 able to justice, than vesting the whole in the eldest son, as prevails 
 throughout most part of Europe; but where wealth consists in landed 
 estate, the latter mode, beside favouring the pride of family, is attended 
 with fewest inconveniences. The property of the Sumatrans being per- 
 sonal merely, this reason does not operate with them. Land is so abund- 
 ant in proportion to the population, that they scarcely consider it as the 
 subject of right, any more than the elements of air and water; excepting 
 so far as in speculation the prince lays claim to the whole. The ground, 
 however, on which a man plants or builds, with the consent of his neigh- 
 bours, becomes a species of nominal property, and is transferable ; but 
 as it costs him nothing, beside his labour, it is only the produce which 
 is esteemed of value, and the compensation he receives is for this alone. 
 A temporary usufruct is accordingly all that they attend to, and the 
 price, in case of sale, is generally ascertained by the coconut, durian, 
 
 and other fruit trees, that have been planted on it; the buildings being 
 for 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A 
 
 ter 
 
 ROR 
 ? 
 . 
 
 IS ma: 
 for hi 
 1S the 
 s the 
 
 Mann - 
 
 5 Dall 
 Upon & 
 eldest 
 nd was 
 «De. 
 ft, and 
 e mote 
 nequd 
 pnforn 
 prevall 
 landed 
 ended 
 ag pet 
 abunt 
 tas te 
 ceptit 
 runt 
 neigh 
 Ne; be 
 e whe 
 ysl 
 gilt 
 , dn 
 ih 
 
 ee es 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 for the most part but little durable, Whilst any of those subsist, the 
 descendants of the planter may. claim the ground, though it has been for 
 years abandoned. If they are cut down, he may recover damages; but 
 if they have disappeared in the course of nature, the land reverts to the 
 
 public. 
 
 They have a custom of keeping by them a sum of money, as @ Fe- 
 source against extremity of distress, and which common exigencies do 
 not call forth. This is a refined antidote against despair, because, whilst 
 it remains possible to avoid encroaching on that treasure, their affairs 
 are not at the worst, aud the idea of the little hoard serves to buoy up 
 their spirits, and encourage them to struggie witli wretchedness. It 
 usually, therefore, continues inviolate, and descends to the lcs, or is lost 
 to him by the sudden exit of the parent. From their apprehension of 
 dishonesty, and insecurity of their houses, their money is for the most 
 part concealed in the ground, the cavity of an old beam, or other secret 
 place; and a man, on his death-bed, has commonly some important dis- 
 covery of this nature to make to his assembled relations. 
 
 The practice of outlawing an individual of a family by the head of it 
 (called lepas or buang darigan surat, to let loose, or cast out with a writ- 
 ing) has its foundation in the custom which obliges all the branches to 
 be responsible for the debts contracted by any one of the kindred. When 
 an extravagant and unprincipled spendthrift 1s running a career that ap- 
 pears likely to involve his family in rumous consequences, they have the 
 right of dissolving the connexion, and clearing themselves-of farther re- 
 sponsibility, by this public act, which, as#he-writ expresses it, sends 
 forth the outcast, as a deer into the woods, no longer to be considered as 
 enjoying the privileges of society. This character is what they term 
 risau, though it is sometimes applied to persons not absolutely outlawed, 
 
 but of debauched and irregular manners. 
 
 , 
 
 In the Saxon law we find a strong resemblance to this custom ; the 
 kindred of a murderer being exempt from the feud, if they abandoned 
 him to his fate. They bound themselves in this case neither to converse 
 
 with him, nor to furnish him with meat or other necessaries. This 1s 
 precisely 
 
 Q45 
 
 Outlawry. 
 
 
 

 
 SUMATRA, 
 
 precisely the Sumatran outlawry, in which it is always particularly spe- 
 cified (beside what relates to common debts) that if the outlaw kills a 
 person, the relations shall not pay the compensation, nor claim it if he 
 is killed. But the writ must have been issued before the event, and they 
 cannot free themselves by a subsequent process, as it would seem the 
 Saxons might. If an outlaw commits murder, the friends of the de- 
 ceased may take personal revenge on him, ‘and are not liable to be called 
 to an account for it ; but if such be killed, otherwise than in satisfaction 
 for murder, although his family have no claim, the prince of the country 
 is entitled to a certain compensation, all outlaws being nominally his pro- 
 perty, like other wild animals, 9 0 
 Fr ade 
 ‘Compensation It seems strange to those who are accustomed to the severity of penal 
 aaa laws, which in most instances inflict punishment exceeding by many de- 
 grees the measure of the offence, howa society can exist, in which the 
 greatest of all crimes is, agreeably to established custom, expiated by the 
 payment of a certain sum of money; asum not proportioned to the rank 
 and ability of the murderer, ner to the premeditation, ‘or other aggravat- 
 ing circumstances of the fact, but regulated only by the quality of the 
 person murdered. The practice had doubttess its source in the imbecility 
 of government;-which being unable to enforce-the taw of retaliation, the 
 most obvious rule of punishment, had recourse to a milder scheme of re- 
 tribution,’asbeing preferable to absolute indemnity. The latter it was 
 competent to carry into execution, because the guilty persons readily 
 submit to a penalty which effectually relieves them from the burthen of 
 anxiety for the consequences of their action. Instances occur in the 
 history of all states, particularly those which suffer from internal weak- 
 ness, of iniquities going unpunished, owing to the rigour of the pains de- 
 nounced against them by the law, which defeats its own purpose. The 
 original mode of avenging a murder, was probably by the arm of the 
 person nearest in consanguinity, or friendship, to the deceased ; but this 
 was evidently destructive of the public tranquillity, because thereby the 
 wrong became progressive, each act of satisfaction, or justice, as it*was 
 called, being the source of a new revenge, till the feud became general in 
 the community; and some method would naturally be suggested to put a 
 stop to such confusion. The most direct step is to vest in the magistrate 
 
 or 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
my 
 
 een thy 
 the th 
 De cal 
 isfacts 
 county 
 his pri 
 
 of pend 
 nay Ue 
 hich ti 
 d by th 
 he rank 
 porayal 
 ty of the 
 abc 
 on, th 
 1¢ of Ie 
 it was 
 eadily 
 ‘hen of 
 in the 
 | weal 
 ains 
 , Th 
 -of the 
 but thi 
 eby th 
 x5 it 
 net 
 to pul 
 agus 
 a 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 or the law the rights of the injured party, and to arm them with @ vin- 
 dictive power; which -principle, the policy of more civilized societies 
 has refined to that of making examples zn ¢ferrorem, with a view of pre- 
 venting future, not of revenging past crimes. But this requires a firm- 
 ness of authority to which the Sumatran governments are strangers. 
 They are without coercive power, and the submission of the people is 
 little other than voluntary; especially of the men of influence, who are 
 held in subjection rather by the sense of general utility planted in the 
 breast of mankind, attachment to their family and connexions, and 
 
 veneration for the spot in which their ancestors were interred, than by the 
 apprehension of any superior authority. Tliceo snnsiderations, however, 
 
 they would readily forego, renounce their fealty, and quit their eountry, 
 if in any case they were in danger of paying with life, the forfeit of their 
 crimes; to lesser punishments those ties induce them to submit; and to 
 strengthen this hold, their customs wisely enjoin that every the remotest 
 branch of the family shall be responsible for the payment of their ad- 
 judged and other debts; and in cases of murder, the bazigun, or com- 
 pensation, may be levied on: the inhabitants of the village the culprit 
 belonged to, if it happens that neither he, nor any of his relations can 
 be found. 
 
 The equality of punishment, which allows to the rich man the faculty 
 of committing, with small inconvenience, crimes that bring utter de- 
 struction on the poor man and his family, and which is in fact the 
 greatest inequality, originates certainly from the interested design-of those 
 through whose influence the regulation came saaaaTO tad. Ken vlan was 
 to establish a subordination of persons. In Europe, the absolute distinc- 
 tion between rich and poor, though too sensibly felt, is not insisted upon 
 in. speculation, but rather denied or explained away in general reasoning. 
 Among the Sumatrans it is coolly acknowledged, and a man without 
 property, family, or connexions, neyer, in the partiality of self-love, 
 considers his own life as being of equal value with that of a man of sub- 
 stance. A maxim, though not the practice, of their law, says, ‘ that 
 he who is able to pay the bavigun for murder, must satisfy the relations 
 of the deceased ; he who is unable, must suffer death.”’ But the avarice 
 of the relations prefers selling the body of the delinquent for what his 
 
 slavery 
 
 247 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Corporal pu- 
 nishment, 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 slavery will fetch them (for such is the effect of imposing a penalty that 
 cannot be paid) to the satisfaction of seeing the murder revenged by the 
 public execution of a culprit of that mean description. Capital punish- 
 ments are, therefore, almost totally out of use among them; and it is 
 only par la loi du plus fort, that the Europeans take the liberty of hang- 
 ing a-notorious criminal, now and then; whom, however, their own 
 chiefs always condemn, and formally sentence. 
 
 Corporal punishment of any kind is rare. The chain, and a sort of 
 stocks, made of the pinang tree, are adopted from-us5.the word ** pa- 
 song,” now commonlyx=e0d-to-denote the latter, originally signifying, 
 and being-still frequently applied to confinement in general. <A kind of 
 cage made use of in the country, is probably their own invention. ‘* How 
 do you secure a prisoner, (a man was asked) without employing a chain 
 or our stocks?’ ‘*‘ We pen him up,” said he, ‘* aswe would a bear.” 
 The cage is made of bamboos laid horizontally, in a square, piled al- 
 ternately, secured by timbers at the corners, and strongly covered in at 
 top. ‘To lead a runaway, they fasten a rattan round his neck, and pass- 
 ing it through a bamboo somewhat longer than his arms, they bring his 
 hands together and make them fast to the bamboo,.in-a-state-rather of 
 constraint than of pain, w lich, I believe, never is wantonly or unneces- 
 sarily iflicted, If the offender is of a desperate character, they bind him 
 hands and feet, and sling him on a pole. When they would convey a 
 person, from accident or otherwise unable to walk, they make a palan- 
 quin by splitting a large bamboo near the middle of its length, where 
 they contrive to keep it open, so that the cavity forms a bed ; the ends 
 being preserved whole, to rest upon their shoulders. 
 
 The custom of exacting the bangun for murder, seems only designed 
 with a view of making a compensation to the injured family, and not 
 of punishing the offender. The word signifies « awaking”’ or “ raising 
 up,” and the deceased is supposed to be replaced, or raised again to his 
 family, in the payment of a sum proportioned to his rank, or equivalent 
 to his or her personal value. The price of a female slave is generally 
 more than that of a male, and therefore, I heard a chief say, is the 
 bangun of a woman more than that of a man. It is upon this principle 
 
 that 
 
mnity i 
 A kindy 
 Via) 
 19 a cha 
 a Dea 
 piled 
 red In 2 
 anid pas 
 ring 
 -rathet | 
 mnneds 
 bind hit 
 onvey | 
 a pala 
 h, whe 
 the eft 
 
 desist 
 and 
 6 vais 
 
 ) 
 
 j ti 
 rail | 
 ei? 
 oeniele 
 ay, p 
 princi 
 
 ty 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 that their laws take no cognizance of the distinction between. a wilful 
 murder, and what we term manslaughter. ‘The loss is the same to the 
 family, and therefore the compensations are alike. A dupati of Laye, 
 in an ill hour, stept unwarily across the mouth of a cannon, at the instant 
 it was fired off fora salute, and was killed by the explosion; upon which 
 his relations immediately sued the serjeant of the country-guard, who 
 applied the match, for the recovery of the bavgun; but they were cast, 
 and upon these grounds ; that the dupat: was instrumental in his own 
 death, and that the Company’s servants being amenable to other laws 
 for their crimes, were not, by established custom, subject to the barigun 
 or other penalties inflicted by the native chicfs, for-accidents resulting 
 from the execution of their duty. The éippong bumi, expiation, or pu- 
 rification of the earth from the stain it has received, was, however, gra- 
 tuitously paid. No plea was set up, that the action was unpremeditated, 
 and the event chance-medley. 
 
 The introduction of this custom is beyond the extent of Sumatran 
 tradition, and has no connexion with, or dependance on, Mahometanism, 
 being established amongst the most inland people from time immemorial. 
 In early ages it was by no means confined to that part of the world. The 
 barigun is perfectly the same as the compensation for murder in the rude 
 institutions of our Saxon ancestors, and other northern nations. It is 
 the eric of Ireland, and the aren» of the Greeks. In the compartments 
 of the shield of Achilles, Homer describes the adjudgment of a fine for 
 homicide. It would seem then to be a eee oremmennamnate from 
 anarchy to settled government, and that i nly take place in such 
 societies as have already a strong idea of the value of personal property ; 
 who esteem its possession of the next importance to that of life, and 
 place it in competition with the strongest passion that seizes the human 
 soul. 
 
 The compensation is so regularly established among the Sumatrans, 
 that any other satisfaction is seldom demanded. In the first heat of 
 resentment retaliation is sometimes attempted, but the spirit soon eva- 
 porates, and application is usually made, upon the immediate discovery 
 of the fact, to the chiefs of the country, for the exertion of their influ- 
 
 9K . ence, 
 
 24.9 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Account of 
 a feud. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 ence, to oblige the criminal to pay the barigun. His death is then 
 not thought of, unless he is unable, and his family unwilling, to raise 
 the established sum. Instances, it is true; occur, in which the pro- 
 secutor knowing the European law in such case, will, from motives of 
 revenge, urge to the Resident the propriety of executing the offender, 
 rather than receive the money; but if the latter is ready to pay it, it 
 is contrary to their laws to proceed further. The degree of satisfac- 
 tion that attends the payment of the bangun, is generally considered as 
 absolute to the parties concerned ; they receive it as full compensation, 
 and pretend to no farther claim upon the murderer and. his family. 
 
 Slight provocations, however;~have been sometimes known to renew 
 the feud,-and there are not wanting instances of a son’s revenging his 
 father’s murder, and willingly refunding the bavigun. When, in an 
 affray, there happen to be several persons killed on both sides, the bu- 
 siness of justice is only to state the reciprocal losses, in the form of an 
 account current, and order the balance to be discharged, if the numbers 
 be unequal. The following is a relation of the circumstances of one of 
 these bloody feuds, which happened whilst I was in the island; but 
 which become ied year more rare, where the influence of our govern- 
 ment extends. : re 
 
 
 
 _—— 
 
 Raddin Siban was the head of a tribe in the district of Manna, of 
 which Pavigeran Raja-Kalippah was the official. chief; though by the 
 customs of the country he had no right of sovereignty over him. The 
 pangeran’s not allowing him-what.he thought an adequate share of fines, 
 and other advantages annexed to his rank, was the foundation of a Jea- 
 lousy -and ill will between them, which an event that happened a few 
 years since, raised to. the highest pitch of family feud. Lessut, a younger 
 brother of the: pazigeran, had a wife who was very handsome, and whom 
 Raddin Siban had endeavoured to procure, whilst a virgin, for Ais younger 
 brother, who was in loye with her: but the pazigeran had contrived to 
 circumvent him, and obtained the girl for Lessut. However, it seems 
 the lady herself had conceived a violent liking for the brother of Raddin 
 Siban, who found means to enjoy her after she was married, or was vi0- 
 lently suspected so to have done. The consequence was, that Lessut 
 killed him, to revenge the dishonour of his bed. Upon this the families 
 were 
 

 
 SUMATRA. 251 
 
 S 
 
 were presently up in arms, but the English Resident interfering, preserved 
 the peace of the country, and settled the affair agreeably to the customs 
 of the place, by. bazigun and fine. But this did not prove sufficient to 
 extinguish the fury which raged in the hearts of Raddin Siban’s family, 
 
 10 rie 
 the pis 
 ots 0 
 
 el, whose relation was murdered. It only served to delay the revenge until 
 ay ti a proper opportunity offered of gratifying it. The people of the country 
 sais being called together on a particular occasion, the two inimical families 
 ered i were assembled, at the same time, in Manna bazar. _Two younger bro- 
 sation, thers (they had been five in all). of Raddiu Siban,. going to the cockpit, 
 amily, saw ftqja Muda the next brother of the parigeran, and Lessut his younger 
 renel brother, in the open part of a house which they passed. They quickly 
 rng hi returned, drew their krises, and attacked the pangeran’s brothers, calling 
 , ina to them, ‘‘if they were men, to defend themselves.” The challenge was 
 the be instantly accepted, Lessut, the unfortunate husband, fell; but the aggres- 
 mot a sors were both killed by Raja Muda, who was himself much wounded. 
 amber The affair was almost over before the scuffle was perceived. The bodies 
 ‘one of were lying on the ground, and Raja Muda was supporting himself against 
 ad; bu a tree which stood near the spot, when Raddin Siban, who was in a house 
 goer on the opposite side of the bazar at the time the affray happened, be- 
 ing made acquainted with the circumstances, came over the way, with 
 his lance in his hand. He passed on the contrary side of the tree, and 
 mu, 0 did not see Raja Muda, but began to stab with his weapon the dead body 
 by the of Lessut, in excess of rage, on seeing the bloody remains of his two bro- 
 The thers. Just then, Raja Muda, who was half dead, but had his kris 
 € fines in his hand, still unseen by Raddin Siban, crawled a ste two; and 
 [a jet thrust the weapon into his side, saying es Maui Rau”—* dl thou !’ 
 ie Raddin Siban spoke not a word, but put his hand on the wound, and 
 ! walked across to the house from whence he came, at the door of which 
 ye he dropped down and expired. Such was the catastrophe. Raja Muda 
 Lent survived his wounds, but being much deformed by them, lives a melan- 
 is choly example of the effects of these barbarous feuds. 
 rived | 
 , ¥ In cases of theft, the swearing a robbery against a person suspected is Proof of 
 f pa of no effect, and justly, for were it otherwise, nothing would. be more = 
 pr common than the prosecution of innocent persons. The proper proofs 
 Las 2K 2 are 
 Ale 
 
 wert 
 
 
 

 
 Law respect- 
 ing debts. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 are either, seizure of the person in the fact, before witnesses, or discovery 
 of the goods stolen, in possession of one who can give no satisfactory 
 account how he came by them. As it frequently happens that a man 
 finds part only of what he had lost, it remains with him, when the rob- 
 bery is proved, to ascertain the whole amount, by oath, which in that 
 point is held sufficient. 
 
 ~The law which renders all the members of a family reciprocally 
 bound for the security of each others debts, forms a strong connexion 
 among them, and occasions the elder branches to be particularly watch- 
 ful of the conduct_of-these;—for-Whose imprudence they must be an- 
 
 swerable.-—— 
 
 When a debtor is unable to pay what he owes, and has no relation or 
 friends capable of doing it for him; or when the children of a deceased 
 person do not find property enough to discharge the debts of their parent, 
 they are forced to the state which is called merigtring, which simply 
 means to follow or be dependant on, but here implies the becoming 
 a species of bondslaves to the creditor, who allows them subsistance and 
 clothing, but does not appropriate the produce of their-labour to the 
 diminution of their debt. Their condition is better than that of pure 
 slavery, in this, that the creditor cannot strike them, and they can change 
 their masters, by prevailing on another person to pay their debt, and ac- 
 cept of their labour on the same terms. Of course they may obtain 
 their liberty, if they can by any means procure a sum equal to their debt; 
 whereas a slave, though possessing ever so large property, has not the 
 right of purchasing his liberty. If, however, the creditor shall demand 
 formally the amount of his debt, from a person : mengiring, at three 
 several times, allowing a certain number of days between each demand, 
 and the latter is not able to persuade any one to redeem him, he becomes, 
 by the custom of the country, a pure slave; upon the creditor’s giving 
 notice to the chief, of the transaction. This is the resource he has against 
 the laziness or untoward behaviour of his debtor, who might otherwise, 
 in the state of meigiring, be only a burthen to him. If the children of a 
 deceased debtor are too young to be of service, the charge of their main- 
 tenance 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
800tep 
 sin 
 14 ma 
 tie rob. 
 1h at 
 
 procil 
 INEXIoL 
 watch. 
 be al 
 
 lation @ 
 decease 
 ‘parent 
 simply 
 ecm 
 ance a 
 ur to th 
 “of pur 
 | chang: 
 
 and ac- 
 
 obtall 
 air debt 
 “not t 
 deus 
 at tit 
 demat 
 pecome 
 1's gil 
 95 age 
 oii 
 ie 
 hel! pull 
 
 tena 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 tenance is added to the debt. This opens a door for many iniquitous 
 practices, and it is in the rigorous, and frequently perverted, exertion of 
 these rights, which a creditor has over his debtor, that the chiefs are 
 enabled to oppress the lower class of people, and from which abuses the 
 English Residents find it necessary to be the most watchful to restrain 
 them. In some cases, one half of the produce of the labour is ap- 
 plied to the reduction of the debt, and this situation of the insolvent 
 debtor is termed be-blah. Merariggau is the condition of a married wo- 
 man who remains as a pledge for a debt in the house of the creditor 
 of her husband. If any attempt should be made upon her person, 
 the proof of it annuls the debt; but should she bring an accusation 
 of that nature, and be unable to prove it to the satisfaction of the court, 
 and the man takes an oath in support of his innocence, the debt must 
 be immediately paid by the family, or the woman be disposed of as 
 a slave. 
 
 When a man of one district or country has a debt owing to him from 
 the inhabitant of a neighbouring country, of which he cannot recover 
 payment, an usual resource is to seize on one or more of his children, 
 and carry them off; which they call andak. The daughter of a Rejang 
 dupati was carried off in this manner by the Labun people. Not hear- 
 ing for some time from her father, she sent him cuttings of her hair and 
 nails, by which she intimated a resolution of destroying herself, if not 
 
 soon released. 
 
 The’right of slavery is established in Suumstanaseene SORE ONS the 
 East, and has been all over the world; yet but few instances occur of 
 the country people actually having slaves; though they are common 
 enough in the Malayan, or sea-port towns. Their domestics and la- 
 bourers are either dependant relations, or the orang mengiring above 
 described, who are usually called debtors ; but should be distinguished. 
 by the term of insolvent debtors. The simple manners of the people 
 require that their servants should live, in a great measure, on a footing 
 of equality with the rest of the family, which is inconsistent with the 
 
 authority necessary to be maintained over slaves, who have no prin 
 to 
 
 2538 
 
 Slavery. 
 
 
 
Dibat tear 2m +d 
 
 Ss eee 
 
 — - 
 SS Se a ee re 
 
 = 
 
 ‘there does not result from their situation, as slaves, 
 
 ‘ligation, arising from a sense of general utility. That 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 to restrain them but that of personal fear,* and know that their civil 
 condition cannot be altered for the worse. There is this advantage, 
 also, that when a debtor absconds, they have recourse to his relations 
 for the amount of his debt, who, if unable to pay it, must mengiring 
 in his room ; whereas, when a slave makes his escape, the law can give 
 no redress, and his value is lost to the owner. These people, moreover, 
 are from habit, backward to strike, and the state of slavery unhappily 
 requires the frequent infliction of punishment in that mode. A slave 
 cannot possess, independently, any property ; yet it rarely happens that 
 a master is found mean and sordid enough to despoil them of the fruits 
 of their industry ; and their liberty is generally granted them, when in 
 a Condition te~purchase it, though they cannot demand it of right. 
 It is nothing uncommon for those belonging to the Europeans, to pos- 
 sess slaves of their own, and to acquire considerable substance. Their 
 condition is here, for the most part, less unhappy than that of persons 
 in other situations of life. I am far from wishing to diminish the hor- 
 rour that should ever accompany the general idea of a state, which, 
 whilst it degrades the species, I am convinced is not necessary among 
 mankind ; but I cannot help remarking, as an extraordinary fact, that 
 if there is one class of people eminently happy above-all-ethers upon 
 earth, it is the body of Caffres, or negro slaves belonging to the India 
 Company at Bencoolen. They are well clothed and fed, and supplied 
 with a proper allowance of liquor; their work is by no means severe ; 
 the persons appointed as their immediate overseers, are chosen, for their 
 merit, from amongst themselves ; they have no occasion of care or 
 anxiety for the past or future, and are naturally of a lively and open 
 
 temper. 
 
 * Ido not mean to assert, that all men in the condition of slaves are devoid of principle ; 
 I have experienced the contrary, and found in them affection and strict honesty: but that 
 
 any principle of moral rectitude; 
 0 it, ideas of duty and mutual ob- 
 
 sublime species of morality derived 
 from the injunctions of religion, it is almost universally their fate to be likewise strangers to ; 
 
 because slavery is found inconsistent with the spirit of the gospel, not merely as inculcating | 
 anthropy, but inspiring a principle of equality amongst mankind. 
 
 whereas every other condition of society has annexed t 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ens the 
 e fruits 
 ren i 
 righ 
 10 pis 
 The 
 perso 
 the hor: 
 which, 
 y atnony 
 act, that 
 ers Up 
 he Indi 
 upplie. 
 severe ; 
 yr their 
 care 0 
 ad opé 
 tempt 
 
 principk 
 + but th 
 rectitus: 
 mutual 
 ity it 
 trange! 5 lt, 
 incall 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 temper. The contemplation of the effects which such advantages pro- 
 duce, must afford the highest gratification to a benevolent mind. They 
 are usually seen laughing or singing whilst at work, and the intervals 
 allowed them are mostly employed in dancing to their rude instrumental 
 music, which frequently begins at sun-set, and ceases only with the 
 day-light, that recals them to their labour. Since they were first car- 
 ried thither, from different parts of Africa and Madagascar, to the 
 present hour, not so much as the rumour of disturbance or discontent 
 has ever been known to proceed from them. They hold the natives of 
 the island in contempt, have a degree of antipathy towards them, and 
 enjoy any mischief they can do them; and these in their turn regard the 
 Caffres as devils half humanized. 
 
 The practice said to prevail elsewhere, of men selling themselves for 
 slaves, is repugnant to the customs of the Sumatrans, as it seems to rea- 
 son. Itis an absurdity to barter any thing valuable, much more civil 
 existence, for a sum which, by the very act of receiving, becomes again 
 the property ofthe buyer. Yet, if aman runs in debt, without a pros- 
 pect of paying, he does virtually the same thing, and this, in cases of 
 distress, is not uncommon; in order to relieve, perhaps, a beloved wife, 
 or favourite child, from similar bondage. A man has even been known 
 to apply in confidence to a friend, to sell him to a third person, conceal- 
 ing from the purchaser the nature of the transaction till the money was 
 appropriated, 
 
 ase 
 
 Ignorant stragglers are often picked up_in-the country, by lawless 
 knaves in power, and sold beyond the hills. These have sometimes pro- 
 cured their liberty again, and prosecuting their kidnappers, have reco- 
 vered large damages. In the district of Allas, a custom prevails, by 
 which, if a man has been sold to the hill people, however unfairly, he is 
 restricted on his return from associating with his countrymen, as their 
 equal, unless he brings with him a sum of money, and pays a fine for his 
 re-enfranchisement, to his kalippah or chief. This regulation has taken 
 its rise from an idea of contamination, among the people, and from art. 
 and avarice among the chiefs. | 
 
 Modes 
 
 255 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 Modes of Marriage, and Customs relative thereto—Polygamy—Festwvals— 
 Games—Cock-fighting—Use and effects of Opium. — 
 
 er BY much the greater number of the legal disputes, among these people, 
 
 prensa have their source in the intricacy attending their marriage contracts. In 
 riage cus- most uncivilized countries these matters are very simple, the dictates of 
 nature being obeyed, or the calls of appetite satisfied, with little cere- 
 mony, or form of convention; but with the Sumatrans, the difficulties, 
 
 both precedent and subsequent, are increased to a degree unknown even 
 
 in the most refined states. To remedy these inconveniences, which might 
 
 be supposed to deter men from engaging in marriage, was the view of 
 
 the Resident of Laye, beforementioned, who prevailed upon them to 
 simplify their engagements, as the means of preventing litigation between 
 families, and of increasing the population of the country. How far his 
 
 liberal views willbe-answered, by having thus influenced the people to 
 
 change their customs; whether they will not soon relapse into the an- 
 
 cient track’? and whether, in fact, the cause that he supposed, did ac- 
 
 tually contribute to retard population, I shall not pretend to determine ; 
 
 but as the last is a point on which a difference of opinion prevails, I shall 
 
 take the liberty of quoting here, the sentiments of another servant of the 
 Company (the late Mr. John Crisp) who possessed an understanding 
 
 highly enlightened. 
 
 Reasons. “ This part of the island is in a low state of population, but it is an 
 against this : , 
 
 alteration, error to ascribe this to the mode of obtaining wives by purchase. The 
 
 circumstance of children constituting part of the property of the parents, 
 
 proves a most powerful incentive to matrimony, and there is not, per- 
 
 haps, any country on the face of the earth, where marriage is more ge- 
 
 “neral than here, instances of persons of either sex passing their lives in a — 
 
 state of celibacy, being extremely rare. The necessity of purchasing does — 
 
 not prove such an obstacle to matrimony, as is supposed. Was it indeed 
 
 ae true 
 
Pong 
 
 e peop! 
 acts, | 
 hates | 
 ttle cer 
 ifficules 
 own eve 
 nich migy 
 e view ( 
 them | 
 m betes 
 ow fat fi 
 peopl 
 o the 
 , did 2 
 termine 
 5, 1 she 
 ant off 
 erstant 
 
 it it 
 ase. | 
 he pal 
 5 10 fe 
 isa F 
 in 
 pass i 
 asi nC 
 
 bee 
 
 uP 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 ' true that every man was obliged to remain single, till he had accumu- 
 
 lated, from the produce of his pepper-garden, a sum adequate to the 
 purchase of a wife, married pairs would truly be scarce. But the people 
 have other resources; there are few families who are not in possession 
 of some small substance ; they breed goats and buffaloes, and in general 
 keep in reserve some small sum for particular purposes. The purchase- 
 money of the daughter serves also to provide wives for the sons. Certain 
 it is, that the fathers are rarely at a loss for money to procure them 
 wives, so soon as they become marriageable. In the districts under my 
 charge are about eight thousand inhabitants, among whom I do not 
 conceive it would be possible to find ten instances of men of the age of 
 thirty years unmarried. We must then seek for other causes of the 
 paucity of inhabitants, and indeed they are sufficiently obvious; among 
 these, we may reckon that the women are by nature unprolific, and 
 cease gestation at an early age; that, almost totally unskilled in the me- 
 dical art, numbers fall victims to the endemic diseases of a climate, nearly 
 as fatal to its indigenous inhabitants, as to the strangers who settle among 
 them: to which we may add, that the indolence and inactivity of the 
 natives, tend to relax and enervate the bodily frame, and to abridge the 
 natural period of their lives.” 
 
 957 
 
 The modes of marriage, according to the original institutions of these Modes of 
 
 people, are by jujur, by ambel anak, or by semando. The jujur is a 
 certain sum of money, given by one man to another, as a consideration 
 for the person of his daughter, whose situation, in this ease, differs not 
 much from that of a slave to the man she marriesyand to his family. His 
 absolute property in her depends, however, upon some nice circumstances. 
 Beside the batang jujur (or main sum), there are certain appendages or 
 branches, one of which, the ¢éali kulo, of five dollars, is usually, from 
 motives of delicacy or friendship, left unpaid, and so long as that is 
 the case, a relationship is understood to subsist between the two families, 
 and the parents of the woman haye a right to interfere on occasions of 
 ill treatment: the husband is also liable to be fined for wounding her; 
 with other limitations of absolute right. When that sum is finally paid, 
 which seldom happens but in cases of violent quarrel, the ‘ali kulo (tie 
 of relationship) is said to be putus (broken), and the woman becomes 
 
 2L to 
 
 marriage. 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 to all intents the slave of her lord She has then no title to claim a di- 
 vorce in any predicament ; and he may sell her, making only the first 
 offer to her relations.. The other appendages, as already mentioned, are 
 the tulis tariggil (the meaning of which I cannot satisfactorily ascertain, 
 this and many other of the legal terms being in. the Rejang or the Pas- 
 swnmah and not the Malayan language) and the upah daun kodo, which 
 is a consideration for the expence of the marriage feast, paid to the girl’s 
 parent, who provides it. But sometimes it is deposited at the wedding, 
 when a distribution is made of it amongst the old people present. . The 
 words allude to the deaf in which the rice is served up. These additional 
 sums are seldom paid. or.claimed,-before the principal is defrayed, of 
 which a large proportion, as fifty, eighty, and sometimes an hundred 
 and four dollars, is laid down at the time of marriage, or in the first visit 
 (after the parties are determined in their regards) made by the father of 
 the young man, or the bujang himself, to the father of the woman. Upon 
 opening his design this money is tendered as a present, and the other’s 
 acceptance of it is a. token that he is inclined to forward the match. It 
 lies often in his hands three, six, or twelve months before the marriage 
 +s consummated. He sometimes sends for more, and is seldom refused. 
 Until at least fifty dollars are thus deposited, the man cannot take his 
 wife home; but so long as the matter continues dalam rasa-an (under 
 consideration) 
 
 * I cannot omit to remark here, that however apposite the word tali, which in Malayan 
 signifies a cord, may be to the subject of the marriage tie, there is very strong evidence of 
 ‘ the term, as applied to this ceremony, having been adopted from the customs of the Hindu 
 inhabitants of the peninsula of India, in whose language it has a different meaning. Among 
 others who have described their rites is M. Sonnerat. In speaking of the mode of marriage 
 called pariam, which, like the jujur, “n’est autre chose qu’un achat que le mari fait de sa 
 femme,” he says, “le mari doit aussi fournir le ¢ali, petit joyau dor, qu’il attache avec 
 un cordon au col de la fille; c’est la derniére cérémonie ; elle donne la sanction au marriage, 
 qui ne peut plus étre rompu dés que le tali est attaché.” Voyage aux Indes, &c. tom, lL. p. 
 70. The reader will also find the Sumatran mode of marriage by ambel anak, or adoption, 
 exactly described at p. 72. An engraving of the ¢ali is given by P. Paolino, Systema Brah- 
 manicum, tab. xxii. This resemblance is not confined to the rites of marriage, for it is 
 remarked by Sir W. Jones that, “ among the laws of the Sumatrans two positive rules con- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 cerning sureties and interest appear to be taken word for word from the Indian legislators.” 
 
 As. Res. Vol. IIT. p. 9. - 
 
 7+ 
 
ned, 
 aStetain 
 the by. 
 0, whi 
 the oi 
 veddin: 
 t.. Th 
 (litiona 
 ed, 0 
 hundred 
 frst rst 
 father 
 wn, Up 
 e other’ 
 itch. i 
 martiag 
 n reluse 
 
 + take hi 
 
 mn (unde 
 deratiol 
 
 n Malays! 
 
 evidence! 
 
 the Hi 
 
 ning, Ai 
 > of mae 
 ari fais 
 attache 
 au mars 
 sc, too! 
 
 ot ade 
 ystew Int 
 yg 
 fine niies 4 
 
 ne ys 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 consideration) it would be deemed scandalous in the father to list 
 
 any other proposals. When there is a difficulty m producin esa di: 
 sary ‘sum; it is not uncommon to resort to an expedient nea ie 
 ing jujur, that is, to continue a debtor with the family until he vam 
 money sufficient to redeem himself; and after this, long er ere ae 
 ally given for the remainder. Years often elapse if the el _ ners 
 tinue on good terms, without the debt being embnded oun “ae 
 when an hundred and four dollars have been paid, unless euieak es a 
 them to it. Sometimes it remains unadjusted to the santas 1 = 
 generation, and itis not uncommon to see a man suing for the I i ie 
 sister of his grandfather. ‘These debts constitute, tific ma i : “5 
 of their substance ; and a person is esteemed rich ewes seni oa 
 them due to him, for his daughters, sisters, aunts, and nti . 
 Debts of this nature are looked upon as sacred, anid are ol isan: 
 lost. In Passummah, if the race of a man is extinct, and ae we 
 oo unpaid, the dusun or village to which the ficsly nent an 
 m » . . . . © - 
 
 ene good to the creditor ; but this is not insisted upon amongst the 
 
 a Ae eer 
 another; and it is not unusual os borrow as ie = on it ates 
 wi | a girl for this purpose, from a 
 friend: or relation, the borrower binding himself to replace her, or pay 
 her jujur, when required. A man who has a son and dau biter ae 
 the latter in exchange for a wife to the former. ‘The person wnt 4 te 
 her, disposes of her as his own child, or marries her himself. A wethe! 
 will give his sister in exchange for a wife, or, in default of such, procure 
 a cousin for the purpose. If the girl given in exchange be crt age, a 
 certain allowance per annum is made, till she becomes en 
 Beguppok is a mode of marriage differing a little from the oouniagl a 
 | jujur 
 and, probably, only taking place where a parent wants to get off ‘ 
 child labouring under some infirmity or defect. A certain sum is in this 
 case fixed, below the usual custom, which, when paid, is in full for her 
 value, without any appendages. In other cases likewise, the jujur is 
 sometimes lessened, and sometimes increased, by mutual agreement ; 
 but on trials it is always estimated at an hundred and twenty dollars | If 
 | 2L2 
 12 a wife 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 SUM. AT RA, 
 
 a wife dies soon after marriage, or at any time without children, the 
 full jajur cannot be claimed; it is reduced to eighty dollars ; but should 
 more than that have been laid down in the interim, there is no refund- 
 ing. The juwjur of a widow, which is generally eighty dollars, without 
 appendages, is again reduced upon a third marriage, allowances being 
 made for dilapidation. A widow, being with child, cannot marry again 
 till she is delivered, without incurring a penalty. In divorces it is the 
 same. If there be no appearance of pregnancy, she must yet abstain 
 from making another choice, during the period of three months and ten 
 days. 
 
 When the relations and friends of the man go in form to the parents — 
 of the girl to settle the terms of the marriage, they pay at that time 
 the adat besasala, or earnest, of six dollars generally ; and these killa 
 goat or a few fowls to entertain them. It is usually some space of time 
 (except in cases of éelari gadis or elopement) after the payment of the 
 besasala, before the wedding takes place ; but, when the father has re- 
 ceived that, he cannot give his daughter to any other person, without 
 incurring a fine; which the young lady sometimes renders him liable 
 to; for whilst the old folk are planning a match by .patutan; or regular 
 agreement between families, it frequently happens that miss disappears 
 with a more, fayoured swain, and secures a match of her own choice. 
 The practice styled telari gadis, is not the least common way of de- 
 termining a marriage, and from a spirit of indulgence and humanity, 
 which few codes can boast, has the sanction of the laws. The father 
 has only the power left, of dictating the mode of marriage, but cannot. 
 take his daughter away, if the lover is willing to comply with the cus- 
 tom in such cases. The girl must be lodged, unviolated, in the house | 
 of some respectable family, till the relations are advised of the enléve- 
 ment, and settle the terms. If, however, upon immediate pursuit, they 
 
 are overtaken on the road, she may be forced back, but not after she has 
 taken sanctuary. 
 
 By the Mosaic law, if a man left a widow, without children, his bro- 
 ther was to marry her. Among the Sumatrans, with or without chil- 
 dren, the brother, or nearest male relation of the deceased, unmarried, 
 
 ‘ * (the 
 
a ee 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 26 | 
 Te, : . 0 ‘ | 
 ” (the father excepted) takes the widow. This 1s practised both by Malays 
 
 mi and country people. The brother, in taking the widow to himself, be- 
 ie comes answerable for what may remain due of her purchase money, and 
 His in every respect represents the deceased. This is phrased ganti tékar 
 Me bantal’nia—supplying his place on his mat and pillow. 
 TY aga 
 It ith Chastity prevails more, perhaps, among these than any other people. Chastity of 
 abstai It is so materially the interest of the parents to preserve the virtue of eer 
 and tei their daughters unsullied, as they constitute the chief of their substance, 
 
 that they are particularly watchful in this respect. But as marriages in 
 
 general do not take place so early as the forwardness of nature in that 
 ‘arent climate would admit, it will sometimes happen, notwithstanding their 
 hat tn precaution, that a young woman, not chusing to wait her father’s plea- 
 ese kill sure, tastes the fruit by stealth. When this is discovered, he can oblige 
 of time the man to marry her, and pay the gwur; or, if he chuses to keep 
 t of the his daughter, the seducer must make good the difference he has occa- 
 has tee sioned in her value, and also pay the fine, called tippong bumi, for re- 
 without moving the stain from the earth. Prostitution for hire is, I think, un- 
 im liable known in the country, and confined to the more polite bazars, where 
 -penulat there is usually a concourse of sailors and others, who have no honest 
 appeal settlement of their own, and whom, therefore, it is impossible to re- 
 iii strain from promiscuous concubinage. At these places, vice generally 
 dé reigns in a degree proportioned to the number and variety of people of 
 nanity, different nations who inhabit them, or occasionally resort thither. From 
 s ft the scenes which these sea-ports present, travellers too. commonly form 
 all their judgment, and imprudently take upom them to draw, for the in- 
 re formation of the world, a picture of the manners of a people. 
 , o The different species of horrid and disgustful.crimes, which are em- 
 nl phatically denominated, against nature, are unknown on Sumatra; nor 
 ity My have any of their languages terms to express such ideas. 
 p she bi 
 
 Incest, or the intermarriage of persons within a certain degree of con- Incest, 
 
 sanguinity, which is, perhaps, (at least after the first degree) rather an 
 his bt offence against the institutions of human prudence, than a natural crime, 
 ot i is forbidden by their customs, and punishable by fine: yet the guilt is 
 
 spat often 
 
 +hp 
 it 
 
 |e 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Adultery. 
 
 Divorces. 
 
 Second mode 
 ‘ of marriage. 
 
 SUMAT RA. 
 
 often expiated by a ceremony, and the marriages, in many instances, 
 
 confirmed. 
 
 Adultery is punishable by fine; but the crime is rare, and suits on the 
 subject still less frequent. The husband, it is probable, either conceals 
 his shame, or revenges it with his own hand. 
 
 If a man would diverce a wife he has married by jwur, he may 
 claim back what he has paid in part, less twenty-five dollars, the adat 
 charo, for the damage he has done her; but if he has paid the jajur 
 in full, the relations may chuse whether they will receive her or not; 
 if not, he may sell her. If a man has paid part of a jujur, but can- 
 not raise the remainder, though repeatedly dunned for it, the parents 
 of the girl may obtain a divorce ; but if it is not with the husband's 
 concurrence, they lose the advantage of the charo, and must refund 
 all they have received. A woman married by jwur must bring with 
 her, effects to the amount of ten dollars, or, if not, it is deducted from 
 the sum; if she brings more, the husband is accountable for the dif- 
 ference. The original ceremony of divorce consists in cutting a rattan- 
 cane in two, in presence of the parties, their relations, and the chiefs 
 of the country. | 
 
 In the mode of marriage by ambel anak, the father of a virgin makes 
 choice of some young man for her husband, generally from an inferior 
 family, which renounces all further right to, or interest in, him, and he 
 is taken into the house of his father-in-law, who kills a buffalo on the 
 occasion, and receives twenty dollars from the son’s relations. After this, 
 the buruk baik’nia (the good and bad of him) is vested in the wife’s fa- 
 mily. If he murders or robs, they pay the bargun, or the fine. If 
 he is murdered, they receive the bavigun. ‘They are liable to any debts 
 he may contract after marriage; those prior to it remaining with his pa- 
 rents. He lives in the family, in a state between that of a son and a 
 debtor. He partakes as a son of what the house affords, but has no pro- 
 perty in himself. His rice plantation, the produce of his pepper garden, 
 with every thing that. he can gain or earn, belong to the family., He 
 is liable to be divorced at their pleasure; and though he has children, 
 
 ey must 
 
US, 
 
 un tl 
 
 Ona 
 
 he ny 
 
 the al 
 the juju 
 Or no 
 but car 
 le pat 
 husbani 
 ust elu 
 ning Wit 
 cted {tow 
 rr the di 
 ga Tala 
 the clié 
 
 ft make 
 inferie 
 
 y, and! 
 Jo on th 
 Afherth 
 wile’ t 
 » fine, | 
 any 
 ith bis? 
 “son 
 has)” 
 pet eat 
 il ft 
 « care 
 
 mi 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 must leave all, and return naked as he came. ‘The family sometimes 
 indulge him with leave to remove to a house of his own, and take his 
 wife with him; but he, his children, and effects, are still their property. 
 If he has not daughters by the marriage, he may redeem himself and 
 wife, by paying her jujur; but if there are daughters before they be- 
 come emancipated, the difficulty is enhanced, because the family are 
 likewise entitled to their value. It is common, however, when they are 
 upon good terms, to release him, on the payment of one jujur, or at 
 most with the addition of an adat of fifty dollars. With this addition, 
 he may insist upon a release, whilst his daughters are not marriageable. 
 If the family have paid any debts for him, he must also make them good. 
 Should he contract more than they approve of, and they fear his adding 
 to them, they procure a divorce, and send him back to his parents; but 
 must pay his debts to that time. If he is a notorious spendthrift, they 
 outlaw him, by means of a writ presented to the magistrate. These are 
 inscribed on slips of bamboo with a sharp instrument, and I have several 
 of them in my possession. ‘They must banish him from home, and if 
 they receive him again, or assist him with the smallest sum, they are 
 liable to all his debts. On the prodigal son’s return, and assurance of 
 amendment, this writ may be redeemed, on payment of five dollars to 
 the proattins, and satisfying the creditors. ‘his kind of marriage is pro- 
 ductive of much confusion, for till the time it takes place, the young 
 man belongs to one dusun and family, and afterwards to another, and as 
 they have no records to refer to, there is great uncertainty in settling 
 the time when debts were contracted, and the like. Sometimes the 
 redemption of the family, and their return to the former dusun, take 
 place in the second or third generation; and in many cases it is doubtful 
 whether they ever took place or not; the two parties contradicting each 
 other, and, perhaps, no evidence to refer to. Hence arise various and 
 
 intricate bechars. 
 
 Besides the modes of marriage above described, a third form, called 
 semando, has been adopted from the Malays, and thence termed semando 
 malayo or mardika (free). This marriage is a regular treaty between 
 the parties, on the footing of equality. The adat paid to the girl’s 
 
 friends 
 
 263 
 
 Third, or 
 Malayan 
 mode of 
 matriage. 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 friends has usually been twelve dollars. ‘The agreement stipulates, that 
 all effects; gains, or earnings, are to be equally the property of both, 
 and, in case of divorce by mutual consent, the stock, debts, and credits, 
 are to be equally divided. If the man only insists on the divorce, he — 
 gives the woman her half of the effects, and loses the twelve dollars he | 
 
 has paid. If the woman only claims the divorce, she forfeits her right 
 to the proportion of the effects, but is entitled to keep her ¢ekar, bantal, 
 and dandan (paraphernalia), and her relations are liable to pay back the 
 twelve dollars ; but it is seldom demanded. This mode, doubtless the most 
 conformable to our ideas of conjugal right and felicity, is that which the 
 chiefs of the Rejang country have formally consented to establish through- 
 out their jurisdiction, and to their orders the influence of the Malayan 
 priests will contribute to give efficacy. 
 
 In the ambel anak marriage, according to the institutions of Passum- 
 mah, when the father resolves to dismiss the husband of his daughter, 
 and send him back to his dusun, the sum for which he can redeem his 
 wife and family is an hundred dollars: and if he can raise that, and the 
 woman is willing to go with him, the father cannot refuse them; and 
 now the affair is changed into a kulo marriage; the man returns to his 
 former fuigguan (settlement or family), and becomes of more consequence 
 in society. ‘These people are no strangers to that sentiment which we 
 call a regard to family. There are some families among them more es- 
 teemed than others, though not graced with any title or employment in 
 the state. ‘The origin of this distinction it is difficult to trace; but it 
 may have arisen from a succession of men of abilities, or from the re- 
 putation for wisdom or valour of some ancestor. Every one has a regard 
 to his race; and the probability of its being extinct is esteemed a great 
 unhappiness. This is what they call turigguan putus, and the expression 
 is used by the lowest member of the community. To have a wife, a 
 family, collateral relations, and a settled place of residence, is to have 
 a tungguan, and this they are anxious to support and perpetuate. It 
 is with this view, that when a single female only remains of a family, 
 they marry her by ambel anak; in which mode the husband’s con- 
 sequence is lost in the wife’s, and in her children the tuigguan of her 
 father 
 
ae fy 
 Y Obi, 
 Md ea 
 ive, 
 Coli, be 
 she i 
 i, dani 
 back iy 
 the mo 
 hich thi 
 hhrough 
 
 Malaya 
 
  Passun 
 daughter, 
 deem bi 
 , and the 
 hem ; ant 
 rns to bi 
 sequent 
 hich we 
 nore es- 
 ment 1 
 4 but i 
 1 the 
 9 ee 
 da gral 
 xpresi 
 a wile)! 
 + to Lat 
 tuale. h 
 9 il 
 ands C0t 
 ay of 
 
 father 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 father is continued. They find her a husband that will menegga turig- 
 guan, Or, as it is expressed amongst the Rejangs menegga rumah, set up 
 the house again. | 
 
 The semando marriage is little known in Passummah. I recollect that 
 a pargeran of Manna having lost a son by a marriage of this kind with a 
 Malay woman, she refused, upon the father’s death, to let the boy suc- 
 ceed to his dignities, and at the same time become answerable for his 
 debts, and carried him with her from the country ; which was produc- 
 tive of much confusion. The regulations there in respect to incontinence 
 have much severity, and fall particularly hard on the girl’s father, who 
 not only has his daughter spoiled, but must also pay largely for her 
 frailty. To the northward, the offence is not punished with so much 
 rigour, yet the instances are there said to be rarer, and marriage is more 
 usually the consequence. In other respects, the customs of Passummah 
 and Hejang are the same in these matters. 
 
 The rites of marriage, nikah, (from the Arabian) consist simply in 
 
 joining the hands of the parties, and pronouncing them man and wife, 
 
 without much ceremony, excepting the entertainment which is given 
 on the occasion. This is performed by one of the fathers, or the chief 
 of the dusun, according to the original customs of the country ; but 
 where Mahometanism has found its way, a priest or zmam executes the 
 business. 
 
 But little apparent courtship precedes their marriages. Their man- 
 ners do not admit of it: the bujang and gadis (youth of each sex) be- 
 ing carefully kept asunder, and the latter seldom trusted from under the 
 wing of their mothers. Besides, courtship, with us, includes the idea 
 of humble entreaty on the man’s side, and favour and condescension on 
 the part of the woman, who bestows person and property for love. The 
 Sumatran, on the contrary, when he fixes his choice, and pays all that he 
 is worth, for the object of it, may naturally consider the obligation on 
 his side. But still, they are not without gallantry. They preserve a 
 degree of delicacy and respect towards the sex, which might justify their 
 
 2M retorting 
 
 
 
 PO5 
 
 Rites of mar- 
 riage. 
 
 Courtship. 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 retorting on many of the polished nations of antiquity, the epithet of 
 barbarians. The opportunities which the young people have, of seeing 
 and conversing with each other, are at the bzmbangs, or public festivals, 
 held at the balez, or town-hall of the dusun. On these occasions, the 
 unmarried people meet together, and dance and sing in company. It 
 may be supposed that the young ladies cannot be long without their par- 
 ticular admirers. Themen, when determined in their regards, generally 
 employ an old woman as their agent, by whom they make known their 
 sentiments, and send presents to the female of their choice. ‘The parents 
 then interfere, and the preliminaries being settled,.a bimbang takes 
 place. At these festivals, a goat, a buffalo, or several, according to the 
 rank of the parties, are killed, to entertain, not only the relations and in- 
 vited guests, but all the inhabitants of the neighbouring country who 
 chuse to repair to them. The greater the concourse, the more’is the 
 credit of the host, who is generally, on these occasions, the father of the 
 girl; but the different branches of the family, and frequently all the peo- 
 ple of the dusun, contribute a quota of rice. 
 
 The young women proceed in a body to the upper end of the balez, 
 where there is a part divided off for them, by a curtain. The floor is 
 spread with their best mats, and the sides and ceiling of that extremity 
 of the building are hung with pieces of chintz, palampores, and the 
 like. They do not always make their appearance before dinner ; that 
 time, with part of the afternoon, previous to a second or third meal, 
 being appropriated to cock-fighting, and other diversions peculiar to the 
 men. Whilst the young are thus employed, the old men consult toge- 
 ther upon any affair that may be at the time in agitation; such as re- 
 pairing a public building, or making reprisals upon the cattle of a neigh- 
 bouring people. The bimbangs are often given on occasions of business 
 only, and as they are apt to be productive of cabals, the Europeans re- 
 quire that they shall not be held without their knowledge and approba- 
 tion. To give authority to their contracts and other deeds, whether of 
 a public or private nature, they always make one of these feasts. Writ- 
 ings, say they, may be altered or counterfeited, but the memory of what 
 is transacted and concluded in the presence of a thousand witnesses, 
 must 
 
pith if 
 Of sea 
 } stig 
 Ts, th 
 pay, I 
 their Da 
 general 
 wn the; 
 parent 
 takes 
 @ to the 
 § and ip 
 ntry 
 ores the 
 ner of the 
 the peo- 
 
 the bale 
 e floor i 
 xtremit) 
 and the 
 I; that 
 
 4 meal, 
 
 ar to the 
 sult toge 
 ch wt 
 f a neat 
 * busits 
 peal I 
 appro 
 shelbe? 
 ts. Wet 
 ry af wba 
 wit 
 
 mus 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 must remain sacred. Sometimes, in token of the final determination of 
 an affair, they cut a notch in a post, before the chiefs; which they call 
 tako kayu. 
 
 In the evening their softer amusements take place; of which the 
 dances are the principal. ‘These are performed either singly, or by two 
 women, two men, or with both mixed. Their motions and attitudes 
 are usually slow, and too much forced to be graceful; approaching often 
 to the lascivious, and not unfrequently the ludicrous. This is, I believe, 
 the general opinion formed of them by Europeans, but it may be the 
 effect of prejudice. Certain I am, that our usual dances are, in their 
 judgment, to the full as ridiculous. The minuets they compare to the 
 fighting of two game-cocks, alternately approaching and receding. Our 
 country-dances they esteem too violent and confused, without shewing 
 grace or agility. ‘The stage dances, I have not a doubt, would please 
 them. Part of the female dress, called the salendang, which is usually 
 of silk, with a gold head, is tied round the waist, and the ends of this, 
 they, at times, extend behind them with their hands. They bend for- 
 ward as they dance, and usually carry a fan, which they close and strike 
 smartly against their elbows, at particular cadences. They keep time 
 well, and the partners preserve a consistency with each other, though 
 the figure and steps are ad libitum. A brisker movement is sometimes 
 adopted, which proves more conformable to the taste of the English 
 spectators. 
 
 Dancing is not the only amusement on these occasions. <A gadis 
 sometimes rises, and leaning her face on her arm, supporting herself 
 against a pillar, or the shoulder of one of her companions, with her back 
 to the audience, begins a tender song. She is soon taken up, and an- 
 swered, by one of the bujangs in company, whose greatest pretensions to 
 gallantry and fashion are founded on an adroitness at this polite accom- 
 plishment. The uniform subject, on such occasions, is leve, and as the 
 words are extempore, there are numberless degrees of merit in the com- 
 position, which is sometimes surprisingly well turned, quaint, and even 
 witty. Professed story-tellers are sometimes introduced, who are raised 
 on a little stage, and during several hours arrest the attention of their 
 
 2M2 7 audience, 
 
 207 
 
 Amusement 
 of dancing. 
 
 Singing. 
 
 
 
Presses. 
 
 Cosmetic 
 used, and 
 
 . mode of 
 preparing 
 if, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 audience, by the relation of wonderful and interesting adventures. There 
 
 are also characters of humour amongst them, who, by buffoonery, mi- 
 
 micry, punning, repartee, and satire, (rather of the Sardonic kind) 
 
 are able to keep the company in laughter, at intervals, during the course 
 
 of a night’s entertainment, ‘The assembly seldom breaks up before day- 
 
 light, and these bimbangs are often continued for several days and nights 
 
 together, till their stock of provisions is exhausted. The young men 
 frequent them in order to look out for wives, and the lasses of course 
 set themselves off to the best advantage. They wear their best silken 
 dresses, of their own weaving; as many ornaments of filigree as they 
 possess; silver rings upon their arms and legs; and earrings of a particu- 
 lar construction. Their hair is variously adorned with flowers, and per- 
 fumed with oil of benzoin. Civet is also in repute, but more used by the 
 men. To render their skin fine, smooth, and soft, they make use of a 
 white cosmetic, called pupur. The mode of preparing it is as follows. 
 The basis js fine rice, which is a long time steeped in water, and let to 
 ferment, during which process the water becomes of a deep red colour, 
 and highly putrid, when it is drained off, and fresh added successively 
 until the water remains clear, and the rice subsides in the form of a fine, 
 white paste. It is then exposed to the sun to dry, and being reduced to 
 a powder, they mix with it ginger, the leaves of a plant called by them 
 dilam, and by Europeans patch-leaf (melissa lotoria, R.), which gives to 
 it a peculiar smell, and also, as is supposed, a cooling quality. They 
 add likewise the flowers of the jagong (maiz) ; kayu chendana (sandal wood); 
 and the seeds of a plant called there kapas antu (fairy-cotton), which is 
 the hibiscus abelmoschus, or musk seed. All these ingredients, after 
 being moistened and well mixed together, are made up into little balls, 
 and when they would apply the cosmetic, these are diluted with a drop 
 of water, rubbed between the hands, and then on the face, neck, and 
 shoulders. They have an apprehension, probably well founded, that 
 a too abundant or frequent application, will, by stopping the pores of 
 the skin, bring on a fever. It is used, with good effect, to remove that 
 troublesome complaint, so well known to Europeans in India, by the 
 name of the prickly heat ; but it is not always safe for strangers thus 
 
 to check the operations of nature in a warm climate. The Sumatran 
 
 girls, as well as our English maidens, entertain a favourable opinion of 
 the 
 
WELL 
 
 elore tr. 
 nd neh 
 UNE te 
 f cour 
 t silkea 
 as they 
 particu: 
 and pe 
 ed by le 
 2 Use Ol f 
 j follows 
 and let to 
 A colour, 
 ccessinel 
 of a fine 
 educel ti 
 by then 
 gives tt 
 _ They 
 woot 
 which ! 
 nts, ae 
 little Wes 
 ith att 
 neck, 
 nded, # 
 1€ pore : 
 morte 
 dia,” 
 ance tif 
 Sul? 
 oi 
 
 ' 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 the virtues of morning dew, as a beautifier, and believe that by rubbing 
 it to the roots of the hair, it will strengthen and thicken it. With 
 this view they take pains to catch it before sun-rise, in vessels, as it 
 
 falls. 
 
 If a wedding is the occasion of the bimbang, the couple are married, 
 perhaps, the second or third day ; but it may be two or three more, ere 
 the husband can get possession of his bride; the old matrons making it 
 a rule to prevent him, as long as possible, and the bride herself holding 
 it a point of honour, to defend to extremity that jewel, which she would 
 yet be disappointed in preserving.’ They sit up in state, at night, on 
 raised cushions, in their best clothes and trinkets. They are some- 
 times loaded on the occasion, with all the finery of their relations, or 
 even the whole dusun; and carefully eased of it when the ceremony is 
 over. But this is not the case with the children of persons of rank. I 
 remember being present at the marriage of a young woman, whose beauty 
 would not have disgraced any country, with a son of Raddin, prince of 
 Madura, to whom the English gave protection from the power of the 
 Dutch, after his father had fallen a sacrifice.” She was decked in un- 
 borrowed plumes. Her dress was eminently calculated to do justice to 
 a fine person; her hair, in which consists their chief pride, was disposed 
 with extreme grace; and an uncommon elegance and taste were dis- 
 played in the workmanship and adjustment of her ornaments. It must 
 
 be 
 
 @ It is recorded, that the jealousy between the English and Dutch at Bantam, arose from 
 a preference shewn to the former by the king, at a festival which he gave upon obtaining a 
 victory of this nature, which his bride had long disputed with him. For a description of a 
 Malayan wedding, with an excellent plate representing the conclusion of the ceremony and 
 the sleeping apartment, I beg to refer the reader to Captain Forrest’s Voyage to New Gui- 
 nea, p. 286, 4to. edit. The bed-place is described at p. 232, and the processional car (per- 
 arakan) at p. 241: His whole account of the domestic manners of the people of Mindanau, 
 at the court of which he lived on terms of familiarity, will be found highly amusing. 
 
 > The circumstances of this disgraceful affair are preserved in a book, entitled ““ A Voyage 
 to the East Indies in 1747 and 1748.” This Raddin Tamanggung, a most intelligent and 
 respectable man, died at Bencoolen in the year 1790. His sons possess the good qualities 
 of their father, and are employed in the Company’s service. 
 
 209 
 
 Consummation 
 of marriages. 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Number of 
 wives. 
 
 SUMATRA: 
 
 be confessed, however, that this taste is by no means general, especially 
 amongst the country people. Simplicity, so essential to the idea, is 
 the characteristic of a rude and quite uncivilized people; and is again 
 adopted by men in their highest state of refinement. The Sumatrans 
 stand removed from both these extremes. Rich and splendid articles of 
 dress and furniture, though not often procured, are the objects of their 
 vanity and ambition. 
 
 The bimbangs are conducted with great decorum and regularity. The 
 old women are very attentive to the conduct of the girls, and the male 
 relations are highly jealous of any insults that may be shewn them. A 
 lad, at one of these entertainments, asked another his opinion of a gadis 
 who was then dancing. ‘ If she was plated with gold,” replied he, « I 
 would not take her for my concubine, much less for my wife.’’ A brother 
 of the girl happened to be within hearing, and called him to account 
 for the reflection thrown on his sister. Krises were drawn, but the by- 
 standers prevented mischief. The brother appeared the next day, to 
 take the law of the defamer, but the gentleman, being of the risau de- 
 scription, had absconded, and was not to be found. 
 
 The customs of the Sumatrans permit their having as many wives by 
 jujur, as they can compass the purchase of, or afford to maintain ; but 
 it is extremely rare that an instance occurs of their having more than 
 one, and that only among a few of the chiefs. This continence they 
 in some measure owe to their poverty. The dictates of frugality are 
 more powerful with them, than the irregular calls of appetite, and make 
 them decline an indulgence, that their law does not restrain them from. 
 
 In talking of polygamy, they allow it to be the privilege of the rich, 
 
 but regard it as a refinement which the poor Rejangs cannot pretend 
 to. Some young risaus have been known to take wives in different 
 places, but the father of the first, as soon as he hears of the second 
 marriage, procures a divorce. A man married by semando cannot take 
 a second wife, without repudiating the first, for this obvious reason, 
 that two or more persons could not be equally entitled to the half of his 
 effects. | 
 
 Montesquieu 
 
aly 
 be 
 8 app 
 Staten 
 artic of 
 tS of the 
 
 ty. Th 
 he mal 
 hem, 4 
 of a gas 
 ad he, §] 
 A brothe 
 0-accout 
 t the by. 
 day, t 
 risa, 
 
 wires br 
 ain; but 
 re than 
 ice they 
 ality at 
 snd male 
 em froa 
 the ti 
 fpr 
  difiert 
 ne sect 
 annot 
 ys rea 
 pal of 
 
 pntesqu 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 Montesquieu infers, that the law which permits polygamy is physi- 
 cally conformable to the climate of Asia. The season of female beauty 
 precedes that of their reason, and from its prematurity soon decays. 
 The empire of their charms is short. It is therefore natural, the presi- 
 dent observes, that a man should leave one wife to take another: that 
 he should seek a renovation of those charms which had withered in his 
 possession. But are these the real circumstances of polygamy? Surely 
 not. It implies the cotemporary enjoyment of women in the same 
 predicament ; and I should consider it as a vice, that has its source in 
 the influence of a warm atmosphere upon the passions of men, which, 
 like the cravings of other disordered appetites, make them miscalculate 
 their wants, It is, probably, the same influence, on less rigid nerves, 
 that renders their thirst of revenge so much more violent, than among 
 northern nations; but we are not, therefore, to pronounce murder to be 
 physically conformable to a southern climate. Far be it from my in- 
 tention, however, to put these passions on a leyel; I only mean to 
 shew, that the president’s reasoning proves too much. It must further 
 be considered, that the genial warmth, which expands the desires of 
 the men, and prompts a more unlimited exertion of their faculties, does 
 not inspire their constitutions with proportionate vigour; but, on the 
 contrary, renders them, in this respect, inferior to the inhabitants 
 of the temperate zone; whilst it equally influences the desires of the 
 opposite sex, without being found to diminish from their capacity of 
 enjoyment. From which I would draw this conclusion, that if nature 
 intended that one woman only should be the companion of one man, 
 in the colder regions of the earth, it appears also intended, 4 Sortiori, 
 that the same law should be observed in the hotter ; inferring nature’s 
 design, not from the desires, but from the abilities with which she has 
 endowed mankind. 
 
 Montesquieu has further suggested, that the inequality in the compa- 
 rative numbers of each sex born in Asia, which is represented to be 
 greatly superior on the female side, may have a relation to the law that 
 allows polygamy. But there is strong reason to deny the reality of this 
 supposed excess. The Japanese account, taken from Keempfer, which 
 makes them to be in the proportion of twenty-two to eighteen, is very 
 
 inconclusive, 
 
 
 
 271 
 
 Question of 
 polygamy. 
 
 
 

 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 ‘nconclusive, as the numbering of the inhabitants of a great city can fur- 
 nish no propertest ; and the account of births at Bantam, which states 
 the number of girls to be ten to one boy, is not only manifestly absurd, 
 but positively false. I can take upon me to assert, that the proportion 
 of the sexes, throughout Sumatra, does not sensibly differ from that as- 
 certained in Europe; nor could I eyer learn from the inhabitants of the 
 many eastern islands whom I have conversed with, that they were con- 
 scious of any disproportion in this respect. 
 
 But from whatever source we derive polygamy, its prevalence seems 
 to be universally attended withthe practice of giving a valuable con- 
 sideration for the woman, instead of receiving a dowry with her. This is 
 a natural consequence. Where each man endeavours to engross several, 
 the demand for the commodity, as a merchant would express it, 1s m- 
 creased, and the price of course enhanced. In Europe, on the contrary, 
 where the demand is small; whether owing to the paucity of males from 
 continual diminution; their coldness of constitution, which suffers them 
 rather to play with the sentimental, than act from the animal passion ; 
 their corruption of manners leading them to promiscuous concubinage ; 
 or, in fine, the extravagant luxury of the times, which too often renders a 
 family an insupportable burthen ;--whatever may be the cause, it becomes 
 necessary, in order to counteract it, and produce an additional incitement 
 to the marriage state, that a premium be given with the females. We 
 find in the history of the earliest ages of the world, that where a plura- 
 lity of women was allowed of, by law or custom, they were obtained by 
 money or service. The form of marriage by semando, among the Ma- 
 lays, which admits but of one partner, requires no sum to be paid by 
 the husband to the relations of the wife, except a trifle, by way of token, 
 or to defray the expences of the wedding-feast. The circumstance of the 
 rejangs confining themselves to one, and at the same time giving a price 
 for their wives, would seem an exception to the general rule laid down; 
 but this is an accidental, and perhaps temporary restraint, arising, it may 
 be, from the European influence, which tends to make them regular and 
 industrious, but keeps them poor: affords the means of subsistence to 
 all, but the opportunity of acquiring riches to few or none. — In their ge- 
 
 nuine state, war and plunder caused a rapid fluctuation of property ; the 
 little 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SUMATRA, 873 
 
 yay. little wealth now among them, derived mostly from the India Company’s 
 
 Y L tito e . : 
 i expenditure, circulates through the country in an equal stream, returning 
 
 Vib chiefly, like the water exhaled in vapours from the sea, tov’its origmal  ~ 
 
 Pt source. Lhe custom of giving jwurs had most probably its founda- 
 
 nee tion in polygamy; and the superstructure subsists, though ‘its’basis is 
 
 alts dit partly mouldered away ; but being scarcely tenantable, the inhabitants 
 
 Were tk are inclined to quit, and suffer it to fall to the ground. Moderation in 
 point of women destroying their principle, the jujurs appear to be’ de- 
 void of policy. Open a new spring of luxury, and polygamy, now con- 
 
 %€ Seel fined to a few individuais amongst the chiefs, will spread throughout the 
 
 ble ca. people. Beauty will be in high request ; each fair one will be sought 
 
 . Thi for by many competitors; and the payment of the jujur be again es- 
 
 188 Seta teemed a reasonable equivalent for possession. Their acknowledging 
 
 It, KP | the custom under the present circumstances to be a prejudicial one, so 
 
 contra contrary to the spirit of eastern manners, which is ever marked with a 
 
 pales fot blind veneration for the establishments of antiquity, contributes to 
 
 fers thea strengthen considerably the opinion I have advanced. 
 
 | passil . 
 
 cubjnage Through every rank of the people there prevails a strong spirit of Gaming. 
 
 prea gaming, which is a vice that readily insinuates itself into minds naturally 
 
 ein indisposed to the avocations of industry ; and being in general a seden- 
 
 ncitem tary occupation, is more adapted to a warm climate, where bodily 
 
 og, W exertion is in few instances considered as an amusement. Beside the 
 
 a plun common species of gambling with dice, which, from the term dadu ap- Dice. 
 
 tamed D plied to it, was evidently introduced by EE acre 
 
 vthell others; as the judz, a mode of playing with —, which are taken Other modes. 
 
 eit up by handfuls, and being counted out by a given number at a time 
 
 be ee (generally that of the party engaged), the success is determined by the 
 
 y one fractional number remaining, the amount of which is previously guessed 
 
 ancett® at by each of the party. They have also various games on chequered 
 
 ing 3 boards or other delineations, and persons of superior rank are in general 
 
 fai versed in the game of chess, which they term main gajah, or the game Chess. 
 
 ing, of the elephant, naming the pieces as follows: king, raja; queen or 
 
 regtit vizir, mantri; bishop or elephant, gajah; knight or horse, kuda ; cas- 
 
 psisten tle, rook, or chariot, fr; and pawn or foot-soldier, bidak. . For check ! 
 
 [n erg they use the word sah; and for check-mate, mat or mati. Among these 
 
 yet if 2N namess 
 it 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Cock-fighting. 
 
 Rules of 
 cocking. 
 
 SUMATRA 
 
 names, the only one that appears to require observation, as being pe- 
 culiar, is that for the castle or rook, which they have borrowed from the 
 Tamul language of the peninsula of India, wherein the word /ér (answer- 
 ing to the Sanskrit rat’ha) signifies a chariot, (particularly such as are 
 drawn in the processions of certain divinities), and not unaptly trans- 
 ferred to this military game, to complete the constituent parts of an 
 army. Gambling, especially with dice, is rigorously forbidden through- 
 out the pepper districts, because it is not only the child, but the parent of 
 idleness, and by the events of play often throws whole villages into con- 
 fusion, Debts contracted on this account are declared to be void. 
 
 To cock-fightine they are still more passionately addicted, and it is 
 indulged to them under certain regulations. Where they are perfectly 
 independent, their propensity to it is so great, that it resembles rather 
 @ serious occupation, than a sport. You seldom meet a man travelling 
 in the country, without a cock under his arm, and sometimes fifty per- 
 sons in a company, when there is a bimbang in one of the neighbouring 
 villages. A country-man coming down, on any occasion, to the bazar, 
 or settlement at the mouth of the river, if he boasts the least degree of 
 spirit; must not be unprovided with this token of it, They. often game 
 high at their meetings; particularly when a superstitious faith in the 
 invincibility of their bird has been strengthened by past success. An 
 hundred Spanish dollars is no very uncommon risk, and instances have 
 occurred of a father’s staking his children or wife, and a son his mother 
 or sisters, on the issue of a battle ;. when a run of ill luck has stripped 
 them of property, and rendered them desperate. Quarrels, attended 
 with dreadful consequences, have often arisen on these occasions. 
 
 By their customs, there are four umpires appointed to determine on 
 all disputed points in the course of the battles; and from their decision 
 there lies no appeal ; except the Gothic appeal to the sword. A person 
 who loses, and has not the ability to pay, is immediately proscribed, 
 departs with disgrace, and is never again suffered to appear at the galan- 
 gang. This cannot with propriety be translated, a cock-pit, as it is ge- 
 nerally a spot on the level ground, or a stage erected, and coveredin. It 
 is inclosed with a railing, which keeps off the spectators ; none but the 
 handlers 
 
RU 
 fy 
 ‘ane, 
 NS a 
 ly tra. 
 ts of 
 throw, 
 parent i 
 100 CO 
 
 nd it j 
 pert 
 eS ralle 
 ravellng 
 ify per 
 Abouring 
 he bazat, 
 deote: 
 len gil 
 h in the 
 ss, Al 
 a5 have 
 mother 
 strippe 
 attend 
 nS. 
 
 mine 
 . decis 
 A pes 
 rosctit 
 chest 
 ast 
 
 ef 
 
 pat 
 handles 
 
 SUMATRA 
 
 handlers and heelers being admitted within side. A man who has an 
 high opinion of, and regard for his cock, will not fight him under a 
 certain number of dollars, which he places in order on the floor: his 
 poorer adversary is perhaps unable to deposit above one half: the stand- 
 ers-by make up the sum, and receive their dividends in proportion, if 
 successful. A father, at his death-bed, has been known to desire his son 
 to take the first opportunity of matching a certain cock, for a sum equal 
 to his whole property, under a blind conviction of its being betuah, or 
 invulnerable. 
 
 Cocks of the same colour are never matched, but a grey against a pile, 
 a yellow against a red, or the like. This might have been originally de- 
 signed to prevent disputes, or knavish impositions. The Malay breed of 
 cocks is much esteemed by connoisseurs who have had an opportunity of 
 trying them. Great pains is taken in the rearing and feeding; they are 
 frequently handled, and accustomed to spar in public, in order to pre- 
 vent any shyness. Contrary to our laws, the owner is allowed to take up 
 and handle his cock during the battle, to clear his eye of a feather, or 
 his mouth of blood. When a cock is killed, or runs, the other must 
 have sufficient spirit and vigour left to peck at him three times, on his 
 being held to him for that purpose, or it becomes a drawn battle ; and 
 sometimes an experienced cocker will place the head of his vanquished 
 bird, in such an uncouth posture, as to terrify the other, and render him 
 unable to give this proof of victory. The cocks are never trimmed, 
 but matched in full feather. The artificial spur_used-in Sumatra, resem- 
 bles in shape the blade of a scimitar, and proves a more destructive wea- 
 pon than the European spur. It has no socket, but is tied to the leg, 
 and in the position of it, the nicety of the match is regulated. As in 
 horse-racing, weight is proportioned to inches, so in cocking, a bird of 
 superior weight and size is brought to an equality with his adversary, by 
 fixing the steel spur so many scales of the leg above the natural spur, 
 and thus obliging him to fight with a degree of disadvantage. It rarely 
 happens that both cocks survive the combat. 
 
 In the northern parts of the island, where gold-dust is the common 
 
 medium of gambling, as well as of trade, so much is accidentally dropt 
 2N 2 in 
 
 279 
 
 Matches. 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Quail-fighting. 
 
 Fencing. 
 
 Diversion of 
 tossing a 
 ball, 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 in weighing and delivering, that at some cock-pits, where the resort of 
 people is great, the sweepings are said, probably with exaggeration, 
 to be worth upwards of a thousand dollars per annum to the owner of 
 the ground ; beside his profit of two fanams (five-pence) for each battle. 
 
 In some places they match quails, in the manner of cocks. These 
 fight: with great. inveteracy, and endeavour to seize. each other by the 
 tongue. The Achinese bring also into combat the dial bird (murec) 
 which resembles a small magpie, but has an agreeable, though imperfect 
 note. They sometimes engage one another on the wing, and drop to the 
 ground in the struggles” 
 
 They have other diversions of a more innocent nature. Matches of 
 fencing, or a’species of tournament, are exhibited on particular days; 
 as at the breaking up of their annual fast, or month of ramadan, called 
 there the puasa. On these occasions they practise strange attitudes, with 
 violent contorsions of the body, and often work themselves up to a degree 
 of frenzy ; when the old men step in, and carry them off. These ex- 
 ercises, in some circumstances, resemble the idea which the ancients have 
 civen us of the pyrrhicor war-dance; the combatants moving at a distance 
 from-each other, in cadence, and making many turns and springs, un- 
 necessary in the representation of a real combat. [his entertainment 
 is more Common among the Malays, than in the country. The chief 
 weapons of offence used by these people, are the Awur or lance, and the 
 kris. This last is properly Malayan, but in all parts of the island, they 
 have a weapon equivalent; though in general less curious in its struc- 
 ture, wanting that waving in the blade, for which the ‘rvs is remarkable, 
 and approaching nearer to daggers or knives, 
 
 Among their exercises we never observe jumping or running. They 
 smile at the Europeans, who, in their excursions, take so many unneces- 
 sary leaps. . The custom of going barefoot, may be a principal impe- 
 diment to this practice, in a country overrun with thorny shrubs, and 
 where no fences occur to render it a matter of expediency. | : 
 
 They have a diversion similar to that described by Homer, as prac- 
 tised 
 
<a t oe s e 
 
 SUMATRA. 277 
 
 by tised among the Pheacians, which consists in tossing an elastic wicker 
 4 ‘ ball, or round basket of split rattans, into the air, and from one player 
 to another, in a peculiar manner. This game is called by the Malays 
 Nig sipak raga, or in the dialect of Bencoolen, chipak rago, and is played by 
 | a large party standing in an extended circle, who endeavour to keep up 
 Th the ball, by striking it either perpendicularly, in order to receive it 
 by again, or obliquely to some other person of the company, with the foot 
 (mur or the hand, the heel or the toe, the knee, the shoulder, the head, or 
 pert with any other part of the body ; ‘the merit appearing to consist in pro- 
 to the ducing the effect in the least obvious or most whimsical manner ; and 
 in this sport many of them attain an extraordinary degree of expertness. 
 Among the plates of Lord Macartney’s Embassy will be found the re- 
 the presentation of a similar game, as practised by the natives of Cochin- 
 at days; china. 
 1, calle 
 es, with The Sumatrans, and more particularly the Malays, are much at- — of 
 a degre tached, in common with many other eastern people, to the custom of 
 These ) smoking opium. \ The poppy which produces it not growing on the 
 onts hae island, it is annually imported from Bengal in considerable quantities, in 
 distant? chests containing an hundred and forty pounds each. It is made up in 
 es, Ul: cakes of five or six pounds weight, and packed with dried leaves; in 
 inment which situation it will continue» good’ and vendible for two years, but 
 > chief after that period grows hard, and diminishes considerably in value, It 
 ant the is of a darker colour, and is supposed to have less strength than the 
 id, they Turkey opium: About an hundred and ie annu- 
 : Pi ally on the West coast of Sumatra; where lt is purchased, on an average; 
 arbi at three hundred dollars the chest, and ‘sold again, in smaller quantities, 
 at five or six. But, on’occasions of extraordinary scarcity, I have known 
 it to sell for its weight in silver, and a single chest to fetch upwards of 
 1 three thousand dollars, 
 ae | The method. of. preparing it for use is as follows.. The raw opium is Preparation. 
 al if first boiled or seethed in a copper vessel; then strained through a cloth; 
 rubs, to free it from impurities; and then’a second time boiled. . The leaf of 
 
 the ¢ambaku, shred fine; is mixed with it, in a quantity sufficient to absorb 
 the whole; and it is afterwardsimade up into small pills, about the size 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Effects of 
 
 opium. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 of a pea, forsmoking. One of these being put into the small tube that 
 projects from the side of the opium pipe, that tube is applied to a lamp, 
 and the pill being lighted, is consumed at one whiff or inflation of the 
 lungs, attended with a whistling noise. The smoke is never emitted by 
 the mouth ; but usually receives vent through the nostrils, and some- 
 times, by adepts, through the passage of the ears and eyes. This pre- 
 paration of the opium is called maddat, and is often adulterated in the 
 process, by mixing jaggri, or pine sugar, with it; as is the raw opium, 
 by incorporating with it the fruit of the pisang or plantain. 
 
 The use of opium among-these people, as that of intoxicating liquors 
 among other nations, is a species of luxury which all ranks adopt ac- 
 cording to their ability, and which, when once become habitual, it is al- 
 most impossible to shake off. Being, however, like other luxuries, expen- 
 sive, few only, among the lower or middling class of people, can compass 
 the regular enjoyment of it, even where its use is not restrained ; as it is 
 among the pepper-planters, to the times of their festivals. That the prac- 
 tice of smoking opium must be in some degree prejudicial to the health, 
 is highly probable; yet 1 am inclined to think that effects have been 
 attributed to it, much more pernicious.to.the-constitution than it in 
 reality causes. The bugis soldiers, and others in the Malay bazars, whom 
 we see most attached to it, and who use it to excess, commonly appear 
 emaciated ; but they are in other respects abandoned and debauched. 
 The Limun and Batang Asset gold-traders, on the contrary, who are an 
 active, laborious class of men, but yet indulge as freely in opium as any 
 others whatever, are, notwithstanding, the most healthy and vigorous 
 people to be met with on the island. It has been usual also to attribute 
 to the practice, destructive consequences of another nature; from the 
 frenzy it has been supposed to excite in those who take it in quantities. 
 But this should probably rank with the many errours that mankind have 
 been led into, by travellers addicted to the marvellous; and there is every 
 reason to believe, that the furious quarrels, desperate assassinations, and 
 sanguinary attacks, which the use of opium is said to give birth to, are 
 idle notions, originally adopted through ignorance, and since main- 
 tained, from the mere want of investigation, without having any solid 
 foundation. It is not to be controverted, that those desperate acts of in- 
 
 : discriminate 
 
mt Lis le tn 
 
 SUMATRA. 279 
 
 te discriminate murder, called by us, mucks, and bythe natives, mengamo/l, 
 ala do actually take place, and frequently too, in some parts of the East (in 
 n of ‘ Java in particular) but it is not equally evident that they proceed from 
 ite by any intoxication, except that of their unruly passions. ‘Too often they are 
 ad sin occasioned by excess of cruelty and injustice in their oppressors. On the 
 This West coast of Sumatra about twenty thousand pounds weight of this 
 olin’ drug are consumed annually, yet instances of this crime do not happen, 
 
 (at least within the scope of our knowledge) above once in two or three 
 
 ai years. During my residence there I had an opportunity of being an eye- 
 witness but to one muck. ‘The slave of a Portuguese woman, a man of 
 ia the island of Nias, who in all probability had never handled an opium 
 ante pipe in his life, being treated by his mistress with extreme severity, for 
 a a trifling offence, vowed he would have revenge if she attempted to 
 sh strike him again; and ran down the steps of the house, with a knife in 
 as each hand, as it is said. She cried out, mergumok! The civil guard 
 ae was called, who having the power, im these cases, of exercising sum- 
 ia mary justice, fired half a dozen rounds into: an outhouse where the 
 ihe pree unfortunate wretch had sheltered himself on their approach ; and from 
 he whence he was at length dragged, covered with wounds. Many other 
 ae be mucks might perhaps be found, upon scrutiny, of the nature of the fore- 
 ban it going, where a man of strong feelings was driven, by excess of injury, to 
 8, Whos domestic rebellion. 
 appeal 
 auched. It is true that the Malays, when in a state of war they are bent on 
 Q ate a any daring enterprize, fortify themselves'with a few whi ium; to 
 M28 al} ' render them insensible to danger; as saaiielitS Gace onsics are 
 vigor said to take a dram for the same purpose ; but it must be observed, that 
 ‘atin the resolution for the act precedes, and is not the effect of the intoxica- 
 from ti tion. They take the same precaution, previous to being led to public 
 want ) execution ; but on these occasions shew greater signs of stupidity than 
 vind be frenzy. Upon the whole, it may be reasonably concluded, that the san- 
 eis guinary achievements, for which the Malays have been famous, or in- 
 ‘on famous rather, in history, are more justly to be attributed to the natural 
 ‘a ferocity of their disposition, or to the influence upon their manners of a 
 particular state of society, than to the qualities of any drug whatever. 
 nce The pretext of the soldiers of the country-guard for using opium is, 
 gy sal 5 : 
 
 i that 
 acts Ot It 
 
 iD 
 
 
 
Piratical ad- 
 ventures, 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 that it may render them watchful on their nightly posts: we, on the 
 contrary, administer it to procure sleep; and according to the quantity 
 it has either effect. The. delirium it produces is known to be so very 
 pleasing, that Pope has supposed this to have been designed by Homer, 
 when he describes the delicious draught prepared by Helen, called ne- 
 penthe, which exhilarated the spirits, and banished from the mind the 
 recollection of woe. 
 
 . It is remarkable that at Batavia, where the assassins just now described, 
 when taken alive; are broken on the wheel, with every. aggravation ‘of 
 punishment that the most rigorous-justice can inflict, the mucks yet 
 happen in great-frequency ; whilst at Bencoolen, where they are executed 
 in the most simple and expeditious manner, the offence is extremely rare. 
 Excesses of severity in punishment may deter men from deliberate and. 
 interested acts of villany, but they add fuel to the atrocious enthusiasm 
 of desperadoes. A further proof of the influence that mild government 
 has upon the manners of people, is, that the piratical adventures, so com- 
 mon on the eastern coast of the island, are unknown on the western. Far 
 from our having apprehensions of the Malays, the guards at the smaller 
 English settlements are almost entirely composed of them, with a mix- 
 ture of Bugis or Makasar people. Europeans, attended by Malays only, 
 are continually travelling through the country. They are the only per- 
 sons employed in carrying treasure to distant places ; in the capacity of 
 secretaries for the country correspondence ; as civil officers, in seizing 
 delinquents, among the planters, and elsewhere ; and as masters and 
 supercargoes of the fambarigans, praws, and other small coasting vessels. 
 So great is the effect of moral causes and habit, upon a physical character 
 esteemed the most treacherous and sanguinary. 
 ‘ 
 
 Custom 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 Custom of chewing Betel—Emblematic presents—Oratory—Children— 
 Names—Circumcision—Funerals—Religion. 
 
 
 
 231 
 
 WHETHER to blunt the edge of painful reflection, or owing to an Custom of 
 aversion our natures have to total inaction, most nations have been oa 
 
 addicted to the practice of enjoying by mastication, or otherwise, the 
 flavour of substances possessing an inebriating quality. The South 
 Americans chew the cocoa and mambee, and the eastern people, the betel 
 and areca, or, as they are called in the Malay language, sirth and pi- 
 nang. This custom has been accurately described by various writers, and 
 therefore it is almost superfluous to say more on the subject, than that the 
 Sumatrans universally use it; carry the ingredients constantly about them; 
 and serve it to their guests on all occasions; the prince in a gold stand, 
 and the poor man in a brass box, or mat bag. The betel-stands of the 
 better rank of people are usually of silver, embossed with rude figures. 
 The Sultan of Moco-moco was presented with one by the India Com- 
 pany, with their arms on it; and he possesses beside, another of gold 
 filagree. The form of the stand is the frustum of an hexagonal py- 
 ramid, reversed; about six or eight inches in diameter. It contains 
 many smaller vessels, fitted to the angles, for holding the nut, leaf, and 
 chunam, which is quick lime made from ele ay places for 
 the instruments (kachip) employed in cutting the first, and spatulas for 
 spreading the last. 
 
 When the first salutation is over, which consists in bending the body, 
 and the inferior’s putting his joined hands between those of the superior, 
 and then lifting them to his forehead, the betel is presented as a token 
 of hospitality, and an act of politeness. To omit it on the one hand, or 
 to reject it on the other, would be an affront; as it would be likewise, 
 in a person of subordinate rank, to address a great man without the 
 precaution of chewing it before he spoke. All the preparation consists in 
 
 20 spreading 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ; ; a a --er err es 
 ata ae ee ea 
 -_-———_ te ~— aS 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 spreading on the sirzh leaf, a small quantity of the chunam, and folding 
 it up with a slice of the pemang nut. Some mix with these, gambir, 
 which is a substance prepared from the leaves of a tree of that name, by 
 boiling their juices to a consistence, and made up into little balls or 
 squares, as before spoken of: tobacco is likewise added, which is shred 
 fine for the purpose, and carried between the lip and upper row of teeth. 
 From the mastication of the first three, proceeds a juice which tinges 
 the saliva of a bright red, and which the leaf and nut, without the chu- 
 nam, will not yield. This hue being communicated to the mouth and 
 lips is esteemed ornamental; and an agreeable flavour is imparted to the 
 breath. The juice is usually, (after the-first fermentation produced by the 
 lime) though not.always, swallowed by the chewers of betel. We might 
 reasonably suppose that its active qualities would injure the coats of the 
 stomach, but experience seems to disprove such a consequence. It is com- 
 mon to see the teeth of elderly persons stand loose in the gums, which is 
 probably the effect of this custom, but I do not think that it affects the 
 soundness of the teeth themselves. Children begin to chew betel very 
 young, and yet their teeth are always beautifully white, till pains are 
 taken to disfigure them, by filing, and staining them black. To persons 
 who are not habituated to the composition, it causes a strong giddiness, 
 astringes and excoriates the tongue-and fauces, and deadens for a time 
 ‘thefaculty of taste. During the puasa, or fast of ramadan, the Mahome- 
 tans among them abstain from the use of betel, whilst the sun continues 
 above the horizon; but excepting at this season, it is the constant luxury 
 of both sexes, from an early period of childhood, till, becoming toothless, 
 they are reduced to the necessity of having the ingredients previously 
 reduced to a paste for them, that without further effort the betel may 
 dissolve in the mouth. Along with the betel, and generally in the chu- 
 
 nam, is the mode of conveying philtres, or love charms. 
 
 How far they 
 
 prove effectual I cannot take upon me to say, but suppose that they. are 
 of the nature of our stimulant medicines, and that the direction of the 
 passion is of course indiscriminate. The practice of administering poison. 
 in this manner is not followed in latter times ; but that the idea is not 
 so far eradicated, as entirely to prevent suspicion, appears from this 
 circumstance; that the guest, though taking a leaf from the betel-seryice 
 of his entertainer, not unfrequently applies to it his own chunam, and 
 
 never 
 
hy 
 gin 
 iMe, by 
 bd . 
 1 shed 
 Of fel 
 h tng 
 the chy 
 ith ani 
 to the 
 iby the 
 e migh 
 ts of th 
 £18 com 
 whichis 
 ects the 
 tel very 
 alls ate 
 ) persis 
 nines, 
 ra tine 
 ahome- 
 itinues 
 luxury 
 othless, 
 evioUsy 
 ate] may 
 the thi 
 far the 
 they a 
 n of te 
 g poise 
 oa, 900 
 fro th 
 seri 
 yal ud 
 pene! 
 
 a = - — Oe ee ee 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 never omits to pass the former between his thumb and fore finger, in 
 order to wipe off any extraneous matter. ‘This mistrustful procedure is 
 so-common as not to give offence. 
 
 Beside the mode beforementioned of enjoying the flavour of tobacco, 
 it is also smoked by the natives and for this use, after shredding it fine, 
 whilst green, and drying it well, it is rolled up in the thin leaves of a 
 tree, and is in that form called roko, a word they appear to have bor- 
 rowed from the Dutch. The rokos are carried in the betel-box, or more 
 commonly under the destar or handkerchief which, in imitation of a 
 turband, surrounds the head. Much tobacco is likewise imported from 
 China, and sells at a high price. It seems to possess a greater pun- 
 gency than the Sumatran plant, which the people cultivate for their 
 own use, in the interior parts of the island. 
 
 The custom of sending emblematical presents, in order to make known, 
 in a covert manner, the birth, progress, or change of certain affections 
 of the mind, prevails here, as in some other parts of the East ; and not 
 only flowers of various kinds have their appropriate meaning, but also 
 cayenne-pepper, betel-leaf, salt, and other articles, are understood by 
 adepts to denote love, jealousy, resentment, hatred; and other strong 
 feelings. 
 
 The Sumatrans in general are good speakers. The gift of oratory 
 seems natural to them. I knew many NE outa, 
 I have listened to with pleasure and.admiratiom. This may be accounted 
 for, perhaps, from the constitution of their government, which being 
 far removed from despotism, seems to admit, in some degree, every 
 member of the society to a share in the public deliberations. Where 
 personal endowments, as has been observed, will often raise a private 
 man to ashare of importance in the community, superior to that of a 
 nominal chief, there is abundant inducement for the acquisition of these 
 valuable talents. The forms of their judicial proceedings, likewise, 
 where there are no established advocates, and each man depends upon 
 his own, or his friend’s abilities, for the management of his cause, must 
 
 doubtless contribute to this habitual eloquence. We may add ‘to these 
 202 conjectures, 
 
 bo 
 Co 
 a 
 
 Tobacco. 
 
 Emblematic 
 presents. 
 
 Oratory. 
 
 
 

 
 284 
 
 Child-bearing. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 conjectures, the nature of their domestic manners, which introduce the 
 sons, at an early period of life, into the business of the family, and the 
 counsels of their elders. There is little to be perceived among them, of 
 that passion for childish sports which marks the character of our boys, 
 from the seventh to the fourteenth year. In Sumatra you may observe 
 infants, not exceeding the former age, full dressed, and armed with a 
 kris, seated in the circle of the old men of the dusun, and attending to 
 their debates with a gravity of countenance not surpassed by their grand- 
 fathers. Thus initiated, they are qualified to deliver an opinion in pub- 
 lic, at a time of life when an English schoolboy could scarcely return an 
 answer to a question beyond the*limits of his grammar or syntax, which 
 he has learned by rote. It is not a little unaccountable, that this peo- 
 ple, who hold the art of speaking in such high esteem, and evidently 
 pique themselves on the attainment of it, should yet take so much pains 
 to destroy the organs of speech, in filing down, and otherwise disfiguring 
 their teeth; and likewise adopt the uncouth practice of filling their 
 mouths with betel, whenever they prepare to hold forth. We must con- 
 clude, that it is not upon the graces of elocution they value an orator, 
 but his artful and judicious management of the subject matter ; together 
 with a copiousness of phrase, a perspicuity of thought, an advantageous 
 arrangement, and a readiness, especially, at unravelling the difficulties 
 and intricacies of their suits. 
 
 The curse entailed on women in the article of child-bearing does not 
 fall so heavy in this asin the northern countries. ‘Their pregnancy, 
 scarcely at any period prevents their attendance on the ordinary domestic 
 duties; and usually within a few hours after their delivery they walk to — 
 the bathing-place, at a small distance from the house. The presence of 
 a sage femme is often esteemed superfluous. The facility of parturition 
 may probably be owing to the relaxation of the frame, from the warmth 
 of the climate; to which cause also, may be attributed the paucity of 
 children borne by the Sumatran women, and the early decay of their 
 beauty and strength. They have the tokens of old age, at a season of 
 life when European women have not passed their prime. They are like 
 the fruits of the country, soon ripe, and soon decayed. They bear 
 children ‘before fifteen, are generally past it at thirty, and grey-headed 
 
 and 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 and shrivelled at forty. I do not recollect hearing of any woman who 
 had six children, except the wife of Raddin of Madura, who had 
 more; and she, contrary to the universal custom, did not give suck to 
 hers. 
 
 Mothers carry the children, not on the arm, as our nurses do, but 
 straddling on the hip, and usually supported by a cloth, which ties im 
 a knot on the opposite shoulder. This practice, I have been told, 
 is common in some parts of Wales. It is much safer than the other 
 method, less tiresome to the nurse, and the child has the advantage 
 of sitting in a less constrained posture: but the defensive armour of 
 stays, and offensive weapons called pins, might be some objection to 
 the general introduction of the fashion in England. The children are 
 nursed but little ; not confined by any swathing or bandages; and being 
 suffered to roll about the floor, soon learn to walk and shift for them- 
 selves. When cradles are used, they are swung suspended from the 
 ceiling of the rooms. 
 
 The country people can very seldom give an account of their age, 
 being entirely without any species of chronology. Among those coun- 
 try people who profess themselves Mahometans, to very few is the 
 date of the Hejra known; and even of those who in. their writings 
 make use of it, not one in ten can pronounce in what year of it he was 
 born. After a few ‘aun padi (harvests) are elapsed, they are bewildered 
 in regard to the date of an event, and only guess at it fro con- 
 temporary circumstance of notoriety ; asthe “EP ct = pectcnlas 
 dupati; the incursion of a certain enemy, or the like. As far as can 
 be judged from observation, it would seem, that not a great propor- 
 tion of the men attain to the age of fifty, and sixty years is accounted a 
 long life. 
 
 The children among the Rejangs have generally a name given to them 
 by their parents soon after their birth, which is called ‘* namo daging.”’ 
 The galar (cognomen), another species of name, or title, as we improperly 
 translate it, is bestowed at a subsequent, but not at any determinate, pe- 
 riod: sometimes, as the lads rise to manhood, at an entertainment given 
 
 by 
 
 285 
 
 Treatment of 
 children, 
 
 Age of the 
 people, 
 
 Names. 
 
 
 

 
 286 
 
 Father named 
 from his 
 child, 
 
 Hesitate to 
 pronounce 
 their own 
 name. 
 
 SUMATRA, 
 
 by the parent, on some particular occasion; and often at their marriage: 
 It is generally conferred by the old men of the neighbouring villages, 
 when assembled; but instances occur of its being, irregularly, assumed 
 by the persons themselves; and some never obtain any galar. It is also 
 not unusual, at a convention held on business of importance, to change 
 the galar of one or two of the principal personages, to others of superior 
 estimation ; though it is not easy to discover in what this pre-eminence 
 consists, the appellations being entirely arbitrary, at the fancy of those 
 who confer them: perhaps in the loftier sound, or more pompous allusion 
 in the sense, which latter is sometimes carried to an extraordinary pitch 
 of bombast, as in the instance of ‘‘ Pexgunchang bumi,” or ‘ Shaker of 
 the world,” the title of a paigeran of Manna. But a climax is not al- 
 
 ways perceptible in the change. 
 
 The father, in many parts of the country, particularly in Passum- 
 mah, is distinguished by the name of his first child, as “ Pa-Ladin,” 
 or * Pa-Rindu,” (Pa for bapa, signifying ‘* the father of’’) and loses 
 in this acquired, his own proper name. ‘This is a singular custom, and 
 surely less conformable to the order of nature, than that which names 
 the son from the father. There, it is not usual to give them a galar 
 on their marriage, as withthe Rejangs, among whom the jfilionymic is 
 not.so common, though sometimes adopted, and occasionally joined with 
 the galar ; as Radin-pa-Chirano. The women never change the name 
 given them at the time of their birth; yet frequently they are called, 
 through courtesy, from their eldest child, ‘‘ Ma sz ano,’”’ the mother 
 of such an one; but rather as a polite description, than a name. The 
 word or particle ‘“‘$2” is prefixed to the birth-names of persons, which 
 almost ever consist of but a single word, as Si Bintang, Si Tolong; and 
 we find from Captain Forrest’s voyage, that in the island of Mindanau, 
 the infant son of the Raja Muda was named Se Mama. 
 
 A Sumatran ever scrupulously abstains from pronouncing his own 
 name; not, as I understand, from any motive of superstition, but merely 
 as a punctilio in manners; It occasions him infinite embarrassment, 
 when a stranger, unacquainted with their customs, requires it of him. 
 
 As soon as he recovers from his confusion, he solicits the interposition of 
 ; his 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 his neighbour. He is never addressed, except in the case of a superior 
 dictating to his dependant, in the second person, but always in the third ; 
 using his name or title, instead of the pronoun; and when these are un- 
 known, a general title of respect is substituted, and they say, for instance, 
 ‘< apa orang kaya punia suka,” “ what is his honour’s pleasure” for ** what 
 is your, or your honour’s pleasure?’”’ When criminals, or other ignomi- 
 nious persons, are spoken to, use is made of the pronoun personal kau 
 (a contraction of angkau) particularly expressive of contempt. The 
 idea of disrespect annexed to the use of the second person, in discourse, 
 though difficult to be accounted for, seems pretty general in the world. 
 The Europeans, to avoid the supposed indecorum, exchange the sin- 
 gular. number for the plural; but I think, with less propriety of effect 
 than the Asiatic mode ; if to take off from the bluntness of address be 
 the object aimed at. 
 
 The boys are circumcised, where Mahometanism prevails, between 
 the sixth and tenth year. ‘The ceremony is called krat kulop and buang 
 or lepas malu (casting away their shame), and a bimbang is usually given 
 on the occasion; as well as at the ceremony of boring the ears and filing 
 the teeth of their daughters, (before described) which takes place at 
 about the age of ten ortwelve; and until this is performed, they cannot, 
 with propriety, be married. 
 
 At their funerals, the corpse is carried to the place of interment on a 
 broad plank, which is kept for the public imam and. 
 lasts for many generations. It is constantly rubbed with lime, either 
 to preserve it from decay, or to keep it pure. No coffin is made use of ; 
 the body being simply wrapped in white cloth, particularly of the sort 
 called hummums. In forming the grave, (kubur), after digging to a 
 convenient depth, they make a cavity in the side, at bottom, of suffi- 
 cient dimensions to contain the body, which is there deposited on its 
 right side. By this mode the earth literally lies light upon it; and the 
 cavity, after strewing flowers in it, they stop up by two boards, fast- 
 ened angularly to each other, so that the one is on the top of the 
 corpse, whilst the other defends it on the open side; the edge resting 
 
 on the bottom of the graye. The outer excavation is then filled up with 
 earth ; 
 
 2877 
 
 Address in the 
 third person. 
 
 Circumcision. 
 
 Funerals. 
 
 
 
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 SUMATRA. 
 
 earth ; and little white flags, or streamers, are stuck in order around. 
 They likewise plant a shrub, bearing a white flower, called humbang- 
 kamboja (plumeria obtusa), and in some places, wild marjoram. The 
 women who attend the funeral make a hideous noise, not much unlike 
 the Irish howl. On the third and seventh day, the relations perform a 
 ceremony at the grave, and at the end of twelve months, that of ¢egga 
 batu, or setting up a few long, elliptical stones, at the head and foot; 
 which, being scarce in some parts of the country, bear a considerable 
 price. On this occasion, they kill and feast on a buffalo, and leave the 
 head to decay on the spot, as a token of the honour they have done to 
 the deceased, in eating to-his memory.* The ancient burying-places 
 are called #rammat, and are supposed to have been those of the holy 
 men by whom their ancestors were converted to the faith. They are 
 held in extraordinary reverence, and the least disturbance or violation 
 of the ground, though all traces of the graves be obliterated, is regarded 
 as an unpardonable sacrilege. 
 
 In works descriptive of the manners of people little known to the 
 world, the account of their religion, usually constitutes an article of the 
 first importance, Mine will labour under the contrary disadvantage. 
 The ancient and genuine religion of the Rejangs, if in fact they ever 
 had any, is scarcely now to be traced ; and what principally adds to its 
 obscurity, and the difficulty of getting information on the subject, is, 
 that even those among them who have not been initiated in the princi- 
 ples of Mahometanism, yet regard those who have, as persons advanced 
 
 a step 
 
 * The above ceremonies (with the exception of the last) are briefly described in the fol- 
 lowing lines, extracted from a Malayan poem. 
 
 Setelab sudah de tarigisi, nia 
 Lalu de kubur de tanamkan ’nia 
 De ambel koran de ajikan ’nia 
 Sopaya lepas deri sangsara ’nia 
 Mengaji de kubur tujuh ari 
 Setelah de khatam tiga kali 
 Sudah de tegga batu sakali 
 Membayer utang pada si-mati. 
 
 
 
et a ee 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 a step in knowledge beyond them, and therefore hesitate to.own cir- 
 cumstantially, that they remain still unenlightened. Ceremonies are 
 fascinating to mankind, and without comprehending with what views 
 they were instituted, the profanum vulgus naturally give them credit for 
 something mysterious and above their capacities; and accordingly pay 
 them a tribute of respect. With Mahometanism, a more extensive field 
 of knowledge (I speak in comparison) is open to its converts, and some 
 additional notions of science are conveyed. These help’ to give it im- 
 portance ; though it must be confessed, they are not the most pure tenets 
 of that religion, which have found their way to Sumatra; nor are even 
 the ceremonial parts very scrupulously adhered to. Many who profess 
 to follow it, give themselves not the least concern about its injunctions, 
 or even know what they require. A Malay at Manna upbraided a 
 countryman, with the total ignorance of religion his nation laboured 
 under. ‘ You pay a veneration to the tombs of your ancestors: what 
 foundation have you for supposing that your dead ancestors can lend you 
 assistance?” <‘ It may be true; answered the other; but what founda- 
 tion have you for expecting assistance from Allah and Mahomet ?” ‘* Are 
 you not aware, replied the Ma/ay, that it is written in a Book? Have 
 you not heard of the Koran?” The native of Passummah, with con- 
 scious inferiority, submitted to the force of this argument. 
 
 If by religion is meant a public or private form of worship, of any 
 kind; and if prayers, processions, meetings, offerings, images, or priests, 
 are any of them necessary to constitute it, 1 can-promounce that the 
 Rejangs are totally without religion, and-eatifiot, with propriety, be even 
 termed pagans, if that, as I apprehend, conveys the idea of mistaken 
 worship. They neither worship God, devil, nor idol. They are not, 
 however, without superstitious beliefs of many kinds, and have cer- 
 tainly a confused notion, though perhaps derived from their intercourse 
 with other people, of some species of superior beings, who have the 
 power of rendering themselves visible or invisible at pleasure. These 
 they call ‘ orang alus” “fine, or impalpable beings,” and regard them 
 _ as possessing the faculty of doing them good or evil ; deprecating their 
 wrath, as the sense of present misfortunes, or apprehension of future, 
 prevails in their minds. But when they speak particularly of them, they 
 
 2P call 
 
 
 

 
 290 
 
 No name for 
 the deity. 
 
 \dea of invi- 
 sible beings. 
 
 . 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 call them by the appellations of “< maleikat” and “ jin,” which are 
 the angels and evil spirits of the Arabians, and the idea may probably 
 have been borrowed at the same time with the names. These are the 
 powers they also refer to inan oath: I-have heard a dupati say, “My 
 grandfather took an/oath that he would not demand the jujur of that 
 woman, and imprecated a curse on any of his descendants that should 
 do it: I. never have, nor could I without salah kapada maleikat—an 
 offence against the angels.” Thus they say also, ‘ de tolong nabi, 
 maletkat,” ‘the prophet and angels assisting.” This is pure Maho- 
 metanism. 
 
 The: clearest’ proof that they never entertained an idea of Theism, 
 or the belief of one supreme power, is, that they have no word in their 
 language to express the person of God, except the “ Allah tala’ of the 
 Malays;corrupted:by them to “ Ulah tallo.” Yet, when questioned 
 
 on the subject, they assert their ancestors’ knowledge of a deity, though 
 
 their thoughts were never employed about him; but this evidently 
 means no more than that their forefathers, as well as themselves, had 
 heard of the Al/ah of the Mahometans (Allah orang islam). 
 
 They use, both in Rejang and. Passummah, the word “ dewa,’’ to ex- 
 press a superior, invisible class of beings; but each country acknow- 
 ledges it to be of foreign derivation, and they suppose it Javanese. Radin, 
 of Madura, an island close to Java, who was well conversant with the 
 religious opinions of most nations;»asserted to me, that “ dewa” was an 
 original word of that country for a superior being; which the Javans of 
 the,interior believed in; but.with regard to whom they used no ceremo- 
 nies or forms of worship;* that they had some idea of a future life, but 
 not as a state of retribution; conceiving immortality to be the lot of 
 rich, rather than of good men. _ I recollect, that an. inhabitant of one 
 
 of 
 
 * In the Transactions of the Batavian Society, Vols. I. and III. is to be found a History 
 of these Dewas of the Javans, translated from an original MS. The mythology is child- 
 ish and incoherent. The Dutch commentator supposes them to have been a race of 
 
 men held sacred, forming a species of Hierarchy, like the government of the Lamas in 
 Tartary. 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 of the islands farther eastward observed to me, with great simplicity, 
 that only great men went to the skies; how should poor men findad- 
 mittance there? ‘The Sumatrans, where untinctured with Mahometan- 
 ism, do not appear to have any notion of a future state. ‘Their con- 
 ception of virtue or vice extends no farther than to the immediate effect 
 of actions, to the benefit or prejudice of society, and all such as tend 
 - not to either of these ends, are, in their estimation, perfectly indifferent. 
 
 Notwithstanding what. is asserted of the originality of the word 
 ‘« dewa,” I cannot help remarking its extreme affinity to the'Persian 
 word “ div or dw,” which signifies ‘‘ an evil spirit”? or ‘ bad» ge- 
 nius.” Perhaps, long antecedent to the introduction of the faith of the 
 khalifs among the eastern people, this word might have found its way, 
 and been naturalized in the islands ; or, perhaps, its: progress was in a 
 contrary direction. It has likewise a connexion in sound, with the 
 names used to express a deity, or some degree of superior being, by 
 many other people of this region of the earth. The Battas, inhabitants 
 of the northern end of Sumatra, whom. I shall describe hereafter, use 
 the word daibattah or daivattah ; the Chingalese of Ceylon, dewiju ; the 
 Telingas of India, dai-wundu; the Biajus of Borneo, dewattah ; the 
 Papuas of New Guinea, ’wat; and the Pampangos of the Philippines, 
 diuata. It bears likewise an affinity (perhaps accidental) to the deus 
 and deitas of the Romans." 
 
 The superstition which has the strongest influence onthe Minds of the 
 Sumatrans, and which approaches the nearest*to a species of religion, 
 is that which leads them to venerate, almost to the point of worshipping, 
 
 2P2 the 
 
 * At the period when the above was written I was little aware of the intimate connexion, 
 now well understood to have anciently subsisted between the Hindus and the various nations 
 beyond the Ganges. The most evident proofs appear of the extensive dissemination both 
 of their language and mythology throughout Sumatra, Java, Balli,: (where at this day they 
 are best preserved) and the other eastern islands. To the Sanskrit words dewa and dewata, 
 signifying divinities in that great mother-tongue, we are therefore to look for the source 
 of the terms, more or less corrupted, that have been mentioned in the text. See Asiat. 
 Res. Vol. IV. p. 228. 
 
 29) 
 
 Veneration 
 for the 
 manes and 
 tombs of 
 their an- 
 cestors. 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Metempsy- 
 chosis. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 the tombs and manes of their deceased ancestors (nenek puyang). These 
 they are attached to as strongly as to life itself, and to oblige them to 
 remove from the néighbourhood of their krammat, is like tearing up a 
 tree by the roots; these, the more genuine country people regard 
 chiefly, when they take a solemn oath, and to these they apostrophize 
 in instances of sudden calamity. Had they the art of making images, 
 or other representations of them, they would be perfect lares, penates, or 
 household gods. It has been asserted to me by the natives (conformably 
 to what wé are told by some of the early travellers) that in very ancient 
 times, thé Sumatratis made a practice of burning the bodies of their 
 dead, but I could never find. any traces of the custom, or any circum- 
 stances that corroborated it. ° 
 
 They have an imperfect notion of a metempsychosis, but not in any 
 déprée systematic; nor considered as an article of religious faith. Po- 
 pular stories prevail amongst them, of such a particular man being 
 changed into a tiger, or other beast. They seem to think, indeed, that 
 tigers in general are actuated with the spirits of departed men, and no 
 consideration will prevail on a countryman to catch or to wound one, 
 but in'self-defence, or immediately after the act of destroying a friend 
 or relation, Théy speak of them with a degree of awe, and hesitate to 
 call them» by their common name (rimau or machang) terming them 
 respecfully satwa (the wild animals), or even menek (ancestors); as 
 really believing them such, or by way of soothing and coaxing them; 
 as our ignorant country folk call the fairies ‘‘ the good people.” When 
 an European procures traps to be set, by the means of persons less su- 
 perstitious, the inhabitants of the neighbourhood have been known to 
 go at night to the place, and practise some forms, in order to persuade 
 the animal, when caught, or when he shall perceive the bait, that it was 
 not laid by them, or with their consent. They talk of a place in the 
 country where the tigers have a court, and maintain a regular form of 
 government, in towns, the houses of which are thatched with women’s 
 hair. It happened that in one month seven or eight people were killed 
 by these prowling beasts in Manna district; upon which a report be- 
 came current, that fifteen hundred of them were come down from Pas- 
 summah ; of which number, four were without understanding (g7/a), 
 and 
 
a a ee eee ~4 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 and having separated from the rest, ran about the country occasioning 
 all the mischief that was felt, The aligators also are highly destructive, 
 owing to the constant practice of bathing in the rivers, and are regarded 
 with nearly the same degree of religious terrour. Fear is the parent of 
 superstition, by ignorance. ‘Those two animals prove the Sumatran’s 
 oreatest scourge. The mischief the former commit is incredible, whole 
 villages being often depopulated by them, and the suffering people 
 learn to reverence, as supernatural effects, the furious ravages of an 
 enemy they have not resolution to oppose. 
 
 The Sumatrans are firmly persuaded that various particular persons 
 are, what they term ‘* betuah” (sacred, impassive, invulnerable, not 
 liable to accident); and this quality they sometimes extend to things 
 inanimate; as ships and boats. Such an opinion, which we should sup- 
 pose every man might have an opportunity of bringing to the test of 
 truth, affords a humiliating proof of the weakness and credulity of hu- 
 man nature, and the fallibility of testimony, when a film of prejudice 
 obscures the light of the understanding. I have known two men, whose 
 honesty, good faith, and reasonableness in the general concerns of life 
 were well established, and whose assertions would have weight in trans- 
 actions of consequence : these men I have heard maintain, with the 
 most deliberate confidence, and an appearance of inward conviction of 
 their own sincerity, that they had more than once, in the course of their 
 wars, attempted to run their weapons into the naked body of their ad- 
 versary, which they found impenetrable, their points being continually 
 and miraculously turned, without any effort on. the part of the orang be- 
 tuah : and that hundreds of instances, of the like nature, where the in- 
 vulnerable man did not possess the smallest natural means of opposition, 
 had come within their observation. An English officer, with more cou- 
 rage and humour than discretion, exposed one imposture of this kind. 
 A man having boasted in his presence, that he was endowed with this 
 supernatural privilege, the officer took an opportunity of applying to 
 his arm the point of a sword, and drew the blood; to the no little di- 
 version of the spectators, and mortification of the pretender to superior 
 gifts, who vowed revenge, and would have taken it, had not means 
 been used to keep him at a distance. But a single detection of char- 
 
 latanerie, 
 
 493 
 
 
 
294 | SUMATRA. 
 
 latanerie, is not effectual to destroy a prevalent superstition. These 
 impostors are usually found among the Malays, and not the more sim- 
 ple country people. | 
 
 No missiona- No attempts, I have reason to think, have ever been made by mis- 
 , sionaries, or others, to convert the inhabitants of the island to Christi- 
 anity, and I have much doubt, whether the most zealous and able would 
 meet with any permanent success in this pious work. Of the many 
 thousands baptized in the eastern islands by the celebrated Francis Xa- 
 vier, in the sixteenth century, not one of their descendants are now found 
 to retain a ray of the light imparted to them; and probably, as it was 
 novelty only, and not conviction, that induced the original converts to 
 embrace a new faith, the impression lasted no longer than the sentiment 
 which recommended it, and disappeared as rapidly as the itinerant apostle. 
 Under the influence, however, of the Spanish government at Manilha, 
 and of the Dutch at Batavia, there are many native Christians, educated 
 as such from children. In the Malayan language Portuguese and Chris- 
 tians are confounded under the same general name; the former being 
 called ‘‘ orang Zerani,” by corruption for “ Nazerani.’ This neglect 
 of missions to Sumatra is one cause that the interior of the country 
 
 has been so little known to the civilized world. 
 
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SUMATRA. 
 
 The Country of Lampong and its Inhabitants—Language—Government— 
 Wars——Peculiar Customs—Religion. 
 
 HAVING thus far spoken of the manners and customs of the Rejangs 
 more especially, and adverted, as occasion served, to those of the Pas- 
 summah people, who nearly resemble them, I shall now present a cursory 
 view of those circumstances in which their southern neighbours, the 
 inhabitants of the Lampong country, differ from them, though this dissi- 
 militude is not very considerable ; and shall add such information as I 
 have been enabled to obtain respecting the people of Korinchz, and other 
 tribes dwelling beyond the ranges of hills which bound the pepper-dis- 
 tricts. 
 
 By the Lampong country is understood, a portion of the southern 
 extreme of the island, beginning, on the west coast, at. the river of 
 Padang-guchi, which divides it from Passummah, and extending across 
 as far as Palembang, on the north-east side, at which last place the set- 
 tlers are mostly Javans. On the south and east sides, it is washed by 
 the sea, having several ports in the Straits of Sunda, particularly _Key- 
 sers and Lampong Bays; and the great river -Pulang-bawang runs 
 through the heart of it, rising from a considerable lake between the 
 ranges of mountains. That division which is included by Padang-gu- 
 chi, and a place called Nassal, is distinguished by the name of Briuran, 
 and from thence southward to Flat-point, by that of Laut-Kawur; al- 
 though Kawur, properly so called, lies in the northern division. 
 
 Upon the Tulang-bawang, at a place called Mangala, thirty-six 
 leagues from its mouth, the Dutch have a fortified post. There also 
 
 295 
 
 Limits of the 
 Lampong 
 country. 
 
 Tulang baw- 
 ang River. 
 
 the representative of the king of Bantam, who claims the dominion of | 
 
 the whole country of Lampong, has his residence ;_ the River Masusz, 
 
 which runs into the former, being the boundary of his territories, and 
 
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 296, 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 those of the sultan of Palembang. In the neighbourhood of these rivers 
 the land is so low as to be overflowed in the rainy season, or months of 
 
 January and February, when the waters have been known to rise many 
 
 Inhabitants. 
 
 feet in the course of a few hours; the villages, situated on the higher 
 spots, appearing as islands. The houses of those immediately on the 
 banks are built on piles of iron-wood timber, and each has before it 
 a floating raft for the convenience of washing. In the western parts, 
 towards Samarigka, on the contrary, the land is mountainous, and 
 Keyser’s Peak, as well as Pugong, are visible to a great distance at sea. 
 
 The country is best inhabited in the central and mountainous parts, 
 where the people live independent, and in some measure secure from 
 the inroads of their eastern neighbours, the Javans, who, from about 
 Palembang and the Straits, frequently attempt to molest them. It is, 
 probably, within but a very few centuries, that the south-west coast of 
 
 _ this country has been the habitation of any considerable number of peo- 
 
 Language. 
 
 Government. 
 
 ple ; and it has been still less visited by strangers, owing to the unshel- 
 tered nature of the sea thereabouts, and want of soundings, in general, 
 which renders the navigation wild and dangerous for country vessels ; 
 and to the rivers being small and rapid, with shallow bars and almost 
 ever a high surf. If you ask the people of these parts from whence they 
 originally came; they answer, from the hills, and point out an inland 
 place near the great lake, from whence, they say, their forefathers 
 emigrated: and further than this it is impossible to trace. They, of all 
 the Sumatrans, have the strongest resemblance to the Chinese, particu- 
 larly in the roundness of face, and constructure of the eyes. They are 
 also the fairest people of the island, and the women are the tallest, and 
 esteemed the most handsome. : | 
 
 Their language differs considerably, though not essentially, from 
 that of the Rejangs, and the characters they use are peculiar to them- 
 selves; as may be observed in the specimens exhibited. 
 
 The titles of government are pazigeran (from the Javans), kariyer, and 
 kiddimong or nebihi; the latter nearly answering to dupati among the 
 Rejangs. The district of Kroz, near Mount Pugong, is governed by 
 
 five, 
 

 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 five magistrates, called Parviggcu-limo, anda sixth, superior, called by way 
 of eminence, Pazviggau; but their authority is said to be usurped, and is 
 often disputed. The word, in common, signifies a gladiator or prize- 
 fichter; The pargeran of Suko, in the hills, is computed to have four 
 or five thousand dependants, and sometimes, on going a journey, he levies 
 a tali, or eighth part of a dollar, on each family ; which shews his au- 
 thority to be more arbitrary, and probably more strictly feudal, than 
 among the Rejangs, where the government is rather patriarchal. This 
 difference has doubtless its source in the wars and invasions to which 
 the former people are exposed. 
 
 The Javanése banditti, as has been observed, often advance into the 
 country, and commit depredations on the inhabitants, who are not, in 
 general, a match for them. They do not make use of fire-arms, Beside 
 the common weapons of the island, th ey fight with aong lance, which 
 is carried by three men; the foremost guiding the point, and covering 
 himself and his companions with a large shield.. A compact body, thus 
 armed, would have been a counterpart of the Macedonian phalanx ; but 
 can prove, I should apprehend, of but little use among a people, with 
 whom war is carried on in a desultory manner, and more in the way of 
 ambuscade, than of general engagement, in which alone troops so 
 armed could act with effect. 
 
 Inland of Samazigka, in the Straits of Sunda, there is a district, say 
 the Lampongs, inhabited by a ferocious people, CS hata Abung, who 
 were a terrour to the neighbouring country; until their villages were 
 destroyed some years ago by an expedition from the former place. 
 Their mode of atoning for offences against their own community, or, 
 according to a Malayan narrative in my possession, of entitling them- 
 selves to wives, was, by bringing to their dusuns the heads of strangers. 
 The account may be true, but, without. further authentication, such 
 stories are not to be too implicitly credited, on the faith of a people who 
 are fond of the marvellous, and addicted to exaggeration. Thus they 
 believed the inhabitants of the island Engano to be all females, who 
 were impregnated by the wind; like the mares in Virgil’s Georgics. 
 
 2Q The 
 
 Ware. 
 
 297 
 
 
 

 
 298 
 
 Manners. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 The manners of the Lampongs are more free, or rather licentious; 
 than those of any other native Sumatrans. An extraordinary liberty of 
 - ttercourse is allowed between the young people of different sexes, and 
 the loss of female chastity is not a very uncommon consequence. The 
 offence is there, h wever, thought more lightly of, and instead of pu- 
 nishing the parties, as in Passummah and elsewhere, they prudently 
 endeavour to conclude a legal match between them. But if this is not 
 effected, the lady still continues to wear the insignia of virginity, the fil- 
 let and arm-rings, and takes her place as such at festivals. It is not only 
 on these public occasions, that the young men and women have oppor- 
 tunities of forming arrangements, as in most other parts of the island, 
 They frequently associate together at other times ; and the former are 
 seen gallantly reclining in the maiden’s lap, whispering soft nonsense, 
 whilst she adjusts and perfumes his hair, or does a friendly office of less 
 delicacy to an European apprehension. At brmbangs, the women often 
 put on their dancing dress in the public hall, letting that garment 
 which they mean to lay aside, dexterously drop from under, as the other 
 passes over the head ; but sometimes, with an air of coquetry, display- 
 ing, as if by chance, enough to warm youthful imaginations. Both 
 men and women anoint themselves before company, when they prepare 
 to dance ; the women, their necks and arms, and the men their breasts. 
 They also paint each others faces; not, seemingly, with a view of 
 heightening, or imitating the natural charms, but merely as matter of 
 fashion ; making fantastic spots with the finger on the forehead, tem- 
 ples, and cheeks, of white, red; yellow, and other hues. A brass salver 
 {tallam) covered with little china cups, containing a variety of paints, is 
 served up for this purpose. 
 
 = 
 
 Instances have happened here, though rarely, of very disagreeable con- 
 clusions to their feasts. A party of visaus among the young fellows, 
 have been known suddenly to extinguish the lights, for the purpose of 
 robbing the girls, not of their chastity, as might be apprehended, but 
 of the gold and silver ornaments of their persons. An outrage of this 
 nature I imagine could only happen in Lampong, where their vicinity 
 to Java affords the culprits easier and surer means of escape, than in 
 the central parts of the island; and here too their companies appear to 
 . be 
 
a he a te * om A it ails aia 4 7. 
 in wale 
 
 SUMATRA. 299 
 
 be more mixed, collected from greater distances, and not composed, 
 as with the Hejang people, of a neighbourly assemblage of the old men 
 and women of a few contiguous villages, with their sons and daughters, 
 for the ‘sake of convivial mirth, of celebrating a particular domestic 
 event, and promoting attachments and courtship amongst the young 
 people. 
 
 In every dusun there is appointed a youth, well fitted by nature and Particnlar 
 education for the office, who acts as master of the ceremonies at their 
 public meetings, arranges the young men and women in their proper 
 places, makes choice of their partners, and regulates all other circum- 
 stances of the assembly, except the important ceconomy of the festival 
 part or cheer, which comes under the cognizance of one of the elders. 
 Both parts of the entertainment are preceded by long, complimentary 
 speeches, delivered by the respective stewards, who, in return, are answered 
 and complimented on their skill, liberality, and other qualities, by 
 some of the best bred amongst the guests. Though the manner of con- 
 ducting, and the appendages of these feasts, are superior in style to 
 the rustic hospitality of some of the northern countries, yet they are 
 esteemed to be much behind those, in the goodness and mode of dress- 
 ing their food. The Lampongs eat almost all kinds of flesh, indiscri- 
 minately, and their guleis (curries.or made dishes) are said, by connois- 
 seurs, to have no flavour. They serve up the rice, divided into por- 
 tions for each person, contrary to the practice in the other countries ; 
 the ¢allam being covered with a handsome crimson napkin, manufac- 
 tured for that use. They are wont to entertain strangers with much 
 more profusion, than is met with in the rest of the island. If the guest 
 is of any consequence, they do not hesitate to kill, beside goats and 
 fowls, a buffalo, or several, according to the period of his stay, and the 
 number of his attendants. One man has been known to entertain a 
 person of rank and his suite for sixteen days, during which time there 
 were not less than an hundred dishes of rice spread each day, containing, 
 some one, some two bamboos. They have dishes here, of a species of 
 china or earthen ware, called ‘ batu benauang,”’ brought from the east- 
 ward; remarkably heavy, and very dear; some of them being valued at 
 
 2Q2 forty 
 
 
 

 
 300 
 
 Reception of 
 strangers, 
 
 Marriages. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 forty dollars a piece. The breaking one of them is a family loss of no 
 small importance. 
 
 Abundantly more ceremony js used among these people, at interviews 
 with strangers, than takes place in the countries adjacent to them. Not 
 only the chief person of a party travelling, but every one of his atten- 
 dants, is obliged, upon arriving at a town, to give a formal account of 
 their business, or occasion of coming that way. When the principal 
 man of the dusun is acquainted by the stranger with the motives of his 
 journey, he repeats his speech at full length, before he gives an answer; 
 and if it is a person of great consequence, the words must pass through 
 two or three mouths, before they are supposed to come with sufficient 
 ceremony to his ears. This, in fact, has more the air of adding to his 
 own importance and dignity, than to that of the guest; but it is not 
 
 *n Sumatra alone, that respect is manifested by this seeming contra- 
 diction. yer 
 
 The terms of the jujur, or equivalent for wives, is the same here, 
 nearly, as with the Rejangs. The kris-head is not essential to the bar- 
 gain, as among the people of Passummah. The father of the girl never 
 admits of the putus tali kulo, or whole sum being paid, and thereby 
 withholds from the husband, in any case, the right of selling +his wife, 
 who, in the event*of a divorce, returns to her relations. - Where the 
 putus tali is allowed to take place, he has a property in her, little 
 differing from that of a slave, as formerly observed. The particular sums 
 which constitute the jujur are less complex here than at other places. 
 The value of the maiden’s golden trinkets is nicely estimated, and her 
 jujur regulated according to that, and the rank of her parents. The 
 semando marriage scarcely ever takes place but among poor people, where 
 there is no property on either side, or, in the case of a slip in the conduct 
 of the female, when the friends are glad to make up a match in this 
 way, instead of demanding a price for her. Instances have occurred, 
 however, of countrymen of rank affecting a semando marriage, im ‘order to 
 imitate the Malayan manners; but it has been looked upon as improper 
 and liable to create confusion. . sigue? 
 
 The 
 
SUMATRA. 801 
 
 The fines and compensation for murder are in every respect the same, 
 as in the countries already. described. | 
 
 The Mahometan religion has made considerable progress amongst the Religion. 
 Lampongs, and most of their villages have mosques in them: yet an at- 
 tachment to the original superstitions of the country, induces them to 
 regard with particular veneration the ancient burying-places of their 
 fathers, which they piously adorn, and cover in from the weather. 
 
 In some parts, likewise, they superstitiou-ly believe that certain trees, Superstitions 
 particularly those of a venerable appearance (as an old jawi-jawi or ba- 7 
 nian tree) are the residence, or rather the material frame of spirits of the 
 woods; an opinion which exactly answers to the idea entertained by the 
 ancients, of the dryades and hama-dryades. At Benkunat, in the Lam- 
 pong country, there is a long stone, standing on a flat one, supposed by 
 the people to possess extraordinary power or virtue. It is reported to 
 have been once thrown down into the water, and to have raised itself 
 again to its original position ; agitating the elements at the same time 
 with a prodigious storm. To approach it without respect, they believe 
 to be the source of misfortune to the offender. 
 
 The inland people of that country are said to pay a kind of adoration 
 to the sea, and to make to it an offering of cakes and sweatmeats 
 on their beholding it for the first time, deprecating its power of doing 
 them mischief. This is by no means surprising, whe sider the 
 natural proneness of unenlightened mankind, UN cic aupermsitions 
 awe, whatever has the power of injuring them without controul, and 
 particularly when it is attended with any circumstances mysterious and 
 inexplicable to their understandings. The sea possesses all these qua- 
 lities. Its destructive and irresistible power is often felt, and especially 
 on the coasts of India, where tremendous surfs are constantly breaking 
 on the shore, rising often to their greatest degree of violence, without 
 any apparent external cause. Add to this, the flux and reflux, and 
 perpetual ordinary motion of that element; wonderful even to philoso- 
 phers who are acquainted with the cause; unaccountable. to ignorant 
 
 men, though long accustomed to the effects; but to those who only 
 once 
 
 
 

 
 302 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 once or twice in their lives have been eye witnesses to the phenomena, 
 supernatural and divine. It must not, however, be understood, that 
 any thing like a regular worship is paid to the sea by these people, any 
 more than we should conclude, that people in England worship witches, 
 when they nail a horse-shoe on the threshold, to prevent their approach, 
 or break the bottoms of egg-shells, to hinder them from sailing in them. 
 It is with the inhabitants of Lampong no more than a temporary senti- 
 ment of fear and respect, which a little familiarity soon eflaces. Many 
 of them, indeed, imagine it endowed with a principle of voluntary 
 motion. They tell a story of an ignorant fellow, who observing with 
 astonishment its continual agitation, carried a vessel of sea water with 
 him, on his return to the country, and poured it into a lake, in full ex- 
 pectation of seeing it perform the same fanciful motions he had admired 
 it for in its native bed.’ 
 
 « The mariners of the natives of the Philippine or Luzon Islands correspond in so many 
 striking particulars with those of the inland Sumatrans, and especially where they differ 
 most from the Malays, that I think no doubt can be entertained, if not of a sameness of 
 origin, at least of an intercourse and connection in former times, which now no longer 
 exists. The following instances are taken from an essay preserved by Thevenot, entitled 
 Relation des Philippines par un religieux ; traduite d’un manuscrit Espagnol du cabinet de Mons. 
 Dom. Carlo del Pezzo (without date), and from a manuscript communicated to me by Aler. 
 Dalrymple, Esq. “The chief Deity of the Tagalas is called Bathala mei Capal, and also 
 Diuata ; and their principal idolatry consists in adoring those of their ancestors, who sig- 
 nalized themselves for courage or abilities; calling them Humalagar, i.e. manes: They 
 make slaves of the people who do not keep silence at the tombs of their ancestors. They 
 have great veneration for the crocodile, which they call nono, signifying grandfather, and 
 make offerings to it. Every old tree they look upon as a superior being, and think it a 
 crime tocut it down. They worship also stones, rocks, and points of land, shooting arrows 
 at these last as they pass them. They have priests, who, at their sacrifices, make many 
 contorsions and grimaces, as if possessed with a devil. The first man and woman, they say, 
 were produced from a bamboo, which burst in the island of Sumatra; and they quarrelled 
 about their marriage. The people mark their bodies in various figures, and render them of 
 the colour of ashes: have large holes in their ears: blacken and file their teeth, and make 
 an opening which they fill wp with gold: they used to write from top to bottom, till the 
 Spaniards taught them to write from left to right: bamboos and palm leaves serve them for 
 paper. They cover their houses with straw, leaves of trees, or bamboos split in.two, which 
 serve for tiles. They hire people to sing and weep at their funerals ; burn benzoin; bury 
 
 their dead on the third day in strong coffins; and sometimes kill slaves to accompany their 
 deceased masters.” 
 
 The 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 The latter account is more particular, and appears of modern date. 
 
 “They held the caiman, or alligator, in great reverence, and when they saw him they called 
 him nono, or grandfather, praying with great tenderness that he would do them no arm, 
 and to this end, offered him of whatever they had in their boats, throwing it into the water. 
 There was not an old tree to which they did not offer divine worship, especially that called 
 balete ; and even at this time they have some respect for them. Beside these they had cer- 
 tain idols inherited from their ancestors, which the Tagalas called Anito, and the Bisayans, 
 Divata. Some of these were for the mountains and plains, and they asked their leave when 
 they would pass them: others for the corn fields, and to these they recommend them, that 
 they might be fertile, placing meat and drink in the fields for the use of the Anitos. There 
 was one, of the sea, who had care of their fishing and navigation ; another of the house, 
 whose favour they implored at the birth of a child, and under whose protection they placed 
 it. They made Anitos also of their deceased ancestors, and to these were their first invoca- 
 tions in all difficulties and dangers. They reckoned amongst these beings, all those who 
 were killed by lightning or alligators, or had any disastrous death, and believed that they were 
 carried up to the happy state, by the rainbow, which they call Balan-gao. In general they 
 endeavoured to attribute this kind of divinity to their fathers, when they died in years, and 
 the old men, vain with this barbarous notion, affected in their sickness a gravity and com- 
 posure of mind, as they conceived, more than human, because they thought themselves 
 commencing Anitos. They were to be interred at places marked out by themselves, that 
 they might be discovered at a distance and worshipped. The miésionaries have had great 
 trouble in demolishing their tombs and idols ; but the Indians, inland, still continue the cus- 
 tom of pasing tabi sa nono, or asking permission of their dead ancestors, when they enter 
 any wood, mountain, or corn field, for hunting or sowing ; and if they omit this ceremony- 
 imagine their nonos will punish them with bad fortune. 
 
 “ Their notions of the creation. of the world, and formation. of mankind,. had something 
 ridiculously extravagant. They believed that the world at first. consisted only of sky and 
 water, and between these two, a glede; which, weary with flying pees no place 
 to rest, set the water at variance with the sky, which, in order-to keep it in bounds, and 
 that it should not get uppermost, loaded the water with a number of ‘islands, in which the 
 glede might settle and leave them at peace. Mankind, they said, sprang out of a large cane 
 with two joints, that, floating about in the water, was at length thrown by the waves against the 
 feet of the glede, as it stood on shore, which opened it with its bill, and the man came out 
 of one joint, and the woman out of the other. These were soon after married by consent 
 of their God, Bathala Meycapal, which caused the first trembling of the earth; and from. 
 thence are descended the different nations of the world.” 
 
 Account 
 
 30 
 
 & 
 
 J 
 
 
 
304 | . SUMATRA 
 
 Account of the inland Country of Korinchi—Expedition to the Serampet and 
 Sungei-tenang Countries. 
 
 Country of AT the back of the range of high mountains by which the countries of 
 nas Indrapura and Anak-surigei are bounded, lies the district or valley of 
 Korinchi, which, from its secluded situation, has hitherto been little 
 known to Europeans. In the year 1800, Mr. Charles Campbell, whose 
 name I have had frequent occasion to mention, was led to visit this spot, 
 in the laudable. pursuit of objects for the improvement of natural history, 
 and from his correspondence I shall extract such parts as I have reason 
 to hope will be gratifying to the reader. | 
 
 Me Sames «The country of Korinchi,” says this indefatigable traveller, ‘ first 
 ney. occupied my attention. From the sea-coast, at Moco-moco, to the foot 
 of the mountains, cost us three days’ weary journey, and although our 
 
 path was devious, I cannot estimate the distance at less than thirty miles, 
 
 for it was late on the fourth day when we began to ascend. Your con- 
 
 jecture, that the ridge is broader betwixt the plains of Anak-surget and 
 
 valley of Korinchi, than that which we see from Bencoolen, is just. Our 
 
 route in general Jay north-east; until we attained the summit of the first 
 
 high range ; from which elevated situation, through an opening im the 
 
 wood, the Pagi or Nassau Islands were clearly visible. During the nextday 
 
 our course along the ridge of hills was_a little to the northward of north- 
 
 west, and for the two following days almost due north, through as noble 
 
 a forest as was ever penetrated by man. On the evening of the last, we 
 descended by a steep and seemingly short path from the summit of the 
 
 second range (for there are obviously two) into the Korinchi country. 
 
 This descent did not occupy us more than twenty minutes, so that the 
 
 valley must lie at a great height above the level of the sea; but it was 
 
 yet a few days march to the inhabited and cultivated land on the border 
 
 Situation of of the great lake, which I conjecture to be situated directly behind 
 Indrapura, 
 
 : * ee 
 : [ ; 
 3 3 
 , te : 
 ) 
 We ; 
 A ? ‘ ' 
 -] 
 40 
 
 ae 
 
 Sy Ve x - 
 tb ie « ys 4 4 
 SRI aa RRR 
 
 Soe. ke baby pai ‘ . 
 oan ~ ; sd é ‘ x aD bad ey 
 eS te ILA CON EN. El sll CINE ttl, oes Sm ctl. 2+ 
 
 
 
SU MAT R Aj : 
 
 30 
 
 Indrapura, or north-east from the mouth of that river. There are two 
 
 lakes, but one of them is inconsiderable. I sailed for some time on the 
 former, which may be nearly as broad as the strait between Bencoolen 
 and Rat Island.. My companions estimated it at seven miles; but the 
 eye is liable to much deception, and having seen nothing for many days 
 but rivulets, the grandeur of the sheet of water, when it first burst upon 
 our sight, perhaps induced us to form too high a notion of its extent. 
 Its banks were studded with villages ; it abounds with fish, particularly 
 the summah, a species of cyprinus ; its waters are clear and beautiful, from 
 the reflection of the black and shining sand which covers the bottom in 
 many places to the depth of eight or ten inches. 
 
 ‘The inhabitants are below the common stature of the Malays, with 
 harder visages and higher cheek-bones, well knit in their limbs, and 
 active; not deficient in hospitality, but jealous of strangers. The wo- 
 men, excepting a few of the daughters of the chiefs, were in general ill- 
 favoured, and even savage in their aspect. At the village of Jn-juan on 
 the borders of the lake I saw some of them with rings of copper and shells 
 among their hair; they wore destars round their heads like the men, and 
 almost all of them had siwars or small daggers at their sides. They were 
 not shut up or concealed from us, but mixed with our party, on the 
 contrary, with much frankness. The people dwell in hordes, many 
 families being crowded together in one long building. That in which I 
 lived gave shelter to twenty-five families. ‘The front was one long, un- 
 divided virandah, where the unmarried men slept ; the-back part was 
 partitioned into small cabins, each of which had a round hole, with a 
 door to fit it, and through this the female inmates crept backwards and 
 forwards, in the most awkward manner and ridiculous posture. This 
 house was in length two hundred and thirty feet, and elevated from the 
 ground. Those belonging to the chiefs were smaller, well constructed 
 of timber and plank, and covered with shingles or thin plates of board 
 bound on with rattans, about the size, and having much the appearance, 
 of our slates. The dresses of the young women of rank were pretty 
 enough. A large blue turband, woven with silver chains, which, meet- 
 ing behind and crossing, were fastened to the ear-rings;in festoons, deco- 
 rated their heads. In this was placed a large plume of cock’s feathers, 
 
 2R bending 
 
 Inhabitants. 
 
 Buildings. 
 
 Dresses, 
 
 vo 
 
 
 

 
 306 
 
 Cookery. 
 
 Esculent 
 vegetables. 
 
 Gold. 
 
 Gunpowder. 
 
 Lepers. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 bending forward over the face. The jacket was blue, of a silky texture, 
 their own work, and bordered with small gold chain. The body-dress, 
 likewise of their own weaving, was of cotton mingled with silk, richly 
 striped and mixed with gold thread; but they wear it no lower than the 
 knees. The youths of fashion were in a kind of harlequin habit, the 
 fore-part of the trowsers white, the back-part blue; their jacket after the 
 same fashion. They delighted much in an instrument made from some 
 part of the 7ju palm tree, which resembled and produced a sound like the 
 jews-harp. Their domestic ceconomy (I speak of the houses of the 
 chiefs) seemed better regulated than it generally is in these countries ; 
 they seemed tolerably advanced in the art of cookery, and had much 
 variety of food; such as the flesh of deer, which they take in rattan 
 snares, wild ducks, abounding on the lake ; green pigeons, quails innu- 
 merable ; and a variety of fish beside the swmmah already mentioned, and 
 the tkan gadis, a species of carp, which attains to a greater size here 
 than in the rivers. The potatoe, which was intreduced there many 
 years ago, is now a common article of food, and cultivated with some 
 attention. ‘Their plantations supply many esculent herbs, fruits, and 
 roots; but the coconut, although reared as a curiosity, is abortive in these 
 inland regions, and its place is supplied by the buah kras (juglans cami- 
 rium), of which they also make their torches. Excellent tobacco is 
 grown there, also cotton and indigo, the small leafed kind. They get 
 some silk from Palembang, and rear a little themselves. The communi- 
 cation is more frequent with the north-west shore than with the eastern, 
 and of late, since the English have been settled at Pulo Chinco, they prefer 
 going there for opium, to the more tedious (though less distant) journey 
 by which they formerly sought it at Moco-moco. In their cock-pits the 
 gold-scales are frequent, and I have seen considerable quantities weighed 
 out by the losers. ‘This metal, I am informed, they get in their own 
 country, although they studiously evaded all inquiries on the subject. 
 They make gunpowder, and it is a common sport among the young boys 
 to fire it out of bamboos. In order to increase its strength, in their opi- 
 nion, they mingle it with pepper-dust. 
 
 «¢ In a smallrecess on the margin of the lake, overhung with very rug- 
 ged cliffs, and accessible only by water, I saw one of those receptacles 
 of 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 of misery to which the leprous, and others afflicted with diseases supposed 
 to be contagious, are banished. I landed much against the remonstrances 
 of my conductors, who would not quit the boat. There were in all seven 
 of these unfortunate people basking on the beach, and warming the 
 wretched remains of their bodies in the sun. They were fed at stated 
 periods, by the joint contribution of the neighbouring villages, and I 
 was given to understand, that any attempt to quit this horrid exile was 
 punished with death. 
 
 ‘«< T had little time for botanizing; but I found there many plants un- 
 known to the low lands. Among them were a species of prune, the 
 water-hemlock, and the strawberry. This last was like that species 
 which grows in our woods ; but it was insipid. I brought the roots with 
 me to Fort Marlborough, where it lingered a year or two after fruiting, 
 and gradually died.* I found there also a beautiful kind of the hedy- 
 chium coronarium, now ranked among the kempferias. It was of a 
 pale orange, and had a most grateful odour. ‘The girls wear it in their 
 hair, and its beautiful head of lily flowers is used in the silent language 
 of love; to the practice of which, during your stay here, I suppose you 
 were no stranger, and which indicates a delicacy of sentiment one would 
 scarcely expect to find in the character of so rude a people. 
 
 «¢ Although the chiefs received us with hospitality, yet the mass of peo- 
 ple considered our intentions as hostile, and seemed jealous of our intru- 
 sion. Of their women, however, they were not at all jealous, and the 
 familiarity of these was unrestrained. They entertained us with dances 
 after their fashion, and made some rude attempts at performing a sort of 
 pantomime. I may now close this detail with observing, that the natives 
 of this mountainous region have stronger animal spirits than those of the 
 plains, and pass their lives with more variety than the torpid inhabitants 
 of the coast; that they breathe a spirit of independence, and being fre- 
 quently engaged in warfare, village against village, they would be better 
 
 2K prepared 
 
 * This plant has fruited also in England, but doubts are entertained of its being really a 
 fragaria, By Dr. Smith it is termed a potentella. 
 
 Peculiar 
 plants. 
 
 Character 
 of people. 
 
 
 
308 SUMATRA. 
 
 Suspicions. prepared to resist any invasion of their liberties. ‘They took great of- 
 fence at a large package carried by six men, which contained our ne- 
 cessaries, insisting that within it we had concealed a priuk apa, for so 
 they calla mortar or howitzer, one of which had been used with success 
 against a village on the borders of their country, during the rebellion of 
 the son of the sultan of Moco-moco; and even when satisfied respecting 
 this, they manifested so much suspicion, that we found it necessary to 
 be constantly on our guard, and were once nearly provoked by their 
 petulance and treachery to proceed to violence. When they found our 
 determination, they seemed humble, but were not even then to be trusted ; 
 and when we were on our return, a friendly chief sent us intelligence 
 that an ambuseade had been laid for us in one of the narrow passes of 
 the mountains. We pursued our journey, however, without meeting 
 any obstruction.” On the subject of gold I have only to add to Mr. 
 Campbell’s information, that in the enumeration by the natives of places 
 where there are gold-mines, Korinchi is always included. 
 
 Se ee Opportunities of visiting the interior parts of the island have so seldom 
 country. occurred, or are likely to occur, that I do not hesitate to present to the 
 reader an abstract of the Journal kept by Lieutenant Hastings Dare (now 
 a captain on the Bengal establishment) whilst commanding an expedi- 
 tion to the countries of Jpu, Serampei, and Surigei-tenang, which border, 
 to the south-east, on that of Korinchi above described ; making at the 
 same time my acknowledgments to that gentleman for his obliging com- 
 munication of the original,.and my apologies for the brevity to which 
 
 my subject renders it necessary to confine the narrative. 
 
 — bee ** Sultan Asimg, brother to the present sultan of Moco-moco, in con- 
 junction with Pa Muncha and Sultan Sidi, two hill-chiefs his. relations, 
 residing at Pakalang-jambu and Jaméi, raised a small force, with which, 
 in the latter part of the year 1804, they made a descent on Jpu, one of 
 the Company’s districts, burnt several villages, and carried off a number 
 of the inhabitants. The guard of native Malay troops not being suffi- 
 ciently strong to check these depredations, a party was ordered from 
 Fort Marlborough, under the command of Lieut. Hastings Dare, con: 
 sisting of eighty-three sepoy officers and men, with five lascars, twenty- 
 
 two 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 two Bengal convicts, and eighteen of the Bugis-guard ; in the whole one 
 hundred and twenty-eight. 
 
 «Nov. 22, 1804. Marched from Fort Marlborough, and Dec. 3, ar- 
 rived at Jpu. The roads extremely bad from the torrents of rain that fell. 
 4th. Mr. Hawthorne, the Resident, informed us that the enemy had 
 fortified themselves at a place called 7abé-si-kuddi, but on hearing of the 
 approach of the detachment, had gone off to the hills in the Surzei- 
 tenang country and fortified themselves at Koto Tuggoh, a village that 
 had been a receptacle for all the vagabonds from the. districts near the 
 coast. 13th. Having procured coolies and provisions, for which we have 
 been hitherto detained, quitted Jpu in an ENE. direction, and passed 
 through several pepper and rice plantations. At dusun Baru one of our 
 people caught a fine large fish, called zkan gadis. 14th. Marched in a 
 SE. direction ; crossed several rivulets, and reached again the banks of 
 Ipu river, which we crossed. It was about four feet deep, and very 
 rapid. Passed the. night at dusun Arah. The country rather hilly; 
 thermometer 88° at noon. 15th. Reached dusun Tanjong, the last place 
 in the Zpu district where rice or any other provision is to be found, and 
 these were sent on from Yalang Puttei, this place being deserted by its 
 inhabitants, several of whom the enemy had carried off with them as 
 slaves. The country very hilly, and roads, in consequence of the heavy 
 rains, bad and slippery. 16th. Marched in aN, and E. direction. | After 
 crossing the dyer Jkan stream twice, we arrived at some hot springs, 
 about three or four miles, in the winding course we wereobliged to take, 
 from dusun Tanjong, situated in a low, swampy=spot, about sixty yards 
 in circumference. This is very hot in every part of it, excepting (which 
 is very extraordinary) one place on its eastern side, where, although a 
 hot spring is bubbling up within one yard of it, the water running from 
 it is as cold as common spring water. In consequence of the excessive 
 heat of the place, and softness of the ground, none of us could get close 
 to the springs; but upon putting the thermometer within three yards of 
 them, it immediately rose to 120° of Fahrenheit. _We-could not bear 
 our fingers any time in the water. It tasted copperish and. bitter; 
 there was a strong sulphureous smell at the place, and a green sediment 
 at the bottom and sides of the spring, with a reddish or copper-coloured 
 
 scum 
 
 309 
 
 Hot springs. 
 
 
 

 
 310 
 
 Ranjaus, 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 scum floating on the surface. After again crossing the Jkan stream 
 we arrived at dusun Simpang. The enemy had been here, and had 
 burned nearly half of the village, and carried off the inhabitants. The 
 road from Tanjong to Simpang was entirely through a succession of pep- 
 per-gardens and rice plantations. We are now among the hills. Coun- 
 try in a higher state of cultivation than near the coast, but nearly de- 
 serted, and must soon become a waste. Could not get intelligence of the 
 enemy. Built huts on Ayer Ikan, at Napah Kapah. 17th. Marchedin 
 a S. direction, and crossed Ayer Tubbu, passing a number of durian trees 
 on its bank. Again crossed the stream several times. Arrived early at 
 Tabé-si-kuddi, a small talang, where the enemy had built three batteries 
 or entrenchments, and left behind them a quantity of grain, but vege- 
 tating and unfit for use. Previously to our reaching these entrenchments 
 some of the detachment got wounded in the feet with ranjaus, set very 
 thickly in the ground in every direction, and which obliged us to be 
 very cautious in our steps, until we arrived at the banks of a small rivulet, 
 called the Nibong, two or three miles beyond them. anjaus are’ slips 
 of bamboo, sharpened at each end; the part that is stuck in the ground 
 being thicker than the opposite end, which decreases to a fine, thin 
 point, and is hardened by dipping it in oil and applying it to the smoke 
 of a lamp near the flame. They are planted in the foot-paths, some- 
 times erect, sometimes sloping, in small holes, or in muddy and miry 
 places, and when trodden upon (for they are so well concealed as not to 
 be easily seen) they pierce through the foot and make a most disagree- 
 able wound, the bamboo leaving in it a rough, hairy stuff it has on its 
 outside, which irritates, inflames, and prevents it from healing. The 
 whole of the road this day lay over a succession of steep hills, and in the 
 
 _ latter part covered with deep forests. ‘The whole of the detachment did 
 
 not reach our huts on the bank of the Nibong stream till evening, much 
 time being consumed in bringing on the mortar and magazine. Picked 
 up pouches, musket stocks, &c. and saw new huts, near one of which 
 was a quantity of clotted blood and a fresh grave. 18th. Proceeded 
 ENE. and passed several rivulets. Regained the banks of the Jpw river, 
 running NE. to SW. here tolerably broad and shallow, being a succession 
 of rapids over a rough, stony bed. Encamped both this night and the 
 last where the enemy had built huts. 19th. Marched in aN, direction. 
 More 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 More of the detachment wounded by ranjaus planted in the path-ways. 
 Roads slippery and bad from rains, and the hills so steep, it is with dif- 
 ficulty we get the mortar and heavy baggage forward. Killed a green 
 snake with black spots along its back ; about four feet long, four to five 
 inches in girt, and with a thick, stumpy tail. The natives say its bite 
 
 is venomous. Our course to-day has been N. along the banks of the Zpu ’ 
 
 river ; the noise of the rapids so great, that when near it we can with 
 difficulty hear each other speak. 20th. Continued along the river, cross- 
 ing it several times. Came to a hot spring, in the water of which the 
 thermometer rose to 100°, at a considerable distance from its source. 
 The road to-day tolerably level and good. We were much plagued by a 
 small kind of leech, which dropped on us from the leaves of the trees, 
 and got withinside our clothes. We were, in consequence, on our halt- 
 ing every day, obliged to strip and bathe ourselves, in order to detach 
 them from our bodies, filled with the blood they had sucked from us. 
 They were not above an inch in length, and before they fixed themselves, 
 as thin as a needle, so that they could penetrate our dress in any part. 
 We encamped this evening at the conflux of the Simpang stream and Jpu 
 river. Our huts were generally thatched with the par or wild carda- 
 mum leaf, which grows in great abundance on the banks of the rivers 
 in this part of the country. It bears a pleasant acid fruit, growing much 
 in the same way as the maiz. In long journeys through the woods, 
 when other provisions fail, the natives live principally on this. The leaf 
 is something like that of the plantain, but not nearly so large. 21st. 
 Arrived at a spot called Dingau-benar, from whence we-were obliged to 
 return on account of the coolies not being able to descend a hill which 
 was at least an hundred and fifty yards high, and nearly perpendicular. 
 In effecting it we were obliged to cling to the trees and roots, without 
 which assistance it would have been impracticable. It was nearly even- 
 ing before one half of the detachment had reached the bottom, and it 
 rained so excessively hard, that we were obliged to remain divided for 
 the night ; the rear party on the top of the steep hill, and the advanced 
 on the brow of another hill. One of the guides and a Malay cooley 
 were drowned in attempting to find a ford across the Zpu river. I. was 
 along time before we could get any fire, every thing being completely 
 
 soaked through, and the greater part of the poor fellows had not time to 
 build 
 
 Leeches, 
 
 31] 
 
 
 
312 | SUMATRA. 
 
 build huts for themselves. Military disposition for guarding baggage, 
 preventing surprise, &c. 22d. We had much difficulty in getting the 
 mortar and its bed down, being obliged to make use of long, thick rat- 
 tans, tied to them, and successively to several trees. It was realy admi- 
 rable to observe the patience of the sepoys and Bengal convicts on this 
 occasion. On mustering the coolies, found that nearly one half had run 
 during the night, which obliged us to fling away twenty bags of rice, 
 besides salt and other articles. Our course lay N. crossing the river 
 several times. My poor faithful dog Gruff was carried away by the 
 violence of the stream and lost. We were obliged to make bridges, by 
 cutting down tall trees, laying them across the stream, and interlacing 
 them with rattans. 
 
 “© We were now between two ranges of very high hills ; on our right 
 hand Bukit Pandang, seen from a great distance at sea; the road shock- 
 ingly bad. Encamped on the western bank, 23d. Marched in a N. 
 direction ; the roads almost impassable. The river suddenly swelled so 
 much, that the rear party could not join the advanced, which was so 
 fortunate as to occupy huts built by the enemy. There were fires in two 
 of them. We were informed, however, that the Serampei and Sungei- 
 tenang people often come this distance to catch fish, which they dry and 
 carry back'to their country. At certain times of the year great quan- 
 tities of the ringkis and ikan-gadis are taken, besides a kind of large 
 conger-eel. We frequently had fish, when time would admit of the 
 people catching them. It is-impossible to describe the difficulties we 
 had to encounter in consequence of the heavy rains, badness of the roads, 
 and rapidity of the river. The sepoy officer and many men ill of fluxes 
 and fevers, and lame with swelled and sore feet. 24th. Military precau- 
 tions. Powder damaged. Thunder and lightning, with torrents of rain. 
 Almost the whole of the rice rotten or sour. 25th. Continued to march 
 up the banks of the river. No inhabitants in this part of the country. 
 
 pp pnd The compass for these several days has been very irregular. We have 
 ‘ two with us, and they do not at all agree. The road less bad. At one 
 
 place we saw bamboos of the thickness of a man’s thigh. ‘There were 
 
 myriads of very small flies this evening, which teazed us much. Occu- 
 
 pied some huts we found on the eastern bank. This is Christmas even- 
 
 ing ; 
 
 
 
aot ok ee ee Lew 
 
 SUMATRA. 313 
 
 ing; to us, God knows, a dull one. Our wines and liquors nearly 
 expended, and we have but one miserable half-starved chicken left, al- 
 though we have been on short allowance the whole way. 26th. Roads 
 tolerable. Passed a spot called Kappah, and soon after a waterfall, 
 named /pu-machang, about sixty feet high. Picked up a sick man be- 
 longing to the enemy. He informed us that there were between two 
 and three hundred men collected at Koto Tuggoh, under the command 
 of Sutan Sidi, Sutan Asing, and Pa Muncha. ‘These three chiefs made 
 a festival, killing buffaloes, as is usual with the natives of Sumatra on 
 such occasions, at this place, and received every assistance from the 
 principal Dupati, who is also father-in-law to Pa Muncha._ They pos- 
 sess sixty stand of muskets, beside blunderbusses and wall-pieces. They 
 had quitted the Company’s districts about twenty-three days ago, and 
 are gone, some to Koto Tuggoh, and others to Pakalang-jambu. 27th. 
 Marched in a NNE. direction; passed over a steep hill which took us 
 three hours hard walking. The river is now very narrow and rapid, not 
 above twelve feet across; it is a succession of waterfalls every three or 
 four yards. After this our road was intricate, winding, and bad. We 
 had to ascend a high chasm formed in the rock, which was effected by 
 ladders from one shelf to another. Arrived at the foot of Bukit Pandang, 
 where we found huts, and occupied them for the night.. We have been 
 ascending the whole of this day. Very cold and rainy. At night we 
 were glad to make large fires, and use our blankets and woollen clothes. 
 Having now but little rice left, we were obliged to put ourselves to an 
 allowance of one bamboo or gallon measure among ten-men; and the 
 greater part of that rotten. 28th. Ascended Bukit Pandang in an ENE. Ascend ahigh 
 direction. Reached a small spring of water called Pondo Kubang, the only — 
 one to be met with till the hill is descended. About two miles from the 
 top, and from thence all the way up, the trees and ground were co- 
 vered very thick with moss; the trees much stunted, and altogether the 
 appearance was barren and gloomy ; to us particularly so, for we could 
 find little or nothing wherewith to build our huts, nor procure a bit of 
 dry wood to light a fire. In order to make one for dressing the victuals, 
 Lieut. Dare was compelled to break up one of his boxes, otherwise he 
 and Mr. Alexander, the surgeon, must have eaten them raw. It rained 
 hard all night, and the coolies and most of the party were obliged to lie 
 25 down 
 
 
 

 
 314 
 
 Men die from 
 severity of 
 weather. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 down on the wet ground in the midst of it.. It was exceedingly cold to 
 our feelings ; in the evening the thermometer was down to 50°, and in 
 the night to 45°. In consequence of the cold, inclemency, and fatigue, 
 to which the coolies were exposed, seven of them died that night. The 
 lieutenant and surgeon made themselves a kind of shelter with four tar- 
 paulins that were fortunately provided to cover the medicine chest and 
 surgical instruments, but the place was so small, that it scarcely held 
 them both. - In the evening when the former was sitting on his camp- 
 stool, whilst the people were putting up the tarpaulins, a very small 
 bird, perfectly black, came hopping about the stool, picking up the 
 worms from the moss. It was so tame and fearless, that it frequently 
 perched itself on his foot, and on different parts of the stool ; which 
 
 shews that these parts of the country must be very little frequented by 
 
 human beings. 29th. Descended Bukit Pandang. Another cooley died 
 this morning. We are obliged to fling away shells. After walking 
 some time many of the people recovered, as it was principally from 
 cold and damps they suffered. Crossed a stream called Znwm, where 
 we saw several huts. In half an hour more arrived at the banks of the 
 greater Ayer Dikit river, which is here shallow, rapid, and about eighty 
 yards broad. We marched westerly along its banks, and reached a hut 
 opposite to a spot called Rantau Kramas, where we remained for the 
 
 ‘night, being prevented from crossing by a flood. 30th. Cut down a 
 
 large tree and threw it across the river ; it reached about half way over. 
 With this, and the assistance of rattans tied to the opposite side, we 
 effected our passage and arrived at Rantau Kramas. Sent off people 
 to Ranna Alli, one of the Serampei villages, about a day’s march from 
 hence, for provisions. ‘Therm, 59”. 
 
 The greater Ayer Dikit river, on the N. side of which this place lies, 
 runs nearly from E, to W. ‘There are four or five bamboo huts at it, 
 for the temporary habitation of travellers passing and repassing this way, 
 being in the direction from the Serampe: to the Swrigei-tenang country. 
 These huts are covered with bamboos (in plenty here) split and placed 
 like pantiles, transversely over each other, forming, when the bamboos 
 are well-grown, a capital and lasting roof (see p. 58). 31st. A Malay 
 man and woman taken by our people report, that the enemy, thirteen 
 
 days 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 days ago, had proceeded two days march beyond Koto Tuggoh. Received 
 some provisions from Ranna Alli. The enemy, we are informed, have 
 dug holes, and put long stakes into them, set spring-spears, and planted: 
 the road very thickly with ranjaus, and were collecting their force at 
 Koto Tuggoh (signifying the strong fortress) to receive us. 1805. Jan. 
 ist and 2d. Received some small supplies of provisions. 
 
 ‘* On the 3d we were saluted by shouting and firing of the enemy from 
 the heights around us. Parties were immediately sent off in different 
 directions, as the nature of the ground allowed. The advanced party 
 had only time to fire two rounds, when the enemy retired to a strong 
 position on the top of a steep hill where they had thrown up a breast- 
 work, which they disputed for a short time. On our getting possession 
 of it, they divided into three parties and fled. We had one sepoy 
 killed, and several of the detachment wounded by the ranjaus. Many 
 of the enemy were killed and wounded, and the paths they had taken 
 covered with blood; but it is impossible to tell their numbers, as they 
 always carry them off the moment they drop, considering it a disgrace 
 to leave them on the field of battle. If they get any of the bodies of 
 their enemies, they immediately strike off the head, and fix it on along 
 pole, carrying it to their village as a trophy, and addressing to it every 
 sort of abusive language. Those taken alive in battle are made slaves. 
 After completely destroying every thing in the battery, we marched, 
 and arrived at the top of a very high hill; where we built huts for 
 the evening. The road was thickly planted: with,xanjaus, which, with 
 the heavy rains, impeded our progress, and prevented us from reaching 
 a place called Danau-pau. Our course to-day has been NE. and eas- 
 terly ; the roads shockingly bad, and we were obliged to leave behind 
 several coolies and two sepoys, who were unable to accompany us. 4th, 
 Obliged to fling away the bullets of the cartridges, three-fourths of 
 which were damaged, and other articles. Most of the detachment sick 
 with fluxes and fevers, or wounded in the feet. arched in an eastern 
 direction. Reached a spot very difficult to pass, being knee-deep in 
 mud for a considerable way, with ranjaus concealed in the mud, and 
 spring-spears set in many places. We were obliged to creep through a 
 thicket of canes and bamboos. About noon the advanced party arrived 
 
 282 at 
 
 Come up with 
 the enemy. 
 
 Attack. 
 
 
 

 
 316 
 
 Entrench- 
 ments at- 
 tacked and 
 carried. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 ata lake, and discovered that the enemy were on the opposite side of a 
 small stream that ran from the lake, where they had entrenched them- 
 selves behind four small batteries, in a most advantageous position, being 
 on the top of a steep hill, of difficult access, with the stream on one side, 
 the lake on the other, and the other parts surrounded by a swamp. We 
 immediately commenced the attack, but were unable, from the number 
 of ranjaus in the only accessible part, to make a push on to the enemy. 
 However, about one o’clock, we effected our purpose, and completely 
 got possession of the entrenchments, which, had they been properly 
 defended, must have cost us more than the half of our detachment. We 
 had four sepoys severely wounded, and almost the whole of our feet 
 dreadfully cut. Numbers of the enemy were killed and wounded. They 
 defended each of the batteries with some obstinacy against our fire, but 
 when once we came near them, they could not stand our arms, and ran 
 in every direction. At this place there are no houses nor inhabitants, 
 but only temporary huts, built by the Swigez-tenang people, who come 
 here occasionally to fish. The lake, which is named Danau-pau, has 
 a most beautiful appearance, being like a great amphitheatre; sur- 
 
 rounded by high and steep mountains covered with forests. It is about 
 
 Motives for 
 returning to 
 the coast. 
 
 two miles in diameter. We occupied some huts built by the enemy. 
 The place is thickly surrounded with bamboos. 
 
 ‘© In consequence of the number of our sick and wounded, the small 
 strength of coolies to carry their baggage, and the want of medicines 
 and ammunition, as well as of provisions, we thought it advisable to 
 return to Rantau Kramas ; and to effect this, we were obliged to fling 
 away the mortar-bed, shells, and a number of other things. We 
 marched at noon, and arrived in the evening at the top of the hill where 
 we had before encamped, and remained for the night. 6th. Reached 
 Rantau Kramas. ‘7th. Marching in torrents of rain. People exceedingly 
 harassed, reduced, and emaciated. Relieved by the arrival of Seramper 
 people with some provisions from Ranna Alli. 8th. After a most fa- 
 tiguing march, arrived at that place half-dead with damps and cold. 
 The bearers of the litters for the sick were absolutely knocked up, and 
 we were obliged to the sepoys for getting on as we did. Our route was 
 NW. with little variation, 9th. Remained at Ranna Alli. This serampec 
 
 village 
 
 ”~ 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 village consists of about fifteen houses, and may contain an hundred 
 and fifty or two hundred inhabitants. It is thickly planted all round 
 with a tall hedge of live bamboos, on the outside of which ranjaus are 
 planted to the distance of thirty or forty feet. Within side of the hedge 
 there is a bamboo pagar or paling. — It is situated on a steep hill sur- 
 rounded by others, which in many places are cleared to their tops, 
 where the inhabitants have their /adangs or rice plantations. ‘They 
 appeared to be a quiet, inoffensive set of people; their language differ- 
 ent from the Malayan, which most of them spoke, but very imperfectly 
 and hardly to be understood by us. On our approach, the women and 
 children ran to their ladangs, being, as their husbands informed us, 
 afraid of the sepoys. Of the women whom we saw, almost every one 
 had the goitres or swellings under the throat ; and it seemed to be more 
 prevalent with these than with the men. One woman in particular had 
 two protuberances, dangling at her neck as big as quart bottles. 
 
 <¢ There are three dupatis and four mantris to this village, to whom we 
 made presents, and afterwards to the wives and families of the inhabitants. 
 10th and 11th. Preparing for our march to Moco-moco, where we can 
 recruit our force, and procure supplies of stores and ammunition. 12th. 
 Marched in a N. and NW. direction. Passed over a bridge of curious 
 construction across the Ayer Aburiver. It was formed of bamboos tied 
 together with iju ropes, and suspended to the trees, whose branches 
 stretched nearly over the stream. 
 peter ort 
 “ The Serampei women are the worst favoured creatures we ever saw, 
 and uncouth in their manners. Arrived at Tanjong Kasirz, another for- 
 tified village, more populous than Ranna Alli. 13th. The sick and heavy 
 baggage were ordered to Tanjong Agung, another Seramper village. 14th. 
 Arrived at Ayer Grau or Abu, a small river, within a yard or two of 
 which we saw columns of smoke issuing from the earth, where there 
 were hot springs of water bubbling up in a number of places. The 
 stream was quite warm for several yards, and the ground and stones were 
 so hot, that there was no standing on them for any length of time. The 
 large pieces of quartz, pumice, and other stones apparently burnt, in- 
 duce us to suppose there must have formerly been a volcano at this 
 | spot, 
 
 317 
 
 Goitres. 
 
 Hanging 
 bridge. 
 
 Hot springs. 
 
 
 

 
 318 
 
 Coconuts. 
 
 Cassia. 
 
 Peculiar re- 
 gulation. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 spot, which is a deep vale, surrounded by high hills. Arrived much 
 fatigued at Tanjong Agung, where the head dupati received us in his — 
 best style. He seemed to know more of European customs and manners 
 than those whom we have hitherto met with, and here, for the first time 
 since quitting the pu district, we got coconuts, which he presented to 
 us. We saw numbers of cassia-trees in our march to-day. The bark, 
 which the natives brought us in quantities, is sweet, but thick and 
 coarse, and much inferior to cinnamon. — This is the last and best for- 
 tified village in the Serampei: country, bordering on the forests between 
 that and Anak-Swigei. They have a custom here of never allowing 
 any animal to be killed in any part of the village but the balez or town- 
 hall ; unless the person wishing to do otherwise consents to pay a fine 
 of one fathom of cotton-cloth to the priest for his permission. The old 
 dupati told us there had been formerly a great deal of sickness and blood- 
 shed in the village, and it had been predicted, that unless this custom 
 were complied with, the like would happen again. We paid the fine, 
 had the prayers of the priest, and killed our goats where and as we 
 pleased. 16th. Marched in a south-westerly direction, and, after pass- 
 ing many steep hills, reached the lesser Ayer Dikit river, which we 
 crossed, and built our huts on its western bank. 17th. Marched in a 
 
 - west, and afterwards a south, direction; the roads, in consequence of 
 
 the rain ceasing to-day, tolerably dry and good, but over high hills. Ar- 
 rived at Ayer Prikan, and encamped on its western bank; its course 
 N. and S. over a rough, stony bed; very rapid, and about thirty yards 
 across, at the foot of Bukit Lintang. Saw to-day abundance of cassia- 
 trees. 18th. Proceeded to ascend Bukit Lintang, which in the first part 
 was excessively steep and fatiguing; our route N. and NW. when de-. 
 scending, SSW. Arrived at one of the sources of the Swigei=ipu.  De- 
 scending still farther we reached a small spring, where we built our 
 huts. 19th. On our march this day we were gratified by the receipt of 
 letters from our friends at Bencoolen, by the way of Moco-moco, from 
 whence the Resident, Mr. Russell, sent us a supply of wine and.other 
 refreshments, which we had not tasted for fourteen days. Our course: 
 lay along the banks of the Swzgei-ipu, and we arrived at huts prepared 
 for us by Mr. Russell. 20th. At one time our guide lost the proper 
 path, by mistaking for it the track of a rhinoceros (which are in great — 
 numbers 
 
ad £1 ee 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 numbers in these parts), and we got into a place where we were teazed 
 with myriads of leeches. Our road, excepting two or three small hills, 
 was level and good. Reached the confluence of the Jpw and Si Luggan 
 rivers, the latter of which rises in the Korinchi country. Passed Gunong 
 Payong, the last hill, as we approached Moco-moco, near to which had 
 been a village formerly burnt and the inhabitants made slaves by Pa 
 Muncha and the then tuanku mudo (son of the sultan). 21st. Arrived at 
 talang Rantau Riang, the first Moco-moco or Anak-Surgei village, where 
 we found provisions dressed for us. At dusun Si Ballowé, to which our 
 road lay south-easterly, through pepper and rice plantations, sampans 
 were in readiness to convey us down the river. This place is remark- 
 able for an arau tree (casuarina), the only one met with at such a 
 distance from the sea. The country is here level in comparison with 
 what we have passed through, and the soil rather sandy, with a mixture 
 of red clay. 22d. The course of the river is SW. and W. with many 
 windings. Arrived at Moco-moco. 
 
 ‘© Fort Ann lies on the southern and the settlement on the northern side 
 of the Sz: Luggan river, which name belongs properly to the place also, 
 and that of Moco-moco to a small village higher up. The bazar consists 
 of about one hundred houses, all full of children. At the northern end 
 is the sultan’s, which has nothing particular to distinguish it, but only 
 its being larger than other Malay houses. Great quantities of fish are 
 procured at this place, and sold cheap. ‘The trade is principally with 
 the hill-people, in salt, piece-goods, iron, steel, and,oprum; for which 
 the returns are provisions, timber, and alittle gold-dust. . Formerly 
 there was a trade carried on with the Padang and other aéé avigin peo- 
 ple, but it is now dropped. ‘The soil is sandy, low, and flat. 
 
 ‘< It being still necessary to make an example of the Suzigez-tenang peo- 
 ple for assisting the three hostile chiefs in their depredations, in order 
 thereby to deter others from doing the same in future; and the men 
 being now recovered from their fatigue, and furnished with the requisite 
 supplies, the detachment began to march, on the 9th of February, for 
 Ayer Dikit. It now consists of Lieut. Dare, Mr. Alexander, surgeon, 
 seventy sepoys, including officers, twenty-seven lascars and Bengal con- 
 
 victs, 
 
 319 
 
 Description 
 of Moco- 
 moco,. 
 
 Expedition 
 resumed. 
 
 
 

 
 3203 
 
 Account of 
 Serampei 
 country and 
 people. 
 
 Gome up 
 with the 
 enemy. 
 
 First attack 
 fails. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 victs, and eleven of the bugis-guard. Left the old mortar, and took 
 with us one of smaller calibre. | From the 10th to the 22d occupied in 
 our march to the Serampei village of Ranna Alli. The people of this 
 country acknowledge themselves the subjects of the sultan of Jambi, 
 who sometimes, but rarely, exacts a tribute from them of a buffalo, a 
 tail of gold, and an hundred bamboos of rice from each village. They 
 are accustomed to carry burthens of from sixty to ninety pounds weight, 
 on journeys that take them twenty or thirty days; and it astonishes a 
 low-lander to see with what ease they walk over these hills, generally 
 going a shuffling or ambling pace. Their loads are placed in a long, 
 triangular basket, supported by a fillet across the forehead, resting 
 upon the back and back part of the head, the broadest end of the tri- 
 angle being uppermost, considerably above the head, and the small end 
 coming down as low as the loins. The Serampei country, comprehend- 
 ing fifteen fortified and independent dusuns, beside talangs or small open 
 villages, is bounded on the north and north-west by Korinchi, on the 
 east, south-east, and south, by Pakalang-jambu and Suzigei-tenang, and 
 on the west and south-west by the greater Ayer Dikit river and chain of 
 high mountains bordering on the Suzigei-ipu country. 23d. Reached 
 Rantau Kramas. Took possession of the batteries, which the enemy 
 had considerably improved in our absence, collecting large quantities 
 of stones; but they were not manned, probably from not expecting 
 our return so soon. 24th. Arrived at those of Danau-pau, which had 
 also been strengthened. The roads being dry and weather fine, we are 
 enabled to make tolerably long marches. Our advanced party nearly 
 caught one of the enemy planting ranjaus, and in retreating he wounded 
 himself with them. 25th. Passed many small rivulets discharging them- 
 selves into the lake at this place. 26th. The officer commanding the 
 advanced party sent word that the enemy were at a short distance 
 a-head ; that they had felled a number of trees to obstruct the road, and 
 had thrown an entrenchment across it, extending from one swamp and 
 precipice to another; where they waited to receive us. When the 
 whole of the detachment had come up, we marched on to the attack, 
 scrambled over the trees, and with great difficulty got the mortar over. 
 The first onset was not attended with success, and our men were drop- 
 ping fast, not being able to advance on account of the ranjaus, which 
 
 almost 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 almost pinned their feet to the ground. Seeing that the entrenchments 
 were not to be carried in front, a swbedar, with thirty sepoys, and the 
 bugis-guard, were ordered to endeavour to pass the swamp on the right, 
 find out a path-way, and attack the enemy on the flank and rear, while 
 the remainder should, on a preconcerted signal, make an attack on the 
 front at the same time. ‘To prevent the enemy from discovering our 
 intentions, the drums were kept beating, and a few random shots fired. 
 Upon the signal being given, a general attack commenced, and our 
 success was complete. The enemy, of whom there were, as we reckon, 
 three or four hundred within the entrenchments, were soon put to the 
 rout, and, after losing great numbers, among whom was the head dupati, 
 a principal instigator of the disturbances, fled in all directions. We 
 lost two sepoys killed and seven wounded, beside several much hurt by 
 the ranjaus. ‘The mortar played during the time, but is not supposed to 
 have done much execution, on account of the surrounding trees. ‘The 
 entrenchments were constructed of large trees laid horizontally between 
 stakes driven into the ground, about seven feet high, with loop-holes for 
 firing. Being laid about six feet thick, a cannon-ball could not have 
 penetrated. They extended eighty or ninety yards, The head-man’s 
 quarters were a large tree hollowed at the root. 
 
 <¢ As soon as litters could be made for the wounded; and the killed were 
 buried, we continued our march in an eastern direction, and in about 
 an hour arrived at another battery, which, however, was not defended. 
 In front of this the enemy had tied a number of long,-sharp stakes to a 
 stone, which was suspended to the bough of a tree, and by swinging it, 
 their plan was to wound us. Crossed the Tambesi rivulet, flowing from 
 south to north, and one of the contributary streams to the Jamdz river, 
 which discharges itself into the sea on the eastern side of the island. 
 Built our huts near a field of maiz and padi. 27th. Marched to Kofo 
 Tuggoh, from whence the inhabitants fled on our throwing one shell and 
 firing a few muskets, and we took possession of the place, It is situated 
 on a high hill, nearly perpendicular on three sides, the easiest entrance 
 being on the west, but it is there defended by a ditch seven fathoms 
 deep and five wide. The place contains the balle: and about twenty 
 
 houses, built in general of plank very neatly put together, and carved ; 
 2T and 
 
 $21 
 
 Entrench- 
 ments Car- 
 ried, 
 
 Their con- 
 struction. 
 
 Arrive at a 
 stream run- 
 ning into 
 Jambi river. 
 
 Koto Tug- 
 goh. 
 
 
 
322 SUMATRA. 
 
 and some of them were also roofed with planks or. shingles, about two 
 
 feet long and one broad. The others, with the leaves of the puar or 
 cardamum, which are again very thinly covered with ju. This is said 
 to last long, but harbours vermin, as we experienced. When we entered 
 the village we met with only one person, who was deformed, dumb, and 
 had more the appearance of a monkey than a human creature. March 
 Destroyed. Ist, After completely destroying Koto Tuggoh, we marched in a N. and 
 Eater} Koto afterwards an E. direction, and arrived at Koto Bharu. The head dupati 
 '. yequesting a parley, it was granted, and, on our promising not to injure 
 his village, he allowed us to take possession of it. We found in the place 
 a number of Batang Asei and other people, armed with muskets, blunder- 
 busses, and spears. At our desire, he sent off people to the other Suzigei- 
 tenang villages, to summon their chiefs to meet us, if they chose to shew 
 themselves friends, or otherwise we should proceed against them as we 
 had done against Koto Tuggoh. This dupati was a respectable looking 
 old man, and tears trickled down his cheeks when matters were amica- 
 bly settled between us: indeed, for some time, he could hardly be con- 
 vinced of it, and repeatedly asked, “‘ Are we friends?” 2d. The chiefs. 
 met as desired, and after a short conversation agreed to all that we pro- 
 aha posed. Papers were thereupon drawn up, and signed and sworn to under 
 the British colours. After this, a shell was thrown into the air, at the 
 
 request of the chiefs, who were desirous of witnessing the sight. 
 now i «* Their method of swearing was as follows: The young shoots of the 
 oath. anau-tree were made into a kind of rope, with the leaves hanging, and 
 this was attached to four stakes stuck in the ground, forming an area of 
 five or six feet square, within which a mat was spread, where those 
 about to take the oath seated themselves. A small branch of the prickly 
 bamboo was planted in the area also, and benzoin was kept burning 
 during the ceremony. The chiefs then laid their hands on the koran, 
 held to them by a priest, and one of them repeated to the rest the 
 substance of the oath, who, at the pauses he made, gave a nod of 
 assent; after which they severally said, ‘‘ may the earth become bar- 
 ren, the air and water poisonous, and may dreadful calamities fall on 
 us and our posterity, if we do not fulfil what we now agree to and 
 7 promise.” 
 
 % « We 
 
 
 
SUMATRA: 
 
 * We met here with little or no fruit, excepting plantains and pine- 
 apples, and these of an indifferent sort. The general produce of the 
 country was maiz, padi, potatoes, sweet potatoes, tobacco, and sugar- 
 canes. The principal part of their clothing was procured from the 
 eastern side of the island. They appear to have no regular season for 
 sowing the grain, and we saw plantations where in one part they had 
 taken in the crop, in another part it was nearly ripe, in a third not above 
 five inches high, and in a fourth they had but just prepared the ground 
 for sowing. Upon the whole, there appeared more cultivation than near 
 the coast. It is a practice with many individuals among these people 
 (as with mountaineers in some parts of Europe) to leave their country in 
 order to seek employment where they can find it, and at the end of three 
 or four years revisit their native soil, bringing with them the produce of 
 their labours. If they happen to be successful, they become itinerant 
 merchants, and travel to almost all parts of the island, particularly where 
 fairs are held, or else purchase a match-lock-gun, and become soldiers 
 of fortune, hiring themselves to whoever will pay them, but always ready 
 to come forward in defence of their country and families. They are a 
 thick, stout, dark race of people, something resembling the Achinese ; 
 and in general they are addicted to smoking opium. We had no oppor- 
 tunity of seeing the Suzgei-tenang women. The men are very fantastical 
 in their dress. Their bajus have the sleeves blue, perhaps, whilst the 
 body is white, with stripes of red or any other colour over the shoulders, 
 and their short breeches are generally one half blue and the other white, 
 just as fancy leads them. Others again are dressed_entirely-in blue 
 cotton cloth, the same as the inhabitants of the-west coast. The bag 
 containing their sirih or betel hangs over the shoulder by a string, if it 
 may be so termed, of brass-wire. Many of them have also twisted brass- 
 wire round the waist, in which they stick their Arises. They commonly 
 carry charms about their persons to preserve them from accidents; one 
 of which was shewn to us, printed (at Batavia or Samarang in Java) in 
 Dutch, Portuguese, and French. It purported that the writer was ac- 
 quainted with the occult sciences, and that whoever possessed one of the 
 papers impressed with his mark (which was the figure of a hand with the 
 thumb and fingers extended) was invulnerable and free from all kinds of 
 harm. It desired the people to be very cautious of taking any such, printed 
 
 2T 2 in 
 
 $28 
 
 Account of 
 Sungei-te- 
 nang coun- 
 try. 
 
 Manners of 
 people. 
 
 Charms. 
 
 
 
524 SUMATRA. 
 
 in London (where, certainly, none were ever printed), as the English 
 would endeavour to counterfeit them and to impose on the purchasers, 
 being all cheats. (Whether we consider this as a political or a mer- 
 cantile speculation, it is not a little extraordinary and ridiculous). The 
 houses here, as well as in the Serampe? country, are all built on posts 
 of what they call paku gajah (elephant-fern, chamzrops palma, Lour). 
 a tree something resembling a fern, and when full-grown, a palm-tree. 
 It is of a fibrous nature, black, and lasts for a great length of time. 
 Every dusun has a ballet er town-hal}, about an hundred and twenty feet 
 long and proportionably broad, the wood-work of which is neatly carved. 
 The dwelling-houses contam five, six, or seven families each, and the 
 country is populous. The inhabitants both of Swigei-tenang and Seram- 
 pet are Mahometans, and acknowledge themselves subjects of Jambz. 
 The former country, so well as we were able to ascertain, is bounded 
 on»the N. and NW. by Korinchi and Serampei, on the W. and SW. 
 by the Anak-suriget or Moco-moco and Ipu districts, on the S. by 
 Labun, and on the E. by Batang Aset and Pakalang-jambu. 3d. 
 Marched on our return to the coast, many of the principal people at- 
 tending us as far as the last of their plantations. It rained hard almost 
 Retum to the whole of this day. On the 14th arrived at Moco-moco; on the 22d 
 proceeded for Bencoolen, and arrived there on the 30th March, 1805, 
 | after one of the most fatiguing and harassing expeditions any detach- 
 . ment of troops ever served upon; attended with the sickness of the 
 whole of the party, and the death of many, particularly of Mr. Alex- 
 ander, the surgeon.” It is almost unnecessary to observe, that these 
 were the consequences of the extreme impolicy of sending an expedi- 
 tion up the country in the heart of the rainy season. The public orders 
 _ issued on the occasion were highly creditable to Lieutenant Dare. 
 
 ¥. Malayan 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 Malayan States—Ancient Empire of Menangkabau—Origin of the Malays and 
 general acceptation of Name—Evidences of their Migration from Sumatra 
 — Succession of Malayan Princes—Present State of the Empire—Titles of 
 the Sultan—Ceremonies—Conversion to Mahometan Religion— Literature 
 —Arts—Warfare—Government. 
 
 I SHALL now take a more particular view of the Malayan states, as 
 distinguished from those of the people termed orang ulu or countrymen, 
 and orang dusun or villagers, who, not being generally converted to the 
 Mahometan religion, have thereby preserved a more original character. 
 
 The principal government, and whose jurisdiction in ancient times is 
 understood to have comprehended the whole of Sumatra, is Menangka- 
 bau,* situated under the equinoctial line, beyond the western range of 
 high mountains, and nearly in the centre of the island; in which respect 
 it differs from Malayan establishments in other parts, which are almost 
 universally near the mouths of large rivers. Ihe appellations, however, 
 of orang menangkabau and orang malayo are so much identified, that 
 previously to entering upon an account of the former, it wall be useful 
 to throw as much light as possible upon the latter, and to ascertain. to 
 what description of people the name of Malays, be by Europeans 
 upon all who resemble them in features and complexion, properly be- 
 
 longs. 
 
 It has hitherto been considered as an obvious truth, and admitted 
 without 
 
 2 The name is said to be derived from the words menang, signifying “to win,” and karbau, 
 a buffalo; from a story, carrying a very fabulous air, of a famous engagement on that spot 
 between the buffaloes and tigers, in which the former are stated to have acquired a com- 
 plete victory. Such is the account the natives give; but they are fond of dealing in 
 fiction, and the etymology has probably no better foundation than a fanciful resemblance 
 
 of sound, 
 
 
 
 325 
 
 Malayan 
 states. 
 
 Empire of 
 Menangka- 
 bau. 
 
 Origin of 
 Maiays. 
 
 
 

 
 Migration 
 
 from Suma- 
 tra. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 without examination, that wherever they are found upon the numerous 
 islands forming this archipelago, they, or their ancestors, must have 
 migrated from the country named by Europeans (and by them alone) 
 the Malayan peninsula or peninsula of Malacca, of which the indigenous 
 and proper inhabitants were understood to be Malays ; and accordingly 
 in the former editions of this work I spoke of the natives of Menavigkabau 
 as having acquired their religion, language, manners, and other national 
 characteristics, from the settling among them of genuine Malays from 
 the neighbouring continent. It will, however, appear from the authori- 
 ties I shall produce, amounting as nearly to positive evidence as the 
 nature of the subject will admit, that the present possessors of the coasts 
 of the peninsula were, on the contrary, in the first instance adventurers 
 from Sumatra, who, in the twelfth century, formed an establishment 
 there, and that the indigenous inhabitants, gradually driven by them to 
 the woods and mountains, so far from being the stock from whence the 
 Malays were propagated, are an entirely different race of men, nearly 
 approaching in their physical character to the negroes of Africa. 
 
 The evidences of this migration from Sumatra are chiefly found in two 
 Malayan books well known, by character at least, to those who are 
 conversant with the written language, the one named Taju assalatin or 
 Makuta segala raja-raja, The Crown of all Kings, and the other, more 
 immediately to the purpose, Sulalat assalatin or Penurun-an segala raja- 
 raja, The Descent of all (Malayan) Kings. Of these it has not been 
 my good fortune to obtain copies, but the contents, so far as they apply 
 to the present subject, have been fully detailed by two eminent Dutch 
 writers, to whom the literature of this part of the East was familiar. 
 Petrus van der Worm first communicated the knowledge of these 
 historical treatises in his learned Introduction to the Malayan Vocabulary 
 of Gueynier, printed at Batavia in the year 1677; and extracts to the 
 same effect were afterwards given by Valentyn in Vol. V. p. 316-20 of his 
 elaborate work, published at Amsterdam in 1726. The books are like- 
 wise mentioned in a list of Malayan Authors, by G. H. Werndly, at 
 the end of his Maleische Spraak-kunst, and by the ingenious Dr. Leyden 
 in his Paper on the Languages and Literature of the Indo-Ghinese 
 
 Nations, recently published in Vol. X. of the Asiatic Researches. The 
 
 substance 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 substance of the information conveyed by them is as follows; and I trust 
 it will not be thought that the mixture of a portion of mythological fable 
 in accounts of this nature, invalidates what might otherwise have credit 
 as historical fact. The utmost, indeed, we can pretend to ascertain is, 
 what the natives themselves believe to have been their ancient history ; 
 and it is proper to remark, that in the present question there can be no 
 suspicion of bias from national vanity, as we have reason to presume 
 that the authors of these books were not Sumatrans. 
 
 The original country inhabited by the Malayan race (according to 
 these authorities) was the kingdom of Palembang in the island of Jndalus, 
 now Sumatra, on the river Malayo, which flows by the mountain named 
 Maha-meru, and discharges itself into the river Tatang (on which Pa- 
 lembang stands) before it joins the sea. Having chosen for their king or 
 leader a prince named Sri Turi Buwana, who boasted his descent from 
 Iskander the Great, and to whom, on that account, their natural chief 
 Demang Lebar Daun submitted his authority, they emigrated, under his 
 command, (about the year 1160) to the south-eastern extremity of the 
 opposite peninsula, named Ujong Tanah, where they were at first dis- 
 tinguished by the appellation of orang de-bawah avigin or the Leeward 
 people, but in time the coast became generally known by that of Tanah 
 malayo or the Malayan land. | | 
 
 In this situation they built their first city, which they called ee 
 pura (vulgarly Sincapore), and their rising consequence excited t t 
 
 jealousy of the kings of Maja-pahit, a powerful state in the island of | 
 
 Java. To Sri Turi Buwana, who died in 1208, succeeded Paduka 
 Pikaram Wira, who reigned fifteen years; to him Sri Rama Vikaram, 
 who reigned thirteen, and to him Sri Maharaja, who reigned twelve. 
 His successor, Sri Iskander Shah, was the last king of Sviga-pura. Dur- 
 ing three years he withstood the forees of the king of Maja-pahit, but 
 in 1252, being hard pressed, he retired first to the northward, and af- 
 terwards to the western, coast of the peninsula, where, in the following 
 year, he founded a new city, which under his wise government became. 
 of considerable importance. . To this he gave the name of Malgka, from 
 
 a fruit-bearing tree so called (myrabolanum) found in abundance on the 
 hill 
 
 327 
 
 Malaka 
 built, 
 
 
 

 
 oe ee nee - ee 
 ° “hte ke ~ a “ ai Bio vin 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 hill which gives natural strength to the situation.* Having reigned here 
 twenty-two years, beloved by his subjects and feared by his neighbours, 
 Iskander Shah died in 1274, and was succeeded by Sultan Magat, who 
 reigned only two years. Up to this period the Malayan princes were 
 pagans. Sultan Muhammed Shah, who ascended the throne in 1276, 
 was the first Mahometan prince, and by the propagation of this faith 
 acquired great celebrity during a long reign of fifty-seven years.) His 
 influence appears to have extended over the neighbouring islands of 
 Liigga and Bintan, together with Johor, Patani, Kedah, and Perak, on 
 the coasts of the peninsula, and Campar and Aru in Sumatra; all of 
 which acquired the appellative of Malayo, although it was now more 
 
 especially 
 
 * The account given by John de Barros of the abandonment of the Malayan city of Sifga- 
 pura and foundation of Malacca, differs materially from the above ; and although the autho- 
 rity of a writer, who collected his materials in Lisbon, cannot be put in competition with 
 that of Valentyn, who,passed a long and laborious life amongst the people, and quotes the 
 native historians, I shall give an abstract of his relation, from the sixth book of the second 
 Decade. “ At the period when Cingapura flourished, its king was named Sangesinga ; and 
 in the neighbouring island of Java reigned Pardrisd, upon whose death the latter country 
 became subject to the tyranny of his brother, who put one of his nephews to death, and 
 forced many of the nobles, who took part against him, to seek refuge abroad, Among these 
 was one named Paramiséra, whom Sangesinga received with hospitality that was badly re- 
 quited, for the stranger soon found means to put him to death, and by the assistance of the 
 Javans who accompanied him in his flight, to take possession of the city. The king of Siam, 
 whose son-in-law and vassal the deceased was, assembled a large force by sea and land, and 
 compelled the usurper to evacuate Cingapura with two thousand followers, a part of whom 
 were Cellates (orang sellat men of the Straits) accustomed to live by fishing and piracy, 
 who had assisted him in seizing and keeping the throne during five years. They disem- 
 barked at a place called Muar, an hundred and fifty leagues from thence, where Peramisora 
 and his own people fortified themselves. The Cellates, whom he did not chuse to trust, 
 proceeded five leagues farther, and occupied a bank of the river where the fortress of Ma- 
 lacca now stands. Here they united with the half-savage natives, who, like themselves, 
 
 spoke the Malayan language, and the spot they had chosen becoming too confined for their 
 
 increasing numbers, they moved a league higher up, to one more convenient, and were at 
 length joined by their former chief and his companions. During the government of his son, 
 named Xaguen Darxa (a strange Portuguese corruption of Iskander or Sekander Shah) they 
 again descended the river, in order to enjoy the advantages of a sea-port, and built a town, 
 which, from the fortunes of his father, was named Malacca, signifying an exile.” Every 
 person conversant with the language must know that the word does not bear that nor any 
 similar meaning, and an error so palpable throws discredit on the whole narrative. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 329 
 
 oe ~ 
 
 especially applied to the people of Malaka, or, as it is commonly. writ- 
 ten, Malacca. He left the peaceful possession of his dominions to his 
 son Sultan Abu Shahid, who had reigned only one year and five months, 
 when he was murdered in 1334 by the king of Arrakan, with whose 
 family his father had contracted a marriage. His successor was Sultan 
 Modafar or Mozafar Shah, who was distinguished for the wisdom of his 
 government, of which he left a memorial in a Book of Institutes or Laws 
 of Malaka, held to this day in high estimation. This city was now 
 regarded as the third in rank (after Maja-pahit on Java, and Pasz on 
 Sumatra) in that part of the East. 
 
 ene ere ——E————e ~ 
 a Sa ooo, 
 aa - 
 
 te 
 
 —— —_ ~ 
 ee —~-— 
 
 
 
 eS eee 
 
 About the year 1340 the king of Siam being jealous of the growing 
 power of Malaka, invaded the country, and in a second expedition laid 
 siege to the capital; but his armies were defeated by the general of 
 Modafar, named Sri Nara Dirya. After these events Modafar reigned 
 some years with much reputation, and died in 1374. His son, originally 
 named Sultan Abdul, took the title of Sultan Mansur Shah upon his ac- 
 cession. At the time that the king of Maja-pahit drove the Malays from 
 Siviga-pura, as above related, he likewise subdued the country of Jndra- 
 giri in Sumatra; but upon the occasion of Mansur Shah’s marriage 
 (about the year 1380) with the daughter of the then reigning king, a 
 
 TY —— 
 
 a a 
 
 — — — ~~ 
 
 i a ee 
 
 princess of great celebrity, named Radin Gala Chendra Kiran, it was 
 assigned to him as her portion, and has since continued (according to 
 Valentyn) under the dominion of the princes of Malaka. .Maniur appears 
 to have been engaged in continual wars, and to have obtaimed»successes 
 against Pahang, Pase, and Makasar. His reigm€xtended to the almost 
 incredible period of seventy-three years, being succeeded in 1447 by his 
 son Sultan Ala-wa-eddin. During his reign of thirty years nothing par- 
 ticular is recorded ; but there is reason to believe that his country during 
 some part of that time was under the power of the Siamese. Sultan 
 Mahmud Shah, who succeeded him, was the twelfth Malayan king, and 
 the seventh and last king of Malaka. In 1509 he repelled the aggression 
 of the king of Siam; but in 1511 was conquered by the Portuguese un- 
 der Alfonso @’ Albuquerque, and forced, with the principal inhabitants, 
 to fly to the neighbourhood of the first Malayan establishment at the 
 
 extremity of the peninsula, where he founded the city of Johor, which Johor 
 2U still founded, 
 
 * 
 

 
 330 
 
 Ancient 
 religion. 
 
 2 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 still subsists, but has never attained to any considerable importance, 
 owing, as it may be presumed, to the European influence that has ever 
 since, under the Portuguese, Hollanders, and English, predominated in 
 that quarter." 
 
 With respect to the religion professed by the Malayan princes at the 
 time of their migration from Sumatra, and for about 116 years after, 
 little can be known, because the writers, whose works have reached us, 
 lived since the period of conversion, and as good Mahometans would 
 have thought it profane to enter into the detail of superstitions, which 
 they regard with abhorrence; but, from the internal evidence we can 
 entertain little doubt of its having been the religion of Brahma, much 
 corrupted, however, and blended with the antecedent rude idolatry of the 
 country, such as we now find it amongst the Battas. Their proper names 
 or titles are obviously Hindu, with occasional mixture of Persian, and 
 their mountain of Maha-meru, elsewhere so well known as the seat of 
 Indra and the dewas, sufficiently points out the mythology adopted in the 
 country. Iam not aware that at the present day there is any mountain 
 in Sumatra called by that name; but it is reasonable to presume that 
 appellations decidedly connected with Paganism may have been changed 
 by the zealous propagators of the new faith, and I am much inclined 
 to believe, that by the Maha-meru of the Malays is to be understood the 
 mountain of Suigei-pagu in the Menarigkabau country, from whence 
 issue rivers that flow to both sides of the island. In the neighbourhood 
 of this reside the chiefs of the four great tribes, called ampat suku or four 
 
 quarters, 
 
 ® It was subdued by the Portuguese in 1608. In 1641 Malacca was taken from them by 
 the Hollanders, who held it till the present war, which has thrown it into the possession of 
 the English. The interior boundaries of its territory, according to the Transactions of the . 
 Batavian Society, are the mountains of Rombou, inhabited by a Malayan people named 
 Maning Cabou, and Mount Ophir, called by the natives Gunong-Ledang. These limits, say 
 they, it is impracticable for an European to pass, the whole coast, for some leagues from 
 the sea, being either a morass or impenetrable forest ; and these natural difficulties are ag- 
 gravated by the treacherous and blood-thirsty character of the natives. The description, 
 which will be found in Vol. IV. p. 333-4, is evidently overcharged. In speaking of Johor, 
 the original emigration of a Malayan colony from Sumatra to the mouth of that river, which 
 gave its name to the whole coast, is briefly mentioned. : 
 
SUMATRA 
 
 quarters, one of which is named Malayo, (the others, Kampi, Pani, and 
 Tiga-lara); and it is probable, that to it belonged the adventurers who 
 undertook the expedition to Ujong Tanah, and perpetuated the name of 
 their particular race in the rising fortunes of the new colony. From 
 what circumstances they were led to collect their vessels for embarkation 
 at Palembang rather than at Indra-giri or Stak, so much more conyeni- 
 ent in point of local position, cannot now be ascertained. 
 
 Having proposed some queries upon this subject to the late Mr. 
 Francis Light, who first settled the island of Pinang or Prince of Wales 
 island, in the Straits of Malacca, granted to him by the king of Kedah 
 as the marriage portion of his daughter, he furnished me, in answer, with 
 the following notices. ‘ The origin of the Malays, like that of other 
 people, is involved in fable; every raja is descended from some demi- 
 god, and the people sprung from the ocean. According to their tradi- 
 tions, however, their first city of Sziga-pura, near the present Johor, 
 was peopled from Palembang, from whence they proceeded. to settle at 
 Malacca (naming their city from the fruit so called), and spread along 
 the coast. The peninsula is at present inhabited by distinct races of 
 people. The Siamese possess the northern part to latitude '7°, extending 
 from the east to the west side. The Malays possess the whole of the 
 sea-coast on both sides, from that latitude to Pomt Romania; being 
 mixed in some places with the Bugis from Celebes, who have still a small 
 settlement at Salazigor. The inland parts to the northward are inhabited 
 by the Patani people, who appear to be a mixture of-Siamese and Ma- 
 lays, and occupy independent dusuns or villages. Among the forests 
 and in the mountains are a race of Caffres, in every respect resembling 
 those of Africa, excepting in stature, which does not exceed four feet 
 eight inches. The Menarigkabau people of the peninsula are so named 
 from an inland country in Pulo Percha (Sumatra). A distinction ismade 
 between them and the Malays of Johor, but none is perceptible.” 
 
 To these authorities I shall add that of Mr. Thomas Raffles, at. this 
 time Secretary to the government of Pulo Pinung, a gentleman whose 
 intelligence, and zeal in the pursuit of knowledge, give the strongest 
 hope of his becoming an ornament to oriental literature. ‘Lo his corres- 
 
 2U 2 pondence 
 
 331 
 
 
 
332 SUMATRA. 
 
 pondence I am indebted for much useful information in the line of my 
 researches, and the following passages corroborate the opinions I had 
 formed. ‘ With respect to the Menarghabaus, after a good deal of in- 
 quiry, I have not yet been able decidedly to ascertain the relation be- 
 tween those of that name in the peninsula, and the Menazigkabaus of 
 Pulo Percha. The Malays affirm without hesitation, that they all came 
 originally from the latter island.” In a recent communication he adds, 
 << T am more confident than ever that the Menargkabaus of the peninsula 
 derive their origin from the country of that name in Sumatra. Inland 
 of Malacca about sixty miles is situated the Malay kingdom of Rumbo, 
 whose sultan and all the principal officers of state hold their authority 
 immediately from Menarigkabau, and have written commissions for 
 their respective offices. This shews the extent of that ancient power 
 even now, reduced as it must be, in common with that of the Malay 
 people in general. I had many opportunities of communicating with 
 the natives of Rumbo, and they have clearly a peculiar dialect, resem- 
 bling exactly what you mention of substituting the final o for a, as in 
 the word ambo for amba. In fact, the dialect is called by the Malacca 
 people the language of Menarigkabau.”’ 
 
 History of Returning from this discussion, I shall resume the consideration of 
 Cortera what is termed the Sumatran empire of Menazigkabau, believed by the 
 fectly —_ natives of all descriptions to have subsisted from the remotest times. 
 
 With its annals, either ancient or modern, we are little acquainted, and 
 the existence of any historical records in the country has generally been 
 doubted; yet, as those of Malacca and of Achin have been preserved, 
 it is not hastily to be concluded, that these people, who are the equals 
 of the former, and much superior to the latter, in point of literature, 
 are destitute of theirs, although they have not reached our hands. It is 
 known, that they deduce their origin from two brothers, named Pera- 
 pati-si-batang and Kei Tamariggwigan, who are described as being among 
 the forty companions of Noah in the ark, and whose landing at Palem- 
 bang, or at a small island near it, named Lazgka-pura, 1s attended with 
 the circumstance of the dry land being first discovered by the resting 
 upon it of a bird that flew from the vessel. From thence they proceeded 
 
 to the mountain named Siguntang-guntang, and afterwards to Priangan 
 
 » in 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 in the neighbourhood of the great volcano, which at this day is spoken 
 of as the ancient capital of Menarigkubau. Unfortunately, I possess 
 only an imperfect abstract of this narrative, obviously intended for an 
 introduction to the genealogy of its kings, but, even as a fable, ex- 
 tremely confused and unsatisfactory; and when the writer brings it 
 down to what may be considered as the historical period, he abruptly 
 leaves off, with a declaration, that the offer of a sum of money (which 
 was unquestionably his object) should not tempt him to proceed. 
 
 At a period not very remote its limits were included between the river 
 of Palembang and that of Stak, on the eastern side of the island, and on 
 the western side between those of Manjuta (near Indra-pura) and Sirgkel, 
 where (as well as at Siak) it borders on the independent country of the 
 Battas. The present seat, or more properly seats of the divided govern- 
 ment, lie at the back of a mountainous district named the Tiga-blas koto 
 (signifying the thirteen fortified and confederated towns) inland of the 
 settlement of Padang. ‘The country is described as a large plain sur- 
 rounded by hills producing much gold, clear of woods, and comparatively 
 well cultivated. Although nearer to the western coast, its communica- 
 tions with the eastern side are much facilitated by water-carriage. Ad- 
 vantage is taken in the first place of a large lake, called Laut-danau, 
 situated at the foot of the range of high mountains named gunong Bes?, 
 inland of the country of Priaman, the length of which is described by 
 some as being equal to a day’s sailing, and by others as no more than 
 twenty-five or thirty miles, abounding with fish (especially Of two spe- 
 cies, known by the names of sasaz and bil), and free from alligators. 
 From this, according to the authority of a map drawn by a native, issues 
 a river called Ayer Ambelan, which afterwards takes the name of Jndra- 
 giri, along which, as well as the two other great rivers of Szak to the 
 northward, and Jambi to the southward, the navigation is frequent, the 
 banks of all of them being peopled with Malayan colonies. Between 
 Menarigkabau and Palembang the intercourse must, on account of the 
 distance, be very rare, and the assertion, that in the intermediate 
 country there exists another great lake, which sends its streams to both 
 sides of the island, appears not only to be without foundation in fact, 
 but also at variance with the usual operations of nature; as I believe it 
 
 may 
 
 Limits. 
 
 Lake. 
 
 Rivers. 
 
 333 
 
 
 

 
 334 
 
 Political 
 decline, 
 
 SUMATRA, 
 
 may be safely maintained, that however numerous the streams which 
 furnish the water of a lake, it can have only one outlet ; excepting, per- 
 haps, in flat countries, where the course of the waters has scarcely any 
 determination, or under such a nice balance of physical circumstances 
 as is not likely to occur, 3 
 
 When the island was first visited by European navigators, this state 
 must have been in its decline, as appears from the political importance, 
 at that period, of the kings of Achin, Pedir, and Pasé, who, whilst they 
 acknowledged their authority to be derived from him as their lord para- 
 mount, and some of them paid him a trifling complimentary tribute, 
 acted as independent sovereigns. Subsequently to this an Achinese mo- 
 narch, under the sanction of a real or pretended grant, obtained from 
 one of the sultans, who, having married his daughter, treated her with 
 nuptial slight, and occasioned her to implore her father’s interference, 
 extended his dominion along the western coast, and established his 
 panglumas or governors in many places within the territory of Menaig- 
 kabau, particularly at Pridman, near the great volcano-mountain. This 
 grant is said to have been extorted, not by the force of arms, but by an 
 appeal to the decision of some high court of justice, similar to that of 
 the imperial chamber in Germany, and to have included all the low or 
 strand-countries (pasisir barat) as far southward as Bengkaulu or Silebar. 
 About the year 1613, however, he claimed no farther than Padang, and 
 his actual possessions reached only to Barus.* 
 
 In 
 
 * The following instances oceur of mention made by writers, at different periods, of the 
 kingdom of Menang' kabau, Onoarpus Barsosa, 1519. « Sumatra, a most large and beautiful 
 island; Pedir, the principal city on the northern side, where are also Pacem and Achem. Cam- 
 paris opposite to Malacca. Monancabo, to the southward, is the principal source of gold, ag 
 well from mines as collected in the banks of the rivers.” Dr Barros, 1553. “ Malacea had the 
 epithet of aurea given to it on account of the abundance of gold brought from Monancabo 
 and Barros, countries in the island of C,amatra, where it is procured.” Dioco de Couto, 
 1600. « He gives an account of a Portuguese ship wrecked on the coast of Sumatra, near 
 to the country of Manancabo, in 1560. Six hundred persons got on shore, among whom 
 were some women, one of them, Dona Francisca Sardinha, was of such remarkable beauty, 
 that the people of the country resolved to carry her off for their King; and they effected it, 
 
 after 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 335 
 
 In consequence of disturbances that ensued upon the death of a sultan Alif Division of 
 
 in the year 1680, without direct heirs, the government became divided 
 amongst three chiefs, presumed to have been of the royal family and at the 
 same time great officers of state, who resided at places named Surubasa, 
 Pagar-ruyong, and Sungei-trap; and in that state it contintés tothe presént 
 time. Upon the capture of Padang by the English in 1781, députations 
 arrived from two of these chiefs with congratulations upon the sticcéss 6f 
 our arms; which will be repeated with equal sincerity to those who itidy 
 chance to succeed us. ‘The influence of the Dutch (and it would have 
 been the same with any other European power) has certainly contributed 
 to undermine the political consequence of Menangkabau, by giving coun- 
 tenance and support to its disobedient vassals; who in their tutn have 
 often experienced the dangerous effects of receiving favours from too 
 powerfal an ally. Pasaman, a populous country, and rich im gold, 
 cassia, and camphor, one of its nearest provinces, and governed by a pang- 
 lima from thence, now disclaims all manner of dependance. Its so- 
 
 vereignty 
 
 after a struggle in which sixty of the Europeans lost their lives. At this period there was a 
 great intercourse between Manancabo and Malacca, many vessels going yearly with gold, to 
 purchase cotton goods and other merchandise. In ancient times the country was so rich in 
 this metal, that several hundred weight (seis, sete, e mats candiz, de que trez fazem hum moyo) 
 were exported in one season. Vol, III. p. 178. Linscnoren, 1601. “ At Menancabo excel- 
 lent poniards made, called creeses ; best weapons of all the orient. Islands along the coast of 
 Sumatra, called islands of Menancabo.” ArcEnsoia, 1609, “A vessel loaded with creeses 
 manufactured at Menancabo and a great quantity of artillery ; a species of warlike machine 
 known and fabricated in Sumatra many years before they were.introduced by Européans.” 
 Lancaster, 1602. “ Menangcabo lies eight or ten leagues inland of Priaman.” Best, 1613. 
 ‘s A man arrived from Menangcaboo at Ticoo, and brought news from Jambee.” Bravutev, 
 1622. « Du coté du ponant aprés Padang suit le royaume de Manimcabo; puis celuy 
 ad’ Andripoura Il y a (4 Jambi) grand trafic d’ or, qu’ ils ont avec ceux de Manimcabo.” 
 Vies des Gouverneurs Gen. Hollandois, 1763. Ml est bon de remarquer ici que presque toute 
 la cdte occidentale avoit été reduite par la flotte du Sieur Pierre de Bitter en 1664. L’annéé 
 suivante, les habitans de Pauw massacrérent le Commissaire Gruis, &c.; mais aprés avoir 
 vengé ce meurtre, & dissipé les revoltés en 1666, les Hollandois étoient réstes les maitres 
 de toute cette étendué de cétes entre Sillebar & Baros, ov ils établirent divers comptoirs, dont 
 celui de Padang est le principal depuis 1667. Le commandant, qui y résidé, est en méme 
 tems Stadhouder (Lieutenant) de ? Empereur de Maningcabo, 4 qui la Compagnie a cédé, 
 
 
 
 sous diverses restrictions & limitations, la souvéraineté sur tous les peuples qui habitent le 
 i 
 
 leng du rivage.” &c. 
 
 he goverm 
 me § 
 
 
 

 
 336 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 yereignty is divided between the two rajas of Sabluan and Kanali, who, 
 in imitation of their former masters, boast an origin of high antiquity. 
 One of them preserves as his sacred relic, the bark of a tree in which his 
 ancestor was nursed in the woods, before the Pasaman people had 
 reached their present polished state. The other, to be on a level with 
 him, possesses the beard of a reverend predecessor (perhaps an anchorite), 
 which was so bushy, that a large bird had built its nest in it. Raja 
 Kanali supported a long war with the Hollanders, attended with many 
 reverses of fortune. 
 
 Whether the three sultans maintain a struggle of hostile rivalship, or 
 act with an appearance of concert, as holding the nominal sovereignty 
 under a species of joint-regency, I am not informed, but each of them 
 in the preamble of his letters assumes all the royal titles, without any 
 allusion to competitors; and although their power and resources are not 
 much beyond those of a common raja, they do not fail to assert all the 
 ancient rights and prerogatives of the empire, which are not disputed 
 so long as they are not attempted to be carried into force. Pompous 
 dictatorial edicts are issued, and received by the neighbouring states 
 (including the European chiefs of Padang), with demonstration of pro- 
 found respect, but no farther obeyed than may happen to consist with 
 the political interests of the parties to whom they are addressed. Their 
 authority, in short, resembles not a little that of the sovereign pontiffs 
 of Rome during the latter centuries, founded as it is in the superstition 
 of remote ages ; holding terrours over the weak, and contemned by the 
 stronger powers. ‘The district of Suruwasa, containing the site of the 
 old capital, or Menazigkabau proper, seems to have been considered by 
 the Dutch as entitled to a degree of pre-eminence; but I have not been 
 able to discover any marks of superiority or inferiority amongst them. 
 In distant parts the schism is either unknown, or the three who exercise 
 the royal functions are regarded as co-existing members of the same 
 family, and their government, in the abstract, however insignificant in 
 itself, is there an object of veneration. Indeed, to such an unaccount- 
 able excess is this carried, that every relative of the sacred family, and 
 many who have no pretensions to it assume that character, are treated 
 wherever they appear, not only with the most profound respect by the 
 
 chiefs 
 
‘ ‘ ; . 2 
 oe as re all 2 = 
 ene 
 ee ee 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 chiefs who go out to meet them, fire salutes on their entering the dusuns, 
 and allow them to level contributions for their maintenance; but by. the 
 country people with such a degree of superstitious awe, that they submit 
 to be insulted, plundered, and even wounded by them, without making 
 resistance, which they would esteem a dangerous profanation. Their 
 appropriate title (not uncommon in other Malayan countries) is Jang 
 de per-tuan, literally signifying ‘* he who ruleth.”’ 
 
 A person of this description, who called himself Sri Ahmed Shah, heir 
 to the empire of Menargkabau, in consequence of some differences with 
 the Dutch, came and settled amongst the English at Bencoolen in the year 
 1687, on his return from a journey to the southward as far as Lampong, 
 and being much respected by the people of the country, gained the en- 
 
 tire confidence of Mr. Bloom, the governor. He subdued some of the 
 neighbouring chiefs who were disaffected to the English, particularly 
 Raja mudo of Suigei-lamo, and also a Jennang or deputy from the king 
 of Bantam; he coined money, established a market, and wrote a letter 
 to the East India Company promising to put them in possession of the 
 trade of the whole island. But shortly afterwards a discovery was made 
 of his having formed a design to cut off the settlement, and he was in 
 consequence driven from the place. The records mention at a subse- 
 quent period, that the sultan of Jndrapura was raising troops to oppose 
 
 him.’ 
 
 The titles and epithets assumed by the sultans are the most extrava- 
 gantly absurd that it is possible to imagine. .Many of them descend to 
 2X mere 
 
 * The following anecdote of one of these personages was communicated to me by my 
 friend, the late Mr. Crisp. ‘‘ Some years ago, when I was resident of Manna, there was a 
 man who had Jong worked in the place as a cooley, when some one arrived from the north- 
 ward, who happened to discover that he was an Idng de per-tuan or relation of the imperial 
 family. Immediately all the bazar united to raise him to honour and independence ; he was 
 never suffered. to walk without a high umbrella carried over him, was followed by numerous 
 attendants, and addressed by the title of zwanku, equivalent to your highness. _ After this he 
 became an intriguing, troublesome fellow in the Residency, and occasioned much annoy- 
 ance. The prejudice in favour of these people is said to extend over all the islands to the 
 eastward where the Malay tongue is spoken.” 
 
 537 
 
 His titles. 
 
 
 
338 SUMATRA, 
 
 mere childishness; and it is difficult to conceive how any people, ‘so far 
 advanced in civilization as to beable to write, could display such evi- 
 dences of barbarism. A specimen of a warrant of recent date, addressed 
 to Tuanku Surgei-Pagu, a high-priest residing near Bencoolen, is as. 
 follows : 
 
 Three circular Seals with inscriptions in Arabic characters. 
 
 (Eldest brother) (Second brother) 
 
 Sultan of Rum Sultan of China 
 Key Dummul Alum. | Nour Alum 
 
 Maharaja Alif. Maharaja Dempang 
 
 or Dipang 
 (Youngest brother) 
 Sultan of Menangkabau 
 Aour Alum 
 Maharaja Dirja or Durja 
 
 Translation of Lhe sultan of Menarigkabau whose residence is at Pagar-ruyong, who 
 awarrant, is king of kings; a descendant of raja Zskander zu’lkarnaini ; possessed 
 of the crown ‘brought from heaven by the prophet Adam; of a third 
 
 part of the wood kamat, one extremity of which is in the kingdom of 
 
 Rim and another in that of China; of the lance named lambing lambura 
 ornamented with the beard of jaxiggi ; of the palace in the city of Lum, 
 whose entertainments and diversions are exhibited in the month of 
 zulhijah, and where all alims, fakiahs, and mulanakaris praise and sup- 
 
 plicate Allah ; possessor of the gold-mine named kudarat-kudarati, which 
 
 yields pure gold of twelve carats, and of the gold named jati-jatt which 
 
 snaps the dalik wood; of the sword named churak-simandang-giri, which 
 
 received one hundred and ninety gaps in conflict with the fiend Si Kati- 
 
 muno, whom. it slew ; of the kris formed of the soul of steel, which ex- 
 
 presses an unwillingness. at being isheathed and shews itself pleased when 
 
 drawn ; of a date coéval with the creation ; master of fresh water in the 
 
 ocean, to the extent ofa day’s sailing; of a lance formed of a twig of yu ; 
 
 the sultan who receives his taxes in gold by the Jlessong measure ; whose 
 betel-stand 
 
 
 
SUMATRA 
 
 betel-stand is of gold set with diamonds; who is possessor of the web 
 named sangsista kala, which weaves itself and adds one thread yearly, 
 adorned with pearls, and when that web shall be completed the’ world 
 will be no more; of horses of the race of sorimborani, superior to all 
 others ; of the mountain S7 guntang-guntang, which divides Palembang 
 and Jambi, and of the burning mountain ; of the elephant named Hash 
 Dewah ; who is vicegerent of heaven; sultan of the golden river; lord of 
 the air and clouds; master of a ballei whose pillars are of the shrub 
 jalatang ; of gandarangs (drums):made of the hollow stems of the dimi- 
 nutive plants pulut and stlosurt ; of the anchor named: paduka jati em- 
 ployed to recover the crown which fell into the deep’ sea of Kulzum ; of 
 the gong that resounds to the skies; of the buffalo named Si Binuwang 
 Sati, whose horns are ten feet asunder ; of the unconquered cock, Sen- 
 gunani ; of the coconut-tree which from its amazing height and being 
 infested with serpents and other noxious reptiles, it is impossible to 
 climb ; of the blue champaka flower, not to be found in any other country 
 than his (being yellow elsewhere); of the flowering shrub named S77- 
 menjeri, of ambrosial scent ; of the mountain on which the celestial spi- 
 rits dwell; who when he goes to rest wakes not until the gandarang 
 nobat sounds; He the sultan Srz Maharaja Durja furthermore declares, 
 
 &c.* 
 2X2 Probably 
 
 ® The following Letter from the sultan of Menarigkabau to the father of the present sul- 
 tan of Moco-moco, and apparently written about fifty years ago, was.communicated to me 
 by Mr. Alexander Dalrymple, and though it is in part a repetition, I esteem it too curious 
 to hesitate about inserting it. The style is much more rational than that of the fore- 
 
 cong. 
 
 « Praised be Almighty God! Sultan Gagar Alum the great and noble King, whose exten- 
 sive power reacheth unto the limits of the wide ocean ; unto whom God grants whatever he 
 desires, and over whom no evil spirit, nor even Satan himself has any influence ; who is 
 invested with an authority to punish evil-doers; and has the most tender heart in the sup- 
 port of the innocent ; has no malice in his mind, but preserveth the righteous with the 
 ereatest reverence, and nourisheth the poor and needy, feeding them daily from his own 
 table. His authority reacheth over the whole universe, and his candour and goodness is 
 known to all men. (Mention made of the three brothers.) The ambassador of God and his 
 
 prophet Mahomet ; the beloved of mankind ; and ruler of the island called Percho. At the 
 time 
 
 re ; 
 
 ee 
 
 
 

 
 340 
 
 2* 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 Probably no records upon earth can furnish an example of more un- 
 intelligible jargon ; yet these attributes are believed to be indisputably 
 true, by the Malays and others residing at a distance from his immediate 
 
 | dominions, 
 
 time God made the heavens, the earth, the sun, the moon, and even before evil spirits were 
 created, this sultan Gagar Alum had his residence in the clouds; but when the world was 
 habitable, God gave him a bird called Hocinet, that had the gift of speech; this he sent 
 down on earth, to look out for a spot where he might establish an inheritance, and the first 
 place he alighted upon was the fertile island of Lankapura, situated between Palembang and 
 Jambi, and from thence sprang the famous kingdom of Manancabow, which will. be renown- 
 ed and mighty until the Judgment Day. 
 
 «“ This Maha Raja Durja is blessed with a long life, and an uninterrupted course of pros- 
 perity,. which he will maintain in the name, and through the grace of the holy prophet, 
 to the end that God’s divine’ Will may be fulfilled upon earth. He is endowed with the 
 highest abilities, and the most profound wisdom and circumspection in governing the many 
 tributary kings and subjects. He is righteous and charitable, and preseryeth the honour and 
 glory of his ancestors. His justice and clemency are felt in distant regions, and his name 
 will be revered until the last day. When he openeth his mouth he is full of goodness, and 
 his words are as grateful as rose water to the thirsty. His breath is like the soft winds of the 
 heavens, and his lips are the instruments of truth ; sending forth perfumes more delightful 
 than benjamin or myrrh. His nostrils breathe ambergrease and musk ;_ and his countenance 
 has the lustre of diamonds. He is dreadful in battle, and not to be conquered, his courage 
 and valour being matchless. He, the sultan Maha Raja Durja, was crowned with a sa- 
 cred crown from God ; and possesses the wood called Kamat, in conjunction with the em- 
 perors of Rome and China. (Here follows an account of his possessions nearly corresponding 
 to those above recited.) 
 
 « After this salutation, and the information I have given of my greatness and power, 
 which I attribute to the good and holy prophet Mahomet, I am to acquaint you with the 
 commands of the sultan whose presence bringeth death to all who attempt to approach him 
 without permission ; and also those of the sultan of Indrapura who has four breasts. This 
 friendly sheet of paper is brought from the two sultans above named, by their bird arggas, 
 unto their son, sultan Gandam Shah, to acquaint him with their intention, under this great 
 seal, which is, that they order their son sultan Gandam Shah to oblige the English Company 
 to settle in the district called Béangnur, at a place called the «field of sheep,” that they 
 may not have occasion to be ashamed at their frequent refusal of our goodness, in permit- 
 ting them to trade with us and with our subjects; and that in case he cannot succeed in 
 this affair, we hereby advise him, that the ties of friendship subsisting between us and our 
 son is broken; and we direct that he send us an answer immediately, that we may know 
 the result—for all this island is our own.” It is difficult to determine whether the pream- 
 ble, or the purport of the letter be the more extraordinary. | 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 dominions, who possess a greater degree of faith than wit; and with 
 this addition, that he dwells in a palace without covering, free from in- 
 convenience. It is at the same time but justice to these people to ob- 
 serve that, in the ordinary concerns of life, their writings are as sober, 
 consistent, and rational as those of their neighbours. 
 
 The seals prefixed to the warrant are, beside his own and that of the 
 emperor of China, whose consequence is well known to the inhabitants 
 of the eastern islands, that of the sultan of Rum, by which is understood 
 in modern times, Constantinople, the seat of the emperor of the Turks, 
 who is looked up to by Mahometans, since the ruin of the khalifat, as 
 the head of their religion ; but I have reason to think that the appella- 
 tion of Rimi, was at an earlier period given by oriental writers to the 
 subjects of the great Turkoman empire of the Seljuks, whose capital 
 was Iconium or Auniyah in Asia minor, of which the Ottoman was a 
 branch. ‘This personage he honours with the title of his eldest brother, 
 the descendant of /skander the two-horned, by which epithet the Mace- 
 donian hero is always distinguished in eastern story, in consequence, as 
 may be presumed, of the horned figure on his coins,* which must long 
 have circulated in Persia and Arabia. Upon the obscure history of these 
 supposed brothers some light is thrown by the following legend commu- 
 nicated to me as the belief of the people of Johor. ‘It is related that 
 Iskander dived into the sea, and there married a daughter of the king of 
 the ocean, by whom he had three sons, who, when they arrived at man- 
 hood, were sent by their mother to the residence oftheir father. He 
 gave them a-makuta or crown, and ordered them to find kingdoms 
 where they should establish themselves. Arriving in the straits of 
 Siniga-pura they determined to try whose head the crown fitted. The 
 eldest trying first could not lift it to his head. The second the same. 
 The third had nearly effected it, when it fell from his hand into the sea. 
 After this the eldest turned to the west and became king of Rome, the 
 second to the east and became king of China. The third remained at 
 
 Johor. 
 
 « See a beautiful engraving of one of these coins preserved in the Bodleian collection, 
 Oxford, prefixed to Dr. Vincent’s Translation of the Voyage of Nearchus, printed in 1809. 
 
 341 
 
 Remarks on 
 warrant. 
 
 
 

 
 342 
 
 Ceremonies. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 Johor. At this time Pulo Percha (Sumatra) had not risen from the wa- 
 ters. When it began to appear, this king of Johor, being on a fishing 
 party, and observing it oppressed by a huge snake named Si Kati-muno, 
 attacked the monster with his sword called Simandang-giri, and killed it, 
 but not till the sword had received one hundred and ninety notches in 
 the encounter. The island being thus allowed to rise, he went and 
 settled by the burning mountain, and his descendants became kings of 
 Menangkabau.” This has much the air of a tale invented by the peo- 
 ple of the peninsula to exalt the idea of their own antiquity at the ex- 
 pence of their Sumatran neighbours. The blue champaka-flower of 
 which the sultan boasts possession; I conceive to be an imaginary and 
 not an existent plant. ‘The late respected Sir W. Jones, in his Botanical 
 Observations printed in the Asiat. Res, Vol. IV. suspects that by it must 
 be meant the Kempferia \Bhuchampac, ‘a plant entirely different from 
 the michelia; but as this supposition is built on a mere resemblance of 
 sounds, it is necessary to state that the Malayan term is champaka biru, 
 and that nothing can be inferred from the accidental coincidence of the 
 
 Sanskrit word bhu, signifying ‘ground,’ withthe English term for the 
 blue colour. . 
 
 With the ceremonies of the court we are very imperfectly acquainted. 
 The royal salute is one gun; which-may be considered as a refinement 
 in ceremony ;. for as no additional number could be supposed to convey 
 an adequate idea of respect, but must, on the contrary, establish a de- 
 finite proportion between his-dignity and that of his nobles, or of other 
 princes, the, sultan chuses to, leave’ the measure of his importance inde- 
 finite by this policy and.saye his gunpowder. .It must be observed, that 
 
 _ the Malays are in general,extremely fond of the parade of firing guns, 
 
 which they never neglect on high days, and on the appearance of the 
 new moon, particularly that which) marks the commencement and the 
 conclusion of their pyasa or annual fast. Yellow being esteemed, as in 
 China, the royal colour, is said to be constantly, and exclusively worn 
 by the sultan and his household. His usual present on sending an em- 
 bassy, (for no Sumatran, or other oriental, has an idea of making a 
 formal address, on any occasion, without a present in hand, be it never 
 
 sO 
 
SUMATRA, 
 
 so trifling) is a pair of white horses; being emblematic of the purity 
 of his character and intentions. 
 
 The immediate subjects of this empire, properly denominated Malays, 
 are all of the Mahometan religion, and in that respect distinguished 
 from the generality of inland inhabitants. How it has happened thiat the 
 most central people of the island should have become the most perfectly 
 converted, is difficult to account for; unless we suppose that its political 
 importance, and the richness of its gold trade; might have drawn thither 
 its pious instructors, from temporal as well as spiritual motives. Be this 
 as it may, the country of Menarigkabaw is regarded. as the supreme seat 
 of civil and religious authority in this part of the East, and next toa 
 voyage to Mecca, to have visited its metropolis, stamps a man learned, 
 and confers the character of superior sanctity. Accordingly the most 
 eminent of those who bear the titles of zmam, mulana, khatib, and pan- 
 dita, either proceed from thence, or repair thither for their degree, and 
 bring away with them a certificate or diploma from the sultan or his 
 minister. 
 
 In attempting to ascertain the period of this conversion, much accu- 
 racy is not to be expected; the natives are either ignorant on the subject, 
 or have.not communicated their knowledge, and we can only approx- 
 imate the truth, by comparing the authorities of different old writers. 
 Marco Polo, the Venetian traveller, who visited) Sumatra under ‘the 
 name of Java minor (see p. 6.) says that the inhabitants-ofthe»sea-shore 
 were addicted to the Mahometan law, which they had learned from Sa- 
 racon merchants. This must have been about the year 1290, when, in 
 his voyage from China, he was detained for several months at a port 
 in the Straits, waiting the change of the monsoon; and though I am 
 scrupulous of insisting upon his authority (questioned as it is), yet inva 
 fact of this nature he could scarcely be mistaken, and the assertion Cor- 
 responds with the annals of the princes of Malacca, which state, as we 
 have seen above, that sultan Muhammed Shah, who reigned from 1276 to 
 1333, was the first royal convert. John De Barros, a Portuguese histo- 
 rian of great industry, says, that according to the tradition of the inha- 
 
 bitants, the city of Malacca was founded about the year 1260, and that 
 about 
 
 Oo. 
 Y4o 
 
 Conversion 
 to Mahome- 
 tan religion. 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 about 1400 the Mahometan faith had spread considerably there, and 
 extended itself to the neighbouring islands. Diego do Couto, another 
 celebrated historian, who prosecuted his inquiries in India, mentions the 
 arrival at Malacca of an Arabian priest, who converted its monarch to 
 the faith of the khalifs, and gave him the name of Shah Muhammed, in the 
 year 1384. This date, however, is evidently incorrect, as that king’s reign 
 was earlier by fifty years. Corneille le Brun was informed by the king 
 of Bantam, in 1706, that the people of Java were made converts to that 
 sect about three hundred years before. Valentyn states, that Sheik 
 Mulana, by whom this conversion was effected in 1406, had already 
 disseminated his doctrine at Aché, Pasé (places in Sumatra) and Johor. 
 From these several sources of information, which are sufficiently distinct 
 from each other, we may draw this conclusion, that the religion, which 
 sprang up in Arabia in the seventh century, had not made any consi- 
 derable progress in the interior of Sumatra earlier than the fourteenth, 
 and that the period of its introduction, considering the vicinity to Ma- 
 lacca, could not be much later. I have been told, indeed, but cannot 
 vouch for its authenticity, that in 1782 these people counted 670 years 
 from the first preaching of their religion, which would carry the period 
 back to 1112. It may be added, that in the island of Ternate, the first 
 Mahometan prince reigned from 1466 to 1486; that Francis Xavier, a 
 celebrated Jesuit missionary, when he was at Amboina in 1546, observed 
 the people then beginning to learn to write from the Arabians ; that the 
 Malays were allowed to build a mosque at Goak in Makasar subsequently 
 to the arrival of the Portuguese in 1512; and that in 1603 the whole 
 kingdom had become Mahometan. These islands lying far to the east- 
 
 rd, and being of less considerable account in that age than subsequent 
 transactions have rendered them, the zeal of religious adventurers did 
 
 not happen to be directed thither so soon as to the countries bordering 
 on the sea of India, 
 
 By some it has been asserted, that the first sultan of Menangkabau was 
 
 a Xerif from Mecca, or descendant of the khalifs, named Paduka Sri 
 Sultan Ibrahim, who, settling in Sumatra, was received with honour by 
 the princes of the country, Perapati-si-batang and his brother, and ac- 
 quired sovereign authority. They add, that the sultans who now reside 
 at 
 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 345 
 
 at Pagar-ruyong and at Suruwasa are lineally descended from that 
 Xerif, whilst he who resides at Suzget Trap, styled Datu’ Bandhara 
 putih, derives his origin from Perapati. But to this supposition there 
 are strong objections. ‘The idea so generally entertained by the natives, 
 and strengthened by the glimmering lights that the old writers afford us, 
 bespeaks an antiquity to this empire that stretches far beyond the pro- 
 bable era of the establishment of the Mahometan religion in the island. 
 Radin Tamarggung, son of a king of Madura, a very intelligent person, 
 and who as a prince himself was conversant with these topics, positively 
 asserted to me, that it was an original Sumatran empire, antecedent to 
 the introduction of the Arabian faith; instructed, but by no means con- 
 quered, as some had imagined, by people from the peninsula. So me- 
 morable an event as the elevation of a Xerif to the throne would have 
 been long preserved by annals or tradition, and the sultan in the list of 
 his titles would not fail to boast of this sacred extraction from the pro- 
 phet, to which, however, he does not at all allude; and to this we may 
 add, that the superstitious veneration attached to the family extends 
 itself not only where Mahometanism has made a progress, but also 
 among the Battas and other people still unconverted to that faith ; with 
 whom it would not be the case, if the claim to such respect was grounded 
 on the introduction of a foreign religion which they have refused to 
 accept. 
 
 * Perhaps it is less surprising, that this one kingdom should have been 
 completely converted, than that so many districts of the-island should 
 remain to this day without any religion whatever!” It is observable, that 
 a person of this latter description, coming to reside among the Malays, 
 soon assimilates to them in manners, and conforms to their religious 
 practices. The love of novelty, the vanity of learning, the fascination 
 of ceremony, the contagion of example, veneration for what appears 
 above his immediate comprehension, and the innate activity of man’s 
 intellectual faculties, which, spurred by curiosity, prompts him to. the 
 acquisition of knowledge, whether true or false—all conspire to make 
 him embrace a system of belief, and scheme of instruction, in which 
 
 there is nothing that militates against prejudices already imbibed. He 
 2¥Y relinquishes 
 
 
 
346 SUMATRA. | 
 
 relinquishes no favourite ancient worship to adopt a new ; and is mani- 
 festly a gainer by the exchange, when he barters, for a paradise and 
 eternal pleasures, so small a consideration as the flesh of his foreskin. “al 
 
 Tolerant prine The Malays, as far as my observation went, did not appear to possess 
 ciples. much of the bigotry so commonly found amongst the western Mahome- 
 tans, or to shew antipathy to or contempt for unbelievers. To this in- 
 difference is to be attributed my not having positively ascertained whe- 
 ther they are followers of the sunni or the shiah sect, although from their 
 tolerant principles and frequent passages in their writings in praise of 
 Ali, I conclude them to be the latter. Even in regard to the practice 
 of ceremonies, they do not imitate the punctuality of the Arabs and 
 others of the mussulman faith. Excepting such as were in the orders 
 of the priesthood, I rarely noticed persons in the act of making their 
 prostrations. Men of rank, I am told, have their religious periods, 
 during which they scrupulously attend to their duties, and refrain from 
 gratifications of the appetite, together with gambling and cockfighting ; 
 but these are not long nor very frequent. Even their great Fast or puasa | 
 (the ramadan of the Turks) is only partially observed. All those who 
 have a regard for character fast more or less, according to the degree of 
 their zeal or strength of their constitutions; some for a week, others for 
 a fortnight ; but to abstain from food and betel, whilst the sun is above 
 the horizon, during the whole of a lunar month, is a very rare instance 
 of devotion. . -* 
 
 Literature. | Malayan literature consists chiefly of transcripts and versions of the 
 
 koran, commentaries on the mussulman law, and historic tales both in 
 
 se and verse, resembling in some respect our old romances. Many 
 
 of these are original compositions, and others are translations of the po- 
 
 pular tales current in Arabia, Persia, India, and the neighbouring 
 
 island of Java, where the Hindu languages and mythology appear to 
 
 . have made, at a remote period, considerable progress. Among several 
 works of this description I possess their translation (but much compress- 
 
 ed) of the Ramayan, a celebrated Sanskrit poem, and also of some of the 
 
 Arabian stories lately published in France as a Continuation of the 
 
 ‘* Thousand 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 “ Thousand and one Nights,” first made known to the European world 
 by M. Galland. If doubts have been entertained of the authenticity of 
 these additions to his immortal collection, the circumstance of their be- 
 ing (however partially) discovered in the Malayan language, will serve 
 to remove them. Beside these they have a variety of poetic works, 
 abounding rather with moral reflections and complaints of the frowns of 
 fortune or of ill-requited love, than with flights of fancy. The pantun or 
 short proverbial stanza has been already described. They are composed 
 im all parts of the island, and often extempore; but such as proceed 
 from Menargkabau, the most favoured seat of the Muses, are held in the 
 first esteem. Their writing is entirely in the modified Arabic charac- 
 
 ter, and upon paper previously ruled by means of threads drawn tight 
 and arranged in a peculiar manner. 
 
 The arts in general are carried, among these people, to a greater de- 
 gree of perfection, than by the other natives of Sumatra. The Malays 
 are the sole fabricators of the exquisite gold and silver filagree, the ma- 
 nufacture of which has been particularly described: in the country of 
 Menangkabau they have, from the earliest times, manufactured arms for 
 
 _ their own use and to supply the northern inhabitants of the island, who 
 
 are the most warlike ; and which trade they continue to this day, smelt- 
 ing, forging, and preparing, by a process of their own, the iron and 
 steel for this purpose ; although much is at the same time purchased 
 from Europeans.* The use of cannon in this and other parts-of India is 
 mentioned by the oldest Portuguese historians, and it must consequently 
 have been known there before the discovery of the passage by the Cape 
 of Good Hope. Their guns are those pieces called match-locks, the 
 improvement of springs and flints not being yet adopted by them; the 
 barrels are well tempered, and of the justest bore, as is evident from the 
 excellence of their aim, which they always take by lowering, instead of 
 raising the muzzle of the piece to the object. They are wrought by rol- 
 
 2 s"% ling 
 
 * The principal iron mines are at a place called Padang Luar, where the ore is sold 
 at the rate of half a fanam or forty eighth part of a dollar for a man’s load, and carried to 
 another place in the Menangkabau country called Selimpuwong, where it is smelted-and 
 manufactured. 
 
 347 
 
 Fire arms. 
 
 Cannon. 
 
 
 

 
 348 
 
 Side-arms, 
 
 Kris-blade. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 ling a flatted bar of iron, of proportionate dimensions, spirally round a 
 circular rod, and beating it till the parts of the former unite; whic h 
 method seems preferable, in point of strength, to that of folding ang 
 soldering the bar longitudinally. The art of boring may well be sup- 
 posed unknown to these people. Firelocks are called by them snapan g, 
 from the Duch name. Gunpowder they make in great quantities, but 
 either from the injudicious proportion of the ingredients in the compo- 
 sition, or the imperfect granulation, it 1s very defective in strength. 
 The. tombak, lambing, and kujur or kunjur are names for weapons of the 
 lance or spear kind; the pedang, rudus, pamandap, and kalewang are of 
 the sword kind, and slung at the side ; the szwar is a small instrument 
 of the nature of a stiletto, chiefly used for assassination ; and the kris is 
 a species of dagger of a particular construction, very generally worn, 
 being stuck in front through the folds of a belt that goes several times 
 round the body. The blade is about fourteen inches in length, not 
 straight, nor uniformly curved, but waving in and out, as we see de- 
 picted the flaming swords that guarded the gates of paradise; which pro- 
 bably. may render a wound given with it the more fatal. It is not 
 smooth or polished like those of our weapons, but by a peculiar process 
 made to resemble a composition, in which veins of a different metal are 
 apparent. This damasking (as I was informed by the late Mr. Boulton) 
 is produced. by beating together steel and iron wire whilst in a state of 
 half fusion, and eating them with acids, by which the softest part is the 
 most corroded ; the edges being of pure steel. Their temper is uncom- 
 monly hard. The head or haft is either of ivory, the tooth of the 
 duyong (sea cow), that of the hippopotamus, the snout of the chan layer 
 (voilier), of black coral, or of fine grained wood. This is ornamented 
 with gold.or a mixture of that and copper, which they call swasa, highly 
 polished. and caryed into curious figures, some of which have the beak of 
 a bird, with the arms of a human creature, and bear a resemblance to 
 the Egyptian Isis. The sheath also is formed of some beautiful species 
 of wood, hollowed out, with a neat lacing of split rattan, stained red 
 round the lower parts ; or sometimes it is plated with gold. The value 
 of a kris, is supposed to be enhanced in proportion to the number of 
 persons it has‘slain, One that has been the instrument of much blood- 
 
 shed 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 shed is regarded with a degree of veneration as something sacred. The 
 horrour or enthusiasm inspired by the contemplation of such actions, is 
 transferred to the weapon, which accordingly acquires sanctity from the 
 principle that leads ignorant men to reverence whatever possesses the 
 power of effecting mischief. Other circumstances also contribute to 
 give them celebrity, and they are distinguished by pompous names. 
 Some have a cushion by their bedside on which is placed their favourite 
 weapon. I have a manuscript treatise on ‘rises, accompanied with 
 drawings, describing their imaginary properties and value, estimated at 
 the price of one or more slaves. The abominable custom of poisoning 
 them, though much talked of, is rarely practised, 1 believe, in modern 
 times... They are. frequently seen rubbing the blades with lime-juice, 
 which has been considered as a precaution against danger of this kind, 
 but it is rather for the purpose of removing common stains, or of improv- 
 ing the damasked appearance. 
 
 Although much parade attends their preparations for war and their 
 marches, displaying colours of scarlet cloth, and beating drums, gongs, 
 and chennangs, yet their operations are carried on rather in the way of 
 ambuscade, and surprise of straggling parties, than open combat ; firing 
 irregularly from behind entrenchments, which the enemy takes care not 
 to approach too near. They are sajd to go frequently to war on horse- 
 back, but I shall not venture to give their force the name of cavalry. 
 The chiefs may. probably avail themselves of the seryice of this useful 
 animal, from motives of personal indulgence or state, but-on account of 
 the ranjaus or sharp-pointed stakes, so commonly planted in the passes, 
 (see the preceding journal of Lieut, Dare’s march, where they are par- 
 ticularly described), it is scarcely possible that horse could be employed 
 as an effective part of an army. It is also to be observed that neither 
 the natives, nor even Europeans ever shoe them, the nature of the roads 
 in general not rendering it necessary. The breed of them is small, but 
 well made, hardy, and vigorous. The soldiers serve without pay, but 
 the plunder they obtain is thrown into a common stock, and divided 
 amongst them, . Whatever might. formerly have been the degree of their 
 prowess, they are not now much celebrated for it; yet the Dutch at Pa- 
 
 dang 
 
 349 
 
 Modes of war- 
 fare. 
 
 Horses, 
 
 
 

 
 $50 
 
 Government. 
 
 Officers of 
 state, 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 dang have often found them troublesome enemies, from their numbers, 
 and been obliged to secure themselves within their walls. Between the 
 Menargkabau people, those of Rau or Aru, and the Achinese, settled 
 at Natal, wars used to be incessant until they were checked by the in- 
 fluence of our authority at that place. The factory itself was raised upon 
 one of the breast-works thrown up by them for defence, of which se- 
 veral are to be met with in walking a few miles into the country, and 
 some of them very substantial. Their campaigns, in this petty warfare, 
 
 ‘were carried on very deliberately. They made a regular practice of 
 
 commencing a truce at sunset, when they remained in mutual security, 
 and sometimes agreed that hostilities should take place only between cer- 
 tain hours of the day. The English resident, Mr. Carter, was frequently 
 chosen their umpire, and upon these occasions used to fix in the ground 
 his golden headed cane, on the spot where the deputies should meet and 
 concert terms of accommodation; until at length the parties, grown 
 weary of their fruitless contests, resolved to place themselves respectively 
 under the dependance and protection of the company. The fortified 
 villages, in some parts of the country named dusun, and in’ others kam- 
 pong, are here, as on the continent of India, denominated kota or forts, 
 and the districts are distinguished from each other by the number of 
 confederated villages they contain. 
 
 The government, like that of all Malayan states, is founded on prin- 
 ciples entirely feudal. The prince is styled raja, maha-raja, rang de 
 pertuan, or sultan; the nobles, have the appellation of orang kaya or 
 datu, which properly belongs to the chiefs of tribes, and implies their 
 being at the head of a numerous train of immediate dependants or yas- 
 sals, whose service they command. The heir-apparent has the title of 
 rajamuda, From amongst the orang kayas the sultan appoints the offi- 
 cers of state, who as members of his council are called mantrz, and differ 
 in number and authority, according to the situation and importance of 
 the kmgdom. Of these the first in rank, or prime minister, has the 
 appellation of perdana mantri, margko bumi, and not seldom, however 
 anomalously, maharaja. Next to him, generall y, 1s the bandhara, treasurer 
 or high steward; then the /aksamana and tamangeung, commanders jn chief 
 
 by. 
 
SUMATRA. ass 
 
 by sea and land, and lastly the shahbandara, whose office it is to super- 
 intend the business of the customs (in sea-port towns) and to manage 
 the trade for the king. The governors of provinces are named paviglima, 
 the heads of departments purgulu. The ulubalang are military officers, 
 forming the body-guard of the sovereign, and prepared on all occasions 
 to execute his orders. From their fighting singly, when required, in the 
 cause of the prince or noble who maintains them, the name is commonly % 
 translated ‘‘ champion”; but when employed by a weak, but arbitrary 
 and cruel prince, to remove by stealth, obnoxious persons whom he 
 dares not to attack openly, they may be compared more properly to the 
 Ismaelians or Assassins, so celebrated in the history of the Crusades, as 
 the deyoted subjects of the Sheikh al-jabal or ‘** Old man of the moun- 
 tain,” as this chief of Persian Jrak is yulgarly termed. I have not rea- 
 son, however, to believe that such assassinations are by any means fre- 
 quent. The immediate vassals of the king are called amba raja; and 
 for the subjects in general the word rayet has been adopted. Beside those 
 above-named, there is a great variety of officers of government of an 
 inferior class ; and even among the superior there is not, at every period, 
 nor in every Malayan state, a consistent uniformity of rank and title. 
 The smaller Malayan establishments are governed by their datus or heads sma 
 of tribes, of whom there are generally four; as at Bencoolen (properly  datus. 
 Bevigkaulu) near to which the English settlement of Fort Marlborough 
 is situated, and where Fort York formerly stood. These are under the 
 protection or dominion of two native chiefs or princes, the pazigerans of 
 Surgei-lamo and Surigei-etam, the origin of whose authority—has. been 
 already explained (p. 212). Each of these has possessions on different 
 parts of the river, the principal sway being in the hands of him of the 
 two who has most personal ability. They are constant rivals, though 
 living upon familiar terms, and are only restrained from open war by the 
 authority of the English. Limun likewise, and the neighbouring places 
 of Batang-aset and Pakalang-jambu, near the sources of Jambz river, 
 where gold is collected, and carried chiefly to Bencoolen and the settle- 
 ment of Laye, where I had opportunities of seeing the traders, are each 
 governed by four datus, who, though not immediately nominated by the 
 sultan, are confirmed by, and pay tribute to, him. The first of these, 
 
 whose situation is most southerly, receive also an investiture (baju, gar- 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 352 
 
 Hot springs. 
 
 Ancient 
 sculpture. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 ment, and desfar, turband), from the sultan of Palembang ; being a po- 
 litic measure adopted by these merchants, for the convenience attending 
 it in their occasional trading concerns with that place. 
 
 At Priangan, near Gunong-berapi, are several hot mineral springs, 
 called in the Malayan map already mentioned, panchuran tujuh or the 
 seven conduits, where the natives, from time immemorial, have been in 
 the practice of bathing; some being appropriated to the men, and others 
 to the women; with two of cold water, styled the king’s. It will be 
 recollected, that in ancient times this place was the seat of government. 
 Near to these springs is a large stone or rock of very hard substance, 
 one part of which is smoothed to a perpendicular face of about ten or 
 twelve feet long and four high, on which are engraved characters sup- 
 posed to be European, the space being entirely filled with them and 
 certain chaps or marks at the corners. The natives presume them to be 
 Dutch, but say that the latter do not resemble the present mark of the 
 Company. There is some appearance of the date 1100. The informant 
 (named Raja Intan), who had repeatedly seen and examined it, added, 
 that M. Palm, governor of Padang, once sent Malays, with paper and 
 paint, to endeavour to take off the inscription, but they did not succeed ; 
 and the Dutch, whose arms never penetrated to that part of the coun- 
 try, are ignorant of its meaning. It is noticed in the Malayan map. 
 Should it prove to be a Hindu monument, it will be thought curious. 
 
 Kingdoms 
 
 
 
a Eo 
 
 SUMATRA. 353 
 
 Kingdoms of Indrapura, Anak-Sungei, Passamman, Siak. 
 
 AMONG the earliest dismemberments of the Menarekabau empire, Indrapura. 
 was the establishment of Zndrapura as an independent kingdom. Though 
 now, in its turn, reduced to a state of little importance, it was former! y 
 powerful, in comparison with its neighbours, and of considerable mag- 
 nitude, including Anak-Swigei, and extending as far as Kattaun. Some 
 idea of its antiquity may be formed from an historical account given by 
 the Sultan of Bantam to the intelligent traveller Corneille le Brun, in 
 which it is related, that the son of the Arabian prince who first con- 
 verted the Javans to the religion of the Prophet, about the year 1400, 
 having obtained for himself the sovereignty of Bantam, under the title 
 of pangeran, married the daughter of the raja of Indrapura, and received 
 as her portion the country of the Sillabares, a people of Banca-houlou. 
 Upon. this cession appears to be grounded the modern claim of the sul- Claims of the 
 tan to this part of the coast, which, previously to the treaty of Paris in jain’ 
 1703, was often urged by his sovereigns, the Dutch East India Com- 
 pany. His dominion is said, indeed, to have extended from the south- 
 ward as far as Urei river, and at an early period, to Retta or Ayer Etam, 
 between Jpu and Moco-moco, but that the intermediate space was ceded 
 by him to the raja of Indrapura, in satisfaction for the murder of a 
 prince, and that a small annual tax was laid by the latter on the Anak- 
 suger people, on account of the same murder (being the fourth part of 
 a dollar, a bamboo of rice, and.a fowl, from each village), which is now 
 paid to the sultan of Moco-moco. In the year 1682 the district of Ayer 
 Aji threw off its dependance on Jndrapura. In 1696 Raja Pasisir Barat, 
 under the influence of the Dutch, was placed on the throne, at the age 
 of six years, and his grandfather appointed guardian; but in 1701, in 
 consequence of a quarrel with his protectors, the European settlers were 
 massacred. ‘This was the occasion of a destructive war, in the event of War with 
 which the raja and his mantris were obliged to fly, and the country was nee Rer— ae 
 nearly depopulated. In 1705 he was reinstated, and reigned till about 
 
 2Z 1732; 
 
 
 
i 
 
 = 
 
 ae TR. Hilly b+ — AR ay od Sm 
 
 wise ite tS clk nab Lilo, dl NR NS sl i laltetes JN. . cs iliaiis aaa Retell 
 = - canal p Ione 
 a te en ee = 
 
 
 
 354 
 
 Decline 
 of the 
 
 kingdom. 
 
 Kingdom 
 
 of Anak- 
 
 sungel, 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 1732; but the kingdom never recovered the shock it had received, and 
 dwindled into obscurity. Its river, which descends from the mountains 
 of Korinchi, is considered as one of the largest in the southern part of 
 the west-coast, and is capable of admitting sloops. ‘The country for- 
 merly produced a large quantity of pepper, and some gold was brought 
 down from the interior, which now finds another channel. An English 
 factory was established there about the year 1684, but never became of 
 any importance. 
 
 From the ruins. of Jndrapura has sprung the kingdom. of Anak-suaget, 
 extending, along the sea-coast, from Manjuia river to that of Ure. Its 
 chief bears the title of sultan, and his capital, if such places deserve the 
 appellation, is Moco-moco. A description of it will be found at p. 319. 
 Although the, government is Malayan, and the ministers of the sultan 
 are termed mantri (a title borrowed from the Hindus) the greatest part 
 of the country dependant on it is inhabited by the original dusun people, 
 and accordingly their proper chiefs are styled proatiin, who are obliged 
 to.attend their prince at stated periods, and to carry to him their con- 
 tribution or tax. His power over them, however, is very limited. 
 
 The first monarch of this new kingdom was named sultan Gulemat, 
 who, in 1695, established himself at Manjuta, by the assistance of the 
 English, in consequence of a revolution at Indrapura, by which the 
 prince who had afforded them protection on their first settling, was driven 
 out through the intrigues, as they,are termed, of the Dutch. It was 
 a struggle, in short, between the rival Companies, whose assistance was 
 courted by the different factions, as it happened to suit their purpose, 
 or who, becoming strong enough to consider themselves as principals, 
 
 made the native chiefs the tools of their commercial ambition. In 
 
 the year 1717 Gulemat was removed from the throne by an assembly 
 of the chiefs styling themselves the mantris of Lima-kota and proattins of 
 Anak-suigei, who set up a person named Raja Kechil-besdr in his room, 
 appointing, at the same time, as his minister and successor, Raja Gan- 
 dam Shah, by whom, upon his accession in 1728, the seat of govern- 
 ment was removed from Manjuta to Moco-moco. He was father of sultan 
 Pasisir Barat shah mualim shah, still reigning in the year 1780, but 
 
 | harassed 
 

 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 355 
 
 harassed by the frequent rebellions of his eldest son. The space of time 
 occupied by the reigns of these two sovereigns is extraordinary, when 
 we consider that the former must have been at man’s estate when he 
 became minister or assessor in 1717. Nor is it less remarkable, that the 
 son of the deposed sultan Gulemat, called sultan Awal ed-din, was also 
 living, at Tappanuli, about the year 1780, being then supposed ninety 
 years of age. He was confined as a state prisoner at Madras during 
 ‘the government of Mr. Morse, and is mentioned by Capt; Forrest (Voy- 
 age to the Mergui Archipelago, p. 57) as uncle to the king of Achin, 
 who reigned in 1784, The first English settlement at Moco-moco was 
 formed in 1717. 
 
 Passamman was the most northern of the provinces immediately de- Passamman. 
 pendant on Menazighabau, and afterwards, together with Priaman and 
 many other places on the coast, fell under the dominion of the kings of 
 Achin. It is now divided into two petty kingdoms, each of which is 
 governed by a raja and fourteen parivulus. Formerly it was a place of 
 considerable trade, and beside a great export of pepper, received much 
 fine gold, from the mountains of the Rau country, lying about. three 
 days’ journey inland. The inhabitants of these are said to be Battas 
 converted to Mahometanism, and mixed with Malays. They are go- 
 verned by datus. The peculiarity of dress remarked of the Korinchi 
 people is also observable here, the men wearing drawers, that reach just 
 below the calf, having one leg of red and the other of white or blue cloth, 
 and the buju or garment also party-coloured. .The# greater part of the 
 gold they collect finds its way to Patapahan on the river of Siak, and 
 from thence to the eastern side of the island and straits of Malacca. 
 The Agam tribe adjoining to the Raw, and connecting to the southward 
 with Menarghkabau, differs little from Malays, and is likewise governed 
 by datus. 
 
 The great river of Siak has its source in the mountains of the Menarig- Siak. 
 kabau country, and empties itself nearly opposite to Malacca, with 
 which place it formerly carried on a considerable trade. From the 
 Dutch charts we had a general knowledge of its course as far as a place 
 called. Mandau or Mandol, as they write the name, and where they had 
 
 222 a smal] 
 
 
 

 
 356 
 
 Survey. 
 
 Government. 
 
 Trade. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 4 small establishment, on account of its abounding with valuable ship- 
 timber. A recent survey executed by Mr. Francis Lynch, under the 
 orders of the government of Pulo Pinang, has made us more particularly 
 acquainted with its size, its advantages, and defects. From the place 
 where it discharges itself into the straits of Kampar or Bencalis, to the 
 town of Siak, is, according to the scale of his chart, about sixty-five 
 geographical miles, and from thence to a place called: Pakan bharu or 
 New-market, where the survey discontinues, 1s about one hundred more. 
 The width of the river is in general from about three quarters to half a 
 mile, and its depth from fifteen to seven fathoms; but:on the bar, at 
 low water, spring-tides, there are only fifteen feet, and several shoals 
 near its mouth. The tides rise about eleven feet at the town, where, 
 at full and change, it is high water at nine A.M. Not far within the 
 
 river is a small island on which the Dutch had formerly a factory. The ~ 
 
 shores are flat on both sides to a considerable distance up the country, 
 and the whole of the soil is probably alluvial; but about an hundred and 
 twenty-five or thirty miles up, Mr. Lynch marks the appearance of high 
 land, giving it the name of Princess Augusta Sophia hill, and points it 
 out as a commanding situation for a settlement. He speaks in favour- 
 able terms of the facility with which ship timber of any dimensions or 
 shape may be procured and loaded. Respecting the size or population 
 of the town, no information is given. The government of it was (in 
 October, 1808) in the hands of the Tuanku Pangeran, brother to the 
 Raja, who, in consequence of some civil disturbance, had withdrawn 
 to the entrance of the river. His name is not mentioned; but from the 
 Transactions of the Batavian Society we learn that the prince who 
 reigned about the year 1780, was Raja Ismael, “< one of the greatest 
 pirates in those seas.” ‘The maritime power of the kingdom of Siak has 
 always been considerable, and in the history of the Malayan states we 
 repeatedly read of expeditions fitted out from thence making attacks 
 upon Johor, Malacca, and various other places on the two coasts of the 
 peninsula. Most of the neighbouring states (or rivers) on the eastern 
 coast of Sumatra, from Langat to Jambi, are said to have been brought, 
 in modern times, under its subjection. 
 
 The trade is chiefly carried on by Kling vessels, as they are called, 
 
 from 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 from the coast of Coromandel, which supply cargoes of piece-goods, 
 and also raw silk, opium, and other articles, which they provide at 
 Pinang or Malacca; in return for which they receive gold, wax, sago, 
 salted fish, and fish-roes, elephants’ teeth, gambir, camphor, rattans, 
 and other canes. According to the information of the natives, the river is 
 navigable for sloops to a place called Panti Chermin, being eight days’ sail, 
 with the assistance of the tide, and within half a day’s journey, by land, 
 of another named Patapahan, which boats also, of ten to twenty tons, 
 reach in twodays. ‘This is a great mart of trade with the Menazighabau 
 country, whither its merchants resort with their gold. Pakan-bharu, 
 the limit of Mr. Lynch’s voyage, is much lower down, and the above- 
 mentioned places are consequently not noticed. by him. The Dutch 
 Company procured annually from Siak, for the use of Batavia, several 
 rafts of spars for masts, and if the plan of building ships at Pinang should 
 be encouraged, large supplies of frame-timber for the purpose may be 
 obtained from this river, provided a sense of interest shall be found 
 sufficiently strong to correct or restrain the habits of treachery and 
 desperate enterprise for which these people have in all ages been noto- 
 
 rious. 
 
 The river Rakan, to the northward of Siak, by much the largest in 
 the island, if it should not rather be considered as an inlet of the sea, 
 takes its rise in the Rau country, and is navigable for sloops to a great 
 distance from the sea; but vessels are deterred from entering it by the 
 rapidity of the current, or more probably the reflux of the tide, and that 
 peculiar swell known in the Ganges and elsewhere by the appellation of 
 the bore. That of Kampar, to the southward, is said by the natives to 
 labour under the same inconvenience, and Mr. Lynch was informed 
 that the tides there rise from eighteen to twenty-four feet. If these cir- 
 cumstances render the navigation dangerous, it appears difficult to ac- 
 count for its having been a place of considerable note at the period of the 
 Portuguese conquest of Malacca, and repeatedly the scene of naval 
 actions with the fleets of Achin, whilst Siak, which possesses many 
 natural advantages, is rarely mentioned. In modern times it has been 
 scarcely at all known to Europeans, and even its situation is doubtful. 
 
 The 
 
 
 
 
 
 857 
 
 Rakan 
 
 Kampar, 
 
 
 

 
 358 
 
 Indragiri. 
 
 Jambi. 
 
 Palembang. 
 rr 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 The river of Jndragiri is said by the natives to have its source ina lake 
 of the Menaigkabau country, from whence it issues by the name of Ayer 
 Ambelan. Sloops tide it up for five or six weeks (as they assert) anchor- 
 ing as the ebb begins to make. From a place called Lubok ramo-ramo 
 they use boats of from five to twenty tons, and the smaller sort can pro- 
 ceed until they are stopped by a fall or cascade at Seluka, on the borders 
 of Menargkabau. This extraordinary distance to which the influence of 
 the tides extend, is a proof of the absolute flatness of the country through 
 which these rivers take the greater part of their course. 
 
 Jambi river has its principal source in the Limun country. Although 
 of considerable size, it is inferior to Stak and Jndragiri. At an early 
 stage of European commerce in these parts it was of some importance, 
 and both the English and Dutch had factories there; the former on a 
 smallisland near the mouth, and the latter at some distance up the river. 
 The town of Jambi is situated at the distance of about sixty miles from 
 the sea, and we find in the work of the historian, Faria y Sousa, that in 
 the year 1629, a Portuguese squadron was employed twenty-two days 
 in ascending the river, in order to destroy some Dutch ships which had 
 
 taken shelter near the town. Lionel Wafer, who was there in 1678 (at 
 
 which time the river was blockaded by a fleet of praws from Johor) makes 
 the distance an hundred miles, The trade consists chiefly in gold-dust, 
 pepper, and canes, but the most of what is collected of the first article 
 proceeds across the country to the western coast, and the quality of the 
 second is not held in esteem. The port is therefore but little frequented 
 by any other than native merchants. Sometimes, but rarely, a private 
 trading ship from Bengal endeavours to dispose of a few chests of opium 
 in this, or one of the other rivers; but the masters scarcely ever ven- 
 ture on shore, and deal with such of the Malays as come off to them, 
 at the sword point; so strong is the idea of their treacherous character. 
 
 The kingdom of Palembang is one of considerable importance, and its 
 river ranks amongst the largest in the island. It takes its rise in the 
 district of Musz, immediately at the back of the range of hills visible from 
 Bencoolen, and on that account has the name of Ayer Musi in the early 
 part of its course, but in the lower, is more properly named the Tatong. 
 
 Opposite 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 Opposite to the city of Palembang and the Dutch Company’s factory it 
 is upwards of a mile in breadth, and is conveniently navigated by vessels 
 whose draft of water does not exceed fourteen feet. Those of a larger 
 description have been carried thither for military purposes (as in 1660, 
 when the place was attacked and destroyed by the Hollanders) but the 
 operation is attended with difficulty on account of numerous shoals. 
 The port is much frequented by trading vessels, chiefly from Java, 
 Madura, Balli, and Celebes, which bring rice, salt, and cloths the 
 manufacture of those islands. With opium, the piece-goods of the west 
 of India, and European commodities, it is supplied by the Dutch from 
 Batavia, or by those who are termed interlopers. These in return re- 
 ceive pepper and tin, which, by an old agreement made with the sultan, 
 and formally renewed in 1777, are to be exclusively delivered to the 
 Company at stipulated prices, and no other Europeans are to be allowed 
 to trade or navigate within his jurisdiction. In order to enforce these 
 conditions, the Dutch are permitted to maintaima fort on the river with a 
 garrison of fifty or sixty men (which cannot be exceeded without. giving 
 umbrage), and to keep its own cruizers to prevent smuggling. The 
 quantity of pepper thus furnished was from one to two millions of pounds 
 per annum. Of tin the quantity was about two millions of pounds, one 
 third of which was shipped (at Batavia) for Holland, and the remainder 
 sent to China. It has already been stated, that this tin is the produce 
 of the island of Bazigka, situated near the mouth of the river, which may 
 be considered as an entire hill of tin-sand. Lhe works, of which a par- 
 ticular account is given in Vol. ILI. of the Batay. Trans. are entirely in 
 the hands of Chinese settlers. _In the year 1778 the Company. likewise 
 received thirty-seven thousand bundles of rattans. 
 
 The lower parts of the country of Palembang towards the sea-coast are 
 described as being flat marshy land, and, with the exception of some few 
 tracts, entirely unfit for the purposes of cultivation. It is generally un- 
 derstood to have been all covered by the sea in former ages; not only 
 from its being observed that the strand yearly gains an accession, but 
 also that upon digging the earth at some distance inland, sea-shells, and 
 even pieces of boat-timber, are discovered. ‘The interior or upland dis- 
 
 triets, on the contrary, are very productive, and there the pepper is 
 cultivated, 
 
 
 
 
 
 359 
 
 Size of river. 
 
 Foreign 
 trade, 
 
 Dutch fac- 
 tory. 
 
 Low country. 
 
 Interior 
 country. 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 360 
 
 Its trade. 
 
 Its govern- 
 ment, 
 
 Settlers from 
 Java. 
 
 Royal family. 
 
 . 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 cultivated, which the king’s agent (for trade in these parts is usually 
 monopolized by the sovereign power) purchases at a cheap rate. In 
 return he supplies the country people with opium, salt, and piece-goods, 
 forming the cargoes of large boats (some of them sixty-six feet in length, 
 and seven in breadth, from a single tree) which are towed against the 
 stream. The goods intended for Passummah are conveyed to a place 
 called Muara Mulang, which is performed in fourteen days, and from 
 thence, by land, to the borders of that country, is only one day’s jour- 
 ney. This being situated beyond the district where the pepper flou- 
 rishes, their returns are chiefly made in pulas twine, raw silk in its 
 roughest state, and elephants’ teeth. From Musi they send likewise 
 sulphur, alum, arsenic, and tobacco. Dragons’-blood and gambir are 
 also the produce of the country. 
 
 These interior parts are divided into provinces, each of which is as- 
 siened as a fief or government to one of the royal family or of the nobles, 
 who commit the management to deputies, and give themselves little 
 concern about the treatment of their subjects. ‘The parigerans, who are 
 the descendants of the ancient princes of the country, experience much 
 oppression, and when compelled to make their appearance at court, are 
 denied every mark of ceremonious distinction. The present rulers of the 
 kingdom of Palembang, and a great portion of the inhabitants of the 
 city, originally came from the island of Java, in consequence, as some 
 suppose, of an early conquest by the sovereigns of Majapahit; or, accord- 
 ing to others, by those of Bantam, in more modern times; and in proof 
 of its subjection, either real or nominal, to the latter, we find in the 
 
 account of the first Dutch voyages, that ‘in 1596 a king of Bantam 
 
 fell before Palembang, a rebel town of Sumatra, which he was besieging.” 
 The Dutch claim the honour of having placed on the throne the family 
 of the reigning sultan (1780), named Ratu Akhmet Bahar ed-din, whose 
 eldest son bears the title of Parigeran Ratu, answering to the Raja muda 
 of the Malays. The power of the monarch is unlimited by any legal 
 restriction ; but not keeping a regular body of troops in pay, his 
 orders are often disregarded by the nobles. Although without any esta- 
 blished revenue from taxes or contributions, the profit arising from ;the 
 trade of pepper and tin (especially the latter) 1s so great, and the con- 
 
 | sequent 
 
 
 
 ———E——— eer = _ 
 
 — 
 

 
 SUM ArT KA. 36} 
 
 sequent influx of silver, without any apparent outlet, so considerable, 
 that he must necessarily be possessed of treasuré to a large amount. 
 The customs on merchandize imported remain in the hands of the 
 shabhandaras, who are required to furnish the ‘King’s household with 
 provisions and other necessaries. —The domestic attendants on the prince 
 are for the most part females. 
 
 The currency of the country and the only money allowed to be received Currency. 
 
 at the king’s treasury is Spanish dollars; but there is also in general circu- 
 lation a species of small base coin, issued by royal authority, and named 
 pitis. ‘hese are cut out of plates composed of lead and tin, and having 
 a square hole in the middle (like the Chinese cash), are strung in parcels 
 of five hundred each, sixteen of which (according to the Batay. Trans.) 
 are equivalent to the dollar. In weighing gold the fail is considered as 
 the tenth part of the Aaéti (of a pound and a third), or equal to the 
 weight of two Spanish dollars and a quarter. 
 
 The city is situated in a flat marshy tract, a few miles above the delta City. 
 of the river, about sixty miles from the sea, and yet so far from the 
 mountains of the interior that they are not visible. It extends about 
 eight miles along both banks, and is mostly confined to them and to the 
 creeks which open into the river. The buildings, with the exception 
 of the king’s palace and mosque, being all of wood or bamboos, stand- 
 ing on posts, and mostly covered with thatch of palm-leaves, the ap- 
 pearance of the place has nothing to recommend it»"There are also a 
 great number of floating habitations, mostly shops, upon bamboo-rafts 
 moored to piles, and when the owners of these are no longer pleased ms 
 with their situation, they remove upwards or downwards, with the tide, | 
 to one more convenient. Indeed, as the nature of the surrounding 
 country, being overflowed in high tides, scarcely admits of roads, almost 
 all communication is carried on by means of boats, which accordingly 
 are seen moving by hundreds in every direction, without intermission. 
 The dalam or palace being surrounded by a high wall, nothing is known 
 to Europeans of the interior, but it appears to be large, lofty, and much 
 ornamented on the outside. Immediately adjoining to this wall, on the 
 lower side, is a strong, square, roofed battery, commanding the river, 
 3A and 
 
 
 
362 SUMATRA. 
 
 and below it another; on both of which*many heavy cannon are 
 mounted, and fired on particular occasions. In the interval between the 
 two batteries is seen the meidan or plain, at the extremity of which ap- 
 pears the balérong or hall where the sultan gives audience in public. 
 This is an ordinary building, and serving occasionally for a warehouse, 
 but ornamented with weapons arranged along the walls. The royal 
 mosque stands behind the palace, and from the style of architecture 
 seems to have been constructed by an European. It is an oblong build- 
 ing, with glazed windows, pilasters, and a cupola. ‘The burial-place of 
 these sovereigns is at old Palembang, about a league lower down the 
 river, where the ground appears to be somewhat raised, from having 
 long been the site of habitations. 
 
 Encourage- The policy of these princes, who were themselves strangers, having 
 fordiyuet always been to encourage foreign settlers, the city and lower parts of 
 
 the river are in a great measure peopled with natives of China, Cochin- 
 
 china, Camboja, Siam, Patani on the coast of the peninsula, Java, 
 
 - Celebes, and other eastern places. In addition to these, the Arabian 
 
 priests are described by the Dutch as constituting a very numerous and 
 
 pernicious tribe, who, although in the constant practice of imposing 
 
 upon and plundering the credulous inhabitants, are held by them in the 
 
 Religion. | utmost reverence. The Mahometan religion prevails throughout all the 
 
 dominions of the sultan, with the exception of a district near the sea- 
 
 coast, called Salang, where the natives, termed orang kubu, live in the 
 
 woods like wild animals. ‘The literature of the country is said to be 
 
 « confined to the study of the koran, but opinions of this kind I have found 
 in other instances to be too hastily formed, or by persons not competent 
 
 Language. to obtain the necessary information. The language of the king and his 
 court is the high dialect of the Javan, mixed with some foreign idioms. 
 
 In the general intercourse with strangers the conversation is always in 
 Malayan, with the pronunciation (already noticed) of the final o for a. 
 Amongst the people of Palembang themselves this language (the cha- 
 
 ya coche To racter of which they employ) is mixed with the common Jayan. The 
 ~ Dutch, on whom we must rely for an account of the manners and dis- 
 position of these people, and which will be found in Vol. III. p..122. 
 
 of the Batav. Trans, describe those of the low country as devoid of every 
 
 good 
 
 
 

 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 good quality, and imbued with every bad one; whilst those of the in- 
 terior are spoken of as a dull, simple people, who shew much forbear- 
 ance under oppression ;* but it is acknowledged that of these last they 
 have little knowledge, owing to the extreme suspicion and jealousy of 
 the government, which takes alarm at any attempt to penetrate into the 
 country. 
 
 This inland district having been visited only by two servants of the En glish 
 East India Company who have left any record of their journies, I shall 
 extract from their narratives such parts as serve to throw a light upon its 
 geography. The first of these was Mr. Charles Miller, who, on the 19th 
 of September, 1770, proceeded from Fort Marlborough to Bentiring on 
 the Bencoolen river, thence to Pagar-raddin, Kadras, Gunong Raja; 
 Gunong Ayu, Kalindang, and Jambu, where he ascended the hills forming 
 the boundary of the Company’s district, which he found covered with 
 lofty trees. The first dusun on the other side is named Kalubar, and 
 situated on the banks of the river Musi.. From thence his route lay to 
 places called Kapiyong and Parahmu, from all of which the natives 
 carry the produce of their country to Palembang by water. The setting 
 in of the rains and difficulties raised by the guides prevented him from 
 proceeding to the country where the Cassia is cut, and occasioned his 
 return towards the hills, on the 10th of October, stopping at Tabat 
 Bubut. The land in the neighbourhood of the Musi, he describes as 
 being level, the soil black and good, and the air temperate. It was his 
 intention to have crossed the hills to Ranne-lebar, on the 11th, but miss- 
 ing the road in the woods, reached next day, Beyol Bagus, a dusun'‘in 
 the Company’s district, and thence proceeded to Gunong Raja, his way 
 lying partly down a branch of the Bencoolen river, called Ayer Bagus, 
 whose bed is formed of large pebble-stones, and partly through a level 
 
 3A Q country, 
 
 * A ridiculous story is told of a custom amongst the inhabitants of a province named Biida, 
 which I should not repeat but for its whimsical coincidence with a jeu @esprit of our cele- 
 brated Swift. When a child is born there (say the Palembangers), and the father has any 
 doubts about the honesty of his wife, he puts it to the proof by tossing the infant into the 
 air, and catching it on the point of aspear. If no wound is thereby inflicted, he is satisfied 
 of its legitimacy, but if otherwise, he considers it as spurious. 
 
 
 
 363 
 
 Interior 
 country 
 visited by 
 English. 
 
 
 

 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 country, entirely covered with lofty bamboos. From Gunong Raja he 
 
 returned down Bencoolen river, on a bamboo-raft, to Bentiring, and 
 
 reached Fort Marlborough on the 18th of October. The other traveller, 
 
 Mr. Charles Campbell, in a private letter, dated March, 1802, (referring 
 
 me, for more detailed information, to journals which have not reached 
 
 my hand) says,— We crossed the hills nearly behind the Sugar-loaf, 
 
 and entered the valley of Musi. Words cannot do justice to the pictu- 
 
 resque scenery of that romantic and delightful country, locked in on all 
 sides by lofty mountains, and watered by the noble river here navigable 
 
 for very large canoes, which, after receiving the Lamatang and several 
 other streams, forms the Palembang. Directing our course behind the 
 great hill of Sungei-lamo, we in three days discovered Labun, and cross- 
 
 ed some considerable streams. discharging themselves into the river 
 of Kattaun, Our object there being completed, we returned along the 
 banks of the Musi nearly to the dusun of Kalubat, at which place we 
 struck into the woods, and, ascending the mountain, reached towards 
 evening a village high up on the Bencoolen river. There is but a single 
 range, and it is a fact, that from the navigable part of the Mus? river to 
 a place on that of Bencoolen where rafts and sampans may be used, is 
 to the natives a walk of no more than eight hours. Musi is populous, 
 well cultivated, and the soil exceedingly rich. The people are stout, 
 healthy-looking, and independent in their carriage and manners, and 
 were to us courteous and hospitable. They acknowledge no superior 
 authority; but are often insulted by predatory parties from Palembang.” 
 These freebooters would perhaps call themselves collectors of tribute. It 
 is much to be regretted, that little political jealousies and animosities 
 between the European powers whose influence prevails on each side of 
 the island, prevent further discoveries of the course of this considerable 
 river. . | 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 The Country of the Battas—Tappanuli-bay—Journey into the Interior— 
 Cassia-trees—Governments—Arms—W arfare—Trade—Fairs—Food— 
 Manners—Language—Writing—Religion—Funerals—Crimes—Extra- 
 ordinary Custom. 
 
 ONE of the most considerable distinctions of people im the island, and 
 by many regarded as having the strongest claims to originality, is the 
 nation of the Battas (properly Batak), whose remarkable dissimilitude 
 to the other inhabitants, in the genius of their Customs and manners, 
 and especially in some extraordinary usages, renders it necessary that a 
 particular degree of attention should be paid to their description. 
 
 This country is bounded on the north by that of Achin, from which it 
 is separated by the mountains of Papa and Deira, and on the south by 
 the independent district of Rau or Rawa ; extending along the sea-coast 
 on the western side, from the river of Sizigkel to that of Tabuyong, but 
 inland, to the back of Ayer Bavzigis, and generally across the island, 
 which is narrow in that part, to the eastern coast; but more or less en- 
 eroached upon by the Malayan and Achinese establishments in the most 
 convenient maritime situations, for the purposes of their commerce. It 
 is very populous, and chiefly in the central parts, wliére are extensive, 
 open or naked plains, on the borders (as it is said) of a great lake; the 
 soil fertile, and cultivation so much more prevalent than in the southern 
 countries, which are mostly covered with woods, that there is scarcely a 
 tree to be seen excepting those planted by the natives about their villages, 
 which are not, as elsewhere, on the banks of rivers, but wherever a strong 
 situation presents itself. Water, indeed, is not so abundant as to the 
 southward, which may be attributed to the comparatively level surface, the 
 chain of high mountains which extends northwards from the straits of 
 Sunda through the interior of the island, in a great measure terminating 
 with gunong Passummah or Mount Ophir. About the bay of Tappanul, 
 however, the land is high and wooded near the coast. 
 
 The 
 
 
 
 
 
 365 
 
 Battas. 
 
 Situation 
 of the 
 country. 
 
 
 

 
 366 
 
 Its divisions, 
 
 Ancient 
 building. 
 
 Singkel. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 The Batta territory is divided (according to the information obtained 
 by the English Residents) into the following principal districts; Ankola, 
 Padambola, Mandiling, Toba, Selindong, and Sizigkel, of which the first 
 has five, the third three, and the fourth five subordinate tribes. Ac- 
 cording to the Dutch account published in the Transactions of the Batav. 
 Society, which is very circumstantial, it is divided into three small 
 kingdoms. One of these named Simamora is situated far inland, and 
 contains a number of villages, and among others those named Batong, 
 Ria, Allas, Batadera, Kapkap (where the district producing benzoin 
 commences), Batahol, Kotta-tiriggi (the place of the king’s residence), 
 with two places lying on the eastern coast called Suztara-male and 
 Jambu-ayer. This kingdom is said to yield much fine gold, from the 
 mines of Batong and Sunayang. Bata-salindong also contains many. dis- 
 tricts, in some of which benzoin, and in others fine gold, is collected. 
 The residence of the king is at Salindong. Bata-gopit lies at the foot of 
 a volcano-mountain of that name, from whence, at the time of an erup- 
 tion, the natives procure sulphur, to be afterwards employed in the 
 manufacture of gunpowder. The little kingdom of Butar lies north- 
 eastward of the preceding, and reaches to the eastern coast, where are 
 the places named Pulo Serony and Batu Bara ; the latter enjoying acon- 
 siderable trade; also Longtong and Sirigar, at the mouth of a great river 
 named Assahan. Butar yields neither camphor, benzoin, nor gold, and the 
 inhabitants support themselves by cultivation. The residence of the king 
 is at atown of the same name. High up on the river of Batu Bara, which 
 empties itself into the straits of Malacca, is found a large brick building, 
 concerning the erection of which no tradition is preserved amongst the 
 people. It is described as a square, or several squares, and at one corner 
 is an extremely high pillar, supposed by them to have been designed for 
 carrying a flag. Images, or reliefs, of human figures are carved in the 
 walls, which they conceive to be Chinese (perhaps Hindu) idols. The 
 bricks, of which some were brought to Tappanuli, are of a smaller size 
 than those used by the English. | 
 
 Singkel river, by much the largest on the western coast of the island, 
 has its rise in the distant mountains of Daholi, in the territory of Achin, 
 and at the distance of about thirty miles from the sea, receives the waters 
 
 of 
 
SUMATRA’ 
 4 
 
 of the Sikere, at a place called Pomoko, running through a great extent 
 of the Batta country. After this junction it is very broad, and deep 
 enough for vessels of considerable burden, but. the bar is shallow and 
 dangerous, having no more than six feet at low water. spring-tides, and 
 the rise is also six feet. The breadth here is about three quarters of a 
 mile. Much of the lower parts of the country through which it has its 
 course is overflowed during the rainy season, but not at two places, called 
 by Capt. Forrest Rambong and Jambong, near the mouth. The principal 
 town lies forty miles up the river, on the northern branch. On the 
 southern is a town named Kzking, where more trade is carried on by the 
 Malays and Achinese, than at the former, the Samponan or Papa moun- 
 tains producing more benzoin than those of Daholi. It is said in a Dut 
 manuscript, that in three days’ navigation above the town of Siigkel a 
 come to a great lake, the extent of which is not known. 
 
 
 
 Barus, the next place of any consequence to the southward, is chiefly 
 remarkable for having given name throughout the East to the Kapur- 
 barus or native camphor, as it is often termed, to distinguish it from that 
 which is imported from Japan and China, as already explained. ‘This 
 was the situation of the most remote of the Dutch factories, long since 
 withdrawn. It is properly a Malayan establishment, governed by a 
 raja, a bandhara, and eight pavgulus, and with this peculiarity, that the 
 rajas and bandharas must be alternately and reciprocally of two great 
 families, named Dulu and D’ilhir. The assumed jurisdiction is;said to 
 have extended formerly to Natal. The town is situatedyabout a league 
 from the coast, and two leagues farther inland are eight small villages 
 inhabited by Battas, the inhabitants of which purchase the camphor 
 and benzoin from the people of the Diri mountains, extending from the 
 southward of Sirizkel to the hill of Lasa, behind Barus, where the Lobat 
 
 district commences. 
 
 The celebrated bay of Tappanuli stretches into the heart of the Batta 
 country, and its shores are every-where inhabited by that people, who 
 barter the produce of their land for the articles they stand in need of from 
 abroad, but do not themselves make voyages by sea. Navigators assert, 
 
 that the natural advantages of this bay are scarcely surpassed in any 
 other 
 
 
 
 367 
 
 Tappanuli, 
 
 #° 
 
 
 

 
 es 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 Mt 
 other part of the globe; that all the navies of the world might ride there 
 with perfect security in every weather; and that such is the com- 
 plication of anchoring-places within each other, that a large ship could 
 be so hid in them, as not to be found without a tedious search. At the 
 island of Punchong kechil, on which our settlement stands, it is a com- 
 mon practice to moor the vessels by a hawser to a tree on shore. Timber 
 for masts and yards is to be procured in the various creeks with great 
 facility. Not being favourably situated with respect to the general track 
 of outward and homeward-bound shipping, and its distance from the 
 principal seat of our important Indian concerns being considerable, it 
 has not hitherto been much used for any great naval purposes; but at 
 
 same time our government should be aware of the danger that might 
 . a from suffering any other maritime power to get footing in a place 
 of this description. The natives are in general inoffensive, and have given 
 little disturbance to our establishments; but parties of Achinese traders 
 (without the concurrence or knowledge, as there is reason to believe, of 
 their own government), jealous of our commercial influence, long strove 
 to drive us from the bay, by force of arms, and we were under the ne- 
 cessity of carrying on a petty. warfare for many years, in order to secure 
 our tranquillity. In the year 1760 Tappanuli was taken by a squadron 
 of French ships ander the command of the Comte d’ Estaing ; and in 
 October, 1809, being nearly defenceless, it was again taken by the 
 Créole French frigate, Capt. Ripaud, joined afterwards by the Venus and 
 La Manche, under the orders of Commodore Hamelin. By the terms of 
 the surrender private property was to be secured, but in a few days, 
 after the most friendly assurances had been given to the acting resident, 
 with whom the French officers were living, this engagement was violated, 
 under the ill-founded pretence that some gold had been secreted, and 
 every thing belonging to the English gentlemen and ladies, as well as to 
 the native settlers, was plundered or destroyed by fire, with circum: 
 stances of atrocity and brutality that would have disgraced savages. The 
 garden-house of the chief (Mr. Prince, who happened to be then absent 
 from Tappanuli) at Batu-buru on the main was likewise burned, toge- 
 ther with his horses, and his cattle“were shot at and maimed. Even 
 the books of accounts, containing the statement of outstanding debts 
 due to the trading-congern of the place were, in ‘spite of every entreaty, 
 
 maliciously 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 SUMATRA. 
 - 
 
 maliciously destroyed or carried off, by which an irreparable loss, from 
 which the enemy could not derive a benefit, is sustained by the unfor- 
 tunate sufferers. It cannot be supposed that the government of a great 
 and proud empire can give its sanction to this disgraceful mode of carry- 
 ing on war. 
 
 In the Phil. Transact. for the year 1778, is a brief account of the Bafta 
 
 country and the manners of its inhabitants, extracted from the private 
 letters of Mr. Charles Miller, the Company’s botanist, whose observa- 
 tions I have had repeated occasion to quote. I shall now communicate 
 to the reader the substance of a report made by him of a journey per- 
 formed in company with Mr. Giles Holloway, then resident of Tappanuli, 
 through the interior of the country of which we are now speaking, with 
 a view to explore its productions, particularly the Cassia, which at that 
 time was thought likely to prove an object of commerce worthy of 
 attention. 
 *« Previously,”’ says Mr. Miller, ‘* to our setting out on this journey, 
 we consulted people who had formerly been engaged in the cassia-trade, 
 with regard to the most proper places to visit. They informed. us that 
 the trees were to be found in two different districts; viz. in the inland 
 parts to the northward of the old settlement at Tappanuli ; and also in 
 the country of Padambola, which lies between fifty and sixty miles more 
 to the southward, ‘They advised us to prefer going into the Padambola 
 country, although the more distant, on account of»ttie inhabitants of 
 the Tappanuli country (as they represented) being frequently trouble- 
 some to strangers. They also told me there were two kinds of the kulit 
 manis, the one of which, from their account of it, I was in hopes might 
 prove to be the true cinnamon-tree, 
 
 “ June 2Ist, 1772. We set out from Pulo Punchong, and went in 
 boats to the quallo (mouth or entrance) of Pinang Suri river, which is 
 in the bay, about ten or twelve miles south-east of Punchong. Next 
 morning we went up the river in sampans, and in about six hours ar- 
 rived at a place called quallo Lumut, The whole of the land on both 
 sides of the river 1s low, covered with wood, and uninhabited, In these 
 
 3B woods 
 
 369 
 
 Mr. Miller’s 
 journey into 
 the country. 
 
 
 
ee 
 
 | 
 } 
 
 
 
 —— A ma — ce i Ali NS NRE ot i i ACEID inn te RBS de YON Sak 
 
 370 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 woods I observed camphor trees, two species of oak, maranti, rangi, and 
 several other timber-trees. About a quarter of a mile from that place, 
 on the opposite "side of the river, is a Batta kampong, situated on the 
 summit of a regular and very beautiful little hill, which rises in a pyra- 
 midical form, in the middle of a small meadow. The raja of this kam- 
 pong being informed by the Malays that we were at their houses, came 
 over to see us, and invited us to his house, where we were received with 
 great ceremony, and saluted with about thirty guns. This kampong 
 consists of about eight or ten houses, with their respective padz-houses. 
 It is strongly fortified with a double fence of strong, rough camphor 
 planks, driven deep into the earth, and about eight or nine feet high, 
 so placed, that their points project considerably outward. ‘These fences 
 are about twelve feet asunder, and in the space between them the buffa- 
 loes are kept at night. Without-side these fences they plant a row of 
 a prickly kind of bamboo, which forms an almost impenetrable hedge, 
 from twelve to twenty feet thick. In the sapzyaw or building in which 
 the raja receives strangers, we saw a man’s skull hanging up, which he 
 told us was hung there as a trophy, it being the skull of an enemy they 
 had taken prisoner, whose body (according to the custom of the Battas) 
 they had eaten about two months before. June 23d. We walked through 
 a level woody country to the kampong of Lumut, and next day to Sa- 
 tarong, where I observed several plantations of benzoin trees, some cot- 
 ton, indigo, turmeric, tobacco, and a few pepper-vines. We next 
 proceeded to Tappolen, to Stikia, and to Sa-pisang. This last is situated 
 on the banks of Batang-tara river, three or four days’ journey from 
 the sea; so that our course had hitherto been nearly parallel to the 
 coast. 
 
 *« July Ist. We left Sa-pisang and took a direction towards the hills, 
 following nearly the course of the Batang-tara. We travelled all this 
 day through a low, woody, and entirely uncultivated country, which 
 afforded nothing worthy of observation. Our guide had proposed to 
 reach a kampong, called Lumbu, but missing the road, we were obliged 
 to wade up the river between four and five miles, and at length arrived 
 at a ladang extremely fatigued; where the badness of the weather ob- 
 liged us to stop, and take up our quarters in an open padi-shed. The 
 es next 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 next day the river was so swelled by the heavy rain which had fallen the 
 preceding day, that we could not prosecute our journey, and were ob- 
 liged to pass it and the remaining night in the same uncomfortable 
 situation. (This is the middle of the dry season in the southern parts of 
 the island.) July 3d. We left the /adang, and walked through a very 
 irregular and uninhabited tract, full of rocks and covered with woods. 
 We this day crossed a ridge of very steep and high hills, and in the af- 
 ternoon came to an inhabited and well cultivated country, on the edge 
 of the plains of Ancolu. We slept this night in a small open shed, and 
 next day proceeded to a kampong, called Koto Lambong. July . 5th. 
 Went through a more open and yery pleasant country to Terimbaru, a 
 large kampong on the southern edge of the plains of Ancola. The land 
 hereabout is entirely clear of wood, and either ploughed and sown with 
 padi. or jagong. (maiz), or used as pasture for their numerous herds of 
 buffaloes, kine, and horses. The raja being informed of our intentions 
 to. come there, sent his son, and between thirty and forty men, armed 
 with lances and match-lock guns, to meet us, who escorted. us to their 
 kampong, beating gongs and firing their guns all the way. The raja 
 received us in great form, and with civility ordered a buffalo to be killed, 
 detained us a day, and when we proceeded on our journey, sent his son 
 with a party to escort us. I observed that all the unmarried women 
 wore a great number of tin rings in their ears (some having fifty in each 
 ear ;) which circumstance, together with the appearance of the country, 
 ‘seemed to indicate its abounding with minerals ; but on making inquiry, 
 I found that the tin was brought from the straits of Malacca.....Having 
 made the accustomed presents to the raja, we left Terimbaru, July 7th, 
 and proceeded to Sa-masam, the raja of which place, attended by sixty 
 or seventy men, well armed, met us and conducted us to his kampong, 
 where he had prepared a house for our reception, treating us with much 
 hospitality and respect. The country round Sa-masam is full of small 
 hills, but clear of wood, and mostly pasture ground for their cattle, of 
 which they have great abundance. I met with nothing remarkable 
 here excepting a prickly shrub, called by the natives Andalimon, the 
 seed-vessels and leaves of which have a yery agreeable spicy taste, and 
 ' are used by them in their curries. ) 
 
 3B2 « July 
 
 
 

 
 Cassia-trees, 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 « July 10th. Proceeded on our journey to Batang Onan, the kampong 
 where the Malays used to purchase the cassia from the Battas. After 
 about three hours walk over an open hilly country, we again came into 
 thick woods, in which we were obliged to pass the night. The next 
 morning we crossed another ridge of very high hills, covered entirely 
 with woods. In these we saw the wild benzoin-tree. It grows to a 
 much larger size than the cultivated kind, and yields a different sort of 
 resin, called kaminian dulong or sweet-scented benzoin. It differs in 
 being commonly in more detached pieces, and having a smell resembling 
 that of almonds when bruised. Arrived at Batang Onan in the after- 
 noon. This kampong is situated in a very extensive plain, on the banks 
 of a large river which empties itself into the straits of Malacca, and is said 
 to be navigable for sloops to within a day’s journey of Batang Onan. 
 July 11th. Went to Panka-dulut, the raja of which place claims the pro- 
 perty of the cassia-trees, and his people used to cut and cure the bark, 
 and transport it to the former place. The nearest trees are about two 
 hours walk from Panka-dulut, on a high ridge of mountains. They 
 grow from forty to sixty feet high, and have large spreading heads. They 
 are not cultivated, but grow in the woods. The bark is commonly taken 
 from the bodies of the trees of a foot or foot and half diameter; the bark 
 being so thin, when the trees are younger, as to lose all its qualities very 
 soon. I here inquired for the different sorts of cassia-tree of which I 
 had been told, but was now informed that there was only one sort, and 
 that the difference they mentioned was occasioned entirely by the soil 
 and situation in which the trees grow ; that those which grow in a rocky, 
 dry soil, have red shoots, and their bark is of superior quality to that of 
 trees which grow in moist clay, whose shoots are green. I also endea- 
 voured to get some information with regard to their method of curing 
 and quilling the cassia, and told them my intentions of trying some 
 experiments towards improving its quality and rendering it more valu- 
 able. ‘They told me that none had been cut for two years past, on 
 account of a stop being put to the purchases at Tappanuli; and that if I 
 was come with authority to open the trade, I should call together the 
 people of the neighbouring kampongs, kill a buffalo for them, and assure 
 them publicly that the cassia would be again received; in which case 
 
 ! they 
 
SUMATRA. 373 
 
 they would immediately begin to cut and cure it, and would willingly 
 follow any instructions I should give them; but that otherwise they 
 would take no trouble about it. I must observe, that I was prevented 
 from getting so satisfactory an account of the cassia as I could have 
 wished, by the ill-behaviour of the person who accompanied us as guide, 
 from whom, by his thorough knowledge of the country, and of the 
 cassia-trade, of which he had formerly been the chief manager, we 
 thought we had reason to expect all requisite assistance and information, 
 but who not only refused to give it, but prevented as much as possible 
 our receiving any from the country people. July 14th. We left Batang 
 Onan in order to return, stopped that night at a kampong called Koto . 
 Moran, and the next evening reached Sa-masam ; from whence we pro- 
 ceeded, by a different road from what we had travelled before, to Sa- 
 pisang, where we procured sampans, and went down the Batang-tara 
 river to the sea. July 22d we returned to Pulo Punchong.” 
 
 It has since been understood that they were intentionally misled, and 
 taken by a circuitous route, to prevent their seeing a particular kam- 
 pong of some consideration, at the back of Tappanuli, or for some other 
 interested object. Near the latter place, on the main, Mr. John Mars- 
 den, who went thither to be present at the funeral of one of their chiefs, 
 observed two old monuments in stone, one the figure of a man, the 
 other of a man on an elephant; tolerably well executed, but they know 
 not by whom, nor is there any among them who could do the same work 
 now. ‘The features were strongly Batia. ga 
 
 Our settlement at Natal (properly Natar), some miles to the south of Natal. 
 the large river of T’abuyong, and on the confines of the Batta country, 
 which extends at the back of it, is a place of much commerce, but not 
 from its natural or political circumstances of importance in other re- 
 spects, It is inhabited by settlers there, for the convenience of trade, 
 from the countries of Achin, Rau, and Menarigkabau, who render it 
 populous and rich. Gold, of very fine quality, is procured from the 
 country (some of the mines being said to lie within ten miles of the fac- 
 tory), and there is a considerable vent for imported goods, the returns 
 for which are chiefly made in that article and camphor. © Like other 
 
 Malayan 
 
 
 
~ 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 cs 
 =~) 
 _ 
 
 Malayan towns it is governed by datus, the chief of whom, styled datu 
 besér or chief magistrate, has considerable sway; and although the 
 influence of the Company is here predominant, its authority is by no 
 means so firmly established as in the pepper-districts to the southward ; 
 owing to the number. of people, their wealth, and enterprising, inde- 
 pendent spirit.*. It may be said, that they are rather managed and con- 
 ciliated than ruled. They find the English useful as moderators between 
 their own contending factions, which often have recourse to arms, even 
 upon points of ceremonious precedence, and are reasoned into accom- 
 modation by our resident going among them unattended. At an earlier 
 
 ‘ period our protection was convenient to them against the usurpation, 
 _as they termed it, of the Dutch, of whose attempts and claims they were 
 particularly jealous. By an article of the treaty of Paris, in 1763, these 
 pretensions were ascertained as they respected the two European powers, 
 and the settlements of Natal.and. Tappanuli were expressly restored to 
 the English. ‘They had, however, already been re-occupied. Neither, 
 in fact, have any right but what proceeds from the will and consent of 
 the native princes, 
 
 Battago- | The government of the Batfa country, although nominally in the 
 vernments, 
 
 hands of three or more sovereign rajas, is effectively (so far as our inter- 
 course with the people enables us to ascertain) divided into numberless 
 petty chiefships, the heads of which, also styled rajas, have no appear- 
 
 | : ance 
 
 * Upon the re-establishment of the factory in 1762, the resident pointed out to the Datu 
 besér, with a degree of indignation, the number of dead bodies which were frequently seen 
 floating down the river, and proposed his co-operating to prevent assassinations in the coun- 
 try; occasioned by the anarchy the place fell into, during the temporary interruption of the 
 Company’s influence. “I cannot assent to any measures for that purpose,” replied the 
 -datu: “I reap from these murders an advantage of twenty dollars a head, when the families ~ 
 prosecute.” A compensation of thirty dollars per month was offered him, and to this he 
 scarcely submitted, observing that he should be a considerable loser, as there fell in this 
 ‘manner at least three men in the month. At another time, when the resident attempted 
 to carry some regulation into execution, he said, “ kami tradah suka begito, orang kaya!” 
 «We do not chuse to allow it, sir ;” and bared his right arm, as a signal of attack to his 
 dependants, in case the point had been insisted on. Of late years, habit and a sense of 
 ‘mutual interest have rendered them more accommodating. | | 
 
 . IER 2 era 
 
 2 ee ce le el Nae ye — ET ea st ite at In ne > nee! be YI 
 
 5 4 
 | 
 
 + 
 
 | ! 
 ; 
 
 i 
 
 4 
 J 
 
 a 
 
 
 
SUMATRA 
 
 ance of being dependant upon any superior power, but enter into asso- 
 ciations with each other, particularly with those belonging to the same 
 tribe, for mutual defence and security against any distant enemy. They 
 are at the same time extremely jealous of any increase of their relative 
 power, and on the slightest pretext a warbreaks out between them. The 
 force of different ‘ampongs is, notwithstanding this, very unequal, and 
 some rajas possess a much more extensive sway than others; and 
 it must needs be so, where every man who can get a dozen followers, 
 and two or three muskets, sets up for independence. Inland of a place 
 called Sokum, great respect was paid toa female chief or wiz (which word 
 I conceive to be a liquid pronunciation of putri, a princess), whose ju- 
 risdiction comprehended many tribes. Her grandson, who was the 
 reigning prince, had lately been murdered by an invader, and.she had 
 assembled an army of two or three thousand men, to take revenge. An 
 agent of the Company went up the river about fifteen miles, in hopes of 
 being able to accommodate a matter that threatened materially the peace 
 of the country; but he was told by the wéz, that unless he would land 
 his men, and take a decided part in her favour, he had no business 
 there, and he was obliged to reimbark without effecting any thing. ‘The 
 ageressor followed him the same night, and made his escape. It does 
 not appear likely, from the manners and dispositions of the people, 
 that the whole of the country was ever united under one supreme 
 head. 
 
 The more powerful rajas assume authority over the lives-of their sub- 
 jects. The dependants are bound to attend their chief in his journies 
 and in his wars, and when an individual refuses, he is expelled from the 
 society, without permission to take his property along with him. They 
 are supplied with food for their expeditions, and allowed a reward for 
 each person they kill. The revenues of the chief arise principally from 
 fines of cattle adjudged in criminal proceedings, which he always 
 appropriates to himself; and from the produce of the camphor and 
 benzoin trees throughout his district; but this is not rigorously insisted 
 upon. When he pays his gaming debts, he imposes what arbitrary 
 
 value he thinks proper on the horses and buffaloes (no coin being used 
 in 
 
 Gs 
 
 Authority 
 of rajas. 
 
 ‘Or 
 
 
 

 
 376 
 
 Suecession. 
 
 Respect for 
 the sultan 
 of Menang- 
 kabau. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 in the country), which he delivers, and his subjects are obliged to ac- 
 cept them at that rate. “They are forced to work in their turns, for a 
 certain number of days, in his rice plantations, There is, in like man- 
 ner, a lesser kind of service for land held of any other person; the tenant 
 being bound to pay his landlord respect wherever he meets him, and to 
 provide him with entertainment whenever he comes to his house. The 
 people seem to have a permanent property in their possessions, selling 
 them to each other as they think fit. If a man plants trees, and leaves 
 them, no future occupier can sell them, though he may eat the fruit. 
 Disputes and litigations of any kind that happen between people belong- 
 ing to the same kampong are settled by a magistrate appointed for that 
 purpose, and from him, it is said, there is no appeal to the raja : when 
 they arise between persons of different /ampongs, they are adjusted at a 
 meeting of the respective rajas. When a party is sent down to the Bay, 
 to purchase salt, or on other business, it is accompanied by an officer, 
 who takes cognizance of their behaviour, and sometimes punishes on the 
 spot such as are criminal or refractory. This is productive of much 
 order and decency. | 
 
 It is asserted, that the succession to the chiefships does not go, in the 
 first instance, to the son of the deceased, but to the nephew by a 
 sister; and that the same extraordinary rule, with respect to property 
 in general, prevails also amongst the Malays of that part of the island, 
 and even in the neighbourhood of Padang. The authorities for this 
 are various and unconnected with each other, but not sufficiently cir- 
 
 cumstantial to induce me to admit it as a generally established prac- 
 tice. 
 
 Notwithstanding the independent spirit of the Battas, and their con- 
 tempt of all power that would affect a superiority over their little soci- 
 eties, they have a superstitious veneration for the sultan of Menarigkabau, 
 and shew blind submission to his relations and emissaries, real or pre- 
 tended, when such appear among them for the purpose of levying con- 
 tributions: even when insulted and put in fear of their lives, they make 
 no attempt at resistance: they think that their affairs would never 
 
 prosper; 
 
SUMATRA.’ 
 
 prosper; that their pad? would be blighted, and their buffaloes dic; 
 that they would remain under a kind of spell, for offending those sacred 
 messengers. 
 
 The Battas are in their persons rather below the stature of the Malays, 
 and their complexions are fairer; which may, perhaps, be owing to 
 their distance, for the most part, from the sea, an element they do not 
 at all frequent. Their dress is commonly of a sort of cotton cloth manu- 
 factured by themselves, thick, harsh, and wiry, about four astas or 
 
 cubits long, and two in breadth, worn round the middle, with a scarf 
 
 over the shoulder. ‘These are of mixed colours, the prevalent being a 
 brownish red, and a blue approaching to black. They are fond of adorn- 
 ing them, particularly the scarf, with strings and tassels of beads. The 
 covering of the head is usually the bark of a tree, but the superior class 
 wear a strip of foreign blue cloth, in imitation of the Malayan destars, 
 and a few have bajus (outer garments) of chintz. The young women, 
 beside the cloth round the middle, have one over the breasts, and (as 
 noticed in Mr. Miller’s journal) wear in their ears numerous rings of tin, 
 as well as several large rings of thick brass wire round their necks. On 
 festival days, however, they ornament themselves with ear-rings of gold, 
 hair-pins, of which the heads are fashioned like birds or dragons, a kind 
 of three-cornered breast-plate, and hollow rings upon the upper arm, 
 all, in like manner, of gold. The kima shell, which abounds in the bay, 
 is likewise worked into arm-rings, whiter, and taking a better polish 
 than ivory. 
 
 Their arms are match-lock guns, with which they are expert marks- 
 men, bamboo lances or spears with long iron heads, and a side-weapon 
 called jono, which resembles and is worn as a sword rather than a kris. 
 The cartridge-boxes are provided with a number of little wooden cases, 
 each containing a charge for the piece. In these are carried likewise 
 the match, and the smaller ramjaus, the longer being inia joint of bam- 
 boo, slung like a quiver over the shoulder. They have machines cu- 
 riously carved and formed like the beak of a large bird, for holding 
 bullets, and others of peculiar. construction, for a reserve of powder. 
 These hang in front. On the right side hang the flint and steel, and 
 
 3C alse 
 
 Persons. 
 
 Dress. 
 
 Arms. 
 
 377 
 
 
 

 
 378 
 
 Warfare. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 also the tobacco-pipe. ‘Their guns, the locks of which (for holding 
 the match) are of copper, they are supplied with by traders from Me- 
 narighabau ; the swords are of their own workmanship, and they also. 
 manufacture their own gunpowder, extracting the saltpetre, as it is 
 said, from the soil taken from under houses that have been long inha- 
 bited, (which, in consequence of an uncleanly practice, is strongly im- 
 pregnated with animal salts), together with that collected in places where: 
 goats are kept. Through this earth water is filtered, and being after- 
 wards suffered to evaporate, the saltpetre is found at the bottom of the 
 vessel. Their proper standard in war is a horse’s head, from whence 
 flows a long mane or tail; beside which they have colours of red or white. 
 cloth. For drums they use gongs, and in action set up a kind of war- 
 hoop. 
 
 _ The spirit of war is excited among these people by smal! provocation, 
 and their resolutions for carrying it into effect are soon taken. ‘Their 
 life appears, in fact, to be a perpetual state of hostility, and they are 
 always prepared for attack and defence. When they proceed to put 
 their designs into execution, the first act of defiance is firing, without 
 
 _ ball, into the kampong of their enemies. Three days are then allowed 
 
 for the party fired upon to propose terms of accommodation, and if 
 this is not done, or the terms are such as cannot be agreed to, war is 
 then fully declared. This ceremony of firing with powder only, is 
 styled, “‘ carrying smoke to the adversary.” During the course of their 
 wars, which sometimes last for two or three years, they seldom meet 
 openly in the field, or attempt to decide their contest by a general en- 
 gagement; as the mutual loss of a dozen men might go near to ruin 
 both parties, nor do they ever engage hand to hand, but keep at a pretty 
 
 safe distance, seldom nearer than random-shot, excepting in case of 
 
 sudden surprise. They march in single files, and usually fire kneeling, 
 It is not often that they venture a direct attack upon each others works, 
 but watch opportunities of picking off stragglers passing through the 
 woods. A party of three or four will conceal themselves near the foot- 
 ways, and if they see any of their foes, they fire and run away immedi- 
 ately; planting ranjaus after them, to prevent pursuit. On these 
 occasions a man will subsist upon a potatoe a day, in which they have 
 
 much 
 
=> oS al, c 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 much the advantage of the Malays, (against whom they are often en- 
 gaged in warfare) who require to be better fed. 
 
 They fortify their kampongs with large ramparts of earth, half way 
 up which they plant brush-wood. There is a ditch without the rampart, 
 and on each side of that a tall palisade of camphor timber. Beyond 
 this is an impenetrable hedge of prickly bamboo, which, when of suf- 
 ficient growth, acquires an extraordinary density, and perfectly conceals 
 all appearance of a town. Ranjaus, of a length both for the body and 
 the feet, are disposed without all these, and render the approaches hazard- 
 ous to assailants who are almost naked. At each corner of the fortress, 
 instead of a tower or watch-house, they contrive to have a tall tree, which 
 
 
 
 379 
 
 Fortifica- 
 tions, 
 
 they ascend to reconnoitre or fire from. But they are not fond of re-— 
 
 maining on the defensive in these fortified villages, and therefore, leaving 
 a few to guard them, usually advance into the plains, and throw up tem- 
 porary breastworks and entrenchments. 
 
 The natives of the sea-coast exchange their benzoin, camphor, and 
 cassia (the quantity of gold-dust is very inconsiderable) for iron, steel, 
 brass-wire, and salt, of which last article an hundred thousand bamboo 
 ameasures are annually taken off in the bay of Zappanult. These they 
 barter again with the more inland inhabitants, in the mode that shall 
 presently be described, for the products and manufactures of the coun- 
 try, particularly the home-made cloth ; a very small quantity of cotton 
 piece-goods being imported from the coast, and disposed of to the na- 
 tives. What they do take off is chiefly blue-cloth for the head, and 
 
 chintz. 
 
 For the convenience of carrying on the inland-trade, there are esta- 
 blished at the back of Yappanuli, which is their great mart, four stages, 
 at which successively they hold public fairs or markets on every fourth 
 day throughout the year; each fair, of course, lasting one day. The 
 people in the district of the fourth stage assemble with their goods at the 
 appointed place, to which those of the third resort in order to purchase 
 them. ‘The people of the third, in like manner, supply the wants of 
 
 the second, and the second of the first, who dispose, on the day the 
 
 3.C 2 market 
 
 Trade. 
 
 Fairs held. 
 
 
 

 
 380 
 
 Estimate by 
 commodi- 
 ties instead 
 of coin. 
 
 Food. 
 
 S$ UMATR A. 
 
 market is held, of the merchandise for which they have trafficked with 
 the Europeans and Malays. On these occasions all hostilities are suis- 
 pended. Each man who possesses a musket carries it with a green bough 
 in the muzzle, as a token of peace, and afterwards, when he comes to 
 the spot, following the example of the director or manager of the party, 
 discharges the loading into a mound of earth ; in which, before his de- 
 parture, he searches for his ball. There is but one house at the place 
 where the market is held, and that is for the purpose of gaming. The 
 want of booths is supplied by the shade of regular rows of fruit-trees, 
 
 mostly durian, of which one avenue is reserved for the women. The 
 
 dealings are conducted with order and fairness ; the chief remaining at 
 a little distance, to be referred to in case of dispute, and a guard is at 
 hand, armed with lances, to keep the peace; yet with all this police, 
 which bespeaks civilization, I have been assured by those who have had 
 an opportunity of attending their meetings, that in the whole of their 
 appearance and deportment there is more of savage life than is observed 
 in the manners of the Rejangs, or inhabitants of Lampong. ‘Traders 
 from the remoter Bafta districts, lying north and south, assemble at 
 these periodical markets, where all their traffic is carried on, and commo- 
 dities bartered. They are not, however, peculiar to this country, being 
 held, among other places, at Batang-kapas and Jpu. By the Malays 
 they are termed onan. | 
 
 Having no coin, all value is estimated among them by certain com- 
 modities. In trade, they calculate by tampangs (cakes) of benzoin; in 
 transactions among themselves, more commonly by buffaloes: sometimes 
 brass wire, and sometimes beads, are used as a medium. A galang, 
 or ring of brass wire, represents about the value of a dollar. But for 
 small payments, salt is the most in use. A measure called a salup, 
 weighing about two pounds, is equal to a fanam or twopence-halfpenny : 
 a balli, another small measure, goes for four keppeng, or three-fifths of 
 a penny. 
 
 The ordinary food of the lower class of people is maiz and sweet po- 
 tatoes ; the rajas and great men alone indulging themselves with rice. 
 Some mix them together. It is only on public occasions that they kill 
 
 cattle 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 cattle for food; but not’ being delicate in their appetites, they do not 
 scruple to eat part of a dead buffalo, hog, rat, alligator, or any ‘wild 
 animal with which they happen to meet. ‘Their rivers are said ‘not to 
 abound with fish. Horse-flesh they esteem their most exquisite meat, 
 and for this purpose feed them upon grain, and pay great attention ‘to 
 their keep. They are numerous in the country, and the Europeans at 
 Bencoolen are supplied with many good ones from thence, but not with 
 the finest, as these are reserved for their festivals. They have also, says 
 Mr. Miller, great quantities of small black dogs, with erect pointed ears, 
 which they fatten and eat. ‘Toddy or palm-wine they drink copiously 
 at their feasts. 
 
 The houses are built with frames of wood, with the sides of. boards, 
 and roof covered with yu. ‘They usually consist of a single large room, 
 which is entered by a trap-door in the middle. The number seldom ex- 
 ceeds twenty in.one kampong ; but opposite to each is a kind of open 
 building, that serves for sitting in during the day, and as a sleeping- 
 place for the unmarried men at night. These together form a sort of 
 street. To each kampong there is also a balez, where the inhabitants 
 assemble for transacting public business, celebrating feasts, and the re- 
 ception of strangers, whom they entertain with frankness and hospitality. 
 At the end of this building is a place divided off, from whence the women 
 see the spectacles of fencing and dancing; and below that is a kind of 
 orchestra for music. er bent 
 
 
 
 $81 
 
 Buildings. 
 
 The men are allowed to marry as many wives as they please, or can Domestic 
 
 afford, and to have half a dozen is not uncommon. Each of these sits 
 in a different part of the large room, and sleeps exposed to the others ; 
 not being separated by any partition or distinction of apartments. Yet 
 the husband finds it necessary to allot to each of them their several 
 fire-places, and cooking utensils, where they dress their own victuals 
 separately, and prepare his in turns. How is this domestic state, and 
 the flimsiness of such an imaginary barrier, to be reconciled with our 
 ideas of the furious, ungovernable passions of love and jealousy, sup- 
 posed to prevail in an eastern haram? or must custom be allowed to 
 supersede all other influence, both moral and physical? In other re- 
 
 spects 
 
 manners. 
 
 
 

 
 > 
 
 382 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 spects they differ little in their customs relating to marriage from the rest 
 of the island. The parents of the girl always receive a valuable consi- 
 deration (in buffaloes or horses) from the person to whom she is given 
 in marriage; which is returned when a divorce takes place against the 
 man’s inclination. The daughters, as elsewhere, are looked upon as the 
 riches of the fathers. 
 
 Condition of ‘The condition of the women appears to be no other than that of 
 
 women, 
 
 slaves, the husbands having the power of selling their wives and children. 
 They alone, beside the domestic duties, work in the rice plantations. 
 These are prepared in the same mode as in the rest of the island ; except 
 that in the central parts, the country being clearer, the plough and 
 harrow, drawn by buffaloes, are more used. The men, when not en- 
 gaged in war, their favourite occupation, commonly lead an idle, inac- 
 tive life, passing the day in playing on a kind of flute, crowned with 
 garlands of flowers ; among which the globe-amaranthus, a native of the 
 
 Horse-racing. COUNtry, mostly prevails. They are said, however, to hunt deer on 
 
 Language. 
 
 horseback, and to be attached to the diversion of horse-racing. They 
 
 ride boldly without a saddle or stirrups, frequently throwing their hands 
 
 upwards whilst pushing their horse to full speed. The bit of the bridle 
 is of iron, and has several joints; the head-stall and reins of rattan: in 
 some parts the reins, or halter rather, is of zu, and the bit of wood. 
 They are, like the rest of the Sumatrans, much addicted to gaming, and 
 the practice is under no kind of restraint, until it destroys itself by the 
 ruin of one of the parties. When a man loses more money than he is 
 able to pay, he is confined and sold as a slave; being the most usual 
 mode by which they become such. A generous winner will sometimes 
 release his unfortunate adversary upon condition of his killing a horse, 
 and making a public entertainment. | 
 
 They have, as was before observed, a language and written character 
 peculiar to themselves, and which may be considered, in point of ori- 
 ginality, as equal at least to any other in the island; and although, like 
 the languages of Java, Celebes, and the Philippines, it has many terms 
 in common with the Malayan (being all, in my judgment, from one 
 common stock), yet, in the way of encroachment, from the influence, 
 
 both 
 
 —— 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 both political and religious, acquired by its immediate neighbours, the 
 Batta tongue appears to have experienced less change than any other. 
 For a specimen of its words, its alphabet, and the rules by which the 
 sound of its letters is modified and governed, the reader is referred to the 
 Table and Plate at p. 203. It is remarkable, that the proportion of the 
 people who are able to read and write is much greater than of those who 
 do not; a qualification seldom observed in such uncivilized parts of the 
 world, and not always found in the more polished. Their writing, for 
 common purposes, is, like that already described in speaking of the 
 Rejangs, upon pieces of bamboo. Their books (and such they may with 
 propriety be termed) are composed of the inner bark of a certain tree, 
 cut into long slips, and folded in squares, leaving part of the wood at 
 each extremity, to serve for the outer covering. The’ bark, for this 
 purpose, is shaved smooth and thin, and afterwards rubbed over witlr 
 rice-water. The pen they use is a twig or the fibre of a leaf, and their ink 
 is made of the soot of dammar, mixed with the juice of the sugar-cane. 
 The contents of their books are little known to us. The writing of most 
 of those in my possession is mixed with uncouth representations of sco- 
 lopendra and other noxious animals, and frequent diagrams, which 
 imply their being: works of ‘astrology and divination. These they are 
 known to consult in all the transactions of life, and the event is predicted 
 by the application of certaim characters marked on a slip of bamboo, to 
 the lines of the sacred book, with which a comparison is made. But 
 this is not their only mode of divining. Before going to war they kill-a 
 
 buffalo or a fowl that is perfectly white, and by observing the motion: 
 
 of the intestines, judge of tne good or ill fortune likely to attend them ; 
 and the priést who performs this ceremony had need to be infallible, for 
 if he predicts contrary to the event, it is said that he is sometimes pu- 
 nished with death for his want of skill. Exclusively, however, of these 
 books of necromancy, there are others containing legendary and my- 
 thological tales, of which latter a sample will be given under the article 
 of religion. 
 
 Dr. Leyden, in his Dissertation on the Languages and Literature of 
 
 the Indo-Chinese nations, says, that the Butta character is written nel- 
 ther 
 
 
 
 383 
 
 Writing. 
 
 Books. 
 
 Remark by 
 Dr, Leyden, 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 384 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Religion. 
 
 SUMATRA, 
 
 ther from right to left, nor from left to right, nor from top to bottom, 
 but in a manner directly opposite, to that of the Chinese, from the bot- 
 tom to the top of the.line, and that I have conveyed an erroneous idea 
 of their natural form, by arranging the characters horizontally, instead 
 of placing them in a perpendicular line. Not having now the opportu- 
 nity of verifying, by ocular proof, what I understood to be the practical 
 order of their writing, namely, from left to right (in the manner of the 
 Hindus, who, there is reason to believe, were the original instructors of 
 all these people), I shall only observe, that I have among my papers 
 three distinct specimens of the Batta alphabet, written by different na- 
 tives, at different periods, and all of them are horizontal. But I am at 
 the same time aware that as this was performed in the presence of Eu- 
 ropeans, and upon our paper, they might have deviated from their 
 ordinary practice, and that the evidence is therefore not conclusive. It 
 might be presumed, indeed, that the books themselves would be sufti- 
 cient criterion; but, according tothe position in which they are held, they 
 may be made to sanction either mode, although it is easy to determine 
 by simple inspection, the commencement of the lines. In the Batav. 
 Trans. (Vol. III. p. 23.) already so often quoted, it is expressly said, 
 that these people write like Europeans from the left hand towards the 
 right: and, in truth, it is not easy to conceive how persons making use 
 of ink can conduct the hand from the bottom to the top of a page 
 
 without marring their own performance. But still a matter of fact, if 
 
 such it be, cannot give way to argument, and I have no object but to 
 ascertain the truth. 
 
 Their religion, like that of all other inhabitants of the island who are 
 not Mahometans, is so obscure in its principles, as scarcely to afford room 
 to say that any exists among them. Yet they have rather more of ce- 
 remony and observance than those of Rejang or Passummah, and there 
 is an order of persons by them called guru (a well-known Hindu term), 
 who may be denominated priests, as they are employed in administering 
 oaths, foretelling lucky and unlucky days, making sacrifices, and the 
 performance of funeral rites, For a knowledge of their theogony we are 
 
 indebted to M. Siberg, governor of the Dutch settlements on the coast 
 
 of 
 
 
 
 
 
SUMATRA 
 of Sumatra, by whom the following account was communicated to the 
 
 late M. Radermacher, a distinguished member of the Batavian Society, 
 and by him published in its Transactions. | 
 
 «< The inhabitants of this country have many fabulous stories, which 
 shall be briefly mentioned. They acknowledge three deities as rulers of 
 the world, who are respectively named Batara-guru, Sori-pada, and 
 Mangalla-bulang. ‘The first, say they, bears rule in heaven, is the fa- 
 ther of all mankind, and partly, under the following circumstances, 
 creator of the earth, which from the beginning of time had been sup- 
 ported on the head of Naga-padoha, but growing weary at length, he 
 shook his head, which occasioned the earth to sink, and nothing: re- 
 mained in the world excepting water.. They do not pretend to a know- 
 Jedge of the creation of this original earth and water, but say that at 
 the pericd when the latter covered every thing, the chief deity, Batara- 
 guru, had a daughter named Putt-orla-bulan, who requested permission 
 to descend to these lower regions, and accordingly came down on a 
 white owl, accompanied by a dog; but not being able, by reason of the 
 waters, to continue there, her father let fall from heaven a lofty moun- 
 tain, named Bakarra, now situated in the Batta country, as a dwelling 
 for his child ; and from this mountain all other land gradually proceeded, 
 The earth was once more supported on the three horns of Naga-padoha, 
 and that he might never again suffer it to fall off, Batara-guru sent his son, 
 named Layang-layang-mandi (literally the dipping swallow) to bind him 
 hand and foot. But to his occasionally shaking his head they ascribe the 
 effect of earthquakes, Puti-orla-bulan had afterwards, during her resi- 
 dence on earth, three sons and three daughters, from whom sprang the 
 whole human race, 
 
 << The second of their deities has the rule of the air, betwixt earth and 
 heaven, and the third that of the earth; but these two are considered as 
 subordinate to the first. Besides these, they have as many inferior 
 deities as theré aré sensible objects on earth, or circumstances in human 
 society ; of which some preside over the sea, others over rivers, over 
 woods, over war, and the like. They believe; likewise, in four evil 
 spirits, dwelling in four separate mountains, and whatever ill befals them, 
 3D they 
 
 
 
 385 
 
 Mythology. 
 
 
 
t} 
 mt 
 ee 
 Bh 
 iy 
 ee 
 i 
 bi 
 a be 
 a i 
 : 
 hi 
 
 
 
 586 
 
 Oaths. 
 
 ee. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 they attribute to the agency of one of these demons. On such occa- 
 sions, they apply to one of their cunning men, who has recourse to his 
 art, and by cutting a lemon ascertains which of these has been the au- 
 thor of the mischief, and by what means the evil spirit may be propiti- 
 ated ; which always proves to be the sacrificing a buffalo, hog, goat, 
 or whatever animal the wizard happens on that day to be most inclined 
 to eat. When the address is made to any of the superior and beneficent 
 deities for assistance, and the priest directs an offering of a horse, cow, 
 dog, hog, or fowl, care must be taken that the animal to be sacrificed 
 is entirely white. 
 
 «© They have also a vague and confused idea of the immortality of the 
 human soul, and of a future state of happiness or misery. They say, 
 that the soul of a dying person makes its escape through the nostrils, 
 and is borne away by the wind; to heaven, if of a person who has led 
 a good life; but if of an evil-doer, to a great cauldron, where it shall be 
 exposed to fire, until such time as Batara-guru shall judge it to have 
 suffered punishment; proportioned to its sins, and feeling compassion, 
 shall take it to himself in heaven: that finally the time shall come when 
 the chains and bands of Naga-padoha shall be worn away, and he shall 
 once more allow the earth to sink ; that the sun will be then no more 
 than a cubit’s distance from it; and that the souls of those who, having 
 lived well, shall remain alive at the last day, shall in like manner go to 
 heaven, and those of the wicked, be consigned to the before-mentioned 
 cauldron, intensely heated by the near approach of the sun’s rays, ‘to 
 be there tormented by a minister of Batara-guru, named Suraya-guru, 
 until, haying expiated their offences, they shall be thought worthy of 
 reception into the heavenly regions.” To the Sanskrit scholar who shall 
 make allowances for corrupt orthography, many of these names will be 
 familiar. For Batara he will read avatara; and in Naga-padoha he will 
 recognise the serpent on whom Vishnu reposes. 
 
 Their ceremonies that wear most the appearance of religion are those 
 practised on taking an oath, and at their funeral obsequies. A person 
 accused of a crime, and who asserts his innocence, is in some cases 
 acquitted upon solemnly swearing to it, but in others, is obliged to un- 
 
 dergo 
 

 
 SUMATRA, 587 
 
 dergo a kind of ordeal. A cock’s throat is usually cut on thé occasion 
 by the guru. The accused then puts a little rice into his mouth (pro- 
 bably dry), and wishes it may become a stone'if he be guilty of the crime 
 with which he stands charged; or holding up a musket bullet, prays it 
 may be his fate, in that case, to fall in battle. In more important in- 
 stances they put a small leaden or tin image into the middle ofa dish of 
 rice, garnished with those bullets ; when the man, kneeling down, prays 
 that his crop of rice may fail, his cattle die, and that he himself may never 
 take salé (a luxury as well as necessary of life), if he does not declare 
 the truth. These tin images: may be looked upon as objects of idolatrous 
 worship ; but I could not learn that any species of adoration was paid 
 to them on other occasions, any more than to-certain stone images which 
 have been mentioned. Like the relics of saints, they are merely em- 
 ployed to render the form of the oath more mysterious, and thereby 
 increase the awe with which it should be regarded. 
 
 When a raja or person of consequence dies, the funeral usually occu- Funeral ce- 
 pies several months; that is, the corpse is kept unburied until the neigh- eee 
 bouring and distant chief’, or, in common cases, the relations and 
 creditors of the deceased, can be convened, in order to celebrate the 
 rites with becoming dignity and respect. Perhaps the season of planting 
 or of harvest intervenes, and these necessary avocations must be attended 
 to, before the funeral ceremonies can be concluded.. The body, how- 
 ever, is in the mean time deposited in a kind of coffin. To provide this, 
 they fell a large tree (the anau in preference, because of the softness of 
 the central part, whilst the outer coat is hard), and having cut a portion 
 of the stem of sufficient length, they split it in two parts, hollow each part 
 so as to form a receptacle for the body, and then fit them exactly toge- 
 ther. The workmen take care to sprinkle the wood with the blood of a 
 
 «young hog, whose flesh is given to them as a treat. The coffin being 
 thus prepared and brought into the house, the body is placed in it, 
 with a mat beneath, and a cloth laid over it. Where the family can 
 afford the expence, it is strewed over with camphor. Having now 
 placed the two parts in close contact, they bind them together with 
 rattans, and cover the whole with a thick coating of dammar or resin. 
 In some instances, they take the precaution of inserting a bamboo-tube 
 
 .3D2a into 
 
 
 

 
 388 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 into the lower part, which, passing thence through the raised floor into 
 the ground, serves to carry off the offensive matter; so that in fact little 
 more than the bones remain. 
 
 When the relations and friends are assembled, each of whom brings 
 with him a buffalo, hog, goat, dog, fowl, or other article of provision, 
 according to his ability, and the women, baskets of rice, which are 
 presented and placed in order, the feasting begins and continues for 
 nine days and nights, or so long as the provisions hold out. » On the last 
 of these days the coffin is carried out and set in an open space, where 
 it is surrounded by the female mourners; on their knees, with their heads 
 covered, and howling (ululantes) in dismal concert, whilst the younger 
 persons of the family are dancing near it, in solemn movement, to the 
 sound of gongs, kalintangs, and a kind of flageolet ; at night it is returned 
 to the house, where. the dancing and music continues, with frequent 
 firing of guns, and on the tenth day the body is carried to the graye, 
 preceded by the guru or priest, whose limbs are ¢atfowed in the shape of 
 birds and beasts, and painted of different colours,* with a large wooden 
 mask on his face, He takes a piece of buffalo-flesh, swings it about, 
 throwing himself into violent attitudes and strange contorsions, and then 
 eats the morsel in a voracious manner. He then kills a fowl over the 
 corpse, letting the blood run down upon the coffin, and just before it 
 
 is moved, both he and the female mourners, having each a broom in 
 
 their hands, sweep violently about it, as if to’chase away the evil spirits 
 and prevent their joining in the procession; when suddenly four men, 
 stationed for the purpose, lift up the coffin, and march quickly off with 
 it, as if escaping from the fiend; the priest continuing to sweep after it 
 
 for some distance. It is then deposited in the ground, without any 
 
 peculiar ceremony, at the depth of three or four feet; the earth about 
 the grave is raised, a shed built over it, further feasting takes place on, 
 the spot, for an indefinite time, and the horns and jaw-bones of the 
 
 buffaloes 
 
 * It is remarkable, that in the Bisayan language of the Philippines, the term for people 
 so marked, whom the Spaniards call pintados, is batuc.. This practice is common in the 
 islands near the coast of Sumatra, as will hereafter be noticed. It seems to have prevailed in 
 many parts of the farther East, as Siam, Laos, and several of the islands. 
 
SUM A T R'A 
 
 buffaloes and other cattle devoured on the occasion, are fastened to the 
 posts. Mr. John and Mr. Frederick Marsden were spectators of the 
 funeral of a raja at Tappanuli on the main. Mr, Charles Miller men- 
 tions his having been present at killing the hundred and sixth buffalo 
 atthe grave of a raja, in a part of the country where the ceremony 
 was sometimes continued even a year after the interment; and that 
 they seem to regard their ancestors as a kind of superior beings, attend- 
 ant always upon them, 
 
 The crimes committed here against the order and peace of society are 
 said not to be numerous. Theft amongst themselves is almost unknown, 
 being strictly honest in their dealings with each other; but when dis- 
 covered, the offender is made answerable for double the value of the 
 goods stolen. Pilfering, indeed, from strangers, when not restrained 
 by the laws of hospitality, they are expert at, and think no moral of- 
 fence; because they do not perceive that any ill results from it. Open 
 robbery and murder are punishable with death, if the parties are unable 
 to redeem their lives by a sum of money. A person guilty of man- 
 slaughter is obliged to bear the expence attending the interment of the 
 deceased and the funeral-feast given to his friends, or, if too poor to 
 accomplish this, it is required of his nearest relation, who is empow- 
 ered to reimburse himself by selling the offender as a slave. In cases 
 of double adultery, the man, upon detection, is punished with death, 
 in the manner that shall presently be described; but the woman is only 
 disgraced, by having her head shaven, and being sold for a slave; 
 which in fact she was before. This distribution of justice must proceed 
 upon the supposition of the females being merely passive subjects, and 
 of the men alone possessing the faculties of free agents. A single man 
 concerned in adultery with a married woman is banished or outlawed 
 by his own family. The lives of culprits are in almost all cases redeem- 
 able, if they or their connections possess property sufficient; the quan- 
 tum being in some measure at the discretion of the injured party. .At 
 the same time it must be observed that Europeans’ not being settled 
 amongst these people upon the same footing as in the pepper-districts, 
 we are not so well acquainted either with the principle or the practice 
 
 of their laws. 
 
 The 
 
 Crimes. 
 
 389 
 
 
 

 
 390 
 
 Extraordinary 
 custom. 
 
 Eat human 
 flesh. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 The most extraordinary of the Batta customs, though certainly not 
 peculiar to these people, remains now to be described.. Many of the 
 old travellers had furnished the world with accounts of anthropophagi or 
 man-eaters, whom they met with in all parts of the old and new world, 
 and their relations, true or false, were in those days, when people were 
 addicted to the marvellous, universally credited. In the succeeding 
 ages, when a more sceptical and scrutinizing spirit prevailed, several 
 of these asserted facts were found upon examination to be false; and 
 men, from a bias inherent in our nature, ran into the opposite extreme. 
 It then became established as a philosophical truth, capable almost of 
 demonstration, that no such race of people ever did or could exist. 
 But the varieties, inconsistencies, and contradictions of human man- 
 ners, are so numerous and glaring, that it is scarcely possible to fix any 
 general principle that will apply to all the incongruous races of man- 
 kind, or even to conceive an irrésularity to which some or other of them 
 have not been accustomed. ‘The voyages of our late famous circum- 
 navigators, the veracity of whose assertions is unimpeachable, have 
 already proved to the world that human flesh is eaten by the savages of 
 New Zealand ; and I can, with equal confidence, from conviction of 
 the truth, though not with equal weight of authority, assert, that it is 
 also, in these days, eaten in the island of Sumatra by the Batta people, 
 and by them only. Whether or not the horrible custom prevailed more 
 extensively in ancient times, I cannot take upon me to ascertain ; but 
 the same historians who mention it as practised in this island, and 
 whose accounts were undeservedly looked upon as fabulous, relate it 
 also of many others of the eastern people, and those of the island of 
 Jav@ in particular, who, since that period, may have become more 
 humanized.* 
 
 They 
 
 * Mention is made of the Battas and their peculiar customs by the following early writ- 
 ers: Nicoto p1 Contr, 1449. « Ina certain part of this island (Sumatra) called Batech, the 
 people eat human flesh. They are continually at war with their neighbours, preserve the 
 skulls of their enemies as treasure, dispose of them as money, and he is accounted the rich- 
 est man who has most of them in his house.” Opoarpus Barzsosa, 1516. “ There is 
 another kingdom to the southward, which is the principal source of gold; and another 
 inland, called Aaru (contiguous to the Batta country) where the inhabitants are pagans, 
 
SUMATRA, 
 
 They do not eat human flesh as the means of satisfying the cravings 
 of nature, for there can be no want of sustenance to the inhabitants of 
 such a country and climate, who reject no animal food of any kind; 
 nor is it sought after as a gluttonous delicacy. The Battas eat it as a 
 species of ceremony; as a mode of shewing their detestation of certain 
 crimes by an ignominious punishment; and as a savage display of re- 
 venge and insult to their unfortunate enemies. The objects of this 
 barbarous repast are prisoners taken in war, especially if badly wounded, 
 the bodies of the slain, and offenders condemned for certain capital 
 crimes, especially for adultery. Prisoners unwounded (but they are not 
 much disposed to give quarter) may be ransomed or sold as slaves, 
 where the quarrel is not too inveterate; and the convicts, there is rea- 
 son to believe, rarely suffer when their friends are in circumstances to 
 redeem them by the customary equivalent of twenty binchangs or eighty 
 dollars. ‘These are tried by the people of the tribe where the offence 
 was committed, but cannot be executed until their own particular raja 
 has been made acquainted with the sentence, who, when he acknow- 
 ledges the justice of the intended punishment, sends a cloth to cover 
 the head of the delinquent, together with a large dish of salt and lemons. 
 The unhappy victim is then delivered into the hands of the injured 
 party (if it be a private wrong, or in the case of a prisoner, to the 
 warriors) by whom he is tied to a stake ; lances are thrown at him from 
 a certain distance by this person, his relations, and friends; and when 
 mortally wounded, they run up to him, as if in a transport of passion, 
 cut pieces from the body with their knives, dip them in the dish of salt, 
 lemon-juice, and red pepper, slightly broil them over a fire prepared 
 for the purpose, and swallow the morsels with a degree of savage en- 
 thusiasm. Sometimes (I presume, according to the degree of their 
 
 animosity 
 
 who eat human flesh, and ¢hiefly of those they have slain in war.” De Barros, 1563. 
 «© The natives'of that part of the island which is opposite to Malacca, who are called Bdcas, 
 eat human flesh, and are the most savage and warlike of all the land.” Beauxizv, 1622, 
 « The inland people are independent, and speak a language different from the Malayan. 
 Are idolaters, and eat human flesh; never ransom prisoners, but eat them with pepper 
 and salt. Have no religion, but some polity.” Lupovico Bartuema, in 1505, asserts that 
 the people of Java were cannibals previously to their traffic with the Chinese. 
 
 391 
 
 Motives for 
 this custom, 
 
 
 
309 SUM A T RA, 
 
 animosity and resentment) the whole is devoured by the by-standefs ; 
 and ‘nstances have been known where, with barbarity still aggravated, 
 they tear the flesh from the carcase with their teeth. To such a depth. 
 of depravity may man be plunged, when neither religion nor philosophy: 
 enlighten his steps! All that can be said in extenuation of the horrour 
 of this diabolical ceremony, is, that no view appears to be entertained 
 of torturing the sufferers, of increasing or lengthening out the pangs of 
 death; the whole fury is directed against the corpse, warm, indeed, 
 with the remains of life, but past the sensation of pain. A difference 
 of opinion has existed with respect to the practice of eating the bodies 
 of their enemies actually slain in war; but subsequent inquiry has satis- 
 fied me of its being done, especially in the case of distinguished persons, 
 or those who have been accessaries to the quarrel. It should be ob- 
 served, that their campaigns (which may be aptly compared to the 
 
 : predatory excursions of our Borderers) often terminate with the loss of 
 not more than half a dozen men on both sides. . The skulls of the vic- 
 tims are hung up as trophies in the open buildings in front of their 
 houses, and are occasionally ransomed by their surviving relations for a, 
 sum of money. | 
 
 Detatss I have found that some persons (and among them my friend, the late 
 , Mr, Alexander Dalrymple) have entertained doubts of the reality of the 
 fact, that human flesh is any where eaten by mankind, as a national 
 practice, and considered the proofs hitherto adduced as insufficient to 
 establish a point of so much moment in the history of the species, . It 
 
 is objected to me, that I never was an eye-witness of a Batta-feast of ° 
 
 this nature, and that my authority for it is considerably weakened by 
 coming through a second, or perhaps a third hand. I am sensible of 
 
 the weight of this reasoning, and am not anxious to force any man’s 
 belief, much less to deceive him by pretences to the highest degree of 
 certainty, when my relation can only lay, claim to the next degree; ~ 
 
 but I must at the same time observe, that, according to my apprehen- 
 
 sion, the refusing assent to fair, circumstantial evidence, because it 
 clashes with a systematic opinion, is équally injurious to the cause of 
 truth, with asserting that as positive, which is only doubtful. My con- 
 viction of the truth of what I have not personally seen (and we must all 
 
 be 
 
 | 
 . 
 | 
 | 
 
 icobigh. Nits 6 Ry A oI sed 
 
 —— 
 
 ead’ aad | 
 
 
 
» 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 be convinced of facts to which neither ourselves: nor those with whom 
 we are immediately connected could ever have been witnesses) has 
 arisen from the following circumstances, some of less and some.of greater 
 authority. It, is, in the first place, a matter of general and uncontfo- 
 verted notoriety throughout the island, and I have conversed with many 
 natives of the Bafta country (some of them in my own service); who 
 acknowledged the practice, and became ashamed of it after residing 
 amongst more humanized people. It has been my chance to have had 
 no fewer than three brothers and brothers-in-law, beside several intimate 
 friends (of whom some are now in England), chiefs of our settlements of 
 Natal and Tappanuli, of whose information I availed, myself, and all 
 their accounts I have found to agree in every material point. The tes- 
 timony of Mr. Charles Miller, whose name, as well as that of his father, 
 is advantageously known to the literary world, should alone be sufficient 
 for my purpose. In addition to what he has related in his journal, he 
 has told me, that at one village where he halted, the suspended head of 
 a man, whose body had been eaten a few days before, was extremely 
 offensive ; and that in conversation with some people of the Ankola dis- 
 trict, speaking of their neighbours and occasional enemies of the Pa- 
 dambola district, they described them as an unprincipled race, saying, 
 ‘¢ We, indeed, eat men as a punishment for their crimes and injuries to 
 us; but they way-lay and seize travellers, in order to ber-banter or cut 
 them up like cattle.” It is here, obviously, the admission and not the 
 scandal that should have weight. When Mr. Giles Holloway wasJeaving 
 Tappanuli and ‘settling his. accounts with the natives, he expostulated 
 with a Batta man who had been dilatory inthis payment. ‘I would,” 
 says the man, ‘* have been here sooner, but my pazigulu {superior officer) 
 was detected in familiarity with my wife..He was condemned, and 
 I staid to eat share of him; the ceremony took us up three days, and it 
 was only last night that we finished him.” Mr. Miller was present at 
 this conversation, and the man spoke with perfect seriousness. A native 
 of the island: of Nias who had stabbed a Batta man, ima fit of frenzy, at 
 Batang-tara river, near Tappanuli bay, and endeavoured to make his 
 escape, was, upon the alarm being given; seized at six in the morning, 
 and before eleven, without any judicial process, was tied to,a stake, cut 
 in pieces with the utmost eagerness, while yet alive, and eaten upon the 
 
 3 FE. spot, 
 
 
 
 393 
 
 
 
394 
 
 Death of Mr. 
 Nairne, 
 
 | 
 th 
 aif 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 spot, partly broiled, but mostly raw. His head was buried under that 
 of the man whom he had murdered. This happened in December, 1780, 
 when Mr. William Smith had: charge of the settlement. A raja was 
 fined by Mr. Bradley for having caused a prisoner to be eaten at a place 
 too close to the Company’s settlement, and it should have been remarked, 
 that these feasts are never suffered to take place withinside their own 
 kampongs. Mr. Alexander Hall made a charge in his public accounts of 
 a sum paid to a raja as an inducement to him to spare a man whom he 
 had seen preparing for a victim : and it is in fact this commendable dis- 
 couragement of the practice by our government that occasions its being 
 so rare a sight to Europeans, in a country where there are no travellers 
 from curiosity, and where the servants of the Company having appear- 
 ances to maintain, cannot by their presence, as idle spectators, give a 
 sanction to proceedings, which it is their duty to discourage, although 
 their influence is not sufficient to prevent them. 
 
 A Batta chief, named raja Niabin, in the year 1775, surprised a 
 neighbouring ‘ampong with which he was at enmity, killed the raja by 
 
 stealth, carried off the body, and eat it. The injured family complained 
 
 to Mr. Nairne, the English chief of Natal, and prayed for redress. He 
 sent a message on the subject to Niabin, who returned an insolent and 
 
 threatening answer. Mr. Nairne, influenced by his feelings rather than 
 
 his judgment (for these people were quite removed from the Company’s 
 controul, and our interference in their quarrels was not necessary) 
 marched with a party of fifty or sixty men, of whom twelve were Eu- 
 ropeans, to chastise him; but on approaching the village, they found 
 it so perfectly enclosed with growing bamboos, within which was a 
 strong paling, that they could not even see the place or an enemy. As 
 they advanced, however, to examine the defences, a shot from an unseen 
 person struck Mr. Nairne in the breast, and he expired immediately. In 
 him was lost a respectable gentleman, of great scientific acquirements, 
 and a valuable servant of the Company. It was with much difficulty 
 that the party was enabled to save the body. A caffree and a Malay 
 who fell in the struggle, were afterwards eaten. Thus the experience of 
 later days is found to agree with the uniform testimony of old writers; 
 and although I am aware that each and every of these proofs, taken 
 
 singly, 
 
SUMATRA, 
 
 singly, may admit of some cavil, yet in the aggregate they will be 
 thought to amount to satisfactory evidence, that human flesh is habitu- 
 ally eaten by a certain class of the inhabitants of Sumatra. 
 
 That this extraordinary nation has preserved the rude genuineness of 
 its character and manners, may be attributed to various causes ; as the 
 want of the precious metals in its country, to excite the rapacity of 
 invaders or avarice of colonists, the vegetable riches of the. soil being 
 more advantageously obtained in trade, from the unmolested labours of 
 the natives; their total unacquaintance with navigation; the divided 
 nature of their government, and independence of the petty chieftains, 
 which are circumstances unfavourable to the propagation of new opinions 
 and customs, as the contrary state of society may account for the com- 
 plete conversion of the subjects of Menangkabau to the faith of Ma- 
 homet ; and lastly, the ideas entertained of the ferociousness of the 
 people, from the practices above described, which may well be supposed 
 to have damped the ardour and restrained the zealous attempts of religious 
 innovators. | . 
 
 3 E 
 
 bo 
 
 Kingdom 
 
 
 

 
 396 
 
 Situation. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 Kingdom of Achin—Its Capital—Air—Inhabitants—Commerce—M. anufac- 
 tures—N. avigation—Coin— Government—Revenues—Punishments. 
 
 ACHIN (properly Acheh) is the only kingdom of Sumatra that ever 
 arrived to such a degree of political consequence in the eyes of the 
 western people, as to occasion its transactions becoming the subject of | 
 general history. But its present condition is widely different from what 
 it was, when by its power the Portuguese were prevented from gaining a 
 footing in the island, and its princes received embassies from all the great 
 
 potentates of Europe. 
 
 Its situation occupies the north-western extreme of the island, bor- 
 dering generally on the country of the Battas ; but, strictly speaking, its 
 extent, inland, reaches no farther than about fifty miles to the south- 
 east. Along the north and eastern coast its territory was considered, 
 in 1778, as reaching to a place called Karti, not far distant from Batu- 
 bara river, including Pidir, Samerlonga, and Pasz. On the western 
 coast, where it formerly boasted a dominion as far down as Jndrapura, 
 and possessed complete jurisdiction at Tiku, it now extends no farther 
 than Barus; and even there, or at the intermediate ports, although the 
 Achinese influence is predominant, and its merchants enjoy the trade, 
 the royal power seems to be little more than nominal. The interior 
 ‘nhabitants from Achin to Sirigkel are distinguished into those of Alas, 
 Riah, and Karrau. The Achinese manners prevail among the two 
 former; but the last resemble the Battas, from whom they are divided 
 by a range of mountains. 
 
 The capital stands on a river which empties itself, by several channels, 
 near the north-west point of the island, or Achin-head, about a league 
 from the sea, where the shipping lies in a road rendered secure by the 
 shelter of several islands. The depth of water on the bar being no 
 more than four feet, at low water spring-tides, only the vessels of the 
 
 country 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 country can venture to pass it; and in the dry monsoon, not even those 
 of the larger class. The town is’situated on a plain, in a wide valley 
 formed like an amphitheatre by lofty ranges of hills. It is said to be 
 extremely populous, containing eight thousand houses, built of bamboos 
 and rough timbers, standing distinct from each other, and mostly raised 
 on piles some feet above the eround, in order to guard against the effects 
 of inundation. The appearance of the place and nature of the buildings 
 differ little from those of the generality of Malayan bazars, excepting 
 that its superior wealth has occasioned the erection of a greater number 
 of public edifices, chiefly mosques, but without the smallest pretension 
 to magnificence. The country above the town is highly cultivated, and 
 abounds with small villages, and groups of three or four houses, with 
 white mosques interspersed.* The king’s palace, if it deserves the ap- 
 pellation, is a very rude and uncouth piece of architecture, designed to 
 resist the attacks of internal enemies, and surrounded for that purpose 
 
 with 
 
 * The following description of the appearance of Achin, by a jesuit missionary who touched 
 there in his way to China in 1698, is so picturesque, and at the same time 80 just, that I shall 
 make no apology for introducing it. ‘‘ Imaginez vous une forét de cocotiers, de bambous, 
 d’ananas, de bagnaniers, au milieu de laquelle passe une assez belle riviere toute couverte de 
 bateaux ; mettez dans cette forét une nombre ineroyable de maisons faites avec de cannes, de 
 roseaux, des ecorces, et disposez les de telle maniere qu’ elles forment tantot des rues, et tantot 
 des quartiers separés : coupez ces divers quartiers de prairies & de bois : repandez par tout dans 
 cette grande forét, autant d’hommes qu’on en voit dans nos villes, lorsqu’elles sont bien peu- 
 plées ; vous vous formerez une idée assez juste d’Achen ; et vous conviendrez qu’une ville de 
 ce gofit nouveau peut faire plaisir 4 des étrangers qui passent. Elle me partit d’abord comme 
 ces paysages sortis de Pimagination d’un peintre ou d’un poéte, qui rassemble sous un coup 
 @’ceil, tout ce que la campagne a de plus riant. Tout est negligé et naturel, champétre et 
 méme un peu sauvage. Quand on est dans la rade, on n’appergoit aucun vestige, ni aucune 
 apparence de ville, parceque des grands arbres qui bordent le rivage en cachent toutes les 
 maisons; mais outre le paysage qui est trés-beau, rien n’est plus agréable que de voir de 
 matin un infinité de petits bateaux de pécheurs qui sortent de la riviére avec le jour, 
 et qui ne rentrent que le soir, lorsque le soleil se couche.’ Vous diriez un essaim d’abeilles 
 qui reviennent 4 la cruche chargées du fruit de leur travail.’ Lettres Edifiantes, Tom. I. 
 For a more modern account of this city I beg leave to refer the reader to Capt. Thomas 
 Forrest’s Voyage to the Mergui Archipelago, p. 38 to 60, where he will find a lively 
 and natural description of every thing worthy of observation in the place, with a detail 
 of the circumstauces attending his own reception at the court, illustrated with an excellent 
 
 plate. 
 
 397 
 
 
 

 
 39S 
 
 Air. 
 
 Inhabitants. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 with a moat and strong walls, but without any regular plan, or view to 
 the modern system of military defence.* 
 
 The air is esteemed comparatively healthy, the country being more 
 free from woods and stagnant water than most other parts; and fevers 
 and dysenteries, to which these local circumstances are supposed to give 
 occasion, are there said to be uncommon. But this must not be too 
 readily credited; for the degree of insalubrity attending situations in that 
 climate is known so frequently to alter, from inscrutable causes, that a 
 person who has resided only two or three years on a spot, cannot pre- 
 tend to form a judgment; and the natives, from a natural partiality, are 
 always ready to extol the healthiness, as well as other imputed advan- 
 tages, of their native places. 
 
 The Achinese differ much in their persons from the other Sumatrans , 
 being in general taller, stouter, and of darker complexions. They 
 are by no means, in their present state, a genuine people, but thought, 
 with great appearance of reason, to be a mixture of Battas and Malays, 
 with chulias, as they term the natives of the west of India, by whom 
 their ports have in all ages been frequented. In their dispositions they 
 are more active and industrious than some of their neighbours ; they 
 possess more sagacity, have more knowledge of other countries, and as 
 merchants they deal upon a more extensive and liberal footing. But 
 this last observation applies rather to the traders at a distance from the 
 capital and to their transactions, than to the conduct observed at Achin, 
 which, according to the temper and example of the reigning monarch, 
 is often narrow, extortionary, and oppressive. Their language is one of 
 the general dialects of the eastern islands, and its affinity to the Batta 
 
 may 
 
 * Near the gate of the palace are several pieces of brass ordnance of an extraordinary size ; 
 of which some are Portuguese ; but two in particular, of English make, attract curiosity, 
 They were sent by king James the first to the reigning monarch of Acheen, and have stil] 
 the founder’s name, and the date, legible upon them. The diameter of the bore of one is 
 eighteen inches; of the other twenty-two or twenty-four. Their strength, however, does 
 not appear to be in proportion to the calibre, nor do they seem in other respects to be of 
 adequate dimensions. James, who abhorred bloodshed himself, was resolved that his present 
 Should not be the instrument of it to others. 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 may be observed in the comparative table; but they make use of the Ma- 
 layan character. In religion they are Mahometans, and having many 
 priests, and much intercourse with foreigners of the same faith, its forms 
 and ceremonies are observed with some strictness. 
 
 Although no longer the great mart of eastern commodities, Achin still 
 carries on a considerable trade, as well with private European merchants, 
 as with the natives of that part of the coast of India called Telinga, 
 which is properly the country lying between the Kisina and Godavery 
 rivers; but the name, corrupted by the Malays to Kling, is commonly 
 applied to the whole coast of Coromandel. These supply it with salt, 
 cotton piece-goods, principally those called long-cloth white and blue, 
 and chintz with dark grounds; receiving in return gold-dust, raw-silk 
 of inferior quality, betel-nut, patch-leaf (melissa lotoria, called dilam 
 by the Malays) pepper, sulphur, camphor, and benzoin. The two 
 latter are carried thither from the river of Siigkel, where they are pro- 
 
 399 
 
 Commerce. 
 
 cured from the country of the Battas, and the pepper from Pidir ; but 
 
 this article is also exported from Susu, to the amount of about two 
 thousand tons annually, where it sells at the rate of twelve dollars the 
 pikul, chiefly for gold and silver. The quality is not esteemed good, 
 being gathered before it is sufficiently ripe, and it is not cleaned like the 
 Company’s pepper. The Americans have been of late years the chief 
 purchasers, The gold collected at Achin comes partly from the moun- 
 tains in the neighbourhood, but chiefly from Nalabusand Susu. Its 
 commerce, independently of that of the out-ports, gives employment 
 to from eight to ten Kling vessels, of an hundred and fifty or two hun- 
 dred tons burthen, which arrive annually from Porto Novo and Coringa 
 about the month of August, and sail again in February and March. 
 These are not permitted to touch at any places under the king’s juris- 
 diction, on the eastern or western coast, as it would be injurious to the 
 profits of his trade, as well as to his revenue-from the customs and from 
 the presents exacted on the arrival of vessels, and for which his officers 
 at those distant places would not account with him. It must be under- 
 stood that the king of Achin, as is usual with the princes of this part of 
 the world, is the chief merchant of his capital, and endeavours to be, to 
 
 the utmost of his power, the monopolizer of its trade; but this he cannot 
 at 
 
 
 

 
 400 
 
 Productions 
 of the soil. 
 
 Manufactures. . 
 
 Navigation. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 at all times effect, and the attempt has been the cause of frequent rebel- 
 lions. There is likewise a ship or two from Surat every year, the pro- 
 perty of native merchants there. The country is supplied with opium, 
 taffetas, and muslins from Bengal, and also with iron, and many other 
 articles of merchandise, by the European traders. 
 
 The soil being light and fertile produces abundance of rice, esculent 
 vegetables, much cotton, and the finest tropical fruits. ‘Both the mango 
 and mangustin are said to be of excellent quality. Cattle and other 
 articles of provision are in plenty, and reasonable in price. The plough 
 is there drawn by oxen, and the general style of cultivation shews 
 a skill in agriculture superior to what is seen in other parts of the 
 island. 
 
 Those few arts and manufactures which are known in other parts of 
 the island prevail likewise here, and some of them are carried to more 
 perfection. A considerable fabric of a thick species of cotton cloth, 
 and of striped or chequered stuff for the short drawers worn both by 
 Malays and Achinese, is established here, and supplies an extensive 
 
 of the dress of the women as well as men. They weave also very hand- 
 some and rich silk pieces, of a particular form, for that part of the body- 
 dress which the Malays call kain sarong ; but this manufacture had much 
 decreased at the period when my inquiries were made, owing, as the 
 people said, to an unavoidable failure in the breed of silk-worms, but 
 
 more probably to the decay of industry amongst themselves, proceeding 
 from their continual civil disturbances. | 
 
 They are expert and bold navigators, and employ a variety of vessels, 
 according to the voyages they have occasion to undertake, and the pur- 
 poses either of commerce or war for which they design them. The river 
 is covered with a number of small fishing vessels, which go to sea with 
 the morning breeze, and return in the afternoon, with the sea-wind, full 
 laden. These are named koleh, are raised about two streaks on a sampan 
 bottom, have one mast, and an upright or square sail, but long in pro- 
 portion to its breadth, which rolls up. These sometimes make their 
 
 appearance 
 
 foreign demand, particularly in the Raw country, where they form part. 
 

 
 SUMATRA. 01 
 
 appearance so far to the southward as Bencoolen, The banting is a 
 trading vessel, of a larger class, having two masts, with upright ‘sails 
 like the former, rising at the stem and stern, and somewhat resembling 
 a Chinese junk, excepting in its size. They have also very long narrow 
 boats, with two masts, and double or single out-riggers, called balabang 
 and jalér. These are chiefly used as war-boats, mount guns of the size of 
 swivels, and carry a number of men. For representations of various 
 kinds of vessels employed by these eastern people, the reader is referred 
 to the plates in Capt. Forrest’s two voyages. 
 
 They have a small, thin, adulterated gold coin, rudely stamped with coin. 
 Arabic characters, called mas or massiah. Its current value is said to 
 be about fifteen, and its intrinsic, about twelve-pence, or five Madras 
 fanams. Eighty of these are equal to the bavigkal, of which twenty make 
 a katt. ‘The tail, here an imaginary valuation, is one-fifth of the barg- 
 kal, and equal to sixteen mas, The small leaden money, called pitis or 
 cash, is likewise struck here for the service of the bazar; but neither 
 these nor the former afford any convenience to the foreign trader. Dol- 
 lars and rupihs pass current, and most other species of coin are taken at 
 a valuation; but payments are commonly made in gold dust, and for 
 that purpose every one is provided with small scales or steelyards, called 
 daching. ‘They carry their gold about them, wrapped in small pieces 
 of bladder (or rather the integument of the heart), and often make 
 purchases to so small an amount, as to employ grains of padi or other 
 seeds for weights. 
 
 The monarchy is hereditary, and is more or less absolute, in pro- Government. 
 portion to the talents of the reigning prince; no other bounds being 
 set to his authority, than the counterbalance or check it meets with, 
 from the power of the great vassals, and disaffection of the commonalty. 
 But this resistance is exerted in so irregular a manner, and with so little 
 view to the public good, that nothing like liberty results from it. They 
 experience only an alternative of tyranny and anarchy, or the former 
 under different shapes... Many of the other Sumatran people are in the 
 possession of a very high degree of freedom, founded upon a rigid at- 
 
 tachment to their old established customs and laws. The king usually 
 3F maintains 
 
 
 
tee 
 
 | 
 i 
 1 
 
 
 
 SO me ce | ally silt hs ~ el a os 
 
 402 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 maintains a guard of an hundred sepoys (from the Coromandel coast) 
 about his palace, but pays them indifferently. 
 
 The grand council of the nation consists of the king or Sultan, the maha- 
 raja, laksamana, paduka tuan, and bandhara. Inferior in rank to these, are 
 the ulubalangs or military champions, among whom are several grada- 
 tions of rank, who sit on the king’s right hand, and other officers named 
 kajuran, who sit on his left. At his feet sits a woman, to whom he 
 
 makes known his pleasure: by her it is communicated to an eunuch, 
 
 who sits next to her, and by him to an officer, named Kajuran Gondang, 
 who then proclaims it aloud to the assembly. There are also present 
 two other officers, one of whom has the government of the Bazar or 
 market, and the other, the superintending and carrying into execution 
 the punishment of criminals. All matters relative to commerce and the 
 customs of the port come under the jurisdiction of the Shabandar, 
 who performs the ceremony of giving the chap or licence for trade; 
 which is done by lifting a golden-hafted kris over the head of the mer- 
 chant who arrives, and without which he dares not to land his goods, | 
 Presents, the value of which are become pretty regularly ascertained, 
 are then sent to the king and his officers. If the stranger be in the style 
 of an ambassador, the royal elephants are sent down to carry him and 
 his letters to the monarch’s presence ; these being first delivered into the 
 hands of an eunuch, who places them in a silyer dish, covered with rich 
 silk, on the back of the largest elephant;*which is provided with a ma- 
 chine (houdar) for that purpose. Within about an hundred yards of an 
 open hall where the king sits, the cavalcade stops, and the ambassador 
 dismounts, and makes his obeisance by bending his body and lifting his 
 joined hands to his head. When he enters the palace, if an European, 
 he is obliged to take off his shoes, and having made a second obeisance, 
 is seated upon-a carpet on the floor, where betel is brought to him. The 
 throne was some years ago of ivory and tortoise-shell; and when the place 
 was governed by queens, a curtain of gauze was hung before it, which 
 did not obstruct the audience, but prevented any perfect view. The 
 stranger, after some general discourse, is then conducted to a separate 
 building, where he is entertained with the delicacies of the country, by 
 the officers of state, and in the evening returns in the manner he came, 
 
 surrounded 
 

 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 surrounded by a prodigious number of lights. On high days (ari raya) 
 the king goes in great state, mounted on an elephant richly capari- 
 soned, to the great mosque, preceded by his ulubalangs ; who are armed 
 nearly in the European manner. 
 
 The whole kingdom is divided into certain small districts or commus 
 nities, called mukim, which seem to be equivalent to. our parishes, and 
 their number is reckoned at one hundred and ninety, of which seventy- 
 three are situated in the valley of Achin. .Of these last are formed three 
 larger districts, named Duo-puluh duo (twenty-two), Duo-puluh-limo 
 (twenty-five), and Duo-puluh-anam (twenty-six), from the number of 
 mukims they respectively contain; each of which is governed by a pavig- 
 lima or provincial governor, with an imam and four pangichis for the 
 service of each mosque. The country is extremely populous ; but the 
 computations with which I, have been furnished exceed so far all pro- 
 bability, that I do not venture to insert them. 
 
 The regular tax or imposition to which the country is subject, for the 
 use of the crown, is one koyan (about eight hundred gallons) of padi 
 from each mukim, with a bag of rice, and about the value of one Spanish 
 dollar and an half in money, from each proprietor of a house, to be 
 delivered at the king’s store in person; in return for which homage, he 
 never fails to receive nearly an equivalent in tobacco or some other 
 article. On certain great festivals presents of cattlesare-made to the 
 king by the orang-kayas or nobles; but it is from the*import and export 
 customs on merchandise, that the revenue of the crown properly arises, 
 and which of course fluctuates considerably. What Europeans pay is 
 between five and six per cent.; but the King merchants are understood 
 to be charged with much higher duties; in the whole not less than 
 fifteen, of which twelve in the hundred are taken out of the bales in the 
 first instance ; a disparity they are enabled to support by the provident 
 and frugal manner in which they purchase their investments, the cheap 
 rate at which they navigate their vessels, and the manner of retailing 
 their goods to the natives. These sources of wealth are independent of 
 the profit derived from the trade, which is managed for his master by a 
 
 3 F 2 person 
 
 
 
 408 
 
 Division 
 of the 
 country, 
 
 Revenues. 
 
 
 
: 
 ' 
 
 
 
 404 
 
 Administra- 
 tion of 
 justice. 
 
 Punishments. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 person who is stiyed the king’s merchant. The revenues of the nobles 
 accrue from taxes which they lay, as feudal lords, upon the produce of 
 the land cultivated by their vassals. At Pidir a measure of rice is paid 
 for every measure of padi sown, which amounts to about a twentieth part. 
 At Nalabu there is a capitation tax of a dollar a year; and at various 
 places on the inland roads there are tolls collected upon provisions and 
 goods which pass to the capital. 
 
 The kings of Achin possess a grant of territory along the sea-coast, as 
 far down as Bencoolen, from the sultan of Menaiigkabau, whose superiority 
 has always been admitted by them, and will be, perhaps, so long as he 
 claims no authority over them, and exacts neither tribute nor homage. 
 
 Achin has ever been remarkable for the severity with which crimes are 
 punished by their laws; the same rigour still subsists, and there is no 
 commutation admitted, as is regularly established in the southern coun- 
 tries. ‘There is great reason, however, to conclude, that the poor alone 
 experience the rod of justice; the nobles being secure from retribution 
 in the number of their dependants. | Petty theft is punished by suspend- 
 ing the criminal from a tree, with a gun or heavy weight tied to his feet ; 
 or by cutting off a finger, a hand, or leg, according to the nature of the 
 theft. . Many of these mutilated, and wretched objects, are daily to be 
 seen in the streets. Robbery, on the highway and housebreaking, are 
 punished by drowning, and afterwards exposing the body on a stake for 
 a few days. If the robbery is committed upon an imam or priest, the 
 sacrilege is expiated by burning the criminal alive. A man who is con- 
 victed of adultery or rape, is seldom attempted to be screened by his 
 friends, but is delivered up to the friends and relations of the injured 
 husband or father. These take him to some large plain, and forming 
 themselves in a circle, place him in the middle. A large weapon, called 
 a gadubong, is then delivered to him by one of his family, and if he can 
 force his way through those who surround him, and make his escape, 
 he is not liable to further prosecution; but it commonly happens that he 
 is instantly cut to pieces. In this case his relations bury him as they 
 would a dead buffalo, refusing to admit the corpse into their house, or 
 
 to 
 

 
 SUMATRA. 4,05 
 
 to perform any funeral rites. Would it not be reasonable to conclude, 
 that the Achinese, with so much discouragement to vice, both from law 
 and prejudice, must prove a moral and virtuous people? yet all trayellers 
 agree in representing them as one of the most dishonest and flagitious 
 nations of the East; which the history of their government will tend to 
 
 corroborate. 
 
 Hisiory 
 
 
 
| 
 ae 
 i 
 th 
 
 if 
 
 
 
 4.06 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 History of the Kingdom of Achin, from the period of its being visited by 
 Europeans. 
 
 re THE Portuguese, under the conduct of Vasco de Gama, doubled the 
 
 of e Por- 
 tuguese., 
 
 1509, 
 
 Cape of Good Hope in the year 1497, and arrived on the coast of Ma- 
 labar in the following year. ‘These people, whom the spirit of glory, 
 commerce, and plunder, led to the most magnanimous undertakings, 
 were not so entirely engaged by their conquests on the continent of India 
 as to prevent them from extending their views to the discovery of regions 
 yet more distant. ‘They learned from the merchants of Guzerat some 
 account of the riches and importance of Malacca, a great trading city in 
 the farther peninsula of India, supposed by them the Golden Chersonese 
 of Ptolemy. Intelligence of this was transmitted to their enterprising 
 sovereign, Emanuel, who became impressed with a strong desire to avail 
 himself of the flattering advantages which this celebrated country held 
 out to his ambition. He equipped a fleet of four ships under the com- 
 mand of Diogo Lopez Sequeira, which sailed from Lisbon on the eighth 
 day of April, 1508, with orders to explore, and establish connexions in 
 those eastern parts of Asia. After touching at Madagascar, Sequeira 
 proceeded to Cochin, where a ship was added to his fleet, and departing 
 from thence on the eighth of September, 1509, he made sail towards 
 Malacca; but having doubled the extreme promontory of Sumatra (then 
 supposed to be the Taprobane of the ancients). he anchored at Pidir, a 
 principal port of that island, in which he found vessels from Pegu, Ben- 
 gal, and other countries. The king of the place, who, like other 
 Mahometan princes, was styled sultan, sent off a deputation to him, 
 accompanied with refreshments, excusing himself, on account of illness, 
 from paying his compliments in person, but assuring him at the same 
 time that he should derive much pleasure from the friendship and alliance 
 of the Portuguese, whose fame had reached his ears. Sequeira answered 
 
 this message in such terms, that, by consent of the sultan, a monument 
 6F 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 of their amity was erected on the shore; or more properly, as the token 
 of discovery and possession usually employed by the European nations. 
 He was received in the same manner at a place called Pasé, lying about 
 twenty leagues farther to the eastward on the same coast, and there alse 
 erected a monument or cross. Having procured at each of these ports as 
 much pepper as could be collected in a short time, he hastened to Ma- 
 lacca, where the news of his appearance in these seas had anticipated his 
 arrival. Here he was near falling a sacrifice te the insidious policy of 
 Mahmud, the reigning king, to whom the Portuguese had been represented 
 by the Arabian and Persian merchants, (and not very unjustly) as lawless 
 pirates, who, under the pretext of establishing commercial treaties, had, 
 at first by encroachments, and afterwards with insolent rapacity, ruined 
 and enslaved the princes who were weak enough to put a confidence in 
 them, or to allow them a footing in their dominions. He escaped the 
 snares that were laid for him, but lost many of his people, and leaving 
 others in captivity, he returned to Europe, and gaye an account of his 
 proceedings to the king. 
 
 A fleet was sent out, in the year 1510, under Diogo Mendez, to esta- 
 blish the Portuguese interests at Malacca; but Affonso d’Alboquerque, 
 the governor of their affairs in India, thought proper to detain this 
 squadron on the coast of Malabar, until he could proceed thither him- 
 self with a greater force; and accordingly on the second of May, 1511, 
 he set sail from Cochin with nineteen ships and fourteen hundred men; 
 He touched at Pidir, where he found some of his countrymen, who had 
 made their escape from Malacca in a boat, and sought protection on 
 the Sumatran shore. They represented, that, arriving off Pasé; they 
 had been ill-treated by the natives, who killed one of their party, and 
 obliged them to fly to Pidir, where they met with hospitality and kind- 
 ness from the prince, who seemed desirous to conciliate the regard. of 
 their nation. Alboquerque expressed himself sensible of this instance 
 of friendship, and renewed with. the sultan the alliance that had been 
 formed by Sequeira. He then proceeded to Pasé¢, whose monarch en- 
 deavoured to exculpate himself from the outrage committed against the 
 Portuguese fugitives, and as he could not tarry to take redress, he 
 
 concealed his resentment. In crossing over to. Malacca, he fell in with 
 a large 
 
 407 
 
 
 

 
 408 
 
 1511. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 a large junk, or country vessel, which he engaged, and attempted to 
 board ; but the enemy setting fire to a quantity of inflammable, olea- 
 ginous matter, he was deterred from his design, with a narrow escape 
 of the destruction of his own ship. The junk was then battered from 
 a distance, until forty of her men were killed, when Alboquerque, ad- 
 miring the bravery of the crew, proposed to them, that if they would 
 strike, and acknowledge themselves vassals of Portugal, he would treat 
 them as friends, and take them under his protection. This offer was 
 accepted, and the valiant defender of the vessel informed the governor, 
 that his name was Jeinal, the lawful heir of the kingdom of Pasé; he by 
 
 whom it was then ruled being an usurper, who, taking advantage of his _ 
 
 minority, and his own situation as regent, had seized the crown: that 
 he had made. attempts to assert his rights, but had been defeated in two 
 battles, and was now proceeding with his adherents to Java, some of the 
 princes of which were his relations, and would, he hoped, enable him to 
 obtain possession of his throne. Alboquerque promised to effect it for 
 him, and desired the prince to accompany him to Malacca, where they 
 arrived the first of July, 1511. In order to save the lives of the Portu- 
 guese prisoners, and if possible to effect their recovery, he nogotiated 
 with the king of Malacca before he proceeded to an attack on the place ; 
 which conduct of his, Jeinal construed into fear, and, fofsaking his new 
 friend, passed over in the night to the Malayan monarch, whose pro- 
 tection he thought of more consequence to him. When Alboquerque 
 had subdued the place, which made a vigorous resistance, the prince of 
 Pasé, seeing the errour of his policy, returned, and threw himself at the 
 governor's feet, acknowledged his injurious mistrust, and implored his 
 pardon; which was not denied him. He doubted, however, it seems, 
 of a sincere reconciliation and forgiveness, and perceiving that no mea- 
 sures were taking for restoring him to his kingdom, but, on the con- 
 trary, that Alboquerque was preparing to leave Malacca with a small 
 force, and talked of performing his promise when he should return from 
 Goa, he took the resolution of again attaching himself to the fortunes of 
 the conquered monarch, and secretly collecting his dependants, fled 
 once more from the protection of the Portuguese. He probably was not 
 insensible that the reigning king of Pasé, his adversary, had for some 
 time taken abundant pains to procure the favour of Alboquerque, and 
 
 found 
 
4 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 found an occasion of demonstrating his zeal. The governor, on his 
 return from Malacca, met with a violent storm on the coast of Sumatra, 
 near the point of 7imiang, where his ship was wrecked. Part of the 
 crew making a raft were driven to Pasz, where the king treated them 
 with kindness, and sent them to the coast of Coromandel by a merchant 
 ship. Some years after these events, Jeinal was enabled by his friends to 
 carry a force to Pasé, and obtained the ascendency there, but did not 
 long enjoy his power. 
 
 Upon the reduction of Malacca, the governor received messages from 
 several of the Sumatran princes, and amongst the rest from the king of a 
 place called Kampar, on the eastern coast, who had married a daughter 
 of the king of Malacca, but was on ill terms with his father-in-law. He 
 desired to become a vassal of the Portuguese crown, and to have leave 
 to reside under their jurisdiction. His view was to obtain the impor- 
 tant office of bandhara, or chief magistrate of the Malays, lately vacant 
 by the execution of him who possessed it. He sent before him a present 
 of lignum-aloes and gum-lac, the produce of his country; but Albo- 
 querque suspecting the honesty of his intentions, and fearing that he 
 either aspired to the crown of Malacca, or designed to entice the mer- 
 chants to resort to his own kingdom, refused to permit his coming, and 
 gave the superintendance of the natives to a person named Nina Chetuan. 
 After some years had elapsed, at the time when Jorge Alboquerque 
 was governor of Malacca, this king (Abdallah by name)-persisting in 
 his views, paid him a visit, and was honourably received. At his 
 departure, he had assurances given him of liberty to establish himself 
 at Malacca, if he should think proper, and Nina Chetuan was shortly 
 afterwards removed from his office, though no fault was alledged against 
 him. He took the disgrace so much to heart, that causing a pile to 
 be erected before his door, and setting fire to it, he threw himself into 
 the flames.* The intention of appointing Abdallah to the office of band- 
 hara was quickly rumoured abroad, and coming to the knowledge of 
 
 3G the 
 
 + 
 
 * This man was not a Mahometan, but one of the unconverted natives of the peninsula, 
 who are always distinguished from the Moors by the Portuguese writers. 
 
 1514. 
 
 409 
 
 
 

 
 410 
 
 1515. 
 
 1516. 
 
 1520. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 the king of Bintang, who was driven from Malacca, and now carried 
 on a vigorous war against the Portuguese, under the command of the 
 famous Laksamana, he resolved to prevent his arrival there. For this 
 purpose he leagued himself with the king of Lizigga, a neighbouring 
 island, and sent out a fleet of seventy armed boats to block up the port 
 of Kampar. By the valour of a small Portuguese armament, this force 
 
 was overcome in the river of that name, and the king conducted in tri- — 
 umph to Malacca, where he was invested in form with the important post 
 
 he aspired to. But this sacrifice of his independance proved an unfortu- 
 nate measure to him; for although he conducted himself in such a manner 
 as should have given the amplest satisfaction, and appears to have been 
 irreproachable in the execution of his trust, yet in the following year 
 the king of Brntang found means to inspire the governor with diffi- 
 dence of his fidelity, and jealousy of his power. He was cruelly sen- 
 tenced to death, without the simplest forms of justice, and perished in 
 the presence of an indignant multitude, whilst he called heaven to wit- 
 ness his innocence, and direct its vengeance against his interested accu- 
 sers. This iniquitous and impolitic proceeding had such an effect upon 
 the minds of the people, that all of any property or repute forsook 
 the place, execrating the government of the Portuguese. The conse- 
 quences of this general odium reduced them to extreme difficulties for 
 provisions, which the neighbouring countries refused to supply them 
 with, and but for some grain at length procured from Stak, with much 
 trouble, the event had proved fatal to the garrison. 
 
 Fernando Perez d’Andrade, in his way to China, touched at Pasé, 
 in order to take in pepper. He found the people of the place, as well 
 as the merchants from Bengal, Cambay, and other parts of India, much 
 discontented with the measures then pursuing by the government of 
 Malacca, which had stationed an armed force to oblige all vessels to re- 
 sort thither with their merchandise, and take in at that place, as an 
 emporium, the cargoes they were used to collect in the straits. The 
 king, notwithstanding, received Andrade well, and consented that the 
 Portuguese should have liberty to erect a fortress in his kingdom. 
 
 Extraordinary accounts having been related of certain islands abound- 
 | ing 
 
 ic Oe, a 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 ing in gold, which were reported by the general fame of India, to lic 
 off the southern coast of Sumatra, a ship and small brigantine, under 
 the command of Diogo Pacheco, an experienced seaman, were sent in 
 order to make the discovery of them. Having proceeded as far as 
 Daya, the brigantine was lost in a gale of wind. Pacheco stood on to 
 Barus, a place renowned for its gold trade, and for gum benzoin of a 
 peculiar scent, which the country produced. It was much frequented 
 by vessels, both from the neighbouring ports in the island, and from 
 those in the West of India, whence it was supplied with cotton cloths. 
 The merchants, terrified at the approach of the Portuguese, forsook 
 their ships, and fled precipitately to the shore. The chiefs of the coun- 
 try sent to inquire the motives of his visit, which he informed them were 
 to establish friendly connexions, and to give them assurances of un- 
 molested freedom of trade at the city of Malacca. Refreshments were 
 then ordered for his fleet, and upon landing he was treated with respect 
 by the inhabitants, who brought the articles of their country to ex- 
 change with him for merchandise. His chief view was to obtain in- 
 formation respecting the situation and other circumstances of the z/has 
 d’Ouro ; but they seemed jealous of imparting any. At length, after 
 giving him a laboured detail of the dangers attending the navigation 
 of the seas where they were said to lie, they represented their situation 
 to be distant an hundred leagues, to the south-east of Barus, amidst 
 labyrinths of shoals and reefs, through which it was impossible to steer 
 with any but the smallest boats. If these islands, so.celebratéd about 
 this time, existed any where but in the regions of fancy,* they were 
 probably those of Ziku, to which it is possible that much gold might 
 be brought from the neighbouring country of Menargkabau. Pacheco 
 leaving Barus, proceeded to the southward, but did not make the wished 
 for discovery. He reached the channel that divides Sumatra from Jaya, 
 which he called the strait of Polimban, from a city he erroneously sup- 
 posed to lie on the Javan shore, and passing through this, returned to 
 Malacca by the east; being the first European who sailed round the 
 
 3G 2 island 
 
 * Linschoten makes particular mention of having seen them, and gives practical directions 
 for the navigation, but the golden dreams of the Portuguese were never realized in them. 
 
 
 
 41] 
 
 
 

 
 412 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 island of Sumatra. In the following year he sailed once more in search 
 of these islands, which were afterwards the object of many fruitless voy- 
 ages; but touching again at Barus, he met with resistance there, and 
 perished with all his companions. 
 
 A little before this time, a ship under the command of Gaspar d’ Acosta 
 was lost on the island of Gamispola ( pulo Gomez) near Achin head, when 
 the people from Achin attacked and plundered the crew, killing many, 
 and taking the rest prisoners. A ship also which belonged to Joano de 
 Lima, was plundered in the road, and the Portuguese which belonged to 
 her put to death. These insults, and others committed at Pasé, in- 
 duced the governor of Malacca, Garcia de Sa, to dispatch a vessel under 
 Manuel Pacheco, to take satisfaction; which he endeavoured to effect 
 by blocking up the ports, and depriving the towns of all sources of pro- 
 vision, particularly their fisheries: “As he cruised between Achin and 
 Pasé, a boat with five men going to take in fresh water et a river nigh to 
 the latter, would have been cut off, had not the people, by wonderful efforts 
 of valour, overcome the numerous party which attacked them. The 
 sultan, alarmed for the consequences of this aflray, sent immediately te 
 sue for reconciliation, offering to make atonement for the loss of property 
 the merchants had sustained by the licentiousness of his people, from a 
 participation in whose crimes he sought to vindicate himself. The ad- 
 vantage derived from the connexion with this place, induced the govern- 
 ment of Malacca to be satisfied with his apology, and cargoes of pepper 
 and raw-silk were shortly after procured there; the former being much 
 wanted for the ships bound to China. 
 
 Jeinal, who had fled to the king of Malacca, as before mentioned, 
 followed that monarch to the island of Bintang, and received one of his 
 daughters in marriage. Six or seven years elapsed before the situation 
 of affairs enabled the king to lend him any effectual assistance, but 
 at length some advantages gained over the Portuguese <fforded a proper 
 opportunity, and accordingly a fleet was fitted out, with which Jeinal 
 sailed for Pasé. In order to form a judgment of the transactions of this 
 kingdom, it must be understood, that the people having an idea of 
 predestination, always conceived present possession to constitute right, 
 
 z however 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 however that possession might have been acquired; but yet they made 
 no scruple of deposing and murdering their sovereigns, and justified 
 their acts by this argument; that the fate of concerns so important as 
 the lives of kings, was in the hands of God, whose vicegerents they were, 
 and that if it was not agreeable to him, and the consequence of his will, 
 that they should perish by the daggers of their subjects, it could not so 
 happen. Thus it appears, that their religious ideas were just strong 
 enough to banish from their minds every moral sentiment. The natural 
 consequence of these maxims was, that their kings were merely the 
 tyrants of the day; and it is said, that whilst a certain ship remained 
 in the port, no less than two were murdered, and a third set up: but 
 allowance should, perhaps, be made for the medium through which these 
 accounts have been transmitted to us. 
 
 The maternal uncle of Jeinal, who, on account of his father’s in- 
 firmities, had been some time regent, and had deprived him of the suc- 
 cession to the throne, was also king of Aru or Rou, a country not far 
 
 distant, and thus became monarch of both places. The caprices of the. 
 
 Pasé people, who submitted quietly to his usurpation, rendered them ere 
 long discontented with his government, and being a stranger, they had 
 the less compunction in putting him to death. Another king was set 
 up in his room, who soon fell by the hands of some natives of Aru who 
 resided at Pas@, in revenge for the assassination of their countryman. 
 A fresh monarch was elected by the people, and in his reign it was that 
 
 Jeinal appeared with a force from Bintang, who, carrying every thing 
 before him, put his rival to death, and took possession of the throne. 
 The son of the deceased, a youth of about twelve years of age, made 
 his escape, accompanied by the Mulana or chief priest of the city, and 
 procured a conveyance to the west of India. There they threw them- 
 selves at the feet of the Portuguese governor, Lopez Sequeira, then 
 engaged in an expedition to the Red Sea, imploring his aid to drive the 
 ‘nvader from their country, and to establish the young: prince in his 
 rights, who would thenceforth consider himself as a vassal of the crown 
 of Portugal. It was urged that Jeinal, as being nearly allied to the king 
 of Bintang, was an avowed enemy to that nation, which he had mani- 
 
 fested in some recent outrages committed against the merchants from 
 Malacca 
 
 1519. 
 
 41S 
 
 
 

 
 + 
 
 1521, 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 Malacca who traded at Pasé. Sequeira, partly from compassion, and 
 partly from political motives, resolved to succour this prince, and by 
 placing him on the throne, establish a firm interest in the affairs of his 
 kingdom. He accordingly gave orders to Jorge Alboquerque, who was 
 then proceeding with a strong fleet towards Malacca, to take the youth 
 with him, whose name was Orfacam,* and after having expelled Jeinal, 
 to put him in possession of the sovereignty. 
 
 When Jeinal entered upon the administration of the political con- 
 cerns of the kingdom, although he had promised his father-in-law to 
 carry on the war in concert with him, yet, being apprehensive of the 
 effects of the Portuguese power, he judged it more for his interest to 
 seek a reconciliation with them, than to provoke their resentment, and 
 in pursuance of that system, had so far recommended himself to Garcia 
 de Sa, the governor of Malacca, that he formed a treaty of alliance with: 
 him. ..This was, however, soon interrupted, and chiefly by the im- 
 prudence of a man named Diogo Vaz, who made use of such insulting 
 language to the king, because he delayed payment of a sum of money 
 he-owed him, that the courtiers, seized with indignation, immediately 
 stabbed him with their krises, and the alarm running through the city, 
 others. of the Portuguese were likewise murdered. The news of this 
 affair reaching Goa, was an additional motive for the resolution taken 
 of dethroning him. oa 
 
 Jorge d’Alboquerque arrived at Pas2 in 1521, with prince Orfacam, 
 and the inhabitants, came off in great numbers to welcome his return. 
 The king of Aru had brought thither a considerable force the preceding 
 day, designing to take satisfaction for the murder of his relation, the 
 uncle of Jeinal, and now proposed to Alboquerque that they should 
 make the attack in conjunction, who thought proper to decline it. Jeinal, 
 although he well knew the intention of the enemy, yet sent a friendly 
 message to Alboquerque, who in answer required him to relinquish 
 
 | his 
 
 * Evidently corrupted, as are most of the country names and titles; which shews that the 
 Portuguese were not at this period much conversant in the Malayan language, 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 his crown in favour of him whom he styled the lawful prince. He 
 then represented to him the injustice of attempting to force him from the 
 possession of what was his, not only by right of conquest, but of heredi- 
 tary descent, as was well known to the governor himself; that he was 
 willing to consider himself as the vassal of the king of Portugal, and to 
 grant every advantage in point of trade, that they could expect from the 
 administration of his rival; and that since his obtaining the crown he had 
 manifested the utmost friendship to the Portuguese, for which he ap- 
 pealed to the treaty formed with him by the government of Malacca, 
 which was not disturbed by any fault that could in justice be imputed to 
 himself. ‘These arguments, like all others that pass between states which 
 harbour inimical designs, had no effect upon Alboquerque, who, after 
 reconnoitring the ground, gave orders for the attack. The king was now 
 sensible that there was nothing left for him but to conquer or die, and re- 
 solved to defend himself to extremity; in an entrenchment he had formed 
 at some distance from the town of Pasé, where he had never yet ventured 
 to reside, as the people were in general incensed against him on account 
 of the destruction of the late king of their choice; for though they were 
 ever ready to demolish those whom they disliked, yet were they equally 
 zealous to sacrifice their own lives, in the cause of those to whom 
 they were attached. The Portuguese force consisted but of three hun- 
 dred men, yet such was the superiority they possessed in war over the 
 inhabitants of these countries, that they entirely routed Jeinal’s army, 
 which amounted to three thousand, with many elephants,-although they 
 fought bravely. When he fell, they became dispirited, and the people 
 of Aru joining in the pursuit, a dreadful slaughter succeeded, and up- 
 wards of two thousand Sumatrans lay dead, with the loss of only five or 
 six Europeans; but several were wounded, among whom was Alboquer- 
 
 que himself. 
 
 The next measure was to place the young prince upon the throne, 
 which was performed with much ceremony. The mulana was appointed 
 his governor, and Nima Cunapan, who in several instances had shewn 
 a friendship for the Portuguese, was continued in the office of Sha- 
 bandar, It was stipulated, that the prince should do homage to the 
 
 crown of Portugal; give a grant of the whole produce of pepper of 
 | his 
 
 
 
 415 
 
 
 

 
 ALO 
 
 1521. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 his country at a certain price; and defray the charges of a fortress 
 which they then prepared to erect in his kingdom, and of which Mi- 
 randa d’Azeuedo was appointed captain, with a garrison of an hundred 
 soldiers. ‘The materials were mostly timber, with which the ruins of 
 Jeinal’s entrenchment supplied them. After Alboquerque’s departure, 
 the works had nearly fallen into the hands of an enemy, named Melek- 
 el-adil, who called himself sultan of Pasé¢, and made several desultory 
 attacks upon them; but he was at length totally routed, and the for- 
 tifications were completed without further molestation. 
 
 A fleet which sailed from the west of India a short time after that of 
 Alboquerque, under the command of Jorge de Brito, anchored in the 
 road of Achin, in their way to the Molucca islands. There was at this 
 time at that place a man of the name of Joano Borba, who spoke the 
 language of the country, having formerly fled thither from Pas@, when 
 Diogo Vaz was assassinated. Being afterwards intrusted with the com- 
 mand of a trading vessel from Goa, which foundered at sea, he again 
 reached Achin, with nine men in a small boat, and was hospitably re- 
 ceived by the king, when he learned that the ship had been destined to 
 
 his port. Borba came off to the fleet along with a messenger sent by 
 
 the king to welcome the commander, and offer him refreshments for his 
 fleet; and being a man of extraordinary loquacity, he gave a pompous 
 description to Brito of a temple in the country in which was deposited 
 a large quantity of gold: he mentioned likewise that the king was in 
 possession of the artillery and merchandise of Gaspar d’ Acosta’s vessel, 
 some time since wrecked there; and also of the goods saved from a 
 brigantine driven on shore at Daya, in Pacheco’s expedition ; as well 
 as of Joano de Lima’s ship, which he had caused to be cut off. Brito 
 being tempted by the golden prize, which he conceived already in 
 his power, and inflamed by Borba’s representation of the king’s ini- 
 quities, sent a message in return, to demand the restitution of the 
 artillery, ship, and goods, which had been unlawfully seized. The 
 king replied, that if he wanted those articles to be refunded, he must 
 make his demand to the sea which had swallowed them up. Brito and 
 his captains now resolved to proceed to an attack upon the place, and 
 so secure did they make themselves of their prey, that they refused 
 
 | permission 
 

 
 SUMATRA. Al? 
 
 permission to a ship lately arrived, and which did not belong to their 
 squadron, to join them or participate in the profits of their adventure,’ 
 They prepared to land two hundred men in small boats; a larger, 
 with a more considerable detachment and their artillery, being ordered 
 to follow. About day break they had proceeded half way up the river, 
 and came near to a little fort designed to defend the passage, where 
 Brito thought it advisable to stop till the remainder of their force should 
 join them ; but being importuned by his people, he advanced to make him- 
 self master of the fort, which was readily effected. Here he again resolved 
 to make his stand, but by the imprudence of his ensign, who had drawn 
 some of the party into a skirmish with the Achinese, he was forced to 
 quit that post in order to save his colours, which were in danger. At 
 this juncture the king appeared at the head of eight hundred or a thou- 
 sand men, and six elephants. A desperate conflict ensued, in which the 
 Portuguese received considerable injury. Brito sent orders for the party 
 he had left to come up, and endeavoured to retreat to the fort, but he 
 found himself so situated, that it could not be executed without much 
 loss, and presently after he received a wound from an arrow through 
 the cheeks. No assistance arriving, it was proposed that they should 
 retire in the best manner they could to their boats; but this Brito would 
 not consent to, preferring death to flight, and immediately a lance 
 pierced his thighs, and he fell to the ground. The Portuguese, ren- 
 dered desperate, renewed the combat with redoubled vigour, all crowd- 
 ing to the spot where their commander lay, but their exertions. availed 
 them nothing against such unequal force, and they only rushed on to 
 sacrifice. Almost every man was killed, and among these were near 
 fifty persons of family, who had embarked as volunteers, Those who 
 escaped belonged chiefly to the corps-de-reserve, who did not, or could 
 not, come up in time to succour their unfortunate companions. Upon 
 this merited defeat, the squadron immediately weighed anchor, and after 
 falling in with two vessels bound on the discovery of the ilhas d’Ouro, 
 arrived at Pasé, where they found Alboquerque employed in the construc- 
 tion of his fortress, and went with him to make an attack on Bintang. 
 
 At the period when Malacca fell into the hands of the Portuguese, State of 
 Achin and Daya are said by the historians of that nation to have been {s"™ 
 
 3H provinces 
 
 
 

 
 AYS 
 
 1521, 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 provinces subject to Pidir, and governed by two slaves belonging to 
 the sultan of that place, to each of whom he had given a niece in mar- 
 riage. Slaves, it must be understood, are in that country ona different 
 footing from those in most other parts of the world, and usually treated 
 as children of the family. Some of them are natives of the continent of 
 India, whom their masters employ to trade for them ; allowing them a 
 certain proportion of the profits, and permission to reside in a separate 
 quarter of the city. It frequently happened also, that men of good birth, 
 finding it necessary to obtain the protection of some person in power, 
 became voluntary slaves for this purpose, and the nobles, being proud 
 of such dependants, encouraged the practice by treating them with a 
 degree of respect, and in many instances they made them their heirs. — 
 The slave of this description who held the government of Achin, had two 
 sons, the elder of whom was named Raja Ibrahim, and the younger Raja 
 Lella, and were brought up-in the house of their master. The father 
 being old’ was recalled from his post ; but on account of his faithful ser- 
 vices, the sultan gave the succession to his eldest son, who appears to 
 have been a youth of an ambitious and very sanguinary temper. A 
 jealousy had taken place between him and the chief of Daya, whilst 
 they were together at Pidir, and as soon as he came into power he 
 resolved to seek revenge, and with that view entered ina hostile manner, 
 the district of his rival. When the sultan interposed, it not only added 
 fuel to his resentment, but inspired him with hatred towards his master, 
 and he shewed his disrespect by refusing»to»deliver up, on the requisi- 
 tion of the sultan, certain Portuguese prisoners taken from a vessel lost 
 at Pulo Gomez, and which he afterwards complied with, at the interces- 
 sion of the Shabandar of Pasé. This conduct manifesting an intention 
 of entirely throwing off his allegiance, his father endeavoured to recal 
 him to a sense of his duty, by representing the obligations in which 
 the family were indebted to the sultan, and the relationship which so 
 nearly connected them. But so far was this admonition from pro- 
 ducing any good effect, that he took offence at his father’s presumption, 
 and ordered him to be confined in a cage, where he died. Irritated 
 by these acts, the sultan resolved to proceed to extremities against 
 him ; but by means of the plunder of some Portuguese vessels, as before 
 related, and the recent defeat of Brito’s party, he became so strong in 
 
 artillery 
 

 
 SUMATRA, 419 
 
 artillery and ammunition, and so much elated with success, that he 1521. 
 set his master at defiance, and prepared to defend himself. His force 
 proved superior to that of Pidir, and in the end he obliged the sultan 
 
 to fly for refuge and assistance to the European fortress at Pas, accom- 
 panied by his nephew, the chief of Daya, who was also forced from his 
 possessions. 
 
 Ibrahim had for some time infested the Portuguese by sending out 1592. 
 parties against them, both by sea and land; but these being always 
 baffled in their attempts with much loss, he began to conceive a violent 
 antipathy against that nation, which he ever after indulged to excess. 
 He got possession of the city of Pzdir by bribing the principal officers ; 
 a mode of warfare that he often found successful, and seldom neglected to 
 attempt. These he prevailed upon to write a letter to their master, couched 
 in artful terms, in which they besought him to come to their assistance 
 with a body of Portuguese, as the only chance of repelling the enemy by 
 whom they pretended to be invested. The sultan shewed this letter to 
 André Henriquez, then governor of the fort, who thinking it a good 
 opportunity to chastise the Achinese, sent by sea a detachment of eighty 
 Europeans and two hundred Malays, under the command of his brother 
 Manuel, whilst the sultan marched over land with a thousand men, and 
 fifteen elephants, to the relief of the place. They arrived at Pidzr in the 
 night, but being secretly informed that the king of Achin was master of 
 the city, and that the demand for succour was a stratagem, they endea- 
 voured to make their retreat; which the land troops effected, but before 
 the tide could enable the Portuguese to get their boats afloat, they were 
 attacked by the Achinese, who killed Manuel and thirty-five of his men. 
 
 Henriquez perceiving his situation at Pas¢ was becoming critical, 
 not only from the force of the enemy, but the sickly state of his garrison, 
 and the want of provisions, which the country people now withheld from 
 him, discontinuing the fairs that they were used to keep three times in 
 the week, dispatches advices to the governor of India, demanding im- 
 mediate succours, and,also sent to request assistance of the king of Aru, 
 who had always proved the stedfast friend of Malacca, and who, though 
 
 SH not 
 
 
 

 
 420 
 
 15253, 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 not wealthy, because his country was not a place of trade, was yet one 
 of the most powerful princes in those parts. The king expressed his 
 joy in having an opportunity of serving his allies, and promised his 
 utmost’ aid; not only from friendship to them, but indignation against 
 Ibrahim, whom he regarded as a rebellious slave. A supply of stores 
 at length arrived from India, under the charge of Lopo d’Azuedo, who 
 had orders to relieve Henriquez in the command; but disputes having 
 arisen between them, and chiefly on the subject of certain works which 
 the shabandar of Pasé had been permitted to erect adjoining to the for- 
 tress, d’Azuedo, to avoid coming to an open rupture, departed for Ma- 
 Jacca.. Ibrahim having found means to corrupt the honesty of this 
 shabandar, who had Teceived his officé from Alboquerque, gained intel- 
 ligence through him of all that passed. This treason, it is supposed, he 
 would not have yielded to, but for the desperate situation of affairs. The 
 country of Pasé was now entirely in subjection to the Achinése, and 
 nothing remained unconquered but the capital; whilst the garrison was 
 distracted with internal divisions. 
 
 After the acquisition of Pidir, the king thought it necessary to re- 
 main there some time, in order to confirm his authority, and sent his 
 brother Raja Lella with a large army to reduce the territories of Pasé, 
 which he effected in the course of three months, and with the more 
 facility, because that all the principal nobility had fallen in the action 
 with Jeial. He fixed his camp within half-a league of the city, and 
 gave notice to Ibrahim of the state in which matters were, who speedily 
 joined him, being anxious to render himself master of the place, before 
 the promised succours from the king of Aru could arrive. His first step 
 was to issue a proclamation, giving notice to the people of the town, 
 that whoever should submit to his authority within six days, should have 
 their lives, families, and properties secured to them, but that all others 
 must expect to feel the punishment cue to their obstinacy. This had 
 the effect he looked for, the greater part of the inhabitants coming over 
 to his camp. He then commenced his military operations, and in the 
 
 _third attack got possession of the town, after much slaughter; those 
 
 who escaped his fury taking shelter in the neighbouring mountains and 
 thick 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 thick woods. He sent a message to the commander of the fortress, re- 
 quiring him to abandon it, and to deliver into: his hands the kings of 
 Pidir and Daya, to whom he had given protection. Henriquez: re- 
 turned a spirited answer to this summons, but being sickly at:the time,. 
 at best of an unsteady disposition, and too much attached to-his trading: 
 concerns, for a soldier, he resolved to: relinquish the command to his 
 relation Aires Coelho, and take passage for the West of India. 
 
 He had not advanced farther on his voyage than the point of Pidir, 
 when he fell in with two Portuguese ships bound to the Moluccas, the 
 captains of which he made acquainted with the situation of the garrison, 
 and they immediately proceeded to its relief. Arriving in the night 
 they heard great firing of cannon, and learned next morning: that the 
 Achinese had made a furious assault, in hopes of carrying the fortress,. 
 before the ships, which were descried at a distance, could throw succours 
 into it. They had mastered some of the outworks, and the garrison 
 represented that it was impossible for them to support such another 
 shock, without aid from the vessels. The captains with as much force 
 as could be spared, entered the fort, and a sally was shortly afterwards 
 resolved on and executed, in which the besiegers sustained considerable 
 damage. Every effort was likewise employed to repair the breaches, and 
 stop up the mines that had been made by the enemy in order to effect 
 a passage into the place. Ibrahim now attempted to draw them into a 
 snare, by removing his camp to a distance, andunakingxa-feint-of aban- 
 doning his enterprise; but this stratagem proved ineffectual. Reflecting 
 then with indignation, that his own force: consisted of fifteen thousand 
 men, whilst that of the Europeans did not exceed three-+hundred and fifty; 
 many of whom were sick and wounded, and others worn‘out with the 
 fatigue of continual duty, (intelligence whereof. was conveyed to him) 
 he resolved once. more to return to the siege, and make a general assault 
 upon all parts of the fortification at once. Two hours before day- 
 break he caused the: place to be surrounded with eight thousand men, 
 who approached in perfect silence. The night time was preferred by. 
 these people for making their attacks, as being then most secure, from 
 the effect of fire-arms, and they also generally chose a time: of rain, 
 when the powder would not burn.. As soon as they found themselves 
 
 perceived, 
 
 
 
 1523. 
 
 42} 
 
 
 

 
 422 
 
 1524. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 perceived, they set up a hideous shout, and fixing their scaling ladders, 
 made of bamboo, and wonderfully light, to the number of six hundred, 
 they attempted to force their way through the embrasures for the guns , 
 but after a strenuous contest they were at length repulsed. Seven ele- 
 phants were driven with violence against the paling of one of the bastions, 
 which gave way before them like a hedge, and overset all the men who 
 were on it. | Javelins and pikes these enormous beasts made no account 
 of, but upon setting fire to powder under their trunks, they drew back 
 with precipitation, in spite of all the efforts of their drivers; overthrew 
 their own pedple ; and flying to the distance of several miles, could not 
 again be brought,into the lines. The Achinese upon receiving this 
 check, thought to take revenge by setting fire to some vessels that were 
 in the dock yard; but this proved an unfortunate measure to them, for 
 by the light which it occasioned, the. garrison were enabled to point their 
 euns, and did abundant-execution. 
 
 Henriquez, after beating sometime against a contrary wind, put back 
 to Pas, and coming on shore the day after this conflict, resumed his 
 command. A council was soon after held, to determine what measures 
 were fittest to be pursued in the present situation of affairs, and taking 
 into their consideration that no further assistance could be expected from 
 the west of India in less than six months; that the garrison was sickly, 
 and provisions short, it was resolved, by a majority of votes, to abandon 
 the place, and measures were taken accordingly. In order to conceal 
 their intentions from the enemy, they ordered such of the artillery and 
 stores as could be removed conveniently, to be packed up in the form 
 of merchandise, and then shipped off. A party was left to set fire to 
 the buildings, and trains of powder were so disposed as to lead to the 
 larger cannon, which they over-charged, that they might burst as soon 
 as heated. But this was not effectually executed, and the pieces mostly 
 fell into the hands of the Achinese, who upon the first alarm of the 
 evacuation rushed in, extinguished the flames, and turned upon the 
 Portuguese their own artillery, many of whom were killed in the water, 
 as they hurried to get into their boats. They now lost as much credit 
 by this ill conducted retreat, as they had acquired by their gallant de- 
 fence, and were insulted by the reproachful shouts of the enemy; whose 
 
 power 
 

 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 power was greatly increased by this acquisition of military stores, and of 
 which they often severely experienced the effects. ‘To render their dis- 
 grace more striking, it happened that as they sailed out of the habour, 
 they met thirty boats laden with provisions for their use from the king of 
 Aru, who was himself on his march over-land with four thousand men: 
 and when they arrived at Malacca they found troops and stores embarked 
 there for their relief. The unfortunate princes who had sought an 
 asylum with them, now joined in their flight ; the sultan of Pasé pro- 
 ceeded to Malacca, and the sultan of Pidir and chief of Daya took 
 refuge with the king of Aru. ° 
 
 Raja Nara, king of Indragiri, in conjunction with a force from Bin- 1528. 
 
 fang, attacked the king of a neighbouring island, called Lizgga, who 
 was in friendship with the Portuguese. A message which passed on this 
 occasion gives a just idea of the style and manners of this people. Upon 
 their acquainting the king of Liigga, in their summons of surrender, 
 that they had lately overcome the fleet of Malacca, he replied, that his 
 intelligence informed him of the contrary ; that he had just made a 
 festival and killed fifty goats to celebrate one defeat which they had re- 
 ceived, and hoped soon to kill an hundred, in order to celebrate a second. 
 His expectations were fulfilled, or rather anticipated, for the Portuguese 
 having a knowledge of the king of Jndragiri’s design, sent out a small 
 fleet, which routed the combined force before the king of Lingga was 
 acquainted with their arrival ; his capital being situated high up on. the 
 river. In the next year, at the conquest of Bintangs~this-King, un- 
 solicited, sent assistance to his European allies, 
 
 However well founded the accounts may have been which the Por- 
 tuguese have given us of the cruelties committed against their people 
 by the king of Achin, the barbarity does not appear to have been only 
 on one side, Francisco de Mello being sent in an armed vessel with 
 dispatches to Goa, met, near Achin-head, with a ship of that nation 
 just arrived from Mecca, and supposed to be richly laden. As she had 
 on board three hundred Achinese and forty Arabs, he dared not venture 
 to board her,. but battered her at a distance; when suddenly she filled 
 
 and sunk, to the extreme disappointment of the Portuguese, who thereby 
 | lost 
 
 1526. 
 
 1527. 
 
 423 
 
 
 

 
 424 
 
 1528. 
 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 lost their prize; but they wreaked their vengeance on the unfortunate 
 crew, as they endeavoured to save themselves by swimming, and boast 
 that they did not suffer a man to escape. Opportunities of retaliation 
 soon offered. i | 
 
 Simano de Sousa going with a reinforcement to the Moluccas from 
 Cochin, was overtaken in the bay by a violent storm, which forced him 
 to stow many of his guns in the hold; and having lost several of his men 
 through fatigue, he made for the nearest port he could take shelter in, 
 which proved to be Achin. The king having the destruction of the 
 Portuguese at heart, and resolving, if possible, to seize their vessel, sent off 
 a message to De Sousa, recommending his standing in closer to the shore, 
 where he would have more shelter from the gale which still continued, and 
 lie more conveniently for getting off water and provisions; at the same 
 time inviting him to land: This artifice not succeeding, he ordered out 
 the next morning-a*thousand men in twenty boats, who at first pretended 
 they were come to assist in mooring the ship; but the captain, aware 
 of their hostile design, fired amongst them; when a fierce engagement 
 took place, in which the Achinese were repulsed with great slaughter, 
 but not suntil they had destroyed forty of the Portuguese. The king, 
 enraged at this disappointment, ordered a second attack, threatening to 
 have his admiral trampled to death by elephants if he failed of success. 
 A. boat was sent a-head of this fleet with a signal of peace, and assurances 
 to De Sousa, that the king, as soon as he was made acquainted with the 
 injury that had been committed, had caused the perpetrators of it to be 
 punished, and now once more requested him to come on shore and trust 
 to his honour. This proposal some of the crew were inclined that he 
 should accept, but, being animated by a speech that he made ‘to them, 
 at was resolved, that they should die with arms in their hands, in pre- 
 ference to:a disgraceful and hazardous submission. The combat was 
 therefore renewed, with extreme fury on the one side, and uncommon 
 efforts of courage on the other, and the assailants were ‘a second time 
 repulsed; but one of those who had boarded the vessel and afterwards 
 made his escape, represented to the Achinese the reduced and helpless 
 situation of their enemy, and fresh supplies coming off, they were en- 
 couraged to return to the attack. De Sousa and his people were at length 
 
 almost 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 almost all cut to pieces, and those who ‘survived, being desperatel y 
 wounded, were overpowered, and led: prisoners to the king, who wnex- 
 pectedly treated them. with extraordinary kindness, in order to cover 
 the designs he harboured, and pretended to lament the fate of their 
 brave commander. He directed them to fix upon one of their compa- 
 nions, who should go in his name to the governor of Malacca, to desire 
 he would immediately send to take possession of. the ship, which he 
 meant to restore, as well as to liberate them. He hoped by this artifice 
 to draw more of the Portuguese into. his power, and at the same time 
 to effect a purpose of a political nature. A war had recently broke out 
 between him and the king of Aru, the latter of whom had deputed ambas- 
 sadors to Malacca, to.solicit assistance, in return for his former services ; 
 and which was readily promised to him. _It was highly the interest of 
 the king of Achin to prevent this junction, and therefore, though de- 
 termined to relax nothing in his plans of revenge, he hastened to dis- 
 patch Antonio Caldeira, one of the captives, with proposals of accom- 
 modation and alliance, offering to restore not only this vessel, but also 
 the artillery which he had taken at Pasé. These terms appeared to the 
 governor too advantageous to be rejected. Conceiving a favourable 
 idea of the king’s intentions, from the confidence which Caldeira, who 
 was deceived by the humanity shewn to the wounded captives, appeared 
 to place in his sincerity, he became deaf to the representations that 
 were made to him by more experienced persons, of his insidious cha- 
 racter. A message was seni back, agreeing to accept. his friendship on 
 the proposed conditions, and engaging to withhold the promised suc- 
 cours from the king of Aru. Caldeira, in his way to Achin, touched 
 at an island, where he was cut off with those who accompanied 
 him. The ambassadors from Aru being acquainted with this breach of 
 faith, retired in great disgust, and the king, incensed at the ingratitude 
 shewn him, concluded a peace with Achin; but not till after an engage- 
 ment between their fleets had taken place, in which the victory remained 
 undecided. 
 
 In order that he might learn the causes of the obscurity in which his 
 negotiations with Malacca rested, Ibrahim dispatched a secret, messen- 
 ger to Senaia Raja, bandhara of that city, with whom he held a corres- 
 
 3 I pondence ; 
 
 A25 
 
 
 

 
 A26 
 
 1529, 
 
 SUMATRA, 
 
 pondence ; desiring also to be informed of the strength of the garrison. 
 Hearing in arswer, that the governor newly arrived was inclined to 
 think favourably of him, he immediately sent an ambassador to wait on 
 him, with assurances of his pacific and friendly disposition; who returned 
 in company with persons empowered, on the governor's part, to negotiate 
 a treaty of commerce. These, upon their arrival at Achin, were loaded 
 with favours and costly presents; the news of which quickly flew to 
 Malacca; and the business they came on being adjusted, they were suf- 
 fered to depart; but they had not sailed far before they were overtaken 
 by boats sent after them, and were stript and murdered. The governor, 
 who had heard of their setting out, concluded they were lost by accident. 
 Intelligence of this mistaken opinion was transmitted to the king, who 
 thereupon had the audacity to request that he might be honoured with 
 the presence of some Portuguese of rank and consequence in his capital, 
 to ratify in a becoming manner the articles that had been drawn up; as 
 he ardently wished to see that nation trafficking freely in his dominions. 
 The deluded governor, in compliance with this request, adopted the 
 resolution of sending thither a large ship, under the command of Manuel 
 Pacheco, with a rich cargo, the property of himself and several mer- 
 chants of Malacca, who themselves embarked, with the idea of making 
 extraordinary profits. Senaia conveyed notice of this preparation to 
 Achin, informing the king at the same time, that if he could make him- 
 self master of this vessel, Malacca must fall an easy prey to him, as the 
 place was weakened of half its force forthe*equipment. When Pacheco 
 approached the harbour he was surrounded by a great number of boats, 
 and some of the people began to suspect treachery, but so strongly did 
 the spirit of delusion prevail im this business, that they. could not per- 
 suade the captain to put himself on his guard. He soon had reason to 
 repent his credulity. Perceiving an arrow pass close by him, he hast- 
 ened to put on his coat of mail, when a second pierced his neck, and 
 he soon expired. ‘The vessel then became an easy prey, and the people 
 being made prisoners, were shortly afterwards massacred by the king’s 
 order, along with the unfortunate remnant of De Sousa’s crew, so long: 
 flattered with the hopes of release. By this capture the king was sup- 
 posed to have remained in possession of more artillery than was left in 
 ‘Malacca, and he immediately fitted out a fleet to take advantage of its 
 exposed 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 exposed state. The pride of success causing-him to imagine it already 
 in his power, he sent a taunting message to the governor, in which he 
 thanked him for the late instances of his liberality, and let him know he 
 should trouble him for the remainder of his naval force. 
 
 Senaia had promised to put the citadel into his hands, and this had 
 certainly been executed but for an accident that discovered his treasonable 
 designs. The crews of some vessels of the Achinese fleet landed on a 
 part of the coast not far from the city, where they were well entertained 
 by the natives, and in the openness of conviviality, related the trans- 
 actions which had lately passed at Achin, the correspondence of Senaia, 
 and the scheme that was laid for rising on the Portuguese when they 
 should be at church, murdering them, and seizing the fortress. Intel- 
 ligence of this was reported with speed to the governor, who had Senaza 
 instantly apprehended and executed. This punishment served to intimi- 
 date those among the inhabitants who were engaged in the conspiracy, 
 and disconcerted the plans of the king of Achin. 
 
 This appears to be the last transaction of /brahim’s reign recorded by 
 the Portuguese historians. His death is stated by De Barros to have taken 
 place in the year 1528, in consequence of poison administered to him 
 by one of his wives, to revenge the injuries her brother, the chief of 
 Daya, had suffered at his hand. In a Malayan work (lately come into 
 my possession) containing the annals of the kingdom of Achin,, it is 
 said that a king, whose title was sultan Saleh-eddin-shah, obtained the 
 sovereignty in a year answering to 1511 of our era, and who, after 
 reigning about eighteen years, was dethroned by a brother in 1529. 
 Notwithstanding some apparent discordance between the two accounts, 
 there can be little doubt of the circumstances applying to the same in- 
 dividual, as it may well be presumed that, according to the usual prac- 
 tice in the East, he adopted, upon ascending the throne, a title different 
 from the name which he had originally borne, although that might 
 continue to be his more familiar appellation, especially in the mouths of 
 his enemies.. The want of precise coincidence in the dates cannot be 
 thought an objection, as the event not falling under the immediate ob- 
 servation of the Portuguese, they cannot pretend to accuracy within a 
 
 312 few 
 
 ~) 
 
 
 
Ae ae = 
 
 ] 
 : ” 
 7 
 ; 
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 I 
 hit | 
 ‘bk { 7 + 
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 ; a Seal 
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 7 
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 1537. 
 
 1547, 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 few months, and even their account of the subsequent transactions renders 
 it more probable that it happened in 1529; nor are the facts of his being 
 dethroned by the brother, or put to death by the sister, materially at 
 variance with each other; and the latter circumstance, whether true 
 or false, might naturally enough be reported at Malacca. 
 
 His successor took the name of Ala-eddin-shah, and afterwards, from 
 his great enterprises, acquired the additional epithet of keher or the 
 powerful. By the Portuguese he is said to have styled himself king of 
 Achin, Barus, Pidir, Pasé, Daya, and Batta, prince of the land of the 
 two seas, and of the mines of Menaiigkabau. Nothing is recorded of his 
 reign until the year 1537, in which he twice attacked Malacca. The 
 first time he sent‘an army of three thousand men, who landed near the 
 city by night, unperceived by the garrison, and having committed some 
 ravages in the suburbs, were advancing to the bridge, when the governor, 
 Estavano'de Gama, sallied out with a party, and obliged them to re- 
 treat for shelter to the woods. Here they defended themselves during 
 the next day, but on the following night they re-embarked, with the 
 loss of five hundred men. A few months afterwards the king had the 
 place invested with a larger force; but in the interval the works had 
 been repaired and strengthened, and after three days ineffectual attempt 
 the Achinese were again constrained to retire. In the year 1547 he 
 once more fitted out a fleet against Malacca, where a descent was made ; 
 but contented with some triflins*plunder, the army re-embarked, and the 
 vessels proceeded to the river of Parles on the Malayan coast. Hither 
 they were followed by a Portuguése squadron, which attacked and de- 
 feated a division of the fleet, at the mouth of the river. 
 
 This victory 
 was rendered famous, not so much by 
 
 the valour of the combatants, 
 
 as by a revelation opportunely made from heaven to the celebrated mis- 
 
 sionary Francisco Xavier, of the time and circumstances of it, and 
 
 which he announced ‘to the garrison, at a moment when the 
 of a powerful invader from another quarter, 
 apprehension among them, 
 
 approach 
 had caused much alarm and 
 
 Many transactions of the reign of this prince, 
 
 particularly with the 
 neighbouring states of Batta and Aru ( } 
 
 about the years 1539 and 1541) 
 are 
 
SUMATRA 
 
 are mentioned by Ferdinand Mendez Pinto; but his writings are too 
 
 apocryphal to allow of the facts being recorded upon his authority. Yet 
 
 there is the strongest internal evidence of his having been more intimately 
 acquainted with the countries of which we are now speaking, the cha- 
 racter of the inhabitants, and the political transactions of the period, 
 than any of his cotemporaries ; and it appears highly probable, that 
 what he has related is substantially true:. but there is also reason to 
 believe, that he composed his work from recollection, after his return to 
 Europe, and he may not have been scrupulous in supplying from a 
 fertile imagination the unayoidable failures of a memory, however richly 
 stored. 
 
 The death of Ala-eddin took place, according to the Annals, in 1556, 
 after a reign of twenty-eight years. He was succeeded by sultan Mussein- 
 shah, who reigned about eight, and dying in. 1565, was succeeded by his 
 son, an infant. This child survived only sevenmonths; and inthe same 
 year the throne was-occupied by Raja I irman-shah, who was murdered 
 soon after. His successor, Raja Janil, experienced a similar fate, when 
 he had reigned ten months. This event is placed in 1567. Sultan 
 Mansur-shah, from the kingdom of Perak in the peninsula, was the next 
 who ascended.the throne. P 
 
 The. western powers of India having formed a league for the purpose 
 of extirpating the Portuguese, the king of Achin was-invited to accede 
 to it, and in conformity with the engagements. by which the respec- 
 tive parties were bound, he, prepared to attack them in Malacca, and 
 carried thither a numerous fleet, in which were fifteen thousand people 
 of his own subjects, and four hundred Turks, with two hundred pieces 
 of artillery of different sizes. In order to amuse the enemy, he gave 
 out that his force was destined against Java, and sent a letter, accom- 
 panied with a present of a ‘rvs, to the governor, professing strong sen- 
 timents of friendship. A person whom he turned on shore with marks 
 of ignominy, being suspected for a spy, was)taken up, and being put te 
 the torture, confessed that he was employed by the Ottoman emperor and 
 king of Achin, to poison the principal officers of the place, and to set 
 
 fire 
 
 4556, 
 
 1565. 
 
 1567. 
 
 429 
 
 
 

 
 430 
 
 1568. 
 
 1569. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 fire to their magazine. He was put to death, and his mutilated carcase 
 was sent off to the king, ‘This was the signal for hostilities. He imme- 
 diately landed with all his men, and commenced a regular siege. _ Sallies 
 were made with various success, and very unequal numbers. In one 
 of these, the chief of Aru, the king’s eldest son, was killed. In another 
 the Portuguese were defeated and lost many officers. A variety of 
 stratagems were employed to work upon the fears, and shake the fidelity 
 of the inhabitants of the town. A general assault was given, in which, 
 after prodigious efforts of courage, and imminent risk of destruction, the 
 besieged remained victorious. The king seeing all his attempts fruitless, 
 at length departed, having lost three thousand men before the walls, be- 
 side about five hundred who were said to have died of their wounds on 
 the passage. The king of Ujong-tanah or Johor, who arrived with a fleet 
 to the assistance of the place, found the sea for a long distance covered 
 with dead bodies. This was esteemed one of the most desperate and 
 honourable sieges the Portuguese experienced in India, their whole force 
 consisting of but fitfeen hundred men, of whom no more than two hun- 
 dred were Europeans. 
 
 In the following year a vessel from Achin bound to Java, with am- 
 bassadors on board to the queen of Japara, in whom the king wished to 
 raise up a new enemy against the Portuguese, was met in the straits 
 by a vessel from Malacca, who took her, and put all the people to the 
 sword. It appears to have been a maxim in these wars, never to give 
 quarter to an enemy, whether resisting or submitting. In 1569 a single 
 ship, commanded by Lopez Carrasco, passing near Achin, fell in with 
 a fleet coming out of that port, consisting of twenty large gallies, and 
 an hundred and eighty other vessels, commanded by the king in person, 
 and supposed to be designed against Malacca. The situation of the Por- 
 tuguese was desperate. They could not expect to escape, and therefore 
 resolved to die like men. During three days they sustained a continual 
 attack, when, after having by incredible exertions destroyed forty of the 
 enemy's vessels, and being themselves reduced to the state of a wreck, 
 
 a second ship appeared in sight. The king perceiving this, retired into 
 the harbour with his shattered forces. 
 
 It 
 

 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 It is difficult to determine which of the two is the more astonishing ; 
 the vigorous stand made by such a handful of men as the whole strength 
 of Malacca consisted of; or the prodigious resources and perseverance 
 of the Achinese monarch. In 1573, after forming an alliance with 
 the queen of Japara, the object of which was the destruction of the 
 European power, he appeared again before Malacca with ninety vessels, 
 twenty-five of them large gallies, with seven thousand men, and great 
 store of artillery. He began his operations by sending a party to set fire 
 to the suburbs of the town, but a timely shower of rain prevented its 
 taking effect. He then resolved on a different mode of warfare, and 
 tried to starve the place to a surrender, by blocking up. the harbour,. 
 and cutting off all supplies of provisions. The Portuguese to prevent the 
 fatal consequences of this measure, collected those few vessels which they. 
 were masters of, and a merchant ship of some force arriving opportunely, 
 they put to sea, attacked the enemies fleet, killed the principal captain, 
 and obtained a complete victory. In the year following, Malacca was 
 invested by an armada from the queen of Japara, of three hundred sail, 
 eighty of which were junks of four hundred tons burthen. After be- 
 sieging the place for three months, till the very air became corrupted by 
 their stay, the fleet retired with little more than five thousand. men, of 
 fifteen that embarked on the expedition. 
 
 Scarcely was the Javanese force departed, when the king of Achin once 
 more appeared with a fleet that is described as covering the straits» He 
 ordered an attack upon three Portuguese frigates that were im the road. 
 protecting some provision vessels ; which was excuted with such a furi- 
 ous discharge of artillery, that they were presently destroyed with. all 
 their crews. This was a dreadful blow to Malacca, and lamented,. as 
 the historian relates, with tears of blood by the little garrison, who were 
 not now above an hundred and fifty men, and of those a great part non- 
 effective. The king, elated with his success, landed his troops, and laid 
 siege to the fort, which he battered at intervals during seventeen days. 
 The fire of the Portuguese became very slack, and after some time to- 
 tally ceased, as the governor judged it prudent to reserve his small stock 
 
 of ammunition for an effort at. the last extremity. The king, alarmed at 
 this. 
 
 1575. 
 
 1574, 
 
 1575, 
 
 431 
 
 
 

 
 1582. 
 
 1585. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 this silence, which he construed into a preparation for some dangerous 
 stratagem, was seized with a panic, and suddenly raising the siege, em- 
 barked with the utmost precipitation ; unexpectedly relieving the gar- 
 rison from the ruin that hung over it, and which seemed inevitable in 
 the ordinary course of events. 
 
 In 1582 we find the king appearing again before Malacca with an 
 hundred and fifty sail of vessels. After some skirmishes. with the Portu- 
 guese ships, in which the success was nearly equal on both sides, the 
 Achinese proceeded to attack Johor, the king of which was then in alli: 
 ance with Malacca. ‘Twelve ships followed them thither, and having 
 burned some of their gallies, defeated the rest, and obliged them to fly to 
 Achin. The operations of these campaigns, and particularly the valour 
 
 of the commander, named Raja Mukuta, are alluded to in Queen Eliza- 
 
 beth’s letter to the king, delivered in 1602 by Sir James Lancaster. 
 
 About three or four years after this misfortune Mansur-shah prepared 
 a fleet of no less than three hundred sail of vessels, and was ready to 
 embark once more upon his favourite enterprise, when he was murdered, 
 together with his queen and many of the principal nobility, by the ge- 
 neral of the forces, who had long formed designs upon the crown. This 
 was perpetrated in May, 1585, when he had reigned nearly eighteen 
 vears. In his time the consequence of the kingdom of Achin is repre- 
 sented to have arrived at a considerableheight; and its friendship to have 
 been courted by the most powerful states. _ No city in India possessed a 
 more flourishing trade, the port being crowded with merchant vessels, 
 which were encouraged to resort thither by the moderate rates of the 
 customs levied; and although the Portuguese and their ships were con- 
 tinually plundered, those belonging to every Asiatic power,: from Mecca 
 in the West to Japan in the East, appear to have enjoyed protection and 
 security. ‘The despotic authority of the monarch was counterpoised by 
 the influence of the orang-kayas or nobility, who are described as being 
 possessed of great wealth, living in fortified houses, surrounded by nu- 
 merous dependants, and feeling themselves above controul, often giving 
 a licentious range to their proud and impatient tempers. | 
 The 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 The late monarch’s daughter and only child was married to the king 
 of Johor,* by whom she had a son, who being regarded as heir to the 
 crown of Achin, had been brought to the latter place to be educated 
 under the eye of his grandfather. When the general (whose name is 
 corruptly written Moratiza) assumed the powers of government, he de- 
 clared himself the protector of this child, and we find him mentioned in 
 the Annals by the title of Sultan Buyong (or the Boy), but before he had 
 completed the third year of his nominal reign, he also was dispatched, 
 and the usurper took formal possession of the throne in the year 1588, 
 by the name of Ala-eddin Rayet-shah,’ being then at an advanced period 
 of life. 
 
 The Annals say he was the grandson of Sultan Firman-shah ; but the 
 Europeans who visited Achin during his reign report him to have been 
 originally a fisherman, who, having afterwards served in the wars against 
 Malacca, shewed so much courage, prudence, and. skill in maritime 
 affairs, that the late king made him at length the chief commander of 
 his forces, and gave him one of his nearest kinswomen to wife, in right 
 of whom he is said to have laid claim to the throne. 
 
 The French Commodore Beaulieu relates the circumstances of this 
 revolution in a very different manner.° He says, that upon the extinc- 
 38K tion 
 
 a 
 * The king of Acheen sent on this occasion, to Johor, a piece of Fe TT a as for 
 
 greatness, length, and workmanship (says Linschoten), could hardly be matched in all 
 Christendom. It was afterwards taken by the Portuguese, who shipped it for Europe, but 
 the vessel] was lost in her passage. 
 
 * Valentyn, by an obvious corruption, names him Sulthan. Alciden Ryetza, and_ this 
 coincidence is strongly in favour of the authenticity and correctness of the Annals, John 
 Davis, who will be hereafter mentioned, calls him, with sufficient accuracy, Sultan Aladin. 
 
 © The commodore had great opportunity of information, was a man of very superior 
 ability, and indefatigable in his inquiries upon all subjects, as appears by the excellent ac- 
 count of his voyage, and of Achin in particular, written by himself, and published in The- 
 venot’s collection, of which there is an English translation in Harris; but it is possible he 
 
 may, in this instance, have been amused by a plausible tale from the grandson of this 
 monarch, 
 
 1588. 
 
 433 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 A434 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 tion of the ancient royal line, which happened about forty years before 
 the period at which he wrote, the orang-kayas met in order to chuse a 
 king, but every one affecting the dignity for himself, they could not 
 agree, and resolved to decide it by force. In this ferment the cadi or 
 chief judge, by his authority and remonstrances persuaded them to offer 
 the crown to a certain noble, who in all these divisions had taken no 
 part, but had lived in the reputation of a wise, experienced man, being 
 then seventy years of age, and descended from one of the most respect- 
 
 ‘able families of the country. After several excuses on his side, and 
 
 entreaties and even threats on theirs, he at length consented to accept 
 the dignity thus imposed upon him, provided they should regard him as 
 a father, and receive correction from him as his children ; but no sooner 
 was he in possession of the sovereign power than (like Pope Sixtus the 
 Fifth) he shewed a different face, and the first step after his accession 
 was to invite the orang-hayas.to-afeast, where, as they were separately 
 introduced;~he*caused them to be seized and murdered in a court behind 
 the palace. He then proceeded to demolish their fortified houses, and 
 lodged their cannon, arms, and goods, in the castle, taking measures to 
 prevent in future the erection of any buildings of substantial materials 
 that could afford him grounds of jealousy. He raised his own adherents, 
 from the lower class of people, to the first dignities of the state, and of 
 those who presumed to express any disapprobation of his conduct, he 
 made great slaughter, being supposed to have executed not less than 
 twenty thousand persons in the first-year of his reign. 
 
 From the silence of the Portuguese writers with respect to the actions 
 of this king, we have reason to conclude, that he did not make any at- 
 tempts to disturb their settlement of Malacca ; and it even appears that 
 some persons in the character of ambassadors or agents from that power 
 resided at Achin, the principal object of whose policy appears to have 
 
 been 
 
 monarch,. with whom he had much intercourse. John Davis, an intelligent English navi- 
 gator, whose account I have followed, might have been more likely to hear the truth, as he 
 was at Achin (though not a frequenter of the court) during Ala-eddin’s reign, whereas Beau- 
 lieu did not arrive till twenty years after; and the report of his having been originally a 
 fisherman, is also mentioned by the Dutch writers. 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 been that of inspiring him with jealousy and hatred of the Hollanders, 
 who in their turn were actively exerting themselves to supplant the 
 conquerors of India. 
 
 Towards the close of the sixteenth century they began to navigate . 
 these seas; and in June, 1600, visited Achin with two ships, but had no 
 cause to boast of the hospitality of their reception. An attempt was 
 made to cut them off, and evidently by the orders or connivance of thé 
 king, who had prevailed upon the Dutch admiral to take on board troops 
 and military stores for an expedition meditated, or pretended, against 
 the city of Johor, which these ships were to bombard. Several of the 
 crews were murdered, but after a desperate conflict in both ships, the 
 treacherous assailants were overcome and driven into the water, ** and 
 it was some pleasure (says John Davis, an Englishman, who was the 
 principal pilot of the squadron) to see how the base Indians did fly, how 
 they were killed, and how well they were drowned.’* This barbarous 
 and apparently unprovoked attack was attributed, but perhaps without 
 any just grounds, to the instigation of the Portuguese. | 
 
 In November, 1600, Paulus van Caarden having also the command of 
 two Dutch ships, was received upon his landing with much ceremony ; but 
 at his first audience the king refused to read a letter from the Prince of 
 Orange, upon its being suggested to him that (instead of paper) it was 
 written on the skin of an unclean animal ; and the,subsequent-treatment 
 experienced by this officer was uniformly bad. It appears, however, 
 that in December, 1601, the king was so far reconciled to this new 
 power as to send two ambassadors to Holland, one of whom died there 
 in August, 1602, and the other returned to Achin subsequently to the 
 death of his master. 
 
 38K 2 The 
 
 * All the Dutchmen on shore at the time were made prisoners, and many of them con- 
 tinued in that state for several years. Among these was Captain Frederick Houtman, whose 
 Vocabulary of the Malayan language was printed at Amsterdam in 1604, being the first that 
 was published in Europe. My copy has the writer’s autograph. 
 
 1600, 
 
 1600. 
 
 435 
 
 = 
 
 “= 
 ee os 
 = ba —s = —_—s 
 
 
 
436 SUMATRA. 
 
 The first English fleet that made its appearance in this part of the world, 
 and laid the foundation of a commerce which was in time to eclipse that 
 1602. of every other European state, arrived at Achin in June, 1602. | Sir 
 James Lancaster, who commanded it, was received by the king with 
 abundant ceremony and respect, which seem with these monarchs to have 
 been usually proportioned to the number of vessels and apparent strength 
 of their foreign guests. The queen of England’s letter was conveyed to 
 court with great pomp, and the general, after delivering a rich present, 
 the most admired article of which was a fan of feathers, declared the 
 purpose of his coming was to establish peace and amity between his 
 royal mistress, and. her loving brother, the great and mighty king of 
 Achin. He was invited to a banquet prepared for his entertainment, in 
 which the service was of gold, and the king’s damsels, who were richly 
 attired and adorned with bracelets and jewels, were ordered to divert 
 him with dancing and music.--Before he retired he was arrayed by the 
 king m a magnificent habit of the country, and armedh wit two Arises. 
 In the present sent as a return for the queen’s, there was, among other 
 matters, a valuable ruby set in a ring. Two of the nobles, one of whom 
 was the chief priest, were appointed to settle with Lancaster the terms 
 of a commercial treaty, which was accordingly drawn up and executed 
 in an explicit and regular manner. ‘The Portuguese ambassador, or 
 more properly the Spanish, as those kingdoms were now united, kept a 
 watchful and jealous eye upon his proceedings; but by bribing the spies 
 who surrounded him, he foiléd™them=at-their own arts, and acquired 
 intelligence that enabled him to take a rich prize in the straits of Ma- 
 lacéa, with which he returned to Achin; and having loaded what pepper 
 he could procure there, took his departure in November of the same year, 
 On this occasion it was requested by the king, that he and his officers 
 would favour him by singing one of the psalms of Dayid, which was 
 performed with much solemnity. 
 
 Very little is known of the military transactions of this reign, and no 
 conquest but that of Pasé is recorded. He had two sons, the younger 
 of whom he made king of Pidir, and the elder, styled Sultan Muda, he 
 kept at Achin, in order to succeed him in the throne. In the year 
 
 1603, 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 1603, he resolved to divide the charge of government with his intended 
 heir, as he found his extraordinary age began to render him unequal 
 to the task, and accordingly invested him with royal dignity; but the 
 effect which might have been foreseen quickly followed this measure. 
 The son, who was already advanced in years, became impatient to 
 enjoy more complete power, and thinking his father had possessed the 
 crown, sufficiently long, he confined him in a prison, where his days 
 were soon ended. ‘The exact period at which this event took place is 
 not known, but calculating from the duration of his reign as stated in the 
 Annals, it must have been early in the year 1604.*,_ He was then ninety- 
 five years of age,” and described to be a hale man, but extremely gross 
 and fat.. His constitution must have been uncommonly vigorous, and 
 his muscular strength is indicated by this ludicrous circumstance, that 
 when he once condescended to embrace a Dutch admiral, contrary to 
 the usual manners of his country, the pressure of his arms was so violent 
 as to cause excessive pain to the person so honoured. He was passion- 
 ately addicted to women, gaming, and drink, his favourite beverage 
 being arrack. By the severity of his punishments he kept his subjects 
 in extreme awe of him; and the merchants were obliged to submit to 
 more exactions and oppressions than were felt under the government of 
 his predecessors. The seizure of certain vessels belonging to the people 
 of Bantam, and other arbitrary proceedings of that nature, are said to 
 have deterred the traders of India from entering into his ports. 
 
 The new king, who took the name of Ali Maghajat-shan, proved himself, 
 from indolence or want of capacity, unfit to reign. He was always sur- 
 rounded by his women, who were not only his attendants but his guards, 
 and carried arms for that purpose. His occupations were the bath and 
 the chase, and the affairs of state were neglected; insomuch that mur- 
 ders, robberies, oppression, and an infinity of disorders took place m 
 
 the 
 
 2 The Dutch commander Joris van Spilbergen, took leave of him in April, 1603, and his. 
 ambassador to Holland, who returned in December, 1604, found his son on the throne, 
 according to Valentyn. Commodore Beaulieu says he died in 1603. 
 
 > According to Beaulieu. Davis says he was about an hundred; and the Dutch voyages 
 mention that his great age prevented his ever appearing out of his palace. 
 
 1604. 
 
 437 
 
 
 

 
 438 
 
 1606. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 the kingdom for want of a regular and strict administration of justice. 
 A son of the daughter of Ala-eddin had been a favourite of his grand- 
 father, at the time of whose death he was twenty-three years of age, and 
 continued, with his mother, to reside at the court after that event. His 
 uncle, the king of Achin, having given him a rebuke on some occasion, 
 he left his palace abruptly, and fled to the king of Pidir, who received 
 him with affection, and refused to send him back at the desire of the 
 elder brother, or to offer any violence to a young prince whom their 
 father loved. This was the occasion of an inveterate war, which cost the 
 lives of matiy thousand people. The nephew commanded the forces 
 of Pidir, and for some time maintained the advantage, but these at 
 length, seeing themselves much inferior in numbers to the army of 
 Ali-Maghayat, refusedto march, and the king was obliged to give him 
 up, when he was conveyed to Achin, and put in close confinement. 
 
 Not long afterwardsa Portuguese squadron, under Martin Alfonso, 
 going to the relief of Malacca, then besieged by the Dutch, anchored 
 in Achin road, with the resolution of taking revenge on the king, for 
 receiving these their rivals into his ports, contrary to the stipulations of 
 a treaty that had been entered into between them. The viceroy landed 
 his men, who were opposed by a strong force on the part of the Achinese ; 
 but after a stout resistance, they gained the first turf fort with two 
 pieces of cannon, and commenced an attack upon the second, of ma- 
 sonry. In this critical juncture, the young..prince sent a message to 
 his uncle, requesting he might be permitted to join the army and 
 expose himself in the ranks; declaring himself more willing to die in 
 battle against the Kafers (so they always affected to call the Portu- 
 guese) than to languish like a slave in chains. The fears which ope- 
 rated upon the king’s mind, induced him to consent to his release. The 
 prince shewed so much bravery on this occasion, and conducted two or 
 three attacks with such success, that Alfonso was obliged to order a 
 retreat, after wasting two days, and losing three hundred men in this 
 fruitless attempt. The reputation of the prince was raised by this affair 
 to a high pitch amongst the people of Achin. His mother, who was 
 an active, ambitious woman, formed the design of placing him on the 
 throne, and furnished him with large sums of money, to be distributed 
 
 mm 
 
* 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 in gratuities amongst the principal orang cayas. At the same time he 
 endeavoured to ingratiate himself by his manners, with all classes of peo- 
 
 ple. To the rich he was courteous; to the poor he was affable; and he 
 
 was the constant companion of those who were in the profession of 
 arms. When the king had reigned between three and four years he died 
 suddenly, and at the hour of his death the prince got access to the 
 castle. He bribed the guards; made liberal promises to the officers ; 
 advanced a large sum of money to the governor ; and sending for the 
 chief priest, obliged him by threats to crown him. In fine, he ma- 
 naged the revolution so happily, that he was proclaimed king before 
 night, to the great joy of the people, who conceived vast hopes from 
 his liberality, courtesy, and valour. The king of Pidir was speedily 
 acquainted with the news of his brother’s death, but not of the sub- 
 sequent transactions, and came the next day to take possession of his 
 inheritance. As he approached the castle with a small retinue, he was 
 seized by orders from: the reigning prince, who, forgetting the favours 
 he had received, kept him prisoner for a month, and then sending him 
 into the country, under the pretence of a commodious retreat, had him 
 murdered on the way. Those who put the crown on his head were not 
 better requited; particularly the Maharaja, or governor of the castle. 
 In a short time his disappointed subjects found, that instead of being 
 humane, he was cruel; instead of being liberal, he displayed extreme 
 avarice ; and instead of being affable, he manifested a temper austere and 
 inexorable. cineaeeneamemmmntitl 
 
 This king, whom the Annals name Jskander Muda, was known to our 
 travellers by the title of sultan Paduka Sri (words equivalent to “* most 
 gracious”) sovereign of Achin and of the countries of Arw, Dilli, Johor, 
 Pahang, Kedah, and Perak, on the one side, and of Barus, Pasaman, 
 Tiku, Sileda, and Priaman on the other. Some of these places were con- 
 quered by him, and others he inherited. He shewed much friendship to 
 the Hollanders in the early part of his reign; and in the year 1613 gave 
 permission to the English to settle a factory, granting them many indul- 
 gences, in consequence of a letter and present from king James the first. 
 He bestowed on Captain Best, who was the bearer of them, the title of 
 
 orang kaya putih, and entertained him with the fighting of elephants, buf- 
 faloes, 
 
 1613. 
 
 439 
 
 
 

 
 4A0 
 
 1613. 
 
 * 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 faloes, rams, and tigers. His answer to king James (a translation ‘of 
 which is to be found in Purchas) is couched in the most friendly terms, 
 and he there styles himself king of all Sumatra. He expressed a strong 
 desire that the king of England should send him one of his countrywomen 
 to wife, and promised to make her eldest son king of all the pepper 
 countries, that so the English might be supplied with that commodity 
 by a monarch of their own nation. But notwithstanding his strong 
 professions of attachment to us, and his natural connexion with the 
 Hollanders, arising from their joint enmity to the Portuguese, it was 
 not many years before he began to oppress both nations, and use his 
 endeavours to ruin their trade. He became jealous of their growing 
 power, and. particularly in consequence of intelligence that reached 
 him, concerning the encroachments made by the latter in the island of 
 Java. 
 
 vet 
 
 oe 
 
 The conquest of Aru seems never to have been thoroughly effected 
 by the kings of Achin. Paduka Sri carried his arms thither, and boasted 
 of having obtained some victories. In 1613 he subdued Stak in its 
 neighbourhood. Early in the same year he sent.an expedition against 
 the kingdom of Johor (which had always maintained a political connexion . 
 with Aru) and reducing the city after a siege of twenty-nine days, 
 plundered it of every thing moveable, and made slaves of the miserable 
 inhabitants.. The king fled to the island of Bintang; but his youngest 
 brother and coadjutor was taken prisonersand Carried to Achin. The old 
 king of Johor, who had so often engaged the Portuguese, left three sons, 
 the eldest of whom succeeded him by the title of Jang de per-tuan,* the 
 second was made king of Stak, and the third called Raja Bovigsu, reigned 
 jointly with the first. He it was who assisted the Hollanders in the first 
 siege of Malacca; and corresponded with Prince Maurice. The king 
 of Achin was married to their sister ; but this did not prevent a long and 
 cruel war between them. A Dutch factory at Johor was involved in the 
 consequences of this war, and several of that nation were among the 
 
 prisoners. 
 
 ' * This is not an individ uatitle or proper name, but signifies the sovereign or reigning 
 
 monarch. In like manner Raja Borigsu signifies the king’s youngest brother, as Raja Muda © 
 does the heir apparent. 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 prisoners. In the course of the same year, however, the king of Achin 
 thought proper to establish Raja Bovizsu on the throne of Johor, sending 
 him back for that purpose with great honours, assisting him to rebuild 
 the fort and city, and giving him one of his own sisters in marriage. 
 
 In 1615 the king of Achin sailed to the attack of Malacca in a fleet 
 which he had been four years employed in preparing. It consisted of 
 above five hundred sail, of which an hundred were large gallies, greater 
 than any at that time built in Europe, carrying each from six to eight 
 hundred men, with three large cannon, and several smaller pieces. 
 These gallies the orang kayas were obliged to furnish, repair, and man, 
 at the peril of their lives. The soldiers served without pay, and carried 
 three months provision at their own charge. In this great fleet there 
 were computed to be sixty thousand men, whom the king commanded 
 in person. His wives and household were taken to sea with him. Coming 
 in sight of the Portuguese ships in the afternoon, they received. many shot 
 from them, but avoided returning any, as if from contempt. The next 
 day they got ready for battle, and drew up in form of a half moon. 
 A desperate engagement took place; and lasted without intermission till 
 midnight, during which the Portuguese admiral was three times boarded, 
 and repeatedly on fire. Many vessels on both sides were also in flames, 
 and afforded light to continue the combat. At length the Achinese 
 gave way, after losing fifty sail of different sizes, and twenty thousand 
 men. ‘They retired to Bancalis, on the eastern.coast-ef-SuMatra, and 
 shortly afterwards sailed for Achin, the Portuguese not daring to pursue 
 their victory, both on account of the damage they had sustained, and 
 their apprehension of the Hollanders, who were expected at Malacca. 
 The king proposed that the prisoners taken should be mutually given 
 up, which was agreed to, and was the first instance of that act of hu- 
 manity and civilisation between the two powers. 
 
 Three years afterwards the king made a conquest of the cities of Kedah 
 and Perak, on the Malayan coast, and also of a place called Dilli in Su- 
 matra. This last had been strongly fortified by the assistance of the 
 Portuguese, and gave an opportunity of displaying much skill in the 
 attack. Trenches were regularly opened before it, and a siege carried 
 
 8 L on 
 
 1615. 
 
 1619. 
 
 44] 
 
 
 

 
 4A2 
 
 1621. 
 
 1628. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 on for six weeks, ere it fell. In the same year the king of Jorcan (a 
 place unknown at present by that name) fled for refuge to Malacca, 
 with eighty sail of boats, having been expelled his dominions by the 
 king of Achin. The Portuguese were not in a condition to afford 
 him relief, being themselves surrounded with enemies, and fearful of 
 an attack from the Achinese more especially ; but the king was then 
 making preparations against an invasion he heard was meditated by the 
 viceroy of Goa. Reciprocal apprehensions kept each party on the 
 
 defensive. 
 * 
 
 The French being desirous of participating in the commerce of Achin, 
 of which all the European nations had formed great ideas, and all found 
 themselves disappointed in, sent out a squadron commanded by General 
 Beaulieu, which arrived in January, 1621, and finally left it in December 
 of the same year. -He-brougtit magnificent presents to the king, but 
 these did not content his insatiable avarice, and he employed a variety 
 of mean arts to draw from him further gifts. Beaulieu met also with 
 many difficulties, and was forced to submit to much extortion, in his 
 endeavours to procure a loading of pepper, of which Achin itself, as has 
 been observed, produced but little. The king informed him that he had 
 some time since ordered all the plants to be destroyed, not only because 
 the cultivation of them proved an injury to more useful agriculture, but 
 also least their produce might tempt the Europeans to serve him, as they 
 had served the kings of Jakatra and Bantam: ¥rom this apprehension, 
 he had lately been induced to expel the English and Dutch from their 
 settlements at Priaman and Tiku, where the principal quantity of pepper 
 was procured, and of which places he changed the governor every third 
 year, to prevent any connexions dangerous to his authority, from being 
 formed. He had likewise driven the Dutch from a factory they were 
 attempting to settle at Padang; which place appears to be the most 
 remote on the western coast of the island, to which the Achinese con- 
 quests at any time extended. 
 
 Still retaining a strong desire to possess himself of Malacca, so many years 
 the grand object of Achinese ambition, he imprisoned the ambassador then 
 
 at his court, and made extraordinary preparations for the siege, which he 
 designed 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 designed to undertake in person. The laksamana or commander in chief 
 (who had effected all the king’s late conquests) attempted to oppose this 
 resolution ; but the maharaja, willing to flatter his master’s propensity, 
 undertook to put him in possession of the city, and had the command of 
 the fleet given to him, as the other had of the land forces. The king set 
 out on the expedition with a fleet of two hundred and fifty sail, (forty- 
 seven of them not less than an hundred feet in the keel) in which were 
 twenty thousand men well appointed, and a great train of artillery. After 
 being some time on board, with his family and retinue as usual, he deter- 
 mined, on account of an ill omen that was observed, to return to the 
 shore. The generals, proceeding without him, soon arrived before 
 Malacca. Having landed their men, they made a judicious disposition, 
 and began the attack with much courage and military skill. The Portu- 
 guese were obliged to abandon several of their posts, one of which, after 
 a defence of fifty days, was levelled with the ground, and from its ruins 
 strong works were raised by the laksamana. The maharaja had. seized 
 another post advantageously situated. From their several camps they had 
 lines of communication, and the boats on the river were stationed in such 
 a manner, that the place was completely invested. Matters were in this 
 posture, when a force of two thousand men came to the assistance of 
 the besieged, from the king of Pahang, and likewise five sail of Portu- 
 guese vessels from the coast of Coromandel; but all was insufficient 
 to remove so powerful an enemy, although by that time they had lost 
 four thousand of their troops in the different..attacks..and~skirmishes. 
 In the latter end of the year a fleet of thirty sail of ships, large and 
 small, under the command of Nunno Alvarez Botello, having on board 
 nine hundred European soldiers, appeared off Malacca, and blocked 
 up the fleet of Achin in a river about three miles from the town. 
 This entirely altered the complexion of affairs. The besiegers retired 
 from their advanced works, and hastened to the defence of their gallies ; 
 erecting batteries by the side of the river. The maharaja being summoned 
 to surrender, returned a civil, but resolute answer. In the night, endea- 
 vouring to make his escape with the smaller vessels, through the midst 
 of the Portuguese, he was repulsed and wounded. Next day the whole 
 force of the Achinese dropped down the stream, with a design to fight 
 their way, but after an engagement of two hours, their principal galley, 
 
 $L2 named 
 
 4AS 
 
 
 

 
 Add, 
 
 1635. 
 
 1640. 
 
 1641. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 named the ‘‘ Terrour of the world”? was boarded and taken, after losing 
 
 five hundred men of seven which she carried. Many other vessels were 
 afterwards captured or sunk. The laksamana hung out a white flag, and 
 sent to treat with Nunno, but some difficulty arising about the terms, 
 the engagement. was renewed with great warmth. News was brought to 
 the Portuguese that the maharaja was killed, and that the king of Pahang 
 was approaching with an hundred sail of vessels to reinforce them. Still 
 the Achinese kept up a dreadful fire, which seemed to render the final 
 success doubtful; but at length they sent proposals, desiring only to be 
 allowed three gallies of all their fleet to carry away four thousand men 
 who remained of twenty that came before the town. It was answered, 
 that they must surrender at discretion; which the /aksamana hesitating 
 to do, a furious assault took place both by water and land upon his 
 gallies and works, which were all effectually destroyed or captured ; not 
 a ship, and scarcely a man-eseaping. He himself in the last extremity 
 fled to the woods, but was seized ere long by the king of Pahang’s scouts. 
 Being brought before the governor, he said to him, with an undaunted 
 countenance, ‘* Behold here the laksamana for the first time overcome *”’ 
 He was treated with respect, but kept a prisoner, and sent on his own 
 famous ship, to Goa, in order to be from thence conveyed to Portugal: 
 but death deprived his enemies of that distinguished ornament of their 
 triumph. 
 
 This signal defeat proved so important-a»blow’to the "power of Achin, 
 that we read of no further attempts to renew the war, until the year 
 1635, when the king, encouraged by the feuds which at this time pre- 
 vailed in Malacca, again violated the law of nations, to him little known, 
 by imprisoning their ambassador, and caused all the Portuguese about 
 his court to be murdered. No military operations, however, immediately 
 took place, in consequence of this barbarous proceeding. In the year 
 1640; the Dutch, with twelve men of war, and the king of Achin with 
 twenty-five gallies, appeared before that harassed and devoted city ; 
 which at length, in the following year, was wrested from the hands of 
 the Portuguese, who had so long, through such difficulties, maintained 
 possession of it. This year was also marked by the death of the sultan, 
 
 whom the Dutch writers name Paduka Sri, at the age of sixty, aftera reign 
 | : of 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 of thirty-five years; having just lived to see his hereditary foe subdued ; 
 and as if the opposition of the Portuguese power, which seems first to 
 have occasioned the rise of that of Achin, was also necessary to its exist- 
 ence, the splendour and consequence of the kingdom from. that period 
 rapidly declined. 
 
 The prodigious wealth and resources of the monarchy during his reign, 
 are best evinced by the expeditions he was enabled to fit out; but being 
 no less covetous than ambitious, he contrived to make the expences fall 
 upon his subjects, and at the same time filled his treasury with gold, by 
 pressing the merchants, and plundering the neighbouring states. An 
 intelligent person (Gen, Beaulieu) who was for some time at his court, 
 and had opportunities of information on the subject, uses this strong ex- 
 pression—-that he was infinitely rich. He constantly employed in his 
 castle three hundred goldsmiths. ‘This would seem an exaggeration, but 
 that it is well known the Malayan princes have them always about. them 
 in great numbers, at this day, working in the manufacture of filagree, 
 for which the country is so famous. His naval strength has been already 
 sufficiently described. He was possessed of two thousand brass guns, 
 and small arms in proportion... His trained elephants amounted to 
 some hundreds. His armies were probably raised only upon the occa- 
 sion which called for their acting, and that in a mode similar to what 
 was established under the feudal system in Europe. The valley of 
 Achin alone was. said to be able to furnish forty thousand mer on an 
 emergency. A certain number of warriors, however, were always kept 
 on foot, for the protection of the king and his capital. Of these the 
 superior class were called ulubalang, and the inferior amba-raja, who 
 were entirely devoted to his service, and resembled the janizaries of 
 Constantinople. Two hundred horsemen nightly patrolled the grounds 
 about the castle, the inner courts and apartments of which were guarded: 
 by three thousand women. The king’s eunuchs amounted to fiye hun- 
 dred. 
 
 The disposition of this monarch was cruel and sanguinary. A multi- 
 tude of instances are recorded of the horrible barbarity of his punish- 
 ments, 
 
 
 
 445 
 
 
 

 
 446 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 ments, and for the most trivial offences. He imprisoned his own mother, 
 and put her to the torture, suspecting her to have been engaged in a 
 conspiracy against him, with some of the principal nobles, whom he 
 caused to be executed. He murdered his nephew, the king of Johor’s 
 son, of whose favour with his mother he was jealous. He also put to 
 death a son of the king of Bantam, and another of the king of Pahang, 
 who were both his near relations. None of the royal family survived 
 in 1622 but his own son, a youth of eighteen, who had been thrice ba- 
 nished the court, and was thought to owe his continuance in life, only 
 to his surpassing his father, if possible, in cruelty, and being hated 
 by all ranks of people. He was at one time made king of Pidir, but 
 recalled on account,of his excesses, confined in prison, and put to strange 
 tortures by his father, whom he did not outlive. The whole territory 
 of Achin was almost depopulated by wars, executions, and _Oppression. 
 The king endeavoured to re-people the country by his conquests. Hay- 
 ing ravagedthe” Kingdoms of Johor, Pahang, Kedah, Perak, and Dilli, 
 he transported the inhabitants from those places to Achin, to the number 
 of twenty-two thousand persons. But this barbarous policy did not 
 produce the effect he hoped; for the unhappy people being brought - 
 naked to his dominions, and not allowed any kind of maintenance on 
 their arrival, died of hunger in the streets. In the planning his military 
 enterprises, he was generally guided by the distresses of his neighbours, 
 for whom, as for his prey, he unceasingly lay in wait; and his prepara- 
 tory measures were taken” Wwith~such-seereeys~that the execution alone 
 unravelled them. Insidious political craft, and wanton delight in blood, 
 united in him to complete the character of a tyrant. 
 
 It must here be observed, that with respect to the period of this re- 
 markable reign, the European and Malayan authorities are considerably 
 at variance, the latter assigning to it something less than thirty solar 
 years, and placing the death of Jskander Muda in December, 1636. 
 The Annals further state, that he was succeeded by sultan Ala-eddin- 
 Mahayat-shah, who reigned only about four years, and died in February, 
 1641. That this is the more accurate account I have no hesitation in 
 believing, although Valentyn, who gives a detail of the king’s magnificent 
 
 fuxeral, 
 
 \ 
 

 
 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 funeral, was persuaded that the reign which ended in 1641, was the 
 same that began in 1607. But he collected his information eighty years 
 after the event, and as it does not appear that any European whose 
 journal has been given to the world, was on the spot at that period, 
 the death of an obscure monarch who died after a short reign, may 
 well have been contounded, by persons at a distance, with that of his 
 more celebrated predecessor. Both authorities, however, are agreed 
 in the important fact, that the successor to the throne, in 1641, was 
 a female. This person is described by Valentyn as being the wife 
 of the old king, and not his daughter, as by some had been asserted; 
 but from the Annals it appears that she was his daughter, named Jaju 
 al-alum ; and as it was in her right that Maghayat-shah (certainly her 
 husband), obtained the crown, so, upon his decease, there being no 
 male heir, she peaceably succeeded him in the government, and became 
 the first queen regent of Achin. The succession having thenceforward 
 continued nearly sixty years in the female line, this may, be regarded as 
 a new era in the history of the country. The nobles finding their power 
 less restrained, and their individual consequence more felt under an ad- 
 ministration of this kind, than when ruled by kings (as sometimes they 
 were with a rod of iron) supported these pageants, whom they governed 
 as they thought fit, and thereby virtually changed the constitution into 
 an aristocracy or oligarchy. The business of the state was managed by 
 twelve orang-kayus, four of whom were superior to the rest, and among 
 these the maharaja,..or governor of the kingdom,..was.considered~as the 
 chief. It does not appear, nor is it probable, that the queen had the 
 power of appointing or removing any of these great officers. No appli- 
 cations were made to the throne but in their presence, nor any public 
 resolution taken, but as they determined in council. The great object 
 of their political jealousy seems to have been the pretensions of the king 
 of Johor to the crown, in virtue of repeated intermarriages between the 
 royal families of the two countries, and it may be presumed, that the 
 alarms excited from that quarter materially contributed to reconcile them 
 to the female domination. They are accordingly said to have formed 
 an engagement amongst themselves never to pay obedience to a foreign 
 
 prince, nor to allow their royal mistress to contract any marriage that 
 might 
 
 
 
 
 
 4A7 
 
 
 

 
 448 
 
 1645. 
 
 1660. 
 
 1664. 
 
 1666. 
 
 1669. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 might eventually lead to such a consequence.* At the same time, by a 
 new treaty with Johor, its king was indirectly excused from the homage 
 to the crown of Achin which had been insisted upon by her shaban nese 
 and was the occasion of frequent wars. 
 
 In proportion as the political consequence of the kingdom declined, 
 its history, as noticed by foreigners, becomes obscure. Little is recorded 
 of the transactions of her reign, and it is likely that Achin took no active 
 part in the concerns of neighbouring powers, but suffered the Hollanders, 
 who maintained in general a friendly intercourse with her, to remain in 
 quiet possession of Malacca. In 1643 they sent an ambassador to com- 
 pliment her upon her accession, and at the same time to solicit payment 
 for a quantity of valuable jewels ordered by the deceased king, but for 
 the amount of which she declined so make herself responsible. _ It is said 
 (but the fact will admit.ofmuctr doubt) that in 1660 she was inclined to 
 marryone’of their countrymen, and would have carried her design into 
 execution, had not the East India Company prevented by their authority 
 a connexion that might, as they prudently judged, be productive of 
 embarrassment to their affairs. The Dutch, however, complain that she 
 gave assistance to their enemies the people of Perak, and in 1664 it was 
 found necessary to send a squadron under the command of Pieter de 
 Bitter, to bring her to reason. As it happened that she was at this time 
 at war with some of her own dependants, he made himself master of 
 several places on the western coast; "that were nominally at least belong- 
 ing to Achin. About 1666 the English establishments at Achin and 
 some ports to the southward, appear to have given considerable umbrage 
 to their rivals. In 1669 the people of Dilli on the north-eastern coast 
 threw off their allegiance, and the power of the kingdom became gra- 
 
 dually 
 
 * However fanciful it may be thought, I cannot doubt that the example of our Queen 
 Elizabeth, whose character and government were highly popular with the Achinese on ac- 
 count of her triumphant contest with the united powers of Spain and Portugal, had a strong 
 influence in the establishment of this new species of monarchy, and that the example of her 
 sister’s marriage with Philip may have contributed to the resolution taken by the nobles. 
 The actions of our illustrious queen were a common topic of conversation between the old 
 tyrant and Sir James Lancaster. 
 

 
 
 
 SUMATRA. | 440 
 
 dually more and more circumscribed. This queen died in 1675, after 1675. 
 reigning, with a degree of tranquillity little known in these countries, 
 upwards of thirty-four years. 
 
 The people being now accustomed and reconciled to female rule, 
 which they found more lenient than that of their kings, acquiesced in 
 general in the established mode of government, and she was immediately 
 succeeded by another female monarch, named Nur al-alum, who reigned 
 little more than two years, and died in 1677. 1677, 
 
 The queen who succeeded her was named Anayet-shah. In the year 
 1684 she received an embassy from the English government of Madras,  1ega. 
 and appeared at that time to be about forty years. The persons who : ‘ 
 were on this occasion presented to her express their suspicions, which 
 were suggested to them by a doubt prevailing amongst the inhabitants, 
 that this sovereign was not a real queen, but an eunuch dressed up in 
 female apparel, and imposed on the public by the artifices of the orang 
 kayas. But as such a cheat, though managed with every semblance 
 of reality (which they observe was the case) could not be carried on 
 for any number of years without detection, and as the same idea 
 does not appear to have been entertained at any other period, it is 
 probable they were mistaken in their surmise. Her person they describe 
 to have been large, and her voice surprisingly strong, but not manly." 
 
 - 2 a 
 The purport of the embassy was to obtain liberty to erect a fortifica- 
 
 tion in her territory, which she peremptorily refused, being contrary to 
 3M the 
 
 oer «> Os = 
 
 @ The following curious passage is extracted from the journal of these gentlemen’s pro- 
 ceedings. ‘ We went to give our attendance at the palace this day as customary. Being 
 arrived at the place of audience with the orang cayos, the queen was pleased to order us to 
 come nearer, when her majesty was very inquisitive into the use of our wearing periwigs, 
 and what was the convenience of them ; to all which we returned satisfactory answers. After 
 this, her majesty desired of Mr. Ord, if it were no affront to him, that he would take off 
 his periwig, that she might see how he appeared without it; which, according to her 
 majesty’s request, he did. She then told us she had heard of our business, and would give 
 her answer by the orang cayos; and so we retired.” I venture, with submission, to observe, 
 that this anecdote seems to put the question of the sex beyond controversy. 
 
 id 
 a 
 i 
 ji 
 : . 
 
 + ome 
 
 
 

 
 A 
 
 50 
 
 1684. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 the established rules of the kingdom; adding, that if the governor of 
 Madras. would fill her palace with gold, she could not permit him to 
 build with brick, either fort or house. To have a factory of timber 
 and plank, was the utmost indulgence that could be allowed; and on 
 that footing, the return of the English, who had not traded there for 
 many years, should be welcomed with great friendship. The queen her- 
 self, the orang kayas represented, was not allowed to fortify, lest some 
 foreign power might avail themselves of it, to enslave the country. In 
 the course of these negotiations it was mentioned, that the agriculture of 
 Achin had suffered considerably of late years, by reason of a general 
 licence given to all the inhabitants to search for gold, in the mountains 
 and rivers which afforded that article ; whereas the business had formerly 
 been restricted to certain authorized persons, and. rest obliged to till 
 the ground. The court feared to give a public sanction for the settle- 
 ment of the Englishsomany part of the southern coast, lest it should em- 
 broil them with the other European powers.* 
 
 A few 
 
 * The design of settling a factory at this period, in the dominions of Achin, was occasioned 
 by the recent. loss-of our establishment at Bantam, which had been originally fixed by Sir 
 James, Lancaster in 1603... The circumstances of this event were as follows.. The old sultan 
 
 had thought proper to share the regal power with his son, in the year 1677, and this measure 
 
 was attended with the obvious effect, of a jealousy between the parent and child, which 
 soon broke forth into open hostilities.~-The_policy of ithe Dutehled-them to take an active 
 part in favour of the young sultan, who had inclined most to their interests, and now solicited 
 their aid.- The English, on the other hand, discouraged what appeared to them an unnatural 
 rebellion, , but without interfering, as they said, in any other character than that of. medi- 
 ators, or affording military assistance to either party; and which their extreme weakness, 
 rather than their assertions, renders probable. On the twenty-eighth of March, 1682, the 
 Dutch landed a considerable force from Batavia, and soon terminated the war. They placed 
 the young sultan on the throne, delivering the father into his custody, and obtained from 
 him in return for these favours an exclusive privilege of trade in his territories ; which was 
 evidently the sole object they had in view. On the first day of April possession was ‘taken 
 of the English factory by a party of Dutch and country soldiers, and on the twelfth the 
 agent and council were obliged to embark with their property on vessels provided for the 
 purpose, which carried them to Batavia. From thence they proceeded to Surat, on the 
 
 twenty-second of August in the following year. 
 In order to retaina share.in the pepper-trade, the English turned their thoughts towards 
 Achin, and a deputation, consisting of two gentlemen, of the mames of Ord and Cawley, 
 was 
 
ae 
 
 
 
 SUM AcT) R’A 
 
 A few years before these transactions she had invited the king of Siam 
 to renew the ‘antient connexion ‘between their respective ‘states, and to 
 ; 3M 2 unite 
 
 was:sent thither in-1684; the success of which is above related, — It happened that at ‘this 
 time, certain Rajas orchiefs of the country of Priaman, and other places on the west coast 
 of Sumatra were at Achin also,’ to solicit aid of that court against the Dutch, who had made 
 war upon, and otherwise molested them. These immediately applied to Mr. Ord, express- 
 ing a strong desire that the English should settle in their respective districts, offering ground 
 for a fort, and the exclusive purchase of their pepper. They consented to embark for 
 Madras, where an agreement'was formed with them by the governor, in the beginning of 
 the year 1685, on the terms they had proposed. In consequence of this, an’ expedition was 
 fitted out, with theidesign of establishing a settlement at Priaman; but a day or two before 
 the ships sailed, an ‘invitation, to the like purport, was received from the chiefs of Berig- 
 kaulu (since corruptly called Bencoolen) ; and as it was known that a considerable propor- 
 tion of the pepper that used to be exported from Bantam, had been collected from the 
 neighbourhood of Bencoolen, ‘(at a place called Silebar), it was judged advisable that Mr. 
 Ord, who was the person entrusted with the management of this business, should first pro- 
 ceed thither; particularly as at that season of the year it was the windward port. He ar- 
 rived there on the twenty-fifth day of June, 1685, and after taking possession of the country 
 assigned to the English Company, and leaving Mr. Broome in charge of the place, he sailed 
 for the porpose of establishing the other settlements. He stopped first at Indrapura, where 
 he found three Englishmen who were left of a small factory, that had been some time before 
 settled there, by a man of the name of Du Jardin. Here he learned that the Dutch; having 
 obtained a knowledge of the original intention of our fixing at Priaman, had anticipated us 
 therein, and sent a party to occupy the situation. In the mean time it was understood in 
 
 Europe that this place was the chief of our establishments on the coast, and shipsswere.ac- 
 cordingly consigned thither.’ Masemencnnenampemmnenmmnnnmrnittitee ne arnes were 
 sent to reinforce it, which were afterwards landed at Indrapura, A settlement was then 
 formed at Manjuta, and another attempted at Batang-kapas, in 1686; but here the Dutch, 
 assisted by a party amongst the natives, assaulted and drove out our people. Every possible 
 opposition, as it was natural to expect, was given by these our rivals to the success of our 
 factories. They fixed themselves in the neighbourhood of them, and endeavoured to ob- 
 struct the country people from carrying pepper to them, or supplying them with provisions 
 either by sea or land. Our interests, however, in the end prevailed, and Bencoolen in par- 
 ticular, to which the other places were rendered subordinate in 1686, began to acquire some 
 degree of vigour and respectability. . In 1689 encouragement was given to Chinese colonists 
 to settle there, whose number has been continually increasing from that time. In 1691 
 the Dutch felt the loss of their influence at Silebar and other of the southern countries, 
 where they attempted to exert authority in the name of the sultan of Bantam, and the 
 produce of these places was delivered to the English. This revolution proceeded from the 
 works with which about this time our factory was strengthened. In 1695 a settlement — 
 
 made 
 
 
 

 
 452 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 unite in a league against the Dutch, by whose encroachments the com- 
 merce of her subjects and the extent of her dominions were much cir- 
 cumscribed. 
 
 made at Triumang, and two years after at Kattaun and Sablat. The first, in the year 1700, 
 was removed to Bantal. Various applications were made by the natives in different parts of 
 the island for the establishment of factories, particularly from Ayer-Bangis tothe northward, 
 Palembang on the eastern side, and the people from the countries south of Tailo, near 
 Manna. A person was sent to survey these last, as far as Pulo Pisang and Kroi, in 1715. In con- 
 sequence of the inconvenience attending the shipping of goods from Bencoolen river, which 
 is often impracticable from the surfs, a warehouse was built, in 1701, at a place then called 
 the cove; which gave the first idea of removing the settlement to the point of land which 
 forms the bay of Bencoolen. The unhealthiness of the old situation was thought to render 
 this an expedient step; and accordingly, about 1714, it was in great measure relinquished, 
 and the foundations of Fort Marlborough were laid on a spot two or three miles distant. 
 Being a high plain it was judged to possess considerable advantages ; many of which, how- 
 ever, are counterbalanced bywits-want Of the vicinity of a river, so necessary for the ready 
 and plentiful’stipply of | provisions. Some progress had been made in the erection of this 
 fort, when an accident happened, that had nearly destroyed the Company’s views. The 
 natives incensed at ill treatment received from the Europeans, who were then but little versed 
 in the knowledge of their dispositions, or the art of managing them by conciliating methods, 
 rose in a body in the year 1719, and forced the garrison, whose ignorant fears rendered them 
 precipitate, to seek refuge on board their ships. These people began now to feel alarms 
 lest the Dutch, taking advantage of the absence of the English, should attempt an establish- 
 ment, and soon permitted some persons from the northern factories to resettle the place ; 
 and-supplies arriving from Madras, things returned to their former course, and the fort was 
 completed. The Company’s affairs.on-this coast remained in tranquillity. for a number of 
 years. The important settlement of Natal was established in 1752, and that of Tappanuli a 
 short time afterwards ; which involved the English in fresh disputes with the Dutch, who set 
 up a claim to the country in which they are situated. In the year 1760 the French, under 
 Comte d’Estaing, destroyed all the English settlements on the coast of Sumatra; but they 
 were soon re-established, and our possession secured by the treaty of Paris in 1763. Fort 
 Marlborough, which had been hitherto a peculiar subordinate of Fort St. George, was now 
 formed into an independent presidency, and was furnished with a charter for erecting a 
 mayor’s court, but which has never been enforced. In 1781 a detachment of military from 
 thence embarked upon five East India ships, and took possession of Padang and all other 
 Dutch factories, in consequence of the war with that nation. In 1782 the magazine of Fort 
 Marlborough, in which were four hundred barrels of powder, was fired by lightning, and 
 blew up; but providentially few lives were lost. In 1802 an act of parliament was passed 
 “to authorize the East India Company to make their settlement at Fort Marlborough in the 
 
 East Indies, a factory subordinate to the presidency of Fort William in Bengal, and to 
 
 transfer the servants whoon the reduction of that establishment shall be supernumerary, to 
 
 the presidency of Fort St. George.” In 1798, plants of the nutmeg and clove had, for the 
 
 first 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 cumscribed. It does not appear, however, that this overture was attended 
 with any effect, nor have the limits of the Achinese jurisdiction since 
 that period extended beyond Pidir on the northern, and Barus on the 
 western coast. She died in 1688, having reigned something less than 
 eleven years, and was succeeded by a young queen named Kamalat-shah ; 
 but this did not take place without a strong opposition from a faction 
 amongst the orang kayas which wanted to set up a king, and a civil war 
 actually commenced. ‘The two parties drew up their forces on opposite 
 sides of the river, and for two or three nights continued to fire at each 
 other, but in the day time followed their ordinary occupations. These 
 opportunities of intercourse made them sensible of their mutual folly. 
 They agreed to throw aside their arms; and the crown remained in pos- 
 session of the newly elected queen. It was said to have been esteemed 
 essential, that she should be a maiden, advanced in years, and connected 
 by blood with the ancient royal line. In this reign, an English factory, 
 which had been long discontinued, was re-established at Achin: but in 
 the interval some private traders of this nation had always resided on the 
 spot. These usually endeavoured to persuade the state, that they re- 
 presented the India Company, and sometimes acquired great influence, 
 which they are accused of having employed in a manner not only de- 
 trimental to that body, but to the interests of the merchants of India in 
 general, by monopolizing the trade of the port, throwing impediments 
 in the way of all shipping not consigned to their management, and em- 
 bezzling the.cargoes of such as were... An asylum was_also-afforded, 
 beyond the reach of law, for all persons whose crimes or debts induced 
 them to fly from the several European settlements. These considerations 
 chiefly made the Company resolve to reclaim their ancient privileges in 
 that kingdom, and a deputation was sent from the presidency of Madras, 
 in the year 1695, for that purpose, with letters addressed to her illus- 
 trious majesty the queen of Achin, desiring permission to settle, on the 
 terms her predecessors had granted to them; which was readily complied 
 
 with, 
 
 first time, been procured from the Moluccas; and in 1803 a large importation of these 
 valuable articles of cultivation took place. As the plantations were, by the last accounts 
 from thence, in the most flourishing state, very important commercial advantages were 
 expected to be derived from the culture. 
 
 1668.. 
 
 45S 
 
 
 

 
 45 4 
 
 4699. 
 
 4702, 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 with, und a factory, but on a very limited scale, was established accord- 
 ingly, but soon declined and disappeared. In 1704, when Charles 
 Lockyer (whose account of his voyage, containing a particular descrip- 
 tion of this place, was published in 1711) visited Achin, one of these 
 independent factors, named Francis Delton, carried on a flourishing 
 trade. In 1695 the Achinese were alarmed by the arrival of six sail of 
 Dutch ships of force, with a number of troops on board, in their road ; 
 
 not having been visited by any of that nation for fifteen years; but they 
 departed without offering any molestation. 
 
 This queen was deposed by her subjects (whose grounds of complaint 
 are not stated) about the latter part of the year 1699, after reigning also 
 eleven years; and with her terminated the female dynasty, which, 
 
 during its continuance of about fifty-nine years, had attracted much 
 notice in Europe. aie ss 
 
 Her successor, was named Beder al-alum sherif Hasham, the nature of 
 whose pretensions to the crown does not positively appear, but there is 
 reason to believe that he was her brother... When he had reigned a little 
 more than two years, it pleased God (as the Annals express it) to afflict 
 him with a distemper which caused his feet and hands to contract (pro- 
 bably the gout) and disqualified him for the performance of his religious 
 duties. Under these circumstances he was induced to resign the govern- 
 ment in 1702, and died about a month -after-his abdication. 
 
 Perkasa-alum, a priest, found means, by his intrigues, to acquire the 
 sovereignty, and one of his first acts was to attempt imposing certain 
 duties on the merchandise imported by English traders, who had been 
 indulged with an exemption from all port-charges, excepting the esta- 
 blished complimentary presents upon their arrival and receiving the chap 
 or licence. This had been stipulated in the treaty made by Sir James 
 Lancaster, and renewed by Mr. Grey when chief of the Company’s fac- 
 tory. The innovation excited an alarm and determined opposition on the 
 part of the masters of ships then at the place, and they proceeded (under 
 the conduct of Capt. Alexander Hamilton, who published an account of 
 his voyage in 1727) to the very unwarrantable step of commencing 
 
 hostilities, 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 hostilities, by firing upon the villages situated near the mouth of the 
 river, and cutting off from the city all supplies of provisions by sea. The 
 inhabitants feeling severely the effects of these violent measures, grew 
 clamorous against the government, which was soon obliged to restore to 
 these insolent traders the privileges for which they contended. Advan- 
 tage was taken of the public discontents to raise an insurrection in favour 
 of the nephew of the late queen, or, according to the Annals, the son 
 of Beder al-alum (who was probably her brother), in the event of which 
 Perkasa-alum was deposed about the commencement of the year 1704, 
 and after an interregnum or anarchy of three months: continuance, the 
 young prince obtained possession of the throne, by the name of Jemal 
 al-alum. From this period the native writers furnish very ample details 
 of the transactions of the Achinese government, as well as of the general 
 state of the country, whose prosperous circumstances during the early 
 part of this king’s reign, are strongly contrasted with the misery and in- 
 significance to which it was reduced by subsequent events.’ The causes 
 and progress of this political decline cannot be more satisfactorily set 
 forth than in a faithful translation of the Malayan narrative which was 
 drawn up, or extracted from a larger work, for my use, and is distinct 
 from the Annals already mentioned. 
 
 ‘© When raja Jemal al-alum reigned in Achin, the country was exceed 
 ingly populous, the nobles: had large possessions, the merchants .were 
 numerous and opulent, th ; and no man 
 could experience the severity of punishment but through his own fault, 
 In those days the king could not trade on his own account, the nobles 
 having combined to prevent it; but the accustomed duties of the port 
 were considered as his revenue, and ten per cent. was levied for this pur- 
 pose upon all merchandise coming into the country. The city was then 
 of great extent, the houses were of brick and stone. The most consider- 
 able merchant was a man named Daniel, a Hollander; but many of dif- 
 ferent nations were also settled there, some from Surat, some from Kutch, 
 others from China. When ships arrived in the port, if the merchants 
 could not take off all the cargoes, the king advanced the funds for pur- 
 chasing what remained, and divided the goods among them, taking: no 
 profit to himself. After the departure of the vessel, the king was paid in 
 gold the amount of his principal, without interest. ‘* His 
 
 1704. 
 
 455 
 
 
 
. 
 
 : 
 i 
 
 . 
 
 ne ee 
 
 
 
 56 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 «¢ His daily amusements were in the grounds allotted for the royal sports. 
 He was attended by an hundred young men, who were obliged to be 
 constantly near his person, day and night, and who were clothed in a 
 sumptuous manner at a monthly expense of an hundred dollars for each 
 man. The government of the different parts of the country was divided, 
 under his authority, amongst the nobles. When a district appeared to 
 be disturbed, he took measures for quelling the insurrection; those who 
 resisted his orders he caused to be apprehended ; when the roads were 
 bad, he gave directions for their repair. Such was his conduct in the 
 government. His subjects all feared him, and none dared to condemn 
 his actions. At that time the country was in peace. 
 
 ‘¢ When he had been a few years on the throne, a country lying to the 
 eastward, named Bat uBara, attempted to throw off its subjection to 
 Achin. The chiefs-were-ordéred to repair to court, to answer for their 
 conduct, but they refused to obey. These proceedings raised the king’s 
 indignation. He assembled the nobles, and required of them that each 
 should furnish a vessel of war, to be employed on an expedition against 
 that place, and within two months, thirty large gallies, without counting 
 vessels of a smaller size, were built and equipped for sea. When the 
 fleet arrived off Batu Bara (by which must be understood the Malayan 
 district at the mouth of the river, and not the Batia territory through 
 which it takes its course), a letter was sent on shore addressed to the re- 
 fractory chiefs, summoning them to give proof of their allegiance by 
 appearing in the king’s presence, or threatening the native of an 
 immediate attack. After much division in their councils, it was at 
 length agreed to feign submission, and a deputation was sent off to the 
 royal fleet, carrying presents of fruit and provisions of all kinds. One 
 of the chiefs carried, as his complimentary offering, some fresh coconuts, 
 of the delicate species called kalapa-gading, into which a drug had been 
 secretly introduced. ‘The king observing these, directed that one should 
 be cut open for him, and having drunk of the juice, became affected 
 with a giddiness in his head. (This symptom shews the poison to have 
 been the upas, but too much diluted in the liquor of the nut, to produce 
 death). Being inclined to repose, the strangers were ordered to return 
 on shore, and finding his indisposition augment, he gave directions for 
 
 | being 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 being conveyed back to Achin, whither his ship sailed next day. The 
 remainder of the fleet continued off the coast during five or six days longer, 
 and then returned likewise without effecting the reduction of the place, 
 which the chiefs had lost no time in fortifying. 
 
 ** About two years after this transaction, the king, under pretence of 
 amusement, made an excursion to the country lying near the source of 
 the river Achin, then under the jurisdiction of a panglima or governor, 
 named Muda Seti; for it must, be understood.that this part of the king- 
 dom is divided into three districts, known by the appellations of the 
 Twenty-two, Twenty-six, and Twenty-five Mukims (see p.403), which 
 were governed respectively by Muda Seti, Imam Muda, and Perbawang- 
 Shah (or Purba-wangsa). These three chiefs had the entire controul of 
 the country, and when their views were united, they had the power of 
 deposing and setting up kings. Such was the nature of the government. 
 The king’s expedition was undertaken with the design of making himself 
 master of the person of Muda Seti, who had given him umbrage, and 
 on this occasion his followers, of all ranks, were so numerous, that 
 wherever they halted for the night, the fruits of the earth were all de- 
 voured, as well as great multitudes of cattle. Muda Seti, however, being 
 aware of the designs against him, had withdrawn himself from the place 
 of his usual residence, and was not to be found when the king arrived 
 there ; but a report being brought that he had collected five or sixjhun- 
 dred followers and was preparing~to mal > orders were im- 
 mediately given for burning his house. This being effected, the king 
 returned immediately to Achin, leaving the forces that had accompanied 
 him at a place called Pakan Badar, distant about half a day’s journey 
 from the capital, where they were directed to entrench themselves. 
 From this post they were driven by the country chief, who advanced 
 rapidly upon them with several thousand men, and forced them to fall 
 back to Padang Siring, where the king was collecting an army, and 
 where a battle was fought soon after, that terminated in the defeat of the 
 royal party with great slaughter. Those who escaped took refuge in the 
 castle along with the king. 
 
 3N ‘© Under 
 
 457 
 
 
 

 
 458. 
 
 1723. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 _«¢ Under these disastrous circumstances he called upon the chiefs who 
 adhered to him to advise what was best to be done, surrounded as they 
 were by the country-people, on whom he invoked the curse of God; 
 when one of them, named Pavighma Maharaja, gave it as his opinion, 
 that the only effectual measure by which the country could be saved from 
 ruin, would be the king’s withdrawing himself from the capital so long 
 as the enemy should continue in its vicinity, appointing a regent from 
 among the nobles, to govern the country in his absence ; and when sub- 
 ordination should be restored, he might then return and take again 
 possession of his throne. To this proposition he signified his assent, on 
 the condition that Paziglima Maharaja should assure him by an oath that 
 no treachery was intended; which oath was accordingly taken, and the 
 king having nominated as his substitute Maharaja Lela, one of the least 
 considerable of the wlubalangs, retired, with his wives and children, to 
 the country SakeBonraiiins, situated about three hours journey to 
 the westward of the city. (The Annals say he fled to Pidir in November, 
 1723.) Great ravages was committed by the insurgents, but they did 
 not attack the palace, and after some days of popular confusion, the 
 chiefs of the Three districts, who (says the writer) must not be confounded 
 with the officers about the person of the king, held a consultation 
 amongst themselves, and exercising an authority of which there had been 
 frequent examples, set up Paviglima Maharaja in the room of the abdi- 
 cated king, (by the title, saythe Annals, of Juhar_al-alum, in December, 
 1723.) About seven days after his elevation he was seized with a con- 
 yulsive: disorder in his neck and died. A nephew of Jemal al-alum; 
 named Undei Tebang, was then placed upon the throne, but notwith- 
 standing his having bribed the chiefs of the Three districts with thirty 
 katties of gold, they permitted him to enjoy his dignity only a few days, 
 and then deposed him. (The same authority states, that he was set up 
 
 by the chiefs of the Four mukims, and removed through the influence of 
 Muda Seti.) 
 
 «<The person whom they next combined to raise to the throne was 
 Maharaja Lela (before-mentioned as the king’s substitute.) It was his 
 good fortune to govern the country in tranquillity for the space of nearly 
 f= twelve 
 
 
 
 | hao 
 

 
 SUM A T R‘A: 459 
 
 twelve years, during which period the city of Achin recovered its po- 
 pulation.. (According to the Annals, he began to reign in February, 
 1724, by the title of Ala ed-din Ahmed shah Juhan, and died in June, 1724. 
 1735.) It happened that the same day on which the event of his death 1735- 
 took place, Jemal al-alum again made his appearance, and advanced to a 
 mosque near the city. His friends advised him to lose no time in possess- 
 ing himself of the castle, but for trifling reasons that mark the weakness 
 of his character, he resolved to defer the measure till the succeeding day ; 
 and the opportunity, as might be expected, was lost. The deceased 
 king left five sons, the eldest of whom, named Po-chat-au (or Po-wak, 
 according to another manuscript) exhorted his brothers to unite with him 
 in the determination of resisting a person whose pretensions were en- 
 tirely inconsistent with their security. - They accordingly sent to demand 
 assistance of Perbawang-shah, chief of the district of the Twenty-five 
 ‘mukims, which lies themearest to that quarter. He arrived before morn- 
 ing, embraced the five princes, confirmed them in’ their resolution, and 
 authorised the eldest to assume the government; (which he did, say the 
 Annals, by the title of Ala ed-din Juhan-shah, in September, 1735.) 
 But to this measure the concurrence of the other’ chiefs was wanting. 
 At day-break the guns of the castle began to play upon the mosque, and 
 some of the shot penetrating its walls, the pusillanimous Jemal al-alum 
 being alarmed at the danger, judged it advisable to retreat from thence, 
 and to set up his standard in another quarter, called kampong Jawass 
 his people.at.the same tine retaining. possession.of the mosque. A’ re- 
 ‘gular warfare now ensued between the two parties, and continued for no 
 less than ten years (the great chiefs taking different sides); when at 
 length some kind of compromise was effected, that left Po-chat-au (Juhan- 
 shah) in the possession of the throne, which he afterwards enjoyed peace- 
 ably for eight years, and no further mention is made of Jemal al-adlum. 
 About this period the chiefs took umbrage at his interfering in matters 
 of trade, contrary to what they asserted to be the established custom of 
 the realm, and assembled their forces in order to intimidate him. (The 
 history of Achin presents a continual struggle between the monarch and 
 the aristocracy of the country, which generally made the royal monopoly 
 of trade the ground of crimination and pretext for their rebellions). 
 .Parglina Muda Seti being considered as the head of the league, came 
 3N2 down 
 
 
 

 
 460 
 
 A755. 
 
 1760. 
 
 1763. 
 
 1772, 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 down with twenty thousand followers, and upon the king’s refusing to 
 admit into the castle his complimentary present (considering it only as 
 the prelude to humiliating negotiation) another war commenced that 
 lasted for two years, and was at length terminated by Muda Seti’s with- 
 drawing from the contest, and returning to his’ province. About five 
 years after this event Juhan shah died, and his son, Pochat-bangta, suc- 
 ceeded him, but not (says this writer, who here concludes his abstract) 
 with the general concurrence of the chiefs, and the country long con- 
 tinued in a disturbed state.” 
 
 The death of Juhan shah is stated in the Annals to have taken place in 
 August, 1760, and the accession of the son, who took the name of Ala 
 ed-din Muhammed shah, not until November of the same year. Other 
 authorities place these events in 1761. Before he had completed the 
 third year emer his subjects obliged him to save 
 himself by flight on board a ship in the road. This happened in 1763 
 or 1764. The throne was seized by the maharaja (first officer of state) 
 named Sinara, who assumed the title of Beder ed-din Juhan shah, and 
 about the end of 1765, was put to death by the adherents of the fugitive 
 monarch, Muhammed shah, who thereupon returned to the throne.* 
 He was exposed, however, to further revolutions. About six years after 
 his restoration, the palace was attacked in the night by a desperate band 
 of two hundred men, headed by a man called Raja Udah, and he was 
 
 once more obliged to make a prétipitate-retreat. This "wsurper took the 
 
 title of sultan Suliman shah, but after a short reign of three months, was 
 driven out in his turn, and forced to fly for refuge to one of the islands 
 in the eastern sea. ‘The nature of his pretensions, if he had any, have 
 not been stated, but he never gave any further trouble. From this 
 period Muhammed maintained possession of his capital, although it was 
 generally in a state of confusion. ‘In the year 1772,” says Captain 
 
 Forrest, 
 
 * Captain Forrest acquaints us that he visited the court of Mahomed Selzm (the latter name 
 is not given to this prince by any other writer) in the year 1764, at which time he appeared 
 to be about forty years of age. It is difficult to reconcile this date with the recorded events 
 
 of this unfortunate reign, and I have doubts whether it was not the usurper whom the Cap- 
 tain saw. 
 
SUMATRA. 46) 
 
 Forrest, ‘“* Mr. Giles Holloway, resident of Tappanooly, was sent to 
 Achin by the Bencoolen government, with a letter and present, to ask 
 leave from the king to make a settlement there. I carried him from his 
 residency. Not being very well on my arrival, I did not accompany Mr. 
 Holloway (a very sensible and discreet gentleman, and who spoke the 
 Malay tongue very fluently) on shore at his first audience; and finding 
 
 his commission likely to prove abortive, I did not go to the palace at all. 
 There was great anarchy and confusion at this time ; and the malecon- 
 tents came often, as I was informed, near the king’s palace at night.” 
 
 The Captain further remarks, that when again there in 1775, he could 177°- 
 not obtain an audience. The Annals report his death to have happened 
 
 on the 2d of June, 1781, and observe, that from the commencement to 1781: 
 the close of ‘his reign the country never enjoyed repose. His brother, 
 named Ala ed-din (or Uleddin, as commonly pronounced, and which 
 seems to have been a favourite title with the Achinese princes), was in 
 exile at Madras during a considerable period, and resided also for some 
 time at Bencoolen. 
 
 The eldest son of the deceased king, then about eighteen years of age, 
 succeeded him on the 16th of the same month, by the title of Ala ed-din 
 Mahmud shah Juhan, in spite of an opposition attempted to be raised by 
 the partisans of another son by a favourite wife. Weapons had been 
 drawn in the court before the palace, when the ‘wanku agung or high- 
 
 priest,,a,person of great respectability and influence, by whom, ormer 
 had been Se Tw came amidst the crowd, bareheaded, and without 
 
 attendance, leading his pupil by the hand... Having placed himself be- 
 tween the contending factions, he addressed them to the following 
 effect :—that the prince who stood before them had a natural right and 
 legal claim to the throne of his father ; that he had been educated with 
 a view to it, and was qualified to adorn it by his disposition and talents ; 
 that he wished, however, to found his pretensions neither upon his birth- 
 right nor the strength of the party attached to him, but upon the general 
 voice of his subjects calling him to the sovereignty; that if such was 
 their sentiment, he was ready to undertake the arduous duties of the 
 station, in which, he himself, would assist him with the fruits of his 
 experience; that if, on the contrary, they felt a predilection for his rival, 
 
 no 
 
 
 

 
 462 
 
 se lc Yess 
 
 no blood should be shed on his account, the prince and-his tutor being 
 resolved in that case to yield the point without a struggle, and retire to 
 some distant island. ‘This impressive appeal had the desired effect, and 
 the young prince was invited by unanimous acclamation to assume the 
 reins of government.* 
 
 Little is known of the transactions of his reign, but that little is in 
 
 favour of his personal character. The Annals (not always unexception- | 
 
 able evidence when speaking of the living monarch) describe him as 
 being endowed with every princely virtue, exercising the functions of 
 government with vigour and rectitude, of undaunted courage, attentive 
 to the protection of the ministers of religion, munificent to the descend- 
 ants of the prophet (sezyid, but commonly pronounced sidi) and to men 
 of learning, prompt at all times to administer justice, and consequently 
 
 Ch J halal cba revered 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 el 
 — 
 
 * Mr. Philip Braham, late chief of the East India Company’s settlement of Fort Marlbo- 
 rough, by whom the circumstances of this event were related to me, arrived at Achin in 
 July, 1781, about a fortnight after the transaction. He thus described his audience, ‘The 
 king was seated in a gallery (to which there were no visible steps), at the extremity of a 
 spacious hall or court, and a curtain which hung before him was drawn aside when it was 
 his pleasure to appear. In this court were great numbers of female attendants, but not 
 armed, as they have been described. Mr. Braham was introduced through a long file of 
 guards armed with blunderbusses, and then seated ona carpet in front of the gallery. When 
 a conversation had been carried on for some time through the Shahbandar, who commu- 
 nicated his answers to an interpreter, by whonl were reported to the king, the latter 
 perceiving that he spoke the Malayan language, addressed him directly, and asked several 
 questions respecting England; what number of wives and children our sovereign had; how 
 many ships of war the English kept in India ; what was the French force, and others of that 
 nature. He expressed himself in friendly terms with regard to our nation, and said he should 
 always be happy to countenance our traders in his ports. Even at this early period of his 
 reign he had abolished some vexatious imposts. Mr. Braham had an opportunity of learning 
 
 the great degree of power and controul possessed by certain of the orang kayas, who held 
 
 their respective districts in actual sovereignty, and kept the city in awe by stopping, when 
 
 ‘it suited their purpose, the supplies of provisions. Captain Forrest, who once more visited 
 
 Achin, in 1784, and was treated with much distinction (see his Voyage to the Mergui Ar- 
 chipelago, p. 51), says, he appeared to be twenty-five years of age; but this was a mis- 
 conception. Mr. Kenneth Mackenzie, who saw him in 1782, judged him to have been 
 at that time no more than nineteen or twenty, which corresponds with Mr. Braham’s 
 statement. 
 
 ™ _ 
 eos sa OO Se ee, ee 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 revered and beloved by his people. I have not been enabled to ascertain 
 the year in which hedied. It appears by a Malayan letter from Achin, 
 that in 1791 the peace of the capital was much disturbed, and the state 
 of the government, as well as of private property (which induced the 
 writer to reship his goods) precarious. In 1805 his son, then aged 
 twenty-one, was on the throne, and had a contention with his paternal 
 uncle, and at the same time his father-in-law, named Tuanku Raja, by 
 whom he had been compelled to fly (but only for a short time) to Pidir, 
 the usual asylum of the Achinese monarchs. Their quarrel appears to 
 have been rather of a family than of a. political nature, and to have pro- 
 ceeded from the irregular conduct of the queen-mother. The low state 
 of this young king’s finances, impoverished by a fruitless struggle to en- 
 force, by means of an expensive marine establishment, his right to an 
 exclusive trade, had induced him to make proposals, for mutual accom- 
 modation, to the English government of Pulo Pinang.’ 
 
 * Since the foregoing was printed, the following information respecting the manners of 
 the Batta people, obtained by Mr. Charles Holloway from Mr. W. H. Hayes, has reached 
 my hands. “ In the month of July 1805, an expedition consisting of Sepoys, Malays, and 
 Battas, was sent from Tapanuli against a chief named Punei Manungum, residing at Nega- 
 timbul, about thirty miles inland from Old Tapanuli, in consequence of his having attacked 
 a kampong under the protection of the company, murdered several of the inhabitants, and 
 carried others into captivity. After a siege of three days, terms of accommodation being 
 proposed, a cessation of hostilities took place, when the people of each party having laid 
 aside their arms, intermixed with the utmost confidence, and conversed together as if in a 
 state of perfect amity. The terms, however, not proving satisfactory, each again retired to 
 his arms, and renewed the contest with their former inveteracy, On the secor 
 was evacuated;~and upon our. ine it, : 
 and two women, whom the enemy had put to death before their departure, (being the last 
 remaining of sixteen prisoners whom they had originally carried off,) and from whose legs 
 large pieces had been cut out, evidently for the purpose of being eaten. During the pro- 
 gress of this expedition a small party had been sent to hold in check the chiefs of La- 
 busukum and Singapollum, (inland of Sibogah) who were confederates of Punei Manungum., 
 These, however, proved stronger than was expected, and making a sally from their kampongs, 
 attacked the serjeant’s party, and killed a sepoy, whom he was obliged to abandon. Mr. 
 Hayes, on his way from Negatimbul, was ordered to march to the support of the retreating 
 party; but these having taken a different route, he remained ignorant of the particulars of 
 their loss. The village of Singapollam being immediately carried by storm, and the enemy 
 retreating by one gate, as our people entered at the opposite, the accoutrements of the 
 sepoy, who had been killed the day before, were seen hanging as trophies in the front of 
 the houses, and in the town-hall, Mr. Hayes saw the head entirely scalped, and one of the 
 fingers fixed upon a fork or scewer, still warm from the fire. On proceeding to the village 
 of Labusucom, situated little more than two hundred yards from the former, he found a large 
 plantain leaf full of human flesh, mixed with lime-juice and chili pepper, from which he 
 inferred that they had been surprised in the very act of feasting on the sepoy, whose body 
 had been divided between the two kampongs. Upon differences being settled with the 
 chiefs, they acknowledged with perfect sang-froid that such had been the case, saying at 
 the same time, “ you know it is our custom; why should we conceal it?’ 
 
 
 
 1791. 
 
 1805. 
 
 4.63 
 
 
 

 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Brief Account of the Islands lying off the Western Coast of Sumatra. 
 
 a a THE chain of islands which extends itself in a line nearly parallel to 
 Sumatra. the western coast, at the distance from it of little more than a degree, 
 being immediately connected with the principal subject of this work, 
 and being themselves inhabited by a race or races of people apparently 
 from the same original stock as those of the interior of Sumatra, whose | 
 genuineness of character has been preserved to a remarkable degree, 
 
 (whilst the islands on the eastern side are uniformly peopled with M alays), 
 
 I have thought it expedient to add s rc information respecting 
 them as I hay rabled to obtain; and this I feel to be the more | 
 necessary from observing, in the maps to which I have had recourse, 
 
 so much error and confusion in applying the names, that the iden- 
 tity, and even the existence of some of them have been considered as 
 
 doubtful. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Of these islands the most southern is Engano, which is still but very 
 imperfectly known, all attempts to open a friendly communication with 
 the natives having hitherto proved-fruitless;_and-in-truth they have had 
 but too much reason to consider strangers attempting to land on their 
 coast, as piratical enemies. In the voyage of J. J. Saar, published in 
 1662, we have an account of an expedition fitted out from Batavia in 
 1645, for the purpose of examining this island; which terminated in 
 entrapping and carrying off with them sixty or seventy of the inhabitants, 
 male and female. The former died soon after their arrival, refusing to 
 eat any other food than coconuts, but the women, who were distributed 
 amongst the principal families of Batavia, proved extremely tractable 
 and docile, and acquired the language of the place. It is not stated, 
 nor does it appear from any subsequent publication, that the opportunity 
 was taken of forming a collection of their words. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Frem 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 From that period Engano had only been incidentally noticed, until in 
 March, 1771, Mr. Richard Wyatt, then governor, and the council .of 
 Fort Marlborough, sent Mr. Charles Miller, in a vessel belonging to the 
 Company, to explore the productions of this island. On approaching it 
 he observed large plantations of coconut trees, with several spots of 
 ground cleared for cultivation on the hills, and at night many fires on 
 the beach. Landing was found to be in most parts extremely difficult 
 on.account of the surf. Many of the natives were seen armed with 
 lances, and squatting down amongst the coral rocks, as if to conceal 
 their numbers. Upon rowing into a bay with ‘the ship’s boat, it was 
 pursued by ten canoes full of men, and obliged to return. Mr. Whalfeldt, 
 the surveyor, and the second mate, proceeded to make a survey of the 
 bay, and endeavour to speak with the natives... They were furnished with 
 articles for presents, and upon seeing a canoe on the beach of a small 
 island, and several people fishing on the rocks, they rowed to the island, 
 and sent two caffrees on shore, with some cloth, but the natives. would 
 not come near them. The mate then landed and advanced towards 
 them, when they immediately came to him. He distributed some pre- 
 sents among them, and they in return gave him some fish. _ Several 
 canoes came off to the ship with coconuts, sugar-cane, toddy, and a 
 species of yam. The crew of one of them took an opportunity of un- 
 shipping and carrying away the boat’s rudder, and upon a musket being 
 fired over their heads, many of them leaped into the sea, 
 
 Mr. Miller describes these péople as being taller-and fairer than the 
 
 Malays; their hair black, which the men cut,short, and the women wear 
 long, and neatly turned up. The former go entirely naked, except that 
 they sometimes throw a piece of bark of tree, or plantain leaf, over their 
 shoulders, to protect them from the heat of the sun. ‘The latter also are 
 naked, except a small slip of plantain leaf round the waist; and some 
 had on their heads fresh leaves made up nearly in the shape of a bonnet; 
 with necklaces of small pieces of shell, and a shell hanging by a string, 
 to be used asa comb. The ears of both men and women have large holes 
 made in them, an inch or two in diameter, into which they put a ring 
 made of coconut shell, or a roll.of leaves. They do not chew. betel. 
 
 Their language was not understood by any person on board, although 
 30 there 
 
 Or 
 
 
 

 
 466 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 there were people from most parts adjacent to the coast. Their canoes 
 are very neat, formed of two thin planks sewn together, sharp-pointed. 
 at each end, and provided with outriggers. In general they contain six 
 or seven men. ‘They always carry lances, not only as offensive weapons, 
 but for striking fish. These are about seven feet in length, formed of ni- 
 bong and other hard woods ; some of them tipped with pieces of bamboo 
 made very sharp, and the concave part filled with fish-bones (and shark’s 
 teeth), others armed with pieces of bone made sharp and notched, and 
 others pointed with bits of iron and copper sharpened. They seemed 
 not to be unaccustomed to the sight of vessels. (Ships bound from the 
 ports of India to the straits of Sunda, as well as those from Europe, when 
 late in the season, frequently make the land of Engano, and many must 
 doubtless be wrecked on its coast), 
 
 Attempts were made to find a_river-or-fresh water, but without suc- 
 cess, nor even-agood place to land. Two of the people from the ship 
 
 having pushed in among the rocks and landed, the natives soon came to 
 them, snatched their handkerchiefs off their heads, and ran away with 
 them, but dropt them on being pursued. Soon afterwards they sounded 
 a conch-shell, which brought numbers of them down to the beach. The 
 bay appeared to be well sheltered, and to afford good anchorage ground. 
 The soil of the country, for the most part a red clay. The productions 
 Mr. Miller thought the same as are commonly found on the coast of 
 
 Sumatra; but circumstanees-did_not admit_of_his—penetratins into the 
 country, which, contrary to expectation, was found to be so full of in- 
 
 habitants. In consequence of the loss of anchors and cables, it was 
 judged necessary that the vessel should return to Fort Marlborough. 
 Having taken in the necessary supplies, the island was revisited. Find- 
 ing no landing-place, the boat was run upon the coral rocks. Signs 
 were made to the natives, who had collected in considerable numbers, 
 and upon seeing our people land had retreated towards some houses, to 
 stop, but to no purpose, until Mr. Miller proceeded towards them un- 
 accompanied, when they approached in great numbers, and accepted 
 of knives, pieces of cloth, &c. Observing a spot of cultivated ground 
 surrounded by a sort of fence, he went to it, followed by several of the 
 natives who made signs to deter him, and as soon as he was out of sight 
 
 of 
 
 EE ——EE———— 
 
 
 
SUMATRA. 467 
 
 of his own people, began to handle his clothes and attempt to pull them 
 off, when he returned to the beach. 
 
 Their houses stand singly in their plantations, are circular, about 
 eight feet in diameter, raised about six from the ground on slender iron- 
 wood sticks, floored with planks, and the roof, which is thatched with 
 long grass, rises from the floor in a conical shape. No rice was seen 
 among them, nor did they appear to know the use of it when shewn to 
 them; nor were cattle nor fowls of any kind observed about their 
 houses. 
 
 Having anchored off a low point of marshy land in the northern part of 
 the bay, where the natives seemed to be more accustomed to intercourse 
 with strangers, the party landed, in hopes of finding a path to some 
 houses about two milesinland. Upon observing signs made to them by 
 some people on the coral-reef, Mr. Miller andMrxWhalfeldt went to- 
 wards them in the sampan, when some among them took an opportunity 
 of stealing the latter’s hanger and running away with it; upon which 
 they were immediately fired at by some of the party, and notwithstand- 
 ing Mr. Miller’s endeavours to prevent them, both the officer and men 
 continued to fire upon and pursue the natives through the morass, but 
 without being able to overtake them. Meeting, however, with some 
 houses, they set fire to them, and brought off two women and a boy, 
 
 whom. the caffrees had seized. The officers on board the yessel-alermed 
 
 at the firing, and seeing Mr. Miller alone in the sampan, whilst several 
 canoes full of people were rowing towards him, sent the pinnace with 
 some sepoys to his assistance. During the night, conch-shells were 
 heard to sound almost all over the bay, and in the morning several large 
 parties were observed on different parts of the beach. All further com- 
 munication with the inhabitants being interrupted by this imprudent 
 quarrel, and the purposes of the expedition thereby frustrated, it was not 
 thought advisable to remain any longer at Engano, and Mr. Miller, 
 after visiting some parts of the southern coast of Sumatra, returned to 
 Fort Marlborough. 
 
 302 The 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 A68 
 
 Po. Mega, 
 
 Po, Sanding. 
 
 Nassaus or 
 Po. Pagl. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 The next island to the north-west of Engano, but at a considerable 
 distance, is called by ‘the Malays Pulo Mega (cloud-island), and by 
 Europeans Triste, or isle de Recif. It is small and uninhabited, and, like 
 many others in these seas, is nearly surrounded by a coral-reef, with a 
 lagune in the centre. Coconut trees grow in vast numbers in the sand 
 near the sea-shore, whose fruit serves for food to rats and squirrels, the 
 only quadrupeds found there. On the borders of the lagune is a little 
 vegetable mould, just above the level of high water, where grow some 
 species of timber-trees. 
 
 The name of Pulo Sanding or Sandiang, belongs to two small islands 
 situated near the south-eastern extremity of the Nassau or Pag? islands, 
 in which group they are sometimes included. Of these the southernmost 
 is distinguished in the Dutch charts by the term of Laeg or low, and the 
 
 other by that of Bergen or bi —Fhey are both uninhabited, and the 
 only-pr toms worth notice is the long nutmeg, which grows wild on 
 
 them, and some good ‘timber, particularly of the kind known by the 
 name of marbau {metrosideros amboinensis.) An idea was entertained 
 of making a settlement on one of them, and in 1769 an officer with a 
 few men were stationed there for some months, during which period the 
 rains were incessant. ‘The scheme was afterwards abandoned as unlikely 
 to answer any useful purpose. 
 
 — 
 
 The two islands separated“by—a-_ narrow. straitto-which the Dutch 
 navigators have given the name of the Nassaus, are called by the Malays 
 
 P?, Pagi or Paget, and by us commonly the Poggies. The race of peo- 
 ple by whom these as well as some other islands to the northward of them 
 are inhabited, having the appellation of orang mantawei, this has been 
 confounded with the proper names of the islands, and being applied 
 sometimes to one and sometimes to another, has occasioned much con- 
 fusion and uncertainty. The earliest accounts we have of them are the 
 reports of Mr. Randolph Marriot in 1749, and of Mr. John Saul in 1750 
 and 1751, with Capt. Thomas Forrest’s observations in 1757, preserved 
 in Mr. Dalrymple’s “ Historical Relation of the several Expeditions from 
 Fort Marlborough to the Islands adjacent to the West-coast of Sumatra;” 
 
 but 
 
SUMATRA. 469 
 
 but by much the most satisfactory information is contained ina paper 
 communicated by Mr. John Crisp to the Asiatic Society of Bengal, in 
 the sixth volume of whose Transactions it is published, and from these 
 documents I shall extract such particulars as may best serve to convey a 
 knowledge of the country and the people. 
 
 Mr. Crisp sailed from Fort Marlborough on the 12th of August, 1'792, 
 in a vessel navigated at his own expence, and with no other view than 
 that of gratifying a liberal curiosity. On the 14th he anchored in the 
 straits of See Cockup (Si Kakap), which divide the Northern from the 
 Southern Pagi. These straits are about two miles in length and a quarter 
 of a mile over, and make safe riding for ships of any size, which lie per- 
 fectly secure from every wind, the water being literally as smooth as in 
 a pond. The high land of Sumatra (inland of Moco-moco and Ipu) was 
 plainly to be distinguished from thence. In the passage are scattered 
 several small islands, each of which consists of one immense rock, and 
 which may ‘have been originally connected with the main island. The 
 face of the country is rough and irregular, consisting of high ‘hills of 
 sudden and steep ascent, and covered with trees to their summits, 
 among which the species called bintargur or puhn, fit for the largest 
 masts, abounds. The sago tree grows in plenty, and constitutes the 
 chief article of food to the inhabitants, who do not. cultivate rice. ‘The 
 use of betel is unknown to them. Coconut trees, bamboos, and the 
 common.fruits of Sumatra, are found here. The woods are.impervious 
 to man: the species of wild animals that inhabit them, but few ; the 
 large red deer, hogs, and several kinds of monkey, but neither buffaloes 
 nor goats; nor are they infested with tigers or other beasts.of prey. 
 They have the common domestic fowl; but pork and fish are the favourite 
 animal food of the natives. 
 
 When the vessel had been two days at anchor, they began to come 
 down from their villages in their canoes, bringing fruit of various kinds, 
 and on invitation they readily came on board, without shewing signs of 
 apprehension or embarrassment. On presenting to them plates of boiled 
 
 rice, they would not touch it until it had been previously tasted by one 
 of 
 
 
 

 
 470 
 
 SUMATRA: 
 
 of the ship’s company. They behaved whilst on board with much 
 decorum, shewed a strong degree of curiosity, but not the least disposi- 
 tion for pilfering. They appeared to live in great friendship and harmony 
 with each other, and voluntarily divided amongst their companions what 
 was given to them. ‘Their stature seldom -exceeds five feet and a half. 
 Their colour is like that of the Malays, a light brown or copper-colour, 
 Some canoes came alongside the vessel with only women in them, and 
 upon being encouraged by the men, several ventured on board. When 
 on the water they use a temporary dress to shield them from the heat of 
 the sun, made of the leaves of the plantain, of which they forma sort of 
 conical cap (the same was observed of the women of Engano), and there 
 is also a broad piece of the leaf fastened round the body over their breasts, 
 and another round their waist. This leaf readily splits, and has the ap- 
 pearance of a coarse fringe. When in their villages, the women, like the 
 men, wear only asmall piece of coarse cloth; made of the bark of a tree, 
 round their middle—Béads and other ornaments are worn about the neck. 
 Although coconuts are in such plenty, they have not the use of oil, and 
 their hair, which is black, and naturally long, is, for want of it and 
 the use of combs, in general matted and full of vermin. They have a 
 method of filing or grinding their teeth to a point, like the people of 
 Sumatra. 
 
 The number of inhabitants of the two islands is supposed not to exceed 
 1400 persons. They are:divided into small tribes,.each-oceupying a 
 
 small river, and living in one village. On the southern island are five 
 of these villages, and on the northern seven, of which Kakap is accounted ~ 
 
 the chief, although Labu-labu is supposed to contain the greater number 
 of people. Their houses are built of bamboos and raised on posts; the 
 under part is occupied by poultry and hogs, and, as may be supposed, 
 much filth is collected there. Their arms consist of a bow and arrows. 
 The former is made of the nibong tree, and the string of the entrails of 
 some animal. The arrows are of small bamboo, headed with brass or 
 with a piece of hard wood cut to a point. With these they kill deer, 
 which are roused by dogs of a mongrel breed, and also monkeys, whose 
 flesh they eat. Some among them wear frises. It was said, that the 
 
 different 
 
SUMATRA. | 471 
 
 different tribes of orang mantawei who inhabit these islands, never make 
 war upon each other, but with people of islands to the northward they 
 are occasionally in a state of hostility. The measurement of one of their 
 war-canoes, preserved with great care under a shed, was twenty-five 
 feet in the length of the floor, the prow projecting twenty-two, and the 
 stern eighteen, making the whole length sixty-five feet. The greatest 
 breadth was five feet, and the depth three feet eight inches. For na- 
 vigating in their rivers and the straits of Si Kakap, where the sea is as 
 smooth as glass, they employ canoes, formed, with great neatness, of a 
 single tree, and the women and young children are extremely expert in 
 the management of the paddle. They are strangers to the use of coin 
 of any kind, and have little knowledge of metals. The iron bill of 
 chopping-knife, called pardng, is in much esteem among them; it serves 
 as a standard for the value of other commodities, such as articles of 
 provision. 
 
 The religion of these people, if it deserves the name, resembles much 
 what has been described of the Battas ; but their mode of disposing of 
 their dead is different, and analogous rather to the practice of the South- | 
 sea islanders ; the corpse being deposited on a sort of stage, in a place ° 
 appropriated for the purpose, and with a few leaves strewed over it, is 
 left to decay. Inheritance is by male descent ; the house or plantation, 
 the weapons and tools of the father, become the property of the sons, 
 Their chiefs-are.but little distinguished. from—the.rest of tke—community 
 by authority or possessions, their pre-eminence being chiefly displayed 
 at public entertainments, of which they do the honours. They have not 
 even judicial powers, all disputes being settled, and crimes adjudged, by 
 a meeting of the whole village. Murder is punishable by retaliation, 
 for which purpose the offender is delivered over to the relations of the 
 deceased, who may put him to death; but the crime is rare. Theft, 
 when to a considerable amount, is also capital. In cases of adultery 
 the injured husband has a right to seize the effects of the paramour, and 
 sometimes punishes his wife by cutting off her hair. When the husband 
 offends, the wife has a right to quit him and to return to her parents’ 
 house. Simple fornication between unmarried persons, is — 
 
 sidere 
 
 
 

 
 © 
 
 * 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 sidered as a crime nor a disgrace. The state of slavery is unknown 
 among these people ; and they do not practise circumcision. 
 
 The custom of ¢attooing, or imprinting figures on the skin, is general 
 among the inhabitants of this group of islands. They call it in their 
 language ¢éeetee or titi. They begin to form these marks on boys at seven 
 years of age, and fill them up as they advance in years. Mr. Crisp 
 thinks they were originally intended as marks of military distinction. 
 The women have a star imprinted on each shoulder, and generally some 
 small marks on the backs of their hands. These punctures are made 
 with an instrument consisting of a brass-wire fixed perpendicularly into 
 a piece of stick about eight inches inlength. The pigment made use of 
 is the smoke collected from dammar, mixed with water (or, according to 
 another account, with the juice of the sugar-cane). The operator takes 
 a stalk of dried grass, or a . fine piece of stick, and dipping the end in the 
 pigment, traces on the skin the outline of the figure, and then dipping 
 the brass point in the same preparation, with very quick and light 
 strokes of a long, small stick, drives it into the skin, whereby an in- 
 delible mark is produced. The pattern, when completed, is in all the 
 individuals nearly the same. 
 
 In the year 1783 the son of a raja of one of the Pagi islands came 
 over. to Sumatra, on a visit of curiosity, and being an intelligent man, 
 much information was obtained-from.him...He-could-give’s6me account 
 of almost every island that lies off the coast, and when a doubt arose 
 about their position, he ascertained it by taking the rind of a pum- 
 plenose or shaddock, and breaking it into bits of different sizes, disposing 
 them on the floor in such a manner as to convey a clear idea of the re- 
 lative situation. He spoke of Engano (by what name is not mentioned) 
 and said that their boats were sometimes driven to that island, on which 
 occasions they generally lost.a part, if not the whole, of their crews, 
 from the savage disposition of the natives. He appeared to be acquainted 
 with several of the constellations, and gave names for the pleiades, scor- 
 pion, great bear, and Orion’s belt. _He understood the distinction be- 
 tween the fixed and wandering stars, and particularly noticed Venus, 
 
 which 
 
 —_— _ 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 which he named usutat-si-geb-geb or planet of the evening. ToSumatra 
 he gave the appellation of Serazhu. As to religion, he said the rajas 
 alone prayed and sacrificed hogs and fowls. They addressed themselves 
 in the first place to the Power above the sky; next, to those in the 
 moon, who are male and female; and lastly, to that evil being, whose 
 residence is beneath the earth, and is the cause of earthquakes. A draw- 
 ing of this man, representing accurately the figures in which his body 
 and limbs were tattooed, was made by Colonel Trapaud, and obligingly 
 given tome. He not only stood patiently during the performance, but 
 seemed much pleased with the execution, and proposed that the Colonel 
 should accompany him to his country to have an opportunity of making 
 a likeness of his father. To our collectors of rare prints it is well known 
 that there exists an engraving of a man of this description by the title of 
 the “« painted prince,” brought to England by Capt. Dampier, from one 
 of the islands of the easterm sea, in the year 1691, and of whom a par- 
 ticular account is given in his Voyage. He said that the inhabitants of 
 the Pagi islands derived their origin from the orang mantawei of the island 
 
 called Si Biru. 
 
 North-westward of the Pagz islands, and at no great distance, lies 
 that of Si Porah, commonly denominated Good Fortune island, inha- 
 bited by the same race as the former, and with the same manners and 
 language. The principal towns or villages are named Si Porah, con- 
 taining, “when»wisited. by Mr. John Saul dpa 
 bitants, $i Labah three hundred, (several of whom were originally from 
 the neighbouring island of Nias) Si Bagau two hundred, and Sz Ubana 
 
 473 
 
 Si Porah 
 or Good 
 Fortune. 
 
 smaller number; and when Capt. Forrest made his inquiries in 1757, 
 
 there was not any material variation. Since that period, though the 
 ‘sland has been occasionally visited, it does not appear that any report 
 has been preserved of the state of the population. The country is de- 
 scribed as being entirely covered with wood. The highest land is im the 
 
 vicinity of Si Labah. 
 
 The next island in the same direction is named $7 Biru, which al- 
 
 though of considerable size, being larger than Si Porah, has commonly 
 3P been 
 
 Si Biru. 
 
 
 

 
 Po. Batu. 
 
 SUMATRA 
 
 been omitted in our charts, or denoted to be uncertain. It is inhabited 
 by the mantawei race, and the natives both of Si Porah and the Pagi 
 islands consider it as their parent-country, but notwithstanding this con- 
 nexion, they are generally in a state of hostility, and in 1783 no inter- 
 course subsisted between them. ‘The inhabitants are distinguished only 
 by some small variety of the patterns in which their skins are tattooed, 
 those of Si Biru having them narrower on the breast and broader on the 
 shoulders. The island itself is rendered conspicuous by a volcano- 
 mountain. 
 
 Next to this is Pulo Batu, situated immediately to the southward of 
 the equinoctial line, and, in consequence of an original mistake in Va- 
 lentyn’s erroneous chart, published in 1726, usually called by navigators, 
 Mintaon, being a corruption of the word mantawei, which, as already 
 explained, is appropriated to-a-race inhabiting the islands of Si Biru, Si 
 Porah;-and Pagi. Batu, on the contrary, is chiefly peopled by a colony 
 from Nias. These pay a yearly tax to the raja of Buluaro, a small kam- 
 pong in the interior part of the island, belonging to a race different from 
 both, and whose number, it is said, amounts only to one hundred, which 
 it is not allowed to exceed, so many children being reared as may replace 
 the deaths. They are reported to bear a resemblance to the people of 
 Makasar or Bugis, and may have been adventurers from that quarter, 
 The influence of their raja over tne Nias inhabitants, who exceed his 
 immediate subjects in thé proportion-of-twenty-to-one, 18 founded on the 
 superstitious belief, that the water of the island will become salt when 
 they neglect to pay the tax. He in his turn, being in danger from the 
 power of the Malay traders who resort thither from Padang, and are not 
 affected by the same superstition, is constrained to pay them to the 
 amount of sixteen ounces of gold as an annual tribute. 
 
 The food of the people, as in the other islands, is chiefly sago, and 
 their exports coconuts, oil in considerable quantities, and swala or sea- 
 slugs. No rice is planted there, nor, if we may trust to the Malayan 
 accounts, suffered to be imported. Upon the same authority also we 
 are told, that the island derives its name of Batu from a large rock re- 
 
 sembling 
 
SUMATRA. 
 
 sembling the hull of a vessel, which tradition states to be a petrifaction 
 of that in which the Buluaro people arrived. The same fanciful story of 
 a petrified boat is prevalent in the Serampei country of Sumatra. From 
 Natal hill P*, Batu is visible. Like the islands already described, it is 
 entirely covered with wood. 
 
 Between Pulo Batu and the coast of Sumatra, but much nearer to the 
 latter, is a small uninhabited island, called Pulo Kapini (iron-wood island), 
 but to which our charts (copying from Valentyn) commonly give the 
 name of Batu, whilst to Batu itself, as above described, is assigned the 
 name of Mintaon, In confirmation of the distinctions here laid down, it 
 will be thought sufficient to observe, that when the Company’s packet, 
 the Greyhound, lay at what was called Lant’s bay in Mintaon, an officer 
 came to our settlement of Natal (of which Mr. John Marsden at that 
 time was chief) in a Batw oil-boat ; and that a large trade for oil is car- 
 ried on from Padang and other places with the island of Baiu, whilst 
 that of Kapini is known to be without inhabitants, and could not supply 
 the article. 
 
 The most productive and important, if not the largest of this chain of 
 islands, is Pulo Nias. Its inhabitants are very numerous, and of a race 
 distinct not only from those on the main (for such we must relatively 
 consider Sumatra), but also from the people of all the islands to the 
 southward, withthe exception. of.thelast-mentioned-—Pheir complexions, 
 especially the women, are lighter than those of the Malays; they are 
 smaller in their persons and shorter in stature ; their mouths are broad, 
 noses very flat, and their ears are pierced and distended in so extraordinary 
 a manner as nearly, in many instances, to touch the shoulders, particu- 
 larly when the flap has, by excessive distension or by accident, been rent 
 asunder; but these pendulous excrescences are commonly trimmed and 
 reduced to the ordinary size, when they are brought away from their 
 own country. Preposterous, however, as this custom may appear, it is 
 not confined to the Nias people. Some of the women of the inland parts 
 of Sumatra, in the vicinity of the equinoctial line (especially those of 
 the Rau tribes) increase the perforation of their ears, until they admit 
 ornaments of two or three inches diameter. There is no circumstance 
 
 SP? by 
 
 475 
 
 Po. Kapini, 
 
 Po, Nias. 
 
 
 

 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 by which the natives of this island are more obviously distinguished than 
 the prevalence of a leprous scurf, with which the skins of a great pro- 
 portion of both sexes are affected; in some cases covering the whole of 
 the body and limbs, and in others resembling rather the effect of the 
 tetter or ring-worm, running like that partial complaint in wavine lines 
 and concentric curves. It is seldom, if ever, radically cured, although 
 by external applications (especially in the slighter cases) its symptoms 
 are moderated, and a temporary smoothness given to the skin ; but it 
 does not seem in any stage of the disease to have a tendency to shorten 
 life, or to be inconsistent with perfect health in other respects, nor is 
 there reason to suppose it infectious ; and it is remarkable, that the in- 
 habitants of P*. Batu, who are evidently of the same race, are exempt 
 from this cutaneous malady. The principal food of the common people 
 is the sweet potatoe, but much pork is also eaten by those who can afford 
 
 it, and the chiefs make a practice of ornamenting their houses with the 
 jaws of the hogs, as well as the skulls of the enemies whom they slay. 
 
 The cultivation of rice has become extensive in modern times, but rather 
 as an article of traffic than of home consumption. 
 
 These people are remarkable for their docility and expertness in handy- 
 craft work, and become excellent house-carpenters and joiners, and as 
 an instance of their skill in the arts, they practise that of letting blood 
 by cupping, in a mode nearly similar to ours. Among the Sumatrans 
 blood is never drawn with so Salutary~ar-inrent-— They are industrious 
 and frugal, temperate and regular in their habits, but at the same time 
 avaricious, sullen, obstinate, vindictive, and sanguinary. Although 
 much employed as domestic slaves (particular! y by the Dutch) they are 
 always esteemed dangerous in that capacity ; a defect in their cha- 
 racter which philosophers will not hesitate to excuse in an independent 
 people torn by violence from their country and connexions. They 
 frequently kill themselves when disgusted with their situation or un- 
 happy in their families, and often their wives at the same time, who 
 appeared, from the circumstances under which they were found, to have 
 been consenting to the desperate act. They were both dressed in their 
 best apparel (the remainder being previously destroyed), and the female, 
 in more than one instance that came under notice, had straggled so 
 
 little, 
 
SUMATRA. 
 little, as not to discompose her hair, or remove her head from the pillow. 
 It is said, that in their own country they expose their children, by sus- 
 pending them, in a bag, from a tree, when they despair of being able to 
 bring them up. The mode seems to be adopted with the view of pre- 
 
 serving them from animals of prey, and giving them a chance of being 
 saved by persons in more easy circumstances. 
 
 The island is divided into about fifty small districts, under chiefs or 
 rajas, who are independent of, and at perpetual variance with, each 
 other ; the ultimate object of their wars being to make prisoners, whom 
 they sell for slaves, as well as all others not immediately connected with 
 them, whom they can seize by stratagem. These violences are doubt- 
 less encouraged by the resort of native traders from Padang, Natal, and 
 Achin, to purchase cargoes of slaves, who are also accused of augment- 
 ing the profits of their voyage, by occasionally surprising and carrying 
 off whole families. The number annually exported is reckoned at 
 four hundred and fifty to Natal, and one hundred and fifty to the 
 northern ports (where they are said to be employed by the Achinese 
 in the gold-mines), exclusive of those which go to Padang, for the 
 supply of Batavia, where the females are highly valued, and taught 
 music and various accomplishments. In catching these unfortunate 
 victims of avarice, it is supposed that not fewer than two hundred 
 are killed ; and if the aggregate be computed at one thousand, it is 
 a prodigious-number to_be supplicd from the population-of-se-small an 
 
 island. 
 
 Beside the article of slaves, there is a considerable export of padi and 
 rice, the cultivation of which is chiefly carried on at a distance from the 
 sea-coasts, whither the natives retire, to be secure from piratical depre- 
 dations, bringing down the produce to the harbours (of which there are 
 several good ones), to barter with the traders for iron, steel, beads, to- 
 bacco, and the coarser kinds of Madras and Surat piece-goods. Num- 
 bers of hogs are reared, and some parts of the main, especially Barus, 
 ‘are supplied from hence with yams, beans, and poultry. Some of the 
 rajas are supposed to have amassed a sum equal to ten or twenty thou- 
 sand dollars, which is kept in ingots of gold and silver, much of the 
 
 latter, 
 
 ae 
 
 * pe re Peay 
 
 at 
 
 
 

 
 478 
 
 Po. Nako- 
 nako, 
 
 Po. Babi. 
 
 Po. Baniak. 
 
 SUMATRA. 
 
 latter, consisting of small Dutch money (not the purest coin) melted 
 down ; and of these they make an ostentatious display at weddings and 
 other festivals. 
 
 The language scarcely differs more from the Batta and the Lampong 
 than these do from each other, and all evidently belong to the same stock. 
 The pronunciation is very guttural, and either from habit or peculiar 
 conformation of organs, these people cannot articulate the letter p, but 
 in Malayan words, where the sound occurs, pronounce it as f, (saying, 
 for example, fulo Jjinang, instead of Pulo Pinang) ; whilst, on the con- 
 trary, the Malays never make use of the J; and pronounce as pikir the 
 Arabic word fikir. Indeed, the Arabians themselves appear to have the 
 same organic defect as the people of Nias, and it may likewise be ob- 
 served in the languages of some of the South-sea islands, 
 
 On the western-sideof Nias, and very near to it, is a cluster of small 
 
 islands, called P°. Nako-nako, whose inhabitants (as well as others who 
 
 ‘Shall presently be noticed) are of a race termed Maros or orang maruwi, 
 
 distinct from those of the former, but equally fair-complexioned. Large 
 quantities of coconut-oil are prepared here, and exported chiefly to 
 Padang, the natives having had a quarrel with the Natal traders. . The 
 islands are governed by a single raja, who monopolizes the produce, 
 his subjects dealing only with him, and he with the praws or country 
 
 vessels, who are regularly furnished with cargoes in.the-order of their 
 arrival, and never dispatched out of turn. 
 
 Pulo Babi or Hog island, called by the natives $i Malu, lies north- 
 westward from Nias, and, like Nako-Nako, is inhabited by the Maruwi 
 race. Buffaloes (and hogs, we may presume) are met with here in great 
 plenty, and sold cheap, 
 
 The name of Pulo Baniak belongs to a cluster of islands (as the terms 
 imply) situated to the eastward, or in-shore of P°, Babi, and not far 
 from the entrance of Suigkel river. It is, however, most commonly 
 applied to one of them which is considerably larger than the others. 
 
 It does not appear to furnish any vegetable produce as an_ article 
 | f 
 0 
 
——__—_$_—____ 
 
 SUMATRA. 479 
 
 of trade, and the returns from thence are chiefly sea-slug and the 
 edible bird’s-nest. The inhabitants of these islands also are Maruwis, 
 and, as well as the others of the same race, are now Mahometans, 
 Their language, although considered by the natives of these parts as 
 distinct and peculiar, (which will naturally be the case where people do 
 not understand each other’s conversation), has much radical affinity to 
 the Batta and Nias, and less to the Pagz ; but all belong to the same 
 class, and may be regarded as dialects of a general language prevailing 
 amongst the original inhabitants of this eastern archipelago, as far at 
 least as the Moluccas and Philippines. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 —--= - —e worn & a> ee ee 
 
 
 

 
I 
 
 fod) Do Tea 
 
 A, 
 
 Achin or Acheh, kingdom of, its boundaries, p. 
 396. Situation, buildings, and appearance 
 of the capital, 396. Air esteemed healthy, 
 396. Inhabitants described, 398. Present 
 state of commerce, 399. Productions of 
 soil, manufactures, navigation, 400. Coin, 
 government, 401. Officers of state, cere- 
 monies, 402. Local division, 403. Reve- 
 nues, duties, 403. Administration of jus- 
 tice and punishments, 404. History of, 
 406. State of the kingdom at the time when 
 Malacca fell into the hands of the Portu- 
 guese, 417. Circumstances which placed 
 Ibrahim, a slave of the king of Pidir, on 
 thethrone, 418. Rises to considerable im- 
 portance during the reign of Mansur-shah, 
 432. King of, receives a letter from Queen 
 Elizabeth, 436. Letter from King James 
 the First, 439. Commencement of female 
 reigns, 447, Their termination, 454. Sub- 
 sequent events, 454 to 463. 
 
 Achin-head, situation of, 2. 
 
 Address, custom of, in the third, anstead of 
 
 the second person, 287. 
 
 Adultery, laws respecting, 229, 262. 
 
 Agriculture, 65; 323. 
 
 Air, temperature of, 16. 
 
 Ala-eddin or Ula-eddin Shah, king of Achin, 
 lays repeated siege to Malacca, 428. His 
 death, 429. 
 
 Alboquerque (Affonso d’) touches at Pider and 
 Pasé in his voyage to Malacca, 409. 
 
 Aligators, 118. Superstitious dread of, 186. 
 
 Amomum, different species of, 90. 
 
 Amusements, 267, 276. 
 
 Anak-sungei, kingdom of, 354. 
 
 Ancestors, veneration for burying-places of, 
 288, 291. 
 
 Animals, account of, 119.7 
 
 Annals, Malayan, of the kingdom of Achin, 
 427. 
 
 Ants, variety and abundance of, 127. White 
 ant, 127. 
 
 Arabian travellers, mention Sumatra by the 
 name of Rammni, 4. 
 
 [2] 
 vv 
 
 Arabic character, with modifications, used by 
 the Malays, 198. 
 
 Arithmetic, 192. 
 
 Arsenic, yellow, 173. 
 
 Arts and manufactures, 178. 
 
 Aru, kingdom of, 413, 414, 419, 425, 
 
 Astronomy,. 193. 
 
 Atap, covering for roofs of houses, 57. 
 
 B. 
 
 Babi; island of, 478. 
 
 Bamboo, principal materialforbuilding, 56. 
 Account of the, 87. 
 
 Bargka, island of, its tin-mines, 172. 
 
 Baniak, islands of, 478. 
 
 Banian tree or jawi-jawi, its peculiarities, 
 163. 
 
 Bantam, city of, 212, 216, 353. Expulsion of 
 English from thence, 450. 
 
 Barbosa, (Odoardus), his account of Sumatra, 
 
 Barthema (Ludovico), his visit to the island, 
 
 5. 
 Barus Cet having 
 given its name to the most valuable sort of 
 
 camphor, 367. 
 
 Bats, various species of, 118. 
 
 Batta, country of, 365. Its divisions, ‘366. 
 Mr. Miller’s journey into it, 369. Govern- 
 ments, 374, Authority of the rajas, 375. 
 Succession, 376. Persons, dress, and wea- 
 pons of the inhabitants, 377. Warfare, 
 378. Fortified villages or kampongs, 379. 
 Trade, mode of holding fairs, 379. Food, 
 380. Buildings, domestic manners, 381. 
 Horse-racing, 382. Books, 383. Observa- 
 tions on their mode of writing, 384, Reli- 
 gion, 384. Mythology, 385. - Oaths, 386. 
 Funeral ceremonies, 387. Crimes and pu- 
 nishments, 389. Practice of eating human 
 flesh, 390. Motives for this custom, 391. 
 Mode of proceeding, 391. Doubts obviated, 
 392. Testimonies, 393. Death of Mr. 
 Nairne in the Batta country, 394. Ori- 
 ginality of manners preserved amongst this 
 people, and its probable causes, 395, 
 
 Batu 
 Q 
 
 " ere x LON 2 
 —_—_——_~< ee 
 
 
 

 
 INDE X. 
 
 Batu (Pulo), 474. 
 
 Batu Bara river, 366, 456. 
 
 Beards, practice of eradicating, 45. 
 
 Beasts, 112, 116. 
 
 Beaulieu, commander of a French squadron at 
 Achin, 433, 442. 
 
 Bees-wax, 175. 
 
 Bencoolen, river and town, 44, 351. Interior 
 country visited, 363. Account of first Eng- 
 lish establishment at, 451. 
 
 Benzoin or benjamin, mode of procuring, 154. 
 Nature of the trade, 155. Oil distilled from, 
 184. 
 
 Betel, practice of chewing, 281. Preparation 
 of, 282, 
 
 Betel-nut or areca, see Pinang. 
 
 Bintang, island of, 410, 440. 
 
 Birds, 123, 124. Species which form the 
 edible nests, 126. Modes of catching, 187. 
 
 Birds-nest, edible, account of, 174. 
 
 Biru, island of, 473. 
 
 Blachang, species of caviare, mode of prepar- 
 
 ing, 63. 
 
 Blades of krises, mode of damaski : 
 Boulton aarti.” 
 
 Bread-fruit or sukun, 98. 
 
 Breezes, land and sea, 22. 
 
 Braham (Mr. Philip), 159, 462. 
 
 Broff (Mr. Robert), 146. 
 
 Buffalo or karbau, description of the, 112. 
 Killed at festivals, 266, 288, 313. 
 
 Building, modes of, described, 56, 381, 396. 
 
 Bukit Lintang, a high range of hills inland of 
 
 Moco-moco, 318. 
 
 Bukit Pandang, a high mountain inland of 
 
 Ipu, 33. 
 
 Burying-places, ancient, veneration for, 
 291. 
 
 C, 
 
 Cameleon, description of, 119. 
 
 Campbell (Mr. Charles), 2, 92, 110, 147, 158, 
 304, 364. 
 
 Camphor or kapur barus, a valuable drug, 149. 
 Description of the tree, 149. Mode of pro- 
 curing it, 150. Its price, 151. Camphor- 
 oil, 151. Japan camphor, 152. 
 
 Cannibalism, 390. 
 
 Cannon, use of, previously to Portuguese dis- 
 coveries, 347. 
 
 Carpenters’-work, 181. 
 
 Carving, 183. 
 
 Cassia, description of the tree, 156. Found 
 in the Serampei, Musi, and Basta countries, 
 318, 363, 372. 
 
 Cattle, 115. Laws respecting, 232. 
 
 Causes or suits, mode of deci ing, 217, 219. 
 
 Caut-chouc or elastic gum, 92. 
 
 
 
 Cements, 182. 
 
 Champaka flower, 104. 
 
 Character, difference in respect of it, between 
 the Malays and other Sumatrans, 207. 
 
 Characters of Rejang, Batta, and Lampong 
 languages, 201, and plate. 
 
 Charms, 189, 323. 
 
 Chastity, 261. 
 
 Chess, game of, Malayan terms, 273. 
 
 Child-bearing, 284. 
 
 Children, treatment of, 285. 
 
 Chinese colonists, 79. 
 
 Circumcision, 287. 
 
 Cloth, manufacture of, 52, 183, 379, 
 
 Clothing, materials of, 49. 
 
 Coal, 28. 
 
 Cock-fighting, strong propensity to this sport, 
 274. Matches, 275. 
 
 Coconut-tree, an important object of cultiva- 
 tion, 84. Does not bear fruit in the hill- 
 country, 85. 
 
 Codes of laws, 218, 230. . Remarks on, 238. 
 
 Coins, currentin-Sumatra, 171, 172. 
 
 Commerce, 129, 379, 399. 
 
 Company (English East India), its influence, 
 213, 214, 215. Permission given to it to 
 settle a factory at Achin, 489. 
 
 Compass, irregularity of, noticed, 312. 
 
 Compensation for murder, termed bartgun, 222, 
 234, 246. 
 
 Complexion, fairness of, comparatively with 
 other Indians, 46. Darkness of, not de- 
 pendant on climate, 46. ; 
 
 Confinement, modes of, 248. 
 
 Contracts made with the chiefs of the country, 
 for obliging their dependants to plant pep- 
 
 DOC, ISG ee ee 
 
 Conversion to religion of Mahomet, period of, 
 343. 
 
 Cookery, 62. 
 
 Copper, 28. Rich mine of, 172. 
 
 Coral rock, 33. 
 
 Corallines, collection of, in the Possession of 
 Mr. John Griffiths, 121, 
 
 Cosmetic used, and mode of preparing it, 268, 
 
 Cotton, two species of, cultivated, 157. 
 
 Couriship, 265. 
 
 Crisp (Mr. John), 237, 256, 469. 
 
 Cultivation of rice, 65, 76. 
 
 Curry, dish or mode of cookery so called, 62. 
 
 Custard-apple, 100. 
 
 Cycas circinalis (a palm-fern confounded with 
 the sago-tree) described, 89, 324. 
 
 D 
 
 Dalrymple (Mr. Alexander), 3, 392, 
 Danmar, a species of resin or turpentine, 158. 
 Dancing, amusement of, 267. 
 
 Dare, 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Dare (Lieut. Hastings), 2. Journal of his ex- 
 pedition to the Serampei and Swigei-tenang 
 countries, 308 to 324. 
 
 Datu, title of, 351. 
 
 Debts and debtors, laws respecting, 223, 230, 
 252. 
 
 Deer, diminutive species of, 117. 
 
 Deity, name for the, borrowed by the Rejangs 
 from the Malays, 290. 
 
 Dice, 273. 
 
 Diseases, modes of curing, 189. 
 
 Diversion of tossing a ball, 276. 
 
 Divorces, laws respecting, 235, 262. 
 
 Dragons’-blood, a drug, how procured, 159. 
 
 Dress, description of man’s and woman’s, 50, 
 268. 
 
 Dupati, nature of title, 210. 
 
 Durian fruit, 98. 
 
 Dusuns or villages, description of, 55. 
 
 Duyong or sea-cow, 117, 122. 
 
 Dye-stuffs, 93 to 96. 
 
 E. 
 
 Ears, ceremony of boring, 53. 
 
 Earthenware, 183. 
 
 Earth-oil, 28. 
 
 Earthquakes, 30. 
 
 Eating, mode of, 59. 
 
 Kiclipses, notion respecting, 194. 
 
 Edrisi, his account of Sumatra by the name of 
 Al-Rami, 4. 
 
 Elastic gum, 92. 
 
 Elephants, 116, 176. 
 
 Elizabeth, queen, addresses a letter to the king 
 of Achin, 436. 
 
 Elopements, laws respecting, 227, 235. 
 
 Eimblematiewpresenis,..283. 
 
 Engano, island of, 464. | 
 
 English, their first visit to Sumatra, 436. Settle 
 a factory at Achin, 439. 
 
 Europeans, influence of, 213. 
 
 Evidence, rules of, and mode of giving, 231, 
 239. 
 
 Expedition. to Serampet and Sungei-tenang 
 countries, 308 to 324. 
 
 — = cen =? ——— 
 
 F. 
 
 Fairs, 379, 380. 
 
 Fencing, 276. 
 
 Fertility of soil, 78. 
 
 Festivals, 266, 288, 313. 
 
 Feud, account of a remarkable one, 250. 
 
 Fevers, how treated by the natives, 189. 
 
 Filagree, manufacture of, 178. 
 
 Fire, modes of kindling, 60. Necessary for 
 warmth among the hills, 313. 
 
 Fire-arms, manufactured in Menangkabau, 
 347. 
 
 Fire-fly, 126. 
 
 Fish, 122. Ikan layer, a remarkable species, 
 122. Various kinds enumerated, 123. 
 
 Fishing, mode of, 186. 
 
 Fish-roes, preserved by salting, 64. An article 
 of trade, 176. 
 
 Flowers, description of, 103. 
 
 Foersch, (Mr.) his account of the poison-tree, 
 110. 
 
 Fogs, dense among the hills, 17. 
 
 Food, 62, 380. 
 
 Fortification, mode of, 350, 379. 
 
 Fort Marlborough, the chief English settlement 
 on the coast of Sumatra, 2. Establishment 
 of, 452. Reduced by Act of Parliament, 
 452. 
 
 French, settlement of Tappanuli taken by the, 
 in the year 1760, and again in 1809, at- 
 tended with circumstances of atrocity, 368. 
 Sent a fleet to Achin, under General Beau- 
 lieu, 442. 
 
 Fruits, description of, 97. 
 
 Funerals, ceremonies observed at, 287, 387. 
 
 Furniture of houses, 59. 
 
 G. 
 
 Gambir, mode of preparing it for eating with 
 betel, 160. 
 
 Gaming, laws respecting, 229. 
 for, and modes of, 273. 
 
 Geography, limited ideas of, 193. 
 
 Goitres, natives of the hills subject to, 48. 
 Disease not imputable to snow-water, 48. 
 In the Serampez country, 317. 
 
 Gold, island celebrated for its production of, 
 27. Chiefly found in the Menangkabau 
 dinette S of, . Mode 
 of working the mines, 167. Estimation of 
 quantity procured, 168. Price, 169. Mode 
 of cleansing, 171. Weights, 171. 
 
 Government, Malayan, 350, 351. 
 
 Grammar, 199. 
 
 Graves, form of, 287. 
 
 Griffiths, (Mr. John), 121, 122. 
 
 Guana or iguana, animal of the lizard kind, 
 118. 
 
 Guava fruit, 100. 
 
 Gum-lac, 175. 
 
 Gunpowder, manufacture of, 187, 
 
 Propensity 
 
 H. 
 
 Hair, modes of dressing the, 51. 
 Heat, degree of, 16, 314. 
 Hemp or ganja, its inebriating qualities, 91. 
 Henna of the Arabians used for tinging the 
 nails, 90. 
 Herbs and shrubs used medicinally, 108. 
 Hills, 
 
 $QQ 
 
 
 

 
 INDE X. 
 
 Hills, inhabitants of, subject to goitres, 48, 
 
 Hippopotamus, 116. | | 
 
 History of Maiayan kings, 327. Of Achinese, 
 406. 
 
 Hollanders, their first visit to Sumatra, 435. 
 
 Holloway, (Mr. Giles), 369, 393. 
 
 Horse-racing practised by the Battas, 382. 
 
 Horses, small breed of, 115. Occasionally 
 used in war, 349. Eaten as food by the 
 Battas, 381. 
 
 Hot springs, 28, 309, 317, 352. 
 
 Houses, description of, 56. 
 
 Human flesh eaten by the Battas, 390. 
 
 I. 
 
 Idng de per-tuan, title of sovereignty, 337, 
 440, 
 
 Ibrahim (otherwise, Saleh eddin shah) king of 
 
 Achin, his origin, 418. Enmity to the Por- 
 tuguese, 419. ‘Transactions of his reign, 
 and death, 419 to 427. 
 
 Ju, a peculiar vegetable substance used for 
 cordage, 57. 
 
 Illhas @ Ouro; 
 discover them, 411. 
 
 Import-trade, 176. 
 
 Incest, 261. 
 
 Indalas, one of the Malayan names of Su- 
 matra, 12. 
 
 Indigo, 94. Broad leafed or tarwm akar, 94. 
 Indragiri, river of, 13. Has its source in a 
 lake of the Menargkabau country, 358. 
 Indrapura, kingdom of, 353, 451. , 
 
 Inhabitants, general distinctions of, 40. 
 
 Inheritances-rules of, 220, 230, 244. 
 
 Ink, manufacture of,.182. 
 
 Insanity, 191. 
 
 Insects, 126. Various kinds of, enumerated, 
 127. 
 
 Instruments, musical, 195. 
 
 Interest of money, 224, 231. 
 
 Investiture, 351. 
 
 Ipu, river of, 309, 310. Sungei-ipu (a different 
 river), 318, 319. 
 
 Tron, 28. Ore smelted, 173. Manufactures 
 of, 181. Mines, 347. 
 
 Iskander Muda (Paduka Sri) king of Achin, 
 receives a letter from king James the first, 
 by Captain Best, and gives permission for 
 establishing an English factory, 439. Con- 
 quers Johor, 440, Attacks Malacca with 
 a great fleet, 441. Receives an embassy 
 from France, 442. Again attacks Malacca, 
 fae His death, 444. Wealth and power, 
 
 45. 
 
 Islands near the western coast, account of, 
 464, 
 
 Ivory, 176. 
 
 ortuguese to 
 
 ee 
 
 
 
 
 J. 
 
 Jack fruit, 98. 
 
 Jaggri, imperfect sort of sugar from a species 
 of palm, 88. 
 
 Jambi, river of, 13. Colonies settled on 
 branches of it, for collecting gold, 165. 
 Has its source in the Limun country, 358. 
 Town of, 358. 
 
 Jambu fruit, 99. 
 
 James the first, king, writes a letter to the © 
 
 king of Achin, 439. 
 
 Jeinal, sultan of Pasé, his history, 408, 409, 
 412, 413, 414, 415. 
 
 Johor, kingdom of, 329, 430, 432, 433, 440. 
 
 K, 
 
 Kampar, river of, 357. King of, negotiates 
 with Alboquerque, 409. 
 
 Kampongs or fortified villages, 379. 
 
 Kananga, flowering tree, 103. 
 
 Kapini, island of, 475. 
 
 Kasumba, name-of, given to the carthamus 
 
 and the bixa, 95. 
 
 Kataun or Cattown, river of, 15, 44. 
 
 Kima or gigantic cockle, 15, 121. 
 
 Koran, 221, 242, 289, ) 
 
 Korinchi country, 304. Mr. Campbell’s visit 
 to it, 304. Situation of lake, 304. Inha- 
 bitants and buildings, 305. Food, articles 
 of commerce, gold, 306. Account of lepers, 
 306. Peculiar plants, 307. Character of 
 the natives, 307. 
 
 Koto-tuggoh, a fortified village of the Sungei- 
 tenang country, 321. Taken and destroyed, 
 322. 
 
 Krises, description of. 348. 
 
 Krot, ditrict of 174, 296. 
 
 Kulit-kayu or coolicoy, the bark of certain 
 trees used in building, and for other pur- 
 poses, 57, 
 
 Kuwau, argus or Sumatran pheasant, 124. 
 
 L, 
 
 Labun, district of, 44, 364. 
 
 Lakes, 14, 295, 304, 316. 
 
 Laksamana, a title equivalent to commander 
 in chief, 350, 410, 443. 
 
 Lampong country, limits of, 295. Inhabitants, 
 language, and governments, 296. . Wars, 
 297. Account of a peculiar people, called 
 orang abung, 297. Manners and customs, 
 298. Superstitions, 301. 
 
 Land, unevenness of its surface, 26. New- 
 formed, 31, 259. Rarely considered as the 
 subject of property, 244, 
 
 Land and sea breezes, causes of, 22. 
 
 Language, 
 
 ——— s 
 
IN DE X. 
 
 Language, 197. Nature of the Malayan, 197. 
 Of others spoken in Sumatra, 200. Court, 
 202, Specimens of, 203. Batta, 382. 
 Nias, 478, 
 
 Lanseh fruit, 101. 
 
 Laws and customs, 217. 
 218. 
 
 Laye, river and district of, 44, 215, 230. 
 
 Leeches, a small kind of, very troublesome on 
 marches, 311. 
 
 Lembda district, inhabitants of, similar to the 
 Rejangs, 44. 
 
 Leprosy, account of, 190, 306. 
 
 Lignum-aloes or kalambac, 160. 
 
 Limun, district of, 165. Gold-traders of, 275, 
 358. 
 
 Literature, 346. 
 
 Lizards, 119. 
 
 Longitude of Fort Marlborough, determined 
 by observation, 2. 
 
 Looms, description of, 183, 
 
 Compilation of, 
 
 M. 
 
 Macdonald, (Lieut. Col. John), 2, 151. 
 
 Mackenzie, (Mr. Kenneth), 462. 
 
 Madagascar, resemblance in customs of, to 
 those of Sumatra, 242. 
 
 Mahmud shah Juhan (Ala-eddin), 461. 
 
 Mahometanism, period of conversion to, 343 
 to 346. / 
 
 Maiz or jagong, cultivation of, 89. 
 
 Malacca or Malaka, city of, when founded, 
 327. Visited in 1509 by the Portuguese, 
 407. In 1511, taken by them, 408. Re- 
 peatedly attacked by the kings of Achin, 
 498, 44], 443. In 1641, taken by the 
 Hollanders; 444. ean ten he 
 
 Malays, name of, applied to people of Me- 
 nangkabau, 41. Nearly synonymous with 
 Mahometan, in these parts, 42. Difference 
 ‘n character between Malays and other Su- 
 matrans, 207, Guards composed of, 250. 
 Origin of, 326. Race of kings, 327. Not 
 strict in matters of religion, 346. Goyern- 
 ments of, 351. 
 
 Malayan language, 197. 
 
 Malur or Malati flower (nyctanthes), 105, 
 
 Mango fruit, described, 99. 
 
 Mangustin fruit, described, 97. 
 
 Manjuta, river and district of, 354. English 
 settlement at, 451. . 
 
 Manna, district of, 30, 76, 930, 237, 243, 
 250, 265, 337. 
 
 Mansalar, island of, 15. 
 
 Mansur shah, king of Achin, besieges Malacca, 
 
 and is defeated, 430. Renews the attack, 
 
 
 
 without success, 431. Again appears before 
 it with a large fleet, and proceeds to the 
 attack of Johor, 432. Murdered, when pre- 
 paring to sail with a considerable expedi- 
 tion, 432. 
 
 Mantawei, name of race of people inhabiting 
 certain islands, 468, 473. 
 
 Manufactures, 183, 379. 
 
 Marco Polo, his account of Sumatra, by the 
 name of Java minor, 4. Visited it about 
 the year 1290, 5. 
 
 Marriage, modes of, and laws respecting, 
 225, 235, 257, 262, 263. Rites of, 265. 
 Festivals, 266. Consummation of, 269. 
 
 Marsden (Mr. John), 161, 230. 
 
 Measures, of capacity and length, 192. 
 
 Measurement, of time, 193. 
 
 Medicinal shrubs and herbs, 108. 
 
 Medicine, art of, 189. 
 
 Mega, island of, 86, 468. 
 
 Menarigkabau, kingdom of, 41. History of, 
 imperfectly known, 332. Limits of, 333. 
 Rivers proceeding from it, 333. Political 
 decline, 334. Early mention of it by tra- 
 vellers, 334. Division of the government, 
 335. Extraordinary respeet-paid to reign- 
 ing family, 337. Titles of the sultan, 337, 
 338. Remarks on them, 341. Ceremonies, 
 342. Conversion of people to the Maho- 
 metan religion, 343. Antiquity of the 
 empire more remote than that event, 340. 
 Sultan held in respect by the Battas, 376. 
 
 Metempsychosis, ideas of, as entertained by 
 the Sumatrans, 292. 
 
 Miller (Mr. Charles), 93, 158, 363, 369, 393. 
 
 Minerals, 27, 172. 
 
 Mines, gold, 167. Copper, 172. Iron, 347. 
 Led n . “or, to convert the 
 Sumatrans to Christianity, upon record, 
 294. 
 
 Moco-moco, in Anac-sunge?, account of, 319. 
 
 Monkeys, various species of, 117. 
 
 Monsoons, causes of their change, 19. 
 
 Morinda, wood of, used for dying, 95. 
 
 Mountains, chain of, running along the island, 
 13. Height of Mount Ophir or Gunong 
 Passamman, 13. High mountain called 
 Bukit Pandang, 313. 
 
 Mucks, practice, nature, and causes of, 279. 
 
 Muhammed shah (Ala-eddin or Ula-eddin), 
 succeeds Juhan shah as king of Achin, 460. 
 His turbulent reign, and death, 461. 
 
 Mukim, divisional district of the country of 
 Achin, 403, 457. 
 
 Mulberry, 91. 
 
 Murder, compensation for, 222, 234, 246. 
 
 Musi, district of, 358, 363, 364. 
 
 Musie, 
 
 oi eh A go 
 
 
 

 
 INDE X. 
 
 Music, 195. Minor key preferred, 196. 
 Mythology, of the Battas, 385. 
 
 N. 
 
 Nako-nako, islands of, 478. 
 
 Nalabu, port of, 165, 168. 
 
 Name of Sumatra, unknown to the’ Arabian 
 geographers, and to Marco Polo, 10. Va- 
 
 rious orthography of, 10. Probably of 
 
 Hindu origin, 11. 
 
 Names, when given to children, 285. Dis- 
 tinctions of, 285. Father often named 
 from his child, 286.  Hesitate to pro- 
 nounce their own, 286. 
 
 Natal, settlement of, 373. Gold of fine qua- 
 lity procured in the country of, 373, Go- 
 verned by daius, 374. 
 
 Navigation, 400. 
 
 Nias, island of, 475. 
 
 Nibong, species of palm, description and uses 
 of, 89 
 
 Nicolo di Conti, his visit to Sumatra, 8. 
 
 Nutmegs and cloves, first introduction of 
 Mr. Robert Broff,1 dq importa- 
 
 tion, 145. Success of the culture, 14S. 
 
 0. 
 
 Oaths, nature of, in legal proceedings, 239. 
 Collateral, 241. Mode of administering, 
 242, 329. Amongst the Battas, 386. 
 
 Odoricus, his visit to the island of Sumoltra, 7. 
 
 Officers of state, in Malayan governments, 350. 
 At Achin, 402, 
 
 Oil, earth-, 28. Camphor-, 151. Coconut-, 
 oe ei 
 
 Ophir, name of, not known to the natives; 
 Height of Mount Ophir or Gunong Passam- 
 man, 13. 
 
 Opium, considerable importation of, from 
 Bengal, 176. Law respecting, 229. Prac- 
 tice of smoking, 277. Preparation of, 277. 
 Effects of, 278. 
 
 Oranges, various species of, 100. 
 
 Oratory, gift of, natural to the Sumatrans, 
 283. 
 
 
 
 Ornaments worn, 50, 298. 
 
 P 
 
 Padang, the principal Dutch settlement, 165, 
 168, 171, 349, 452. 
 
 Padang-guchi, river of, 31, 295. 
 
 Padi or rice, cultivation of upland, 67. Of 
 low-land, 73. Transplantation of, 75. Rate 
 of produce, 77. Threshing, Sl. Beating 
 out, 82, 
 
 Paduka Sri, king of Achin, see Iskander Muda. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Pagz (or Nassaus), islands of, 468. 
 
 Palembang, river of, 13. Rises in the district 
 of Must, near Bencoolen river, 358. Dutch 
 factory on it, 359. Description of country 
 on its banks, 359. Government, 360. City 
 of, 361. Many foreign settlers, 362. Lan- 
 guage, 362. Interior country visited by 
 the English, 363. 
 
 Palma-christi, 92. 
 
 Pandan shrub, its fragrant blossom, 106. 
 
 Pangeran, nature of title, 210, Authority 
 much limited, 211. 
 
 Pantun or proverbial song, 197. 
 
 Papaw fruit, 101. 
 
 Pasé, kingdom of, 407, et seq. 
 
 Passamman, province of, 355. 
 
 Passummah, 215. Legal customs of, 230 to 
 237. 
 
 Pawns or pledges, law respecting, 232. 
 
 Pepper, -principal object of the Company’s 
 trade, 129. Cultivation of, 131. Descrip- 
 tion of the plant, 134. Progress of bearing, 
 136. Time of gathering, 137. Mode of 
 
 drying, 137. White pepper, 138. Sur- 
 
 veys of plantations, 139. Transportation 
 of, 145. . 
 
 Percha (Pulo), one of the Malayan names of 
 Sumatra, 12. 
 
 Perfumes, 184. 
 
 Pergularia odoratissima, cultivated in Eng- 
 land by Sir Joseph Banks, 105. 
 
 Persons of the natives, description of, 44. 
 
 Pheasant, argus or Sumatran, 124. 
 
 Philippine islands, customs and superstitions 
 of, resembling those of Sumatra, 302. 
 
 Pidir, kingdom of, 407, et seq. 
 
 Pigafetta (Antonio), in his yoyage-appears 
 
 “the rests en of a Malayan vocabu- 
 
 
 
 lary, 9. 
 
 Pikul, weight, 151. 
 
 Pinang, areca, or, vulgarly, the betel-nut 
 tree, and fruit, 87, 157. 
 
 Pinang (Pulo), island of, 463. 
 
 Pine-apple, 100. 
 
 Piratical habits of Malays, 280, 356. 
 
 Plantain or pisang, 91. Varieties of the fruit, 
 100. 
 
 Pleading, mode of, 238. 
 
 Poetry, fondness of the natives for, 197. 
 
 Polishing leaf, 90. 
 
 Polygamy, question of, 271. Connexion be- 
 tween it and the practice of purchasing 
 wives, 272. 
 
 Population, 257, 403. 
 
 Porah, island of, 473. 
 
 Portuguese, expeditions of, rendered the is- 
 land of Sumatra well known to Europeans, 
 9. Their first visit to it, under Diogo 
 
 Lopez 
 
 a ee 
 
 @ 
 
 a Ones 
 
 wes. 
 
hoe ee 
 
 
 
 IN D-E X. 
 
 Lopez Sequiera, 406. Transactions at Pidir 
 and Pasé, 407, 422. Conquer Malacca, 
 408. Sustain many attacks and sieges from 
 kings of Achin, 428, et seq. 
 
 Potatoes, cultivated in the Korinchi country, 
 306. 
 
 Priaman, river and district of, 442. Invita- 
 tion to the English to form a settlement 
 there, 451. 
 
 Puhn or Poon, signifying ¢ree in general, ap- 
 plied by Europeans to a particular species, 
 161, 469. 
 
 Puhn-upas or poison-tree, account of, 110. 
 
 Pulas, species of twine from the kalwwi nettle, 
 91. 
 
 Pulse, variety of, 93. 
 
 Pulo or island, 12 e¢ passim. 
 bay, 31. 
 
 Punei-jambu, a beautiful species of dove, 125. 
 
 Punishments, corporal, 248. Amongst the 
 Battas, 389. Amongst the Achinese, 404. 
 
 Pulo point and 
 
 2. 
 Quail-fighting, 276. 
 Queen, government of Achin devolves to a, 
 447, Account of embassy from Madras to 
 the, 449. 
 
 R. 
 
 Radin, prince of Madura, 269, 290, 345. 
 
 Raffles (Mr. 'Thomas) 331. 
 
 Rakan, river or estuary, 357. 
 
 Rambutan fruit, 101. 
 
 Ramni, name given to Sumatra by the Arabian 
 geographers, 4. 
 
 Ranjaus,-escription of, 310. 
 
 Rapes, laws respecting, 2) Sas 
 
 Rattan-cane, fruit of, 102. Considerable ex- 
 port trade in, 157. 
 
 Rau or Rawa country, 357, 413, 419, 475. 
 
 Rayet shah ( Ala-eddin), said to have been ori- 
 ginally a fisherman, ascends the throne of 
 Achin, having murdered the heir, 453. 
 During his reign the Hollanders first visited 
 Achin, 435. And also the English, under 
 Captain (Sir James) Lancaster, who carried 
 letters from Queen Elizabeth, 436. At the 
 age of ninety-five, confined by his son, 
 437. 
 
 Reaping, mode of, 72. 
 
 Rejang, people of, chosen as a standard for 
 description of manners, 43. Situation of 
 the country, 44. Divided into tribes, 209. 
 Their government, 210. 
 
 Religion, state of, amongst the Rejang, 288. 
 No ostensible worship, 289, The word 
 
 ] 
 | 
 
 
 
 
 
 er, 
 > 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 dewa applied to a class of invisible beings, 
 290. Veneration for the tombs of their 
 ancestors, 291. Ancient religion of Malays, 
 330. Motives for conversion to Mahome- 
 tanism, 345. Of the Battas, 384. 
 
 Reptiles, 118. 
 
 Rhinoceros, 116, 318. 
 
 Rice, culture of, 65. Distinctions of ladang 
 or upland, and sawah or low-land, 66. 
 Sowing, mode of, 71.. Reaping, mode of, 
 72. An article of trade, 82. 
 
 Rivers, 15, 16, 295, 355, 357. 
 
 Rock, species of soft, 28. Coral, 33. ° 
 
 Rum or Rome, for Constantinople, 338, 341. 
 
 S. 
 
 Sago-tree or rambiya (confounded with the 
 cycas circinalis, a different tree), described, 
 88. 
 
 Salt, manufacture of, 188. 
 
 Saltpetre, 28. Procured from certain caves, 
 173. 
 
 Sanding islands or Pulo Sandiang, 468. 
 
 Sappan wood, 95. 
 
 Scorpion flower or anggrek kasturi, 196. 
 
 Sculpture, ancient, 352. 
 
 Sea, encroachments of, 32. 
 
 Sequeira (Diogo Lopez), first Portuguese who 
 visited Sumatra, 406. 
 
 Serampet country, 317. Villages, government, 
 features of the women, 317. Peculiar regu- 
 lation, 318. Further account of, 320. 
 
 Sesamum or bijin, oil produced from, 92. 
 
 Sexes, mistaken ideas of a considerable ine- 
 
 quality in the numbers of the. two, 271. 
 
 TT) ke 
 
 Siak, river of, 13, 176, 355. Survey of, 356. 
 Country on both sides flat and alluvial, 356. 
 Abundance of ship-timber, 356. Govern- 
 ment, 356. Trade, 357. Subdued by the 
 king of Achin, 440. 
 
 Si Biru, island of, 473. 
 
 Silebar, river, and district of, 31, 212, 451. 
 
 Sileda, attempt to work a gold mine at, 170. 
 
 Silk-cotton (bombax), 157. 
 
 Singa-pura, city of, when founded, 327. 
 
 Singkel river, 366. 
 
 Si Porah or Good Fortune, island of, 473. 
 
 Situation of the island, general account of, 2. 
 
 Slavery, state of, not common amiaug the Re- 
 jangs, 253. Condition of negro slaves at 
 Fort Marlborough, 254. © 
 
 Small-pox, its ravages, 191. 
 
 Snakes, 120. 
 
 Soil, described, 25. Unevenness of surface, 
 
 26. Fertility of, 78. 
 
 Songs, 
 
 eT Trt 
 
 
 
197% Singing, amusement of, 267. 
 
 see Nuimegs. 
 
 Sugar, manufacture of, 88, 187. 
 sort, called jaggri, 88. 
 
 Sugar-cane, Cultivation of, 87. 
 
 Suits, see Causes. 
 
 Sulphur, 28. Where procured, 173. 
 
 Sumatra, name probably of Hindu origin, 
 11. 
 
 Sungei-lamo and Sungei-itam, rivers, 212, 242, 
 351. 
 
 Sungei-tenang country, account of, 323. 
 
 Superstitious opinions, 291, 292. 
 
 Surf, 34. Considerations respecting, 35. Pro- 
 bable cause of, 37. 
 
 Surveys of pepper plantations, 139. 
 
 Swala or sea-slug, an article of trade, 175. 
 
 Swasa, a mixture of gold and copper so called, 
 173. 
 
 Songs, 
 Spices, 
 Imperfect 
 
 T. 
 
 Tamarind-iree, 101. 
 
 Tanjong-flower, 104. 
 
 Tappunuli, celebrated bay of, 367, Settle- 
 ment on the island of Panchong kechil, 368. 
 Taken in 1760 by the French, and again in 
 1809, 368. 
 
 Taprobane, name of, applied to Sumatra in 
 the middle ages, 3. 
 
 Teak timber, its valuable qualities, 161. At- 
 
 ___ tempts to cultivate the tree, 161. 
 
 Teeth, mode of filing them, 52. Sometimes 
 plated with gold, 53. 
 
 Theft, laws respecting, 221, 233. Proof of, 
 required, 251. 
 
 T : aeight of, at Fort Marlborough, 
 and at Natal, 6. So low as 45°. on a hil 
 in the Jpu country, 314. 
 
 Threshing, mode of, 81. 
 
 Thunder and lightning, very frequent, 18. Ef- 
 fect of, 19. 
 
 Tides, 38. At Siak, 356. Flow to a great 
 distance in rivers on eastern side of the 
 island, 35S. 
 
 Tiger, 118. Ravages by this animal, 184. 
 Traps, 185. 
 
 Tiku, river and islands of, 411, 442. 
 
 Timber, great variety of, 160. Species enu- 
 merated, 162, 
 
 Time, manner of dividing, 193. 
 
 Tin, 28. A considerable export of it to 
 China, 172. 
 
 Titles, 337, 338. 
 
 
 
 = naman wom 
 J. M‘Creery, Printer, 
 Black-Horse-Court, London. 
 
 IN DE X. 
 
 
 
 _Worm-shell or teredo navalis, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Tobacco, cultivation of, 91. 
 
 Toddy or nira, how procured, 88, 
 
 Tools, for mining, 167. Carpenters’, 192. 
 Torches or links, 184. 
 
 Trade, 129, 379, 399. 
 
 Triste, island of, see Mega. 
 
 Tulang -bawang river, 295, 
 
 Turmeric, 90. 
 
 U. 
 
 Upas, vegetable poison, account of, 110. 
 Urez, river of, 44, 354. 
 Utensils, account of, 59, 61. 
 
 V. 
 
 Vegetable productions, 97. 
 
 Venereal disease, 191. 
 
 Villages, description of, 55. 
 
 Virgins, their distinguishing ornaments, 52. 
 
 Volcanoes, called gunong api, account of, 
 29, 
 
 W. 
 
 Warfare, mode of, 349, 378. 
 
 Waterfalls, 14. 
 
 Waterspout, account of, 17. 
 
 Wax, a considerable article of trade, 175. 
 Weapons, 348, 377. 
 
 Weaving, 183, 
 
 Weights, 171. 
 
 Wens, 48, 317. Ps 
 
 White ants, 127. 
 
 White pepper, 138. 
 
 Widows, laws respectin 
 Wttkins (Nir. Charles), 
 
 Winds, 19 to 25. 
 Wives, number of, 270. See 
 
 996.260" 
 
 42. 
 
 Marriage. 
 
 122. 
 
 Wood, various species of, 162. 
 
 Woods, 14, 67. Mode of clearing, 68, 
 
 Wounds, laws respecting, 223, 234. 
 
 Writing, 198. On bark of tree, and on 
 of bamboo, 201. Specimens of, 
 202, 
 
 slips 
 plate, 
 
 ”: 
 r i eas j ° ‘ 
 Yams, various roots under that denomination, 
 
 93. 
 Year, mode of estimating its length, 193. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ERRATA, : 
 Page 45 line 20 for -line, read lime. 
 98 22 sukan, vr. sukun, 
 107 9 daum, r. daun. 
 154 1 styraz, r. styrax. 
 157 ult, area, r. areca. 
 161 29 payu, vr. puhn. 
 32 kyau, vr. kayu. 
 307 Note. potentella, r. potentilla. 
 335 5 
 
 Awal ed-din, v. Ala-cd-din. 
 
 
 
 
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 a 
 

 
 
 
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 ang Vins rae ~~ . ae F Pes ° 
 
 ee <n 5 ea 
 
 
 
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