retained in the little plats "by dikes. When any excess
is poured into the uppermost in the series, it runs
over into those heneath it, and thus a constant supply
of water is kept over all. On looking upward
we saw only the vertical sides of the little terraces
covered with turf, and, in looking down, only the
rice-fields. Near the crest of the col we could look
down the flanks of the Merapi to Lake Sinkara away
to the south. The earth here is a tenacious red clay
formed hy the decomposition of the underlying volcanic
rocks and volcanic ashes and sand. These are
arranged in layers which have an inclination nearly
parallel to the surface. The layers of ashes and sand
may have heen partly formed in their present position
hy successive eruptions in the summits of the
neighboring peaks, but those of clay show that the
col has been elevated somewhat 'since they were
formed. The height of this col is three thousand
seven hundred feet, and this is the highest place
crossed by the road from Padang to Siboga. We now
began slowly to descend, passing wide, beautifully-
cultivated sawas on either hand to Fort de Kock.
Here on a pretty terrace is located the house of the
Resident, who has command of the adjoining elevated
lands, so famous in the history of this island as the
kingdom of Menangkabau, whence the Malays originally
migrated, whom we have found on the shores of
all the islands we have visited, and who are very distinct
from the aborigines of these islands, as we have
particularly noticed at Buru.
The dress of the men here is not very different
from that of the Malays of Java, but the costume