KRIS, the abbreviation of Káris, a dagger or poniard, the universal weapon of
all the civilised inhabitants of the Archipelago, and of a hundred different forms,
short or long, with a straight or serpentine blade, and with every variety in the shape
and ornament of the hilt and scabbard. Men of all ranks, from the peasant to the
prince, wear this weapon, and those of rank when full dressed, two or even four. In
Java, even women of rank sometimes wear a small one. The word is probably
Malay, but is now of general adoption through the Archipelago. The Javanese have
three native names for it besides the Malay one, and it is found represented on
several of the ancient temples of Java. The kris has even reached the Philippine
Islands, for there is no doubt but that it is the same word of the Tagala and Bisaya
languages which the Spaniards write calis, and translate “ sword.”
KROÉ, or CROÉ, as it is written in our maps, is the name of a district of the
country of the Lampungs on the south-western coast of Sumatra. A British settlement
existed here on a small river, navigable only for boats, until by the convention
of 1824 it was made over with Bencoolen, of which it was a dependency, to the
government of the Netherlands. Pepper-hunting was the unprofitable object of this
poor and worthless settlement.
KUBU, in Malay, means a breast-work or redoubt, b u t it is also, for what reason
I am unaware, the name of a wild people inhabiting the plain which extends from
Jambi to Palambang, on the north-western side of Sumatra. Of this people little or
nothing is known beyond the fact that they are of the Malayan race, and are possessed
of even a smaller measure of civilisation than the most improved of the
Dayaks of Borneo.
KUDUS. The name of a district of the Netherland province of Japara, in Java,
lying between the districts of Damak and Pat'i.
KUPANGr (in Malay, the name of a bivalve shell, a kind of mussell), or in the
Dutch orthography, Koepang, is the name of the principal settlement of the Dutch
in the island of Timur. The town and harbour are situated at the western end of
the island, the fortress, Concordia, being in south latitude 10° 10' 15", and east
longitude 123° 30'. The town lies on the south side of a spacious bay 12 miles
wide at its entrance, and running into the country to the length of 20. The island
of Semao, in some measure, protects the bay, which is a tolerable harbour, and at all
events the best in the island of Timur. The population of Kupang and the surrounding
country is 7000, and the dependent tribes are thought to amount to 40,000,
so that the total inhabitants subject to the Dutch authority are but 47,000, although
the Netherland government claims the sovereignty of one-half the island. The
revenue derived by the Netherland government is stated to amount yearly to no
more than 50,000 florins, or 42661., and this is all for the one half a great island ! The
exports, consisting chiefly of Sandal-wood, bees’-wax, and tripang, are reckoned to
amount to 300,000 florins, or 25,000?., and the imports, chiefly clothing, to about one-
fourth more in value. These are but poor results for a country that has been near
two centuries and a half in European occupation, and must be chiefly ascribed to the
sterility of the land and the barbarism of its inhabitants. See Timor.
KURIMATA. The correct Malay name of the island which is in our charts
Carimata. See Cakimata.
KUTT, generally written in our maps Coty, a Malay state on the eastern side of
Borneo, fronting the south-western peninsula of Celebes. The name seems to be
Sanscrit, and to signify “ little fortress.” Its boundaries and extent are not ascertained.
The very little that is known of it is confined to its main river called by
the same name. The embouchure of this large stream has in it many islands, so that
it has several mouths. The most easily navigable of these is in south latitude 1° 10',
and east longitude 117°. Mr. Dalton, an English merchant and enterprising traveller,
who visited Kut'i in 1827 and 1828, and resided fifteen monthB in the country or its
neighbourhood, gives the following description of the river. At its most navigable
mouth it has a bar on which at low water there are but 4 feet depth, but at the
height of the flood 15 feet. I t carries a breadth of from 200 yards up to 2 miles
for a distance of at least 400 miles, with ample depth. The stream is rapid, often as
much as 6 miles an hour, showing that it flows from high land. The inhabitants
consist of Malays, Bugis, and Kay an Dayaks. The nominal rulers are the Malays,
under a chief who takes the title of Sultan, and whose residence is at a place called
Tongarong, on the right bank of the river, and in north latitude 1° 30', and east
longitude 115° 6'. The settlement of the Bugis, who are of the Tuwajos of Celebes,
is at a place lower down the river, called by Mr. Dalton Semerindam, but by the
Dutch, probably with more accuracy, Samarinde. Most of the houses of this place
are built on floating rafts, as are some of those of Palembang in Sumatra, of Borneo
in the island of this name, and of Bangkok the capital of Siam. The Bugis, who
seem to be of comparatively recent establishment, exercise an independent authority,
even controlling the Malay prince, and carrying on most of the trade of the country.
The Kayan Dayaks occupy the upper portion of the river, with the country far on
both sides of it from a place called Markaman, which in the sketch map of the river
given by Mr. Dalton is in nearly the second degree of north latitude. ^ This place
according to him has a mixed population of Malays and Dayaks, amounting to 3000.
That the whole country must be very poorly inhabited is certain, since, with the
exception of a few cultivated specks, it is one continuous jungle.^ Of one spot at
which Mr. Dalton landed, and which is, nominally at least, a portion of the Kut'i
territory, he gives the following description. “ The country (Bagotta) under this
pirate contains above 1200 square miles, without including the numerous islands.
The intendant of the port told me the inhabitants might amount to 10,000 altogether,
but from others, and what I consider to be much better information, the
number was stated at 4000. The truth might probably lie between the two. It
may appear strange that so large an extent of country should contain so few
inhabitants. I t must, however, be recollected that most of the country (indeed, the
whole, with the exception of a few rice-fields) is little else than an impenetrable
jungle, which nothing but a monkey can penetrate 50 yards from the banks of the
rivers, which are very numerous.” The traveller found the banks of the main river
of more promising appearance, but equally unpeopled and uncultivated. ^ “ The
higher,” says he, “ I ascend the country, the more beautiful it appears \ hill and
dale in pleasing variety, interspersed with clumps of the tallest trees. The verdure
is rich beyond anything I have seen in India; indeed no country, however highly
cultivated, can produce such views.” Of this fine country to the eye, alligators,
monkeys, and swarms of musquitoes are, however, the principal inhabitants.
The exports of Kut'i consist of bees’-wax, agar-agar or esculent sea-weed, esculent
swallows’-nests, tripang, or holothurion, a small quantity of gold-dust, and slaves,
consisting of the children of the Dayaks. Altogether, it is a poor and lawless place.
In a more favourable state of the country, the commodities winch might be expected
to be profitably exported from Kut'i would be coal and. iron ore. The history of the
settlement of the Malays in this part of Borneo is wholly unknown, as it is in other
parts of the island. Hindu temples and images are stated by Mr. Dalton to exist in the
interior, within the country of the Kayan Dayaks. These were seen by him, but his
information is not so precise as to enable us to determine their exact nature. He states,
however, that they resembled those he had seen in Java and Southern India, and if
this be the case, the probability is that they were the work of Javanese settlers, the
same, probably, who first emigrated from Java to the neighbouring country of
Banjarmasin. The Dutch lay claim to a paramount authority over Kut'i, but it seems
to be neither exercised or acknowledged.
L.
LABO. The name of a high mountain, of a river, and of a town of the province
of Camarines Norte in the island of Luzon. The highest peak of the mountain is in
north latitude 13° 59', and east longitude 123° 42' 30". The town is situated at the
foot of the mountain in a spacious valley, and contains 400 houses, with a population
of 2400. The valley itself is protected from the south-western monsoon by the
central Cordillera, and from the north-eastern by the Sierra of Bagacay. Its
products are rice, maiz, sugar-cane, indigo, and abaca. In the mountains which
surround it are found a few wandering tribes of Negritos. Labo, in the Malay
language, signifies a gourd, and was probably first given to the mountain.
LABUAN, correctly written Labuhan, is a verbal noun, derived from the Malay
and Javanese word labuh, to drop or let fall, hence to drop or cast anchor, and
signifies anchorage or harbour. The name belongs to several places in the Archipelago,
but is especially applied to the small island on the north-western coast of
Borneo, now a British settlement. To complete the sense in this case, the word
pulo or island must be prefixed, making “ anchorage or harbour island.” Labuan
lies north-east of the estuary of the river of Borneo or Brunai, distant fifteen miles,