modification of tlie Hindu Suttee, and the bloody ceremony of krising, a barbarism
peculiar to the people of Bali themselves.
G.
GADDANE. The name of one of the wild tribes of the island of Luzon. They
are not negritos, but are described as having darker complexions than the other brown
tribes in the same condition,—as being of shorter stature, having round eyes and flat
noses, speaking a language of their own, and in their manners dull and filthy.
Brought within the pale of Christianity by the missionaries, they have proved serviceable
in converting the neighbouring savages.
GADEH or GEDEH (GUNTING), literally, “ the great mountain,” is the name
of one of the highest mountains of the western part of Java. I t is situated in the
district of Chanjor, in the country of the Sundas,—has the same base as another large
mountain, called Pangarango,—rises to the height of 10,500 feet above the level of the
sea, and is an active volcano.
GAMBIER. This is the Malayan name of the terra-japonica, and of the plant th a t
yields it, the Uncaria gambier of botanists. The plant is a straggling shrub, from eight
to ten feet high, and an object of extensive cultivation. A gambier plantation
generally extends to about 30 acres, and, when full grown, has the appearance of a
coppice. The drug is the inspissated juice of the leaves, obtained by boiling to the
consistence of a syrup, which is poured into moulds, and, when dry, cut into cubes
of an inch and a half to a side. The leaves are pulled three or four times a year, and
the plantation is exhausted in fifteen years, when it is abandoned, and new land had
recourse to. In Singapore, where the cultivation was established on its first occupation,
in 1819, there are 800 plantations; but the culture has been largely
extended to the neighbouring continent. It is, however, carried on to a much greater
extent in the islands of Batang, Bintang, and Linga. Although originally a Malay
manufacture, it is at present almost wholly carried on by the Chinese, who conduct
the cultivation of gambier in combination with that of black pepper, the refuse
leaves of the first being found an useful manure for the last. The gambier plant
appears to be a native of all the countries on the shores of the Straits of Malacca, but
especially of the numerous islands at its eastern end. Prom the last, it has been
immemorially exported to Java and the islands east of it, to be used as a masticatory,
being one of the ingredients in the betel preparation. I t does not seem to be a
production of any of the islands of the volcanic band. Gambier contains from 40 to
50 per cent of pure tannin, and hence it has been of late years largely imported into
Europe, to be used in the purposes of dying and tanning, the quantity imported
yearly into England being not less than 6000 tons. This is one of the striking
results of the freedom of commerce, and the progress of the arts among us.
GAMBLING, in Malay and Javanese, Jud'i. All the more advanced nations of
the Asiatic Archipelago are greatly addicted to gaming, the passion for which is very
far from being confined to the nations that have adopted the Mahommedan religion ;
for the Hindus of Bali and Lomboc, and the Christians of the Philippines are as
great gamblers as the Malays, and greater than the Javanese. Cock-fighting is everywhere
the normal shape which it takes ; but card-playing, and other games, have been
acquired from the Chinese, who are themselves even more determined gamblers than
any of the native nations.
GAMBOGE. Our name for this article of commerce is a corruption of the
Malay name of the chief country which produces it, Kamboja. The plant which
produces it is a large forest tree, supposed to be a Garcinia, or a species of the same
genu3 which produces the celebrated mangostin fruit, on the rind of which last is
frequently seen a yellow pigment, having all the appearance of gamboge. The drug
is the inspissated sap of the tree, obtained by wounding the bark. It quickly dries in
the sun, is formed at once into rolls, and undergoes no other preparation. Both the
tree and its sap must be abundant in the forests of Kamboja, judging by the moderate
price at which the article is sold at the chief emporium, Singapore, where the price
d o e s not e x c e e d from 55a. to 65s. a hundredweight. The Malay name of the drug
seems to be taken from the language of Kamboja. This is rong, which the Portuguese
have adopted, writing the word, rom.
GEBI. The name of an island of the Molucca Sea, lying between Gilolo and
Waigyu, one of the Papuan Islands. I t is long and narrow, running in a direction
from north-east to south-west, and is in length from six to seven leagues, the western
extremity being only four miles north of the equator, and in east longitude 129° 19'.
The geological formation is not volcanic, but probably sandstone much impregnated
with iron. The land is generally hilly; but the highest point does not exceed 500
feet. The aboriginal inhabitants are Papuans : but there are also settlers from
the Moluccas, and these are the ruling party, the king of Tidor, one of the clove
islands, claiming the sovereignty. Some of the Papuans have been converted to
the Mahommedan religion by the intrusive party, while the rest still continue
pagans. The cultivated products of Gebi are a little rice, the coco, and sago-palms,
yams, and the banana. The mammalia of the forest are only the hog and two
marsupial animals; and the chief birds, several species of the pigeon and parrot
families. The chief employment of the natives is the fishing of tripang and pearl oysters.
Between Gebi and the islet Fow, at its south-western end, is a harbour, safe in all winds,
with good anchorage and depth for a ship of the line. See Fow.
GEELVINK. The name of the great hay or gulf which deeply indents the
northern side of New Guinea, converting it into a western and eastern peninsula.
See Doei Harbotjb and New Guinea.
GILIBANTAH. The name of an islet lying between the islands Gunung-api and
Comodo, in the Straits of Sapi, or those which divide Sumbawa from Floris. It is
like those in its neighbourhood, of trachytic formation, and its highest point rises to
the elevation of 1200 feet. The name may probably be Javanese, in which gili
signifies “ a highway,” and bantah “ to dispute,” that is, the islet disputing or
interrupting the highway.
GINGER. The Zingiber officinalis of botanists, is produced almost everywhere
throughout the Asiatic Archipelago, and is more used by the natives as a condiment
than any other spice, except the capsicum. Its native name in Malay is alya, and in
Javanese, ja it; but it has almost as many different names as there are languages;
from whence it is to be inferred that it is indigenous in most parts of the Archipelago,
the names being everywhere native, and not foreign. Ginger was an article of the
Indian trade of the Romans, most likely in their case the produce of Malabar. Pliny
gives its price in the Roman market at six denarii the pound, which, at the usual
estimate of 8\d. the denarius, would make 5s. 9\d. the pound avoirdupois. The
price in the London market just now is about two-pence.
GLUGA. This is the Broussonetia papyrifera of botanists, popularly called the
paper mulberry tree, the same plant from which a kind of paper is made in China
and Japan, and clothing in the islands of the Pacific. The Javanese are the only
people of the Archipelago who manufacture a paper from the liber or inner bark of
this plant, and this is by a process very similar to that by which the ancients manufactured
papyrus. The raw material, however, is of a better quality, and the process
of manufacturing it far less expensive; for the ordinary Javanese paper, instead of
being costly, like the papyrus, is a very cheap commodity. Its colour is that of
parchment; it is very tough, and, except that it is liable to be preyed on by insects,
owing to the rice-water used in its preparation, it is very durable.- The name of the
plant, and the vulgar and polite names of the paper, daluwang and d&lambang, are
all native Javanese words; and it may be concluded that the art of manufacturing paper
from the gluga plant is a native one, and of long standing; for the few ancient manuscripts
found in Java, and which, belonging as they do, to the times of Hinduism, cannot
be of later date than the year 1478, that in which Hinduism was finally subverted.
The gluga is an object both of culture and manufacture, chiefly carried on in the province
of Kadiri, once an extensive seat of Hinduism, and the parties conducting them
are the Mahommedan priests; in this matter very likely the successors of the Bramins.
GOAT. The domestic goat, a small animal kept for its flesh, b u t not for its milk
any more than is the cow, is pretty generally distributed over the Archipelago; but
its origin is as obscure here as in other countries. In Malay it has two names,
kambing and bebek, the last being oddly enough the name for the domestic duck in
Javanese. In this last language it has also two names, meda and wadus; but they
are local only. The first Malay name extends as far as the Philippines, and the
second has also a wide currency; either the one or the other being nearly the only
names in the other languages of the Archipelago. The goat was not found, any more
than the ox and buffalo, in the Polynesian islands; and in the language of Madagascar