SlIMATUi Camphor is anothef remarkable produ&, being found in the tree In a
concrete cryftalEzarion : camphor oil is the produCl of another kind, of
tree. Benzoin is* the gum or reftn, of another, tree ; and caffia,
a cóarfe kind of cinnamon, found in the central-parts of the country..
Rattans are 'exported to Europe as walking canes. There are three
kinds of cotton, the annual, and the perennial or fhrnb. 1 The filk
cotton (bombax ceiba) is alfo to be met with iw every village. This is
to appearance, one of the moft beautiful raw‘materials thelhand of nature
has prefented. Its fineness, glofs, and delicate foftnefs, render it, to
the fight and touch, much fuperior to the labour of the frlkworm; but
©wing to the fhortnefs and brittlenefs of the ftaple, it is efteemed unfit
for the feel and loom, and is only appliedto the unworthy purpofe of
fluffing pillows and mattreffes. Poffibly it has not undergone a fair
trial in the hands of our ingenious artifts, and we may yet fee dt-cgn-
verted into a valuable manufadure. It grows in pods from four^to fix
Inches tóng* which burft open when ripe. The feeds en'tirdy"refemble
the black pepper, but are without tafte. The tree is remarkable, from,
the branches growing put perfectly flraight and Horizontal, and bfing
always three, forming equal angles at the fame height: the -diminutive
{hoots likewife grow flat; and the feveraf gradations of branches ob-
ferve the fame regularity to the top. Some .travellers hayeYalled it the
umbrella tree, but the piece of furniture called a dumb-waiter exhibits a
more finking pl&ure of it.” 1 Coffee trees are uniyerfally planted, but
the fruit is not excellent. The ebony tree abounds in the for efts,-and
the banian tree fpreads as ufual to a vaft extent, as it drops roots; and
fibres from certain parts of the boughs. The commerce, is chiefly with
Hindoftan and China. The Malays excel in gold and filver fillagree,
and in weaving filk and cotton ; but other manufactures are imperfeCt,
and the feiences little cultivated. Befides the Malay* fevefal languages
are fpokep, which feem however to have a manifeft affinity among
themfelves, and with that widely diffufed fpeech which m$y be called
the Polynesian, as it is diffufed through innumerable iflands in the Pacific.
The Rejang and Batta art the chief internal languages, written
in characters totally diftinCt, a Angular circumftance, and which feems
* Marfden, 127,
to overturn the ideas concernj&g^he fugppfed difficulty- in the invention Sumatra.
of-alphahetSv' Widely'1 removed -lavage, tribes of Africa,-and
America, even the rudeft trijpespf^Sumatra and .thp other Afiatic ifl.es, as "
fanaS-lhg ptmpft bounds of J?olyncfia, djfplay ^qqrtain degree pf civilization,
jH-TThe panjeran^of-.prjpce ,p|gpd|£i( over, »many m^gjftrates; but
hiSsgOyernment is limited, hfvgpwey being qonfineff by .. Jris) poverty.
Laws are upknown, the( Chiefs rendering1;iu4g<paeptj,;accprding,to cuf-
toms4,„. but the, Epgli%'|pfide(nts ha^ye^ drawn up a JittJe,,pQdg.6f laws,,
regulated g by the jifages. Vv^P^ ^pies are,.goiqpernfated;by - money,,
murdei*\itfelf|excepted. The: j^ffi^plffea ^tt^dipmanapriage form
amexceptjpn to ^he general cuftomg to£toqm:^v^zi^|^pn^g^, fjid the
t^neral chaftfty.^ feems remarkable. _ Tjh.e; celgbr^tiqri t isC ccyn,i|i9ply in
th^balli op village - hall, anff is^«5^g|fip^ied,s with daqcps ^nd fojrgs, •
Polygamy is praCtjfed, feeming-tp,.!^ pqUjiiefrtd, as ]yjr> M^fdep has*
obfepyed,withj the idea of pure haling, a ^ ife,, inilead. of £epeiymg a ‘
dower -wHh her. Combats of cocks and quails^re, aiqong the moft favourite
amufements, with ^pyr-rhic dances,.dicje,..and ptfisrgarnes. The
ufe of ppium u' extenfive, but rarely ‘ leads. gdjgg||||qx^effes,. . i$>
called,a muck, by the native® 'mcgyjamo^ rather prqaeenmfrgm; ^eg^agejfpr
a fenfe of-oppppffion, than from;iuto?iieifitiop’,; ,,thfmotive,ferqc|ty-',
requires no ftimulapt. Parturition M here Jiri^f and edy i. and thq
mother in „a few. hours walks ^p.the bath. T^e, dead are bqried, and the
graves never difturbed. The^Rejangs,' aqcqrding. to o,ur author, have -
no religion ; but they believe, in angels .or-feidtual ^ipgs?1ancj,,fe,em'to'
have fome, idea of the trajjfgiigtatioQ. of fou|s, The, fe.a, is ^ojriecff o f
particular, veneration, ast natpral aq|pifg iflanders., The GJiriftian religion
is unknown in Sumatra, the miffionaries having -unaccountably
neglected Jthis large ifland, while St. Frangis Xavier (Shayiqr)ea-Uedthe
apoffle of the Indies, converted many thoufands in the more eaftern
iflands, where however the light v&nilhed with‘the apoftle. ■ i Tjjp manners
of the Lampons, in fhe fouth^rn part ofthe',i|le, are m ore, licen-
tious than in the othec prpvii^eS, Fpr aq apcnunt-pf Menang .CabuJ,
the principal Malay ftate,fethough the fultan 'bftfcarcely fuperior to a
raja, the ingenious author fo often quoted may be confulted.3 , The
. *■ Matfdin.aSi5.
H