oth of India and Europe, they have
reached a remarkable condition of civilization of their own. They are
excellent farmers and stockmen; they also make firearms, cloth, and
jewelry which they sell to the Malay peoples about them.

Throughout the island the houses are much like those of Malay peoples
elsewhere, with timber frames and thatched roofs. As in the other
islands, they are set on posts wherever floods are likely to occur. The
larger timbers of many houses are beautifully carved, although many of
the designs are grotesque and even hideous. All the houses are clustered
in villages. This is done partly for protection against man-eating
tigers, and partly because the people are inclined to social life. The
club-house is usually to be found in the villages. It is the town hall,
bazaar, market, lounging place, and social club combined. Perhaps a
wedding and a funeral may be going on there at the same time. Men
gamble, and women gossip and chew betel-nut; the peddler likewise shows
his bargain-counter wares at the club-house.

The great plantations of sugar, coffee, and tobacco are managed much the
same as in Java. The rice-fields are cultivated usually by the Chinese,
and they have much of the trade in the rice. Sumatra is famous for its
tobacco. The plants grow larger and higher than those cultivated in the
United States. The leaves are large and the best of them are used as
"wrappers," or outer coverings for fine cigars. Sumatra leaf commands a
high price, and a considerable amount of the best tobacco is shipped to
Cuba and the United States.

The coffee crop is also of excellent quality. Some of it reaches the
market as "Java" coffee; and, indeed, it is equal to the best coffee
grown in Java. The beans are large, light in color, and of fine flavor.
Carefully sorted Palembang coffee commands a high price.

Sumatra is famous for its pepper, and not far from one-half the world's
product of pepper comes from this island. The plant producing pepper is
not the pepper-tree so commonly grown for its beautiful foliage and
bright red berries in California and Mexico; it is a vine or climbing
bush. It is commonly planted near to a sapling, around which it twines;
but in many plantations the plants are pruned and trimmed so that they
grow unsupported. The pepper of commerce consists of the dried berries
or fruit of the vine. It is the custom to pick the berries as they turn
red. The berries shrivel and turn black as they d