to ten or twenty thousand
dollars, which is kept in ingots of gold and silver, much of the latter
consisting of small Dutch money (not the purest coin) melted down; and of
these they make an ostentatious display at weddings and other festivals.

The language scarcely differs more from the Batta and the Lampong than
these do from each other, and all evidently belong to the same stock. The
pronunciation is very guttural, and either from habit or peculiar
conformation of organs these people cannot articulate the letter p, but
in Malayan words, where the sound occurs, pronounce it as f (saying for
example Fulo Finang instead of Pulo Pinang), whilst on the contrary the
Malays never make use of the f, and pronounce as pikir the Arabic word
fikir. Indeed the Arabians themselves appear to have the same organic
defect as the people of Nias, and it may likewise be observed in the
languages of some of the South-sea islands.

PULO NAKO-NAKO.

On the western side of Nias and very near to it is a cluster of small
islands called Pulo Nako-nako, whose inhabitants (as well as others who
shall presently be noticed) are of a race termed Maros or orang maruwi,
distinct from those of the former, but equally fair-complexioned. Large
quantities of coconut-oil are prepared here and exported chiefly to
Padang, the natives having had a quarrel with the Natal traders. The
islands are governed by a single raja, who monopolizes the produce, his
subjects dealing only with him, and he with the praws or country vessels
who are regularly furnished with cargoes in the order of their arrival,
and never dispatched out of turn.

PULO BABI.

Pulo Babi or Hog island, called by the natives Si Malu, lies
north-westward from Nias, and, like Nako-Nako, is inhabited by the Maruwi
race. Buffaloes (and hogs, we may presume) are met with here in great
plenty and sold cheap.

PULO BANIAK.

The name of Pulo Baniak belongs to a cluster of islands (as the terms
imply) situated to the eastward, or in-shore of Pulo Babi, and not far
from the entrance of Singkel River. It is however most commonly applied
to one of them which is considerably larger than the others. It does not
appear to furnish any vegetable produce as an article of trade, and the
returns from thence are chiefly sea-slug and the edible birds-nest. The
inhabitants of these islands also are Maruwis, and, as well as the others
of the same race, are now Mahometans. Their language, although considered
b