by strangers, owing to the unsheltered nature of the
sea thereabouts, and want of soundings in general, which renders the
navigation wild and dangerous for country vessels; and to the rivers
being small and rapid, with shallow bars and almost ever a high surf. If
you ask the people of these parts from whence they originally came they
answer, from the hills, and point out an inland place near the great lake
from whence they say their forefathers emigrated: and further than this
it is impossible to trace. They of all the Sumatrans have the strongest
resemblance to the Chinese, particularly in the roundness of face and
constructure of the eyes. They are also the fairest people of the island,
and the women are the tallest and esteemed the most handsome.

LANGUAGE.

Their language differs considerably, though not essentially, from that of
the Rejangs, and the characters they use are peculiar to themselves, as
may be observed in the specimens exhibited.

GOVERNMENT.

The titles of government are pangeran (from the Javans), kariyer, and
kiddimong or nebihi; the latter nearly answering to dupati among the
Rejangs. The district of Kroi, near Mount Pugong, is governed by five
magistrates called Panggau-limo, and a sixth, superior, called by way of
eminence Panggau; but their authority is said to be usurped and is often
disputed. The word in common signifies a gladiator or prizefighter. The
pangeran of Suko, in the hills, is computed to have four or five thousand
dependants, and sometimes, on going a journey, he levies a tali, or
eighth part of a dollar, on each family, which shows his authority to be
more arbitrary and probably more strictly feudal than among the Rejangs,
where the government is rather patriarchal. This difference has doubtless
its source in the wars and invasions to which the former people are
exposed.

WARS.

The Javanese banditti, as has been observed, often advance into the
country, and commit depredations on the inhabitants, who are not, in
general, a match for them. They do not make use of firearms. Beside the
common weapons of the island they fight with a long lance which is
carried by three men, the foremost guiding the point and covering himself
and his companions with a large shield. A compact body thus armed would
have been a counterpart of the Macedonian phalanx, but can prove, I
should apprehend, of but little use among a people with whom war is
carried on in a desultory manner, and more in t