April 10th.—Rode on horseback from Sinkara north to Samawang, at the outlet of the lake, and thence continued on foot in a westerly direction to Batu Bragon, at its northern end, and in a northwesterly direction to Padang Panjang.
On the west side of the lake, from the mouths of the deep ravines, extend bands of naked stones, which form, as it were, paved highways—the highways, indeed, that Nature has made for man to go up among her sublime mountains.
Between Samawang and Batu Bragon I crossed several beds of these dry torrents. The boulders in them were mostly of lava, and rapidly falling apart into a coarse, sharp-edged shingle. Fragments of syenite also appeared. These stones had been washed down from the neighboring hills, and were piled up in long winrows, as if they had been as light as chaff—so great is the transporting power of these mountain torrents, that only exist during the heavy rains.
From Batu Bragon the road ascended the flanks of the Mérapi, which are under the highest state of cultivation—most of them terraced for rice, but some sugar-cane is also raised here. To press out its juices, two cylinders of wood are placed perpendicularly in a wooden frame, and several spirals are made on each, so that they will exactly fit into each other like the cogs of two wheels. One of these is turned round by a long lever drawn by a buffalo, the other cylinder revolving at the same time, but, of course, in the opposite direction. The stalks of the cane are put in on one side, and the juices are gathered in a large vessel beneath. This they boil into a syrup, and, some say, crystallize it into sugar.
Again and again, as I was ascending to Padang Panjang, I turned to enjoy once more the magnificent view to the south. Near me were green rice-fields waving in the sunshine, and far beneath these was the large blue lake surrounded by high dark mountains; on their lofty peaks were gathering black clouds, from which occasionally a heavy, suppressed muttering rolled along, betokening the severity of the coming storm. The next day I returned to the governor’s residence at Padang.
Some time before I came from Java, a Malay prau, in the employ of Chinamen, had visited the Pagi Islands, to purchase cocoa-nut oil and tortoise-shell, and had induced a man and woman, represented in the accompanying illustration, to go with them to Padang. The sarong of the woman was made of the leaves of the cocoa-nut palm and banana, torn up into strips, and fastened at one end to a long rattan, which was wound several times round the waist. When these leaves are green, they form a respectable covering, but, in the hot, tropical sun, they soon wither into mere strings. For a baju a similar garment of banana-leaves was used. The headdress was yet more peculiar. It was made of banana-leaves, folded, as shown in the engraving, into the form of a cocked hat. This is usually ornamented at the top with a tuft of grass, and it is always worn crosswise. The only clothing of the man was a strip of bark, about four inches wide, and ten or twelve feet long, passing round the waist, and covering the loins, as shown in the cut. Boys go entirely naked until they are about eight years old. Neither the man nor woman cared for rice, but they were fond of bread, though they had never seen any before. Their usual food at home was sago, boiled in salt water, and covered with grated cocoa-nut. When the governor gave the man a fowl, and asked him to cook it after his own fashion, he built a small fire in the back yard, and, as soon as it was well blazing, tied the bird’s wings and legs, and thrust it alive into the flames, in order to burn off the feathers. The governor provided them with many presents for their rajahs and friends, and, at the first opportunity, sent them back to their islands. Soon after their return, another native came to Padang in the same way. He was there when I came back from the interior, and, at the governor’s invitation, he made us a visit. He was of the pure Malay type, not differing to a marked degree in stature or general proportions from the Sumatran Malays who came with him. His breast and abdomen and the backs of his hands were tattooed. Both sexes are ornamented in this way. The process is begun when they are six or seven years old, and continued at intervals for a long time. This man said that each village had a style of its own. It is done with a sharpened copper wire, and the substance pricked in is said to be the smoke of a gum, mingled with the sap of some plant, as the juice of the sugar-cane. He had no idea of the origin of this custom; nor of its use, except to distinguish the people of the various villages.
NATIVES OF THE PAGI ISLANDS.
Some time before I set out on my last journey, the governor had offered to give me a small gun-boat, somewhat larger than a pilot-boat, but manned with nearly twenty Malays, to go off to these islands, taking this man, who had learned some Malay during his stay at Padang with me as an interpreter. An unexpected event, however, made it necessary to send that boat up the coast, and it would be some days before another would come; so I concluded to take the mail-boat for Bencoolen, and commence a long journey directly across the island to Palembang, and, reaching Banca, go up to Singapore on the steamer which touches at that island while on her way to Singapore from Batavia.
While travelling in the interior of Sumatra, we have seen that the mountains, which extend from one end of the island to the other, range themselves, generally, in two parallel chains, that wall in a long, narrow plateau. The island of Engano is the summit of the southeastern peak in another similar mountain-chain, extending in a northwesterly direction, parallel to those already described. After sinking beneath the level of the sea, this chain reappears in the Pagi, Mantawi, and Batu groups, Pulo Nias, Pulo Babi, and the Cocos Islands.