ALLIGATORS TAKING SUN AND AIR.
"Being under the equator, Sumatra is a hot country, and one must be cautious about exposure to the sun. During the middle of the day you should remain at rest, and you will find great refreshment in bathing frequently; but take care how you plunge in the rivers, as many of them are full of alligators, and sometimes these brutes are hungry. Occasionally you may see dozens of them lying on the banks to enjoy the sun, and they are hunted so little that you may come quite near without disturbing them. At a little distance they look like logs, and you might easily mistake their black bodies for sticks of timber that have been partially burnt. There is one island just above Palembang where they swarm in large numbers, and are of all sizes, from very small to very large. The island also abounds in cranes; and sometimes they approach near enough to the alligators to come within reach of the powerful tails of those reptiles. In such a case there is a single sweep of the great lever, and the whole business is over.
"Since the Dutch went to Sumatra they have constructed roads, and done a great deal for the improvement of the condition of the people. The roads are divided into regular stages of ten or twelve miles, and if you send on in advance you will find everything ready on your arrival, so that you will not be delayed; but if you do not give notice beforehand, you can only go the distance of one stage in a day, which makes your progress very slow. At nearly every station there is a village; and if you want to study the habits of the people, you can do so very well by walking from one station to the next in the morning, and then strolling about the village and neighboring regions in the afternoon. There is always a house for strangers, and you have nothing to do but walk in and take possession: you pay for what you have at a fixed rate. The Dutch have been careful to adjust the prices of everything, so that there can be no dispute.
"Away from the rivers the houses of the natives are on poles or posts, just as they are when built in the water. The best of them are of boards or planks, and the more common ones of bamboo, and the floors are covered with mats, on which you may sit or lie. They have no beds, benches, or chairs; even in the houses of the chiefs you will see hardly a single article of furniture.
VIEW IN A SUMATRAN VILLAGE.
"There is a great similarity among the Sumatran villages. A village covers several acres, and is almost always surrounded by a high fence, to keep out the wild animals that abound in the island. The houses are dropped down higgledy-piggledy without the least attempt at regularity, and there is generally quite a grove of palm, banana, and other trees around them. The best of the dwellings have their ends ornamented with some elaborate carving in wood, and the ends of the roof rise in a graceful curve that terminates in a point.
"There is a curious combination of neatness and the reverse in the habits of the people of these interior villages. The ground is hard and clean, and the houses are frequently swept with the greatest care; but they have no system of drainage, and the only way of disposing of refuse of any kind is to throw it into a sink-hole under the house. The people seem to have adhered to the custom that prevails where their houses are built over the water, and the result is that your nose will often inform you, before your eyes do, that you are approaching a village."