234 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



counts exist of their origin. Some say that their ancestors came 

 down from the sky. Another account traces their descent from 

 the daughter of a Batta chief of Sumatra, who, having been 

 expelled from her home for unchastity, was set adrift in a canoe, 

 landed in Nias, and had children by a son who was born to her 

 there. They themselves believe that they are descended from 

 several ancestors who settled at different places on the island, 

 and originated the various tribes into which the people are di- 

 vided. They may be supposed to number about three hundred 

 thousand. They are of medium stature, are easily tired out, and 

 are not unlike the Malays in physiognomy. Their costume is 

 primitive, and consists, for the men, of a strip of cloth wound 

 around the loins and between the thighs, and so girt as to leave 

 the ends hanging low down in front ; for the women, of a square 

 cloth, ornamented on the lower border, wrapped around the hips 

 so as to constitute a short petticoat open at one side. In addi- 

 tion, the men sometimes wear a kerchief, jacket, and belt of 

 cloth or leather, and, on festive occasions, a sarong thrown over 

 their shoulders. The women, when they would be more fully 

 dressed, wear a jacket and a slendang, or long cloth thrown over 

 the shoulders, and carry a brass-mounted staff with a leaden 

 head ; while their hair is done up with brass, silver, or golden 

 pins, and encircled with a brass or pearl-embroidered fillet. The 

 most conspicuous of the golden ornaments is the crown, a conical 

 framework structure fitted to the head, and adorned with golden 

 leaves stamped with a human face, miniature palm-trees, and 

 other curious decorations. The weapons consist of a lance, a 

 knife or sword, and a shield ; armor of overlying thick jackets 

 or coats of buffalo-hide, and helmets woven out of palm-leaf or 

 cocoanut fibers. A few possess old rusty guns or small cannon 

 for festive occasions, but the introduction of fire-arms is forbid- 

 den by the Dutch Government. Their beds are mats, their pil- 

 lows blocks ; and for dishes they have porcelain-ware or pisang- 

 leaves, which do not have to be washed. The housekeeping 

 outfit ^also includes pork-trays, scales for weighing pork, and a 

 smaller balance for gold, a cupboard made of hollowed logs, the 

 rice - stamping apparatus, earthen cooking - pots and wooden 

 troughs, and, for tools, knives, a primitive hatchet, a chisel, a 

 file for the teeth, and a smith's stand. The houses stand about 

 six feet above the ground, on posts which are set upon stones, a 

 style of building which prevails without respect to situation ; 

 for it serves a good turn for defensive purposes, and affords 

 room for the pig-pens beneath. The shape is oval, and the palm- 

 thatched roof is very steep, and ridged instead of pointed. The 

 entrance opens into the principal apartment, which occupies a 

 middle position, with rooms at either end ; and all the rooms 



