COTTON. 527 



Soutliern States. Having gathered it from tlie ripe 

 bolls, they take out the seeds hj running it between 

 two wooden or iron cylinders, which are made to re- 

 volve by a treadle, and are so near together, that 

 the seeds, which are saved for the next season, can- 

 not pass through. The fibres are very short, com- 

 pared to the average product raised in our country, 

 but it serves a good purpose here, where they make 

 it into a coarse thread, which they weave by hand 

 into a cloth for kabayas and chilanas. 



The marriage rites and laws here are nearly the 

 same as those I have already described at Taba Pa- 

 nanjong, except that the price of a bride here is just 

 that of a buffalo, or about eighty guilders (thirty-two 

 dollars). Unless a young man has a buffalo or other 

 possessions of equal value, therefore, he cannot pur- 

 chase a wife. Near Baruaiyu there is a peculiar peo- 

 ple known as the Rembang peoj)le, who live in four 

 or five villages at some distance from the river. They 

 are very willing to learn to read and write their own 

 language, l:>ut will not allow themselves to be taught 

 Dutch or Malay. Last night the river rose still 

 higher, and now it has overflowed its banks, which 

 appear much lower than they are between Lamat 

 and Muara Inem. During the day we have had 

 several showers. At 5 p. m. we arrived at Sungi 

 Rotan, the last village on the Lamatang before its 

 confluence with the Musi. It is a small and poor 

 village, the land here being generally too low for 

 rice, and the cocoa-nut palms yielding but little 

 compared to what they do higher up. Farther 

 down toward Palembang they yield still less. This 



