190 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGKAPHY AND TEAVEL 



say that the view equalled anything I ever saw in Java. 

 The scenery is more majestic and grand, the population 

 equally dense, the cultivation equally rich." The mar- 

 riage system is matriarchal, as indeed is occasionally, but 

 not habitually, the case among the Battaks. The hus- 

 band cannot choose his wife from his own kota, and when 

 married does not always reside with her. The children 

 belong to the mother, and must remain in her village. 

 Yet these customs, curiously enough, co-exist with the 

 religion of Mohammed, in the practice of which these 

 people are said to be more strict than is usual among 

 Malays. At the early part of this century a new religion 

 sprang up in Menangkabo — a noteworthy fact, as being 

 the only instance of the kind ever known in the archi- 

 pelago. The sect were known as the " Padris," from the 

 missionary zeal inspiring them ; or the " Orang puti" 

 or " white men," from the converts being dressed entirely 

 in white. They prohibited the use of opium, and pun- 

 ished with death all those found indulging in it; and 

 tobacco and betel were also forbidden. Every man 

 shaved his head and wore a skull-cap, and none was 

 permitted to converse with his neighbour's wife. The 

 women were- obliged to cover their faces with a white 

 cloth, having only two small holes for their eyes, and no 

 coloured garments of any description were allowed. The 

 reformers in time became conquerors, subduing a large 

 portion of the interior ; and it was through them, in- 

 directly, that the Dutch acquired possession of the 

 Menangkabo country. The neighbouring tribes appealed 

 to be protected from them, and the Netherlands troops 

 entered upon the campaign in 1837. It was not till 

 1840, however, that they were entirely subdued, and the 

 sect subsequently became extinct. It could only have 

 come into existence among the lax and easy-going 



