198 COMPENDILFM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL 



is about 8 miles in length, and has an area of over 1700 

 square miles, and as its population has been estimated at 

 about a quarter of a million, it is evidently thickly in- 

 habited. The people of the south differ essentially from 

 those of the north. They are taller and more robust, their 

 hair is more curly, and their cheek-bones more promi- 

 nent, and they exhibit a fierceness and irritability quite 

 foreio;n to the milder inhabitant of the north. Each 

 village appears to be at v^^ar with its neighbours, and the 

 people are confirmed head-hunters. The houses are very 

 skilfully constructed, and are raised on stout piles 12 or 

 15 feet from the ground, partly, it is said, on account of 

 the earthquakes, which are both frequent and violent, but 

 partly as a means of defence. They are oval in shape, 

 and are often decorated with human heads, examples of 

 the prowess of the owner against some neighbouring 

 tribe. The Mas people, in spite of their barbarism, are 

 good handicraftsmen, weaving cotton stuffs, forging 

 weapons, and working in copper and gold. Their agri- 

 culture is also good, the art of irrigation is understood, 

 they make excellent roads, and have domestic animals, 

 using oxen for ploughing. Eude attempts at carving are 

 common, and statues of their deities adorn the villages, 

 for the people are not Mohammedans, but pure pagans 

 like the Battaks, of whom they are supposed by some to 

 be an offshoot. Formerly a great trade in slaves was 

 carried on, the Mas women being celebrated for their 

 beauty, and even now the coast Malays of the mainland 

 try to obtain them as wives. The island produces large 

 quantities of coco-nut oil, but in this respect is sur- 

 passed by the Nacco group of islets off its western coast, 

 which Signor Modigliani describes as presenting the 

 appearance of vast gardens of coco-palms, intermingled 

 with plantations of rice and sweet potatoes. 



