820 ON THE LANGUAGES AND llTERATURfc 



ncse, Batta, and Bugis tribes, among whom the 

 polished style, and elevated sentiments, of many of 

 their compositions, and their dexterity in some of the 

 arts, especially the compounding and working of 

 metals form a singular contrast with the neglect of 

 personal morality and the relaxation of all the bonds 

 of society ; while ancient and wise regulations are in 

 a great measure superseded by the most absurd and 

 barbarous usages. Among the most barbarous of the 

 Harafora and Papua races, there are some, who 

 whether male or female, use no species of cloathing 

 whatsoever, and consequently exhibit few traces of 

 that modesty which is supposed to be innate in the 

 human species. The same phgenomenon, whether 

 natural or produced b}^ situation, is exhibited among 

 the Biajus, the families of whom live constantly 

 together, on the sea, in small boats. Vestiges of 

 cannibalism appear to exist among the greater part 

 of the rude tribes in the eastern isles, but the Battas 

 of Sumatra^ who are superior to the Malays in the 

 knowledge of the arts and letters, have likewise pre- 

 served it; as well as the Tabimka tribe in Celebes, 

 Of many of the most absurd, unnatural, and barba- 

 rous of their usages, it is obviously impossible to form 

 a just opinion in the present state of our knowledge, 

 as we are totally ignorant of the spirit of them, and 

 of the system of opinions with which they are con- 

 nected. Some of them may find a parallel in India 

 and China ; and it may be observed, that both the 

 /«^zV/?zand the //2^o-C//w?e5e monuments contain many 

 allusions to a state of society and manners on the con- 

 tinent, similar to that which subsists among the most 

 babarous of the tribes of the eastern isles. Perhaps, 

 too, we shall be disposed to regard, with some degree 

 of complacency, the most absurd and the most illiberal 

 portions of the religious systems of Brahma and 



