1891.] W. Dolierty — The Bidterjiies of Sumba and Samhawa, Sfc. 151 



tortoises, prawns, ships, men, deer, etc., but all so conventional in form 

 and so harmoniouslj arranged that the efEect is good. The men also 

 make nets and ropes, both of excellent quality and largely exported, 

 and at Kadungu (Memboro) good pottery is made. The chief exports 

 are horses, slaves and edible birds-nests. 



There are three castes of Sumbanese, the maremha or lords, the 

 Jcahisu or freeborn citizens, and the toioata or slaves, the latter being the 

 most numerous. 



The ruling classes marry chiefly among themselves, and are inter- 

 related in a most puzzling fashion. Marriages are arranged by the 

 parents, and are of two kinds. If the wife is bought, whether with 

 money or with service, she enters her husband's tribe. In this case 

 she is his property, and he can kill her if he likes. If he pays nothing, 

 he enters her tribe ; but this is less usual. Polygamy is not common, 

 but if a man's sisters-in-law remain unmarried, I believe they are 

 after a time considered as his wives. The Sumba women make faithful 

 wives, but before marriage incontinence is universal, and every girl, 

 slave or princess, has her price. Infanticide and abortion are very 

 common, and it is probably largely for this reason that the population 

 is not increasing. Islam always, and Christianity often check this evil, 

 so that the population is large and increasing in Muhammadan Ende 

 and Sambawa, and again in Christian Roti and Solor. The old are 

 treated with great respect. The Sumbanese struck me as a brave, 

 honest and truthful people. But they are too proud to work for others, 

 and will never become a thriving agricultural race like the Javanese. 



Exogamy is usual, and the rules of intermarriage are often incon- 

 veniently complicated. For instance, I hear that Kanata men can 

 marry only Lakoka women, and Lakoka men only Soru women. Now 

 Lakoka* and Soru are small independent states in the interior, while 

 Kanata (or Lubu) is fifty miles away on the coast of the Taimanu state. 



Apart from the wars of extermination waged now and then by the 

 great chiefs, disputes are continually going on between neighbouring 

 tribes, generally concerning boundaries, horses, or women. They are 

 usually settled without much bloodshed in the following manner. The 

 men meet in a meadow, and form two lines on horseback. Then the 

 chiefs recite war-songs, and make speeches, and the two sides exchange 



* In 1886, shortly before my visit, the king of Lewa sacked Lakoka, in alliance 

 with the Ende slavers. The men were killed, the king took the horses, and the 

 women and children were carried oif to Floras as slaves. This is the usual way in 

 which the Endinese do business. It is to be hoped that the Dutch troo]Js now in 

 Flores will put an end to this murderous little state. Its supremacy in this i*eo'iou 

 ia owing to its possession of ships and rifles, of which the Sumbauese have uoue. 



