1891.] W. Doherty — The Biitterjiier, of Sumba and Samhawa, ^c. 147 



at Tabundung and one or two other exceptional places, they are wholly 

 trackless and serve as the boundaries of hostile tribes. West of Mandas, 

 the country appears to descend steeply into the Indian Ocean. This 

 slope was described to me as covered with high forest, with a heavy 

 rainfall* and a coast so stormy as to be inaccessible during the greater 

 part of the year. The height of the tableland of the Kambera is 

 usually about 1500-2000 feet ; the hill at Pada Dalung must be about 

 2500 feet above the sea. The climate of this region is delicious. South- 

 east and north-west the country rises, and by its upward trend conceals 

 whatever high mountains may be in that direction. The great isolated 

 massif of Tabundung, covered with high forest, lies south of Pada 

 Dalung, and must be about 4000 feet high. East of this is the unknown 

 tana maringu (cold country) of Masu, which lies back of Melolo, and is 

 sacred ground. I^o war may be fought there, and the buffalo and horse 

 have run wild, since those that escaped thither might not be caught and 

 brought back. Masu is the Olympus of the Sumbanese, regarded as 

 the original home of their ancestors, and the place whither their own 

 souls shall go after death.f 



West of Pada Dalung the country again rises, and beyond Lewa 

 Paku (^Old Lewa, the original demesne of the present king of Lewa, who 

 now owns all the middle part of the interior plateau), and the sources 

 of the Kambera, lies another " cold country," probably of considerable 

 height and extent. This is inhabited by rude mountain tribes, not yet 

 visited either by Europeans or by the Arab and Bugis traders. West 

 of Perwatana and Anakala, on the border of this region, which is called 

 by the general name of Wayewa, lies a great forest, and then comes 

 Kodi, beyond which the land sinks precipitously into the sea near 

 Graura or Garu. 



A volcano has been said to exist near Tarimbang on the south- 

 western coast. But some people of that state told me this was quite 

 untrue. However, the mountain of Tabundung, which I did not succeed 

 in reaching, may possibly be of volcanic origin. This district, though 

 rather out of the way, seems to be the best accessible collecting-ground 

 on the island. 



* In Java and all the islands to the east of it, with the possible exception of 

 Timor, the rainfall is far greatest on the southern and south-western sides. Thus 

 at T^ilatjap (south coast of Java) the rainfall is 170 inches, at Surabaya 65. At 

 Bima in Sambawa it is 38 inches. At Waingapu in Sumba it can hardly be more 

 than 20, while at Pada Dalung it must be fully 100 inches. 



t The Muhammadans of Sambawa, call their Heaven by the Sanskrit name 

 Sorga (Swarga), and, I believe, say it lies in some distant mountains to the westward, 

 perhaps a idea derived from the Hindus of Java. Hell is called Anaraka. 



