INHABITANTS OF SUMATEA. 



97 



Fis. 36.— Oeaxg Atjeh 



dant liair and beard than the Malays of the coastlands, while the intervening 

 populations present every shade of transition between the two extremes. Although 

 the national name has been referred to the Sanskrit Bhâta, or " Savage," they 

 must nevertheless be regarded as a civilised people, bearing even some resemblance 

 in their carriage and features to their former Hindu instructors. But Indian 

 influences, still active in mediajval times, have been for the most part gradually 

 replaced bv those of the Mohammedan Malays, and especiallj" of the northern 

 A Chinese. Some Christian missionaries, especially Germans, have also been at 

 work amongst them, 

 but with little result 

 beyond the spread of 

 scepticism at the spec- 

 tacle of so many con- 

 flicting religions. 



In 1867 the Euro- 

 peans first penetrated 

 to Lake Toba, the 

 heart of the Batta 

 country. But when 

 their visit was re- 

 newed six years later, 

 a national council was 

 held to discuss the 

 question whether the 

 punishment of death 

 should not be inflicted 

 on the strangers by 

 whom their " holy 

 land " had been dese- 

 crated. Now, however, 

 they have grown ac- 

 customed to the ap- 

 pearance of the whites, 

 and no longer throw 

 any obstacles in the 



way of their explorations. In 1883 the communities dwelling on the south side 

 of Lake Toba were even obliged to yield submission to the Dutch arms. 



Despite these foreign Hindu, Moslem, and Christian influences, the Batta 

 civilisation still preserves some remarkable original features. xVlthough engaged, 

 like their neighbours, with tillage, cultivating both rice and maize, they are specially 

 distinguished as stockbreeders, and possess numerous herds of horses and buffaloes, 

 besides goats and swine. These are fattened for the national feasts, the ordinary 

 diet being limited to fruits, corn, and roots. The islanders eschew the use of 

 betel, so dear to the other Malays, but they are great tobacco-smokers, and masti- 

 '7—0 



