98 



AUSTRALASIA. 



cate a inixtiire of lime and gambir leaves {iincaria gamhir). They neither tattoo 

 the body nor practise circumcision, but mark the arrival of the youth at the state 

 of manhood by tiling their teeth. 



The industries are well developed, the men being skilful workers in iron and 

 jewellers, the women weavers and potters. They build elegant houses, some of 

 which resemble Swiss chalets, with two stories rising above a ground floor reserved 

 for the domestic animals. In some districts, when a man wants a house the whole 

 community lends a hand to build one, and in several places a number of families 



Fig. 37. — Lake Toba and the Batta Country. 

 Scale 1 : D^S.OOO. 



2° 



%^ 



"•9° Las'" or breenwich 



18 Miles. 



reside together under one roof, a sort of stronghold surrounded by palisades to 

 prevent surprises. Each village possesses a sort of "town-hall," where all- valu- 

 able objects are kept and where strangers are publicly entertained. Amongst the 

 most carefully preserved treasures are books and other records, carved on wood, or 

 inscribed on bark or leaves, for most of the Battas can read and write. But unlike 

 the coast Malays, who have adopted the Arabic characters, they still preserve the 

 old alphabet introduced by the Hindus, but written from right to left on smooth 

 bark, or from bottom to top on the bundles of reeds that constitute their archives. 



