i ee o TH !'‘]___ = 
0 TAE TAE MESSER TN 
about twelve thousand bags 
MEMOIR OF THE LATE MR. WILLIAM JACK. 
ation, that ** when unadorned, adorned the 
most,” and it is, perhaps, better policy to 
leave a good deal to the imagination. 
“The houses are built of wood, in a 
very substantial and commodious manner, 
and are in general of large size. They are 
raised upon large mirban or iron-wood 
timbers, and the walls are made to lean 
E at the upper part. In the north- 
rn part of the island, they are gene- 
rally built detached from each other, the 
whole wall leans outwards, and the ends 
are rounded; in the southern districts, 
the houses are built close together, in re- 
gular streets, narrow in the front, but of 
great depth, and having only the two end 
walls leaning outwards. The entrance is 
by a trap-door, and a ladder in the centre. 
The hall, or public apartment, is spacious, 
and looks out upon the street. The walls 
are frequently pannelled, and the floor is 
often constructed of broad planks of Bakou 
(a species of Rhizophora), which are dark- 
coloured in the centre, and white at the 
sides, the line of separation between the 
two colours being abrupt. They are nicely 
fitted to each other, so as to have some- 
what the appearance of alternate slabs of 
ifferent coloured marbles. On the rafters 
above, are suspended, in one line, all the 
porcelain of the family, each plate in its 
own wicker case, and sometimes amount- 
ing to a few hundreds; on another, the 
Jaw-bones of the hogs that have been 
killed on great festivals; the numbers of 
both these are indicative of the wealth of 
the owners. are an important part 
of the domestic establishment, and are the 
Most general food of the inhabitants. They 
are not suffered to be in their houses or 
Villages, but large substantial buildings 
are constructed for them at a little dis- 
ns and certain of the slaves are speci- 
(ally appointed to the care of them. They 
fed on cocoa-nuts, boiled rice, and 
potatoe s. Rice is the staple 
of the country, to the extent of 
wn both in ladangs and in sawahs, but 
| itis remarkable, that it is very little used 
by e people themselves, who chiefly 
139 
subsist on sweet potatoes, and other fari- 
naceous roots, along with pork and poul- 
try. Neither buffaloes, cattle, nor horses, 
are indigenous to the island, though a 
very few have, here and there, been im- 
ported by Malays, who have settled at 
some of the northern qualloes. "There is 
a good deal of difference between the 
people of the northern half of the island 
and those of the southern. The former 
bave intermixed more with the Malays 
and Achinese, while the latter jealously 
exclude all such strangers from settling 
among them, and are therefore, perhaps, 
the more genuine and original of the two. 
* Marriage by jujur is universal, and the 
amount is very high, varying according to 
the rank of the parties, from sixty or se- 
venty to five hundred dollars, and is, for 
the most part, paid in gold. It is remark- 
able, that, in all countries where the cus- 
tom of jujur strictly prevails, that female 
honour is carefully guarded, and that great 
purity of morals is observed. It is easily 
accounted for, from its being so much the 
interest of parents to preserve the virtue 
of their children; and, however contrary 
to oür notions this purchase of wives may 
be, and, whatever other inconveniences 
may attend the custom, it cannot be greatly 
condemned where it has been productive 
of the effect of raising the female charac- 
ter. These people have never ado 
the Mussulman idea of preserving the 
chastity of their women by immuring them 
in harems, and degrading them to the con- 
dition of slaves; they have trusted to the 
strictness of education, and to moral re- 
straints early inculcated, and in the effect 
of these, they have not been deceived. 
The laws of Nias, in regard to adultery, 
are very severe, the punishment being ca- 
pital. Adultery, murder, and robbery, en- 
tail sentence of death upon the offender, 
and, in certain cases, slavery upon his fa- 
mily. Sometimes, remission of the sen- 
tence can be obtained by the payment of 
a bangun of twenty-four pahas of gold, or 
one hundred and twenty dollars. The 
number of wives, which a man may have, 
is only limited by his — but few, 
