MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES, 115- 



TOBA, SuMATfiA. 



From a detailed description of High Toba, in the Batak 

 Country, appearing in the Sumatra Courant of the 4th April, 

 the following particulars were recently translated in the Straits 

 Times. Since the Military operations of the Dutch from Sing- 

 kel, some accurate information has, for the first time, been ob- 

 tained regarding these interesting districts, hitherto a fen a in- 

 cognita even to the Dutch themselves. 



" High Toba, which is at present so much talked of on the 

 coasts, is a table land, situated between the 2nd and 3rd degrees 

 of North Latitude and between the 98th and 99th degrees of 

 East Longitude from Greenwich. It is generally an extensive 

 steppe country covered almost every where with thickly grow- 

 ing lallang and intersected by clefts from 200 to 300 rhine-Iaud 

 feet deep. In the plain the Tobanese cultivates dry rice and 

 ubi. In tilling, he makes^ use of an efficient plough drawn by 

 one or two buffaloes. In the clefts which usually abound in 

 water, many promising Sawah fields are met with. Excepting 

 maize, gambier, pisang, and some other fruits, no produce is, 

 however, found, even fire wood is very scarce. Notwithstanding 

 this scarcity the soil cannot be termed unfertile, it being almost 

 every where covered with a thick layer of humus. But mutual 

 divisions among the people and mutual hatred prevent joint 

 efforts to irrigate the land by canals from the Batang Taro river 

 which rises there. High Toba being about 3000 feet above the 

 sea level, the temperature is very moderate and may sometimes 

 be even termed cold. In the shade the thermometer barely 

 rises to 20° Reaumur, and early in the morning it falls to 12° 

 R. The populations of High Toba, who iu manners, customs, 

 several of their general laws, and certain pecularities of character 

 form a whole, may be divided amongst inhabited places lying 

 1 to 2 hours from each other; or if preferable, amongst districts 

 containing 20, 30, or -10 villages close together. On the other 

 hand, on the shores of the Toba lake, 1,000 villages containing 

 300,000 souls at least can be seen at a glance. A traveller com- 

 ing from the south can see the lake lying 1,500 to 2,000 feet 

 below him, the panorama being an impressive one, assuredly too 

 grand for cannibals like the Bataks. Even Switzerland with its 

 abundance of lakes need not be ashamed to include that blue mir- 

 ror in its landscapes. The Toba lake is fed by a great number of 

 streams which flow into it from all sides, chiefly from the north. 

 It has a considerable outlet on the east. It lies from east to north 

 west, being about 10 hours long and 1 broad, with a breath of 6* 

 hours to the north west. In the middle there is, however, a 



