THE EASTERN ARCHIPELAGO. 



145 



other Sumatmn people they have developed a locnl eulture, and have 

 long hue ii Mohammedans*, writing their peculiar Malayan dialect with the 

 Arabic ehnnirtcrs. Thrir smitln-ni m^hbnur.s thu i?«/£u {Baltn, plural 

 JiitUftk), also continue to enjoy political autonomy, jitmI am- specially remark* 

 ablo as the nnly known people who, although umlnuU-d canail^ls, possess 

 a written language, They are a semi-civilised pagan nation, whose territory 

 liesi between Aehin on iln: north, ami the true Alalav lnmh '.-I -Sink jir:-l 

 Monciigkuhau on the. south, Their very peculiar culture semis to have 

 hud On earliest seat on the tulile-land of tjikc Tubah, and wit* evidently at 

 one Ciiiif ntfeoti'tl by llimlu inum.'Tlcr'S, n.s.sliitwn by srum- S.ittskrit elrmeiit.H 

 in their language, and by the written eluiractcr, obviously of Indian origin. 

 Their erinnilwli-'tTH, whieh in of a mild form, appears to be. a survival from 

 still more ancient times, connected probably with th« primitive rites of 

 their rude ancestry. 



Kxeladiiig the "Kuftus and some other little known wild trifafl t$M 

 iutvrior, all the other natives may Ui ivgarded as of pure Malay Ktnek, wHh 

 an ail mixture of Javanese blood, ea]»ceially in Falembang, Those of 

 Meniuitfkabau on the Wttrt coast ap]»e-ar to be the earliest distinctly Malay 

 people who developed a nUttOBtl eulture, and to this district many of the. 

 inhnbilautAof the rVnimuhi, of Homeo, and other parts of the Arelripefrigo* 

 directly trace their uYseeut. The m .op In id ,!><,, <>.i (Indragiri ami Juridd 

 basina", thone of Pahmbang (Musi ki-iii^, tin- K.jV.ii^s IWlIht Mmtli, and 

 the LampuugH in lhi> extreme south, arc also more or less civilised com- 

 munities, poaseasiun a knowledge of Utters with several jieeuliar writing 

 systems, and professing the Mohammedan religion. But, like their brethren 

 Lii the 1'eninsulu, they wcai to attach more, importance to the fhliti, or 

 national customs having the force of law, than to the prompts of the (»>orun. 

 Beneath an outward acceptance of Islam, shown especially in their leluc- 

 tant Friday attendance at the m^ues, they cherish numerous superstitions 

 surviving from llimlu and still older l'&gnti times, ami u belief in the 

 occult powers of nature is still universal The people of Kis&am in Paletn- 

 bang are even said to bo still pagans (Forbes), an J the richly decorated 

 "Balai/'or public assembly-room, r>.n-pi v. ms i:i . wry Pulcmkme; and 

 Lmipung village, is more highly venerated than the mosque itself. In the 

 rassuinab lambs Further north are some curious relies of a former culture, 

 huge monoliths carved in the likeness of human figures, with strange non- 

 Malay and non-Hindu features, although doubtfully ascri ho J hy svttw to 

 an Indian source, The present (jilmlntantH, who would be. quitu incapable 

 of executing such works, know nothing of their true origin, attributing 

 tllttn t«» certain mythical beings, who wandered over the land, turning all 

 their enemies into stone. They are probably the work of the same for- 

 gotten race, who executed somewhat similar monument* in Easter Island 

 and other places in the Pacific Ocean, 



Political Division*.— Willi the exception of Achin in the, 

 north, and the Batuv territory i?uuih uf it, the whole of Sumatra is 

 under Lhe direct or indirect control ■ : ill • DtttoiL All Qua .■■■iirln-rn 

 section, tw inv :m the d urn In river. ^m.l a broad tract tdotj[4 the vrnst 

 wast its fu as Sinket, In abuist T X, JaL, are compriwd witliin the 

 residencieSj or organised provinces dependent on the central govern- 



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