NATIVES OF THE PIQI IHLANDa 



483 



usual food at home was sago, boiled in salt water, 

 and covered mth grated cocoa-nut. Wlien tbe gov- 

 ernor gave the man a fowl, and a.sked him t-o cook it 

 after his own fashion, he built a small fire in the 

 back yard, and, as soon aa it was well blazing, tied 

 the bird's wings and legs, and thrust it alive into 

 the flames, in order to bum off the feathers. The 

 governor provided them with many presents for 

 their rajahs and friends, and, at the &st oppor- 

 tuuity, sent them back to their islands. Soon after 

 their return, another native came to Padang in the 

 same way. He was there when I came back from 

 the interior, and, at the governor's invitation, he 

 made us a visit. He was of the pui e Malay type, 

 not differing to a marked degi'ee in stature or general 

 proportions from the Sumatran Malays who came 

 mth him. His l>reast and aljdomen and the backs 

 of his hands were tattooed. Both sexes are orna- 

 mented in this way. The process is begun ^'hen 

 they are six or seven yeai's old, and continued at in- 

 tervals for a long time. This man said that each 

 village had a style of its own. It is done with a 

 sharpened copper vnre, and the substance pricked in 

 is said to be the smoke of a gum, mingled with the sap 

 of some plant, as the juice of the sugai'-eane. He had 

 no idea of the origin of this custom ; nor of its use, 

 except to distinguish the people of the various vil- 

 lages. 



Some time before I set out on my last journey, the 

 governor had offered to give me a small gun-boat, 

 somewhat lai^er than a i>ilot-boat, but manned with 

 nearly twenty Malays, to go off to these islands, tak- 



