54 SUMATRA. 
L-t«.n]s. They have a little coarfe china, imported by the Bugguefs praws, 
which is held as matter of luxury- In cooking they employ a kind of 
irofi veffel, well known in India by the name of qualke or tauch, refembl- 
mg in fhape the pans ufed in fome of our manufactures, having the rim 
wide, and bottom narrow, Thefe are Ukewife brought from the eaftward. 
Thtpneo m^bei&ngo^ fpeciesof earthen pipkins, are in more common ufe, 
being made in fmall quantities in different parts of the iiland, particu- 
larly in Lampoon, where they give them a fort of glazing; but the 
greater number of them are imported from Bantam. The original 
Sumatran veffcl for boiling tlcc, and which is ftill much ufed for 
that purpofe, is the bambm-y that material of general utility, with 
which bountiful nature has f applied an indolent people. By the 
time the rice is drefTed, the utenfil is nearly deftroyed by the fire; but 
refifts the flame fo long as there is moifture within. 
Fires. Fire being wanted among thefe people but occafionally, and only 
when they cook their viduals, there is not much attention paid, in 
their buildings, to providing conveniencies for it. Their houfcs have no 
chimneys, and their fire places arc no more than a few loofe bricks, or ftones, 
difpofed in a temporary manner, and frequently on the landing place 
before the doors. The fuel made ufe of is wood alone; the coal which 
the ifland produces, never being converted by the inhabitants to that 
purpofe. The flint and fteel for ftriking fire, are common in the country, 
but it is a praiftice certainly borrowed from fome other people, as that 
fpecies of ftone is not, I believe, a native of the foiL Thefe generally 
form part of their travelling apparatus, and efpccially with thofe men 
called reejlws (fpendthrifts that turn freebooters), who find themfelves 
often obliged to take up their habitation in the woods, or in deferted hou- 
MoiJeof kin J. ^^^y frequently kindle fire, from the friaion of two flicks. 
ling them. They chufe a piece of dry, jwous wood, and cutting fmooth a fpot of it, 
lay it in an horizontal direction. They then apply a frnaller piece, of a 
harder lubftance, with a blunt point, in a perpendicular pofition, and turn 
it quickly round, between the two hands, as chocolate is milled, prelTing 
it downwards at the fame time. A hole is foon formed by this motion 
of 
