66 
S U M A T R A* 
tied up in a little Ihcaf, and thrown into a baiket, which they carry for 
th€ purpafe, either by their fide, or flung on their back, with the ftrbg 
or ftrap acrofs the forehead. The quantity of paddee which they caa 
grafp In both hands, whilft thus in the ear, is Md to be equal to a bacQ' 
boo (gallon) when threfhed outj and is often fold by that eftin:iation. 
Different nations have adopted various methods of fcpa rating the 
Threihiiig. gtain from the ear. The moft ancient we read of, was that of driving 
cattle over the flieaves, in order to trample it out. Large planks ; blocks 
of marble ; heavy carriages ; have been employed in later times tor this 
end. In moft parts of Europe the flail is now in ufe. The Suiiiatrans 
have a mode different from all thefe. The paddee in the ear being 
fpread on mats in their barns, they rub It out with their feet; fupport- 
ing themfelves, for the more eafy performance of their labor^ by hold- 
ing with their hands a bamboo placed acrofs, over their heads* AU 
though by going always unihod, their feet are extremely callous, and 
therefore in fome degree adapted to this work, yet the workmen, when 
clofely talked by their maftcrs, ibmetimes continue fliuffling 'till the 
blood iffues from their folcs. This is the univerfal pradice throughout 
the ifland* 
A laddang, in any of the diflridts that lie near the fea coafl, cannot 
be ufed two following feafons, though a fawoor may ; yet in the inland 
country, where the temperature of the air is more favorable to Dgritulture, 
they have been known to fow the fame ground, three fucceiEve yearfk 
It is common there alfo to plant a crop of onions, fo foon as the ftubble 
is burned Millet is fown at the lame time with the paddee. 
In the country of Manna, a progrcfs in the art of cultivation is dif- 
covered^ fv3perior to what appears in almoft any other part of the ifland; 
among the Battas perhaps alone excepted. Her-e the traveller may ob- 
ferve pieces of land, in fize from five to fifteen acres, regularly ploughed 
and harrowed, I fhall endeavour to account for this difference. Manna 
is much the moft populous diftrid to the fouthward, with the liijalkft 
extent 
