148 
SUMATRA. 
Silk and cotton cloths, of varied colors, manufa£lured by themfelves, 
are worn by the natives in all parts of the country ; efpecially by the 
women* Some of their work is very fine, and the patterns prettily fan- 
cied* Their loom or apparatm for weaving (jtmnone) b extremely de- 
fcdive, and renders their progrefs tedious. One end of the warp being 
made faft to a frame, the whole is kept tight, and the web ftretched out 
"by means of a fpecies of yoke, which fattens behind the body, as the 
perfon weaving fits down. Every fccond of the longitudinal threads, 
paffes feparatel}^ through a fet of reeds, like the teeth of a comb, and 
the alternate ones through another fet» Thcfe are forced home at each 
return of the fiiuttle, rendering the warp clofe and even. The alternate 
threads of the warp crofs each other, up and down, to admit the Ihuttle, 
not from the extremities, as in our looms, nor effected by the feet, 
but by turning edge ways two flat flicks which pafs through. The 
fhuttle (Uorahy is a hollow reed, about fixteen inches long, generally 
ornamented on the outfide, and clofcd at one end, having in it a fmall 
bit of flick, on which is rolled the woof or Ihoot, The filk clouts have 
ufually a gold head. They ufe fometimes another kind of loom, flill 
more fimple than this, being no more than a frame iu which the warp is 
fixed, aud the woof darned with a long, fmall pointed ihuttle. They 
-make ufe of a machine for fpinning the cotton very like ours. The 
women are expert at embroidery, the gold and filver thread for which, is 
procured from China, as well as their needles. For common work, 
their thread is the pc&lay before mentioned, or filaments of the ^efang 
Different kinds of earthenware, I have elfewhere obferved, are ma- 
fadurcd on the ifiand. 
perfumes. They have a practice of perfuming their hair with oil of benjamin, 
which they diftill themfelves from the gum, hy a procefs doubtlefs of 
their own invention. In procuring it, zpraoo^ or earthen rice pot, co- 
vered clofe, is ufcd for a retort. A fmall bamboo is inferted in the fide 
«f the veffcl, and well luted with clay and aflieSj from which the oil 
drops 
