9. Vr M A T It 4. 
river, acpordiog to their regyUr cuftom, and which the perpetijal evi- 
dence of the riik attending it, cannot deter them from. A iuperftitious 
idea of their fan£tity alfo, preferves them from moleftation, although, 
with a hook of fufficient ftrength, they may be taken without much dif- 
ficulty. A mulket ball appears to have no effe<5l upon their impcnetrar 
bie hides. 
Befides the common methods of taking fifti ; of which the feas that Fitog. 
wa<h the coafts of Sumatra aiFord an extraordinary variety and abundance; 
the natives employ a mode, unpraftifed, I apprehend, in any part of 
Europe. They ileep the root of a certain creeping plant, called U^hy 
of ftrong narcotic qualities, in the water where the fifh are obferved, 
which produces fuch an eife^, that they become intoxicated and to ap- 
pearance dead, float on the furface of the water, and are taken with the 
hand. This is generally made \ife of in the bafons of water, formed by 
"the ledges of coral rock, which, having no outlet, are left full when the 
tide has ebbed,* Birds, particularly the plover (chL-rooUng) and quails 
(pccyoa), are caught by fnares or fpringes laid for them in the grafs. Bird catching, 
Thcfc are of ejoo, which refembles horfehair, many fathoms in length, 
and difpofcd in fuch a manner that their feet get entangled ; for which 
purpofe they are gently drove towardi the fnares. In forae parts of the 
country they make ufe of elafp nets, I never obferved a Sumatran to 
fire a fhot at a bird, though many of them, as well as the more eafterh 
people, have a remarkable fine aim ; but the mode of letting off the 
matchlocks, which are the pieces moft habitual to them, precludes the 
poffibility of ihooting %ing* Gunpowder 19 manufaftured in various Gunpowder, 
parts of tbeifiand, but Icfsin the country I am more particularly fpeak- 
* lo Captain Cook's fccond voyage ia a plate reprtfentiDg a plaut ufed far ilie iatne pujpofc at 
Otaheiic, which is t\vt exad dclijieaiioa of one whofe appeamBce I am well acquainted with oa Su- 
aiatra, and which aboundt in man; parts of the beach; but tjiough its qualities be Gmilar to 
thofe of the r^^iffj the latter is a dilerent plant, being a vine or creeper. In Soutli Ameriea alfo, 
we art^ infoimcd, the inhabitants procure ££b fifcer this extiaordtnary mi^nner, employing thr«e 
differenc kind of plants j but whether any of them be the iamc wilh that of 0 taheice or Sutnatrf, 
I im ignoFiWt. 
Q^q ing 
