SUMATRA. 157 
They eftimate the quantity of mofl fpscies of merchandize by what 
we call dry meafurc, the ufe of weights being apparently introduced 
among them by foreigners ; for the pead and catUe are ufed only on 
the fea coaft, and places which the Malays frequent*. The soalah qx 
bamboo, containing very nearly a gallon, is the general flandard of 
mealure among the Rejangs : of thefe eight hundred make a €&yan : the 
€hmpa is one quarter of a bamboo. By the bamboo almoft all articles, 
even elephants teeth, are bought and fold; but by a bamboo of ivory, 
they mean fq much as is equal in weight to a bamboo of rice. This 
ftill includes the idea of weight, but is not attended with their principal 
objection to that mode of afce rtainiflg quantity, which arifes, as they 
fay, from tiie impofiibility of jud;jiQg by the eye of the juftnefs 
of artificial weights, owing to> tiip various materials of which chey 
may be compofed, and which meafurement is not liable to. The 
meaftires of length here* as perhaps originally among every people upoa 
earth, are taken from the dimenfions of the human body. The rUppo^ 
or fathom, is the extent of the arms from each extremity of the fin- 
gers j t\iz ttio^ or cubit, is the forearm and hana: caht; is the foot: 
janca is the fpan^ and jarres^ which fjgnifiesa finger, is the inch. Thefe 
arc eflimated frofn the general proportions of middle ftzed men ; others 
making an allowance in meafuring; and not regulated by any exa<2: 
llandard. 
The ideas of Geography, amor^g flich of them as do not frequent the 
fea, are perfedl:ly confined, or ratber they entertain none. They know 
not that the counrry they inhabit is an ifland, nor have they any general 
name for it Habit renders them expert in travelling through the wood?, 
where they perform journeys of weeks and months without feeing a ha- 
bitation. In places little frequented, where ihey have occaiioo to lirtke 
mz new paths; for roads there are none; rhey make marks on trees for 
the future guidance of thcmfelves and others. I have heard a man fay, 
• Ttic/fn//is iiijlbi toQ caittet arc one pecul, eadi being eftifflated at a pound and a third. 
*^ I will 
Gcographyv- 
1 
