S U M A T R A, 159 
dnguifhed by them. They notice, however, the planet Veuus, but do 
Dot imagine her to be the fame at the different periods of her revolution ; 
when fhe precedes the riiing and follows the fetting fun. They arc 
aware of the night on which the new moon Ihould make it's appear- 
ance, and the Malays falute it with the difcharge of guns. They alfb 
know when to expert the returns of the tideSj which are at their height, 
on the weft coaft, when that luminary is in the horizon, and ebb as it 
rifes. When they obferve a bright ftar near the moon, they are appre- 
hend ve of a ftorm; as European failors foretell a gale from the Iharp- 
ncfs of her horns. 7 hefe are both, in part) the confcqucnces of an 
unufual clearnefs in the air ; which proceeding from an exrraordinary 
alteration of the ftate of the acmofphere, muft naturally be followed by 
a violent ruihing of the circumjacent parts, to reftore the equilibrium; 
and thus prove a prognoftic of high wind. During an eclipfe they 
make a loud nolfe with founding inftrumentSj to prevent one luminary 
from devouring the other, as the Chinefe, to frighten away the dragon. 
They tell of a man in the moon, who is continually employed in fpin- 
ning cotton, but that every night a rat gnaws his thread, and obliges 
him to begin his work afrelh. This they apply as an emblem of end- 
iefs and incfFed:ual labor, like the ftone of Sijypbus^ and the lieves of 
the Danaidiu 
Hiftory and chronology they are entirely without ; the memory of ali 
paft events being preferved by tradition only* 
They are fond of mufic, and have many inl^ruments in ufe among 
,tkem, but few, upon enquiry, appear to be original, being mollly bor- 
rowed from the Chinefe and other more eaflern people; particularly the 
the caHfitangi gong^ and foolee?!* The violin has found it*s way to them 
from the we ft ward. The cdtntmg refembles the ftoccaJo and the har- 
monica; the more common ones having the crofs pieces; which are 
ftruck with two little hammers ; of fplit bamboo, and the more perfect, 
of a certain compofition of metal which is very fonorous. The gof/gs, 
a kind of bell, but differing much in fiiape, and ftruck on the outfidr, 
S s arc 
