SUMATRA, 
obliged to give between them^ a buffaloc and rke^to remove the ftaini 
which ceremony is here called haffjng kora. If the woman does not dif- 
cover by whom Ihe is become pregnant, Ihe muti pay the whole fine. 
This regulation has much fever ity, and falls particularly hard on the 
girl's father, who not only has his daughter fpoilcd, but muft alfo pay 
iaEgely for her frailty. To the northward, the offence is not punilhed 
with fo much rigor, yet the inltanct^s are there faid to be rarer, and mar- 
riage is more ufually the confcqucnce In other refpeds the cuftoms 
of Paffummah and Reja/ig are the fame, in thcfe matter-?. 
Rites of mar- The rites of marriage, meka, (from the Arabian word) conM fimply 
in joining the hands of the parties, and pronouncing them man and wifc» 
without much ceremony, excepting the entertainment which is given on 
the occafion. This is performed by one of the fathers, or the chief of 
the doofoon, according to the original cuftoms of the country, but where 
Mahometaaifra has found its way, a padre or immum execute? the bu- 
fincfs, 
Comtiliip. ^^"^^ apparent courtiliip precedes their marriages. THeir man- 
ners do not admit of it. The hoejong and gnddees (youths of each fex) 
being carefully kept afunder, and the latter feldom trufted from under 
the wing of their mothers. Fcfides, courcfhip, with ue, includes the idea 
of humble entreaty on the man's fide, and favor and cond'efcention on the 
part of the woman, who beftows perfon and property, for love. The 
Sumatran, on the conrnir}^ when he fixes his choice, and pays all that he 
is worth, for the object of it, may naturally confider the obligation on his 
fide. But ft ill they are not without gallantry. They prcferve a de- 
gree of delicacy and rcfped towards the fex, which might juftify their 
retorting on many of the poliflied nations of antiquity, the epbithet of 
barbarians. The opportunities which the young people have, of feeing 
and converfing with each other, are at the himbangs^ or public feftivals, 
held at the baUiy or town hall of tlie doofoon. Oh thefe occafions the 
unmarried people meet together, and dance and fing in company. It 
may befuppofed that the young ladies cannot be long without their par- 
ticular 
