SUMATRA, 
239 
Is more common among the Muhys, than in the country. The chief 
weapons of offence ufed by thefe people, are the cqojsot or lance, and the 
ire^e. This kft is properljr Malay, buc in all parts of the iiland, they 
have a weapon equivalent ; though in general lefs curious in their ftruc- 
ture, wanting that waving in the blade, for which the crecfe is remark- 
able, and approaching nearer to daggers or knives* 
Among their exercifes we never obferve jumping or running. They 
fmile at the Europeans, who, in their excuriions, take fb many unnecef- 
fary leaps- The c\iftom of going barefoot, may be a principal impedi- 
ment to this pradtice, in a country overrun with thorny flirubs 1 and 
where no fences render it a matter of expediency* 
They have a diverfion fimilar to that defcribcd by Homer, as pradifed ^IJ^^i^jf. 
aiiiongft the Phoeecians, which confifts in taJTing an elaftic, wicker 
ball, from one to the other, ia a large party* They arrive to a great de- 
gree of dexterity in the fport, receiving it, with equal facility, on the 
foot or hand,, the heel or the roe; from whence it is thrown either per- 
pendicukrly into the air, and caught again, or obliquely to fomc other 
perfon of the company, who ftand in an extended circle. It is to be re- 
marked that the Siimatrans are, in general, very expert in the ufe of their 
feet, employing them, as their bands, to lift any thing, not heavy, 
from the ground, betw-een the great and fecond toe, or by a contradlioa. 
of the whole foot. 
The Sumatrans, aiid more panicukrly the Malays,, are much at- Smokhg ©f 
tachcd, in common with many other eaftern people, to the cuflom of ^P'""*' 
fmoking apum. The poppy which produces it, not growing on tbeifland, 
it is annually imported from Bengal in coniiderablc quaoiities,. in chclU 
containing an hundred and forty pounds each. It is made up in cakes of 
five or fix pound weighr, and packed w^ith dried, leaves ia which litui.- 
t ion it will contmue good and vaJuable for two years, but alter that pe- 
riod grows har^j and diminiihes confiderably in value. It is of a darken 
P p p color^ 
