SUMATRA, 
punctilio m manners. It occafions him infinite embarralFmcQt, when a 
ftranger, unacquainted with their cuftoms* requires it of hitii. As foon 
as he recovers from his confufion, he folicits the inter pofmon of his 
neighbour- He is never addreffed; except in tlie cafe of a fupcrior die- 
AJ^refs in tiiii tatmg to his dependant: in the fccond perfon, but always in the third; 
thud per/oQ. . . 
uung his name, or title, inftead of the pronoun j and whenthefe areun* 
known, a general title of refpc*ft is fubflitutcd, and they fay, for inftance, 
apQ vrmig cayo po&nia fiacof" what is his honor's pleafure" for ** what 
is your J or your Honor's pleafurc." When criminals, or other ignomi- 
nious perfons, are fpoken to, they niake ufe^f pronouns perfonal, both 
mafculine and feminine " f jw") particularly exprelBve of con- 
tempt. The idea of difrefpeft annexed to the ufe of the fecond perfon, 
in difcourfe, though difficult to be accounted for, feems pretty general 
in the world, T)xc Europeans, to avoid the fuppofed indecorum, ex- 
change the Angular number for the plural ; but I think, witt lefs pro- 
priety of effed than the Afiatic mode; if to take off from the bluntnefs 
of addrefs, be the objed aimed at. ^ 
Cirairacifioft. r^j^^ ^^^^ cjrcumclfed, where Mahometanifm prevails, between the 
fixth and tenth year. The ceremony is called hooang mahQ (cafting away 
their flvame), and a himbang is uCually given on the occafion ; as well as 
at the ceremony of boring their daughters ean, and filing their teeth, 
(before defcribed), which takes place at about the fame age; and be- 
ibre which is performed, they cannot, with propriety, be married. 
Funerals* At their funeral the corpfc is carried to the place of interment, on a 
Tjroad plank, which is kept for the public ferrice of the doofoon^ and 
lafts for many generations. It is conflantly rubbed with lime, either to 
prefer ve it from decay, or to keep it pure. No coffin is made ufe of / 
the body being fimply wrapped in white cloth, particularly of the fort 
called bummums^ In forming the grave, after digging to a convenient 
depth, they make a cavity in the fide, at bottom, of fufiicient dinien- 
fions to contain the body ; by which means the earth lirerally lies light 
upon it; and this cavity^ after Ibrewing flowers in ir, they flop up by two 
bo^rdSf 
