.S- tF M A T E A. ^ 
veffels ; aid to the rivers being fmall and rapid, with fhallow bars, and 
ialmofl: ever a high furf. If yon afk the Lampoon people of thefe parts, 
^^vhere thcy originally came frorai they anfwer,from the hills, and point 
out an inland place near the great lake, from whence, they fay, thek 
forcfathers emigrated j and further than this it is impo/Eble to trace. 
They, of ail the Sumatrans, have the ftrongeft refemblance to the Chi- 
nefe, particularly in the roundnefs of face, and conflrudure of the eyes. 
They are al fo the faireft people of the ifland, and the women are the 
tallell^ and efte^med the moft handfome. 
Their language differs cihftderably from that of the Rejangs, and L^^uigi, 
the characters they uie are peculiar to themfclvcs; as may be obfervcd 
in the fpecimens exhibited* 
^'-.;5r.he titles/ of government are P anger m (from the Javam)^ dxrcm^ Goverameut, 
and Kiddimong or Nebcthee ; the latter nearly anfwerlng to dupatty among 
ihtRejmgs, The diftri6:of Croee^ near Mount P^gong^ Is governed by 
five head racn^. called Pangow-kernvj and a fixth, fiiperior, called by way 
.pf eminence^ f rng^f^^y but their authority is raid to be ufurpcd, and is 
.often difputed* wordj in common, Cgnifies a gladiator or prize 
fighter. Th^ pavgeran of Spoko^ in the bills, is computed to have four 
or five thoufand dependants^ and fonictimes, oq going a journey, he levies 
a tulkei or eighth part of.a dollar^ on each family ; which ihcws his an- 
thority to be more arbitrary, and probably more ftrldly feudal, than 
among the 12 f/jJ^^j, where the government is rather patriarchaL This 
difference has doubtlefs its fource in the wars and invafions to which 
the former people are expofed* 
The Javmfi banditti, as, has beeh obferved, often advance into Ihe w^^^^ 
country^ and col^imit depredations on the inhabitants^ who are not, in 
general, a match for them* They do not make ufe of fire arms, tfiough 
in the northern part of the iiland they are manufadured, Befide the 
xomraon weapons of the country, they fight with a long lance, which is 
^^rried by three men ; the foremoft guiding the point, and covering 
X X X himfelf 
