SUMATRA. 
by^ people from Malacca^ It does not feem probabkj or coniiftent with 
the gerteral courfe of Malay colonization, that they fhould have fubdued 
an inland country ; being found, in every ifland whither they have had 
accefs, fettled uniformly on the Tea coafts only ; to which they arc na- 
turally confined by their invariable attachment to trade and piracy* 
Cauftsofthe Perhaps it is lefs furprizing'that this one kingdom fhould have been 
compleatly converted to the Mahometan religion, than that fo many 
rii'cSumtr^s. diftridts of the iHant^, ihoald remain, tO this day, without any religion 
at all. It is obfervable, that a perfon of this latter defcription, commg 
to refide among the Malays> foon affimilates to them in manners, and 
conforms to their religious practices. The love of novelty ; the vanity 
of learning; the fa fci nation of ceremony; the contagion of example; 
veneration for what ap]_>ears above his immediate comprchenfion, and 
the innate activity of man*s intellectual faculties, which, fpurred by 
curiofity, prompts him to the acquifition of knowledge, whether true 
or falfe : all confpire to make him embrace a fyftem of belief, and 
fcheme of inflru<fl:ion, in which there is nothing that militates againfl: 
the prejudices he \\^^ 5»h*="^3f1jr Jmbil^c^d, "but U rather eongcnlal with them* 
He relinquilhes no favorite ancient Worlhip, to adopt anew; and is ma* 
nifeftly a gainer by the exchange, when he barters, for a paradife and 
eternal pleafures,fo finall a confideration as the flcfh of his forefkin. 
By late accounts it appears that the kingdom of Menangcahow^ even 
in its limited ftate, is fplit into different fovereignties. Two Rajas, 
of Smrmafo^ and Soongey Tamp, claim a ihare in the dominion, and in that 
quality fent each a deputation to the Engliih chief at Padang^ after the 
capture of that place in 178 1, congratulating him on the fucccfs of our 
arms. Fajfamman^ a populous country, and rich in gold, caflia, and 
camphire ; which immediately borders on Menangc&hoWy to the north* 
ward, now difclaims all manner of dcpen dance on it. This is 
governed by two rajas, of Sjhlooan^ and Canalleey who boaft an origin 
of high antiquity. One of them prefcrves, as his pefakko {xfiVick), the 
bark of a tree, in which his anceftor was nurfed in the woods, before 
the 
Kingdom of 
Menancabaw 
divided into 
