SIR THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES. 47 
writes Sir Stamford, " I was prepared to find a coun- 
try still more furiile and p()|jiibus than the fertile 
valky of Passuiiiah. The wlwh occupml hy the 
Tiga»-bks-coias, or thirtt^en ctinfederate towns, is 
one sheet of cuUiratiuiiT in hreadtii about t^n, in 
length twenty, miles, thickly studded with towns 
and villages. On t!ie slopes of the hiJIs, the principal 
cultivation is coftue» imligo, maijif, sugar-cane, and 
oil-giving plums ; on tli« plain hefow, exclusively rice. 
A tine hmad of small cattle, tvliith seems peculiar, 
ahounds hcj-ret and thron^''hrjut the Mciiangkahu coun- 
try ; oxen seem j^eneraliy uspd in agriculture, in pre- 
ference to bufl'idoea ; they are in generaJ about ihree 
feet four infbps high, beauiifutly made, and mostly of 
a light fawn colour, with black eyes hnd lashe-Jt and 
are fold from three to four iloUarH a head. Tliey 
are, without exception, the most beautiful little ani- 
tnaU of the kind I ever beheld ; we did not see one 
in bad condition. Horses, of which there seems to 
be plenty, are not much u.^ed, I'or a raare and foid, 
tiie price was about twenty shillings," 
'I'hu^ tliey travelled on through a country little 
known to Europeans, of the most iinportaot and in- 
tcrestin*? description, full uf interest to the antiquary 
and naturalist,— tire classic ground of tlie Malays- 
On the night of the 2iHt, they reached the banks of 
Dannu, or Jake of Sincara, a byautifnl sheet of wa- 
ter about fonrieeu miles bmg, and seven broad, sur- 
rounded with inotintuin!! and hills, highly cultivated 
&t the basefj, and open only lovvardi die Tiga-bbia 
