176 < VOYAGE OF THE POTOMAC. [February, 
■t 
blue, and to be found in no other country but his (being yellow 
elsewhere). He possesses the shrub sera mangeree, and the reed 
arver priendue, to which birds of all countries come at the time 
of their death. He has also drums made of the tree silagooree, 
and another instrument of the like nature of the wood called 
pooloot-pooloot, which send their sound through his whole domin- 
ions whenever they are beat. He has a bechar house, built of 
the hallowed wood jylatong, and each beam in it, though strong 
and large, is yet as light as bamboo. He also possesses a carpet 
made of grass, and a lump of gold in the shape of a man,, given ^ 
him by a god of the woods. ■ . > - 
" After this salutation, and the information I have given of my 
greatness and power, which I attribute to the good and holy 
prophet Mahomet, I am to acquaint you with the commands of 
the sultan, whose presence bringeth death to all who attempt to 
approach him without permission ; and also those of the Sultan 
of Indrapoor, who has four breasts. This friendly sheet of paper 
is brought from the two sultans above named, by their bird ongas, 
unto their son Sultan Condam Shah, to acquaint him with their 
intention, under this great seal, which is, that they order their son, 
Sultan Condam Shah, to oblige the Enghsh Company to settle 
in the district called Biangnooj-, at a place called ' field of sheep,' 
that they may not have occasion to be ashamed at their frequent 
refusal of our goodness in permitting them to trade with us and with 
our subjects ; and that in case he cannot'succeed in this affair, we 
hereby advise him that the ties of friendship subsisting between us 
and our son are broken ; and we direct that he send us an answer 
immediately, that we may know the result, and take our measures 
accordingly — for all this island is our own." 
The Malays of Menangcabow are expert in the use of the 
Arabic characters ; but their writing is confined almost exclusively 
to transcribing portions of' the Alcoran, and never extended to the 
more important use of preserving records connected with the his- 
tory of their country. They have, however, acquired no little 
celebrity in composing cabars, or historical tales, which are gen- 
erally a mixture of truth with fiction, written in a style not unlike 
the romances of Arabia, highly poetical, and abounding with the 
marvellous. The recitation of these stories is a common amuse- 
ment in all parts of the island. 
