the  IJland  of  Sumatra.  173 
bayonets.  The  canoes,  however,  after  having  purfued 
for  a mile,  or  a mile  and  a half,  luckily  Hopped  a little  to 
confult  together,  which  gave  us  an  opportunity  to  efcape 
them,  as  they  did  not  care  to  purfue  us  out  to  fea.  The 
fame  afternoon  the  veffel  came  to  an  anchor  in  the'  bay, 
and  we  were  prefently  vifited  by  fifty  or  iixty  canoes 
full  of  people.  They  paddled  round  the  veffel,  and 
called  to  us  in  a language  which  nobody  on  board  under- 
ftood,  though  I had  people  with  me  who  underftood  the 
languages  fpoken  on  all  the  other  iflands.  They  teemed 
to  look  at  every  thing  about  the  veffel  very  attentively; 
but  more  from  the  motive  of  pilfering  than  from  cu~ 
riofity,  for  they  watched  an  opportunity  and  un flipped 
the  rudder  of  the  boat,  and  paddled  away  with  it.  I fired 
a mufquet  over  their  heads,  the  noife  of  which  frightened 
them  fo,  that  all  of  them  immediately  leaped  into  the 
fea,  but  foon  recovered  themfelves  and  paddled  off. 
They  are  a tall,  well-made  people;  the  men  in  ge- 
neral about  five  feet  eight  or  ten  inches  high ; the  wo- 
men fhorter  and  more  clumfily  built.  They  are  of  a 
red  colour,  and  have  ftraight,  black  hair,  which  the  men 
cut  fhort,  but  the  women  let  grow  long,  and  roll  up  in  a 
circle  on  the  top  of  their  heads  very  neatly.  The  men 
go  entirely  naked,  and  the  women  wear  nothing  more 
than  a very  narrow  flip  of  plantain  leaf.  The  men 
Z 2 - always 
