THE BATTAS OF MANDHELING AND PERTIBI* 1 . 
By T. J- Willbr, Esquire, Assistant Resident at Madjapahit, 
Chatter. t. 
Appearance of the Province of Pertibi, its population , 
surface, climate, rivers, roads and means of transport . 
Travelling from Ankola to Padang Lawas, we find near 
Picher Rolling, a tolerably high mountain, here called 
Adiati Nagungan, but bearing as many other names as there 
are roads over it. Excepting the summit, where there are 
some open spots, the whole mountain is clothed with gigan¬ 
tic trees, gigantic swinging plants, and an endless diversity 
of shrubs, all which form a wild, sombre and impressive 
whole. At every step we find traces of elephants, rhinoceroses 
and tigers, which, although seldom seen by day, come at 
night to feast on durians, with which, during some months, 
the roads are strewed. Whole communities of apes have here 
established their kingdom j the most beautiful and many 
coloured birds wave their wings in numbers throughout this 
wilderness. Such also is the appearance of most mountains 
in this portion of Sumatra, 
CO Polo describes the great city Malaiur on Bentan which was the principal 
Malay Settlement in the Johore Archipelago before Singapore was founded. 
The Maluyu Kolon of Ptolemy which Mr CraWfurd conceives to have been 
Sumatra, must we think have been the town of Kulom on the Maleala Coast 
so often mentioned by ancient travellers and geographers and which Edrisi 
calls Kularn Malay or Male i. e. Kulam in the Male country. 
* The countries described by Mr Wilier ate Mandheling and Pertibi, the 
most southerly of all the Batta’ lands, and only separated from the ancient 
Malayan metropolis of Menangkabau by the country of the Rawa, the 
same people who, passing year by year through our Malacca territories into 
the middle of tire Malay Peninsula, have already established themselves in 
such strength in the interior of Pahang as almost to set at defiance the 
power of its ruler the Bindahara. The two provinces form nearly a square 
of 83 miles, (the actual surface within the boundaries being 6624 square 
mites), stretching from N W by N to S E by S, and occupying the whole 
breadth of Sumatra with the exception of the seabords—the western on the 
Indian Ocean extending nearly from Tapamdi Bay to Ayer Bangis, and the 
eastern, on the Straits of Malacca, from tire mouth of the Bila opposite Sa- 
laugor to Pulo Rnpat oppo ite Malacca. Mandheling occupies the western 
and Pertibi the eastern parts of this territory, As it lies transverse to the 
meridian, following the direction of Sumatra, and is somewhat elongated 
from N to S, it has a greater range of latitude than either of its coasts taken 
separately would indicate. The NE extremity is in the latitude of Cape 
Rachado or about 2° 30’ N and its S E, apparently nearly in that of Siak 
aud Pulo Radong to the north of Linga or about 24’ N. The latitude of Sin¬ 
gapore consequently intersects it, half of it lying to the north and half to 
the South of the parallel of Tanjong Changgie. It becomes therefore in¬ 
teresting to compare the climate and vegetation of Singapore with that of 
an inland region so near us. We may inform those of onr local readers who 
