A TRANSLATION OP THE KEDDA ANNALS. 
471 
From the Asiatic researches v. 8 p. 50 it seems that Sura in 
Sanscrit means wine and true wealth. So the Devatas haviag got 
it while the Daityas or Titans did not obtain it, these last were 
called Asura. 
I have not space here to describe the mode of preparing: all of 
these. So I will only notice the first. It is made with common 
rice or the oryza glutinosa (of Marsden) or of other gram The 
grain is boiled, and when cold a fermenting mixture composed of 
black pepper, onions, and garlic, nutmeg and cloves, orange tree 
leaves, ginger, and the alpinia galunga will) cinnamon and chilli 
also the liquorice root, pounded together, is added. The whole 
is then distilled with water. 
The Javanese chiefs appear to have been the most addicted to 
the use of spirits, a custom they most probably owed to the Indi¬ 
ans who under the titles of Buddhists and worshippers of the Gods 
of the Hindoo Pantheon, so long held spiritual not political sway 
over Java, 
Being 'Mahometans, the Malays have substituted opium for 
spirits, ostensibly Thus Mahomet's injunctions are obeyed, but 
an equally deteriorating and dehumanizing poison is used in its 
stead. That lawgiver should have denounced all intemperance and 
would have acted more wisely. But he had his eye chiefly on his 
countrymen and stigmatized the vi<e which he and they were least 
inclined to as leading to hell, while he gave an unlimited latitude 
to the sensual indulgences to which they were prone. 
Chapter XIII. 
It is related that five years after the death of the prophet 
Mahommed, there were holy men and proselytes to his faith 
in Bagdad. Sheikh Noor Aladin came from Mecca and 
Medina at this time to the country of Jawi , otherwise Acheh , 
bringing with him the holy books, containing the tenets of 
Islam, There was also a person residing in Bagdad, named 
te Sheik Abdulld” the elder of Bagdad . He was a holy, 
venerable and wonderful man, and his prayers were very 
efficacious, so that he was revered in that country, and had 
a multitude of followers and disciples, who were instructed 
by him, although he was far advanced in life which he had 
spent in the faith. 
The most sacred hook was the Koran. In it are chapters 
and passages at which devils and evil spirits tremble, and 
it embodies hundreds of sacred volumes , the works of the 
prophe Is and sages of old, all of which it thus superseded . 
The koran rendered superfluous all the occult sciences of the 
ancients, such as magic and superhuman powers, by means 
of which men used to fly through the air, and to traverse 
the earth or the ocean without being visible, if they pre- 
