REMARKS ON THE SLETAR AND SABIMBA TRIBES. 345* 
sils tliey may be in possession of, and at tlie other end beneath 3 
kadjang or mat not exceeding six feet in length, is found the sleep¬ 
ing apartment of a family often counting 5 and 6, together with a cat 
and dog, under this they fpid shelter from the dews and mins of the 
night, and heat of the day. The Malays even in pointing out these 
stinted quarters cried out “ how miserable,” but of this the objects of 
their commiseration were not aware; in them they have provided all 
their wants ; their children sport 0*1 the shore in search of shell fish 
at low water; and during high water they may be seen climbing the 
mangrove branches, and dashing from thence into the water, with all 
the life and energy of children of a colderclime, at once affording a 
proof that even they have their joys. 
Their personal appearance is unprepossessing, their deportment 
lazy and slovenly, united to a great filthiness of body; the middle of 
bdth men and women is generally covered by a coarse wrapper, made 
from the bark of the Trap tree; this extends from the naval to the 
knee. The women affected a slight degree of modesty at first approach, 
which soon gave way. Instead of the wrapper of Trap, they fre¬ 
quently put on instead, an old patched up Malay sarong. The locks 
of the men are bound up with a tie of cloth, and sometimes by the 
Malay saputangan, those of the women fall in wild luxuriance over 
their face and shoulders. Their children go entirely naked until the 
age of puberty. Several of the men ami women we afterwards saw, 
were subject to deformity in hands and limbs, a rather unusual circum¬ 
stance for these parts, and their prevailing disease, was a cutaneous 
eruption, that covered the whole body with a scaly covering called 
Korup by the Malays. To this whole families were subject from the 
mother to the infant at the breast. With this disease nearly every 
other person appeared to be afflicted. The fingers of such poor crea¬ 
tures were seldom at rest. A species of leprosy also appeared to at¬ 
tack the feet of the old, and the features in the face in one or two 
cases were found to be contracted from some such disease, rendering 
those subjects hideous in appearance. 
Upon the origin of the tribe little light can be thrown, for of their 
possession of traditions or superstitions after much enquiry I could 
