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REPORT ON THE ISLAND OF BANKA. 833 
ing married are attached to a particular territory, and are called on 
occasionally for the services of the sovereign. If a Batin forfeits 
the confidence of the community, or commits some notorious irregu¬ 
larity, he is discarded by the general voice, and another person is 
nominated in his stead. He receives no emolument or contribution 
of any kind, and the only advantage derived from his office is the 
assistance of one day’s labour from all the males belonging to his 
district, at the period when a spot is cleared in the forest for a new 
rice plantation. 
The mountain people form no villages : they live dispersed in sir , 
gle families over the whole territory of their respective districts in the 
midst of the forest, changing their situations every year, for the 
purpose of attempting a new plantation. Their manner of cultivating 
the ground is rude in the highest degree.: a fertile spot is selected 
in the forest, the trees are felled, the smaller trunks and branches 
are employed for the enclosure, the large trees and stumps are des¬ 
troyed by fire, the seed is thrown in the mould and the harvest pa¬ 
tiently expected. Such a plantation is called a ladang , and iiere the 
native builds his hut. Sometimes though rarely the work is under¬ 
taken in conjunction by several families. 
The only places which bear some resemblance to villages are at 
Dshuwok in the district of Kutto-waringin, a settlement lately es¬ 
tablished by the Depally Barin at Depa near the large river of Ma- 
rawang, and a small hamlet between the stockade of Pangkal-pe- 
nang and Juak in the territory of the Batin Marawang. 
The natives of Sungie-bulu, Jehus and Klabbet, have preserved 
their ancient mode of life in greater purity, and in the whole of 
these extensive districts no villages are found. 
In whatever point of view these natives are considered, their ha¬ 
bits indicate but a small remove from the state of savages. Their 
culture is confined exclusively to rice, although the Chinese and 
Malays from Plena bang have introduced Indian corn, plantains, 
and Monioe, and the fertility and luxuriance of the soil strongly in¬ 
vite to an extension of agriculture. Even the roots of the convol¬ 
vulus Battutas which are often planted on their grounds after the 
