690 A VISIT TO THE MOUNTAINEERS, DO DONGO, 
have iio head dress and they hind up the hair like the women of the 
plain. 
The mountaineers of Bima are, as far as regards race, the same 
people as the inhabitants of Bima itself ; only they frequently have 
the skin more deeply coloured than the rest of the population. The 
women in general are of a frightful ugliness, and above all disfigured 
by a breast which has lost all its charms at a very early period. In 
this also the Orang Dongo remind me of the inhabitants of the 
Terigger mountains. The language of the Orang Dongo is the lan¬ 
guage of Bima ; they have certainly some other expressions which 
are not known in Bima, but these are nearly all expressions for ob¬ 
jects only known in the mountains, such as certain plants &e. The 
Orang Dongo have no written characters, and it may be said that 
they have not the slightest trace of literature. 
But let us return again to the exterior and domestic life of these 
people. Their arms are the poignard and lance ; made almost ex¬ 
clusively in the villages of the plain. None are possessed of fire 
arms. It is forbidden to wear ornaments of gold or silver. They 
have only some rings and bracelets of copper and above all of brass. 
The food of these people is very nearly the same as that of the in¬ 
habitants of the low country. Rice and maise constitute the basis ; 
they add salt, legumes (prepared in the shape ot sambal ,) poultry, 
dried meat (dinding in Mai:) dried fish &c,. But, what is a very 
great peculiarity, the Orang Dongo eat every thing belonging to 
the animal kingdom, horses, pigs, monkeys, serpents, rats, bats &c., 
This is the reason why the Mahomedans of the country so heartily 
detest them, why they call them Caffres, why they regard them as 
people filthy and impure. The Orang Dongo only drink water and 
bruin , an intoxicating liquor made of fermented rice. They make 
it very good (better than in the plain), and brown like beer. This 
arises from their slightly roasting the rice before fermenting it. 
They do not make palm wine, tufikli). Fortunately they are yet 
Ignorant of the habit of smoking Opium. Amongst the Orang 
Dongo, as throughout all Bima, the people possess many buffaloes 
and horses. They plant rice, maise, tobacco, potatoes &c., The 
men are partial to the ehace. In the mountains, they search for wax, 
rattans, and the fruit of the kamiri which grows abundantly there. 
There are travelling traders who live with the Orang Dongo and pur¬ 
chase these articles from them, or barter them for cotton cloths, ma¬ 
nufactures in iron and copper, such as knives, arms, ornaments &e» 
