190 
COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL 
say that the view equalled anything I ever saw in Java. 
The scenery is more majestic and grand, the population 
equally dense, the cultivation equally rich.” The mar¬ 
riage system is matriarchal, as indeed is occasionally, but 
not habitually, the case among the Battaks. The hus¬ 
band cannot choose his wife from his own Jcota, and when 
married does not always reside with her. The children 
belong to the mother, and must remain in her village. 
Yet these customs, curiously enough, co-exist with the 
religion of Mohammed, in the practice of which these 
people are said to be more strict than is usual among 
Malays. At the early part of this century a new religion 
sprang up in Menangkabo—a noteworthy fact, as being 
the only instance of the kind ever known in the archi¬ 
pelago. The sect were known as the “ Badris,” from the 
missionary zeal inspiring them; or the “ Orang puti” 
or “ white men,” from the converts being dressed entirely 
in white. They prohibited the use of opium, and pun¬ 
ished with death all those found indulging in it; and 
tobacco and betel were also forbidden. Every man 
shaved his head and wore a skull-cap, and none was 
permitted to converse with his neighbour’s wife. The 
women were obliged to cover their faces with a white 
cloth, having only two small holes for their eyes, and no 
coloured garments of any description were allowed. The 
reformers in time became conquerors, subduing a large 
portion of the interior; and it was through them, in¬ 
directly, that the Dutch acquired possession of the 
Menangkabo country. The neighbouring tribes appealed 
to be protected from them, and the Netherlands troops 
entered upon the campaign in 1837. It was not till 
1840, however, that they were entirely subdued, and the 
sect subsequently became extinct. It could only have 
come into existence among the lax and easy-going 
