ÖÖI 8x 3 ^c- 0 - Acehbooks.org

S U M A T R A . 239
is more common among the Malays, than in the country. The chief
weapons of offence ufed by thefe people, are the coojoor or lance, and the
creefe. This laft is properly Malay, but in all parts of the ifland, they
have a weapon equivalent; though in general lefs curious in their ftructure,
wanting that waving in the blade, for which the creefe is remarkable,
and approaching nearer to daggers or knives»
Among their exercifes we never ooferve jumping or running. They
fmile at the Europeans, who, in their excurfions, take fo many unneceffary
leaps. The cuftom of going barefoot, may be a principal impediment
to this practice, in a country overrun with thorny flirubs; and
where no fences render it a matter of expediency.
They have a diverfion fimiiar to that defcribed by Homer, as praftifed ^m'Tb^l
amongft the Phceecians, which confifts in toffing an elaftic, wicker
ball, from one to the other, in a large party. They arrive to a great degree
of dexterity in the fport, receiving it, with equal facility, on the
foot or hand, the heel or the toe; from whence it is thrown either perpendicularly
into the air, and caught again, or obliquely to fome other
perfon of the company, who ftand in an extended circle. It is to be remarked
that the Sumatrans are, in general, very expert in the ufe of their
feet, employing them, as their hands, to lift any thing, not heavy,
from the ground, between the great and fecond toe, or by a contraction,
of the whole foot»
The Sumatrans, and more particularly the Malays, are much at- SmoRing o£
tached, in common with many other eaftern people, to the cuftom of pium '
fmoking opium. The poppy which produces it, not growing on the ifland,
it is annually imported from Bengal in confiderable quantities, in chefls
containing an hundred and forty pounds each. It is made up in cakes of
five or fix pound weight, and packed with dried leaves; in which function
it will continue good and valuable for two years, but after that period
grows hard, and diminishes confiderably in value. It is of a darker
P p p color.,