ÖÖI 8x 3 ^c- 0 - Acehbooks.org

S U M A T R A . 55
of Menangcahow and the Malays; in the next place the Acbenefs; then the
Battas', the Rejangs ; and next to them, the Lampoons.*
Menangcahow being the principal fovereignty of the ifland, which for- Menangcabon?
merly comprehended the whole, and ftill receives a lhadow of homage
from the moft powerful of the other kingdoms, which have fprung up
from its ruins, would feem to claim a right to precedence in defcription,.
but I have a fufficient reafon for deferring it to a fubiequent part of my
work; which is, that the people of this empire, by their converfion to
# Attempts to afcertain from whence the ifland of Sumatra was originally peopled, muft reft
upon mere conjefture. The adjacent peninfula prefents the moft obvious fource of population,
and it is accordingly faid that Malayan emigrants fupplied the Archipelago with inhabitants : but
no argument, except that of vicinity, can be produced in fupport of this, not unplaufible, opinion.
The Malays, now fo called, are in comparifion of the internal Sumatrans, but as people of yef-
terday ; and though they have fpread their language and manners far and wide, fince thé foun­
dation of Malacca in the thirteenth century, they are confidered as intruders only, among the
aboriginal people of the eaftern iflands. I have elfewhere remarked, that one general language
prevailed, (however mutilated and changed in the courfe of time), throughout all this portion of
the world; from Madagafcar, to the moft diftant difcoveries eaftward ; of which the Malay is
a dialeft, much corrupted, or refined, by a mixture of other tongues. This very extenfive fimi-
larity of language indicates a common origin of the inhabitants, but the circumftances and pro-
grefs of their feparation, are wrapped in the darkeft veil of obfeurity.
In the courfe of my enquiries amongft. the natives, concerning the aborigines of the ifland, I
have been informed of two different fpecies of people difperfed in the woods, and avoiding all
communication with the other inhabitants. Thefe. they call Orang Cooboo, and Orang Googoo.
The former are faid to be pretty numerous, efpccially in that part of the country which lies be­
tween Palcmbavg and Jambee. Some have at times been caught and kept as flaves in Laboon,.
and a man of that place is now married to a tolerably handfome Cooboo girl, who was carried off.
by a party that difcovered their huts. They have a language quite peculiar to thcmfelves, and
they eat promifcuoufly whatever the woods afford, as deer, elephant, rhinoceros, wild hog, fnakes
or monkeys. The Googoo are much fcarcer than thefe, differing in little but the ufe of fpeech,
from the Orarg Outan of Borneo ; their bodies being covered with long hair. There have not
been above two or three inftances of their being met with by the people of Laboon, (from whom
"ly information is derived), and one of thefe was entrapped many years ago, in much the fame
manner as the carpenter in Pilpay's Fables caught the monkey. He had children by a Laboon
woman, which alfo were more hairy than the common race ; but.the third generation are not to >
be diftinguifhed from others. The reader will bellow what meafure of faith he thinks due, on this
relation, the veracity of which I do not pretend to vouch for. It has probably fome foundation
in truth, but is exaggerated in the circumftances.
Mahometanifm,.