ÖÖI 8x 3 ^c- 0 - Acehbooks.org

S U M A T R A . 5t
timbers or bamboos, but in the country parts, it is more commonly interwoven,
or matted, in breadths of fix inches, and a piece, or fheer,
formed at once of the fize required. In fome places they ufe for thé
fame purpofe the coolitcayos, or coolicoy, as it is pronounced by the Europeans,
who employ it on board fhip, as dunnage, in pepper and other
cargoes. This is a bark procured from fome particular trees, of which
the loonoot and eeboo are the moft common. When they prepare to take
it, the outer rind is firft torn or cut away; the inner, which affords the
material, is then marked out with a prang, pake!, or other tool, to the
fize required, which is uniformly three cubits by one; it is afterwards
beaten for fome time with a heavy ftick, to loofe it from the ftem, and
being peeled off, is laid in the fun to dry, care being taken to prevent
it's warping. The thicker or thinner forts of the fame fpecies of coolitcayos,
owe their difference to their being taken nearer to, or farther
from, the root. That which is ufed in building has nearly the texture
and hardnefs of wood. The pliable and delicate bark of which clothing
ïs made, is procured from a tree called calawee, a baftard fpecies of
the bread-fruit.
The moft general mode of covering houfes is with the attap, which
is the leaf of a fpecies of palm called tieepah. Thefe, previous to their
being laid on, are formed into flieets of about five feet long, and as deep
as the length of the leaf will admit: they are then difpofed on the roof,
fo as that one ftieet ihall lap over the other, and are tied to the bamboos
which ferve for rafters. There are various other kinds of covering
ufed. The coolitcayos, before defcribed, is fometimes employed for
this purpofe: the galoompye—this is a thatch of narrow, fplit bamboos,
fix feet in length, placed in regular layers, each reaching within two feet
of the extremity of that beneath it, by which a treble covering is
formed : ejoo—this is a vegetable production, fo nearly refembling horfe
hair as fcarcely to be diftinguifhed from it. It envelopes the ftem of
that fpecies of palm called anou, from which the beft toddy or palm
wine is procured, and is employed by the natives for a great variety of
purpofes. It is bound on as a thatch, in the manner we do ftraw, and
not