Volume 14 Australasia - dana ward's homepage

SUMBAWA. 205these debris represented at least 100, aud accurdiug to some autliorities over 500,cubic miles of matter ejected or blown from the mountain on this occasion. The12,000 inhabitants of the surrounding district were all buried imdcr the rain ofscoria; ; but probably as many as one hundred thousand perished during thefamine and epidemics caused by the destruction of the forests, the loss of cattle,the ruin of the irrigation works and the general havoc spread over the adjoiningislands by this terrific outburst. Over 40,000 Sasaks died of hunger in Lombok,and the population of Sumbawa, which in 1815 was about 170,000, was still only75,500 in 1847. Even at present the Timboro peninsula remains almost a completedesert.Throughout a great part of Indonesia the " night of ashes " was long consideredthe chief event in history, and served as the starting point of a newchronological era.The eastern part of Sumbawa is often agitated by violent earthquakes, andhere also are numerous volcanoes, such as Dindi (5,160 feet), Soro Mandi (4,570 feet)and Aru Hassa (5,550 feet) near the north coast, and towards the south-cast angleSambon (4,130 feet), and Lambu (4,G50 feet).Lastlj- the islet of Sangeau, calledalso Gunong Api (6,900 feet), is still in a constant state of agitation, einittiug atshort intervals jets of vapour and ashes.The Malayan inhabitants of Sumbawa have been much influenced by the culturedpeoples of Celebes, with w'hom they carry on a large part of their trade, and bywhom they have long been governed. The Bugi language of South Celebes is current,with other Malay dialects, in some districts of the north coast, while that of Macassaris the only literary standard in the island.Nearly all the natives profess Islam,but some groups of Orang Dongo, or "Highlanders," occupying the forests southof Moimt Aru Hassa, are still pagans, though preserving a few practices datingfrom the early visits of the Hindu missionaries to their moimtaius. They call thespirits by the Sanskrit name, dcra, and offer them fruits and flowers. At nighttorches alone are used, the light of lamps being regaixlcd as ill omened. Theproperty of the departed is shared equally amongst all the kindred, a sharebeing also reserved for the deceased.The cattle are sacrificed on their graves, andthe other articles burnt or buried for their use in the other world. These highlanderskeep aloof from all direct contact with Europeans, and their barter withthe outer world is confined tocertain clearings in the forests on the verge of theirterritory.Sumhawa, capital of the western state which bears the same name, lies on a bayon the north coast exposed to the north-west winds. At the time of the Timboroexplosion, only twenty-six of the inhabitants escaped alive, but at present it has amixed population of natives and Celebes immigrants numbering altogether aboutsix thousand. This place exports cotton, sandalwood, sajjanwood (cvsaJpinia, or" red wood '"), and an excellent breed of ponies.Bima, on the east side of the bay of like name, is almost the onl v market in thesection of the island lying cast of Timboro. It is the capital of a native statewhich also comprises the old breached crater of Grili Banta, east of Sapi strait, the