As to the life and customs of the natives, it is not necessary to describe all the different races, but the Malay villages deserve notice. In Java and Sumatra these are not arranged in streets, but the houses are grouped under large trees, and are separated from the road by a bamboo fence, on the top of which notice boards are fixed at intervals bearing the names of the villages; these are necessary, because it is often difficult to see where one village ends and the next begins. In the open spaces may be seen a few sacred 'waringin' trees, in which are hung wooden bells, used to sound an alarm or call the villagers together. Before the house of a native Regent is an open square, with a 'Pandoppo,' or roof on pillars in the centre, and here meetings are held, proclamations read, and distinguished visitors received. The houses are built of bamboo and roofed with palm-leaves; and sometimes they have floors of split bamboo, but often the hard clay soil serves as a floor. There are usually two or more sleeping-places, called 'balé-balés,' also made of bamboo, split and plaited, and over these another floor, which forms a sort of loft or store-room. There is no fireplace, all the cooking being done outside. Such a house can be bought for about five shillings! It takes a few men two or three weeks to build one, but to take it down and remove it to a new site is a matter of only a few hours. Near the houses are the stables, where the buffaloes and carts are kept, and here and there is a well, over which hangs a balancing-pole with a bucket at one end and a stone at the other. The children play about naked until they are ten years old, when they dress like their elders, and consider themselves men and women. The costume of the Malay women consists of the 'sarong,' a cloth about 3½ yards long and 1½ wide, which is wound round the body and held by a belt and then rolled up just above the feet; over this a wide coat called a 'kabaya' is worn, and over all a 'slendang,' which is very like a 'sarong,' but is worn hanging over one shoulder, and in this is slung anything too large to be easily carried in the hands--even the baby. The men wear either 'sarongs' or trousers, or both, and a cotton jacket, and are always armed either with kreeses or chopping-knives, carried in their belts; the weapons are for cutting down cocoanuts and bamboo, and for protection against snakes and tigers. Both sexes wear their hair long, the men with head-cloths and the women with flowers and herbs, and all go bare-footed. The men are very good horsemen, and ride, like the Zulus and other coloured men, with only their big toes in the stirrups.