The history of Sumatra : $b Containing an account of the government, laws, customs and manners of the native inhabitantsMarsden, William
History
The history of Sumatra : $b Containing an account of the government, laws, customs and manners of the native inhabitants
Marsden, William
Natural history -- Indonesia -- Sumatra; Sumatra (Indonesia)
(*Footnote. The manners of the natives of the Philippine or Luzon Islands
correspond in so many striking particulars with those of the inland
Sumatrans, and especially where they differ most from the Malays, that I
think no doubt can be entertained, if not of a sameness of origin, at
least of an intercourse and connection in former times which now no
longer exists. The following instances are taken from an essay preserved
by Thevenot, entitled Relation des Philippines par un religieux; traduite
d'un manuscrit Espagnol du cabinet de Monsieur Dom. Carlo del Pezzo
(without date), and from a manuscript communicated to me by Alex
Dalrymple, Esquire. "The chief Deity of the Tagalas is called Bathala mei
Capal, and also Diuata; and their principal idolatry consists in adoring
those of their ancestors who signalised themselves for courage or
abilities, calling them Humalagar, i.e. manes: They make slaves of the
people who do not keep silence at the tombs of their ancestors. They have
great veneration for the crocodile, which they call nono, signifying
grandfather, and make offerings to it. Every old tree they look upon as a
superior being, and think it a crime to cut it down. They worship also
stones, rocks, and points of land, shooting arrows at these last as they
pass them. They have priests who, at their sacrifices, make many
contortions and grimaces, as if possessed with a devil. The first man and
woman, they say, were produced from a bamboo, which burst in the island
of Sumatra; and they quarrelled about their marriage. The people mark
their bodies in various figures, and render them of the colour of ashes,
have large holes in their ears, blacken and file their teeth, and make an
opening which they fill up with gold, they used to write from top to
bottom till the Spaniards taught them to write from left to right,
bamboos and palm leaves serve them for paper. They cover their houses
with straw, leaves of trees, or bamboos split in two which serve for
tiles. They hire people to sing and weep at their funerals, burn benzoin,
bury their dead on the third day in strong coffins, and sometimes kill
slaves to accompany their deceased masters.")
The latter account is more particular, and appears of modern date.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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