The preparation of the bark is to shave it smooth and thin, and then rub it over with rice-water. The style is used for scratching bamboos. The pen is used for the more important writings on bark; this is a delicate twig, or the middle of some leaf. The ink is the root of the dammar pine, mixed with the juice of the sugar cane. PALEMBANG. _Locality._--North of Lampong, on the eastern side of the island. _Religion._--Mahometan. _Political relations._--Subject to Java; and in a great degree, a Javanese settlement. The central parts of Sumatra are little known; the mountain chain, however, that runs from north to south in (about) 2° south latitude, has been visited by two Englishmen, Mr. C. Campbell and Lieutenant Dane. Their observations, which are to be found in Marsden's Sumatra,[50] apply to three elevated valleys--the Korinchi country, Serampei, and Sungei Tenang. I find in them no traces of any tribe different from those already mentioned in any important circumstance. Just south of Sungei Tenang, and east of the Rejang country is Labun, a mountain district; whilst north of Palembang, and south of the River Jambi, on the eastern coast, is a flat country covered with wood and but thinly inhabited. Now, for those who look for the wildest varieties of the Sumatran tribes, these are the most likely localities. Accordingly, when Marsden made his inquiries as to the aborigines of the island, he heard of the Orang Gugu, and the Orang[51] Kubu. Of these the Orang Gugu, from the parts about Labun, are the wildest and scarcest, being described as having their bodies covered with hair, and as being more _orang utan_ than human beings. The Orang Kubu are said to be pretty numerous, belonging to the other district; _i.e._ the parts between the Jambi and Palembang. The worst that is said of these is, that they have a peculiar and unintelligible language, and that they feed indifferently on elephants, rhinoceroses, snakes, and monkeys. A few small islands on the further side of Sumatra require notice. _Enganho Island._--Natives described by Mr. Miller, in 1771, A.D., as taller and fairer than the Malays. _Poggi Islanders, or people of Si Porah and Si Biru._--The manners of these people are those of the Battas, except that they are more rude; and that their custom of disposing of the dead is different. The Poggi Islanders deposit the corpse on a sort of stage in a place appropriated for the purpose, and strewing a few leaves over it, leave it to decay. Tattooing is common. _The Pulo Batu, or Nias Islanders._--These are lighter in complexion and smaller in stature than the Malays. The custom of stretching the ears so as even to flap upon the shoulders, is general here. Every district, and there are upwards of fifty of them, is at war with its neighbour, and the export of slaves is the consequence.