Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/539

 of chiefs claim this Hindu descent. In many tribes the caste system prevails, and amongst these communities the physical appearance of the people differs no less than the social conditions. The rulers evidently belong to a different race from their subjects.

The Hovas, who are at present the most powerful and, politically, the dominant people, appear to have preserved the original Malay type, at least amongst the

chiefs and higher circles. By some writers they are connected either with the Battas of North Sumatra and the neighbouring island of Nias, with the natives of Java and Bali, or with the Tagalas of the Philippine Archipelago. Resemblances have also been pointed out between the Hovas and the Siamese, the Samoans, the Tonga Islanders, and even the Japanese. Thus the various views held by observers

Marsden, History of Sumatra; W. von Humboldt, The Kawi Language; Crawfurd, Grammar of the Malay Languagr, Introduction.