Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 67.djvu/310

304 of caste. It is thrown over one shoulder or folded about the waist. They seem to be of no real use, but they can not be left aside. The dress of the women consists of two garments only, a sarong skirt and a long coat of figured calico. Small bundles and babies are carried in a sarong worn as a pouch under the left arm. The sarongs are all of brilliant colors and striking patterns, and few are really pretty.

Labor was very cheap, the watchman at the eclipse station being paid 15 guilders per month, equivalent to $6.00 of our money. Ordinary labor was to be had in plenty for three guilders per month, and many a family was supported on such an income.

The Malays have their own particular vices. Ordinarily they are not quarrelsome, but when aroused they can be fiends. Knives are the usual weapons, little crescent-shaped things no longer than the finger. This knife is held, as they hold all knives, between the tips of the fingers. The objective point is the abdomen. I tried to get a knife as a souvenir, but found it impossible, their sale having been prohibited, I was told. The most unique method of taking life is that often practised upon faithless husbands, who are given finely chopped tiger whiskers mixed with their food.

During our stay occurred the yearly celebration of the 'soldiers' of Hasan and Hosain. A motley crowd of natives of all ages, in all sorts of grotesque costumes, with faces painted and carrying banners and symbols, paraded the streets day and evening for a week. Their only attempt at music consisted of discordant sounds from tin pans, sticks, gongs and whistles, subdued, fortunately, by the climate. The object of this exhibition is a superstitious one. When the blowing of trumpets fails to bring their gods to life, the believers gather money, throw an image of some kind into the sea, and subside for another year.

The headland which juts out into the Indian Ocean just south of Padang commands an extensive view of the surrounding country. This Appenberg of the Dutch (or Boekit Munyeet of the Malays) is also interesting on account of its sacred monkeys. One Sunday when we had no pressing duties at the eclipse station, we paid a visit to the hill. The natives visit the hill and its monkeys to perform religious rites. On our way we passed one of their cave temples, with its group of worshippers. From the summit it was impossible to see anything of the city except a few of the warehouses along the river; all else was completely hidden in the great grove of cocoanut trees.

I had the privilege of seeing something of the coffee and spice industry through the courtesy of the American consul, who was extensively engaged in the export trade. He showed me through the 'peeling mill' where the hard outer husk of the coffee berry is removed by machinery (of American manufacture), and through his own and the government's warehouses. Much of the government coffee was