by a kriss or dagger; this being almost the only punishment in use among them, as the smallest faults and the greatest crimes are all equally capital.  The natives of this country are mostly of a very brown complexion, tolerably well shaped, and having long black hair, which however many of them cut short.  Their noses are all flat and broad, and their teeth very black, owing to the incessant chewing of betel and faufel.

The faufel or areka is a kind of nut, not much unlike a nutmeg, but smaller, and in a great measure tasteless, but yielding a red juice when chewed, which juice also is used by the Indians in painting chintzes, so much admired in Europe.  The tree which bears this nut is very straight, and has leaves like those of the cocoa-nut tree.  The betel is a plant producing long rank leaves, shaped like those of the citron, and having an agreeable bitter taste.  The fruit of this plant resembles a lizard’s tail, and is about an inch and half long, having a pleasant aromatic flavour.  The Indians continually carry the leaves of this plant, which also are presented at all ceremonious visits.  They are almost continually chewing these leaves, and they mostly qualify their extreme bitterness by the addition of the faufel or areka-nut, and the powder of calcined oyster-shells, which give them a very agreeable taste; though some mix their betel leaves with shell lime, ambergris, and cardamom seeds, while others use Chinese tobacco.  After all the juice is chewed out, they throw away the remaining dry mass.  Many Europeans have got into the habit of chewing betel, so that they cannot leave it off, though it has proved fatal to some of them; for the natives are very skilful in preparing betel so as to do a man’s business as effectually as a pistol or a dagger.

The prevailing diversion among these people is called tandakes, which are a kind of comedies, acted by women very richly dressed, and consists chiefly in singing and dancing, accompanied by music, not very pleasant to European ears, the only instruments being small drums, on which they beat with much dexterity.  Their dancing is mostly of a grotesque kind, in which they are very dexterous, throwing their bodies into all sorts of postures with astonishing agility, and expressing by them the passions of the mind so comically, that it is impossible to refrain from laughing.  The men also practise a kind of war dance, in which the king and grandees bear a part.  They also practise cock-fighting, like the English, and bet such considerable sums on this sport as often beggars them.