MANUFACTURES.

Those few arts and manufactures which are known in other parts of the island prevail likewise here, and some of them are carried to more perfection.  A considerable fabric of a thick species of cotton cloth, and of striped or chequered stuff for the short drawers worn both by Malays and Achinese, is established here, and supplies an extensive foreign demand, particularly in the Rau country, where they form part of the dress of the women as well as men.  They weave also very handsome and rich silk pieces, of a particular form, for that part of the body-dress which the Malays call kain-sarong; but this manufacture had much decreased at the period when my inquiries were made, owing, as the people said, to an unavoidable failure in the breed of silkworms, but more probably to the decay of industry amongst themselves, proceeding from their continual civil disturbances.

NAVIGATION.

They are expert and bold navigators, and employ a variety of vessels according to the voyages they have occasion to undertake, and the purposes either of commerce or war for which they design them.  The river is covered with a number of small fishing vessels which go to sea with the morning breeze and return in the afternoon with the sea-wind, full laden.  These are named koleh, are raised about two streaks on a sampan bottom, have one mast and an upright or square sail, but long in proportion to its breadth, which rolls up.  These sometimes make their appearance so far to the southward as Bencoolen.  The banting is a trading vessel, of a larger class, having two masts, with upright sails like the former, rising at the stem and stern, and somewhat resembling a Chinese junk, excepting in its size.  They have also very long narrow boats, with two masts, and double or single outriggers, called balabang and jalor.  These are chiefly used as war-boats, mount guns of the size of swivels, and carry a number of men.  For representations of various kinds of vessels employed by these eastern people the reader is referred to the plates in Captain Forrest’s two voyages.

COIN.

They have a small thin adulterated gold coin, rudely stamped with Arabic characters, called mas or massiah.  Its current value is said to be about fifteen, and its intrinsic about twelve pence, or five Madras fanams.  Eighty of these are equal to the bangkal, of which twenty make a katti.  The tail, here an imaginary valuation, is one-fifth of the bang-kal, and equal to sixteen mas.  The small leaden money, called pitis or cash, is likewise struck here for the service of the bazaar; but neither these nor the former afford any convenience to the foreign trader.  Dollars and rupees pass current, and most other species of coin are taken at a valuation; but payments are commonly made in gold dust, and for that purpose everyone is provided with small scales or steelyards, called daching.  They carry their gold about them, wrapped in small pieces of bladder (or rather the integument of the heart), and often make purchases to so small an amount as to employ grains of padi or other seeds for weights.