The condition of the women appears to be no other than that of slaves, the husbands having the power of selling their wives and children.  They alone, beside the domestic duties, work in the rice plantations.  These are prepared in the same mode as in the rest of the island; except that in the central parts, the country being clearer, the plough and harrow, drawn by buffaloes, are more used.  The men, when not engaged in war, their favourite occupation, commonly lead an idle, inactive life, passing the day in playing on a kind of flute, crowned with garlands of flowers; among which the globe-amaranthus, a native of the country, mostly prevails.

HORSERACING.

They are said however to hunt deer on horseback, and to be attached to the diversion of horseracing.  They ride boldly without a saddle or stirrups, frequently throwing their hands upwards whilst pushing their horse to full speed.  The bit of the bridle is of iron, and has several joints; the head-stall and reins of rattan:  in some parts the reins, or halter rather, is of iju, and the bit of wood.  They are, like the rest of the Sumatrans, much addicted to gaming, and the practice is under no kind of restraint, until it destroys itself by the ruin of one of the parties.  When a man loses more money than he is able to pay he is confined and sold as a slave; being the most usual mode by which they become such.  A generous winner will sometimes release his unfortunate adversary upon condition of his killing a horse and making a public entertainment.

LANGUAGE.

They have, as was before observed, a language and written character peculiar to themselves, and which may be considered, in point of originality, as equal at least to any other in the island, and although, like the languages of Java, Celebes, and the Philippines, it has many terms in common with the Malayan (being all, in my judgment, from one common stock), yet, in the way of encroachment, from the influence, both political and religious, acquired by its immediate neighbours, the Batta tongue appears to have experienced less change than any other.  For a specimen of its words, its alphabet, and the rules by which the sound of its letters is modified and governed, the reader is referred to the Table and Plate above.  It is remarkable that the proportion of the people who are able to read and write is much greater than of those who do not; a qualification seldom observed in such uncivilized parts of the world, and not always found in the more polished.

WRITING.

Their writing for common purposes is, like that already described in speaking of the Rejangs, upon pieces of bamboo.

BOOKS.