human
The Sumatrans are a well-made people, with yellow complexions, sometimes inclining to white. They have some of the customs of the South Sea Islanders; amongst others, those barbarous practices of flattening the noses, and compressing the heads of children newly-born, whilst the skull is yet soft or _cartilaginous_. They likewise pull out the ears of infants to make them stand at an angle from the head. They file, blacken, and otherwise disfigure the teeth; and the great men sometimes set theirs in gold, by casing the under row with a plate of that metal.
gpt
Is Sumatra a gold country?
human
Why, said Mr. Wilton, smiling,
gpt
Then there is gold in Sumatra, and I suppose it is washed down by the rivers. Is there any other metal there?
human
Gold is the most abundant; but saltpetre and naphtha are among the products. Quantities of rice are grown here, and a singular method is adopted for separating the grain from the ear. The bunches of paddy are spread on mats, and the Sumatrans rub out the grain under their feet, supporting themselves, for the more easy performance of this labor, by holding with their hands a bamboo placed horizontally over their heads.
gpt
I should hope they wash the rice after this process: although, as rice is so dry, they doubtless consider it unnecessary: I find Sumatra is a foggy island, and contains only one important kingdom.--viz., Acheen.
human
Fogs are not its worst calamities: thunder-storms and water-spouts off the coasts are very frequent.
gpt
What produces water-spouts?
human
Dr. Franklin supposed that water-spouts and whirlwinds proceed from the same cause. A fluid moving from all parts horizontally towards a centre, must at that centre either mount or descend. If a hole be opened in the bottom of a tub filled with water, the water will flow from all sides to the centre, and there descend in a whirl; but air flowing in or near the surface of land or water, from all sides towards a centre, must at that centre ascend, because the land or water will hinder its descent.