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BATTA.
"THE large island of
Sumatra lies in a direction almost parallel with the peninsula of Malacca,
from
which it is separated by the strait of Malacca, but its southern extremity
stretches out far beyond the
peninsula, to the south-east. It measures about 1050 miles in length,
and is divided by the equator
into nearly equal portions. It contains many native states, of which
the principal are the Malay
country of Menankabo, Achcen, and Siak. The country of the Battas is
included between the
equator and two and a half degrees of north latitude; it extends across the
island from coast to coast,
but is intersected in certain districts by Malay and Acheenese
settlements.
In 1820, the Battas were thought to number
about 500,000 individuals. They are idolaters, and
addicted to the most debased and revolting practices. In their name
and in their customs they are so
similar to the Padæi mentioned by Herodotus (book iii. 99), that it
seems but reasonable to conjecture
that they are the descendants of that people. We are assured by Dr.
Leyden, on the authority of the
Malays and of the Battas themselves, that one of their religious ceremonies
consists in devouring
the sick and aged. "When a man becomes infirm, and
weary of the world, he is said to invite his
own children to eat him, in the season when salt and limes are cheapest.
He then ascends a tree,
round which his friends and offspring assemble, and, as they shake the tree,
join in a funeral dirge, the
import of which is, ‘The season is come; the fruit is ripe, and it must
descend.’ The victim descends,
and those that are nearest and dearest to him deprive him of life, and devour
his remains in a solemn
banquet."
In 1820, three Baptist mies. were sent to
labour among this deluded people. The Batta
dialect is not difficult to acquire, being simple in construction like the
Malayan, and resembling the
Bugis more than any other tongue.
It is written in a peculiar character, evidently derived from the
Sanscrit. The
first steps towards producing a Batta version of the New Testament were taken
by
Mr. Burton, who translated the Gospel of St. John. Sickness and
local difficulties afterwards caused
his departure from the island, and the total withdrawal of the mission.
Mr. Ward, however, remained
at his post, supporting himself by agriculture; and he not only compiled a
dictionary containing,
perhaps, 50,000 Batta words, but accomplished the important work of
translating the entire New
Testament. He met with no encouragement from the
Dutch local authorities, for they are in
general
inimical to missions, and to all means of enlightening the people of the East
that are subject to their
sway: Mr. Ward's version, therefore, still remains
unpublished. More recently there has, indeed, been
reason to hope that the Battas will shortly be supplied with the Word of God;
for, in 1849, Mr. H.
Neubronner van der Tunk was sent by the Netherlands Bible Society to Sumatra,
to learn the dialect
of the Battas, and to proceed with the translation of the New Testament.
The Gospel by St. John
has been completed, and published by Muller of Amsterdam, 1859."--The
Bible of Every Land. (1860, Second Edition) Samuel Bagster [Info
only]
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