Journey int the interior of Sumatera (420 - 427)
only wanted stones, and they preferred carrying their baskets empty, so they threw away what he gave them, and filled them up at the end of the day's journey, and they were sure they had given him more than he collected.
"But to proceed on our journey, We were now in a country abounding with metals" iron are of various kinds lay in our path, and it was not long before we were to be in the vicinity of the gold mines.
"We left Simawang at half-an-hour before seven, and reached Suruasa, the second city of the Menangkabau country, and in the immediate vicinity of Pageruyong, about one o'clock, the road nearly the whole way lying over a range of low primitive hills, and the distance about twelve miles. After descending the hill of Simawang, we crossed the river by a most romantie hanging bridge, which [...] in a very nerveous manner as we passed one by one. We sson came into a country enterirely primitive, or raher composed of the debris of primitive matter: we passed over several hills, said to contain gold, and saw extensive excavations, where the minters had been at work; these, however, cannot be considered as regular mines, and they are not reckoned very valuable. The excavations, however, afforded us a fine oppurtunity of noticing the direction of the strata, and other appearances interesting to the gologist. ABout eleven o'clock obtained one first view of Pageruyong.
"Shortly after this view our path, which had hitherto been narrow, and sometimes steepand broken, widened, and it was evident we were approaching the vicinity of some place of impoertance: but, alas! little was left for our curiosity but the wreek of what had onee been grent and populous. The waringin trees, which shaded and added solemnity to the palaca, were yet standing in all their majesty. The fruit-trees, and particularly the cocou-nut, marked the distant boundaries of this once extensive city: but the rank grass had usurped the halls of the palace, and acaree was the thatch of the peasant to be found: three times has the city been commited to the flames. Well might I say, in the languange of the Brata Yudha, ‘Sad and melancholy was her waringin tree, like unto the sorrow of a wife whose husband is afar’
“On our arrival at Suruasa we were conducted to the best dwelling which the place now afforded-to the palace, a small planked house of about thirty feet long, beautifully situated on the banks of the Golden River (Sungay Amas). Here we were intorduced to the Tuan Gadis, or Virgin Queen, who administered the country. We were received with all the satisfaction and kindness that could be expected. It was a scene which made me melancholy, and I will not attempt to deseribe it.
The extensive population and high state of cultivation by which we were surrounded, seemed to confirm, the opinion I had always formed, and even publicly maintened, as you may see in my History of Java, that the Malayan empire was not of recent origin, and that in its zenita it was of comparative rank, if the rival and contemporary of Java. The Malays have always excited considerable speculation from the circumstance of their being evidently in a retragrade state: but where were we to lokk for their history? In their literary compositions they seldom go farther back than the introduction of Mahomedanism, except to give an [aecount] of Noah’s ark, or some romantic tale from which little or nothing can be gathered. It was my good fortune in Java to discover the vestiges of former high state of literature and the arts, in poems, in the ruins of temples, in sculptured images, in ancient inscriptions. Nothing of this kind was supposed to exist among the Malays; Java was therefore considered as the cradle of the arts and sciences, as far as they had been introdced into the Archipelago.the Malays were even stated to heve derived their origin from Java, from the Javan word Malayu, meaning a runaway: they were said to be the runaways and outcasts of Java. You may see all this, and much more to the disadvantage of the Malays, stated in the Forty-first Number of the Edinburgh Review. Your Grace may therefore judge with what interest I now surveyed a country which at least as far as the eye could reach, equalled Java in scenery and cultivation; and with what real satisfaction I stumbled, by the merest accident, upon nothing but an inscription in the real Kawi character, engraved on a stone, exactly after the amnner of those which have excited so much interest in Java. Immediately opposite the house, or palace, which I have described, was yhe masque, a small square building. In front of the masque, terned up on its edge, and serving as a steppingstone to this modern place of Mahomeden worship, was this relie of Hindu dominion. I soon traced the characters to be the same as those we had discovered in Java. All hands were immediately collected. In about an hour we succeded in laying the stone flat on the ground, and the operation of transeribing was immediately commeneed. The evening did not pass without further inquiries. A sceond inscription, in similar charaters, was discovered near the site of the former kudam, or palace. This was on a stone of irregular figure, and partly buried in the ground. We had only time to transcribe two lines of this, On Friday, the 24th of July, we left Suruasa at seven, and arrived at Pagerayong a quarter before nine, the estimated distance between the cities, being not more than two miles: the road over low hills, in which we observed numerous petrifactions: whole forests would appear, in some remote age, to have been buried by same violent convulsion. Passing along the sides of the hills, our attention was repeatedly attracted by the numerous stumps and trunks of trees in a state of petrifaction. These were mostly protruded from considerable depths under ground.
“In quitting Suruasa we noticed several small tanks and passed over the site of many an extensive building now no more. The only vestige, however, of anything like aculpture, beyond the inscriptions already alluded to, was in four cut stones, which evidently had formerly served for the entrance of the city.
“In approaching Pageruyong we had an excellent view of the situation of this once famous city. It is build, as I before noticed at the foot, and partly on the slope of a steep and rugget hill called Gunug Bongso, so remarkable for its appearance and the three peaks which it exhibits. Below the town, under aprecipice of from fifty to a hundred feet, in some parts nearly perpendicular, winds the beautiful stream of Selo, which, pursuing its course, passes Suruasa, where it takes it takes the name of the Golden River, and finally falls into the river Indragiri. In front of the city rises the mountain Berapi, the summit of which may be about twenty miles distant. It is on the slopes of this mountain that the principal population is settled, the whole side of the mountain for about fifteen miles from Pageruyong in every direction, being covered with villages and rice-fields. The entrace to the city, which is now only marked by a few venerable trees, and the traces of what was once a high-way, is nearly three-quarters of a mile before we came to the Bali and site of the former palace. Here little is left save the noble waringin trees, and these appear in several instances to have suffered from the action of fire” scarcely the appearance of a hut is to be seen: the large flat stone, however on which the Sultan used to sit on days of public ceremony, was pointed out to us: and when the weeds had been partially cleared, the royal burial-ground was discovered. In this we did not discover any inscription in the ancient character: but the ground was but very partially and hastily examined. We were struck, however, with the sculputure of later days, the memorials of the dead raised in Mahomedan times; these were on a small seale, but very beautifully executed.
“Arragements had been made for our accomodation in a small house recently erected on the banks of the river, to which we descended. Here we remained for some time; but intending to return to Suruasa in the afternoon, I left the party and wandered for an hour two.
“This city had shared the same with that of Suruasa. Those times had it been committed to the flames by a remorseless fanatic; twice had it again risen to something like splendour: from the last shock it had not yet recovered. The Prince, no longer able to make a stand against the oppressor, had fled to a distant retreat; and a few peasants now cultivated those spots which had formerly been the pleasure-grounds of the rich. Where the palace of the Sultan had stood, I observed a man planting cucumbers, and the sugar-cane occupied the place of the seraglio. From the heights of the town the view stretched to the north and west, as far as the summit of the mountain of Berapi and the neighbouring hills. The whole country, from Pageruyong, as far as the eye could distinetly trace, was one continued scene of cultivation, interespersed with innumberable towns and villages, shaded by the cocoa-nut other fruit-trees. I may safely say, that this view equalled anything I ever saw in Java; the scenery is more majestic and grand, population equally dense, cultivation equally rich. In a comparisin with the plain of Matarun, the richest part of Java, I think it would rice. Here, then, for the first time, was I able to trace the source of that power, the origin of that nation, so extensively scattered over the Eastern Archipelago.
"I returned to the party where the Tuan Gadis and Princes of the house of Menangkabu had assembed. A royal salute of one gun was fired, and after three cheers, we set out on our return to Saruasa.
"But I must not quit this (to a Malay) clasebe ground, without informing you of a must interesting discovery. At Saruasa I had discovered two incripstion: here I loooked for them in vain, but unexpectedly stumbled upon something no less interesting: a Hindu image, echaustely and beautifully carved, corresponding with thoses disenvered in Java, and evidently the work of similar artists, and the object of a similar worship. This image was mutilated, but in suflicient preservation to decide thus much.
"The estimated height of Pageruyong above the level of the sea is 1800 feet. In Mr. Marsden's map, Pageruyong is placed at about eighty-two miles N.E. of Padang, and sixty six from coast. By our observation we found it to be not more than fifty miles from Padang, and forty from the coast, in a straight line; the latitude being 14' south, and longitude twenty-eight miles east of Padang, or 100o 20o east of Greenwich.
"We returned to Suruasa about three o'clock, and in the evening I visited an extensive excavation where gold had been precured in considerable quantities.
"On the next day, Saturday the 25th, we left Suruasa at half-past six, and reached Simawang on our return towards Padang, at hal-past eleven. Here we remained till Sunday evening, when, to be prepared for an early departure on the next morning, we deserended to the lake and hivouacked on the banks for the night, literally lying down on the ground. While collecting specimens of minerals on this spot. I discovered another inscription in the Kawi character, the characters of wich were nearly obliterated by the constant action of the water. This stone was lying among the rocks over which the waters of the lake fell into the Indragiri river.
"Monday, - The bagage heving been embarked on the preceding evening, we rose at four, and by day-light were nearly half-way across the laki: four large boats in company, which conveted the whole of the party.
"Besides the pass into the Tiga-blas country, by which we had passed from Padang, there are three other principal passes from Padang, there are three other principal passes leading to the Menangkabau country, at Kati. Sindangbaker, and Paningahan; that at Sindangbaker, called Sri-menenti, (the same term that is used in Java for the entrance to the place,) appeared to be..
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Diambil dari Memoir Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles halaman 420-427, diketik ulang dan diterjemahkan menggunakan situs deepl.com. Terdapat beberapa kata yang tidak terbaca dalam tanda []. Dokumen digital halaman 420-427 didapat dari akun FB Andika Sutan Mancayo. Versi Bahasa, klik DISINI
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Baca Juga: Mengikuti Perjalanan Raffles Menemukan Desa Emas di Minangkabau
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