The Portland daily press., 1891-12-26

and to the end Of this rope is fastened a
short stick with both ends sharpened,
and dead monkey or something else
equally palatable fixed upon it by way
of bait. The crocodile, greedily swal-
lowing the bait, gets this sharp peg stuck
trosswise in his throat, and is then easily
hauled in despite all his struggles, after
which his captors enjoy sumptuous
feast upon his flesh and make shields of
his scaly armor. Among the minor deli
cacies of the Dyak bill Of fare, snake
pie, stewed monkey and eggs kept till
they can be scented half mile off hold
a prominent place. In the far interior,
however, where pigs are largely reared by
the non ussulman tribes Of the forest,
you can at times vary this queer menu
with griskin OF a spare rib, and, in
fact, the one thing which still retards
the conversion Of these savages to the
Moslem faith is their reluctance to give
up pork.
In one of the higher reaches of the
river you espy small object floating
down the stream toward you, which, as
you near it, proves to be a pretty little
miniature house of the native pattern,
adorned with protusion of tiny colored
flags and fixed upon bamboo raft as
small as itself, the whole thing being no
bigger than a dolls house or child's
"Noah's Ark" Altogether it is very
charming little toy, but if you show any
inclination to seize it as it passes, your
Malay crew will raise their voices in
alarmed and clamorous remonstrance,
and the tall, sinewy Sarang native
boatswain) will say very gravely,
"Orang sakit" (nan sick), and win then
proceed to explain that this little bark
must have been launched by the friends
OF some Dyak invalid in village higher
up the river, in the hope that his illness
may float away along with it, and if you
NEEDLE with it the disease will inevita-
bly, fasten upon some one on board your
boat, or perhaps upon the whole ships
company at once.
About mile farther on there appears
suddenly round sharp bend real Ian
TIN raft), such as one sees on the rivers
OF Siam-many yards in length and with
good sized hut in the middle of it
coming down toward us as if it were the
mother of the infant raft that we have
just passed in hot pursuit of her strayed
baby. The presence of this strange
craft is speedily and ominously account
ed for by the sudden Swallowing of the
river, which is so beset with shoals and
rapids just at this point that your whole
crew have to leap out onto the bank
and tow the boat by main force, wading
the rough, knee deep and often waist
deep masses of black mud beneath the
full glare of the midday sun, while the
considerable sarang encourages them
with the comforting assurance that !,
seven if they are drowned it is only
nasseeb fate)."
When Mr.. Boatswain musters his men
after the work is over, you will prob
ably be not little amazed at the pc
culiar names to which they answer.
remember having native "boat gang"
on the gold coast in west Africa, the
roll call of which ran as follows: NBrass
Pan, Pea Soup, Prince of Wales, Red
Flannel, Duke Of. Cambridge, Bottle of
Beer, No Shirt, Bad Penny, Squint Eye,
Son of Gun, Devils Father" But this
queer muster roll would pass quite un-
noticed in the interior of Borneo. where
one is met at every turn by such names
as 'Kaloog" (worm), "Ubi" potato),
"Seeput" (sea slug, Hartman" (tiger),
@Ular' (snake), "Rossa" (deer), s'Bua-
va" (crocodile), and ''Pisang' Obanana).
In spite of their queer names, how
ever, the Malay boatmen are for the
most part very patient, good humored
fellows, easily enough managed by any
one who knows how to deal with them.
Many of them are decided ''dudes" in
their way, and those who belong to the
government steam launches take great
pride in their smart dress of white trou-
sers, scarlet cap, girdle of crimson silk
and blue frock, with broad white
'man-of-war" collar, thrown back over
the shoulders.
They are very fond of music, often
timing the beat of their paddles to some
quaint old Malay song, and when they
have brought you to the village whittier
you are bound and are off duty for
time, instead of going to sleep, as you
would expect, they often sit up half the
night singing and telling stories. Many
of the songs are improvised on the spot,
and the jokes and personal hits which
are freely banded about on such occa-
sions are always received with hearty
laughter. Of the stories, translate one
as a specimen of the rest:
1.-TWO men had dispute about wom-
an, each declaring that she was his wife.
The one was learned man, the other a
peasant why cultivated padi (rice) in the
fields. Being unable to agree, they went
to the kazi Cjudge) and stated their case.
1t was difficult matter, and as if to
make it more difficult still the woman
did that which is hardest of all things
for women to do-she held her tongue
and spake not aword. Then said the
kali, Leave the woman here and return
tomorrow They all salaamed and re-
tired, and on the morrow he gave the |
woman to the learned man, and SEN
fenced the peasant to fifty stripes with a |
rattan. This morning. said he, Il babe |
this woman fill my inkstand, and she did |
30 like one well used to the task, which,
had she been PEASANTS wife, she could |
pauar have 1narnod 70 A. Tbav III -.