140 A NATURALIST'S WANDERINGS 



tip of their abdomens. AYlien it settles on the ground, it is 

 difficult to see, as it vibrates in constant motion its tail and 

 wings, so that a mere haze, as it were, exists where it rests. 



Emerging from this forest, I found myself in Tiohmomon, 

 a typical Lampong village, in a district which had been in- 

 habited for many generations. The houses were all substan- 

 tially built of planks, with, in many cases, carved decorations 

 on the cross beams, and painted designs on the intermediate 

 panels. . 



The Balai is the most — we might almost say the only — 

 peculiar and characteristic institution of the Lampongers. It 

 is always the largest and most prominent edifice in the village, 

 situated apart from all others^and in the most central position. 

 It stands eight or ten feet from the ground, on massive pillars 

 formed of great tree-stems, and is built generally of planks 

 of w^ood, or of bamboo wicker-work. It is evident that 

 much labour has been bestowed on it, for, as a rule, it indi- 

 cates the higJiest available workmanship, as it is the result of 

 the combined labour of the whole community. It is lofty, 

 and roofed either with thatch of grass or rattan-palm leaves, 

 or covered with wood or bamboo "slates," according to the 

 fashion of roofing in vogue in the village. It is fairly well 

 lighted, but the light, as a rule, is admitted only by the 

 latticed gables, and by long slits and small windows a few 

 feet above the level of the floor, more suitable, of course, 

 to the squatting native than to a European sitting on a chair. 

 Two- doors, reached by strong bamboo ladders, or well-made 

 wooden stairs, and situated one at each end of the buildine:, 

 either in the gables or in the sides, afford ingress and egress. 



At one end within a small inclosure is a cooking place — a 

 deep layer of earth on which the fire rests. 



The Balai is in reality the town-hall of the Lamponger, It 

 is the common property of every man, woman, and child in 

 the village. In Mahomedan lands a man's house is sacred ; 

 for a man rarely enters the dwelling of his neighbour, and never 

 without the head of the house ; but the Balai is the assembly- 

 room— the meeting place for all. Its doors stand ever open. 

 All business is transacted under its roof; all hitjaras (consul- 

 tations and discussions) are held there. At whatever hour 

 one enters, its most characteristic occupants, lazy, sleeping 



