IN BURU, 39^0 



heart, hastily clearing oif the fire they threw the pig body-bulk 

 on the glowing stones, closely covering it up with fresh green 

 banana leaves. In little over an hour we had served up to us 

 a piece of pork baked to perfection, the most deliciously 

 flavoured I have ever tasted. When we had rested some time 

 after our meal their jubilation \\ as further marked by a musical 

 performance given in one of their huts, and, as we were invited 

 to attend, I had an opportunity of seeing the interior arrange- 

 ment of their houses. 



They were constructed of uneven strips of tree bark, rouglily 

 set up side by side on the unle veiled ground, held in place by 

 narrow rinds of bamboo on each side, tightly tied together by 

 thongs at the gaps between each strip of bark. By these wide 

 chinks the pigs and dogs made the dwelling as much theirs 

 as the owner's. The roof was of palm thatch and badly put 

 on patches of bark. At both gables was a quadrangular hole 

 to serve as doorway and window, closed by a squarish piece of 



barl 



it. 



Between .these openings there ran a central passage, full (as I 

 saw it) of pools of water. The space on each side of this 



ee 



four narrow stalls (across the top of which was piled their 

 store of wood logs) such as might be found in the worst 

 possible cowhouse; ^^hile against the wall where one would 

 look for a manger was a small platform raised two or 

 three feet from the ground, to serve for seat or bed. The 

 fire was made anywhere which was for the moment most 

 convenient— in the passage, or in one of the stalls— the smoke 

 oozinir throuirh the numerous chinks and by a small patch 



O '"-""!-, 



'raised in one of the rows of thatch. There was not in the 

 whole dwellino- a single article of furniture or any decorative 



^ "— o 



artifice or a single device for affording convenience or comtbrt. 

 To accommodate me with a seat to listen to the musical 

 " function," a large stone had to be brought in. The per- 

 formers, who were of both sexes, disposed themselves in the 

 passage on stones and logs. The men sang an improvised 



Q i-v^ ijac^ii Kj\y 11 Y ii: 



I 



or drum, to which the women, sitting on their heels, languidly 

 supporting their heads on their arms, which rested on their 

 knees, contributed an unchanging refrain at the end of every 



