THE MALAY PENINSULA 



89 



simplest kind; the men's 

 bracelets and belts are made 

 from a black leafless aquatic 

 creeper that grows in the 

 mountain streams. The 

 women make bracelets of any 

 curiosities they can get from 

 the Malays. One, which Mr. 

 Hale purchased from an old 

 woman, was made up of the 

 following strange collection 

 nine strings of black and 

 white seeds, a string of old 

 Malay copper coins, a few 

 glass beads, one tip of a 

 squirrel's tail, two tufts of 

 monkey's hair, a serpent-ring 

 (or spiral) made of brass wire, 

 five snail-shells, and part of 



the brass support of the ribs 

 of an umbrella! Through the 

 septum of the nose they wear 

 either a porcupine quill or a 

 bone of a bird. Earrings are 

 also worn. The Sakais paint 

 their faces (as our illustra- 

 tions on pages 90-96 show) 

 with juice from a plant 

 which they cultivate for the 

 purpose. Their hair is gene- 

 rally worn in true Negrito 

 style, standing out from the 

 head all round in a great 

 mop; but near the Malay 

 villages they drop their own 

 primitive fashion and tie the M;-7 r-Mutifd by h 

 hair back in a knot, as their gUS^C^" Al 

 neighbours do. When they 



,///, 



,</, r 

 l,il I 



12 



