38 TRAPPING WILD ANIMALS 



develop into clever dealers, but for the most part 

 they are content to spend their lives in loafing. They 

 work when they need money, but they need so little 

 of it that they can afford to idle along through life. 

 When the supply of food runs low, they put out in 

 their boats at daybreak and return at sundown with 

 fish. These are sorted and left to dry, afterward 

 sorted again, according to their market value, and 

 sold to the Chinese, who ship them in palm-leaf 

 baskets to Singapore. Then the Malays have fin- 

 ished their work for another month or so. Often 

 the merchant advances money for future delivery, 

 and the Malays find themselves obliged to work for 

 long periods to keep from being punished for debt. 

 That is a favorite method of making them work. 

 They consider themselves gentlemen and despise 

 the Chinese as pig-eating heathens. If they must 

 submit to working for the Chinese merchants, they 

 have the satisfaction of watching the coolies do 

 most of the hard labor while they spend their days 

 at games. 



The day's routine while I stayed in Palembang 

 with the old hadji was simple and pleasant. I lived 

 with him and his first wife he had three others. 

 We rose early and went for a swim in the river, and 

 then, squatting on the floor and eating with our 

 fingers, we breakfasted on fish and rice. After 

 breakfast, the hadji and I would stretch out on our 

 mats and smoke and talk until my servant came to 

 prepare my lunch. A Malay eats but two meals 



