i86 PYGMIES AND PAPUANS 



indeed rather too handy with their knives and a more 

 serious encounter took place one day between two of 

 Cramer's convicts. These two men, a inandoer (head 

 man) and another, quarrelled one morning about some 

 trifle connected with their food, and before anybody 

 knew what was amiss, knives were out and one was 

 chasing the other through the camp. By a clever back- 

 ward thrust the pursued man dealt the pursuer a deep 

 wound under the heart, but he was unable to escape be- 

 fore the pursuer had given him too a mortal wound. 

 One died in a few minutes and the other during the 

 course of the day, fortunately perhaps for both of them. 



But ordinarily our Malays were most quiet and 

 peaceable fellows. Certainly they were liars and thieves 

 when it suited their convenience to be so, but these 

 two faults are almost universal in the East. They were 

 enthusiastic fishermen (a sure sign of grace) and spent 

 many hours of their leisure time in angling for small 

 fish, which they very seldom caught. Another of their 

 virtues, though it sometimes became a little wearisome, 

 was their love of singing, in which they indulged on 

 fine evenings. The Ambonese used to sing, accom- 

 panied by a soloist on a sort of penny whistle, some 

 really pretty songs, possibly of Portuguese origin, to 

 which one could listen with real pleasure. But the 

 singing of the Javanese, usually in a high falsetto 

 voice, was a burden hardly to be borne. 



In dealing with people like the Malays it is essential 

 to keep them constantly occupied in order to prevent 

 them from brooding too much over their untoward 

 circumstances and becoming, as they easily do, 



