210 



WEAPONS. 

 The only weapon seen was a single blow-pipe. This, together 

 with the quiver belonging to it, were pui-chasecl for the Perak 

 Museum. Both blow-pipe and quiver were of the same type as the 

 specimen of each from Kuantan, Pahang, described by Mr. Skeat in 

 "Man" 1902, No. 108. The blow-pipe consists of two lengths of 

 hard wood, probably of the kind called penaga (Calophyllum) laid 

 together and shaved down on the outside until they^ form a long 

 cylindrical rod. The tube is made by cutting a groove with a semi- 

 circular section along the adjacent inner faces of both of tlie lengths. 

 The two sections of the tube are bound together with a long strip of 

 rattan cane, which is wound spirally round the?n from the base 

 to the muzzle. In most of the blow-pipes of this type the binding is 

 covered with a thick coating of a black gutta-like substance, but 

 the specimen obtained on the Tekai is coated with wild rubber of a 

 red-brown colour. The mouth-piece, from the top of which the 

 binding begins, is formed of the same kind of rubber moulded into a 

 roughly conical shape. The muzzle is covered with a rather thicker 

 coating of rubber than the rest of the tube. The total length of the 

 blow-pipe is 169.5 cms., and that of the mou.th-piece 12 cms. The 

 Sakai informed the writer that both the blow-pipe and the quiver 

 were made by themselves when living on the Tekam river, but said 

 that the former had once been longer and had been cut down to its 

 present dimensions owing to its having been broken. The quiver 

 which is a very large specimen, with a length of 37.5 cms. and a 

 diameter of 12.5 cms., has a flattish top of plaited pandanus leaves, 

 which rises into four slight peaks at the edges. The plaiting of 

 the pandanus is not finished oft" at the centre of the cover, a 

 number of free ends thus being left, which cross and recross 

 each other. The quiver contains a bundle of reed dart-holders 

 of the usual type and seven short poisoned darts, and besides 

 these two small spatulse of ipoh. poison are slipped into it at 

 its edges. In the centre of the bundle of dart-holders are several 

 memplas leaves (Tetracea assa ?) which are used for polishing 

 dart stems, a bone awl, vegetable fluif for packing behind the 

 dart as a wad when placed in the blow-pipe, a spare dart head, 

 and the two long tail feathers of a Larger Racket-tailed Drongo. 

 In no case do the butt ends of the stems project through to the 

 upper surface of the dart head as in the specimen described by Skeat. 

 The quiver is ornamented on the outside at top and base with bands 

 of roughly scratched-in patterns. For these the writer could obtain 

 no names, except that the Sakai said that one pattern at the top was 

 meant to represent a jungle flower, and one at the base bamboo 

 shoots. The middle of the quiver is surrounded with a band of 

 plaited cane to which are fastened the cords which attach it to the 

 hunter's body, the rattan band being tightened around the quiver by 

 means of two small wooden wedges which are driven in from above. 

 A similar l)inding encloses the" quiver at the base, but is without 



