THE FOOD OF THE NATIVES. 143 



of the two fniits. In the Pliilippines it is generally 

 called pirui^ the Spanish word for pine-cone, which 

 has the same origin as our name pine-apple. Pin a 

 is also the name of a cloth of great strength and 

 durability, made by the natives of the Philippines, 

 from the fibres of its leaves. The Malays, on the 

 contrary, seldom or never make any such use of it, 

 though it grows so abundantly in many places that 

 any quantity of its leaves could be obtained for the 

 simple trouble of gathering them. The fi'uit raised 

 here is generally regarded as inferior to that grown 

 in the West Indies, and the Dutch consider the va- 

 riety known as " the West Indian ananas," that is, one 

 that has been recently introduced, as the best. The 

 finest specimens of this fruit are raised in the interior 

 of Sumatra and on the islands about Singapore, and 

 great quantities are exposed for sale in the market at 

 that city. 



From the crest of the first range of hills we de- 

 scended to a deep ravine, and crossed a bridge thrown 

 over a foaming toiTent. This bridge, like most the 

 Dutch possessions, was covered with a roof, but left 

 open on the sides. The ol)ject of the roof and its 

 projecting eaves is to keep the boards and planks 

 beneath dry, for whenever they are fi-equently soaked 

 with rain they quickly decay in this tropical climate. 

 The coolies here lunched on smoked fish and sago- 

 cake, their common fare, and quenched their thirst 

 with draughts from the rapid stream. Their rag- 

 ged clothing and uncombed hair made them appear 

 strangely out of keeping with the luxuriant vegeta- 

 tion suiTounding us. Crossing another high range, 



