A WERE-TIGER. 267 



Round his waist he wore the national garment a 

 sarong, which is in shape like a somewhat wide sack 

 with the bottom cut off. His coat was nearly as 

 primitive, for it was innocent of buttons, and could 

 only be put on and taken off by being pulled over the 

 head. A big coloured handkerchief was tied round 

 his forehead, with a fantastic peak carefully arranged 

 in front. Sarong, coat, and handkerchief were all of 

 Malay weaving and coloured with native dyes, and 

 nothing could be more simple or more effective and 

 becoming to the wearer. 



We took boat at the mouth of one of the rivers, 

 the Malays at first using their paddles in the tidal 

 waters where the inflowing tide bore us swiftly past 

 densely timbered banks, and afterwards exchanging 

 their paddles for poles when at last a sandy bottom 

 was reached. We poled slowly against a strong 

 current until the river became so narrow and so 

 shallow that farther progress by boat was difficult. 

 Then we left the river, and struck inland at right 

 angles to it. For a whole day we made our way 

 along a narrow track through heavy forest, where the 

 great trees afforded shade and coolness even at mid- 

 day. At sunset we camped on a ridge that formed 

 the watershed between the river we had left and 

 the one for which we were making. An armful of 

 leaves was thrown down to make a bed for each, and 

 a deftly plaited screen of wild palm-leaves was placed 

 over the beds to keep off the dew. 



During the night at intervals "the spirits of the 

 semambu" called to one another in a little ravine 

 below us. The semambu is the Malacca cane of 



