174 IN THE SWAMPS 



pleasure I took in his children and told me much 

 of child life, of folklore, and of the many Malay 

 superstitions. He was a good talker, as most 

 Malays are, and in common with his countrymen 

 loved to gossip ; there was not much of the social 

 history of that little settlement I did not hear 

 before we set out for the swamps in the jungle. 

 Being well-to-do he indulged himself in fads, 

 two— cock-fighting and highly ornamented krises. 

 Also he had some fine pieces— betel-nut boxes 

 chiefly— of old Malay silver exquisitely carved, 

 and now so hard to get. He organized several 

 cock fights while I was with him, and although his 

 collection was small it was not lacking in quality. 

 He had also just bought a race pony, which he was 

 training with a view to entering the holiday races 

 at Singapore; for, next to his betel-nut and his 

 women, the Malay dearly loves the speculative op- 

 portunities of a horse race. 



But the up-country Malay of the old school 

 cherishes most his kris, as the dagger with wavy 

 or straight twelve-inch blade is called. There was 

 a day, not so long gone, when the kris bore no value 

 until baptism in human blood made it worthy to 

 pass on to succeeding generations with its story 

 enshrined in family tradition. To-day, with all 

 Malay at peace, it has lost such significance, though 

 remaining a much prized possession and heirloom, 



