246 UDA PEANG 



trip down the coast to the Kampar River, which 

 we were first to try. Jin Abu wanted very much 

 to go with us, but said he could not remain as long 

 away from his rattan and fishing ; so we took leave 

 of him a little way below where we had first found 

 Uda— I with genuine regret— for Jin had been 

 faithful and companionable, despite our inter- 

 course being restricted largely to sign talk, and I 

 had grown to esteem and to like him, as I did no 

 other native in the Far East. 



We made rather rough weather of it coasting 

 from the mouth of the Siak to the Kampar in the 

 prau engaged for the trip. The honest truth is 

 that there were times when I wondered if we 

 should get anywhere beyond the China Sea; for, 

 though the boat proved surprisingly seaworthy, 

 the rag we had for a sail, with its foot standing six 

 feet above the bottom of the boat, was blown into 

 ribbons ; and the long, narrow blade of the Malay 

 paddle is not a useful implement on the open sea. 

 But it was all we had; and so when the sail went 

 by the board, as it soon did after we got under way, 

 the crew of three and Uda and I lay our backs to 

 the work of paddling for most of the two nights 

 and a day of the over-long time it took us to reach 

 the mouth of the river. 



The prau is a distinctly Malayan craft, with 

 high, sharp bow, and stern so finely drawn as to 



