CHAP. VII 



DAILY LIFE 117 



sluggishly ; some descend to bathe, while others 

 smoke the fag ends of the cigarettes that were un- 

 finished when they fell asleep. Then the men 

 breakfast in their rooms, and not until they are satis- 

 fied do the women and children sit down to their 

 meal. During all this time the chronically hungry 

 dogs, attracted by the odours of food, make persistent 

 efforts to get into their owner's rooms. Success in 

 this manoeuvre is almostly always followed by their 

 sudden and noisy reappearance in the gallery, 

 caused by a smart blow with a stick. In the busy 

 farming season parties of men, women, and children 

 will set off in boats for the padi fields taking their 

 breakfasts with them. 



After breakfast the men disperse to their various 

 tasks. During some three or four months of the 

 year all able-bodied persons repair daily to xh^ padi 

 fields, but during the rest of the year their employ- 

 ments are more varied. The old women and 

 invalids remain all day long in the rooms ; the old 

 men lounge all day in the gallery, smoking many 

 home-made cigarettes, and perhaps doing a bit of 

 carving or other light work and keeping an eye 

 on the children. The young children play in and 

 out and about the house, chasing the animals, and 

 dabbling among the boats moored at the bank. 



A few of the able-bodied men employ themselves 

 in or about the house, making boats, forging swords, 

 spear-heads, iron hoes, and axes, repairing weapons 

 or implements. Others go in small parties to the 

 jungle to hunt deer and pig, or to gather jungle 

 produce — fruits, rubber, rattans, or bamboos — or 

 spend the day in fishing in the river. During the 

 months of December and January the jungle fruits 

 — the durian, rambutan, mangosteen, lansat, mango, 

 and numerous small sour fruits (PL 65) — are much 

 more abundant than at other times ; and during 

 these months all other work is neglected, while the 



