vm LIFE ON THE RIVERS 133 



feet, dropping their paddles and seizing their poles. 

 Thrusting these against the stony bottom in perfect 

 unison, the crew swings the boat up through the 

 rushing water with a very pleasant motion. If the 

 current proves too strong and the boat makes no 

 progress, or if the water is too shallow, three or 

 four men, or, if necessary, the whole crew, spring 

 into the water and, seizing the boat by the gunwale, 

 drag it upstream till quieter water is reached. It 

 is necessary for a man or boy to bale out the water 

 that constantly enters over the gunwale while the 

 boat makes the passage of a rapid. All through 

 these exciting operations the captain directs and 

 admonishes his men unremittingly, hurling at them 

 expressions of a strength that would astonish a crew 

 on the waters of the Cam or Isis : *' Matei tadjin 

 selin " (may you die the most awful death) is one 

 of the favourite phrases. These provoke no 

 resentment, but merely stimulate the crew to greater 

 exertions. 



Sometimes, when much water is coming down 

 after heavy rains, the current is so swift in deep 

 places that neither paddling, poling, nor wading is 

 possible. Then three or four men are landed on 

 the bank, or on the boughs of the trees, and haul on 

 the boat with long rattans, scrambling over rocks 

 and through the jungle as best they can. 



The passage down stream in the upper reaches 

 of a river is even more exciting and pleasurable. 

 The crew paddles sufficiently to keep good steerage 

 way on the boat, as it glides swiftly between the 

 rocks and shallows ; as it shoots over the rapids, 

 the steersman stands up to choose his path, the 

 water splashes and gurgles and leaps over the 

 gunwale, and the men break out into song. The 

 smaller waterfalls do not check its onward rush ; 

 as the boat approaches a fall, several men near the 

 bow stand up to see if there is sufficient water ; then, 



