CHAPTER XXIX 



THE BALEI OR TEMPLE — A LITTLE KNOWN PART OF THE 

 COUNTRY — A COURTEOUS MALAY — POWER OVER ANI- 

 MALS — NEGARA 



The kapala cleared the way with his parang, and just 

 before dusk we arrived at the balei, a large structure 

 which the people had taken as a permanent abode, hav- 

 ing no houses and possessing ladangs near by. Many 

 fires were burning inside, round which the families had 

 gathered cooking rice, and my entire party also easily 

 found room. The kapala at once sent out five men to 

 gather the necessary coolies for the continuance of our 

 journey the following day. 



The carriers were slow in coming, and while waiting 

 in the morning I catalogued four baskets which my mes- 

 senger had brought from Tappin and a few more which I 

 was able to buy here. The woman from Tappin, who 

 accompanied my man, was even better informed than 

 Dongiyak. She knew designs with remarkable certainty, 

 and it was gratifying to be able to confirm information 

 gathered before, also in two instances to correct errors. 

 Many of the designs seemed familiar to the men standing 

 around, for they, too, without being asked, would some- 

 times indicate the meaning correctly. 



This done, I again inspected the balei, accompanied 

 by the kapala who himself was a blian; he and the others 



were perfectly willing to give any information about cus- 



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