NATURAL HISTORY AND ETHNOGRAPHY OF MALAY PENINSULA. 417 



interfered, the Malay artificer shows no marked inferiority to his fellow- 

 worker of China or Hindustan. The work of Malay gold and silver smiths 

 in the Peninsula may in fact generally be distinguished from that of their 

 Chinese and Indian confreres in the same region by its being less florid 

 and in juster taste than the latter, and finer in execution than that of 

 the former. 



This question of ornamentation is of especial interest on the East 

 Coast, where Mohammedanism may be seen struggling for the mastery, 

 and not always getting the better of the spirit of the people. Most 

 important in this connection are the rare traces of anthropomorphic and 

 zoomorphic decoration, e.g., in some of the axe-helves brought back by the 

 expedition, which bear an astonishing likeness to certain Polynesian 

 designs, as well as in the ornithomorphic ornaments, which, like the 

 frigate bird to which Dr. Haddon has drawn attention in neighbouring 

 islands, play so large a part in the East Coast rites of marriage and 

 circumcision. In the case of the latter ceremony the anomaly is especially 

 remarkable, the candidates for circumcision being usually first paraded 

 in a chariot representing some animal or bird, a thing which I have never 

 seen among the West Coast Malays, who are in closer touch with 

 civilisation. 



East Coast designs (more especially those of animals) may conveniently 

 be studied in the extensive series of Malay ' fancy ' cake-moulds collected 

 from the various districts through which we passed. I regard this series 

 as an important one, the designs being very fairly representative of this 

 branch of Malay decorative work. The objects represented include the 

 lion, elephant, bull, goat, and several kinds of tortoise and fish ; the rose 

 and other flowers ; the axe and various forms of the Malay dagger, or 

 kris. For the same purpose I obtained some fine specimens of mat-work, 

 basket-work, needlework, weaving, photographs of decorative house- 

 walls, pottery stamps, and three beautiful specimens of Kedah water- 

 chatties, one of which is decorated with a floral design, and the other two 

 with representations of fish, which are depicted as swimming round the 

 waist of the chatty. 



Weapons. 



Among the Malayan daggers the most interesting was perhaps what 

 Professor Louis calls the 'kingfisher' variety of the Malay kris, the 

 hilt of which represents a sitting figure with an abnormally long nose, 

 which in some cases reaches a length of several inches, the body of the 

 figure itself being only about 3 inches high. This particular dagger has a 

 very long seabliard, and is frequently if not usually inserted in the belt 

 in the middle of the wearer's back. To draw it the wearer gives a back- 

 ward kick, which, just touching the bottom of the scabbard, drives the 

 hilt upwards between the shoulders, where it can be seized by the hand 

 (over the shoulder) and drawn for action. 



Hunting and Fishing, ^c. 



As regards the series of traps, snares, and nets used by J ungle Malays, 

 of which a large collection was made, the greatest ingenuity, as well as a 

 considerable knowledge of the life-history of the animal, is often exhibited 

 in their construction. Magic as a rule plays a large part in the 

 processes employed, and I hope in due course to be able to work out this 

 piost interesting side of Malay ethnography. 



1901. EE 



