422 REPORT— 1901. 



made of bamboo, cane, and many other vegetable substances, and though 

 they are as a rule made plain are not unfrequently (especially when 

 used for holding rice) decorated with tasteful patterns. 



Sinnninff and Weaving, 



The set of apparatus used for spinning and weaving forms one of the 

 most valuable sei'ies brought back by the expedition. The spinning 

 industry is already as nearly as possible obsolete, being only practised by 

 the poorest of the poor in out-of-the-way jungle districts, and the 

 implements when seen had to be purchased at sight for whatever their 

 owners would accept in payment, as there was but small chance of meeting 

 with them again. The cotton is first passed through a small hand-mill or 

 gin (of which two specimens were obtained) for the removal of the hji.rd 

 black seeds. It is then scutched by means of a small bow (one specimen 

 purchased), the string of which was twanged with a short piece of bamboo 

 (also purchased), flattened, and rolled a little on a special board with a 

 specially made rolling-pin (both purchased), spun off on the point of a 

 spinning-wheel of the Indian (Behar) type, and wound off on to a winder 

 (purchased), stretched on a rack (purchased), dipped and brushed with 

 the fruit of the nipah-palm (brushes purchased), dyed and transferred to 

 the spools which were hung on a spool-carrier (also purchased). So far 

 as the spinning goes there does not seem to have been any important 

 divergence from Indian methods. The warp-laying, however, appears to 

 be done on a system for which I have as yet failed to find any parallel. 

 In India (Dacca) two parallel rows or rods about four feet apart are 

 planted in the ground, and the warp-layer, holding a small wheel of warp 

 yarn in each hand, passes the latter over one of the parts, and then walks 

 along the rows laying down the threads and crossing them. In parts of 

 Sumatra this method may, I believe, be seen, but the Malay warp-layer of 

 the Peninsula, on the other hand, arranges the spools in an elongated frame, 

 which may be compared to a ladder, of which the spools form the steps or 

 rungs. This frame or spool-ladder is suspended horizontally from the 

 roof-timbers of the house, and on the floor beneath it is deposited a second 

 frame, which consists of a number of long pegs (probably corresponding to 

 the rods used by the Indian method), which are fitted firmly into a couple 

 of boards, the distance between which may be varied by shifting a central 

 board which runs between them. Round the pegs just referred to the 

 warp-threads are laid, the threads being drawn down as required from the 

 spools lying in the frame above the warp-layer's head. It will be 

 interesting to discover a parallel to this process, which is, I believe, widely 

 known among Malayan tribes. 



The Malay shuttle again presents a marked divergence from the 

 Indian type, though the methods of pattern making (by tying and dyeing 

 the threads, Ac.) appear to be similar to Indian methods, and are identical 

 with those followed in other parts of the Malay region, e.g., in Borneo and 

 Sumatra. Throughout the Siamese-Malay States I collected specimens 

 illustrating the various stages in the process of dyeing, to show the 

 arrangement of the threads in the formation of the favourite Malay 

 check-patterns. In order to complete the series I purchased a Malay 

 loom, with the cloth in process of making, which is now with the rest 

 of the ethnographical specimens brought back by the expedition. The 

 specimens also include embroidery and needlework frames. 



