244 EAMBLES OF A NATUEALIST. [Ch. XV. 



always built upon platforms raised on wooden piles, either 

 on the margin of the sea, or more commonly of rivers and 

 creeks, or over mangrove swamps; and the water in all 

 cases, at some period of the day, flows underneath their 

 dwellings. It might be supposed that such damp situations 

 would be unhealthy in the extreme ; but such are always 

 chosen by these people, who build clusters of wooden 

 houses called kampongs, which are either approached in 

 boats, or by a pathway of earth, raised above the level _ 

 reached by the rising water. A background of cocoa-nuts 

 and bananas often adds beauty to the scene, and the dusky 

 forms and faces moving about among the rickety dwelliags, 

 on the platforms, or paddling about in canoes, give it a 

 curious semi-savage aspect. AU the litter and dirt of the 

 establishment is simply swept through the open cracks in 

 the floor, and without further trouble is thus washed away 

 by the tide ; an arrangement which well suits the character 

 of the indolent Malays, who lazily lie upon their backs on 

 the platform, while the little naked children make dirt-pies, or 

 paddle about in minute cock-boats ; the women, meanwhile, 

 listlessly shambling about on their household duties. Such a 

 village has a wild and unciviHsed appearance, and yet there 

 are not unfrequently curious and incongruous signs of luxury 

 visible. Outside some of these houses may be seen vases of 

 flowers, well cared-for ; and I have noticed here and there 

 cushions laid out apparently for airing, whose ends were 

 daintily embroidered. 



Sauntering by myseK one day through such a village on 

 Pulo Brani, I was not a little surprised to hear sounds pro- 

 ceeding from the interior of one of the houses, of an infantine 

 voice, which said p-i-g, pig, d-o-g, dog, &c. It was evidently 

 a child in the throes of the first speUing-book ; but in what 



