BY THE REV. J. E. TENISON-WOODS. 27 



storekeeper or two and gardeners, were entirely occupied in fishing, 

 for which purpose they had junks of the regular Chinese pattern. 

 They had a considerable area of bamboo staging ; the floor com- 

 posed of open split bamboo, on which the fish was placed to dry 

 in the sun. On the arrival of the junks the fishes were taken out, 

 and the heads and entrails removed, with a partial rubbing off of 

 the scales. Water was repeatedly poured over them bill they 

 were thoroughly washed free from blood. When quite clean they 

 were put into casks in layers, with a thick coating of salt between 

 the layers. They were allowed to remain in this for two or three 

 days, according to the season, and then laid upon the bamboo 

 staging to dry in the sun. In the Straits of Malacca, as in all 

 the Archipelago, there is not much sunshine. Moreover, it rains 

 nearly every day, in tropical showers which are neither light nor 

 brief. These conditions are very much opposed to fish-drying, and 

 before the fish could be finally stowed away, the " Ikan kering" or 

 dried fish was in a semi-putrid condition. This state of things 

 was aided to a considerable extent by the uncleanly habits of the 

 Chinese. The heads and entrails of the fish were thrown into the 

 water and on to the beach, and left to rot in the sun, with results 

 which can be easily guessed. The effluvium around the village of 

 Rajah Byong was unbearable to those who had not been inured to 

 it by previous education. 



Whenever the wind blew from the village, towards our quarters, 

 we had to leave the house. Our Chinese servants, in spite of 

 every prohibition, spread their mats under the bungalow at 

 night, and exposed themselves to the full force of these mephitic 

 breezes. The consequence was, they were all stricken down with 

 fever, and some nearly died. Pankore has the name of being a 

 very unhealthy place, but the marvel is how anybody lives there 

 at all. The inhabitants suffer much from what is called malarial 

 fever, but the malaria here is undoubtedly mephitism from putrid 

 fish offal. 



Yet in spite of these disadvantages, the dried salt fish of the 

 Chinese is not such bad food. Where meat is almost unobtainable, 



