38 TRAPPING WILD ANIMALS 
develop into clever dealers, but for the most part 
they are content to spend their lives in loafing. They 
work when they need money, but they need so little 
of it that they can afford to idle along through life. 
When the supply of food runs low, they put out in 
their boats at daybreak and return at sundown with 
fish. These are sorted and left to dry, afterward 
sorted again, according to their market value, and 
sold to the Chinese, who ship them in palm-leaf 
baskets to Singapore. Then the Malays have fin- 
ished their work for another month or so. Often 
the merchant advances money for future delivery, 
and the Malays find themselves obliged to work for. 
long periods to keep from being punished for debt. 
That is a favorite method of making them work. 
They consider themselves gentlemen and despise 
the Chinese as pig-eating heathens. If they must 
submit to working for the Chinese merchants, they 
have the satisfaction of watching the coolies do 
most of the hard labor while they spend their days 
at games. 
The day’s routine while I stayed in Palembang 
with the old hadji was simple and pleasant. I lived 
with him and his first wife—he had three others. 
We rose early and went for a swim in the river, and 
then, squatting on the floor and eating with our 
fingers, we breakfasted on fish and rice. After 
breakfast, the hadji and I would stretch out on our 
mats and smoke and talk until my servant came to 
prepare my lunch. A Malay eats but two meals 
