XXXII. THE POTTING INDUSTRY AT KUALA 
TEMBELING. 
By Ivor H. N. Evans, M.A. 
At Kuala Tembeling in Pahang a considerable potting 
industry is still carried on, this being one of the few stations 
in the Peninsula where Malays are engaged in making 
pottery. : 
An account of a similar industry on the Perak River has 
already been given by LL. Wray (J.R.A.I., Vol. XXXII, 
P. 24 et segq) and this may be read for putposes of compar- 
ison, 
The clay used by the Kuala Tembeling potters— 
women—is, when unbaked, of a yellow colour, and, 
according to my informant is obtained from between layers 
of stone (di-gali di chtlah batu) at a place called Pasir Durian. 
After excavation, it is pressed into reticulate, conical carry- 
ing-baskets (ambong) and conveyed, chiefly by boat, to the 
b 
potters’ houses. Arrived there; it is soaked in water and 
worked into a homogeneous mass, any impurities, such as 
stones or roots, being removed while it is undergoing this 
treatment. It is then ready for use. 
No true potters’ wheel is found among the Malays of 
the Peninsula, but a primitive substitute is made by the 
Tembeling people by rotating by hand a round winnowing- 
tray, or a flat sieve, on the above-mentioned wooden slab. 
iece of coarse matting is placed in the tray and on this 
sufficient clay to form a pot. 
sieve, meanwhile, being rotated ‘‘ against the clock’’ with 
the left. The only aid used was a piece of wet rag which 
was chiefly employed in throwing the lip of the vessel. 
On reaching this stage it was necessary to stop to allow 
the clay to harden somewhat, before removing the vessel 
from the tray in order to give it the rounded bottom which 
is general in vessels of this type. The remainder of the 
demonstration, therefore, was postponed till the next day, 
when I again visited the house. The clay of the vessel had 
by this time become a good deal drier, but, as the potter, 
explained, was not yet really sufficiently hard. However, as 
