A JOURNEY TO THE SOURCE OF THE INDAU. 3 



of aborig-ine less distinct, for instance, their hair Joes not curl 

 so closely as that of the true Sakai and in some cases it is 

 quite straig-ht. 



In the neighbourhood of Batu Gajah, about one hundred 

 men, women and children live, three or four families sharing 

 the same one-roomed hut. They subsist mainly on tibi kayii 

 (tapioca root), fruits and fish, with a little rice which they ob- 

 tain, tog"ether with salt and tobacco, from Malay traders, in 

 exchange for rotan, damar, getah and camphor wood. I was 

 informed by the Batin that during the greater portion of the 

 year when dispersed in search of jungle products, these peo- 

 ple live entirely on tibi kayii and fruit. 



Most of the men carry long spears, but none of theni ap- 

 pear to use Xhe sumpitan or blowpipe, which with its poisoned 

 darts is so common amongst the aborigines of the Keratong 

 and Jekati Rivers. 



The increasing intercourse with the Malays is most strik- 

 ingly exemplified in the dying out of the aboriginal tongue, 

 which on the Indau has become a mere dialect, two-thirds at 

 least of the words being apparently either Malay or of Malay 

 origin. They have not yet, however, adopted the Moham- 

 medan religion. 



On the Sungei Mas, which flows from the West and enters 

 the Indau about nine miles above Kuala Sembrong, is another 

 Jakun settlement consisting of about 30 men with nearly 100 

 women and children ; they cultivate a little paddy, but in 

 other respects are similar to those previously described. 



On arriving at Batu Gajah I had some difficulty in getting 

 the Malay boatmen to camp on the river bank, as they 

 assured me that there were many tigers in the neighbourhood. 

 At first I paid no attention to this and was anything but im- 

 pressed when a cry of riinaii ! riinau ! ! roused everybody at 

 midnight. The alarm proved a false one, having apparently 

 originated in the fertile brain of a boatman who had supped 

 recklessly on underdone iibi kayic. 



Next day, however, two Jakuns were brought in very badly 

 mauled by a tiger. They stated that they had been attacked 

 whilst asleep on a sandbank some distance up the river ; one 



