76 VOYAGE FROM INDIA TO SI AM AND MALACCA. 



This wing" was made of two bamboo sticks as long* as the 

 eighth part of the whole length of the boat, and to these were 

 tied two other bamboo sticks which stood out at the two ends, 

 they were twice as long as the width of the boat and at the end 

 of these cross sticks, another bamboo was fastened running paral- 

 lel with the boat, and standing out as much at the front part, as 

 long as the pointed end of the canoe. The smaller boats all had 

 this arrangement, only they had no staff for the flag. There 

 were more than eight men rowing the big- boats. Their oars 

 were lancet shaped as far as the middle and had a protruding 

 sharp cornered point. They were thin and smooth, about six 

 inches wide, the handle was round and short, their whole 

 length being about four feet ; they were made of a sort of 

 brownish red wood. 



Those of the natives that came on board were mostly young, 

 expect their captain who was rather old ; he had received a 

 name from a European captain, who frequently came hither, viz : 

 Makintosh. 



Their figure is very much like that of the Malays, they had 

 round heads thickly covered with short coarse hair, a large fore- 

 head, round small brown eyes, a flat nose, thick lips and large 

 faces, big teeth red with Betel, and thin black beards; they were 

 of a light brown colour. Their shoulders were large, and they 

 seemed to be muscular, their veins were more prominent than is 

 commonly the case with the black, their calves were very much 

 developed, but they were all only of medium stature. Their 

 clothing consisted of a piece of coarse blue linen, about three 

 fingers wide, which was wound several times round the lower 

 part of their body and taken up between the legs ; some of 

 them wore old straw hats. At first sight the expression of their 

 face seemed to be wild, but one soon lost that impression ; they 

 showed few signs of any passion, smiled in drawing their lips up 

 on one side, and when they felt offended they walked away with- 

 out any sign of anger. The principal articles they brought with 

 them were cocoanuts. Some of them had little square boxes the 

 biggest of them being one foot long, they were made from the 

 sheaths of the young leaves of the Chamoerops,* and they 

 contained many varieties of f Amber for sale. There were 



* Probably a Licuala. f Ambergris ? 



