OCCUPATIONS OF THE NATIVES — Edible Bints Nttf. 1/5 



The hird's-nrsf-^wallow is smaller and blacker 

 than the common In mse-swal imv. When rubbed ' 

 her first nest, she generally builds twice u^.iiu At 

 intervals of a month. The quality of the nest is de- 

 teriorated at each time, which id a proof, in ad J i turn 

 to that derived from its anatomical structure, that this 

 bird is supplied with the glutinous substance, with 

 M-liieh it builds i1s nest, from a secretion in its stomach. 



While the able-bodied members of a family are thus 

 variously engaged, Ihe women manage affairs at 

 home, being assisted by the old men and children. 

 Independent of the employments just adverted to, 

 our Malays etigage in petty trading expeditions to 

 Junk-ceylon and intermediate ports to the northward, 

 and to Perak southward, and thvy pit a petty, but 

 lucrative, bartering trade with the natives, and Chi- 

 nese tin-miners of the interior of t lie Peninsula cast- 

 ward, to whom they tind ready access by the rivers 

 Muda, Prye and Krean, which flow by or in, and 

 b in ud. Province Wellesley . 



Boar-building is a favorite employment with the 

 men who remain at home ; and in this they will pass 

 a couple of hours a day. Some of these boats are 

 beautiful models ; but as they have no keel and have 

 rather sharp bows, they are only fitted to sail with a 

 very fair wind, and row well. The bottom is fram- 

 ed out of the trunk of a giyara or chinggei tree, both 

 of which are very durable woods. The trunk, after 

 being felled, is split and opened outwards by means 

 of fire. It is then reduced to the requisite thickness; 

 over this a few planks are built, and these again are 

 surmounted by a gunwale constructed with the cen- 

 tre part of the koombar palm-leaf. A new boat of 

 this kind, of about one coyan's burden, costs about 30 

 Spanish dollars. 



Although it is, in one sense, a fortunate thing for 



U t0 



