FASCICULI MALATENSES 
4i 
in vertical bars by the removal of strips of the outer surface of the bamboo. 
In the fresh specimen this method of decoration was most effective, as the green 
of the outer surface contrasted finely with the duller tissue revealed by its 
removal and with the paint. 
Resin torches are commonly in use among the Mai Darat, who habitually 
procure fire by the aid of flint and steel, or even lucifer matches. There are 
still young men, however, who can make it by older methods, which differ 
from those of Upper Perak in being more degenerate, while the skill of 
individuals whom we saw employing them was very small. It should be 
noted that they only did so to give us a demonstration, and at our request : 
the men of the camp near Telom declined the trouble. The easiest way to 
make fire known to Batang Padang Sakais is by sawing a piece of soft wood 
with a sword-shaped strip of bamboo. The wood was held down on the ground 
by one man, while two others worked the bamboo backwards and forwards, 
grasping it with both hands at either end. The second method was essentially 
that already described with reference to the Seman, but the wood was not split 
and no peg was inserted, the tinder being held near the groove formed by the 
rattan string. The ends of the rattan were held by a man sitting on the ground, 
and the same man shoved against the billet of wood with his right foot, thus keep- 
ing it pressed hard against the rattan, which he drew backwards and forwards round 
it. This method was considered to be the most efficient, if suitable materials 
could be obtained ; but very strong rattan was necessary, as well as peculiarly 
soft wood. The third method was that of the fire-drill, a pointed stick of 
hard wood being rotated in a depression bored in a block of soft wood, by 
means of a rattan band passing round it and worked by two men. The first 
method was a very clumsy form of that described with reference to the Sakais 
of Upper Perak, but it was the only one by which those men among the Mai 
Darat, who undertook to demonstrate the production of fire from wood, were 
able actually to obtain fire in our presence. 
As we have already inferred, at least two qualities of bark-cloth are made 
by the Mai Darat, one being produced by the Upas tree and the other, which 
is much coarser, from a species of Artocarpus , and possibly from other trees 
also. The inner bark is removed from these trees in large strips, which may 
measure as much as eighteen inches across and several feet in length. These 
are soaked in water for a shorter or longer period, according to the colour 
required and the character of the bark ; but as a rule, the soaking does not last 
longer than an hour or two. They are then beaten until the requisite con- 
sistency is acquired with mallets used only for this purpose. The mallets 
(Fig. 13) measure about ten inches in length and two in breadth, about one- 
G 
6/z/oj 
