FASCICULI MALAYENSES 
43 
grain, being ornamented round the edge with a thickened rim. We saw also 
in use among the hill people at Telom very neat little tobacco pouches made 
in a similar manner, but of a finer material ; they were extremely flexible, and 
could be tightly closed by turning over the upper part. As many of them were 
decorated with needlework very similar to that seen on the pouches made by 
Malays, it is probable that the pattern at least was a Malay one. The fishing- 
traps alluded to were mostly constructed of rattan or fine twigs lashed together. 
P andanus-\ezf sleeping mats, which are extensively used in the plains, probably 
have a Malay origin ; and the same may be said of hen-coops, manufactured 
by splitting a bamboo into a number of strips at one end, and, while leaving 
these strips connected at the base, where the stem is still whole, interlacing 
them with twigs or rattan in circles, so as to form an inverted funnel. 
Though the Sakais of the district under discussion have long practised 
agriculture on a fairly extensive scale, as is proved by the state of the jungle 
on the hillsides of the upper Batang Padang valley, it does not appear that 
they owned any agricultural implement more efficient than the digging-sticks 
of the Semangs until the recent growth of European influence brought them 
into close contact with Malays and Chinamen. They still make extensive clear- 
ings on the hills by burning down the jungle, leaving the stumps of the trees 
standing, and allowing the ashes to remain as manure. In these clearings they 
cultivate a kind of tapioca, which has run wild in the vicinity of most of their 
camps, a species of millet, which does not appear to be grown by the Malays 
of the same district, and also, of late years, Indian corn, which, however, has 
only become common among them quite recently. In the plains they cultivate 
rice of the varieties known as hill padi , which can be grown without irrigation ; 
but they have probably learnt to do this from the settled population, as the 
climate of the high elevations at which they prefer to live when in their wild 
state is unsuitable for any kind of rice growing. They do not, so far as we 
saw, cultivate bananas or any other fruit, though they own durian trees, pro- 
bably propagated by accident, and their ownership is recognized legally. Near 
Gedong we procured from a Sakai camp a rice-cutter, ingeniously made from 
part of an old kerosene tin. It consisted of an oblong piece of the metal 
strengthened along one border by doubling the tin, and with a short piece of 
stick thrust through it at right angles to act as a handle. This implement was 
obviously a rough adaptation of the Malay form, which is made of wood with 
an iron cutting edge, and is held between the first and second fingers when in 
use, the third finger being employed to bring the stalks against the cutting 
edge. The clearings may have an area of as much as one hundred acres, and are 
protected from the depredations of jungle pig and other animals by roughly 
