( 2 ) 
About one hundred species are known from British 
Malaya, and of these about one half are known to 
be used commercially. The group is a difficult and 
incompletely known one, and it is probable that a 
larger number of the forms may be used. Many of 
the species are used only locally, if at all. The best 
forms are collected for export. 
II.— METHOD OF WORKING. 
1- Collecting in the Forest. 
This is done by the local people, usually at con- 
siderable distances from the centres of population. 
The collectors are jungle dwellers, who may be Sakai 
or other simple and primitive people. The collector 
selects his plant because of its size, length, strength, 
and colour, and often collects only a single kind of 
rattan. He cuts the stem off at the base and then, 
taking hold of the lower part of it, pulls the plant 
down from the tree or trees which support it. If 
the plant has many stems, he cuts only the mature 
ones. If immature stems are cut the plant may 
die. The leaves and the soft and useless upper part 
of the stem are cut away with a stroke of the parang, 
or jungle knife, and the stem is then cleaned with 
the parang, or freed of the leaf-sheaths which may 
adhere to its upper part by pulling it betwe en two 
branches or about some rough surface. The stem 
is next cut into lengths of about 16 feet, which are 
folded once and wrapped in bundles of about 50 to 
100 pieces, which are carried to some central place, 
often a hut near the collector’s house, where the 
rattan is kept until there is an opportunity to turn 
it over to some buyer. Frequently the jungle people 
make temporary camps for their rattan collecting in 
a particular neighbourhood. 
