FASCICULI MALATENSES 
18 
backwards and forwards across the inner surface of the billet* He grasped the 
peg which kept the cleft open between the great and second toe. The friction 
caused by the rattan rubbing against the soft wood soon produced a considerable 
amount of heat, which first blackened the wood and then caused the tinder to 
take fire. Lifting up the billet, the man had no difficulty in lighting a cigarette 
at the * palm-scurf,* which was now smouldering in the cleft 
The Semdn do not make any kind of pottery, but employ bamboos of 
different lengths as water-vessels and cups* They boil rice in bamboos about 
two feet long, supporting them in a slanting position over a fire of wood. 
Before it is inserted, the rice to be cooked is wrapped in large leaves, often 
those of a species of Caladtum , and only a small quantity of water is poured 
in. Wild tubers and roots, which form a very important part of their food, 
are roasted on the embers, as is also done with the flesh of mammals, birds, 
and reptiles. Near Krunei I came across a fire at which some Seman had 
lately cooked and eaten a tortoise ; judging from the condition of the frag¬ 
ments that remained, the flesh had only been heated through, for they were 
still red and full of blood. 
The only form of basket-work or matting seen in use among the SemAn 
was made of strips of Pandanus leaf, in a manner very similar to that in which 
the sleeping-mats of the Malays and Siamese are constructed, The leaf is 
shredded by means of an implement—probably obtained from the Malays— 
that consisted of several little sharp points of iron or copper fastened at 
equal distances into a wooden handle. It appears to be used throughout the 
Malay Peninsula, and in parts of Borneo. Porcupines* quills are employed, 
by the Seman, as by the Malayo-Siamese, in adjusting the plaits and forcing 
the different ribbons close together. Flexible creels of various sizes are thus 
made ; they are carried on the back by both sexes, being held in position by 
means of rattan strings looped over the shoulders. 
The bark-cloth manufactured hy the Seman is very coarse and stiff, and 
I did not see any of the finer quality produced by Antiaris toxicarm . 
I have referred above to a mortar used by a Seman who suffered from 
toothache, and it may be well to give a short description of it, as it differed 
considerably from the rice-mortars commonly used by the Malays and Siamese. 
It consisted of a rounded block about six inches long, chopped from the stem 
of a small palm, hollowed out, and bound near the top with a plaited rattan 
band. The pestle was over two feet in length, and about an Inch and a half in 
diameter ; it had been cut from the trunk of the same palm, and was rounded 
and smoothed with some care. 
As Mr. Henry Balfour will describe all the musical instruments that we 
