Pagan races of the Malay Peninsula - Sabrizain.org

no FOOD PART 11
rice are forced to obtain their supplies of it by the
barter of jungle produce at ruinous rates, as they
seldom succeed in obtaining a crop of their own which
will last for more than a small portion of the year.
As will readily be expected, not only the knife and
fork of civilisation, but even such objects as chop-
sticks, are completely unknown, the flesh of the animal
which has been killed being broken up into pieces of
convenient size, which are picked up from the dish
(which often consists of nothing more elaborate than
a large banana-leaf obtained from the neighbouring
forest) and conveyed to the mouth by hand. In the
case of a leg or wing of a small mammal or bird the
bone is held in the hand in primitive fashion, and the
flesh gnawed off it sans c^r^vionie and sans gene. For
drinking purposes bamboo vessels, gourds, and coconut-shells
are used, though a mere leaf, or the hand
itself, are used at convenience.
In eating, the women and girls of all three wild
races wait until the men have finished.
For drinking purposes the " tamer " tribes generally
keep in their huts earthenware water-pots, for which a
half coconut-shell is, as among the Malays, the most
generally accepted " bailer." In drinking from running
water, however, the water is thrown into the mouth
by hand, unless a big leaf happens to be available.
In this connexion it may be of interest to
note a statement to the effect that the Orang Laut,
when they wished to drink, threw the water up into
the mouth with the hand with unerring aim, and
instead of splashing the entire face (as a European
would), they were able to throw water into the mouth
at about the distance of a foot from the palm of the
hand without wetting their faces to speak of. Even