Pagan races of the Malay Peninsula - Sabrizain.org

CHAi'. I SAVAGE
MALAYS OF SELANGOR 123
rice than that of the Semang and Sakai, the Selan-
gor tribe being rather more advanced in matters of
cultivation. In Kuala Langat, I have myself fre-
quently seen the latter at their meals (which I have
also occasionally shared), when their only food consisted
of boiled rice, seasoned with acid fruits (" asam k'lubi "
= Zalacca conferta) obtained from the jungle.
Food and its Preparation.
Besisi.— A favourite kind of preserve not yet
mentioned consists of a paste obtained from the pulp
of the durian, which the Besisi bury in the ground for
months together until long after it has fermented.
A curious but firmly held belief of the Besisi is
that acid fruits must not be eaten with the game
killed by their poisoned darts, as to do so will, they
imagine, bring out the full symptoms of the poison in
those who partake of it.
When cooking such game they generally cut
out the part surrounding the puncture caused by the
dart.
In some of the songs improvised by the Besisi
the various processes employed in the preparation of
their game for food are described in detail. The
game (if an animal) first has its fur removed by
singeing, when the skin is "poked" off, and the
carcase quartered and cooked.
The seasonings used are " kulim " ^ leaves, tur-
meric, and (wild) ginger, leaves of the " kayu k'lat,'"'
^ Soiodocarpusborneensis((^\^(:\v\iix), * A name applied to many species of
a large tree, every part of which smells Eugenia of the section "syzygium,"
strongly of onions.— Ridley. and other trees somewhat resembling
them (Myrtaceas:).— Ridley.