Pagan races of the Malay Peninsula - Sabrizain.org

126 FOOD
According to Logan, the Mantra never eat the
flesh of the elephant.^ The same writer gives a Hst of
no fewer than forty different jungle fruits, all of which
the Mantra are in the habit of eating.^
Father Barbe has said that if the flesh of monkeys,
to which the Mantra are very partial, were not
prohibited by the Koran, there is no doubt that the
generality of them would have been converted to
I slam.
^
Meals and Tobacco.'^
The Mantra have three meals—morning, mid-day,
and evening.
The Mantra women were much addicted to to-
bacco, but they did not smoke it.
' Borie (tr. Bourien) says they •' eat
all that falls into their hands—bears,
monkeys, squirrels, rats, deer, birds, and
the roots and bulbs which the earth
produces in abundance, such as the
kaledek, or sweet potato (' kledek ')
fruits such as the banana, and the sugar-
cane, which serves to satisfy their thirst
as well as to nourish them. The maize
and rice which they cultivate can only
support them four months in the year.
To cultivate rice on the mountains it
is necessary to cut down the forest, to
burn it, and then to sow, which demands
more labour than is required for
hunting in the forest, where perhaps,
too, they may find roots or other vegetable
food. The hunting of monkeys
and squirrels pleases them more than
anything else, and they give themselves
up to it with ardour ; their labour and
fatigue they count as nothing if they
can but capture tlieir prey, which they
distribute part to their parents, part to
their relations, and part to their friends
who attend the feast. If they are
joined by no one, they first of all burn
off {i.e. singe) the hair, and then cut
up the carcase, and throw the portions
;
into a frying-pan to cook them, when
each person proceeds to devour his
share silently in the shade" (Borie,
pp. 76, 77). Later, M. Borie adds,
the Mantra "do not give themselves
the trouble of cutting out that part
of the flesh which has been pierced by
the arrow, and which has a slightly
bluish appearance " (p. 78). This is
contrary to the usual statements of
the Besisi, who maintain that the flesh
surrounding the wound ought always
to be cut out.
—
2 " The fruits used are the tampui,
takaro, lari, kandim, kimok, klcdang,
tampune, kleres, pulasan, rambutan,
ramnian, Icrang, prah, jireh, kingong,
kadumpal, kumpal, binnong, tangkoi,
redan, sikrang, ampadil, bangkong,
puteh, lonah, kamalun, didalin, mangkapas,
jangkang, bom bong, luen, kamui,
sop, chitlong, sippam, lanjut, klissa,
lalam, kimoh, sirlang, rumang." -J. I.
A. vol. i. p. 331*. For identifications,
V. Ridley's I'lant-List {I.e.), and other
parts of this book.
488.
3 Barbe, /. /. A. vol. v. pp. 487,
* /. /. A. vol. i. p. 254, 255.