Pagan races of the Malay Peninsula - Sabrizain.org

132 FOOD PART II
dished up upon a kind of mat as a meal to some seven
or eight persons, who speedily devoured the whole in
a few minutes, leaving only the skeleton. In eating
they used no dish; an iron frying-pan served for
cooking, plantain leaves served as plates, and some
coconut-shells formed their usual drinking-cups. Some
Jakun tribes ^ refused to eat the flesh of elephants,
under the pretext that it would occasion sickness, but
many others were "not so scrupulous." When an
elephant was killed either by themselves or by the
Malays, they called together their friends and relatives
to partake of the large entertainment which was
prepared ; and
then built huts in which to lodge their
guests until the animal which furnished the feast was
entirely finished, when every one decamped and
returned to his usual way of living. When the durian
season was come, a good number of Jakun families
left their houses, both men and women as well as
children repairing to the places where the durian trees
grew. They then cleared the ground in order to find
the fruit more easily when it ripened and fell, and,
dwelling in a small shelter built of leaves, "prepared
themselves to enjoy the treat that nature presented to
them." For six weeks or two months they ate nothing
but durians. When the season was over the place was
deserted till the proper season next year.-
Favre further observes that "one of their most
prized dishes is a honeycomb," and "let it be said
with due respect to the opinion of our European
cooks, the time when the honey is in the comb is not
(amongst these epicures of nature) considered the
1 P'avre writes : " Plusieurs tribus de ' J. T. A. vol. ii. pp. 260, 261 ; cp.
Benuas" (./. P. F. xxii. 303); but also vol. i. pp. 254-260.
totemism need not be hence inferred.