Pagan races of the Malay Peninsula - Sabrizain.org

SAKAI OF PERAK iS5
would never have their hair cut/ Both men and
women left untouched the hair of the body.^
We are further told that the Sakai (Blandas), for
thoroughly washing the head and hair, employed the
scrapings of the inner part of the bark of a particular
creeper (" kletterrebe "), of which the young stems and
shoots were armed with an abundant quantity of
sharp thorns, like those of the rose. The leaf was
like that of an acacia, dark green and smooth, and
of great circumference. A handful of freshly scraped
bark was applied to the head, together with water,
somewhat like a sponge, when it produced a thick
lather.^
This creeper may well be the "b'luru," a climber
used by the Malays as a substitute for soap.
By way of head-dress the men, however, some-
times wore a mere cord, furnished with two small
knots or rosettes, whereas the women preferred
merely to wear In their hair the flowers of the
field.^
Elsewhere, speaking of some (fifteen) Sakai women
whom he saw at Kampong Langkor (on S. Kerbu),
De la Croix remarks that one of them who had
charming features, and was indeed actually pretty,
wore in each ear a small white flower which she had
picked at the side of the path ; another wore a simple
tuft of grass in her hair, and (passed through her ears)
some kind of plant which hung down as far as her
back. An old woman, again, wore in her hair (or
*' chignon") nothing but a tall plant, which oscillated
with every movement of her body.
The women also occasionally wear the combs of
» Z.f. E. xxix. 178.
2 lb. p. 179.
3 /^_
'
•» De la Croix, p. 330.
')
/^_ p. 336.