Pagan races of the Malay Peninsula - Sabrizain.org

158 DRESS PART II
cloth, the ends of which, though usually unsewn, are
sometimes roughly stitched together with jungle fibres.
The " feel " of the bark-cloth made by these people
is not unlike a sort of rough leather.
The above remarks are equally true of the Besisi
tribes of Selangor, who were pretty generally in the
habit of wearing Malay dress.
Besisi.—The everyday dress of the Besisi differed
very little from that of the Malays, the men wearing
for the most part a loose cotton jacket and trousers,
and the women a jacket and a Malay sarong. In the
jungle, however, the more convenient " chawat " ' still
lingered on, and shy as the Besisi might be of
wearing it before strangers, they had no such scruples
when by themselves. Red " sarongs " were preferred.
Bracelets and armlets, rings, necklaces, etc., were,
on the other hand, worn most profusely, a good scrap
necklace, with plenty of coins on it, being highly
valued, as the wearing of coins was believed to be
especially good for the eyes.
The rings worn by the Besisi were made of
various natural products of the jungle, bone, horn,
tortoiseshell, etc. ; from
black coral ("akar bahar") ;
chips of coconut-shell ; from
of stone ; from various kinds of shell ; and
from "batu akik," a species
from the
red crest of the solid-crested Hornbill or Rhinoplax.
This latter was valued by the Besisi, as by the Malays,
on account of the belief that it would turn green
whenever poison approached the wearer. Finely
woven matwork pouches (" bujam ") were also commonly
carried for holding betel-leaf, etc.
Nose-boring and tattooing of all kinds (or rather
scarification), if ever practised, had, however, long
' Cp. vol. ii. p. 144, 17. I.