Pagan races of the Malay Peninsula - Sabrizain.org

CHAP. Ill SAVAGE MALAYS OF SELANGOR i8-
by 4
ft. (1.2 m.) in width, and was not more than three
or four feet high. The walls and roof were made of the
Malay palm-leaf awning ("kajang"), and it contained a
small sleeping-mat and mosquito-curtain (an unlooked-
for luxury in so poor an abode), and a few cooking
and other utensils. A man and his wife lived there,
but I cannot say whether they had any children. Both
happened to be very short, I should say not more than
4^ ft. (1.37 m.), but I should much doubt whether
either of them could stand upright in it. The method
of entering it was enough to try the nerves of any
one that was at all inclined to be dizzy. The ascent was
achieved by means of the rudest and most primitive
stick-ladder imaginable, a large creeper that grew
upon the tree affording some slight additional assist-
ance. On reaching the top of this ladder, one had to
rest one's elbows upon the Hoor of the shelter, and
swing one's self up into safety by main force. The
descent was, if anything, the more trying process of
the two, yet the Malays did not appear to mind it.
The actual houses of the Besisi in this same district
were built of timber and palm-thatch like the houses
of the local Malays, but had several peculiar points
about them. The slopes of the roof-gable, for one
thing, were carried much lower than in an ordinary
Malay house, and in some cases at least the eaves
were actually level with the floor.
Another characteristic feature was that one of the
slopes of the gable was frequently carried much higher
than the other, so as to overlap and leave a gaj)
through which smoke could issue, without the rain
penetrating too easily. In the Malay type of house,
the upper edges of the two roof-slopes meet at the
top, and the rain is kept out by an arrangement called