Pagan races of the Malay Peninsula - Sabrizain.org

CHAP. VIII NEGRITOS OF PERAK 381
the rest has been worked in) instead of being fastened,
so that when the girdle is coiled round the waist a
continuous and thick bushy fringe is the result,
Perak Semang*.—The loin-cloth of the Negritos,
which constitutes their sole garment, is made (accord-
ing to De Morgan) from the bark of a tree [Artocarptis).
The material is thick, but supple and soft to the feel,
and is occasionally painted yellow with the sap of
a plant, the patterns consisting simply of broken lines
[de lignes brisdes)}
Of the method of manufacture we are elsewhere
told that the bark (of the Artocarpus) is either rendered
supple by being pounded between two stones, or by
being beaten upon a tree-trunk with a strong wooden
mallet or cudgel. The strip of bark cut off from the
tree measures from 3-4 metres in length, and from
50-60 centimetres in breadth."
In confirmation of the account given above of the
Kedah Semang, I hear from Mr. Wray that the bark of
the Antiaris was used by both the Semang of Perak and
the Sakai as bark-cloth. It was prepared as follows :
A young tree was felled and cut into pieces of suitable
length. The outer portion of the bark was then
shaved off with a knife and the inner bark was beaten
with bat-shaped pieces of wood until it would slip oft"
from the stem. The bark was then put into running
water, in which it was allowed to remain for the space of
one month to free it of the poison ;
then
—
it was beaten
with wooden bats, on one face of which furrows had
been cut at right ancrles to each other, to produce a
grain on the finished cloth."
In a recent communication Mr. Wray writes me
* Ue Morgan, vii. 412.
2 Ibid. ii. 5. pp. 477, 47S.
•''
L. Wray in /. A. J. vol. xxi. (1892),