Journal of the Federated Malay States museums - Sabrizain.org

78 Journal of the F.M.S. Museums. [Vol. VII,
below the house, the majority of the men who went to help in
cutting up the animal took the opportunity of having a bath,
ot which they were much in need.
Drinking water was drawn from a small spring, which
was at a considerable distance from the house, but not quite
so far away as the river. Bamboo-joints were used as
water-vessels.
At night conversation, often in a loud tone of voice, was
kept up till quite a late hour. During the heat of the day the
majority of the people lay off work and went to sleep.
The Prah fruit is an article of diet of which the Sakai are
very fond. This fruit is sometimes roasted whole in the lire,
and when so treated is not unpleasant to eat, having a flavour
something like a Brazil nut. It is also beaten to a flour in a
large wooden mortar of exactly the same type as the Malay
lesong. The fruits when freshly gathered are said to be
poisonous to a certain extent, and are soaked in water before
use. Noting that several side-paths branched off from the
main Sakai track, which follows the Kinta River, I enquired
where these went. My coolies replied that they led to parts
of the jungle where there were numbers of Prah trees, and that
they built small huts near the trees in which they stored the
ripe fruit. These store-houses, except at the fruit season, were
only visited occasionally to obtain fresh supplies or to see if
rats were eating their contents. If it was found that there
were many rats about, snares were set for a night or so in
order to trap them for food.
Some cobs of Indian corn, most of them blackened by
smoke, were hung up under the thatch in the communal house
at Bukit Daroh. These were reserved for seed purposes, as
were also some dried tobacco-plant fruits. The Sakai explained
to me that they had no tobacco growing at the time of my
visit owing to their clearing being old, for tobacco only grows
well on fresh soil.
With regard to their appearance the people of the Ulu
Kinta in their features showed little, if any, traces of Negrito
admixture. Curly, but not woolly, hair was to be observed in
some individuals. The septum of the nose was bored in both
sexes, but by no means every native had been operated upon.
Tattooing is practised, but not to any great extent ; the
only type of marking of this kind which I saw (on both men
anil women), being a single line running perpendicularly from
the top of the forehead to either the root or the point of the
nose.
Face-painting in simple designs was much in favour
among the women, while some of the patterns were made by
applying a kind of plant juice with stamps made of tortoise-
shell.
I saw very few blow-pipes in the hands of the Kinta
Sakai, not more than four altogether, and of these only two