er than the
numeral three. Before you run your nose into these uncleanly places,
however, you pass through a district dotted with scattered Malay
habitations; and, if you turn off up the Telang River, you find a little
open country, and some prosperous-looking villages.

One day in July 1893, a feast in honour of a wedding was being held in
one of these places, and the scene was a lively one. The head and skin
of a buffalo, and the pools of blood, which showed where its carcase
had been dismembered, were a prominent feature in the foreground, lying
displayed in a very unappetising manner on a little piece of open
ground. In one part of the village two men were posturing in one of the
inane sword-dances which are so dear to all Malays, each performance
being a subject of keen criticism or hearty admiration to the
spectators. The drums and gongs meanwhile beat a rhythmical time, which
makes the heaviest heels long to move more quickly, and the onlookers
whooped and yelled again and again in shrill far-sounding chorus. The
shout is the same as that which is raised by Malays when in battle; and,
partly from its tone, and partly from association, one never hears it
without a thrill, and some sympathetic excitement. It has a similar
effect upon the Malays, who love to raise a _sorak_,--as these choric
shouts are termed,--and the enthusiasm which it arouses is felt to be
infectious, and speedily becomes maddening and intense.

All the men present were dressed in many-coloured silks and tartans, and
were armed with daggers as befits warriors, but, if you had an eye for
such things, you would have noticed that all the garments and weapons
were worn in a manner which would have excited the ridicule of a
down-country Malay. It is not in Europe only, that the country cousin
furnishes food for laughter to his relatives in the towns.

In a _Balai_, specially erected for the purposes of the feast, a number
of priests, and pilgrims, and _lebai_,--that class of fictitious
religious mendicants, whose members are usually some of the richest men
in the villages they inhabit,--were seated gravely intoning the
_Kuran_, but stopping to chew betel-nut, and to gossip scandalously, at
frequent intervals. The wag, too, was present among them, for he is an
inevitable feature in all Malay gatherings, and he is generally one of
the local holy men. 'It ain't precisely what 'e says, it's the _funny_
way 'e says it;'--for, like the professionally com