My Friends the Savages

twilight?-?Births and deaths?-?Concerts by forest vocalists?-?The "durian"?-?The "ple-lok"?-?Vastnesses unex

and after having seen it, to describe its mar

more secrets of beauty for it to penetrate, because nowhere else has Nature been so profuse in bestowing her multifarious tints or has manifested Life wi

m the bosom of its great Mother and rises eagerl

green, enlivened here and there by the audacious brightness of a thousand wondrous flowers, we should

us undergrowth of plants twine round their trunks and enclose them in a tenacious embrace, then twisting, and creeping, amongst the sprea

ls; swarms of insects increase its agony by making their food and their nests of its bark; reptiles make love within the hollows of its trunk and at last the day comes when the lifeless giant falls with a frightfu

s of egotism in the vegetable kingdom: strange expression

the most pernicious, but the most liberal kiss of the sun. And they all hasten to arrive as though fearing to be superseded in the ascent as much by

r!" the green-leafed multit

ation except where an opening has been made by the hands

nades, adorned with pendant festoons stretching away into the distance; now they are mysterious aisles of monster temples; now they are the unfinished design of some giant architect whose undertaking was

ogs croak and the leeches crawl, are plentifully str

insinuated themselves into little clefts in the bark, and flower t

nd flowers finish their course according to the short or long existence prescribed them by natural laws, and one continually sees dried and withered leaves and flowers falling to the ground whilst others open and bl

is in equal proportion, as the

eir antenn? into the ripe fruit or perhaps into some carrion lying near. The bassoon-like sound never ceases a single instant and tells the listener how innumerable are the populations of insects which live and generate their sort un

be heard in the forest follow a

n rises in all its innocent purity to the skies whilst the fierce protaganists of the past night's bl

urian

6

pon that vast emerald palace of life, gay voices are hushed

fter the owls and other night birds take their turn, making the now dense darkness more terrible with their harsh, sinister cries. Little by little as the night deepens, bellows, roars a

observer I like to take note of all that is worthy of notice a

l be well-setting aside its magic charms and manifold wonders which would make a poet even of

, or sumpà, the fruit of whi

40 or 50 metres and distends around it a huge pavi

them almost unconsciously, not from any sentimental feeling but rather from the effect of a sentiment and a superstition.[4] It produces a most extraordinary quantity of fruit, the ex

's head. For this reason it is a dangerous thing to stand or pass under one of these trees when the fruit is quite ripe as so heavy a ball falling from a

t its delicate flavour is so exquisite it would well repay the exp

I have never tasted anything more delicious. But not everyone can enjoy or appreciate this strange f

have but a faint idea of the insupportable odour which emanates from these

e eagerly gathered up by the natives, who at the period of their ripening, leave the women and children,

a great many small eggs each one being wrapped in a fine film which, when broken, reveals a pulp of the consistency and col

ar superior to any sweet dainty prepared by cook or confectioner. There is nothing to equal it, and in eating one does not discern t

equence of its horrible smell, which does not however protect it from the voracity of the monkeys and their rodent companions-especially the squirr

he annual quantity of fruit to be gathered, this depending entirely upon whe

early to the height of a thousand metres, and its fruit is preserved by p

nal pots of jam for other articles equally

at it may almost be said to ri

. It has big and long leaves something like those of the orange but whilst o

and a rusty red inside) after the sort of our walnuts. The pulp is divided into a lot of quarters each one enclosed in a very thin skin. It lo

th which to paint their faces and also for making a decoc

stomed to the finest sweets, might be, the more so as it never does any

mention the ple pra, a colossus that, modestly, but with

Further on, in a chapter dedicated to poisons, I have named some of the most dangerous in this respect, but between those that are the ministers of Death

knows what strange belief transmitted from father to son? And in the heart of the forest who is there to

the fruit of the giù ù ba a could

ooked, is not of a disagreeable taste and does one no harm. But the giù ù ba a is a creeper and it is among these parasites t

the profound recesses of the Malay forest; pricel

f those plants, many of which are quite unknown to botanists, what innumerable new

branches, could here find incal

the sweet potatoes that give three, there is the yam, the sikoi,[5] the sugar-cane, coffee, pepper, tea, the banan

ta percha grows marvellously well in the Malay s

n excellent quality of stuff. It is a herb with long, fibrous stems which when well beaten out and bleached become l

Du

6

ided with a new and precious element. In fact there are few who do not know that the greater part of Chinese silk stuffs are woven with the ramiè f

sures of flora and fauna as well as underground ones, for several gold and tin mines are being worked, whilst lead, copper, zinc, antimony, arsenic an

m towards agriculture, all this natural wealth might be sent to the World's markets and

constitutes one of the greatest rich

rity necessary for the production of this valuable article in four years, if special care and attention is given it, or

. The result was encouraging enough to induce the Institute of Tropical Researches-initiated under the auspices of the Liverpool Univer

were planted with Para Rubber, the Govern

s from 125 to 250 trees according to th

pidity and it may be said, at the present day, that four

cally proved to be pure-is quoted on the market at 6/10 per pound-whilst the best produced by other countries doe

housand metres in height but in the Malay Peninsula it grows and nourishes even hi

es concession of land, and the providing of seed at a low rate, the Government aids this industry, in which so many millions are invested, by

increasing agricultural and commercial development of the peninsula, and having seen the steady conquest civilization has made by means of the most practical and surest methods-such as the patient tra

ter's hatchet continually clearing new tracts of land for agricultural enterprises), I want you to return with me

ause mother Nature does not refuse food to her children even if they are profaners of that wonderful temple of her fecundity-it is right that I s

ox ably worked by Chinese or Japanese fingers, in the free forest becomes a colossal inhabitant. Its canes, at first tender and supple, grow to such a size, and so strong as to be used for water condu

d preserving fruit; it forms a safe recipient for poisonous juices; it is bottle and glass, and finally supplies the native cooks with a saucepan that only they can use because t

value to the thirsty wayfarer, overcome by the heat

ar water, not very fresh, but wholesome and good, gushes out. It is rather bitter

ng plant closes some giant king of the forest in its cruel embrace (thus depriving it of its stren

f the sprays that hang down towards the g

obtained from other sources: the streams that are to be found trickling along here and there

and variety, but woe to him who does not know her well, for she

ted the forest upon its first violators and their descendants! But my demands remained unanswered; in its superb grandeur it does not interest i

of a once great and strong people eclipsed by a younger, stronger, and more savage race? Sometimes watching, with admiring eyes, the strange architectural forms taken by the massive trunks and graceful vines, fantastic but always majestic, I have a

ned mute and kept it

ps absurd, repeats itself. Am I before the savage infancy of a people, or the spent senility of a race, lost sight of in the course of centuries? If the latter, would there not be some relic left of its existence; a fragment of stone or concrete substance inscribed with the figures of its perio

tno

on the tombs of their dead for a week after they have been buried. Naturally everything, not devoured by beast or insect, rots upon the spot and the seeds of the

ke great pains in cleaning it before it is cooked. It is a gra

s. It is a favourite dish with them when eaten with monkey flesh, rats, pieces of snake, lizards, beetle

ith relish after seasoning it with a little salt, an article not much used amongst my mountain friends. But when I came to know what ingred