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Isabella L. Bird - The Golden Chersonese and the Way Thither
Heretofore, I have always traveled "without encumbrance." Is it treasonable to feel at this moment that
these fair girls are one?
I. L. B.
LETTER XII
The Tomb of "A Great Prophet" - "Durance Vile" - Fragile Travelers - Our Craft - A Night in the Jungle
- Nocturnal Revelations - January in the Perak Jungle - Glories of the Jungle - Activity and Stillness - An
Uneasy Night - A Slim Repast - Betel-Chewing - A Severe Disappointment - Police Station at Rassa
BRITISH RESIDENCY, SERAMBANG, SUNGEI UJONG, January 26.
By the date of my letter you will see that our difficulties have been surmounted. I continue my narrative
in a temperature which, in my room - shaded though it is - has reached 87 degrees. After hearing many
pros and cons, and longing much for the freedom of a solitary traveler, I went out and visited the tomb of
a famous Hadji, "a great prophet," the policeman said, who was slain in ascending the Linggi. It is a
raised mound, like our churchyard graves, with a post at each end, and a jar of oil upon it, and is
surrounded by a lattice of reeds on which curtains are hanging, the whole being covered with a thatched
roof supported on posts.
The village looks prosperous, and the Chinaman as much at home as in China, - striving, thriving, and
oblivious of everything but his own interests, the sole agent in the development of the resources of the
country, well satisfied with our, or any rule, under which his gains are quick and safe.
There are village officers, or headmen, Pangulus, in all villages, and every hamlet of more than forty
houses has its mosque and religious officials, though Mohammedanism does not recognize the need of a
priesthood. If one see a man, with the upper part of his body unclothed, paddling a log canoe, face
forward, one is apt to call him a savage, specially if he be dark-skinned; but the Malays would be much
offended if they were called savages, and, indeed, they are not so. They have an elaborate civilization,
etiquette, and laws of their own; are the most rigid of monotheists, are decently clothed, build secluded
and tolerably comfortable houses, and lead domestic lives after their fashion, especially where they are
too poor to be polygamists, though I am of opinion that the peculiar form of domesticity which we still
cultivate to some extent in England, and which is largely connected with the fireside, cannot exist in a
tropical country. After the obtrusive nudity and promiscuous bathing of the Japanese, there is something
specially pleasing in the little secluded bathing sheds by the Malay rivers, used by one person at a time,
who throws a sarong on the thatch to show that the shed is occupied.
Babu made some excellent soup, which, together with curry made with fresh cocoa-nut, was a
satisfactory meal, and though only in a simple, white, Indian costume, he waited as grandly as at
Malacca. Mr. Hayward's knowledge of the peculiarities of the Malay character, at last obtained our
release from what was truly "durance vile." He sent for a boatman apart from his fellows, and induced
him to make a bargain for taking us up the river at night; but the man soon returned in a state of great
excitement, complaining that the villagers had set on him, and were resolved that we should not go up,
upon which the police went down and interfered. Even after everything was settled, Miss Shaw was
feeling so ill that she wanted to stay in the police station all night, at least; but Mr. Hayward and I, who
consulted assiduously about her, were of opinion that we must move her, even if we had to carry her, for
if she were going to have fever, I could nurse her at Captain Murray's, but certainly not in the veranda of
a police station!
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