Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 67.djvu/307

Rh 'Orang Malay.' idly kicking his heels in the air, while his better half passes by with the burden on her head.

We frequently witnessed the operation of repairing worn places in the streets. This work was all done by native prisoners and most elaborately. At first we wondered where the representative of the law was, for no uniform was visible other than the brown one of the convict and the white band of the 'trusty.' Inquiry furnished a more than adequate explanation. The convicts in Sumatra were Javanese, and the hatred between the natives of the two islands is so bitter that there was no danger of prisoners getting away. A similar system was followed in the disposition of native soldiers. To prevent thieves being abroad at night all natives and Chinese were required to carry lights.

Cocoanut trees were plentiful in and around the eclipse camp, and the fruit often furnished a delicious bit of refreshment. No one drinks the milk of the ripened fruit; for this purpose the green nut is selected, before the formation of the meat has begun. One of the native boys