pieces of stick, and one or two wooden studs. The shoulder-straps flap loosely, and their use and inten- tion are problems that present a constant puzzle to Umat. A cotton sarong-not always of the cleanest is round his waist, and falling to his knees, supplies the place of all other nether garments. For Umat is at once comfort-loving and economical, and Pahang by this time had become a free land in which a man might go clad pretty well as he liked, without some il thing befalling him therefor. Less than ten years carlier, a man who went abroad without his trousers ran a good chance of never returning home again, for Pahang Malays were apt to regard any one so clad as a person who was no lover of battle Among Malays who are the most physically modest people in the world-it is well known that no man can fight with a whole heart and with undivided attention, when at any moment a mishap may expose his nakedness; and those who by the inappropriate- ness of their costume gave proof of their unprepared- ness, simply invited the warlike persecutions of the gilded youth of the place, who were always ready to display prowess by mangling one from whom little resistance was to be expected. But in Kelantan, where Ûmat was born and bred, few men possess trousers, and no one who loves his comfort ever wears such things if he can help it.
Below strong, goodly lengths of bare and hairy leg are visible, ending in broad splay feet, with soles that seem shod with horn: for mal could dance barefoot a thorn thicket with as much comfort as upon a
