Page 200 - Malay sketches

MALAY SKETCHES

It might have been the cock-fighting or the
gambling always to be found in the society of Raja
Iskander that drew Raja Sleman to the place. It
might also have been the congenial society of
another opium-smoker, or possibly the fame of Raja
Maimunah's attractions. Whatever the lodestone,
Raja Sleman appeared with two boats and about
fifteen followers, and, once arrived, he elected to
remain.
Raja Iskander passed most of his time on the
water, but Maimunah lived in the house on shore.
A very modest dwelling it was ; a building of mat
sides and thatched roof raised from the damp and
muddy earth on wooden piles, a flight of steps led
into the front of the house and a ladder served for
exit at the back. The interior accommodation con-
sisted of a closed-in verandah, one large room, and
a kitchen tacked on behind.
The edges of the muddy river were fringed by the
nipah palm, which is never seen beyond tidal influ-
ences the banks were covered by rank
; grasses,
the country was flat and desolate, the jungle insig-
and in the heat of the day the
nificant, oppression
of steaming mud and shelterless plain was so great
that sleep seemed to force itself on insect, reptile,
and every living thing.
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