Identifier: goldenchersonese00birduoft (find matches)
Title: The golden Chersonese and the way thither
Year: 1883 (1880s)
Authors: Bird, Isabella L. (Isabella Lucy), 1831-1904
Subjects: Malay Peninsula -- Description and travel China -- Description and travel
Publisher: London Murray
Contributing Library: Robarts - University of Toronto
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

View Book Page: Book Viewer
About This Book: Catalog Entry
View All Images: All Images From Book
Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book.

Text Appearing Before Image:
own homes, usually wear the sarong, apicturesque tightish petticoat, consisting of a wide pieceof stuff kept on by a very ingenious knot. They are notsavages in the ordinary sense, for they have a completecivilisation of their own, and their legal system is derivedfrom the Koran. They are dark brown, with rather low fore-heads, dark and somewhat expressionless eyes, high cheek-bones, flattish noses with broad nostrils, and wide mouthswith thick lips. Their hair is black, straight, and shining,and the women dress it in a plain knot at the back ofthe head. To my thinking both sexes are decidedlyugly, and there is a coldness and aloofness of mannerabout them wliich chills one even where they are onfriendly terms with Europeans, as the people whom wevisited were with Mrs. Biggs. Tlie women were lounging about the houses, somecleaning fish, others pounding rice; but they do not carefor work, and the little money which they need for buy-ing clotlies tliey can make by selling mats or jungle
Text Appearing After Image:
LETTER IX. COSTUME AND ORNAMENT. 139 fniits. Their lower garment, or sarong, reaching fromthe waist to the ankles, is usually of red cotton of asmall check, Avith stripes in the front, above which isworn a loose sleeved garment, called a kabaya, reachingto the knees, and clasped in front with silver or gold,and frequently with diamond ornaments. They also weargold or silver pins in their hair, and the sarong is girtor held up by a clasp of enormous size, and often ofexquisite workmanship, in the poorer class of silver, andin the richer of gold jewelled with diamonds and rubies.The sarong of the men does not reach much below theknee, and displays loose trousers. They wear above it ashort-sleeved jacket, the haju, beautifully made, and oftenvery tastefully decorated in fine needlework, and withsmall buttons on each side, not for use, however. I haveseen one Malay who wore about twenty buttons, eachone a diamond solitaire! The costume is completed byturbans or red handkerchiefs tied roun

Note About Images