Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 94, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 July 1903 — MALAY BOATMEN [ARTICLE]

MALAY BOATMEN

Paddle for Hours at a Stretch Without Pause or Orest Patisne. The skillful workmanship of the Malays along Trlngann River is manifested by their boats, beautifully fashioned from Siamese teak, and with a wonderful finish and grace of line. Hugo Clifford, In “Studies in Brown Humanity,” writes that these, boatmen also take pride in displaying their skill In all kinds of fancy paddling, Which, while It has a pretty and graceful effect, serves also to ease their muscles by constantly changing motion. The bow paddler sets the stroke: first, one long sweep of the blade, quickly followed by three short ones; or later, three long strokes with a short one In between. There are hundreds of combinations of long arid short strokes, each of which has Its well-known name In the vernacular; and a properly trained qrew will travel all day long without paddling in precisely tho same manner for half an hour together. The paddler'-slts cross-legged on the hard deck of the boat, with nothing to support his back, and with nothing in the nature of a stretcher against which to gain a purchase for his feet. The cross-piece at the top of the paddle is gripped in one hand. The other hand grasps the shaft firmly an inch or two above its point of Junction with the blade. Then the body of the paddler Is bent forward from the hips, the arms extended to their full length, as the paddle blade takes the water. The arm which Is uppermost Is held rather stiff, the whole strain of the stroke being taken by the hand and arm that grips the paddle near the blade. Continue paddling for an hour or two, and not only your arms, but your shoulders, your back, your legs, almost every muscle In your body will begin to ache as they have never ached before. It is marvelous how long a time Malays will sit at their paddles, without even pausing in their stroke, and yet experience no especial fatigue or exhaustion. I remember on one occasion setting v a crew of five and twenty men to paddle down-river at four o’clock In the morning. They were not a picked crew, and they were not men Who were accustomed to row together. Yet these Malays paddled down-river to Pekan, a distance of a hundred miles, in twenty-four hours. They never quitted their work all that long and weary time except twice, when half their number ate rice while the other half continued to paddle.