and prawns are caught
in this way. Prawns are also caught in small _kelong_ with very fine
split bambu nets, but a method is also employed in the Brunai river
which I have not heard of elsewhere. A specially prepared canoe is made
use of, the gunwale on one side being cut away and its place taken up by
a flat ledge, projecting over the water. The fisherman sits paddling in
the stern, keeping the ledged side towards the bank and leaning over so
as to cause the said ledge to be almost level with the water.

From the same side there projects a long bambu, with wooden teeth on its
under side, like a comb, fastened to the stern, but projecting outwards,
forwards and slightly upwards, the teeth increasing in length towards
its far end, and as they sweep the surface of the water the startled
prawns, shut in by the bank on one side, in their efforts to avoid the
teeth of the comb, jump into the canoe in large quantities.

I have described the method of using the dip net, or _serambau_, on page
30. Many kinds of nets are in use, one--the _pukat_--being similar to
our seine or drag net.

The hook and line are also used, especially for deep sea fishing, and
fish of large size are thus caught.

A favourite occasional amusement is _tuba_ fishing. The _tuba_ is a
plant the juice of which has strong narcotic properties. Bundles of the
roots are collected and put into the bottom of the canoes, and when the
fishing ground is reached, generally a bend in a river, or the mouth of
a stream which is barred at low tide, water is poured over the _tuba_
and the juice expressed by beating it with short sticks. The fluid, thus
charged with the narcotic poison, is then baled out of the canoes into
the stream and the surface is quickly covered by all sorts of fish in
all stages of intoxication, the smaller ones even succumbing altogether
to the poison.

The large fish are secured by spearing, amid much excitement, the eager
sportsmen often overbalancing themselves and falling headlong into the
water to the great amusement of the more lucky ones. I remember reading
an account of a dignified representative of Her Majesty once joining in
the sport and displaying a pair of heels in this way to his admiring
subjects. The _tuba_ does not affect the flesh of the fish, which is
brought to the table without any special preparation.

The principal export from Brunai is sago flour. The sago palm is known
to the natives under the name of _rumbiah_, the