The following account of the superstitious notions connected with the search for Camphor (kapur Barus) is extracted from a paper by Messrs. H. Lake and H. J. Kelsall178:—

“The chief interest attaching to the Kapur Barus in Johor lies in the superstitions connected with the collection of the camphor by the natives, or Orang Hulu.179

“Amongst these superstitions the most important is the use of a special language, the subject of the present paper, which has been the means of preserving some remnants of the aboriginal dialects of this part of the Malay Peninsula. This language is called by the Orang Hulu “Pantang Kapur”; pantang means forbidden or tabooed, and in this case refers to the fact that in searching for the camphor the use of the ordinary Malay language is pantang, or forbidden. In addition to this there are restrictions as to food, etc.

“This Camphor language is first referred to by Mr. Logan in his account of the aboriginal tribes of the Malay Peninsula,180 and he gives a list of eighty words, thirty-three of which are Malay or derived from Malay.”

“The Jakuns believe that there is a “bisan,” or spirit, which presides over the camphor-trees, and without propitiating this spirit it is impossible to obtain the camphor. This bisan makes at night a shrill noise, and when this sound is heard it is a sure sign that there are camphor-trees near at hand. (This bisan is really one of the Cicadas which are so numerous in the Malayan jungles.)

“When hunting for camphor the natives always throw a portion of their food out into the jungle before eating, as an offering to the bisan.

“No prayers are offered up, but all food must be eaten dry, i.e. without sumbul,181 or stewed fish, or vegetables. Salt must not be pounded fine; if it is eaten fine, the camphor when found will be in fine grains; but if eaten coarse the grains of camphor will be large. In rainy weather the cry of the bisan is not heard. At certain seasons regular parties of Jakuns, and sometimes Malays, go into the jungle to search for camphor, and they remain there as long as three or four months at a time. Not only must the men who go into the jungle to search for the camphor speak the ‘Pantang Kapur,’ but also the men and women left at home in the Kampongs.

“The camphor occurs in the form of small grains deposited in the cracks in the interior of the trunk of the tree. Camphor is only found in the older trees, and not in all of these, and to obtain it the tree must be cut down and split up. There are certain signs which indicate when a tree contains camphor, one of which is the smell emitted from the wood when chipped. A man who is skilled in detecting the presence of camphor is called Penghulu Kapur.182 The camphor when taken away from the tree is washed, and all chips of wood and dirt carefully removed, and it is then sold to Chinese traders at Kwala Indau at prices varying according to the quality from $15 to $40 per katti.

“The Camphor language consists in great part of words which are either Malay or of Malay origin, but contains, as above mentioned, a large number of words which are not Malay, but which are presumably remnants of the original Jakun dialects, which are apparently almost obsolete otherwise in the Indau and Sembrong districts of Johor.”183