I have not been able to discover what ’mas rantian means, as the Pawang could not explain it (though she insisted that it was right), and it is not in any dictionary. ↑

214 The Muhammadan name for the Founder of Christianity. ↑

215 During the performance of this part of the ceremony (which is called chĕrangkan tali t’rap) omens are taken as to the prosperity or otherwise of the people of the house, and the observations have therefore to be made with the greatest care. The most disastrous omen is the cawing of a crow or rook; next to this (in point of disastrous significance) comes the mewing cry of the kite, and, thirdly, the flight of the ground-dove (tĕkukur). A good omen is the flight of the bird called the Rice’s Husband (Laki Padi), but the best omen is the absence of any portent or sound, even such as the falling of a tree, the crackling of a branch, or a shout in the distance, all of which are harbingers of misfortune of some sort. ↑

216 The Pawang said to me afterwards, when I questioned her about this, “If you want your husked rice to be white and smooth (puteh lanchap) you must stand up facing the sun at nine o’clock (angkat kĕning, lit. ‘Raise the eyebrow’), turn up the whites of your eyes, swallow the water in your mouth, and your rice will be smooth and white and easily swallowed. But if you want it to be a little rough (kĕsat), so that you may not be tempted to eat too much of it during hard times, instead of directly swallowing the water in your mouth, you must put the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth, and contract the throat thrice, slowly swallowing as you do so.” To the above she then added: “Besides this, you can make the whole field of rice break into waves by standing up, clapping the hands, and then pushing each hand right up the sleeve of the opposite arm (I am not quite sure if I rightly understood this last, but am fairly certain that it is correct—my notes have only ‘run the hands up the arms’), saying as you do so:—

This will swell the grains, and prevent them from getting empty (minching, jangan banyak hampa).” ↑

217 This umbrella had been forgotten, and we were compelled to wait while one of the “bearers” returned to the house to fetch it; as without it, I was told, the Rice-child could not be escorted home. ↑

218 I was told by the Pawang that when the three reapers had each filled her basket, each of them tied the leaves of the rice clumps together, and dug up a lump of earth with the great toe of the left foot, and inserting the lump into the midst of each clump, repeated the following words:—

 ↑

219 A cat having given birth to kittens the night before the ceremony, I was told by the Pawang that it was a very good sign, and that it was a known rule that if there was nobody else who could bear children at the time, God was wont to substitute a cat (mĕnggantikan kuching). ↑

220 The drying usually takes longer, but the exceptional heat of the sun on the day in question enabled the operation to be hastened. ↑

221 Nothing of the male sex may stand or sit opposite the point of the sieve (nyiru) during this winnowing. ↑

222 The charms are the same as those given supra, viz. “A swallow has fallen,” etc., and “Herons from all this region.” They are in the pantun form, and accordingly there is little connection discernible between the first and the second half of the quatrain; the latter always contains the actual point, the former at most something analogous or remotely parallel. ↑

223 The extreme voluminousness of Malay folk-lore upon the subject of rice-planting makes it impossible to do more than give a general idea of the ceremonies described. The ceremonies, however, are comparatively homogeneous in all parts of the Peninsula, and the specimens given may be taken as fairly representative. In the Appendix (xciii. seqq.), will be found a number of invocations, collected by Mr. O’Sullivan and myself, which are addressed to the rice-spirit and may help to emphasise or explain some of the details. One of these invocations should certainly help to emphasise the strength of the anthropomorphic conception of the Rice-soul as held by Malays. It runs as follows (vide App. cx.):—

“Cluck, cluck, soul of my child!

Come and return home with me,

Our agreement has reached its term.

Let not the Heat afflict you,

Let not the Wind afflict you.

Let not Mosquitoes bite you,

Let not Sandflies or Midges bite you.”

224 J.R.A.S., S.B., No. 16, pp. 303–320. ↑

225 Report on the Geology and Physical Geography of the State of Pêrak, by Rev. J. E. Tennison-Wood, F.G.S., F.L.S., etc. ↑

226 The mining contractor, also called towkay lombong and towkay labur, vide infra. ↑

227 Lit. “Taboo language.” ↑

228 Bĕrolak here means to “turn one’s self about,” and the whole phrase would mean “The Tall One that Turns Himself about”—perhaps the “Tall Loafer” would be as near as we can get to it in English. So, too, bĕrolak dapor means “The Kitchen Loafer” (Loafer of the Kitchen). ↑

229 Sial means literally anything which brings bad luck; so perhaps we might translate it “Mr. Bad-luck.” ↑

230 Salah nama means “Wrong name” (Misnomer); limau nipis, lit. means “thin lime.” ↑

231 Kongsi, i.e. “company, firm, gang.” ↑

232 Pantang, i.e. “taboo.” ↑

233 Buah rumput means “Grass-seed;” Bunga rumput, “Grass-flower.” ↑

234 Akar hidop, lit. “live creeper.” The allusion is obvious. ↑

235 Kunyit means “saffron.” The allusion is not evident. ↑

236 Batu puteh means “white stone” or “white rock.” ↑

237 Genggulang, explained by Mr. Hale as meaning “altar,” vide p. 260, infra. ↑

238 About 1878, the principal pawang of the Lârut district, one Pa’Itam Dam, applied to me as Assistant-Resident to reinstate him in the duties and privileges which he had enjoyed under the Orang Kaya Mantri, and before him, under Che Long Jʿaffar. He describes the customary ceremonies and dues to be as follows:—He had to visit all the mines from time to time, especially those from which tin-ore was being removed; if the daily output of tin suddenly decreased on any mine it was his business at once to repeat certain invocations (puja) to induce the tin-ore to remain (handak di-pulih balik sapaya jangan mengorang biji). Once in every two or three years it was necessary to carry out an important ceremony (puja besar) which involved the slaying of three buffaloes and a great feast, the expense of which had to be borne by the pawang. On the day of the puja besar strict abstinence from work is enjoined on every one in the district, no one might break ground or even pull up weeds or cut wood in the whole province. Further, no stranger whose home was three days’ journey away might enter one of the mines under a penalty of twenty-five dollars.

The pawang was entitled to exact from the owners of mines a customary payment of one slab of tin (or $6.25 in cash) per annum for every sluice-box (palong) in work during the year.

In any mine from which the tin-ore had not yet been removed it was strictly forbidden to wear shoes or to carry an umbrella; no Malay might wear a sarong.

The Chinese miners, always superstitiously disposed, used (under Malay rule) to adhere to these rules and submit to these exactions, but since 1875 the pawang has found his occupation and income, in Lârut at all events, gone.—Ed. J.R.A.S., S.B. ↑

239 Altar. ↑

240 A small tray or platform for offerings, supported by a central “leg,” vide Mr. Hale’s description, s.v. Kapala nasi (infra). ↑

241 Gantang is a measure approximately equivalent to a gallon. ↑

242 In Selangor anchak is the form used. It means a sacrificial tray (for offerings to the spirits), vide infra, pp. 260, 310–313, 414–423. ↑

243 Lit. the “Magician’s wear.” ↑

244 Raʿiyat is used here to denote a man of the common people, as opposed to a Chief or Raja. It is sometimes used by Malays in other senses. ↑

245 Seperti sungkei be-rendam, “like a soaked sungkei stick.” When the sungkei stick has been soaked for a long time, say three months, the peel comes clean away; proverbial expression used of a person “cleaned out.” ↑

246 Beam or rafter of the shed. ↑

247 Palm-leaf thatch. ↑

248 Forbes mentions a “palm-leaf fringe” used in certain rites by the Kalangs of Java.—A Naturalist’s Wanderings, p. 101. ↑

249 “It is quite a common thing in Java to encounter by the wayside near a village, or in a rice-field, or below the shade of a great dark tree, a little platform with an offering of rice and prepared fruits to keep disease and blight at a distance and propitiate the spirits.”—A Naturalist’s Wanderings, Forbes, p. 103. ↑

250 In Selangor this custom is now obsolete.—Sel. Jour. vol. iii. No. 18, p. 294. ↑

251 The derivation of the name of this primitive Malay censer from the Sanskrit çankha (conch shell) has been pointed out (Maxwell, Malay Manual, p. 32). Forbes notes having seen in a sacred grove in Java “the remnants of small torches of sweet gums which had been offered.”—A Naturalist’s Wanderings, p. 97. ↑

252 J.R.A.S., S.B., No. 16, pp. 310–320. ↑

253 Cliff. and Swett., Malay Dict., s.v. Amang: “tourmaline, wolfram, and titaniferous iron-ore are all called by this name. They are all considered impurities, and tourmaline is the one most commonly met with.” ↑

254 The Malay was saperti ulat hidup, which would rather mean “like live maggots.”—W.S. ↑

255 Sel. Journ. vol. iii. No. 18, pp. 293, 294. ↑

256 Sel. Journ. vol. iv. No. 2, p. 26. ↑

257 i.e. tin-bearing stratum and stone overlying the ore. ↑

258 i.e. his “connections.” ↑

259 Sel. Journ. vol. iv. No. 8, p. 139. ↑

260 “This my tank” is an allusion to the mine, the system on which mines are worked in the Malay States being that of the removal of the overburden, which, of course, forms immense pits, such as are here likened to an (empty) tank or reservoir. ↑

261 A plant, possibly Solanum aculeatissimum, Jacq., which has very thorny orange-coloured fruits. ↑

262 Sĕga is a species of rattan (Calamus viminalis or Calamus ornatus, Griff.); but probably the better reading here is sĕgar, which means a long black spike of the kabong-palm (Arenga saccharifera, L.) ↑

263 Presumably a corruption of Iskandar zu ’l-Karnain, i.e. Alexander the Great, who plays a considerable part in Malay legendary history. ↑

264 Vide App. cxviii., cxix. ↑

265 Oryza sativa, L. var. ↑

266 Batin is a title of certain Chiefs amongst the aboriginal tribes of the southern part of the Peninsula. It appears to have been in former days sometimes borne by Malays also. ↑

267 Kĕtong as a dry measure is not to be found in the dictionaries. V. d. Wall, however, gives a form kĕntong (with which it may be connected) as meaning an earthen pot, formerly used for holding lalang-sugar. ↑

268 An arai is an Achinese measure [= 2 chupak], about 3⅓ lbs. ↑

269 Sic: quære lombong? ↑

270 Denys, Descr. Dict. of Brit. Malaya, s.v. Gold. ↑

271 Vide Leyden, Malay Annals, p. 94. “He (the Sultan), also prohibited the ornamenting of creeses with gold, and the wearing anklets of gold, and the wearing the koronchong, or hollow bracelets of gold, ornamented with silver.”

Two legends, which connect the wild boar with the precious metals, have already been mentioned, vide p. 188, supra. ↑

272 Vide v. d. Wall, Malay-Dutch Dict., s.v. Kawi, one of the meanings of which he explains as the supernatural power of anything. He proceeds to explain bĕsi kawi as follows:—It is “a piece of old scrap-iron with supernatural powers, belonging to the royal insignia of the former Kingdom of Johor, now [then?] in the possession of the Sultan of Lingga. Whenever an oath was to be taken by a subject, the Iron would be immersed in water for a time, and the patient [sic] had to drink of this water before he took the oath. Whoever took a false oath would be affected by a severe sickness, and in the case of a Chief the sickness affects the whole tribe.”

Bisa kawi is another (West Sumatran) form of this expression. Under Bisa III., q.v., v. d. W. remarks that to say, “May you be struck by the Bisa Kawi” (lit. Poison of Kawi), is the ugliest wish you can address to anybody, as it is supposed to bring upon the person so addressed every possible kind of sickness. ↑

273 For examples vide the charms quoted in almost every part of this book. ↑

274 “It is a very general belief among Malays that Gulîga [and] Bûntat, viz. stones that are found in the bodies of animals or contained in trees, have great magic and vegetable virtue. These stones are worn as charms, and are also scraped, the scrapings being mixed with water and given to the sick as medicine.”—Pubns. of the R.A.S., S.B., No. 3, p. 26 n. ↑

275 This idea recalls a similar superstition about what are called in the Straits Settlements “breeding-pearls,” i.e. a kind of pearl which is supposed to reproduce itself when kept in a box and fed with pulut rice for a sufficiently lengthy period.—Vide J.R.A.S., S.B., No. 1, pp. 31–37, No. 3, pp. 140–143. ↑

276 “The Guliga, more commonly known as Bezoar, forms a recognised article of export from the Rejang and Bintulu rivers in the Sarawak territory. These concretions are chiefly obtained from a red monkey (a species of Semnopithecus), which seems to be very abundant in the interior districts of Borneo. A more valuable Guliga, called the ‘Guliga Landak,’ is obtained from the porcupine, but it is comparatively rare. The Sepoys stationed at Sibu Fort in the Rejang formerly exported considerable numbers of these calculi to Hindustan, where, in addition to their supposed efficacy as an antidote for the poison of snakes and other venomous creatures, they appear to be applied, either alone or in combination with other medicines, to the treatment of fevers, asthmatic complaints, general debility, etc. A few years ago, however, these men ceased to send any but the Guliga Landak, since their hakims had informed them that the concretions obtained from the monkeys had come to be considered of very doubtful, if any, value from a medicinal point of view. The usual test for a good Guliga is to place a little chunam on the hand and to rub the Guliga against it, when, if it be genuine, the lime becomes tinged with yellow. Imitations are by no means rare, and on one occasion which came to my own knowledge, some Bakatans succeeded in deceiving the Chinamen, who trade in these articles, by carefully moulding some fine light clay into the form of a Bezoar, and then rubbing it well all over with a genuine one. The extreme lightness of a real Guliga and the lime test are, however, generally sufficient to expose a counterfeit Bezoar. The Sepoys and Malays apply various imaginary tests. Thus they assert that if a true Guliga be clasped in the closed fist the bitter taste of the concretion will be plainly susceptible to the tongue when applied to the back of the hand, and even above the elbow if the Guliga be a good ‘Landak’; and a Sepoy once assured me that having accidentally broken one of the latter he immediately was sensible of a bitter taste in the mouth.

“Accounts vary very much among the natives as to the exact position in which the Guligas are found: some saying they may occur in any part of the body, others that they occur only in the stomach and intestines, whilst I have heard others declare that they have taken them from the head and even the hand! Bezoar stones are sold by weight, the gold scale being used, and the value varies according to quality and to the scarcity or abundance of the commodity at the time of sale. The ordinary prices paid at Rejang a few years ago were from $1.50 to $2 per amas for common stones and from $2.50 to $4 per amas for Guliga Landak. I have seen one of the latter which was valued at $100. It was about the size of an average Tangiers orange, and was perfectly spherical. The surface, where not artificially abraded, was smooth, shining, bronze-brown, studded with numerous irregularly-shaped fragments of dark rich brown standing out slightly above the general mass of the calculus. These fragments, in size and appearance, bore a close resemblance to the crystals in a coarse-grained porphyritic rock.

“The common monkey-bezoars vary much in colour and shape. I have seen them of the size of large filberts, curiously convoluted and cordate in shape, with a smooth, shining surface of a pale olive-green hue. Mr. A. R. Houghton once showed me one which was an inch and a half long, and shaped like an Indian club. It was of a dirty greenish colour, perfectly smooth and cylindrical, and it had become aggregated around a portion of a sumpitan dart, which appears to have penetrated the animal’s stomach, and being broken off short has subsequently served as the nucleus for the formation of a calculus. The same gentleman had in his possession two Landak stones, one of which bore a close resemblance to a block in shape, and was of a bright green colour, and the second was of a rich chocolate brown, and could best be likened in form to a constable’s staff. One porcupine stone which was opened was found to be a mere shell full of small brown shavings like shred tobacco.

“The part of the island which produces these stones in greatest abundance seems to be, by a coincidence of native reports, the district about the upper waters of the Baluñgar (Batang Kayan). The story is that the head-waters of this river are cut off from its lower course by an extensive tract of hills beneath which the river disappears, a report by no means unlikely if the country be, as is probable, limestone. The people of the district have no communication with the lower course of the river, and are thus without any supply of salt. In lieu of this necessity they make use of the waters of certain springs, which must be saline mineral springs, and which the Kayans call ‘Suñgan.’ These springs are also frequented by troops of the red monkeys before mentioned, and the Bezoars are most constantly found in the stomachs of these animals through their drinking the saline water. The hunters lie in wait about such springs, and, so runs the report, on the animals coming down to drink they are able to guess with tolerable certainty from external signs which of the monkeys will afford the Guliga, and they forthwith shoot such with their sumpitans. I have this account, curious in more ways than one, from several quite independent sources. In concluding these brief notes, I may remark that the wide-spread idea of the medicinal virtue of these concretions would lead us to suppose that there is some foundation for their reputation.”—J.R.A.S., S.B., No. 4, pp. 56–58.

“The guliga in Siak, which is considered to belong to the larangan raja [royal property], is an intestinal stone found in a kind of porcupine living principally in the upper reaches of the Mandau. The Sakeis living in this region are the only persons who collect these stones, which they deliver to the Sultan partly as a revenue, partly as barang larangan.

“By right all the guligas found by them are the Sultan’s; the greater number, however, are clandestinely sold to Malay and Chinese traders.

“According to their size they are worth from $40 to $600 a piece.

“Their value, however, does not merely rise with their weight but, as in the case of precious stones, rises out of all proportion with the mere increase in weight. A guliga weighing 1 ringgit (8 mayam) costs $600, whereas one of the weight of 3 mayam will only be worth $100.

“For guligas, particularly large ones, extraordinary prices are sometimes paid. The Sultan of Siak possesses one said to be valued at $900.

“Natives maintain that they are an almost infallible medicine in cases of chest or bowel complaints, but their principal value is founded on their reputed virtue as a powerful aphrodisiac. To operate in this way one is worn on the navel tied up in a piece of cloth, or water in which one has been soaked is drunk.”—F. Kehding on Siak (Sumatra) in J.R.A.S., S.B., No. 17, pp. 153–4. ↑

277 J.R.A.S., S.B., No. 9, p. 24 n. As to Paujangi (Pauh Janggi) vide pp. 6–9, supra. ↑

278 Vide Chapter IV. supra. ↑

279 For the charm used at the insertion of the twigs, vide App. cxxii. ↑

280 Vide App. cxxiv. ↑

281 J.R.A.S., S.B., No. 9, p. 26. ↑

282 This recalls the account in Northern mythology of the four rivers which are said to flow from the teats of the cow Audhumla.

In a great many Malay myths the colour white is an all-important feature. In this legend we have the white Semang and the white river. In others white animals and white birds are introduced. ↑

283 J.R.A.S., S.B., No. 9, p. 95. ↑

284 J.R.A.S., S.B., No. 7, pp. 24–26. ↑

285 The most usual name of the crocodile-spirit, as given in such charms as I have succeeded in collecting, is Sambu Agai, or, as it is also called, Jambu Rakai. ↑

286 Kira-kira means “accounts.” ↑

287 Selangor Journal, vol. iii. No. 6, pp. 93, 94. ↑

288 The shortness of the crocodile’s tongue, which is a mere stump of a tongue, has probably given rise to this idea. ↑

289 Also sometimes called “Apa daya,” lit. “What device?” or “What resource?” The front teeth are also sometimes called kail sĕluang, or “sĕluang” hook, or hook for catching the sĕluang, a small fish resembling the sardine.—Vide H. C. C. in N. and Q. No. 4, sec. 95, issued with No. 17 of the J.R.A.S., S.B. ↑

290 The question of the mental attributes ascribed to the crocodile is one of great interest, as it is credited by Malays with a human origin. It is not alleged to shed tears over his victim; but, as the above account shows, it is far from insensible to the enormity of manslaughter. At the same time, it is credited with strong common sense (since it is known to “laugh” at those misguided mortals “who pole a boat down stream,” no less than the tiger which “laughs” at those who “carry a torch on a moonlight night”), and also has a strict regard for honesty. (Vide infra.) ↑

291 Rewritten from Sel. Journ. vol. iii. No. 19, pp. 309–312. ↑

292 A native-built canoe hollowed out of a tree-trunk is no doubt referred to. ↑

293 Mangrove, of various species, chiefly Rhizophoreæ. ↑

294 Sel. Journ. vol. i. No. 22, pp. 350–351. ↑

295 Vide App. cxxviii. ↑

296 Vide App. cxxx. ↑

297 This and the preceding lines clearly refer to the fable quoted by Sir W. E. Maxwell. There are, however, many differences in minor details, one version asserting that the head of the first crocodile was made from the central shoot or cabbage of a cocoa-nut (umbi niyor), its blood of saffron, and its eyes from the star of the east; another asserting that its dorsal ridge was manufactured (by Siti Fatimah) from the eaves of the thatch. ↑

298 Her Highness Princess Rundok, as appears from the line below, in which she is again referred to, is evidently the name given to the fowl used as a bait. ↑

299