“See how fruitful are the satela yams,
Where the hills of Bantan rise by the sea;
I know not whether good luck or calamity will follow it,
But my heart turns towards you.”
Here one of the girl’s representatives says, “Look well at this buffalo-calf of mine that has been allowed to forage for itself. Maybe its coat is torn, its limbs broken, or its sight lost.” The youth’s representative, if all is satisfactory, then replies—
“The sun being so high,
The buffalo-calf will die if tethered;
This long while have I been prosecuting my search,
But not till to-day did I meet with what I wanted.”
69 Diamond, i.e. the girl about whom the wooing party has come to treat. ↑
70 The kati is the “Indian” pound (1⅓ pound avoir.), and the tahil is its sixteenth part. The phrase sakati lima is explained by Klinkert as an elliptical expression = sa-kĕti lima laksa, i.e. 150,000 cash (pitis). Vide Kl. sub voce. ↑
71 i.e. when the sago is being extracted from the stem. ↑
72 The native substitute for a rowlock. ↑
74 This line is obscure, the word “bingku” (which I have translated rim, on the supposition that it may be merely a longer form of biku), not appearing in any dictionary. The next line also is not quite clear, but it would appear to mean “let us make sacrifice,” rice stained with saffron being always used sacrificially. ↑
75 In Denys’ Descriptive Dictionary of British Malaya, under the word “Marriage,” we find:—
“The only terms for marriage in Malay are the Arabic and Persian ones, respectively nikah and kahwin, the native ones having probably been displaced by these and forgotten.”
Both these words are used in Selangor, the first (nikah), which properly signifies the mere ceremony or “wedding,” being more commonly used by the better class of Malays than the more comprehensive kahwin, which corresponds pretty nearly to the English word “marriage.” Words describing the married state with reference to one of the parties only, however, are in frequent use: such as the bĕrsuami and bĕristri of the higher classes, and the bĕrlaki and bĕrbini of the common people; and yet again there is the word bĕrumah-rumah, which is applied indifferently to either of the two parties or to both, and is the politest word that can be used with reference to the common people, but is never applied to Rajas, in whose case bĕrsuami and bĕristri alone are used.
I may add, on the authority of Mr. H. Conway Belfield, lately Acting-Resident of Selangor, that a curious periphrastic expression is sometimes used by Perak women in talking of their husbands, whom they call rumah tangga, which literally means “House and House-ladder,” and which is tantamount to saying, “My household,” instead of “My husband.” ↑
76 I remember Mr. C. H. A. Turney (then Senior District Officer at Klang) telling me of a great disturbance that arose at Klang because too many of these big pillows were being used at a Malay wedding. Order was only restored by the intervention of the police. ↑
77 A hasta is the length of the forearm from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, or about eighteen inches. ↑
78 There is, I believe, a special ceremony connected with the opening of this curtain which is performed by the bridegroom after the wedding ceremony, special cakes, called “curtain-openers” (kueh pĕmbuka k’lambu), being eaten. ↑
79 C. and S. give—“Bun (Dutch), a large tin or copper box for tobacco or sirih leaves—Van der Tuuk.” “Bun” is given as a “trunk” in a Dutch Dictionary. ↑
80 This is called main zikir—or, more commonly, jikir—maulud if it is unaccompanied, and zikir bĕrdah if accompanied by musical instruments. ↑
81 Tĕpong tawar, or “Neutralising Paste,” is believed to avert ill-luck (mĕmbuang sial); for further details vide Chap. III. pp. 77–81, supra. ↑
83 This ceremony is also called mĕnyĕlang or bĕrlĕbat. ↑
84 One of these fillets, which was purchased by the writer, had for its pattern two dragons (naga), which looked different ways, and a couple of butterflies as pendants at each end. The substitute used by poor people is frequently manufactured from the leaf of the thatch-palm (nipah). ↑
85 According to v. d. Wall this plant is Carthamus tinctorius. ↑
86 A weight used for weighing the precious metals. According to C. and S. Dict., s.v. Bûngkal, it is equal to 822 grains troy; according to Maxwell, Manual of the Mal. Lang., p. 141, to 832. ↑
87 The mast with its branches carrying artificial flowers, streamers, and coloured eggs, appears to be emblematic of a fruit-tree, the eggs representing the fruit, the artificial blossoms its flowers, and the streamers its leaves. ↑
88 For instance, in reply to an appeal from the Bride’s Relations to “take into account the duty which is the custom of the country,” one of the Bridegroom’s Relations would repeat the following:—
“Even the woodpecker knows how to fly,
And how much more the lory;
Even my grandsire’s commands I take into account,
And how much more the duty imposed by the State.”
89 It is said that this is a departure from the old custom, according to which the wedding ceremony took place the day before the procession (except at the re-marriage of a widow who has no children, kahwin janda bĕrhias). In the case of the re-marriage of a widow who has no children by her former husband there is no procession at all, and the ceremonies are somewhat abridged. I may add that a childless widow has the subang (ear-rings which are the symbol of virginity) tied on to her ears. Vide p. 360, supra. ↑
90 A couple of matronly ladies are generally told off for this service, the ceremony being as follows:—
1. They raise first the man and then the woman slowly to a standing posture; when it is reached the bridegroom says to the bride, “Take heed, care for thy husband, care for my good name, care for me” (Baik-baik jaga laki awak, jaga nama sahya, jagakan aku); to this the bride responds in a similar strain, mutatis mutandis, and they are then as slowly re-seated.
2. They are similarly raised, and repeat as before, in turn, the words, “Assuredly I will not do thee any shame whatever” (Sahya ta’buleh buat satu apa kamaluan di-atas awak).
3. When raised for the third and last time they say, “I ask the Lord God to give us both long life, and that all our handiwork may prosper” (Sahya minta’ kapada Tuhan Allah bĕrsama-sama panjang ʿumor, samua kĕrja dĕngan salamat). ↑
91 It used to be considered an insult to omit offering one of these eggs to a guest, so much so, that I was assured that in former days a woman whose husband had been thus slighted would have a right to sue for a divorce. ↑
92 The Kathi is an official having superintendence over several mosques and jurisdiction in matters connected with marriage, divorce, and ecclesiastical affairs generally. The Imām is the chief elder of one mosque. ↑
93 There is a difference between b’lanja and mas kahwin, the former usually meaning the wedding expenses, the latter the dower; at least this is the Malacca terminology, which probably also obtains elsewhere. ↑
94 The descendant of one of the four great Chiefs (Orang Bĕsar bĕr-ampat) of Selangor. ↑
95 Ex-Prime Minister of Perak. ↑
96 Sireh or sirih, the betel leaf. ↑
97 The Bilal is an elder of the mosque; in western Muhammadan countries he is styled Muezzin. ↑
98 Selangor Journal, vol. i. No. 2, p. 23. ↑
99 Probably this should be 4th. ↑
100 He was of Arab extraction. But wearing clothes in the Arab fashion is not unusual even in the case of purely Malay bridegrooms. ↑
101 Selangor Journal, vol. iv. No. 2, pp. 23–5. The list of presents sent by friends on this occasion included buffaloes, a bullock, goats, spices, plate, and jewellery. ↑
102 Sir William Maxwell in N. and Q., No. 4, sec. 91, issued with No. 17 of the J.R.A.S., S.B. ↑
103 “At their funerals the corpse is carried to the place of interment on a broad plank, which is kept for the public service of the dusun, and lasts for generations. It is constantly rubbed with lime, either to preserve it from decay or to keep it pure. No coffin is made use of, the body being simply wrapped in white cloth, particularly of the sort called hummums. In forming the grave (kubur), after digging to a convenient depth they make a cavity in the side, at bottom, of sufficient dimensions to contain the body, which is there deposited on its right side. By this mode the earth literally lies light upon it; and the cavity, after strewing flowers in it, they stop up by two boards fastened angularly to each other, so that the one is on the top of the corpse, whilst the other defends it on the open side, the edge resting on the bottom of the grave. The outer excavation is then filled up with earth; and little white flags, or streamers, are stuck in order around. They likewise plant a shrub, bearing a white flower, called kumbangkamboja (Plumeria obtusa), and in some places wild marjoram. The women who attend the funeral make a hideous noise, not much unlike the Irish howl. On the third and seventh day the relations perform a ceremony at the grave, and at the end of twelve months that of tegga batu, or setting up a few long elliptical stones, at the head and foot, which, being scarce in some parts of the country, bear a considerable price. On this occasion they kill and feast on a buffalo, and leave the head to decay on the spot, as a token of the honour they have done to the deceased in eating to his memory. The ancient burying-places are called krammat, and are supposed to have been those of the holy men by whom their ancestors were converted to the faith. They are held in extraordinary reverence, and the least disturbance or violation of the ground, though all traces of the graves be obliterated, is regarded as an unpardonable sacrilege,”—Marsden, Hist. of Sumatra (ed. 1811), pp. 287, 288. ↑
104 The explanation usually given by Malays is that the betel-nut scissors symbolise iron. Short weapons are sometimes substituted. ↑
105 Tradition says that formerly the corpse was watched for three days before burial, and that sometimes it was kept for a week or even a longer period. One Raja S’nei is reported to have been kept 40 days in her coffin above ground! It is also stated that before the introduction of Muhammadanism the dead were burned.
It is still the custom to keep both the hearth-fire (api dapor) and lamps (palita) burning not only for so long as the corpse may be in the house, but for seven days and nights after occurrence of the death. It is also the custom to open the sick person’s mosquito-curtain when death is approaching, and in some cases, at all events, the dying are taken out of their beds and laid upon the floor. I may add that the material for fumigation (pĕrabun) is placed upon the hearth-fire after death, to scare away the evil spirits, just as salt is thrown upon the fire during a thunderstorm, in order that it may counteract the explosions of thunder (mĕmbalas pĕtir), and thus drive away the demons who are believed to be casting the thunderbolts. ↑
106 The kati is a weight equivalent to 1⅓ lb. avoirdupois. ↑
107 The form found in most dictionaries is banchoh or banchuh. ↑
108 Whence the expression “charik kapan,” which means literally to tear the shroud (i.e. to tear off the selvage of the shroud, and not to tear off a piece of cloth to form the shroud). ↑
109 Cubit, the length of the forearm. ↑
110 The short motto which usually heads Malay letters. ↑
111 I may add that in pre-Muhammadan days certain articles are said to have been buried with the corpse, viz. “b’ras sa-p’riok, asam, garam,” together with (in the case of a man) rough wooden models of the deceased’s weapons. ↑
112 Tradition says that originally one grave-post (nisan) was used, and that the earlier form of a tomb was a circular mound with a single grave-post in the centre. It is said that such mounds were formerly used in Sungei Ujong, but I am unable to say if this is so. Sultan Zeinal ʿAbidin of Johor is also described as having a tomb of this description at Kota Tinggi. ↑
113 This notion probably arose from an erroneous idea of etymological connection between the words talkin and bĕrtĕlku. ↑
114 Of course if the karanda is used the bands have to be removed before it is nailed down. On their removal these bands are handed to the next-of-kin, who tear them up and plait the strips into a rough sort of bracelet, which they wear as long as it lasts in memory of the deceased. Little children are made to pass thrice underneath the karanda of their parents when it is first lifted in the chamber, “to prevent them from pining for the deceased.” ↑
115 From observing a good many of these grave-posts in different localities, I should be inclined to suppose that the grave-post used for men had been evolved from a phallic emblem, whilst that used for women occasionally assumes a rude resemblance to a human being. ↑
116 Newbold, Malacca, vol. ii. p. 352. ↑
117 As to the titles Bomor and Pawang, see Chapter III. p. 56, note. ↑
118 There are, it need hardly be said, innumerable charms and talismans which are valued by the Malays for their supposed efficacy in preventing disease; there are also an immense number of short charms (often mere texts from the Korān) which are considered invaluable for checking minor ailments. It being impossible, however, in the scope of this work to give specimens of the entire “materia medica” of the Malays, examples of the more important branches only are given. ↑
119 The Pawang may either effect this himself, by luring the evil spirits out of the sick person’s body into some object, such as an egg, a substituted image or scapegoat (tukar ganti), a “Spirit-Hall,” or spirit-boat, in which the evil spirits are carried out of the house and got rid of; or else he may induce a stronger spirit, e.g., the Tiger Spirit (vide infra), to enter into his own person, and assist him in the task of evicting the offender. ↑
120 Jikalau sa-rasi dĕngan aku, mĕngadap-lah angkau, asap, kapada’ku, kalau ta’ sa-rasi, mĕlintang-lah ’kau dĕngan aku, atau ka kiri, atau ka kanan. ↑
121 Kur! Sĕmangat Si Anu ka-tujoh-nya! Mari-lah kita bĕrsama-sama ini, Tengo’kan ubat, sĕmangat Si Anu! ↑
122 If ashore, it is usually suspended from a tree. If at sea, from a wooden tripod, or a projecting pole affixed to the seaward end of a fishing-stake. ↑
123 Another method is described by Messrs. Clifford and Swettenham (vide their Malay Dictionary, s.v. Anchak) as follows: “The (anchak pĕrbingkas) is fastened to the end of a branch, which is pulled down almost to the ground, and held there while the medicine-man goes through his incantation or invocation, after which it is allowed to fly up, and all the things on it are scattered by this means,” but it is not yet clear to which class this use of the anchak should be referred. ↑
124 Some of them are enumerated under Fishing Ceremonies, pp. 311 seqq., supra. See also pp. 76, 257, 260. ↑
126 So called in Malay (tali pĕnggantong); they consist of the four cords which start from the four corners of the tray respectively, and are carried up to meet at a point some two or three feet above the centre of the tray, from which point upwards a single cord only is used. ↑
127 Kĕtupat and lĕpat. There were fourteen of each kind of bag, the kĕtupats being diamond-shaped and the lĕpats cylindrical. Each set of fourteen bags contains seven portions of cooked and seven portions of uncooked food. Vide also supra. ↑
128 Abong = full to overflowing; cp. mĕrabong, etc. ↑
129 As to these stones, vide p. 274, supra. ↑
130 Kalau kĕna kĕlingking, k’rat-lah kĕlingking, kalau kĕna daun dayong, di-chatok-nya, champak-lah dayong. Numerous sea-snakes do, as a fact, exist in the seas of the Malay Peninsula and Archipelago. They are all, I believe, venomous. Vide Miscell. Papers relating to Indo-China, First Series, vol. ii. pp. 226–238. ↑
131 Ipoh raʿyat laut, kalau kĕna sa-orang di-sandarkan sa-orang, mati sampei tujoh orang bĕrsandar. ↑
132 Supposed to be identical with Lukmanu-’l-hakim, a mysterious person mentioned in the Korān. Vide Hughes, Dict. of Islam, s.v. Luqman. ↑
133 For the Wild Huntsman, vide Birds and Bird-charms, Chap. V. pp. 113–120, supra. ↑
134 Apparently v. d. W. means the fascination which a tiger has for its prey. In Selangor this fascination is called g’run or pĕngg’run in the case of a tiger, and badi only in the case of a snake—the person affected by it being said to be kĕna g’run or kĕna badi, as the case may be. ↑
135 Vide App. lx., lxxii., lxxix. The different names under which “Badi” is invoked are worth noting; e.g. “Badiyu, Mak Badi, Badi Panji, Mak Buta,” in an elephant-charm (App. lx.); and again “Ah Badi, Mak Badi” in a deer-charm (v. App. lxxii.), and in a later deer-charm, “Hei Badi Serang, Badi Mak Buta, Si Panchur, Mak Tuli” (v. App. lxxix.), and again “Sang Marak, Sang Badi” (v. App. lxxix.), and “Jĕmbalang Badi” (v. App. lxxx.). I may remark that Sabaliyu is given by Logan in the J. I. A. vol. i. p. 263, as meaning a deer in the Camphor Language (bhasa kapor or pantang kapor) of Johor, and this word was afterwards confirmed by Mr. D. F. A. Hervey. ↑
136 Influence of the Breath in Healing.—In Notes and Queries, No. 1, p. 24, a Malay bomor, or doctor, is described as blowing upon something to be used as medicine. Breathing upon sick persons and upon food, water, medicines, etc., to be administered to them is a common ceremony among Malay doctors and midwives. The following note would seem to show that the Malays have learnt it from their Muhammadan teachers:—
“Healing by the breath [Arab. Nafahal, breathings, benefits, the Heb. Neshamah, opp. to Nephest (soul), and Ruach (spirit)] is a popular idea throughout the East, and not unknown to Western magnetists and mesmerists. The miraculous cures of the Messiah were, according to Moslems, mostly performed by aspiration. They hold that in the days of Isa, physic had reached its highest development, and that his miracles were mostly miracles of medicine; whereas in Mohammed’s time eloquence had attained its climax, and, accordingly, his miracles were those of eloquence, as shown in the Koran and Ahadis.”—The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Burton, vol. v. p. 30.—Notes and Queries, J.R.A.S., S.B., No. 4, sec. 92, issued with No. 17. ↑
137 Vide pp. 569–574, infra. ↑
138 Vide pp. 418 seqq., supra.
Strictly speaking, money (which is called batu-batu lanchang or lanchang stones) should always form part of them. In Kedah three kĕndĕri (one kĕndĕri amounting to three cents) are said to be used; in Perak three wang, and in Selangor three duits (cents). ↑
139 I believe this usually takes place immediately after the ceremony, but one medicine-man whom I knew (’Che Amal of Jugra) used to keep the boat into which the spirits were thought to have entered until the patient recovered, and then set it adrift. When the medicine-man is launching it, he takes the boat in both hands, and repeatedly gives it a rotatory movement towards the left (as if he were using a sieve), and repeats the charm. A small portion of each dish deposited in the lanchang has to be carried back to the patient’s house, and there administered to the patient, together with water scooped up in a bowl from underneath the lanchang as it lay in the water before drifting away. As the sick man receives the offerings, the person who administers them says, addressing the spirit of evil, “Here is your wage, return not back here unto So-and-So; and cause him to be sick no more,” and the spirit replies through the man’s mouth, “I will never return.” ↑
140 Arong also means “to cross the water,” and there may be some doubt as to the precise meaning of this line. See the original in App. cciv. ↑
141 i.e. the Crocodile-spirit (vide pp. 286 (note), 298, supra.) ↑
142 In this connection it may be added that there are sundry medical “taboos” in use on various occasions: e.g. it is sometimes forbidden to enter the house where the sick man lies or to approach it by a particular path, and a string, with cocoa-nut leaves hung on it, is often drawn across the path as an indication of such prohibition. The fine for breaking such a taboo (langgar gawar-gawar) was “half a bhara,” or in the case of a Raja “two bharas.” ↑
143 Swettenham, Malay Sketches, pp. 153–159. Another excellent account, also by an eye-witness, of a similar ceremony will be found in J.R.A.S. S.B., No. 12, pp. 222–232. ↑
144 Studies in Brown Humanity, p. 46. ↑
145 Bintang, a star, means “the eye” in Malay ghost language. ↑
146 About ⅚ lb. avoirdupois. ↑
147 A maiam is 1/16th of a bungkal and equal to 52 grains. ↑
148 The peeling-knife (pisau raut) is mentioned because it is dreaded by the demons, who hurt themselves (it is alleged) by treading on one end of it, when, owing to its curved blade, the other end flies up and wounds them. Such spirits as the Wild Huntsman are specially mentioned as being afraid of it. Vide p. 118, supra. ↑
149 Swettenham, Malay Sketches, pp. 208–210. ↑
150 This is a description of Malay dancing from the European point of view; the reason of the “undoubted fascination which it has for the Malays” being no doubt the fact that for them it has a real meaning, which by Europeans (like that of the Malay four-rhymed stanza or pantun) is quite inadequately understood. ↑
152 The attitude is that obtained by transferring the body directly from a kneeling to a sitting position. ↑
153 Swettenham, Malay Sketches, ch. vii. pp. 44–52. ↑
154 This dance is said to be borrowed from the Arabs. ↑
155 Newbold, Malacca, vol. ii. p. 179. ↑
156 “I have said that all birds fight more or less, but birds are not alone in this. The little, wide-mouthed, goggled-eyed fishes, which Malay ladies keep in bottles and old kerosine tins, fight like demons. Goats sit up and strike with their cloven hoofs, and butt and stab with their horns. The silly sheep canter gaily to the battle, deliver thundering blows on one another’s foreheads, and then retire and charge once more. The impact of their horny foreheads is sufficient to reduce a man’s hand to a shapeless pulp should it find its way between the combatants’ skulls. Tigers box like pugilists, and bite like French school-boys; and buffaloes fight clumsily, violently, and vindictively, after the manner of their kind.”—In Court and Kampong, p. 52. ↑
159 Sic, correctly Kĕnantan. ↑
161 Sic, correctly Bĕlurang. ↑
163 Vide pp. 545–547, infra. ↑
164 Newbold, Malacca, vol. ii. pp. 179–183. ↑
165 i.e. Sepak raga, which means “kick the wicker-work (ball).” ↑
167 Also Tĕki-tĕki. Examples are,—What is it which you leave behind when you remember it, and take it with you when you forget it?” Ans. “A leech.” “What is it that builds a house within a house, getting the materials out of his own body?” Ans. “A spider.” ↑
168 i.e. “Tuju lobang,” which means “Aim at the Hole.” ↑