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HARVARD UNIVERSITY

LIBRARY

OF THE

PEABODY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN
ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY

GIFT OF

LOMBARD C. JONES

(A.B* iSSjj MtD. 1S90)

FALMOUTH, MASSACHUSETTS

Received Decembex 7, 1919 •

PAGAN RACES

OF THE

MALAY PENINSULA

^N RACES

■■ PENINSULA

«v

I JAM SKEAT, M.A.

r I (• fMttI Alv lAfTXiJi I

ro BLAGDEN, M,A,

nUTIOHS SFICIALLY TAKEN
TNI WORK

v^d VOLUMES
VOL I

lantron
AND CO,, UmtBU

;^^

PAGAN RACES

OF THE

MALAY PENINSULA

WALTER WILLIAM SKEAT, M.A.

LATE OF THI FZDKRATID MALAY STATES CIVIL SERVICE •
AUTHOK OP * MALAY MAGIC ' AND ' FABLES AND FOLK-TALES PROM AN EASTERN FOREST *'

AND

CHARLES OTTO BLAGDEN, M.A.

LATE OF THE STRAITS SETTLEMENTS CIVIL SERVICE

WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS SPECIALLY TAKEN
FOR THE WORK

IN TWO VOLUMES
VOL. I

l^ontron

MACMILLAN AND CO., Limited

NSW YORK : THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1906

A/i rig^his reserved

'^•''t

A LAND

of old upheaven from the abyss by fire . . .
where fragments of forgotten peoples dwelt.

Tbnnyson.

TO HIS MAJESTY

CHULALONGKORN

KING OF SIAM OF THE NORTH AND SOUTH

SOVEREIGN OF THE LAOS, MALAYS, ETC

IN GRATITUDE FOR HELP

EXTENDED TO

THE CAMBRIDGE EXPEDITION OF 1899-1900

THIS RESULT OF INTERNATIONAL CX)-OPERATION AND GOODWILL

IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED

PREFACE

The line between comparative and descriptive ethno-
graphy is now very definitely laid down, and in spite
of the occasional citation of illustrative parallels here
and there, especially in the footnotes, it is to the
second class that the present work claims to belong.

The work is essentially a compilation from many
sources, but differs from most books of that kind,
first, in being based to a very large extent on
materials hitherto unpublished, and accessible only
through private channels of information, and secondly,
in having been constructed with special knowledge of
the subject and in a critical spirit. The need of such
a work has long been felt by all who have interested
themselves in the subject, and will be obvious to
any one who glances over the Bibliography contained
in the present volume.

The method pursued by the authors, and the
peculiarly heterogeneous nature of the materials at
their disposal, have made it impossible to present to
the reader an invariably harmonious and ordered
narrative in a uniform and attractive style. Instead
of this, he will, however, have within the compass of
a pair of volumes the whole substance of what has

viii PREFACE

been written about the Pagan Races of the Malay
Peninsula by dozens of explorers and observers in
scores of more or less inaccessible or obsolete books
and periodical publications, supplemented by and
critically collated with a great mass of the most
recent original material collected on the subject. He
will find in this book many facts, but few hypotheses :
at the present stage of our study of these races the
collection of definite data seems to be the most
immediate duty, and such theories as are here put
forward are intended to suggest lines of research for
future explorers and students.

The work has grown under the hands of its
authors. Both had spent some years of their lives
in districts partly occupied by Pagan tribes in the
South of the Peninsula, and had been attracted to
the study of their peculiarities primarily by the fact
that some of these aborigines spoke strange non-
Malayan dialects. In default of any record of their
antecedents, it seemed that the problem of the past
history of these races could be approached most
readily from the linguistic side ; and though a more
comprehensive survey of their physical and cultural
characteristics has somewhat modified this view, there
is no doubt of the importance of the evidence of
language in this connexion. Both in speech and in
blood the races dealt with in the present work are,
however (except in small and comparatively circum-
scribed areas), mixed and diverse, and it is only by
unravelling the different strands which enter into
their structure that we can hope to understand them.

PREFACE ix

With this end in view, the several parts of the book
dealing with their racial arid cultural characteristics,
which had originally been arranged under the head-
ings of the various subjects dealt with, were entirely
rewritten upon a phylogenetic system, so as to throw
into relief the differences which separate one race
from another ; and in the part dealing with language,
the several distinct elements of which their dialects
are made up have been analysed in considerable
detail. One great difficulty which besets a student
of this subject is how to reconcile the sometimes
apparently conflicting testimonies of anthropology
and philolc^^ : while not assuming to have found the
explanation, the authors of the present work claim
that in laying bare some seeming contradictions in the
evidence, they are clearing the ground for the recon-
struction on a sound basis of the early history and
ethnology of an important part of South-Eastern Asia.
It is not, therefore, solely as a monograph on the
particular tribes specially dealt with that the present
work claims to be regarded, but also as a necessary
preliminary to a general scientific survey of the races
of Southern Indo- China and the Malay Peninsula.
Resident as they have been for untold centuries in
the Peninsula, these pagan tribes nevertheless have
much affinity with some of the wild races of Indo-
China, and thus form a link between these two
regions. Moreover, the Malay population of the
Peninsula presents characteristics which vary very
distinctly in different districts, and in some parts it

contains a strong strain of aboriginal blood, so that
VOL. I a 2

X PREFACE

an investigation into the wild races is an essential
preparation towards a scientific study of the Malays
themselves. The authors hope that the material
they have collected will serve as a basis upon which
may be reared a more systematic and accurate study
of all the races of the Malay Peninsula. There is
great need of a thorough survey of the Peninsula as a
whole, from the point of view both of geographical
and ethnological science and of industrial and eco-
nomic development.

Such a work should be undertaken by the
Governments of the Straits Settlements and the
Federated Malay States, disposing as they do of
ample revenues which they have always shown them-
selves ready to spend freely on objects of material
utility. Whereas the Governments of British India,
the Netherlands Indies, French Indo- China, and
even that enterprising novice among colonial adminis-
trations, the American Government of the Philippines,
have done, and are doing, a great deal in the way of
promoting the scientific study of their respective
countries and peoples, the Governments of the Malay
Peninsula have as yet done very little in that direc-
tion. The matter appears to have been overlooked,
owing to the pressure of other business. Yet, apart
from the high scientific value of such investigations,
there are not wanting signs of the times that point
to the supreme importance to European Governments
in the tropics of intimately studying and carefully
considering the peculiarities of the alien and less
civilised races committed to their care. There has

PREFACE xi

been, of late, in more than one quarter, a dangerous
tendency to elaborate and Europeanise administrative
and judicial machinery, and pari passu to lose touch
with native ideas and customs, to push the native
gently but firmly aside, and to impose upon him all
manner of well-meant but complicated regulations,
which he cannot in the least understand, and which
often run counter to his social and religious principles.
A more intimate study of the people of the country and
their habits of life and thought is urgently required in
order to avoid the growing danger of estrangement and
want of sympathy between the rulers and the ruled.

In such a survey of the Peninsula it is to be
hoped and expected that the Government of Siam, as
the suzerain of the Northern Malay States, would
co-operate. Indeed, some of the preliminary work in
that quarter has already been done by the Cambridge
Expedition of 1 899-1 900, which visited the Siamese
Malay States by the special permission and with the
active and generous assistance of His Majesty the
King of Siam. It was during the course of that
expedition that the whole of the recent information
relating to the Negritos of the Northern States, and
now embodied in this work, was collected, as well as
the material contained in the progress reports of the
expedition to the British Association (Anthropological
Section, 1900, 1901), and a very large mass of other
anthropological matter, as yet unpublished.

The title of the present work, which had been
provisionally fixed as ** Wild Tribes " or ** Wild Races
of the Malay Peninsula," was finally cast into its

xii PREFACE

present form because it was felt that the point of
religion (as between Mohammedan and non-Moham-
medan) was perhaps a better dividing line, on account
of its definiteness, than the vague, indefinite, and
perhaps undefinable, quality of wildness.

The title-page bears the names of two authors, but
by far the greater part of the book (including the Intro-
duction) was written by the one whose name stands
first, the special task of the other having been confined
to writing the part dealing with Language, together
with the Appendix relating thereto, in the second
volume. Each author has, as far as possible, revised
and checked the work of the other, but the ultimate
responsibility of each is to be apportioned to his own
share of the book.

Moreover, though the authors themselves have
contributed the greater part of the original material
which the book contains, they are indebted to others
for a considerable amount of hitherto unpublished
information, which has greatly enhanced the value of
the work. Their acknowledgments are particularly
due to Messrs. D. F. A. Hervey, C.M.G., H. Clifford,
C.M.G., F. Emeric, A. Grubauer, C. D. Bowen,
N. Annandale, H. C. Robinson, G. B. Cerruti, and
H. Ling Roth, the Rev. H. E. Luering, Father W.
Schmidt, Professor Rudolf Martin, and the Councils
of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and
Ireland, and the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic
Society respectively, for information relating directly
to the aborigines of the Peninsula and their lan-
guages ; and to Messrs. A. Cabaton, A. Lavallde, the

PREFACE xiii

late p. Odend'hal (whose early death was a serious
loss to the cause of Indo-Chinese research), S. H.
Ray, G. A. Grierson, CLE., E. H. Man, CLE., Sir
Richard Temple, CLE., W. L. H. Duckworth, and
others, for help in connexion with cognate or allied
races and languages. Several officers of the Govern-
ment Service in the Malay Peninsula, particularly
Messrs. L. Wray, junr., A. Hale, H. N. Ridley, and
F. W, Knocker, have also been kind enough to read
portions of the book in proof, and have contributed,
as the fruit of their experiences, no small amount of
material in the shape of comments and criticisms.
Mr. A. Cabaton was good enough to read the Com-
parative Vocabulary in proof, and his intimate know-
ledge of several Indo-Chinese languages enabled him
to enrich it by many valuable etymological sugges-
tions. To him the authors are also indebted for
access to the unpublished material of Messrs. P.
Odend'hal and A. Lavallde.

For the illustrations, which form a notable addition
to the value of the work (the greater part having
been taken specially for the occasion), the authors
are also indebted to the help of many hands.
Mr. T. J. M^'Gregor has contributed (at his own
charges) the largest part of the original photographs ;
others have been lent by Messrs. L. Wray, A. D.
Machado, A. Hale, G. B. Cerruti, W. P. Hume,
F. W. 'Douglas, T. Gardner, F. F. Laidlaw and
Professor R. H. Yapp (the two last being members
of the Cambridge Expedition), F. M. Elliot, R. F.
Amott, and others, who cannot all be mentioned;

xiv PREFACE

while to Sir W. Hood Treacher, K.C.M.G. (formerly
Resident-General of the Federated Malay States),
Sir John Rodger, K.C.M.G., Messrs. E. W. Birch,
H. C. Belfield, Cecil Wray, D. G. Campbell,
F. J. Weld (Residents of the several States),
R. N. Bland, recently Acting Resident Councillor of
Malacca, H. W. Thomson, His Siamese Majesty's
Assistant Adviser in Kelantan, A. T. Dew, and G. C.
Bellamy, the authors owe special acknowledgments
for their kind assistance in helping to get photographs
specially taken for use in the present work.

For permission to reproduce certain published
illustrations, which were needed to explain the work
of other writers, the authors are indebted to Professor
A. Griinwedel, to the General Council of the Royal
Museums (Museums Administration Department),
Berlin, the Council of the Berlin Anthropological
Society, Dr. von Traeger, Mr. H. Singer, the Editor
of Globus, the firms of Georg Reimer, Berlin (pub-
lisher to the Royal Museums Department), Friedrich
Vieweg und Sohn, Brunswick (publishers of Globus),
Gustav Fischer, Jena (publisher of Martin's Inland-
stdmme), as well as to M. A. de Mortillet (for per-
mission to reproduce the illustrations from L' Homme),
to Cambridge University (Museum of Archaeology
and Ethnolc^y), for photographs of the Skeat collec-
tion, to the Council of the Anthropological Institute
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Council of the
Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, and to
Messrs. Lambert and Co., photographers, of Singa-
pore. To Messrs. Stanford they are indebted for

PREFACE XV

permission to reproduce their map of S.E. Asia, to
Dr. P. Geiger for a map showing the Distribution of
Ipoh, to Mr. F. F. Laidlaw for help in the arrange-
ment of Part I., and to Mr. N. W. Thomas for much
generous assistance in the revision of the proofs, and
for the compilation of the Indexes.

To these and many other willing helpers the
authors hereby express their most hearty thanks ;
and they venture also to anticipate on behalf of their
readers a high appreciation of the unselfish and
public-spirited manner in which these numerous colla-
borators have contributed valuable material towards
a work that has not been undertaken in a commercial
spirit but for a scientific purpose.

Lastly, acknowledgments are due to the publishers
and printers for undertaking the work in the same
spirit, and executing it in a manner which it must be
left to the reader to appraise. The date of publication
has been repeatedly postponed by the recurring ill-
health of one or other of the authors, and this has, of
course, thrown an additional burden on the publishers,
to whose forbearance under these trying circumstances
the authors feel that special recognition is due.

W. W. SKEAT.
August 1906. C. O. BLAGDEN.

CONTENTS

PACE

vii

PREFACE ....
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . xxv

INTRODUCTION . i

PART I.— RACE

Racial Characters . 19

Racial Affinities — General 24

Note by W. L. H. Duckworth on "Fasciculi Malay-

ENSES" ....... 96

Note on Diseases of the Aborigines .100

PART II.— MANNERS AND CUSTOMS

CHAPTER I
Food— Stimulants — Narcotics .109

CHAPTER II
Dress ....... 137

CHAPTER III
Habitations . .168

CONTENTS

CHAPTER IV

PAGE

Hunting, Trapping, and Fishing .... 200

CHAPTER V
Modes of Barter .225

CHAPTER VI

Weapons and Implements ..... 242

CHAPTER VII
Cultivation . . -338

CHAPTER VIII
Arts and Crafts ...... 374

CHAPTER IX

Decorative Art 395

CHAPTER X
The Social Order ...... 494

CHAPTER XI
Dealings with Other Races 521

APPENDIX . -571

PLACE AND PERSONAL NAMES. 717

ILLUSTRATIONS

The Lair of Mowgli ..... Frontispiece
The Langat River near the Hot Springs, Dusun Tua

(Selangor) ..... Introduction

The River Langat at Lubo' K'lubi (or Kfilubi), Selangor . „

Upper Reaches of the Klang River, near Sakai Houses

(Selangor) ......

TO FACE PAGE

N^rito Type — Andamanese .28

N^rito Type — Semang of Perak .28

Aboriginal Dravidian Type — ^Veddas of Ceylon . 29

Suggested Aboriginal Dravidian Type — Sakai of Perak . 29

S^^gested Aboriginal Malayan or Jakun Type — " Savage Malays "

of Pekan, in Pahang (Heathen) . 31

Civilised Malay Type — Chiefs of Negri Sembilan (Mohammedan) 3 1
N^rito Type — Head of Semang Man, Kedah -34

Negrito Type — Head of Semang Man, Perak -34

Suggested Aboriginal Dravidian Type — Head of Sakai Man,

Perak ....... 35

Suggested Aboriginal Malayan, or " Savage Malay " Type — Jakun

of Sungei Ujong . -35

Mixed Group of Ulu Jelai Sakai, Pahang 3 8

Group of Ulu Jelai Sakai, Pahang - 39

Bujo*, a young Jakun, mixed with strong Negrito Strain . 40

Head of Bujo' in Profile, showing marked Prognathism . .40

Young Sakai Girl in Centre (mixed Type showing strong Negrito

Strain) . 41

Jakun with marked Sakai Strain, Selangor 42

Jakun of Mixed Type, Bukit Prual, Selangor -43

Ycop Sandah, Wife and Child, Ulu Jelai Sakai with Negrito

Strain, Pahang -44

Sakai Girl (showing Negrito Strain) 45

Semang of Kuala Kenering, Uhi Perak . 54

UST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Sakai of S. Perak

Sakai Group, Ulu Kali, Ulu Selangor

Old Sakai Man, " The Father of all the Sakais," Ulu Berang,

Eight Miles from Tanjong Malim, South Perak
Mixed Sakai-Semang Type, Ulu Batu, Selangor .
Mixed Sakai-Semang Type, Ulu Batu, Selangor .
Sakai Boy with Blowpipe, Ulu Sungkai, S. Perak
Sakai Boy (probably of Ulu Slim)
Group of Jakun, showing Negrito and Sakai Blood, at Ulu Batu,

Selangor .....
Mixed Jakun Type, Bukit Prual, Selangor
Group of Jakun (Aboriginal Malayans) from Klang
Orang Laut or Sea-Jakun (four specimens)

A, Profile of Semang Girl with Skin Disease

B, Semang Girl (Full Face) with Skin Disease .
Smallpox Patient in Seclusion, Ulu Slim (South Perak)
Semangs preparing Poisonous Yams for Food (-4, B)
Semang of Kedah having a Meal
Sakai cooking Rice in Bamboo Vessels, Chenderiang (Batang

Padang, Perak)
Sakai of Ulu Slim (Perak)
Negrito Dress and Articles of Apparel
Semang Dress .
Semang and Pangan Girdles
Fungus-String Girdle of Semang Woman (Kedah)
Seed and Tooth Necklace of Semang Woman (Kedah)
Semang with Girdles of Malay Cloth
Semang Combs ....

Sakai Girl of South Perak
Sakai Women in Malay ** Sarongs," showing Necklaces, Armlets,

and Bracelets ......

Sakai Family, showing Head-dresses, Necklaces, and Nose-quiJls
Sakai Family, showing Nose-quills, Necklaces, Armlets, and Leif-

Omaments . . 1 .

Sakai Group, Ulu Lui, Ulu Langat, showing Women and Girls in

Malay Dress . . . /.

Aboriginal Group at Ulu Kali, Ulu Selangor, showing Adoptioin

of Malay Dress ..... \.

Pangan Weather Screen of Palm Leaves (Ulu Kelantan) I

Interior of Round Leaf-Shelter of Pangan (Ulu Kelantan) .|

Plan and Sections of Long (or Oval) Shelter used by Semang at

Siong, Kedah ......

TO FACE PAGE

. 58

59
6o
6i

67
90

91
102
102
103
116
116

117
120
138
139
142

143
143
148

149
152

153
156

157
158

159
176
176

177

UST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

TO PACE PAGE

Semang at Ulu Jelentoh, Gopeng, Kinta, with Nipah-Palms (Nipa

fruticctns) in Background, newly cut for Thatch work . 178

Semang standing at side of Hut (at Sungei Tapah), near Batu

Gajah, Kinta, Perak . .179

An Invisible Sakai Village (up the Big Tree in the Centre of the

Picture) .180

Sakai Tree Hut, Sungei Berang, Perak, Seven Miles from Tanjong

Malim . . . .181

Sakai Huts at Chenderiang, Batang Padang, Perak .182

Tree Hut, Ulu Batu, about Twelve Miles from Kuala Lumpur,

Selangor . .183

Sakai House at Changkat Kerbu or Korbu .184

House of Aborigines at Kuala Seleh, Ulu Klang .185

Huts at Durian Chandong, Ulu Langat, about Three Miles above

Klubi, but on a Tributary of the Langat Men absent

Hunting . . .185

Sakai House, Lui River, Ulu Langat, Selangor . . .186

Ground Hut with thatched Roof, Ulu Kuang, about Three Miles

from Kuang Station, Selangor .186

Besisi Huts about One and a Half Miles from Sepang . .187

Besisi Hut about One and a Half Miles from Sepang (Kuala

Langat District of Selangor), showing overlapping Gable-

Ridge . . .187

Sakai with Spring-Trap, Perak . . . . ^ 206

Sakai with Trap, Perak — Boy explaining its Action 206

Sakai Boy watching Rat-Trap, Gunong Ubi, Ulu Slim 207

Sakai Boy watching Pig-Trap (with Spring-Spear), Ulu Slim 207

Sakai with Trap set in an Opening of a Game Fence 208

Types of Fish-Hooks (Natural and Artificial) 209

Sakai Fish-Dam, for catching Fish in the Kinta River at Lubo'

Kelah("L6bou Kela") . . .209

Sakai in Jungle Accoutrements, Sungei Berang, Seven Miles from

Tanjong Malim . . . . . .212

Aboriginal Group ready for Hunting, Bukit Prual, Kepong,

Selangor . .213

Sakai Fishing at Ulu Kali, Ulu Selangor .214

Aborigines Fishing at Ulu Klang .214

Two Sakai Women with Pet Jungle-Pigs. Ulu Slim, Perak 215

Sakai Women and Children with Pet Jungle-Pig .215

Group of Jakun with Blowpipes, showing Man (in Centre) with

Back-Basket, Blowpipe, and Chopper .218

Hunting Party with Blowpipes, Bukit Prual, Kepong, Selangor . 219

LIST OF ILLUSTRA Th

TO FACE PAGE

Aboriginal Group at Lubo* K4ubi, Ulu Langat, : t .[<' n . 220

Jakun Women (Ulu Klau, Pahang), with Huntirj^ ! in Fore-
ground . . .221
Stone Implements from Pahang -244
Jakim Man in Hunting Accoutrements . .245
Semang Implements . . .270
Two Semang Bows, Two Quivers, and their Arrows .271
Semang Apparatus for poisoning Blowpipe Darts .281
Padang the Semang collecting Poisonous Sap from the Upas

Tree. Ulu Siong, Kedah . . .281

Semang Blowpipe Apparatus . .282

Semang of Sumpitan, near Lenggong, Upper Perak, showing

Blowpipes and Quivers . .283

Sakai of South Perak, with Blowpipes .296

Sakai Quivers ....... 297

Sakai of South Perak, carrying Blowpipe . .298

Sakai Men, One (standing) with Blowpipe and Quiver, the Other

(seated) with Back-Basket . 299

Man using Blowpipe, Bukit Prual, Selangor ; at his left Side is

the open Quiver with Darts . . -304

Jakun using Blowpipe, Lubo' K'lubi, Ulu Langat, Selangor 305

One of the Upas (Antiaris) Trees that furnish the Dart Poison,

Berang River, Perak . . . .312

Young Upas Tree ("Pohun Ipoh"), near Berang River,

Perak . . . .312

Boiling the Poison for the Blowpipe Darts . -313

Besisi Quivers containing Darts poisoned with Upas Sap . 314

Dart-Quivers and Poison-Case . . -314

Drying- Rack for Blowpipe Darts employed by the Besisi 315

Besisi Apparatus for brewing Dart-Poison . . -315

Kuan tan Darts with Poison Spatula . -315

Jakun walking up a Tree, Ulu Batu, Selangor . -338

Sakai Tree-Felling: One Man (on Staging) starting Work, the

Other (on the Left) climbing up to assist him . -339

A Sakai Plantation at Changkat Bertam on the River Raya (Perak) 344
Sakai Plantations near the Head- waters of the River Kampar

(Perak), seen from the Summit of Mt. Chabang . -344

Aboriginal Hill Clearing, with Huts, Ulu Batu, Selangor 345

Aboriginal Hill Clearing, with mixed Cultivation (Tapioca and

Bananas), Ulu Batu, Selangor . . . -345

Aboriginal Women husking Padi with Pestle in large wooden

Mortar, Ulu Klau, Pahang . -352

UST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

TO FACE PAGE

AlMmginal Women husking Padi (showing End-View of Mortar)

Ulu Klau, Pahang ...... 353

Tapioca Plantation, with Group of Aborigines, Ulu Batu, Selangor 358
Cultivation of the Tapioca-Plant (on Left) and Sugar-Cane (in
Centre) — Aboriginal Woman in For^round, Ulu Kali,
Selangor ....... 359

White Cloth of Upas Bark ..... 376

Semang Baskets ...... 376

Sakai Men with Back-Basket and Blowpipes, Ulu Slim, S. Perak 377
Negrito Industries ...... 384

Group at Sungei Ledong, Ulu Klang. These Sakai are Lampan

(Stream-Tin) Workers 385

Semang Mats and Baskets ..... 386

Jakun Betel-Wallets 387

Aboriginal Women washing for Stream Tin with Wooden Pan,

Kuala Seleh, Ulu Klang, Selangor . .388

Encampment of Aboriginal Stream -Tin Workers, Ulu Klang,

Selangor ....... 389

Development of the Patterns from the Chevron . -414

Quivers for Blowpipe Darts employed by the Semang of Kedah . 414
Semang Quivers ...... 414

Semang Combs, Ulu Siong, Kedah -415

Semang Receptacles . 415

Charm-Patterns on Combs .... 426, 427

Hypothetical Ixora Blossom and Comb explaining the Flower-
Theory of Vaughan-Stevens . .428
Specimens of Correct " Tin-weg " {ue, " Central-Panel ") Patterns 429
Specimens of Correct " Was "-Patterns . 430
Specimens of Correct " Pawer "-Patterns -431
Charm-Patterns on Combs 432, 433
Correction of Inaccurate Drawings -434
Allied Representation of Parts of the Body 434
Bamboo No. i. Bamboo No. 2. Bamboo No. 3. Bamboo No. 4 450
Burial Bamboo of a Chief (" Sna-hut ") — unexplained -451
Burial Bamboo of a Married Woman
Burial Bamboo of a Man
Birth Bamboo or Tahong
Burial Bamboo of a Boy
Burial Bamboo of a Girl
Tube ("Gor" and "Gar") Patterns, Plate I. . .461
Tube ("Gor" and "Gar") Patterns, Plate II. . . 462
Tube ("Gor" and "Gar") Patterns, Plate III. . . 463

451

460
460
460

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

TO PACE PAGE

Tube ("Gor» and "Gar") Patterns, Plate IV. . . .464

Tube (" Gor " and " Gar ") Patterns, Plate V. . .465

Tube (" Gor'' and «* Gar") Patterns, Plate VI. . . 466

Specimens of " Sumpit" Patterns, Plate VII. . . 467

Specimens of "Sumpit" Patterns, Plate VIII. . 468

Specimens of " Sumpit " Patterns, Plate IX. . 469

Specimens of " Sumpit " Patterns, Plate X. . 470

Specimens of "Sumpit" Patterns, Plate XI. . .471

Sakai Hairpins, Perak ...... 470

Sakai Combs, Perak (two specimens) 470

Bamboo Vessels used by Perak Sakai -471

Quiver used by Perak Sakai . -471

Bamboo Vessels used by Perak Sakai -471

Bamboo No. I. — Charm Pattern of unknown use .472

Fig. 7. — Magician's Staff . . -473

Fig. 8. — Charm to invoke Aid of Argus-Pheasants against Centi-
pedes and Scorpions ....

Fig. 9. — Charm to cause Rain and protect Young Rice Plants

Fig. 10. — Charm to keep away Ants

Fig. 1 1. — Charm against two Kinds of Skin-Disease

Fig. 1 2. — Hut- Building Charm (to facilitate Collection of Materials)

Fig. 1 3. — Charm for driving away Demons

Fig. 14. — Charm to send Centipedes to sleep and protect

Gatherers of " Nipah "-Fruit
Fig. 1 5. — Charm against Venomous Spiders
Fig. 16. — Charm to facilitate Capture of Fish and protect the
Anglers ......

Fig. 17. — Charm to protect the Crops from their Enemies

Fig. 1 8. — Charm to bring Rain for the Crops

Kuantan Dart-Quiver .....

Mantra Patterns .....

Besisi Zoomorphs .....

Model of Insignia of Besisi Batin or Chief
Central Panels of Comb Patterns, Fig. 7
Central Panels of Comb Patterns, Fig. 8

473
478
478
478
479
479

486
486

487
487
487
492
493
493
511
608
609

Map showing Distribution of Ipoh (Upas- Poison)

261

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Th£ authorities enumerated in the following list are of course of a varying value,
into whidi the personal equation to a large extent enters, nevertheless it is possible
to make a rough classification which may be of service to intending students. To
b^;in with, it should be perfectly evident that, although the work done by those
writers who have actually had local experience is of immeasurably greater impor-
tance in questions of fact than any, even the very best, work of home-staying writers
can. be, yet in respect of deductions from, or in the scientific treatment of those
hcts, the home-sta3ring student, with his easy access to libraries, museums,
laboratories, and other scientific machinery, holds the field at a very great
idvantage. It is necessary to draw attention to this point, because the fiill
Bieasnre of credence to be given to any particular part of the material here got
together cannot otherwise be properly arrived at. Broadly speaking, then, the
entire series of writers here recorded may be briefly classified as follows : —

{a) Writers with local experience, including not only government officials but

European missionaries (chiefly French Roman Catholics), planters, and

miners, to whom may be added a few scientific men who have acquired

some local field-knowledge.

{6) Scientific men who have no local field-knowledge, but who possess other

advantages, as above.
(r) Travellers without any scientific training, and at the same time without any
adequate local knowlec^e. These might well be expected to be mere
discoverers of " mareVnests,'' but taking their work as a whole, I am
glad to be able to state that, though they have made some bad blunders,
there are fewer of these than might be expected.
The foregoing remarks being duly borne in mind, I have next to point out
that the modem study ' of the Wild Races of the Malay Peninsula may be divided
advantageously, from an historical point of view, into three main stages or
periods of development : —

The first of these stages covers, roughly speaking, the first half of the nineteenth
century, from iSoo-1850. This period contains the name of no systematically
trained anthropologist, and the evidence collected pending its duration rests upon
the observations of various able but, firom a modem point of view, comparatively
ontiained European observers, among whom may be mentioned. Sir Stamford
Raffles, the founder of Singapore, William Marsden (author of the History of
Sumatra, a Malay- English and English-Malay Dictionary, and other works), John
Leyden (translator of the Malay Annals), John Crawfiird (a most prolific writer
but much inclined at times to spread himself in mere speculation), John Anderson
(anthor of the " Considerations "), P. J. B^bie, and Lieutenant Newbold, all of
whom did much good pioneer work in the early days.

The second period runs firom the year 1850 to about 1890. At the very out-
set of this period the (for his time, remarkably) critical, accurate, and voluminous
writings of J. R. Logan, based in the main on his own personal investigations,
placed the study of these races on an altogether higher plane. At the same time
the reports of travellers like Miklucho-Maclay, Miss Isabella Bird (the latter in a

^ In this " modem study " are not, of It will of course be remembered that

coozse, included the few scattered the Portuguese domination which com-

Botioes firom Dutch sources (before the menced with the capture of Malacca by

time of RaflSes), or from early Portuguese d' Albuquerque in 1 5 1 1 , was terminated

writers such as Goudinho de Eredia, by their loss of Malacca to the Dutch

who b the only one of these early in 1641, who ceded it in turn to

authorities that is really worth quoting. England by treaty.

VOL. I XXV If

BIBLIOGRAPHY

more popular way only), Montano, and de Morgan, together with the great store
of valuable information collected on the one hand by French Roman Catholic
missionaries, such as P. Favre and P. Borie,^ and on the other hand by officials
of the local governments, amongst whom may be mentioned Leech, Maxwell,
Swettenham, (Major) M*Nair, Hervey, G. Bellamy, Hale, J. A. G. Campbell, and
Lister, arrested the attention of European anthropologists and filtered through
various channels into the works of Waitz, R^us, De Quatre£eiges, and A. H.
Keane.

The third period, which may be described as having lasted from about the year
1890 to the present day (1906), is distinguished by the bxX that during its course
some of the most eminent anthropologists of Europe, more especially of Germany,
have themselves either personally or through their agents taken an active part in
the work of inquiry. At the same time the excellent work done by the official
element during the two preceding periods was continued and greatly extended by
Clifford, Leonard Wray, Ridley, Kelsall, A. D. Machado, and Cemiti ; whilst as a
representative of the non-offioal element during this period should be specially
mentioned the name of Mr. Nelson Annandale, late of Balliol College, Oxford,
and now Curator of the Indian Museum at Calcutta. Mr. Annandale first broke
ground in the Peninsula as a member of the Cambridge Expedition of 1899, <^<1
has since collected much valuable material on his own account, the results of his
work being given in Fasciculi Malayenses. From the point of view of mere bulk,
however, the greater proportion of Uie ethnographical material and notes collected
during this period was got together by Vaughan-Stevens, and as it is in a just and
reasonable estimate of this very material that one of the chief difficulties of dealing
with this period consists, I propose here to discuss the matter in detail. In 1891
Vaughan-Stevens, whose Christian name is given (by his German editors) as Hrol^
was commissioned by a group of the leading anthropologists of Berlin (the Rudolf
Virchow Stiftung, headed by Virchow himself), in combination with the Berlin
(Government) Ethnographical Museum, to undertake a systematic study of the
Wild Races of the Malay Peninsula. From the very outset Vaughan-Stevens* work
was to some extent shrouded in mystery and doubt, and his mode of action and
even his character were criticised and assailed. He arrived under the segb of one
of Europe's greatest anthropologists, and he styled himself, or at least passed as a
"professor," yet he himself possessed, as his own work shows, no scientific
or linguistic attainments, and could have had no right to any sort of academic
title. Mr. H. N. Ridley, who knew him well, and with whom he sta3red, gravely
doubted, in conversation with myself, whether his name were really Vaughan-
Stevens at all, and told me that he had at least an alicUy presumably of Norse
origin, i,e, Svensen. His dialect was a variety of the "cockney," apparently of
the Islington variety ; he was uneducated and ignorant in many ways to a quite
remarkable degree. On the other hand, he had travelled extensively in many parts
of the world, and he was a fair observer. Martin, who was at great pains to follow
up Vaughan-Stevens* tracks in the Malay Peninsula, with the express object of
testing his veracity, charges him with the love of exaggeration for its own sake, and
makes no less serious reflections in connection with some of his statements as
to the extent and difficulty of his wanderings and methods of collecting specimens
(see Martin, page 1 70 seqq. ). These exaggerations were no doubt due to the natural
vanity of the man, and his love of self-glorification, and in the case of the latter he

^ There has firequently been in other in the text) been accurate, unbiassed,
parts of the world a tendency to dis- and helpful. This has also been the
credit all reports of this kind when case in British North Borneo and Sara-
made by missionaries, but I am able to wak, where the same sound pioneering
say that in the Malay Peninsula the work accomplished by the missionary
work done by them has in the main (in element has been testified to by Brooke
spite of one or two exceptions dealt with Low (v. Ling Roth, op, cit,).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

maj himself have been deceived. But what has most detracted from the credit he
has earned as a serious student b his reputation as a teller of after-dinner " yams,"
which certainly had something of the true Gilbertian ring about them, and it is no
doabt this fBud that has most adversely affected the opinion of his work held by
more than one authority of standing. Some of his stories, I have been informed,
were capital, and Vaughan- Stevens was a bom raconteur,^ Yet even Rudolf
Martin (page 174) himself hesitates to deny that there may be still some value in
Vai^ian-Stevens* '* voluminous " communications (of course with the proviso that
they must be most careAilly and critically handled and sifted from an expert
point of view, before they can be safely r^arded as material for the comparative
ethnologist) ; and his conclusion is, that if we eliminate from the material left
behind by Vaughan-Stevens what may be styled the " accretions " of his own
£uicy, there must yet a]wa3rs be left over a foundation of valuable fiu:ts the
collection of which will remain Vaughan-Stevens' permanent contribution to the
subject of our inquiry.

It is with this view (which is also that of Blagden) that I desire to associate
myself^ but I may here explain that in order to assist the reader and the student I
have taken the precaution of having the uncorroborated or more doubt Ail portions of
Vang^ian-Stevens* material (such as his remarks on " totemism," which, though to
my mind hopelessly wide of the mark, are too important to omit) set in smaller
type, except in cases of isolated fieicts or portions of a particular context, in which
instances attention is drawn to the doubtful or inaccurate portion in the footnotes.
An exception to this treatment had to be made in the dmpter on <' Decorative
Art," where to avoid the perpetual alternation of small and large type, the doubtful
and uncorroborated passages have been enclosed in square brackets, as has been
rgtbined in the text It should also be here noted that I have, as a general rule,
throughout my own {i.e, the non-linguistic) portion of this work (Parts I. -III.
inclusive) taken the opportunity of correcting mistakes and misspellings, and of
unifying the spelling of native words, though otherwise adhering as closely as
possible to the exact wording of the texts quoted. With regard to the references,
it dioold be borne in mind ^t in dealing with the Semang of Kedah, the Pangan
(where so stated), the Blandas and Besisi of the Kuala Langat district in Selangor,
I am writing from my own experiences ; no foot references therefore are given,

^ A few instances of the tales so
embroidered by Vaughan-Stevens are
given as evidence well known to resi-
dents in the Malay Peninsula : In New
Guinea a whole tribe he was staying
with were massacred by a rival tribe,
Vaughan-Stevens himself escaping to the
Fly River and floating down it for three
weeks clinging to a drifUng log, and
feeding on nw fish that he caught with
his hands as he drifted by. — He was
d^yppig in the king's hut in a cannibal
idand in the South Pacific, and expect-
ing treacheiy, slept with his feet wide
apart on the pillow, and his head where
his feet should have been ; his foresight
was justified, as at midnight an axe-head
cxa^ed into the unoccupied part of the
pillow, and jumping up, he found him-
sdf presenting his pbtol at the head of
las royal host. — He was in Bombay,
and got himself carried, disguised as a

corpse, into the sacred and inviolable
enclosure of the Towers of Silence in
order to have the opportunity of select-
ing at leisure the skull of a Parsee ;
being refused permission to return,
he made the doorkeeper dmnk with a
bottle of whisky that he had by him.
And so forth, and so forth. Small
wonder that his professional reputation
went by the board, more especially as
he brought from Ceylon the name of an
artist in fiction scarcely, if at all, inferior
to that he earned in the Straits. Yet
examples of professional men who have
done good work, although they may have
suffered from a similar weakness have
not been uncommon, and if we compare
one part of Vaughan-Stevens' work with
another, and the whole with the work
of other observers, we shall find sufifi-
dently conclusive proofs of his general
good faith in the facts that he recorded.

XZVIU

BIBUOGRAPHY

In all other cases, the reference to the authority quoted is given at the foot of the
page, though in the case of an obviously continued passage or narrative the refer-
ence has not of course been put at the foot of every page but at suitable intervals
only, which will easily explain themselves. The work, however, has grown
considerably under my hands, and here and there it has been necessary to make
corrections, or even to add material in a footnote, which should, strictly speaking,
have been incorporated in the text. For this and for any other shortcomings in
dealing with the material I can only plead that I have done my best, subject to
the very great and severe limitations that have conditioned the work fiom start to
finish. It must not be forgotten that part of the material in this book has come
from rare old pamphlets and journals written by travellers in nearly all the
important languages of Europe, some of which contain numerous tjrpographical
errors and other mistakes due to their ignorance of Malay, which have here
been corrected.

It only remains to mention the most eminent and distinguished of all the
anthropologists that science has yet sent out to study the many vexed questions
connected with these races. I refer to my friend Rudolf Martin, whose monumental
and epoch-making work (Die Inlandst'amme der Malayischen Halbinsel), the first
of its kind, was published at Jena by Gustav Fischer during the past year.

W. S.
The following main references to Martin's work corresponding to certain main
references in this book are given for the benefit of students, it being premised
that Martin deals with the aborigines chiefly from an anthropological, the
present authors chiefly from a cultural and linguistic point of view ; moreover,
Martin's book is arranged according to subject, ours is founded on a
phylogenetic or tribal bausis : the two works thus stand in a complementary
relation to each other.

PAGAN RACES OF THE MALAY
PENINSULA.

Vol. L

Part I. Race z9-xo6

Part IL-

Ch. L Food .... xo9*i36

Ch. ti. Dress .... x37-x67

Ch. iii. Habitations . . . z68*x99

Ch. iv. Hunting, Trapping, Fish* )

ing 9oo'^a4 V

Ch. vi. Weapons and Implements 243-337 j

Ch. V. Modes of Barter . 925-34Z )

Ch. xL Dealings with other Races 591-570/

Ch. vil Cultivation . . . 338*373

Ch. viii. Arts and Crafts . . 374-394

Ch. ix. Decorative Art . . . 395-493

Ch X. The Social Order . . 494-530

Vol. II.
Part III.-
Ch. i. Birth • Customs and
Beliefs ....
Ch. ii. Maturity Customs and
Beliefs .

Ch. iiL Marriage Customs and
Beliefs ....

Ch. iv. Burial Customs and
Beliefs

Ch. V. Music, Songs, and Feasts

Ch. vi. Religion and Folklore
Part IV. Langiiage .

x-a7
28-54

55-88

89-1x6
Ii7-X7a

173-376
379-«nd

INLANDSTXMME DER MALAY-
ISCHEN HALBINSEL.

I IV.

IIL

PACK

9x9-644
XOOO-IO36

Physiche Anthropologie

Ergologie —

Nahrung. . . . 730, 733-744
K5iperbedeckung . . . 680-695
Besiedelungs- u. Wohnungs.

verh&ltnisse .... 659-677
Nahrungssuche, Jagd u.

Fischfang, Jagd- u. Fange-

gerftthe . . .
Sozioloffie. Geheimer Tausch<

handel. Verkehrmit Malayen 878-883
Anpflanxungen der Halbkul-

turstSmme ....
HausgerSthe, Haushalt, u.s. w,
Omamentik . .
Soziologie. Soaale Ordzmng.

Rechtsgewohnhdten

745-793

7«9-73x
796-800
801.853

874-877

1 Cp. also Martin, pp. 678-679.

8. Sitten u. Gebriluche. Schwan-

gerschaft,^ Geburt, u.s.w. . 890-903

a. Ohr- und Nasenschmuck,
U.S.W., Tatauierung, Bema-
lung 696-706

7. Ehe. Hochccitsgebrftuche,

U.S.W. 863-873

8. Tod. Grabbeigaben. Seelen-

haus, U.S.W. .... 936-93X

8. Spiele. MiLsikinstnunente.

Gesang, u.s.w. . . . 904-931

9. Religiose Vortstellungen ' 932-986
xo. Sprache 987-999

BIBUOGRAPHY

Abbreviations used in Parts I. -III. inclusive of this Work.

AuslancL — Das Ausland, Munich, etc.
y. E, A,~-Joumal of Eastern Asia (one number only issued).
Ethn, NoHzbl—Ethnologisches NoHzbUxtt,
y. A, I.— 'Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and

Ireland,
J, /. A.^-Joumal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia (otherwise

known as *' Logan's Journal "}.
J, R, A, S,— Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.

J. R,A. S., S. B,^Joumal of the Royal Asiatic Society^ Straits Branch,
Man's And} — Man, E. H. On the Aboriginal Inhabitants of the Anda-

meuuse Islands,
Sel, Joum, or S.J, — Selangor Journal (formerly published at the Government

Press, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor).
V. B. G. A. — Verhandlungen der Berliner Gesellschaft fur Anthropologie.
Z.f, E.—ZeitschriftfUr Ethnologie.
Vaughan'Stevens^ ii. ; Vaughan-Stevens^ m. — Veroffentlichungen aus dem K.

Museum fUr Volkerkunde: Bd. iL (3-4 Heft) ; Bd. iii. (3-4 Heft).

Note. — The abbreviations of names of authors or works occurring in the text

are given in the Bibliography itself. Where there are several works by the same

author, the abbreviation indicates which work is referred to. Thus " Hale, p.

^K>," refers solely to that author's paper "On the Sakais" in vol. xv. of the

Journal of the Anthropolc^cal Institute, after which entry in the bibliography

the abbreviation [** Hale "J is shown.

AH articles on or by editors of Vaughan-Stevens' material are given under

the heading " Stevens, Vaughan-," not under the name of each individual editor.
This list includes a number of works of a general nature which contain

incidental references to or descriptions of the races here dealt with.

1904. Abbot, Dr. Human Images among the Mantong [Orang Laut].
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Straits Branch [No. 41], pp.
128, 129.

1846. Abdullah. Hikayat Abdullah bin Abdulkadir Munshi. Singapore.

1S24. Anderson, John [*< Anderson "]. Political and Commercial Con-
siderations relative to the Malayan Peninsula and British Settlements
in the Straits of Malacca. With Appendix : of the Aboriginal Inhabi-
tants of the Malayan Peninsula, and particularly of the Negroes, called
Semang. Prince of Wales' Island. Pp. xxvii-xlvii.

1902. Annandalb, Nelson, and Robinson, H. C. Some Preliminary

Results of an Expedition to the Malay Peninsula. Journal of the
Anthropological Institute of Great Britsdn and Ireland. London.
Vol. xxxiL p. 407.

1903. Annandalb, Nelson, and Robinson, H. C. Fasciculi Malayenses

[" Fasc Mai.*']. Anthropology. Pt i. London : Longmans, Green,

and Co.
1903. Annandalb, Nelson. Fasciculi Malayenses. Supplement, Map, and

Itinerary. London : Longmans, Green, and Co. ["Fasc. MaL"].
1S78. Anonymous. The Semangs. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,

Straits Branch, No. 2, p. 231. [Miscellaneous notices.]
1 88 1. Anonymous. The Ipoh Tree — Perak. Journal of the Royal Asiatic

Society, Straits Branch, No. 8, p. 161. [Miscellaneous notes.]
1850. Barbb, Rev. ["Barbe"]. Agriculture of the Mintra [i,e. Mantra].

1 To distinguish it from the publica- Anthrop. Inst, of Great Britain and
tioD called " Man " issued by the Ireland, which latter is printed Man.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bengal Catholic Herald, June 12, 1850. Reprinted in Journal of the

Indian Archipelago, vol. v. p. 487.
1896. Bartels, M. Se$ Stevens, Hrolf Vaughan-.
1886. Bastian, Adolf. Indonesien, oder Die Inseln des Malayischen

Archipelago's. Berlin. III. Lieferung, Sumatra und Nachbarschaft

S. 104 seqq*
1886. Bastian, Adolf. Reisen in Birma. Leipzig. P. 432.
1834. Begbib, p. J. [«*Begbie"]. The Malayan Peninsula, embracing its

History, Manners, and Customs of the Inhabitants, pp. 2-18. Madras.

1886. Bellamy, G. C. ["Bellamy, G."] The Sakais of Selangor, Kuala

LAngat. Selangor Journal, 1895, vol. iii. No. 14, p. 224 seqq. Re-
printed from Government Report (1886).

1849. BiGANDET, p. [** Bigandet "]. N. Ann. de la Propagation de la Foi,
1849, tome i. pp. 8o-88.

1883. Bird, Isabella (Mrs. Bishop). The Golden Chersonese, pp. 13-17.

1893. Blagden, Charles Otto [**Blagden," or **C. O. B."]. MS. Notes on

Aborigines in the Jasin District of Malacca.

1894. Blagden, Charles Otto. Early Indo-Chinese Influence in the Malay

Peninsula. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Straits Branch,
No. 27, p. 21 seqq,

1902. Blagden, Charles Otto. A Malayan Element in some of the

Languages of Southern Indo- China. Journal of the Royal Asiatic
Society, Straits Branch [No. 38], p. i seqq.

1903. Blagden, Charles Otto. The Comparative Philology of the Sakai

and Semang Dialects of the Malay Peninsula. Journal of the Royal
Asiatic Society, Straits Branch, No. 39, p. 47 seqq.
1 86 1. BORIE, H. [**Borie (tr. Bourien)'*]. Notice sur les Mantras, tribu
sauvage de la Peninsule Malaise. Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal-
Land- en Volkenkunde. Deel x. p. 413. Translated by Bourien, P.
On the Wild Tribes of the Interior of the Malay Peninsula. Transac-
tions of the Ethnological Society of London, N.S. vol. iii. p. 72 seqq,

1887. Boris, H. An Account of the Mantras, a Savage Tribe in the Malay

Peninsula. Miscellaneous Essa3rs relating to Indo-China. London.
Second series, vol. i. pp. 286-307.

1886. BORIE, H. La Presqutle de Malacca, les Malais et les Sauvages. Tulle.
1878. BORT, Balthasar. Corte beschrijvinch der wilde Menschen, hun

omtrent Malacca, Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal-, Land- en Volken-
kunde, 1878. Also Batav. Genootsch. K. en W. Batavia, 1883, xxviii.
88-92.

1865. Bourien. See Borie.

1876. Bradley, Capt. J. Travel and Sport in Burmah, Siam, and Malay
{siCf i.e. Malaya).

1882. Brau de St. -Pol Lias. Sur la Riviere Pluss, int^rieur de la presqu'ile

Malaise. Nouvelle Revue. Juni, 1882.

1883. Brau de St. -Pol Lias ["Brau de St. -P. Lias"]. Perak et les Orangs-

Sakeys. Paris.
1865. Cameron, J. ["Cameron"]. Our Tropical Possessions in Malayan
India. London : Smith, Elder, and Co.

1887. Campbell, J. A. G. ["Campbell, J. A. G."]. The Sakais of Selangor,

Ulu Langat. Selangor Journal, vol. iii. 1895, ^^* ^S* P* ^4^ seqq^
Reprinted from Government Report (1887).
1876. Castelnau, Fr. de. M^oire sur les Mantras. Revue de Philologie
et d*Ethnographie, vol. ii. pp. 132-143.

1904. Cerruti, G. B. The Sakais of Batang Padang, Perak. Journal of the

Royal Asiatic Society, Straits Branch [No. 41], pp. 11 3- 117.
1892. Claine. Tourdu Monde, Jun. 18, 1892, p. 398.

BIBLIOGRAPHY xxxi

1891. CuFFO&D, Hugh. Some Notes on the Sakai Dialects of the Malay
Peninsula. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Straits Branch,
No. 24, p. 13 seqq,

1896. Clifford, Hugh. East Coast Etchings. Straits Times Press.

Singapore.
1S97. Clifford, Hugh. A Journey through the Malay States of Tringganu
and Kelantan. Journal of the Roj^ Geographical Society. London.
VoL ix. p. I seqq,

1897. Clifford, Hugh. In Court and Kampong. Grant Richards.

1898. Clifford, Hugh. Studies in Brown Humanity. Grant Richards.
1903. Clifford, Hugh, CM.G. ["Clifford"]. MS. notes and vocabularies

embodied in this book.
1820. Crawfurd, John. History of the Indian Archipelago. 3 vols.

Edinburgh. VoL ii. pp. 125-192.
1828. Crawfurd, John. Journal of an Ambassady from the Governor-General

of India to the Courts of Siam and Cochin China. London.
1834. Crawfurd, John. Miscellaneous Works on the Polynesian and East

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Popular Religion of the Malay Peninsula. London : Macmillan.
1900. Skeat, W. W. First Report on Results of the Cambridge Exploring

Expedition to the Malay Provinces of Lower Siam. Report to the

British Association, Bradford, 1900. British Association, Section D

(Anthropology). See also Duckworth and Smyth.

1900. Skeat, W. W. and Ridley, H. N. The Orang Laut of Singapore.

Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Straits Brandi, No. 33, p. 247.

1 90 1. Skeat, W. W. Fables and Folktales from a Far Eastern Forest.

Cambridge University Press.

1 90 1. Skeat, W. W. Second Report on the Results of the Cambridge Ex-

ploring Expedition to the Malay Provinces of Lower Siam. Anthro-
pological Section, British Association, Glasgow.

1902. Skeat, W. W. The Wild Tribes of the Malay Peninsula. Journal of

the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, vol. xxxii.

p. 124.
1902. Skeat, W. W. Blowpipe from Kuantan, Malay Peninsula. Man, No.

108 (Oct.), p. 145.
1902. Skeat, W. W. Malay Spiritualism. Journal of the Folklore Society,

vol. xiii. No. 2, p. 134 seqq.

1898. Smyth, H. Warington. Five Years in Siam. London. Vol. ii.

pp. 76, 77.

1902. Smyth, H. Warington. Boats and Boat-building in the Malay Penin-
sula, with Notes by W. W. Skeat Journal of the Society of Arts.
[Deals with O. Laut boats.]

1849. Spenser, St. John. The Population of the Indian Archipelago. Journal
of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia, vol. iii. p. 379.

1 89 1. Stevens, Hrolf Vaughan-. Die Reisen des Hm. Vaughan-Stevens
in Malacca. Verhandlungen der Berliner Gesellschaft fur Anthropo-
logic, S. 829. Ed. GrUnwedel. [V. B, G. A.^

1891. Stevens, Hrolf Vadohan-. Die Wilden Eingeborenen von Malacca.

Verhandlungen der Berliner Gesellschaft fur Anthropologie, S. 837.
Ed. Virchow. [V. B, G. A,^

1892. Stevens, Hrolf Vaughan-. Schadel und Haar von Orang Panggang

in Malacca. Verhandlungen der Berliner Gesellschaft fur Anthropo-
logie, S. 439. Ed. Virchow. [F. B. G, A.}

1892. Stevens, Hrolf Vaughan-. Orang Panggang und Orang Benua.
Verhandlungen der Berliner Gesellsdiaft fiir Anthropologie, S. 465.
Ed. GrUnwedel. [V, B. G. A,^

1892-4. Stevens, Hrolf Vaughan-. Materialen zur Kenntniss der Wilden
Stamme auf der Halbinsel Malaka. Veroffentlichungen aus dem K.
Museum fur Volkerkunde, Berlin. Bd. ii. Heft 3-4, S. 81 [«« Vaughan-
Stevens, ii."]; Bd. iii. Heft 3-4, S. 95 ["Vaughan-Stevens, iii*'].
Ed. Griinwedel.

1892. Stevens, Hrolf Vaughan-. Orang Panggang und Orang Benua.

Zeitschrift fur Ethnologic. Bd. xxiv. S. 465-468. Mitteilungen von
A. Griinwedel. [Z,f. £, xxiv.]

1893. Stevens, Hrolf Vaughan-. Die Zaubermuster der Orang-Semang.

Bearbeitet von A. Griinwedel. Zeitschrift fUr Ethnologic, Bd. xxv.
S. 71. [Z./,E.xxv.]

BIBUOGRAPHY xxxix

1894. Stbvens, Hrolf Vaughan-. Die Zaubermuster der Orang-hutan.

Bearbeitet von A. Grttnwedel. 2^itschrift flir Ethnologie. Bd. xxvi.

S. 141. [Z./. E, xxvL]
1894. Stevens, Hrolf Vaughan-. Haar und Schadel von Blandass Sinnoi

(Malacca). Verhandlungen der Berliner Gesellschaft fUr Anthropologie,

S. 354. \y.B.G,A,-\
1896. Stevens, Hrolf Vaughan-. Schadel und Extremitaten-Knochen von

Jacoons, Malacca. Verhandlungen der Berliner Gesellschaft fUr

Anthropologic, S. 141. [K. B, G, A.]
1896. Stevens, Hrolf Vaughan-. Mitteilungen aus dem Frauen-leben der

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fUr Ethnologic, Bd. xxviil S. 163-202. Ed. Bartels. [Z.f.E,

xxviiL]
1896. Stevens, Hrolf Vaughan-. Ausdruck der Gemttthsbewegungen der

Orang-hutan von Malacca. Verhandlungen der Berliner Gesellschaft

fur Anthropologic, S. 270-272. Ed. Bartels. [K. B, G. A.]
1896. Stevens, Hrolf Vaughan-. Geschichte der Djakun (Benar-Benar).

Verhandlungen der Berliner Gesellschaft ftlr Anthropologie, S. 301-

309. Ed. Klemm. [K B, G. A,}
1896. Stevens, Hrolf Vaughan-. Abreise von Malacca. Brief an R.

Virchow. Verhandlungen der Berliner Gesellschaft ftir Anthropolc^e,

S. 463. iV.B.G.A.]
1896. Stevens, Hrolf Vaughan-. Notizen aus den Reisen des Hrolf

Vaughan-Stevens in Malaka. Von A. Griinwedel. Ethnologisches

Notizblatt, Jahrgang I. Heft 3, S. I ss^g, [Eihn, Notizbl.]

1896. Stevens, Hrolf Vaughan-. Der Cholera-zauber bei den Temia auf

der Halbinsel Malaka (Jansen, H.). Globus, Bd. Ixix. S. 11 7- 119;
and 137-142.

1897. Stevens, Hrolf Vaughan-. Anthropologische Bemerkungen iiber die

Eingeborenen von Malacca. Zeitschrift ftir Ethnolc^e. Bd. xxix. S.

173-206. Ed. Bartels. [Z,f. E. xxix.]
1899. Stevens, Hrolf Vaughan-. Die Zauber-Muster der Orang Semang in

Malaka. Zeitschrift ftir Ethnologie. Bd. xxxi. S. 137. Ed. Preuss.

[Z./. E, xxxi.]
1899. Stevens, Hrolf Vaughan-. Die Zauberbilderschriften der N^rito in

Malaka. Globus, Bd. bcxv. S. 345 (Nr. 22) ; and S. 364 (Nr. 23).

Von Dr. K. Th. Preuss. [Globus, btxv.]
1902. Stevens, Hrolf Vaughan-. Namengebung und Heirat bei den Orang

Temia auf der Halbinsel Malaka. Globus, Bd. Ixxxii. (No. 16), S.

253. Ed. Stonner. [Globus, Ixxxii.]
Stonner, H. See Stevens, H. Vaughan-.
1897. Stonor, O. F. Report to Government relating to Sakai Tribes in

Selangor, Ulu Langat District. Reprinted in Sel. Joum. vol. v. p.

395-

1904. Swan, R. M. W. Note on Stone Implements from Pahang. Man,
No. 34 (April).

188a Swettenham, (Sir) Frank A. From Perak to Slim, and down the
Slim and Bemam Rivers. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Straits
Branch, No. 5, p. 51.

1 88a Swettenham, (Sir) Frank A. Comparative Vocabulary of the Dialects
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No. 6, p. 293.

1887. Swettenham, (Sir) Frank A. [" Swettenham "]. On the Native Races
of the Straits Settlements and Malay States. Journal of the Anthropo-
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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1894. SwBTTBNHAM, (Sir) FRANK A. Note on the Jacoons. Journal of the

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1899. Tbmple, Sir Richard, Bart Journal of the Anthropological Institute

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Journal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia, voL i. p. 341*.
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Eastern Asia, vol. v. pp. 85, 133.
1873. Thorel. Voyage d'Exploration en Indo-Chine. Paris. Tome ii.

p. 289 seqq.
1844. TOMLIN, Jacob. Miss. Journals and Letters written during Eleven Years

Residence and Travels among the Chinese, Siamese, Javanese, Khassias,

and other Eastern Nations, p. 85.
1 90 1. Turner, Sir W. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh,

vol. xl. part i. No. 6.
ViRCHOW, Professor Rudolf. See Stevens, Hrolf Vaughan-, and

Miklucho-Maclay.
1865. Waitz, Th. ["WaiU"]. Anthropologie der Naturvolker. Theil v.

Heft 1-2, pp. 84 5§qq and 175 seqq,
1869. Wallace, Dr. Alfred Russel ["Wallace"]. The Malay Archipelago,

The Land of the Orang-utan and the Bird of Paradise. London. 2

vols. See vol. ii. pp. 441-451.
Warington Smyth. See Smyth.
1903. Wilkinson, R. J. Malay-English Dictionary. In three parts. Kelly

and Walsh, Singapore, Hong-Kong, Shanghai, and Yokohama.
1890. Wray, Leonard, Junior. Journal of a Osllecting Expedition to the

Mountains of Batang Padang, Perak. Journal of the Royal Asiatic

Society, Straits Branch, No. 21, p. 123.

1892. Wray, Leonard, Junior. Ipoh Poison of the Malay Peninsula. Journal

of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, vol. xxi.
p. 476. Reprinted from the Kew Bulletin of 189 1.
1894. Wray, Leonard, Junior. Some Observations on the Height and Eye-
sight of the Wild Tribes of Perak. Perak Museum Notes, No. ilL

p. 33.
1894. Wray, Leonard, Junior. The Long-jointed Bamboo, called "Buloh

Ber-sumpitan," iised by the Semang for making Blowpipes. Perak

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1897. Wray, Leonard, Junior. The Cave-dwellers of Perak. Journal of

the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, voL xxvi.

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1903. Wray, Leonard, Junior. MS. notes and comments embodied in this

book.
1880. Yule, Col. Sir Henry. Notes on and Analogies of Manners between the

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Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland,

vol. ix. No. 3, p. 290 seqq,
1903. Yule, Col. Sir Henry, and Burnell, A. C. Hobson-Jobson. A

Glossary of Anglo-Indian Colloquial Words and Phrases. New

Edition, edited by William Crooke, B.A.

1893. Zu?}iga, Martinez db. Estadimo de las Islas Filipinas. Madrid.

INTRODUCTION (Environment)

One of the most important of the geographical aspects of the Malay
Peninsula (which we may take as running from Tavoy to Singapore)
is its shape, which is that of a long-necked bottle or an Indian club,
narrow towards the upper extremity, bulging at the centre, and taper-
ing again at the lower extremity. The neck of the bottle or club at
its narrowest point in the north (the Isthmus of Kraw) measures but
thirty-five miles from sea to sea ; at its broadest (the belly of the
bottle), it is still imder two hundred miles across ; hence, in spite
of its great length of roughly about a thousand miles from north to
south, there is no spot, even in the far interior of the Peninsula,
which is as much as a hundred miles from the sea. The result is
that the Malay Peninsula, though distinctly forming a part of the
Asiatic mainknd, takes on the characteristics of an island rather than
those of the continent to which it incidentally coheres, and in most
respects should be properly regarded as forming an integral part of
the Malay Archipelago. Regarded from another aspect, the Malay
Peninsula is at once a causeway of colossal proportions, and a break-
water. In the former capacity it connects the land forms of the fauna
and the flora (and even the geological strata) of the Asiatic main-
land with forms occurring in the islands of the Malayan Archipelago,
with several of which, including Rio and Lingga, Banka, Billiton,
and Sumatra, it is known to have been once geologically connected.
In the latter, it deflects what might be the normal course of the
trade of the Far East, some hundreds of miles to the south-eastward,
towards the equator and the cluster of great tropical islands of
which the Malay Archipelago consists. The actual course of trade
therefore follows the coast-line of the Malay Peninsula through the
Stxaits by way of Penang, Malacca, and Singapore, the first and last
of which certainly appear to be as convenient spots for vessels pro-
ceeding by this route as any that could have been chosen. At the
same time the descriptions of the ancient glories of Malacca, even
if we allow for considerable exaggeration on the part of the chroniclers,
leave no doubt as to the reality of its former importance, and but
for the silting up of its harbour there appears but little reason why
the former Queen of those seas should now sit brooding over her
ai^ient fiune. But apart from these three ports, which, after all,
VOL. I B

INTRODUCTION

are to a great extent more of the nature of ports of call than termini,
and apart, too, from the fast-growing commercial importance of the
Federated Malay States, by far the greater portion of the Peninsula
is still much cut off from the world, and knows as little of it as, to
quote the homely Malay simile, the " frog under a coconut-shell."
Hence, in spite of the recent great developments both of planting
and mining, perhaps two-thirds of the entire coimtry is still " un-
opened," and remains covered with the tropical growth of centuries,
forced to its utmost development by the hot and humid climate result-
ing from its insular character and equatorial position.

With regard to the character of the country itselfi a glance at
the map will show that the backbone of the Peninsula consists of a
range, or rather system of ranges, the source of the innumerable
small rivers and streams which drain and irrigate the country from
end to end, and the chief of which give their names to the several
States of Kedah, Perak, and Selangor on the west coast, to Patani,
Kelantan, and Trengganu on the east, and to Johor at the southern-
most extremity. The hills, which are steep and savage, being clad
with jungle to the very sky-line, terminate in not a few places in rugged
and precipitous peaks, several of the highest of which are upwards
of 7000 to 8000 feet high. Their formation is chiefly of a granitic
character, with quartz and quartzose veins, which on decomposition
yield the extensive stanniferous, and to a minor extent auriferous
deposits that have been worked with such conspicuous success in
the alluvial plains. It is chiefly on the foothills, where these are
unoccupied, that the wild aborigines make their home. They are,
however, also found in small scattered communities on the hills
of the main ranges, up to a height of even 3000 feet and more.
Though caves are fairly common, especially in isolated limestone
masses in the northern part of the Peninsula, the aborigines do not
as a rule frequent these, preferring the rock-shelters, which are not
infrequently the haunt of the Semang. The alluvial land, which
lies at the foot of the hills and in stretches along the coast, has
every appearance of having been formerly covered by the sea, and
indeed in this respect the observations of science are at one with
aboriginal tradition, which asserts that the sea in former times
washed right up to the base of the mountains. The alteration of
the coast-line itself is continuous and extraordinarily rapid. On the
eastern coast, which is subject to an annual bombardment from the
rollers of the China Sea, hurled against it by the full sledge-hammer
force of the north-easterly monsoon, the fierce tides that race up
and down the coast are continually forming long, narrow bars of
sand parallel to the coast, each end of which keeps growing till
it reaches a point at which the coast-line curves to meet it, when a
narrow mouth perhaps is all that is left. The result is an extra-
ordinary phenomenon like the Inland Sea of Singora, which has

ENVIRONMENT

been formed exactly in the manner described, and measures about
sixty miles in length by about twenty in the broadest part ; the upper
part of it is fresh water and the lower part salt, and in most parts
it is so shallow as to be difficult of navigation, except for the native
canoes or boats specially constructed. The Cape of Patani is
another example of one of these long sandy peninsulas. It measures
about four miles in length.

The western coast is protected from the full force of the south-
western monsoon by the Island of Sumatra, which forms a natural
breakwater, and gives to the Straits of Malacca the character of a
vast river or lake. With every tide the Straits fill from the open
sea, the tides rising to a height of between twenty and thirty feet
Here and there, at intervals along the western coast, e,g, for many
miles along the coast of the Malacca District, as well as at the northern
and southern extremities of the coast-line of Selangor, extend
magnificent expanses of sandy beach, fringed here and there by
coconut palms, but more generally by what looks at first sight
something like a row of larches, in reality the Casuartnay or *' she-
oak" tree of Australia. Here, more especially on the shore of
Koala Langat, their favourite haunt, wander from time to time rare
scattered parties of the Sea-Jakun, the women fishing for the small
fry in the hot and shallow waters, the men spearing razorshells,
or digging out mussels with a quick twist of their jungle-knife from
among the roots of the " api-api " trees, or collecting cockles and
other bivalves whose tracks and haunts revealed themselves to the
initiated eye alone in the bright and smoking sands.

In spite of these and other most welcome breaks in the
monotony of the mangrove, however, there is less open coast on
this side of the Peninsula than there is on the eastern, and almost
anywhere the serried ranks of mangrove trees can be seen, working
their way out from the river-mouths into the sea, their network of
prcmg-like roots checking the dispersion of the soil continually
eroded and carried down by the wash of the tidal rivers, and build-
ing it up with continual accretions and by sensible gradations into
higher and firmer banks. One of the chief causes of this alteration
of the coast-Une, which although it is gaining on the sea in places,
is in others losing ground with equal rapidity, is undoubtedly the
vdocity of the tides and the continual alteration in the set of the
marine currents. For the alteration of the geographical character
of the interior, however, the chief factor is undoubtedly the climate,
which has a temperature varying from about 68° to a little above
90*" in the shade in the pkins, and the torrential rainfall (varying from
about 90 inches to 130 inches per annum) — a combination which
natoraUy tends to turn the greater part of the country into a
forcing-house calculated to promote the most rapid development
conceivable of every form of vegetation.

INTRODUCTION

orchids, ferns, fungi, mosses, lichens, and of plants that climb (guttas,
rattans, peppers, ficuses, to mention a few that are obvious), some
by utilising their stems (serpent-fashion) for twining round their
sturdier neighbours, others by use of their leaf-stalks, by modification
of the leaves themselves, by adventitious roots, tendrils, "suction-
pads," suckers, curved hooks, and all other imaginable grappling
devices and developments of which the botanical world is capable.

Next to this struggle for light, heat, and moisture, which is terrible
in its almost passionate intensity, comes the need for self-protection,
and to some extent, perhaps, as a corollary of this, the need for the
efficient propagation of the species. To the first of these two causes
we owe the huge number of prickly, thorny plants, shrubs, and trees
that seem in places to turn the forest into a vast natural vegetable
armoury (the rattans, a great number of palms, many creepers, and
trees with prickly fruits, such as the durian, belong to these) ; the
plants with bitter or poisonous sap, the glass-like spicules of the
leaf- cases of the bamboo, and the stings of the giant tree-nettle,
the terror of man and beast, under the branches of one of which I
have myself ridden on elephant-back. To the second cause we owe
such curiosities in the history of dispersion as the " fillcup "-fruit,
whose " sail " gives it a rotatory motion that enables it to bore into
the ground at the tree's foot, and the great pincushion-like (albeit
barbed) heads of the spinifex grass on the east coast of the Peninsula,
which goes bowling over the sand at the rate of an express train,
till it catches against a fallen branch or log or similar obstruction,
where it is most likely to find the depressions that collect the
moisture.

In the animal kingdom of the Peninsula this specialising ten-
dency is not less distinctly marked. For instance, the colour of the
black leopard (or panther, as it is variously called), which is an
exclusively nocturnal animal, furnishes it with a most effective
means of concealment, and when we observe how cunningly its
sable hue (which might otherwise become conspicuous, as a mass,
from its very uniformity) is in one species at least mottled and
diversified by greyish rosettes, which produce, with an almost
startling fidelity to nature, the effect of moonlight shining through
leaves, it becomes impossible to withhold our admiration of the
design. The striped colouring of the tiger and civet, the mottled
skin of the yellow, spotted panther and tiger-cat, are undoubtedly due
to the same instinctive selection for stalking, or what may be called
"strategic" purposes. So too in the colour of the crocodile, which has
no enemies to fear in its own domain, we have an admirable example
of " strategic " colouring, for it is the exact counterpart of the tidal
mudbanks, and especially of the slime-covered logs that lie scattered
about them, the "deception" being so complete that even the mouse-
deer, monkeys, and other small game which go down to the water

ENVIRONMENT

either to drink, or to feed on shell-fish, at ebb-tide in the heat of
the day, are completely deceived, and not infrequently pay the
penalty for their want of care in adventuring too near their lurking
enemy, by being swept into the water after the manner described
in the Besisi jungle songs, by one swoop of the crocodile's lashing
tail

On the other hand, the grey -blue "slaty" colour of the
elephant, buffalo, rhinoceros, adult tapir, and wild boar, which (with
the possible exception of the elephant, though it too may at least be
described as being to a large extent a water-animal) very closely
matches the colour of the forest-mud in which they disport them-
selves during the heat of the tropical noonday, is clearly intended to
afford them whatever protection may be possible when they are
immersed in their wallow, and for the time being, therefore, entirely
defenceless, and is therefore protective. Similarly the piebald colour-
ing of what is called the striped squirrel, and (as Ridley has pointed
out) the striped and spotted skin of the young tapir, roe-deer, and wild
boar, with the prevalence of russets and chestnut browns, browns
and greys, among many species of deer, squirrels, smaller monkeys,
and wild dogs, are in various ways admirably adapted for the protec-
tion of the species, the browner shades in particular being very
difficult to see in the dusk of the evening, which is the time when
the majority of these animals seek their food. A still more interest-
ing case is that of the white fauna of the immense limestone caves
of the Peninsula, of which the Batu caves in Selangor, and the
Biserat caves of Ulu Patani, are well-known examples. These caves
are firequented by myriads of bats, which produce deep deposits of
guano, and among the fauna which live either upon the bats or the
guano, are a white snake, a white rat, and even a white cockroach !
Among the apes and monkeys (especially the larger ones) which,
owing to their extreme agility and strength are in little need of any
specially protective colouring, the correspondence of colour to
environment is less marked; it may, however, be worth pointing
out that the spectacled monkey (Semnopithecus obscurus) is called
"lotong" by the Malays, who have evidently observed the close
correspondence of its colour to the bark of the immense forest-tree
called "j^otong" {Dyera Maingayi^ D, costulata\ which abounds
in the forest where it lives.

In the cases we have mentioned the protective or " strategic '*
colouring of the animal, when once modified, has been permanent ;
but the Peninsula yields more than one example of an animal which
can change its colouring from time to time for the purpose of
stfll more effective concealment. Such are the " sumpah-sumpah "
{Calotes\ which, though not a true chamaeleon, has yet received
that name from its sharing the chamseleon's most remarkable
characteristic, and in a lesser degree, certain tree-lizards and tree-

lo INTRODUCTION

other members of the brute creation, above the orang-outang, for
example, a comparison worth making because, according to native
tradition, a variety of it, called the " mawas," once inhabited the Pen-
insula, as it still inhabits the neighbouring islands of Borneo and
Sumatra, to the latter of which at least the Malay Peninsula was once
(as already pointed out) geologically united. That it is not due to any
incapacity for such development, is clear from the immense number
and variety of ways, as in the blind, deaf and dumb (or in special
trades for instance), in which one or other of his senses becomes quite
abnormally developed through constant use, to say nothing of isolated
phenomena, such as the cases of web-foot connected with East Anglia
since the days of the Gyrvii. That it is not due to his late arrival
will appear when we reflect that the most wonderful development
does continually occur in the life-history even of a single individual.
Probably we should be quite safe in saying that of all animals man
is best able to accommodate himself to new or strange surroundings,
even to those which appear most certain to threaten his very
existence. But since he is able to obtain this end by the use of
special implements and devices, we shall find that (as might almost
be expected) it is these mechanical appliances that he improves
rather than his own members. Hence even in the Malay Peninsula,
which must certainly be one of the most densely wooded countries
in the world, although the Sakai has been driven by the dangers
that threaten him to build his huts in trees, he shows no tendency
to develop into a really arboreal type ; and although he is quite
capable of walking up the stem which forms the approach to his
aerial abode, he still prefers to make use of some rude kind of ladder
to go up and down by (just as, in Les Landes, the French fenlander
has kept to his stilts). So too the Orang Laut, although he has
lived in his boats from the cradle to the grave, as far back as history
will carry us, has never developed, however expert in diving he
may be, anything remotely approaching amphibious characteristics. It
is therefore not so much in the sphere of physical development, great
as in certain ways this undoubtedly is, that we must expect to find
the full effect of the wild man's geographical surroundings, but in
the use that he makes of those surroundings, and the development of
his character.

In what relationship, then, does the wild man of the Peninsula
stand to, and what use does he make of the flora and fauna that
have been described? It is certainly owing to the dangerous
proximity of wild beasts, such as elephants and tigers, that he has
taken to living in the high tree-huts just referred to. For the wild
elephant of the Peninsula in particular is very rascally, and will
pull even a tree-hut to pieces if he can reach it (as, in one case
that I remember, an elephant in the Langat river demolished,
for sheer mischiefs sake, a Malay dug-out canoe). But nevertheless

ENVIRONMENT ii

both tiger and elephant are hunted, killed, and eaten at times, and
there is hardly any animal, bird, or reptile in the jungle (except
perhaps the toad, scorpion, and a few snakes and insects) that does
not at some time or other, and in some district or other, form part
of the aboriginal menu. Monkeys, wild pig, deer of all kinds,
squirrels, porcupines, flying-foxes and fl3ring lemurs, argus pheasants
and peacocks, blue herons and hornbills, tortoises, lizards, rats, and
snakes, these provide some of their favourite dishes, and if one or
two concessions are made to the prejudices of civilisation, there
would perhaps not be much to which we should be inclined to take
exception. But the catholicity of their tastes necessitates at once a
most thorough and accurate knowledge of the habits of the varied
denizens of the jungle, and a considerable amount of ingenuity and
mechanical skill in the contrivance of traps, pitMs, springes, and
nooses for securing their quarry, and this knowledge, skill, and
ingenuity the wild races certainly possess in a very marked degree.

The Besisi method of securing the argus pheasant, described in
the text, is the outcome of close observation, as is their method of
"splashing" with the tip of their rod in the water to catch the
" s^mbilang " fish ; their springes and traps for monkeys, wild pigs,
and other small mammals and birds, are frequently most complicated
devices. But, cleverly designed as these are, they will catch
nothing unless the trappers have a sufficiently intimate knowledge of
the haunts and habits of their intended victim to foresee the exact
spot at which the latter will inevitably pass, and in passing release
the catch that starts the mechanism : their knowledge of the presence
and movements of game, even at a considerable distance away in
the jungle, amounts to an instinct: their lungs (though this is a
matter that has not yet been investigated) must be enormously
developed and improved to enable them, at (comparatively) great
distances, to exhibit such skill with the blowpipe, as they are known
to possess: their sight, whether longer or not than that of the
average European, is unquestionably so much better trained, that
they can instantaneously distinguish quite small birds or squirrels
even when partially screened by thick foliage, where a European
would, for some time at all events, be totally unable to perceive
an3rthing at all : their sense of smell, by which they are able even to
track snakes, is unquestionably keener, and certainly far better
trained, than that of an European, or even than that of an ordinary
town-bred (and therefore as a rule in every way degenerate) Malay,
though it may not be materially better than that of the Malay who
has been bred to the jungle.

With r^;ard to the vegetation of the Peninsula, it may be safely
said that the wild races make use of everything that can in any way
be regarded as even remotely edible and capable of sustaining life, for
they not only employ every edible fruit, seed, root, tuber, stem, bark,

12 INTRODUCTION

leaf, young shoot, bud (not to mention feras and fungi) that comes
their way, but even make use of plants that are highly poisonous,
until they have been treated, such as the fruit of the " pirah "-tree,
which is poisonous unless cooked, and some of the wild yams, which
they eat after washing out the poison. Of the number of edible fruits
in the jungle, the lists of their names given in the text will give
some faint idea, though even these lists must not be taken as in any
sense complete, and if they should (to take a very rare contingency)
be in any manner of doubt as to the edibility of any particular fruit,
the birds and the monkeys will be their guide. Even the despised
mangrove swamp, regarded by Europeans as the ne plus ultra of
all impenetrable and unproductive forms of vegetation, contributes
its quota of edible fruits, such, for instance, as the " pisang-pisang ''
and " b^rSmbang," of both of which I myself have eaten. Water
is obtained by tapping the " kait-kait " and other wild creepers, and
from the stems of certain large bamboos, which not infrequently hold
water in their hollow intemodes. But the most important plants
and trees, from an ethnological point of view, are undoubtedly (after
mere food-producers), the upas tree, the upas creeper, the tuba or
fish-poison creeper, and a species of bamboo called Bambusa Wrayi,
Of these it will be sufficient to remark (since they have been treated
very fully in the text) that the first three are the main ingredients of
the famous dart-poison of the aborigines, which, like the wouraU
poison of the South American Indians, is in some of its compounds,
at all events, almost immediately fatal, whether to man, bird, or
beast The fish-poison (so called because it was formerly much
used for poisoning the small streams in the Peninsula and thereby
stupefying the fish) is used in combination with both of the other
two main ingredients of the dart-poison, whether tree or creeper.
And the last of the category, Bambusa Wrayi or longinodisy is an
extremely rare bamboo, which has exceedingly slender intemodes
that grow to quite six feet in length, and which, though only known
to grow on two or three mountains in the Peninsula, has been never-
theless singled out by the aborigines to serve in the production of
their jointless blowpipe.

"^ In the foregoing pages we have glanced at that inexhaustible
(and after all indescribable) profusion of nature by which the
ancestors of these races found themselves surrounded in that dim
and unrecorded past, when first their toilsome wanderings, prolonged
through generations, brought them face to face within the narrow
confines of the Malay Peninsula. At whatever period this was, and
in whatever order they may have arrived, we can now recognise with
sufficient clearness the Semang, Sakai, and Jakun as three distinct
and separate races ; the Negritos or Semang, with their woolly hair
and round bright eyes, the darkest, the best-developed, and at the
same time the most markedly nomadic of all the races in the

ENVIRONMENT 13

Peninsula ; the Sakai, who are the lightest, with their often interest-
ing features, reminiscent may be of their old Dravidian ancestry,
though modified by the effect of their somewhat narrow-lidded haU"-
dosed eyes, hair of a distinctly wavy character, and their generally
somewhat emaciated appearance; and the Jakun or aboriginal
Malayans, with their smooth blue-black hair, a race hard to dis-
tinguish, because of its admixture with the other two main stocks, but
who must nevertheless be accepted as a type, if the physical evidence
of skull and skull-features, skin-colour and hair-character are not to
be utterly denied In each case the fate of their scanty bands must
have been very similar — a never-ending struggle for existence first
against the forces of nature, against hunger, disease, and a hundred
forms of death, and later against the persecutions of man, thus faith-
fully mirroring the battle of the gigantic vegetation and dangerous
beasts among which they lived. The shadow, the hall-mark of the
primeval forest — at once their protector, their sustainer, and their
grave — ^is burned into them, and shows itself in the restless motion
and hunted expression of their eyes, and even in their very gait, for
the great height to which they raise the foot in walking (a habit
acquired in circumventing the continual obstacles that meet them
in the undergrowth), and the careful deliberation with which they
plant it on the ground, remain even when they come out into open
country, and expose them to much ridicule and cheap witticisms on
the psut of the Malays. It was the forest that supplied them with
food, shelter, clothing, ornaments, implements of every description,
with drugs and simples when diey were sick, with materials and
subjects for their dances, feasts, songs, instruments of music. Their
Wrongest asseveration was to say, " May a tree fall on me," — ^an
aq)ression that fully brings out the extent to which this particular
terror dominated their lives. It was the forest that received their
dead into its kindly bosom ; indeed, to be laid to rest in the cool
outstretched arms of the great forest-trees was the highest honour
that could be paid to their departed chiefs, whose spirits they so
pathetically prayed to * pay heed only to their dead ancestors, for
their living friends would find food.' Their simple idea of the
ddights of a future state was after all but a glorified " Avilion," an
" Island of Fruits," from which all that was noxious and distressing
to man (and therefore to man's soul) had been eliminated, and the
very entrance to which lay over the natural bridge formed by the
trunk of a fsdlen tree.

Yet, surrounded as they were by possibilities of harm, they
quitted themselves like men, and as iron is welded into steel, the
very hardships of their life only served to throw into relief their
higgler qualities — their ingenuity, dexterity, open-heartedness, sin-
cerity, and well-developed common sense — qualities which, I must
confess, I never yet met so generally difiused in any other tropical

14 INTRODUCTION

race of which I have had experience, and had never expected to
meet outside the fabled frontiers of Arcadia. Yet this is the
universal testimony of all who have known them well, and I need
only add to my own a single testimony, that of a Malay (who was
of all men best qualified to speak), who himself once remarked to
me in tones of deep disdain, "What stupid animals these Sakai
are, they don't know how to tell a lie ! "

It is a fact that, as a natural consequence of their inherent
honesty, unselfishness, and single-mindedness — the undoubted result
of their natural and unluxurious mode of life — these despised, per-
secuted, and (in a worldly sense) ignorant savages, without the
guiding star of even the most rudimentary form of letters,
philosophy, or history, have yet given us a practical example of the
ideal social state in which liberty, equality, and fraternity are not
mere names but real and living forces, and in which, since a
moderately communistic system of property prevails, there is no
room — so simple is their form of life — for the disintegrating
influences of theft, murder, fraud, greed, or any other of the grosser
sins that plague the conscience of civilised humanity, influences
which, whenever the experiment has been tried among Europeans
of establishing a community on the same lines, have been (and are
long likely to remain) the inevitable causes of its failure. The
facts, viewed in this light, are striking, and perhaps mortifying, but
probably all that they mean is that the stage of development reached
by those races is a rudimentary one, the exact counterpart of that
golden age of innocence to which all civilised and semicivilised
races regretfully look back, and which ceases when once the golden
apple of commerce is thrown into their midst. " Why rushed the
discords in but that harmony should be prized ? " Yet surely, if for
no other reason than for their possession of these high qualities, the
needs of these rude, uncultured, but not all-unenlightened tribes
now subject to our sway, should stir the real and ready sympathy of
all who believe in our manhood, and in our imperial worth as
champions of the weak.

The most important factor that remains to be mentioned in the
development of these races, is the subject of the relations between
them and the Peninsular Malays. Which of the three races
was the first to arrive in the Peninsula, is a point that in the
nature of things cannot be decided. As an equatorial race we may
perhaps suppose that it was the Negritos. All that we can say for
certain is, that in the mediaeval period, when all three races were
already established there, the Peninsula appears to have been
occupied in some force, first by some old Indo-Chinese race ^ of

1 It is of interest to note the feet Prince Damrong, a keen and pro-
that when I was in Bangkok H.R.H. gressive ruler, drew my attention in

ENVIRONMENT 15

comparatively high civilisation, whose language has left its trace on
the aboriginal dialects (but of whose domination there is no clear
record in history), and later by colonies of Malay immigrants from
Sumatra — a people also of some civilisation (of a Hinduised type)
whose immigration has continued to the present day, and whose
influence on the aborigines is naturally much more marked. The
conversion of these latter settlers from their more tolerant Hindu
beliefs to the militant and missionary faith of Islam (which took
place less than 600 years ago), was a most critical event for the
aborigines, its ultimate effect being to drive these unfortunate tribes-
men into the hills of the interior and reduce them to the condition
of hunted outlaws, to be enslaved, plundered, and murdered by the
Malay chiefs at their tyrannous will and pleasure.

This condition of things lasted some five centuries, and naturally
enough branded itself, in unforgetable feshion, deep into the memory
of the victims. The Portuguese domination of Malacca (which
commenced with the taking of that cit>' in 151 1 and lasted for 130
years), and that of the Dutch, who became their successors on
the capture of Malacca in 1641 and held it till 1795 (^"^ who were
able besides to establish trading factories in several parts of the
Peninsula), did nothing to rescue the aborigines from their state of
serfdom. It was not indeed until the establishment of the British
Protectorate, which raised them to an equality with their oppressors,
and thereby righted an historic wrong, that they regained the right
and the power to live as men. Indeed, even in the earlier days of
that protectorate itself, and so long as the power of the Malay pirate
in these seas remained unbroken, their condition improved but
slowly, and indeed for many years after they had acquired some
measure of security for life and property, they were still most out-
rageously imposed on by the Malay, who traded upon their naive
simplicity, and at the same time upon their unrivalled knowledge of
the jungle, to acquire for his own purposes immense quantities of
gutta, camphor, eagle-wood, rattan, damar, and other valuable jungle
products, for which he paid the collectors the merest fraction of
their real value. These methods and many other forms of
oppression have since been almost completely suppressed by the
strong arm, but we are now confronted by the yet graver question,
whether our system of protection is to become more fatal to our
proUgis than even the Malay slave-raids that we so strenuously put
down, the effect of which was, after all, though individual members
might be lost to the community, to keep them a race apart, whereas

particular to the words of command were neither Siamese nor Malay. The

addresMd by the mahouts, in the north answer to this suggestive inquiry of

of the Malay Peninsula, to the elephants Prince Damrong has been given at the

under their charge, and pointed out end of vol ii., in the chapter devoted

that some of these words at all events to '* Language."

i6 INTRODUCTION

to-day (though there is as yet no marked decline in their numbers)
they are fast tending to become assimilated and absorbed, losing
their language, their customs, their purity of blood and (worst loss of
all) their natural truthfulness and honesty. Probably at the present
stage it is too late to avert wholly the natural trend of events, and
the only palliative appears to be (in the best interest of the aborigines
themselves as well as of their former oppressors) to encourage and
develop the systematic study by our own officials of native thought,
law, and custom, and to encourage and develop the ideas of the natives
themselves through the means (some of which I am glad to say have
already been tried) of their own industries and culture (barbarisms
and babuisms, of course, excluded). By thus giving them an assured
status and the stimulus of a new and higher form of self-respect,
we may at least develop and improve that most important class of
the race (as distinct from his degenerate fellow-countryman of the
towns), the genuine Malay peasant, inured to the hard vicissitudes
of the jungle or the sea. Whatever can be achieved in this
direction, be it little or much — and the writer is one of those whom
experience has convinced that much can be done — will be in its
ultimate result of immeasurably greater benefit to the unsophisticated
alien races over whom the Malay genius for assimilation is so soon
destined to prevail, than any system of forest reservation or even the
most paternal vigilance over their affairs.

RACE.

PART I

VOL I

RACIAL CHARACTERS.

The Names of the Tribes.

In discussing the afifinities of the various races and
tribes of wild men in the Malay Peninsula, it is im-
portant to get a clear idea of the exact meaning of the
names which the Malays apply to them, and which
are taken, for the most part, either from the natural
(geographical) features of the country in which the
particular race of ''wild men'* in question live, or
from the stage of civilisation at which they happen
to have arrived.

The commonest of these names, with their English
equivalents, are as follows : —

KalsyKame.

Translatioii.

Remarks.

Onng Utan . .

Men of the Forest . .

Used of all the tribes.

„ Bnkh . .

MenoftheHUls. . .

Of Inland Tribes only.

,. Paya . .

Men of the Swamps.

„ Darat. .

Men of the Dry Land .

T#nnd Jakun.

„ Laot . .

Men of the Sea . . .

Jakun of the coast, especially
the Ksisi of the Selangor
coast, and the Johor and
Singapore tribes, sometimes
called " Sea-gypsies."

„ Dalam .

Men of the Interior.

„ Dla . .

Men of the Head-waters.

„ Tanjong .

Men of the Capes . .

I.e, Men of the " river-bends."

„ Liar . .

"Wild "Men . . .

Of wholly nomadic tribes who
are rarely met with.

RACIAL CHARACTERS

Malay Name.

Translation.

Remarks.

Orangjinak . .
., B'la . .

„ Sahbat .
„ Rayat. .

LU, "Tame "Men . .

"Kept" or "Domesti-
cated " Men

Friendlies

Subjects or Serfe . . .

Of all tribes either settled or

less absolutely nomadic.
Used especially of slaves and

dependants ( = "Bila" of

some old writers, e.g.

Logan).
From Arabic "§a^labat" =

" Friend."
From Arabic * * Ra'iyat. " Used

especially of the sea tribes

(Rayat Laut).

Of the foregoing names, the term ** Orang Utan" (or
" Hutan ") is perhaps the one which is most generally
used in the Peninsula, The correct meaning of
" orang " in Malay is " man " {homo\ and " utan "
means "jungle." Hence ** Orang Utan " simply means
" Man of the Jungle," i.e. " Wild Man/' and the
phrase has (in modern Peninsular Malay) no other
meaning. The application of the name " orang-outang "
in Europe to a kind of ape was probably due to the
mistake, or the jest, of some early traveller. It goes
back to 1 63 1, when it occurs in a passage in Bontius,
quoted by Yule, s,v. " orang utan." The mistake was
repeated, as has since been pointed out, in 1652, when
Tulpius, in giving a representation of the ape (not
the man) wrote underneath it ** Homo Sylvestris^
Orang utang." ^ The term " orang utan," as has just
been said, has practically come to mean nothing more
than ** Wild Man " (or ** Men ") in Malay, and hence
it is even used of the sea tribes, as in the case of the
Orang Utan S'letar (the ** Jungle-men of the S'letar"
river), who form a branch of the Orang Laut.^

1 V. B, G. A. xxiii. 831 ; and A^iV. the British Museum. We must note

Tttlpii Observ. Med. Amsterdam, 1652, that Malay "Orang utang" (not "utan")

p. 284. The original specimen of the = " debtor " ; v» VHomme^ iii. 43.

Ilonio Sylvestris of Tulpius is now in * It seems, however, that in Sumatra

THE NAMES OF THE TRIBES

On the other hand, the following names are applied
to definite local groups or hordes of wild men, with,
in some cases, a vague amount of racial connotation,
this being especially the case with "Semang" and
-Sakai":—

NaneofGroap.

Racial Connotation C^ any).

Remarks.

I. S£mang

Negrito tribes of the Malay

Also called M^nik, Meni', or

Peninsula generally (also

Mendi' by themselves ( =

especially of West Coast

Martin's "Mendi").

Negritos)

Pangan . .

East Coast Negritos {ue.

V. -Stevens has "Panggang"

**East Semang")

passim, erroneously.^

II. Sakai . .

Dravido-Australian (?)

Occasionally used by mistake

tribes of the Malay Pen-

forSemang. The "Blandas"

insula generally

ofV.-St.; "Senoi"of Martin.

S&ioi . . .

" Central Sakai " tribes .

The term used by some pur
sang Sakai of themselves.
It is said to mean *< Man "
in Sakai.2

III. JAKUN .

Aboriginal Malayan tribes

Formerly spelt Jacoon (Raffles,

generally

Jokong), etc

Hin Jaknn or

Aboriginal Malayan Land

Including the B^nua (Logan)

OrangBukit

tribes

= B&iar (V.-Stevens).

Sea Jakun or

Aboriginal Malayan Sea

SMetar, Sibimba, Bed. Kallang,

Orai^ Laut

tribes

Muka Kuning, Akik, etc.

Blandas . .

Certain mixed tribes of the

Wrongly used as synonymous

Interior of Selangor and

with Sakai by V. -Stevens.

S. Ujong

Called T^ndas by themselves.

Bfisisi . . .-

Certain (Malayan?) Sea

Also called Bdrsisi(V. -Stevens),

tribes of the Selangor

and *Sisi (by themselves).

and Malacca Coast

Mantra . .

Certam (Makyan?) tribes

Also Mtotdra' and Mintira

of Interior of Malacca

(Logan).

Udai . . .

A certain mixed tribe
(? Semi-Negrito) of Johor

Unidentified.

the expression is actually used to de-
note the anthropoid apes. In Borneo
the word '* Malas *' is tised to denote
the "orang-outang," of which the
*' Mawas " of the Peninsula is probably
a tradition. In a letter of November
3rd, 1901, Mr. Hale informs me
that the term "Orang alas" (an old
Malay phrase for "jungle-men ") is used
in the Kinta valley as the equivalent of
" Mawas."

* The word is properly spelt Pangan,
and has nothing to do with Malay

"panggang," "to roast, " as V. -St. oddly
imagined, the two words being pro-
nounced quite differently. Mr. Charles
Hose has suggested that it may be akin
to a North Bornean word " pangan,"
which means "friendly" — a much more
likely suggestion.

' De Morgan (viii. 225) mentions a
hill called " Gunong Senoi " ( " Sonoi "),
a place-name, but this probably means
" HUl of the Senoi" or " Wild-men's
Hill." Cip, IjiQxmg's Vocabulary of the
''Ulu Kampar'' Dialect, s,v. " Man."

22 RACIAL CHARACTERS part

The term *' Semang*' has never been satisfactorily
explained. The term " Sakai," on the other hand, has
been (unjustifiably, as I think) explained as meaning
"dog"; a more possible derivation, as Grlinwedel
points out,^ being from the Sanskrit " Sakhi " =
" Friend," in which case its use would be paralleled by
the alternative Malay name '* Sahbat" or "Sabat" (from
Arab. '* §ahabat " = " Friend " or ** Friendly "), though
even this is hardly a likely explanation.

The word "Sakai" is also used in Malay (as is
*' Semang ") in the sense of retainer or follower of a
native chief. It is thus more or less analogous to Ray at
or subject. This last term is commonly applied
by the Malays to the Mantra and Besisi ; but these
last two tribes prefer to speak of themselves as '* Hill
Men " (Orang Bukit), or ** Men of the Interior '*
(Orang Dalam), and " Men of the Sea " (Orang Laut)
respectively, or else simply as *' Jakun."

Finally, the term " Sakai " has not unfrequently
been used, like the expression " Orang Utan," as a
generic term for all the wild men of the peninsula.
It is also frequently used by the Malays in combina-
tion with many of the terms given above {e.g. Sakai
Liar, Sakai Jinak, Sakai Bukit, Sakai Rawang, Sakai
Laut, Sakai Ulu, Sakai Dalam, Sakai Bla), but not as
a rule with the other words mentioned in the list.
The word ** Semang " is also occasionally used in a
similar way. But the majority of the names applied
to these tribes by the Malays are purely place-names,
e.g. Orang Kinta (from the Kinta valley in Perak) ;
Orang Klang and Orang Rawang (from places in the
** Klang " and " Langat " districts of Selangor), and
the numerous tribal names of the Orang Laut, such

^ V. B, G. A, xxiiu 830. <* Sakei " is an alternative spelling.

I THE NAMES OF THE TRIBES 23

as the " Sabimba," " S'letar," " Muka Kuning," and
many similar titles.

In the following work the name ** Semang" will be
used principally for all Negrito tribes, whether those
dwelling on the West Coast or those on the East, the
latter of whom are generally called (as has already
been explained) " Pangan."

It will also be used (culturally) of the mixed
Semang-Sakai tribes amongst whom, either on account
of their use of the bow or for other reasons, the
Semang element has been assumed on the whole to
preponderate.

The name " Sakai " will be similarly ear-marked
for the second ethnical group (Dravido- Australian?),
whether pure or only preponderatingly Sakai.

The name " Jakun " will, in the same way, be applied
to the southern tribes, composing the third ethnical
group, for which the name " B6nua " (Orang Bgnua =
Men of the Country or ** Aborigines," as opposed to
the immigrant Malays) was used by European writers
at least as far back as 161 3, although it does not now
appear to be used by the natives themselves.^

Finally, I may say that the names of the fabulous
tribes, e.g, Orang Ekor or *' Tailed'* People, Orang
Gergasi or Giants, Orang Mawas or "Orangoutang"
People, referred to by Vaughan - Stevens,* Orang
P6ri or Fairies, etc., etc., will be treated of in the
chapter on Religion, to which they more properly
belong.

Vaughan- Stevens asserts that the term **Udei"

1 At the same time it should be Goudinho de Eredia {Afalacay

obserYed that certain modern writers Brussels, 1882) mentions the Benua

(among whom is Logan) apply the in a work written in 1 61 3.

" Benua " to a particular Jakun * Vide GrUnwedel in V, B, G, A,

tribe in Johor, who will be here called xxxiii. 830, and elsewhere.
"Bcnua-Jakun.*'

24 RACIAL AFFINITIES part

( **Udai*') is used by the Orang Pangan as an ex-
pression of contempt for the tribes dwelling near
Belum in Perak, and that its meaning is equivalent to
*' bastard." He also alleges it to be applied by the
Malays in the north to the Orang Jinak, ue. the
more settled (" Tame") Semang. His explanation of
the word, however, is certainly incorrect.^

RACIAL AFFINITIES— GENERAL.

The Older Views.

The descriptions of these tribes by the older
writers were based on very inadequate knowledge,
and were often extremely speculative and misleading.
De Quatrefages, De Morgan, M.-Maclay, Vaughan-
Stevens, and others held what may be called the Pan-
Negrito theory, i.e. the belief that all the wild tribes
were of Negrito origin, and attempted to account for the
anthropological difficulties involved by premising the
intermixture of these tribes with Malays and certain
other races, selected apparently at random, such as
Siamese, Papuans, and African negroes, to account
for the presence of whom the ** wrecked slave-dhow *'
theory was introduced, without the slightest regard to
the obvious geographical objections, or to the remark-
able racial discrepancies between the races compared.
We have it, for instance, on the authority of Mr.
H. N. Ridley, that Vaughan -Stevens at one time
regarded the Semang as descendants of "escaped
negro slaves brought over by Alexander the Great " !

* Vaughan-Stevcns, iii. Heft. 3.4, p. 100.

I THE SEMANG PROBLEM 25

Even some of those sounder authorities who re-
cognised the fact that the identity of origin of all these
tribes could not be maintained, spoilt their case by-
attempting to identify the Semang with the African
negro, an attempt which the marked diversity of type
between the two races concerned would alone render
h'ttle short of absurd.

An allied theory (that of the Papuan origin of
the Semang) has been completely confuted by a
succession of modern anthropologists, among whom
it will be sufficient to mention Wallace, Waitz,
Hamy, and others, whose researches may be con-
sidered to have fairly established the following pro-
positions : * —

(i) That there were not less than two clearly dis-
tinguishable, if not contrasted, racial types among the
wild aborigines of the Peninsula.

(2) That the characteristics of the Negrito type
found among the Semang showed no more trace of
derivation from the true negro than they did from that
of the Papuan.

A. — The Semang Problem.

As regards the former (Pan-Negrito) theory, it
should be noticed that even Vaughan-Stevens and his
followers unconsciously divide the Semang from the
Sakai.

Thus Vaughan-Stevens, while strongly postulating

* Wallace, for instance, clearly dis- Malays ' of Wallace) . . . relient For-

tiogoishes between the Semang as mosa k Malacca."
Negritos, and the Jakun as *' savage Waitz distinguishes two clearly sepa-

MsSays." rate types — the Semang whom he de-

Hamy, after admitting the existence clines even to call Negritos — apparently

of Negritos in the Peninsula, goes on for fear of implying Negro affinitie

to say, " Les Indon^ens (the * savage and the Benua or savage Malajrs.

36 RACIAL AFFINITIES part

their common Negrito origin (according to the ** Pan-
Negrito " theory), divides the tribes into two well-
marked main groups — (i) The Sakai or **Blandas"
(including the "Tembeh,'* the ** Keni,*' the "Senoi,"
"Besisi," and **Kenaboi"); (2) the Orang Menik,
whom he subdivides correctly into Pangan and
Semang, the latter comprising the tribes of Kinta,
Kensiu, Belum, and Bong Districts.

In the first of these two groups the names
Tembeh, Keni, and Kenaboi are probably nothing
but place-names ; ^ Tembeh, which Vaughan-Stevens
spells Tumior or Tummeor, and which he would
derive from Timor — the name of an island at the
opposite end of the Malay archipelago ! — is certainly
identical with the Tembe of Clifford, in spite of
Vaughan-Stevens* description of them as being " dark
of colour" and ** tattooed," ^ two facts which would, if
established, appear to indicate a proportion of Semang
blood, though no doubt much mixed with Sakai.

In the second group the names of the subdivisions
are mostly names of places, Kensiu being in the north
of Kedah ; the Kinta, a tributary of the Perak river ;
Belum in Ulu Perak ; and Bukit Bong, a hill in
Ligeh. All the tribes in this second group belong
to the Negrito stock, and Vaughan-Stevens, in spite
of his preconceived theories, could not help noticing
the difference between them and the Sakai tribes.

The third (Malayan) element Vaughan-Stevens

* *' Kenaboi "is the name of a stream beh" at Sepang, south of Klang,

in Jelebu. '* Tembeh": other spellings upon the same coast. I may add that

are **T5mbir'* and ««Tembe," the form there is, in N. Selangor and Perak, a

employed by Clifford. For a parallel strong tendency to pronounce this

compare the word **gambier," which same word as *'gambiok," or even

is (correctly) pronounced **gambir" at *'gamiok," a form which accounts

Klang in the central part of the Se- for the form **Tdmiok," which is also

langor coast-line, ** gambior '* at Kwala found (Martin).

Selangor (north of Klang), and *« gam- « V, B. G. A. xxiii. 831.

THE SEMANG PROBLEM

apparently attributes exclusively to modern (civilised)
Malay admixture.

So, too, De la Croix,^ though professing his ad-
herence to the ** Pan-Negrito " theory, nevertheless
distinguishes to a great extent the Semang from the
Sakai.

De Morgan distinguishes between the " Sakai "
peoples to the south of the river Plus, a large tributary
of the Perak river, and the Semang who live to the
north, and remarks that these two tribes are hostile
to each other ; but yet concludes that all the wild
men of the Peninsula belong to a single race which
he identifies with the ** Negritos of New Guinea " !

It is not, I think, necessary to deal at length with
the statements of all the writers who hold this view,
though mention should certainly be made of the work
of Miklucho-Maclay,^ who states that both the " Orang
Sakai" and ** Orang Semang" (two radically different
types) are ^^ pur sang Melanesians " ! '

' Rev, (TEthn, voL i. No. 4, 1882.

« /. R. A, S., S. B., No. 2, p. 208.

' On the other hand, it is only fair
to point out that both Miklucho-Maclay
and Meyer (following M.-Maclay) re-
garded both Negritos and Papuans as
one stock, and were apparently unable
to see the difference of type between
them, in which connection Keane
writes, •• It will be enough to insist,
with Wallace and Flower, on the funda-
mental differences (between the Papuan
and the Negrito tjrpe) . . . the two have
in fact little in common except their
dark colour and frizzly or woolly hair,
features which they share also with the
African N^ro " (Keane in /, A, I. ix.
p. 285).

The only kind of ultimate connec-
doo between these races that appears,
anthropol(^;ically speaking, at sdl pos-
sible, would hie that outlined in a
SBggestioo put forward by the late
Sir William Flower, who thought

that the Negrito might represent
the undeveloped type of an aboriginal
race, of which both Negro and Papuan
might be the highly specialised deriva-
tives.

For an opposite opinion, see A. B.
Meyer's Negritos, p. 83. It may,
however, be still taken as true that no
satisfactory proof of the connection of
the two races has yet been formulated,
and that Sir William Flower's brilliant
hypothesis still remains an hypothesis.

It should be noted that the existence
of the Negritos was definitely known
early in the nineteenth century (Craw-
furd, KafHes, Anderson, circa 18 10-
1825), and at the same time it uas
distinctly understood that they were
distinct from the Orang Bcnua of the
South. These early writers had no
opportunity of seeing the central (Sakai)
tribes, because, until the year 1875,
the Northern States were practically a
terra incognita.

28 RACIAL AFFINITIES part

Relationship of the Semang to other Races.

In the Appendix will be found a table which is,
perhaps, the most compendious way of enabling some
comparison to be made between the various branches
of the undoubtedly pure and allied Negrito races now
known to us, though the number of measurements in
most cases is far too small to be at all conclusive, and
the intention is not to prove the connection, but merely
to show the nature of the unsolved problem.

The net result is to show that the African pygmies
(Bambute, etc.) observed by Sir H. Johnston may
be rather shorter than either the Andamanese or the
Negritos of the Philippines and of the Malay Penin-
sula, whereas these last three races are practically of
the same height. All four are brachy cephalic,^ and
have actually woolly hair, and their skin-colour varies
from a dark copper or chocolate to a glossy black.

A curious point about this group is that it still
remains a moot question — as our most recent authori-
ties declare — whether any Negritos occur in Borneo,
which would naturally be the connecting link between
the Malay Peninsula and the Philippines.

B. — The Sakai Problem.

According to the older writers, all traces of non-
Negrito blood among the wild tribes of the Peninsula
were due to admixture between these tribes and
civilised Malays. The types of those two races
(Semang and Sakai) are, however, fortunately so

* The Semang are said to vary brachy- or mesatioephalic, their head-

from brachy- to dolichocephalism, length increasing in Perak and

but the writer believes it will elsewhere through admixture with

ultimately be found that the purer their dolichocephalic Sakai neigh-

Semang {e,g. in Kedah) are miainly hours.

THE NEGRITO PROBLEM.

N KGR iTo Type — An da m a n kse.

Matt.

1 t

n^ «

•

Jt^ ■'

1 t . /

*W. /./. 28.

Negrito Type — Semang of Perak.

(Sec also Appendix.)

Wray.

THE SAKAI PROBLEM.

Aboriginal DravidiaS Type— Veddas ok Ceylon.

Martin,

Sl'ggested Aboriginal Dravidian Type — Sakai of Perak.

(Sec also p. 55, Api>cndix, etc.)

Cerruti.

Vol. I. /. 29.

I THE SAKAI PROBLEM 29

Strongly contrasted that their separation is not a
very difficult matter. The existence of a separate
Sakai type had long been suspected, and theories
to this effect had been more than once' promulgated
(hrst^ 1 believe, by Clifford), but the honour of
proving the fact by scientijfic demonstration and
measurements has fallen to Germany in the [>erson
of Professor Rudolf Martin, of Zurich, who has made
a careful study of the Senoi tribe, and in his recent
pamphlet on the relationship of these tribes has pointed
out the need for isolating the second element in this
complex racial problem.^ With this fact well estab-
lished, the Sakai problem has entered upon a new
phase, the most burning question connected with it at
present being that of the probable relationship of the
Sakai to certain races in the^same region who are to
some extent of a similar habitus.

Briefly, it may be said that two alternative theories
now hold the field. One of these theories, which has
recently been advanced by P. W* Schmidt in his
brilliant paper in the Bijdragen, seeks to identify the
Sakai with certain tribes of Mon-Annam origin/^
His argument is based partly upon the admitted
iinguistic affinity between the Sakai dialects and
those of the Mon-Annam familyj and partly upon
an old description by Thorel ^^( i) of the Annamese ;^
(2) of the Cambojans or Khmers;^ and {3) of
the wild tribes of the interior of Camboja (Stieng,
Bahnar. Sedang, etc.). Linguistic evidence, how-

• Tbc tdeiitific proof of the state- ^ Hijdra^^n^ eic*t tQoi. Np. 52

nsbde in the pamphlet has ap- (6 Valgr. deel S}, pp, 399-5^3.

I in rVafes&otMEirUii^s larger work, ^ Vayagt iTExphraiioti ^n Imio-

* pwblUhed by Guslav Fischer Chine: Garnier> Paris, 1^73, vol. ii.

ai Jens m I he course of t]ie citf rent year p. ^£9 sfq^.

M90S)***»ilwMch iseiitklcdi?f> /m/^W- ^ Ln£. p, 290^^5^^.

itammt dfr tttAlAyiichsn H^UMnsfi, ^ L^c^ I?, 294 /r^^.

30 RACIAL AFFINITIES part

ever, when taken by itself, is notoriously an unsafe
guide, and though of the three races described by
Thorel the third group mentioned certainly approach
the nearest to the Sakai type, the points of divergence
between the two are nevertheless much too great to
allow of an unhesitating assent to this identification.
The tribes-folk (of Thorels third group), for instance, are
described as being ** above the middle height," whereas
the Sakai, as proved by the measurements to hand,
do not in the least correspond to Thorels description.
The second difference is in their skin-colour, which is
described by Thorel as darker than that of the Malays,
whereas the colour of the Sakai, though very variable,
is in fact, as a rule, except when mixed with Semang
blood, a good deal lighter.^

Again, the eyes of, the Stieng, Bahnar, Sedang,
etc., are described as being very rarely a trifle oblique,
whereas the eyes of the Sakai are certainly horizontal.

None of these difficulties taken separately would,
perhaps, appear insuperable, but when taken together
they must be sufficient to cause us at least to suspend
our judgment, and to regard the Sakai problem as still
awaiting solution.

The alternative theory comes to us on the high
authority of Virchow, who puts it forward, however,
in a somewhat tentative manner.^ It consists in re-
garding the Sakai as an outlying branch of a racial
group formed by the Vedda, Tamil, Korumba, and
Australian ^ races, to show the nature of the connexion
between which a table (for which see Appendix) of

^ It is unfortunate that Schmidt omits ' Assuming the Australian Blacks

mentioning these first two important to be a non -homogeneous group, it is

points in quoting Thorel. the type which approaches the Dra-

^ Virchow in V, B, G, A, xxviii. 1 52 vidian that is, of course, alluded to

seqg*^ and elsewhere. here.

THK MAI.AYAX PROBLKM.

X 4 l^ray.

Aboriginal Malayan or Jakun Type— "Savage Malays" of Pekan,
IN Paiiang (Heathen).

Nos. I and 4 are the best types.

Civilised Malay Type— Chiefs of Negri Sembilan (Mohammedan).

I THE JAKUN PROBLEM 31

comparative measurements has been drawn up by the
writer.

Relationship of the Sakai to other Races.

The possibility of there being some ultimate re-
lationship (such as has just been referred to) between
the Veddas, Tamils, Australians, and Sakai was
foreshadowed by Virchow in 1896/ the main points of
comparison being the height^ skull -character, skin*
colour, and hair-characten Of these, to go by the
comparative table,' the height is variable, but in all
four of the races compared it is certainly greater than
that of the Negrito races. The skin-co!our, again, it
is true, varies to a remarkable degree, but the general
hair -character appears to be uniformly long, black,
and wavy, and the skull -index, on the other hand,
appears to indicate consistently a dolichocephalic or
long-shaped head.

C — The Jakun Problem.

The third of the three great problems which con-
front us in dealing with the wlJd tribes of the Peninsula
is that of the relationship between the Malays and the
B«ciua or mixed tribes in the southern portion of the
Malay Peninsula,

By the Pan -Negrito theorists the Jakun were
re^^ded as tribes of Negrito origin, more or lt:ss
modified by admixture with the civilised (Moham-
medan) Malays. Both Crawfurd, however, and, more
partlcitlarlyp Favre long ago pointed out the reasons
which oblige us to regard the jakun as aboriginal
tribeSi and as having been settled in the Peninsula since

* v. B, Gy A, xmriit. 152 i^qq.^ and elsewhere.

32 RACIAL AFFINITIES part

a period long anterior to the conversion of the Pen-
insular Malays to Mohammedanism. "In course of
time the early Arab trading vessels brought over priests
from Arabia, who made a number of converts to Islam ;
those of the Benua {ji,e. Jakun) who declined to abjure
the customs of their forefathers, in consequence of the
persecutions to which they were exposed, fled to the
fastnesses of the interior, where they have since con-
tinued in a savage state."* In other words, part of
them remained wild, and part adopted the civilisation of
the immigrant Malays. So, moreover, Logan, follow-
ing Newbold, goes a step further, and comes to the
conclusion that the physiognomy of the Jakun of Johor
(with some exceptions) points to a "Tartar" ex-
traction — an expression for which I think we are
justified in reading Mongol or Mongoloid.^ In this
sense it has certainly been accepted by later writers,
such as, for example, Waitz and A. R. Wallace, the
former of whom describes the Benua {i.e. Jakun)
as "primitive Malays," while the latter explicitly
describes the Jakun as " savage Malays " ; more-
over, many writers {e.g. Miklucho-Maclay, in writing of
the Mantra, etc.) describe their remarkably close re-
semblance to the Malays, whilst attributing it solely
to (civilised) Malay admixture. The view taken by
the present writer is to a great extent in accordance
with these writers, with the proviso that the isolation
of the " savage Malay '' element is not the key to the
whole of the mystery with which we are here con-
fronted. The Jakun, in fact, as will appear in this
work, form a composite group, consisting of tribes
which, though largely Jakun or aboriginal Malayan,

* Favre in J. I. A. vol. ii. p. 240.
' Besides this, Logan talks of their *' strong family likeness to the Malays/'

I THE JAKUN PROBLEM 33

are also in some cases partly Semang and partly
Sakai, the crossing between these various elements
making it impossible at present to adopt any proper
classification beyond specifying both Land and Sea
Jakun as for the most part aboriginal heathen Malays.^

Relationship of the Jakun to other Races.
Our statistics unfortunately at present are far too
incomplete even to admit of such a comparison being
made between the two types specially concerned, as was
possible in dealing with the Semang and Sakai. The
difficulty is, moreover, largely increased by the fact
that the influence of the civilised Malays has in this
part of the world been very widely spread, and hence
it has hitherto been the custom to label as Malay
many non-Malayan crania. It must not be forgotten
that the true Malay should always bear some relation-
ship to the Mongolian or " Tartar'' type, and that it is
only on measurements obtained from countries where
the Malay stock is relatively pure {e.g. in the centre
of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula) that a table
of statistics of any practical value can be founded.
Meanwhile the most important evidence of aboriginal
Malayan influence in the Peninsula consists in the
aboriginal Malayan dialects still spoken by the
Jakun, though even in the case of the Jakun the
matter has been complicated by the uncritical
practice of attributing their Malayan vocabulary, as
well as their physical characteristics, to admixture
with civilised Peninsular Malays. Whereas, as a
matter of fact, both the dialects and the general
characteristics of the Jakun may perhaps rather be

' Cf. Hamy, p. 25 1». , ante. Though no Jakun tribe exists which does not contain
single Jakun tribe may now consist solely some such individuals, and I believe that
of aboriginal Malayans, I doubt if any in many cases they amount to over 50 %.

VOL. I D

34 RACIAL AFFINITIES part

compared to those of the Malay Archipelago than to
those of the civilised Peninsular Malay. The table
in the Appendix, incomplete as it is, will, however,
perhaps be of some use here as showing the kind of in-
formation which is required to clear up this part of the
still unsolved Malayan problem.

At present all that can be said is that we might
expect the civilised Malays to be at least as tall as, if
not taller than, the Jakun, their uncivilised cousins.
This condition of things does not appear to be borne
out by the table, but we must wait for fuller information
before this point can be decided. The skull-index of both
races is as nearly as possible identical (brachycephalic).
The haif-character, moreover, is absolutely identical,
but the skin of the Jakun, doubtless through exposure
to the weather, is a shade darker, as a rule, than that
of the Malays.

General Results.

The synoptical table to be found in the Appendix
will, it is hoped, provide certain standards by which to
test and classify the three main ethnical groups of the
Peninsula. It need perhaps scarcely be added that
although many individuals are to be found in the Pen-
insula who conform pretty closely to one or other of the
three types indicated, the least degree of intermixture
(either as between themselves or as between them
and their civilised neighbours) will tend immediately
to produce some divergence from these standards.

Generally speaking, however, and bearing in mind
these necessary qualifications, the three types may be
roughly described as follows : —

A. Sentang Type. — Height of men about 1491
mm. ; of women, 1408 mm. ; skull -index brachy-

^ i

5 /:

X
I

I THE THREE MAIN TYPES 35

cephalic (or bullet-headed) to mesaticephalic ; skin of a
dark copper or rather chocolate-brown colour passing
into a " shiny black " ; ^ hair (which is generally shaved
off) woolly, like that of the Negro and the Papuan ;
forehead low and rounded; nose remarkably broad
and flat or " spreading " ; cheeks full, but with the
cheek-bones not very prominent; eyes round, wide-
open, and straight {i.e. not "oblique" like those of
Mongolian races) ; chin feebly developed i^.e. rounded
off, and frequently almost unmarked) ; mouth variable,
but rather large as a rule, the lips, which are also
variable, being generally well formed, but sometimes
turned outwards or " everted " ; beard, none to speak
of, as a rule, but when found, thin and straggling, or,
occasionally, woolly, like the hair itself.

B. Sakai Type. — In height the Sakai are, I
think, without doubt, a slightly taller race than the
Semang or Negritos. The shape of their head, on
the other hand, is in marked contrast to that of the
Negritos, as they belong in type to the dolichocephalic,
or long-headed, races. Their skin-colour varies more
remarkably than that of any of these tribes, being in
some extremely dark brown, in others a remarkably
light yellowish -brown, much lighter than that of
the Malays. Their hair, too, is long, black, and wavy
in character, sometimes with a slight reddish tinge in
reflected light. Their forehead is flat, and projects
remarkably over the root of the nose, which latter is,
as a rule, somewhat fine and small, and often slightly
tilted at the tip. The cheek-bones are very broad,
especially when considered in relation to the rest of
the features. Their eyes are a very dark brown,
small, horizontal, and often half-closed, as different as

* See/. /. A. vol. iv. p. 428.

36 RACIAL AFFINITIES part

can be from those of the Semang. Their chin is long
and somewhat sharp and pointed. Their mouth is of
small size, with lower lip full, loose, and often con-
spicuously projecting. Their beard is, as a rule,
almost non-existent, but a few individuals occur who
are fairly well covered with hair.

C. Jakun Type. — In height the Jakun appear to
be, if anything, a little taller than the Sakai (in which
case they would be the tallest of the three aboriginal
races). Their head is brachycephalic, or '* bullet "-
shaped. Their skin is generally of a dark coppery
colour, not unlike that of the Malays, but with a
tendency to darker shades, which are, doubtless, due
partly to exposure and partly to their manner of living.
Their hair is long and straight, or " smooth," and of a
dark bluish-black tint, such as is invariably found in
the hair of Mongolian races. Their forehead is
usually well developed. Their nose is, as a rule, thick,
flattish, and short, with wide-open nostrils, though it
must be noted here that a more developed type occurs.
Their cheek-bones are very high and well marked,
like those of the Mongolian type. The face, as a rule,
is inclined to be flattish. Their eyes are dark brown,
of moderate size, and rarely with some slight tendency
to obliquity. They have, as a rule, a strong chin and
somewhat square jaws. Their mouth, as a rule, is
large and broad, though frequently moderate and with
well-formed lips. Their beard is of the scantiest.

The establishment of these types may, I think, be
considered to justify the classification based on hair-
character which Martin proposes. The Semang he
describes as Ulotrichi, or woolly-haired tribes, who are
to be clearly distinguished from the Sakai, who are
wavy-haired (Cymotrichi). In the third (composite)

NUMBERS

group, for which I propose to retain the generally used
native name of Jakun, I have merely to suggest the
recognition (for our present purposes) of the Jakun (or
aboriginal Malayan) type as Lissotrichi, or smooth-
haired individuals, in the place of Martin's mixed tribes
that cannot be classed. With this slight modifica-
tion, I may say that the present work is based entirely
on Martin s plan of classification, which in this modi-
fied form may now be given as follows : —

Group.

Hau-'character.

Name of Tribe.

Known in the

1 I.

II.

III.

Ulotrichi, or Woolly-
haired tribes.

Cjrmotrichi, or Wavy-
haired tribes.

Lissotrichi, or Smooth-
haired tribes.

Semang, Menik, or

Pangan.
Senoi or SakaL

{a) I^nd Jakun

or O. Bukit.
(^) Sea Jakun or

O. Laut.

Semang.
Sakal
Jakun.
Orang LauL

This list is, as I have just said, merely a classifica-
tion of racial types or standards, and does not include
mixed tribes such as the Kenaboi, Blandas, Besisi,
and Mantra, which will be included culturally under
the general title of Jakun, the Malayan aborigines,
who form a sub-group of the Jakun, being divided
into the Hill or Land Jakun (Orang Bukit) and Sea
Jakun (Orang Laut) respectively.

Numbers.

It is extremely difficult to form any idea of what
the real numbers of the aboriginal population of the
Peninsula may be. What Favre remarks of the
Jakun applies equally to all the wild races of the
Peninsula, whose number, as he says, is very difficult
to ascertain, because part of them are a nomadic

RACIAL AFFINITIES

PART

people, so that the same family, and in fact the same
individuals, appear to-day in one place and next week
some two or three miles further on ; next month they
will remove again, to roam the forest or to come back
to their first habitation, so that those who perceive
them here and there imagine that they are fresh
persons, and in their calculation they count the
same individuals two or three times over. Their
number, as reported to him, was always much more
considerable than the number he found upon visiting
the places themselves.^

The most recent (1901) census report of the
Federated Malay States, though containing at least
one clerical error,* and often doubtless falling far short
of the truth, is yet our sole guide to the real numbers
of the aborigines : —

Aborigines of Pbrak.
Larut
Matang

K. Kangsar .... 1021
Upper Pcrak 515

Kinta 1681

Lower Perak .189

Batang Padang 2808

Krian

Selaina 37

New Territory .1731

Total

7982

Aborigines of Negri Sembilan.
Seremban .... 157

Coast .
J€l«bu .
Kuala Pilah
Tampin

Total.
Grand Total

174
125
700
221

1377

Aborigines of Selangor.

Kuala Lumpur

219

UIu Selangor

470

Klang .

172

K. Langat

. 899

K. Selangor .

Ulu Langat .

114

Total.

1875

Aborigines of Pahang.

Ulu Pahang { ^^"^^^ g^t^^g ^^^ J

Temerloh .... 159S

Pekan 2391

Kuantan . .215

Total .

7340

i«,574

1 See Favre in /. I. A. vol. ii. pp.
253-255. Against this statement must,
however, be set the inveterate tendency
of these tribes to hide themselves in the

forest upon the approach of a European.
* In one of the Perak districts immi-
grants from India are included as
aborigines.

I MIXTURE OF RACES 39

Allowing 25,000 as a probable minimum for the
" F.M.S.," the Straits Settlements, Kedah, East
Coast States, and Johor should swell the total to at
least 35,000 or 40,000.^

Mixture of Races.

According to Vaughan-Stevens, the Sakai (** Senoi "
or "Blandas," as he calls them, giving a quite un-
warranted extension to the term Blandas)* are a
Negrito tribe with a very large admixture of civilised
Malay blood, which he supposes to have obscured the
original characteristics of the tribe. This view (the
Pan-Negrito theory) is, however, as has already been
said, quite untenable, since it is obvious that what-
ever else may happen anthropologically, the fusion of
two brachycephalic tribes, or even two mesaticephalic
tribes, could not possibly produce a mixed tribe which
was mainly dolichocephalic.

Vaughan-Stevens leaves out of sight, moreover,
the extremely potent cultural and religious barrier
which divides the civilised Mohammedan Malays from
the rude heathen tribes of the jungle. In the case of
a Malay mating with one of these heathen women,
the children as a rule follow the religion of the father,"
and become merged in his race, the only important
exception being the case of Malay traders living with
Sakai women in the Sakai country, and then deserting
them and their children, in which case the children
remain with the tribe. Hence it is the civilised Malay,
and not the uncivilised aboriginal race, that is most

^ For fuller details, showing dis- neighbourhood,
tribntion of the sexes, see Appendix. ^ Among the jungle tribes themselves

' Blandas or Btiandas. It is probably it seems that the tribal name follows the

a mere coincidence that Ptolemy speaks male line ; sons-in-law join their father-

of a river Palandas (apparently the river in-law's settlement. — Vaughan-Stevens,

Muar) and a town Palanda in the same ii. 90, 94.

40 RACIAL AFFINITIES part

afifected when the two live in close proximity (as
indeed has been observed in Kedah by Logan, and
elsewhere). On the other hand, unions between
Malay women and heathen tribesmen, although they
are certainly known to occur,^ are nevertheless of the
rarest description ; and whereas in former days a
woman who so disgraced her family as to mate with
one who was regarded as little better than the brutes
that perish, would have paid the penalty with her life,
she still has to undergo an extreme form of social
ostracism, which must inevitably act as a strong
deterrent. Hence the most appreciable admixture of
blood is only as between one wild tribe and another.

This, which I believe to be the normal state of
things, has one very important exception, for in various
parts of what is known as the Negri Sembilan, but
especially in Johol, a number of small groups of
Sumatran Malays (principally of Menangkabau origin)
have amalgamated with the local groups of aboriginal
tribes on what were (nominally at least) honourable
and equal terms, under which the Batins or chiefs of the
Jakun even retained, for a time at least, their full share
of authority in the mixed government thus established.*

The late Martin Lister, in writing of the Rembau

* Mr. C. O. Blagden informed me had previously been the mistress of

of a case at Malacca which was re- more than one white man, she died

ported to him by the woman's family. suddenly soon after. And such cases

Mr. Hale supports the view expressed have not been uncommon. The &ct

in the text by writing, that in his that there is the same objection to an

many years' experience he has ttez'er alliance between a Malay woman and

met with a case of the kind {t\e. of a a Chinese or a Tamil, clearly shows

Malay woman marrying a Sakai man). that this prejudice is bs^sed on religious

He explains this by saying that the scruples.

Mohammedan naturally does not like * Thus Mr. Hale writes me that the

his women, who are virtually his slaves, ** Waris " tribe in Rembau was divided

to get out of his control, and that into two sections, called ** Beduanda

when the daughter of a well-known Jawa" and "Beduanda Jakun" respec-

S. Ujong chief went to live with a tively ; and that the paramount chief of

Chinaman at Malacca, although she Rembau (called *< Penghulu " or ** Un-

o
s

^ X

I s

i3 Pu

"o .9-

(3 ^

X <

- «

"^ 5

^ 3

.\fachtuio.

Young Sakai Girl in Ckntrk (Mixeu Type showing strong Negrito Strain).

C"aught when young in Ulu Lipis, and now in the To' Raja of Jelai's household. The
other two are Malay children.

I'ol. I. p. 41.

1 MIXTURE OF RACES 41

Malays,^ gives reasons for this remarkable divergence,
pointing out that whereas the rest of the Peninsular
Malays at the time of the Menangkabau immigration
were, speaking generally, mere piratical freebooters
bent on conquest and rapine, the Menangkabau people,
on the other hand, were peaceful agriculturalists who
had been forced to emigrate through the pressure of
population in their own country. Hence all that the
latter desired was land for cultivation, and this they
were quite satisfied to obtain by peaceful means. And
hence in the case of these Menangkabau colonies there
has been a true amalgamation between them and the
Jakun of Rembau, which has not been the case elsewhere.

It must not be forgotten, as I have already said,
that large masses of the soi-disant Malay population
in many parts, of the Malay States from Kedah to
Singapore are undoubtedly the descendants of savage
tribesmen who, by intermarriage with the civilised
Malays and by the adoption of the higher level of
culture which in these parts accompanies conversion
to the Mohammedan religion, have in the course of
a few generations become barely distinguishable from
the ordinary Malay inhabitants, of the western and
southern portions of the Peninsula.

Traces of such absorption, in which the meta-
morphosis is not quite complete, are certainly to be
found, for instance, in the State of Kedah, in which,
some years back, it was noticed by Logan that the
Malayan population approximated in their general
appearance to the wild Negrito tribes of the interior,

dang ") was chosen from each of these Negri Sembilan, aboriginal descent is

sections alternately. '* Originally the claimed, in order to prove the owner-

Batins (r.^. the Jakun chiefs) had a say ship of land."

in the matter, but now they are squeezed * In J,N,A.S,, S,B., No. 32,

out of it." And yet "all over the p. 3cx>.

42 RACIAL AFFINITIES part

The descendants of aboriginal slaves would, of course,
form a large factor in the problem.

This process of absorption is, moreover, still pro-
ceeding with quite as much rapidity as in the past,
and where it appears that the numbers of the abo-
rigines are dwindling, we may rest convinced that, in
the majority of cases at all events, their gradual dis-
appearance is rather due to conversion and absorption
than to the proximity of civilisation, which in the
case of these tribes does not appear to have produced
such deleterious effects as it is said to have done in
other parts of the world. ^

In spite of this important exception, however, the
amount of admixture of Malay blood, even in the Jakun
group (to say nothing of the Sakai or Semang groups,
where the mixture is admittedly less), has been un-
doubtedly very much exaggerated, especially by
writers who failed to recognise the "savage Malay"
element, and regarded every approach to the Malay
type of features as evidence of civilised Malay ad-
mixture.

In conclusion we may say that, except in the
northern and some of the central states, where the
circumstances were different, the "civilised Malay*'
element has not appreciably affected the racial purity
of the wild tribes of the Peninsula, the main admixture
(which in many places is obvious enough) having
been among themselves. Hence the chief forms of
admixture that are worth considering are as follows : —

* See p. 30, par. 35, of the recent 18,574 persons.

(1 90 1) Federated Malay States Census Mr. Hale writes me that the point

Report, where we are told that the of religion often means nothing but the

returns show that there is little tend- ceremony of circumcision, and that

ency on the part of the aborigines to converted slaves of this kind often

decrease, and that they now number reverted to the jungle (on emancipa-

(in the Federated Malay States alone) tion).

JaKUN with marked SAKAI StKAIN, SKLAxNCiOK.

.. !.p. 4J.

Af^Grcoo

jAKi'N OF Mixed Typk, Bikit Prual, Sklangok

Tr/. /. A 43-

I RACE-CHARACTERS OF NEGRITOS 43

(i) Semang + Sakai, or ** Semang-Sakai,"

(2) Semang + Jakun, or " Semang-Jakun/*

(3) Sakai + Jakun, or **Sakai-Jakun,"

and further crosses arising from the various mixed
races thus produced.*

I. — Race-Characters of Semang.

The Semang country runs (roughly speaking) from
Chaiya* and Ulu Patani (Singora and Patalung) to
Kedah in the north of the Peninsula, and thence to
mid-Perak and Northern Pahang.

Wallace* states that the height of the Semang
varies between 1266 mm. and 1416 mm. This latter
figure is, however, certainly too low.

Martin lays stress on the fact that the sexual
difference in height is actually greater in tribes of
small stature {i.e. Semang and Senoi) than it is
amongst taller tribes of the wild races, especially,
e.g.^ among the Blandas. His rough estimate of the
average height of a male Semang is about the same
as that of a Sakai (1500 mm.). De Morgan says the
Semang are the taller, but the fact is doubtful.*

The following account of the physical characters
of the Peninsular Negritos includes measurements^
taken by Mr. Laidlaw and myself in the Ulu Lebih
district of Kelantan, and by myself at Jarum : —

^ That the foregoing statement of that any stranger who, while staying

the case is the true one, appears even in a Jakun house, was able to talk the

fiom the remarks of Vaughan-Stevens huslMind off to sleep, acquired thereby

himself, when he says that ** Half- an acknowledged right to usurp his

bloods, with Malay or Chinese fathers, marital privileges for the time being.

sie quite unknown among the wild ^ W. Smyth's Five Years in Siam,

tribes, but that such admixture is per- ii. 76.

9titUd^ aithough not Hied, by those * Quoted by Lane-Fox, J, A, 7. vil

clans who live in close contact with 437 ; cp.y. R, A, S,, S. B,, No. 7.

the Malays " {V. B, G. A, xxiii. 833). *• For measurements, see V Homme,

Mr. Hale, on the other hand, in- ii. 552 ; and Wray, Per, Mus, N, iii.

forms me that among the Malays in pp. 33-35.

N. Sembilan it was an accepted belief ^ Given in extenso in Appendix.

44 RACIAL AFFINITIES part

The average height of five adult males that we
measured was 1491 mm. (about 4 feet 9 inches), that
of three women 1408 mm., or some 3^^ inches less.

The face was round, the forehead low, rounded,
narrow, and projecting, or, as it were, ** swollen." The
nose was short and flattened, the nostrils much dis-
tended, and the breadth of the nose was remarkably
great, five adult males having an average of 10 1.2, and
three adult females an average of 97.4. The cheek-
bones were broad, and the lips were sometimes full and
turned outwards, or "everted," but not as a rule thick.

The jaws often protruded slightly, but I did not
see any case of marked prognathism. The ears were
small. The six front teeth in the upper jaw were
often filed so as to present a concave surface anteriorly,
in imitation of the common Malay practice. The
teeth as a rule were white and good, except in ad-
vanced age. In one or two cases only they were dis-
coloured with betel-juice, and in one case caries was
present. The milk-teeth of a child when examined were
perfectly normal and regular. The shoulders were com-
paratively broad. The forearms, with two exceptions,
appeared not to be so long relatively as they are in
the Andamanese. The exceptions were two Pangan
at J arum, whose arms were so long as to present a
pithekoid character. But the number of persons ob-
served is too small to separate them from the Pangan
of Kelantan. The person was usually well developed.

The head measurements taken by ourselves give
a mesaticephalic index as an average ; for five men the
average was 78.9, for three women 81. i. This feature,
however, is clearly variable, as one of the men (Pan-
dak) had an index of 73.8, and a Pangan at J arum
one of 74.4, as against an index of 85 in the skull

Machado.

Sakai Girl (showing Negrito Strain).

Living ai Batu Pahat Johor but originally fro n UIu Lipis Pahang. Carrying a bamboo
cylinder for water.

/W. /./. 45.

I RACE-CHARACTERS OF NEGRITOS 45

collected by Grubauer, which means an index of about
87 in the living person.^

Martin again states that all the Mendi* ( = Semang)
measured by him were mesaticephalic, with a strong
tendency to dolichocephaly.

The following notes on a male skeleton found by
myself in Kedah, and averages of measurements taken
from living Semang (Pangan) in Kelantan and Patani,
may be of interest. I am indebted for them to Dr.
W. L. H. Duckworth, of Jesus College, Cambridge,
who has also described a Semang skull recently
collected by Dr. Grubauer,^

The skull viewed in norma verticalis is ellipsoid and mesaticephalic. The
glabellar prominences are very moderate in amount. Muscular ridges are feebly
developed, and the zygomatic arch is slender. The nasal profile is comparatively
flat, but the nasal spine is large. Prognathism of the subnasal and dental type
is well marked, llie nasal bones are large and rather flat, the aperture pyri-
formis is cordate in outline. The palate is hypsiloid, the teeth large and
blackened. The anterior surfaces of the upper incisors and canines have been
filed. Chin-prominence slight, ascending ramus of mandible short. The skull
should be described as mesaticephalic, metriocephalic, mesognathous, chamae-
prosopic, microsemic, platyrhine, mesoprosopic, and mesocephalic, and on the
whole probably represents an intermediate form between the dolichocephalic and
brachycephalic tjrpes.

The vertebral column shows no particular marks of inferiority. The scapulae
are small and relatively very broad, the coracoid is large, and the upper border
very straight. The clavicles show signs of disease, but have a very remarkable form
which can hardly be altogether pathological The peculiarity consists in the
exaggeration of the normal curve (with concavity directed forward) of the outer
part of the bone ; the two portions of the bone meet at about a quarter of its
length from the outer end, at an angle which in the right clavicle is nearly 90**.

The pelvis afibrds the best indication of the sex of the skeleton. The crests
of the ilia are not so much incurved anteriorly as in the European pelvis. The
femurs are rather straight in the shaft, with distinct accessory adductor tubercles.

Generally speaking, the characters of the skull are not such as to enable us
to refer it to any well -recognised type without hesitation. Certain marks of
inferiority, which may be r^^arded not as racial peculiarities, but as constituting
retentions of conditions normal in infancy, should be noticed. These, which
often occur in lower or primitive races, and are spoken of, with others, as
"infimtile'' features, are the rotund contour of norma occipitalis, and the short-
ness of the ascendhig ramus of the mandible. The conditions of the cranial
sutnre leave no doubt as to the skull having reached maturity.

The conformation of the skeleton of the nose, and the type of prognathism,
constitute resemblances to skulls met with not unirequently amongst the negro
races, especially the races of Central Africa, rather than amongst Oceanic negroes.

^ In mesaticephalic subjects the possibility of Sakai admixture should, I think,
be discounted. ^ See Appendix.

46 RACIAL AFFINITIES part

The lack of characters usually determining sex in the skull is also in favour of this
view. On the other hand, no definite resemblance in respect of the cranium can
be traced to the Bush natives of South Africa, whereas the facial features resemble
certain crania from Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and one from the Andamans. Again,
the size and proportions of the scapula are not unlike those of the Bushman
of Africa ; an accessory adductor tubercle appears on the femurs in both, and in
both the lower ends of the femurs are slender. Differences, however, obtain in
the sacra, and on the whole the Semang*s bones are the larger. The great length
of the forearm said to characterise the Andamanese is absent in the Semang.^

Sir William Turner describes a skeleton from
Pahang,^ which differs notably from the above. It is
microcephalic and brachycephalic. There is, however,
no precise evidence as to whether this skeleton belonged
to an undoubted Semang, and as brachycephaly is a
mark of certain tribes belonging to the third group of
Martin's classification, it might perhaps equally be re-
ferred to one of these. Another skeleton described by
Virchow (quoted by Turner, loc. czL) shows also
differences in other directions.*

Hair.

The hair of the Semang that we observed was in
most cases characteristically Negrito — crisp, short,
and very curly, in fact, actually woolly in the purer
types of the tribe. In colour it was of a brownish-
black, not a bluish- black like that of Malays (and
other Mongoloid races). In section it varied from an
oval or ellipse at the thicker or basal end, to almost a
circle near the tip. In other words, it possessed a
Negrito character in respect of section ; * and the
measurement of the spirals was about 15 mm. The
chin-hairs were few and straggling, and in only two

1 For a fuller description of this end of Part 1. and also the Appendix

skeleton see W. L. H. Duckworth in of this book.

J, A, /. vol. xxxiL (1902), p. 1^2 seqq, ; * Trans. R, S. Edin, vol. xl. part

and for his description of a brachy- i. No. 6.

cephalic Semang skull purchased by ^ See Appendix,

the Royal College of Surgeons, see Ap- * For a detailed description of this

pendix ; and for other Semang measure- hair kindly supplied by Dr. W. L. H.

ments, see note by Dr. Duckworth at Duckworth, see Appendix.

I RACE CHARACTERS OF NEGRITOS 47

cases did we see a Semang with even the slightest
beard,^ which in one of the two cases was closely
curled and woolly, in the other thin and straggling.

In another passage Vaughan - Stevens is quoted as saying that the half-
breed Semangs are the only members of these tribes who could be considered
as comparatively well provided with hair, and that even in their case the hairiness
stands in almost direct relation to the mixture of blood. ^ The £. Semang
(Pangan) when of pure blood has so little beard or whiskers that he is ashamed
for his little scrubby beard to be seen, and therefore plucks it out. Yet he tries
to retain the moustache, so that it may ** distinguish him from a woman" {sic).

Elsewhere we are told that *' The hair of the Semang (Menik) is less inclined
to torn grey in old age than that of the Malays, grey hair being in fact regarded
as quite exceptional." ^

Skin-colour.

The skin was of a dark chocolate-brown in the
Semang that we measured in Kelantan, approximating
in the case of some of the Kedah Negritos to the
glossy black mentioned by Anderson.* In the old
people it was much scarred and sometimes diseased,
the disease most prevalent being that called " kurap "
by the Malays, but of a mild type. The colour of No. 3
of Topinard's scale corresponded very closely with the
colour of most of the Eastern Semang measured by
myself. In the younger individuals the skin was
smooth and clean and the body physically well de-

> For a fuller account see J, A, I. tendency towards it that the source can-

xxxiL 151. For hair-sections see not be mistaken, although the hair of

Montano, PI. xxxL In another place the rest of the family may more nearly

Vaughan-Stevens remarks as follows : — approach the Sakai (Blandas) type.

** The peculiar spirally tufted (* pep- The pure types of either kind are very

per-com *) hair of the £. Semang (Pan- seldom seen there ; but rather they over-

gan) has kept its influence up to the lap and produce intermediate groups,

present day in that district in Pahang which show in some cases more and in

where the half-breed descendants of the others less of a tendency to possess the

£. Semang (Pangan), Tembeh (Temia), curly hair referred to.'*

and Sakai (Blandas) were settled as 'In other words, the hairiness is

prisoners of the Rawa Malays ever due to the presence of the Sakai ele-

stnce their pure-blooded forefinthers ment.

were first sold to the Malays of Pahang. ' Z./. E. xxix. 178.

In a fiunily of this mixed type it often ^ J. Anderson, quoted by Col. James

happens that one or several of the Low, states that the Semang of Treng-

children show in this respect either a ganu were not of such a ^* Jet-black and

complete reversion to the E. Semang glossy appearance " as those of Kedah

(pangan) type, or at least so decided a {/. /. A. vol. iv. p. 428).

48 RACIAL AFFINITIES part

veloped, but in older individuals it was often much
scarred, and in two or three cases slightly diseased.

With regard to the skin-colour of the Negritos, Vaughan-Stevens remarks that
among the wilder Semang, or " Menik " (the men of which tribe wear nothing
but a cord or girdle and the women a waist-fringe that lets the light through),
the colour of the skin b very uniform. The W. Semang (? Semang-Sakai
tribes), however, offer nearly as great a variety as the Mala3rs. The Semang
(Menik) did not regard the lighter - coloured Sakai (Blandas) as superiors (!).
Their god Pie was dark like themselves. Although the Semang is of darker
colour than the Sakai (Blandas), and appears to be less influenced by heat, he
(V.-St.) was still of opinion that this capacity for bearing heat arises rather
from his constitution, than from the darker colour of his skin {vide remarks on
this subject as affecting the Sakai, infra).

The pronounced nomadic character of all these tribes makes it impossible to
arrive at any conclusions as to the effect produced by altitude, soil, shade, dust,
or clothes upon the texture and colour of the skin. The &mily or tribe lives
perhaps for a month upon a hill at an elevation of some thousands of feet above
the sea, next month at the foot of the same hill ; at one time in the thick, dark
jungle, and at another in the hot, open plains.

According to the Malays, the Negritos never wash themselves, and therefore
possess as a rule a powerful odour, and the statement is certainly a true one.
When, for instance, for the sake of the experiment, he (V.-St) had induced the
E. Semang (Pangan) to wash themselves with soap, they did not appear to
retain any particular smell afterwards. But when, immediately afterwards, he ac-
companied them on a rapid march, and after going some distance from them
had again returned to their company, the odour was distinctly noticeable.'

Sight,
The eyes of the Semang that we examined, which
were round, wide-open, and horizontal, were uniformly
of a very rich deep brown in colour ; in one case only,
that of an old man, they were of a greyish-brown tint.
The Semang as a race were far from being unpleasant-
looking people, the most striking peculiarity in their
appearance being a certain wild look about the region
of the eyes, probably due, in part, to the great width
between them, and to the curious depression of the
upper part of the nose, as well as to a natural rest-
lessness of the eyes themselves, which these tribes
possess in common with wild animals. Their eyesight
appeared to be good of its kind, and in the few cases
that we tested the colour-vision was normal.^

* Z./ E, xxix. 174-176. are given by Wray, Per, Mus, N.

^ A few sight-statistics of Semang iii. p. 38.

I RACE-CHARACTERS OF NEGRITOS 49

The eyes of the £. Semang (Pangan), when they are of pure blood, have
the conjunctiva of a deep yellow colour ; whereas the Sakai (Blandas) do not

The £. Semang (Pangan) show no traces of short-sight and are "at the
top of the scale '* in quickness of observation ; this quality, however, standing in
inverse ratio to the progress made by their tribe in civilisation.*.

Hearing'.

The ears of the Semang that we observed were
distinctly small, and their hearing appeared ordinarily
acute. In one case, however, that of a youngish man,
slight deafness was noticeable.

The sense of hearing among the £. Semang (Pangan), though not so acute
as among the Jakun, is nevertheless sharper than among the more civilised
W. Semang, Sakai (Blandas), or Tembeh (Temia).

On the other huid, exceptional sharpness of hearing occurred more frequently
among the W. Semang than among any of the other tribes mentioned.'

Hands and Feet,

There is no doubt that these wild nomadic tribes
frequently meet with accidents. Out of the few men
that we measured, one suffered from a deformed finger,
and another had lost the little toe of his left foot.

It is very difficult to answer the question concerning the usual position of the
palm of the hand, i.e, whether it is directed forwards, or backwards, or sideways.
The hands are so constantly occupied in the case of both sexes that they are very
seldom at rest. So &r, however, as he (V.-St) had been able to observe it, the
palm was held sideways by the Negritos, i.e, directed towards the 1^ or a little
towards the front, whereas by the Sakai (Blandas) and Jakun it was directed
backwards.

The aborigines were at first much perplexed by being asked whether when
their fist was closed they could still stretch out one finger of the hand without
nnclosng the others. Both the Semang and Sakai (Blandas) could, however,
do this very easily when it was explained to them.

In measuring the width of the span between the thumb and the little or
middle finger, he (V.-St.) was struck by their inability to open their fingers
&«ely.«

The most noticeable point about the feet of the
Semang is the remarkable inward curve of the hallux,

1 Z,f, E, xxix. 176. » fb. p. 182.

* lb, p. 181. * lb, pp. 190, 191, 194.

VOL I E

50 RACIAL AFFINITIES part

as shown in the tracings of Pangan feet which we took
in Ulu Kelantan.

The following passage from Vaughan-Stevens about
the walk of the aborigines in general (" Orang Utan ")
applies perfectly to the Semang : —

" I have tried to obtain some data on the walk of the Orang Utan, but I
find that this is scarcely possible, from reasons related to the great variability of
their environment. In the first place, it is very rare to find a man who is free
firom cuts, cracks, or thorn-pricks ; for according to their custom they go bare-
foot in spite of the roughness of the land and of the obstacles and dangers with
which the thick vegetation threatens them. This influences their walk in one
respect In the second place, they are appreciably influenced by the character
of the jungle through which they have been wandering for some weeks previously.
From habit they adapt their walk to the peculiarities of the way by which they
have to travel. A path (for instance) where thorns that have fallen firom the trees
and creeping plants surround him causes the man to walk carefiilly and slowly,
and at each step to delay a moment before he trusts the whole weight of the
body to the foot ; and this method of walking is retained some dajrs firom mere
habit, even when the thorny jungle is left and the path is once more smooth and
level.

*' Afler observing a man for a whole day, I found that he employed no fewer
than eight different wajrs of walking, which varied with the nature of the ground
to be traversed. And the ground to be traversed suffers such constant changes
throughout the life of the Orang Utan that I really do not know which of these
ways of walking I should describe as his most usual method. Contrary to the
European in general, he has few or no level paths to go by, and hence the gait
which he adopts on such a path would not be his usual way of walking, but
would be precisely the method which he employs most rarely.

'* The footsteps of the Negritos, I am prepared to maintain, are almost straight
in the majority of cases, whereas all those of the Orang Utan (?) turn outwards.
In all races, however, there is so great a difference in the [usual] angles that it
is impossible to say which angle is the real standard." ^

Locomotion,^

With regard to strength and endurance in walking, the wild E. Semang
(Pangan) stand in the firont rank. Then come the Jakun and the civilised (W.)
Semang ; and, last of all, the various tribes of Sakai (Blandas and Tembeh).

The Semang are bad runners, but they are as quick as an eel or a snake in
getting through marshy swamps or forest, their small bodies being very pliant and
supple. In getting fast through bushes or mangrove jungle they are better than
the Sakai (Blandas), although the latter have the better sense of direction in
unknown forest

Climbing.

The following remarks, from the dialectal forms,
evidently refer to the Semang : —

» Z,/, E, xxix. 191, 192. « lb, pp. 193, 194.

I RACE-CHARACTERS OF NEGRITOS 51

Climbing, which in general is called "Lu-ig" ("Looig"), is designated by
three different names, according to the method employed :

1. ** Chid wad*' (** Chid ward "), in which the foot is straight, exactly as in
the position of the Sakai (Blandas) in the photograph I sent you.

2. ''Tinbon" ("Tinbom"), in which the feet grasp the tree with the inner
side of the sole.

3. " Ti-Nangan '* (" Tee-Nungam "), in which a rope is used (precisely as
in Ceylon), or in which the stem is embraced by the arms and legs at the same
time (European £ishion). The grasp of the hands is called *< Ma-Cheb.*'

A specimen of rope sent to Berlin by Vaughan-
Stevens was labelled as follows : —

**Nangan ('Nungam'), the rope used in climbing, for fastening the ankles
together, whilst the inside of each foot is pressed against the tree. "

In the same passage Vaughan- Stevens speaks very
contemptuously of the Semang as climbers —

'*The Semang are bad climbers; an ordinary school -girl would excel
the best of them. For climbing a straight, high stem, the Sakai (Blandas) is
the better. The Semang is nervous when high up in the air, especially if the
wind blows a little. The winds are for him the messengers of diseases ; he does
not like to be unprotected in their domain at the top of a high tree.'' ^

This description, however, is most unfair to the
Semang, many of whom, at least, can climb almost
like monkeys. I myself once saw two of the Kedah
Semang run several yards up trees by putting the flat
of their feet against the trunk and their arms round it.

Swimming.'^

The Semang are very bad swimmers, but the majority of them know how
to swim, which is called "Kijuaij" (" Keejooije"), and in water which only
reaches up to the breast they splash merrily about. They swim exactly in the
same way as the Northern Malays, swimming on the breast and paddling with
the hands like dogs, and drawing the legs vertically upwards from the knees,
and then straightening them vigorously, thus making a great splashing. Of deep
or rushing turbid water they have superstitious fears ; they are afraid, as a child
is afraid of the dark, as they ''do not know what their god Kari (* Kee,' sic)
may send to draw them down into the depths."

ThrowingJ^

In throwing the [** tame "] Semang is as clumsy as a European woman. The
action is the same, ue. with the shoulder instead of with the wrist and elbow.

1 Z./. E, xxix. 199. « lb, p. 198. * lb, p. 200.

52 RACIAL AFFINITIES part

Sensitiveness to Pain,
The Sem&ng appear to be less sensitive to pain than the Sakai (Blandas).^

Physiogttomy,

The open mouth is sometimes covered by the hand, or the latter is carried up
to some port of the head.

When a man is indignant or defiant he frowns. He does not, however, at
the same time clench his fists.

In *' simple " people the comers of the mouth are very slightly depressed, and
the adjacent extremities of the eyebrows raised, by the muscle that the French
call the "grief muscle."

In the more intelligent the eyes sparkle, the skin round and under them being
wrinkled, and the mouth slightly drawn back at the comers.

When one man sneers or jeers at another it rarely happens that the comers
of the upper lip over the canine or eye teeth are raised on the side facing the
man whom he addresses.

A dogged or obstinate expression can be very easily recognised among the
Semang.

It is uncertain whether any gesture of contempt exists.

Disgust is expressed by a sudden expiration of the breath, something like
incipient vomiting.

In the case of extreme fear the Semang children remain quite quiet. The
met sit down quietly and frequently utter a sharp hissing noise. Both men and
women open their mouths and eyes.

To show that he cannot prevent something being done, or cannot himself do
something, he slightly raises his eyebrows, and keeps his mouth somewhat open.

The children pout markedly when they are sulky, and run away quietly.

To express affirmation the head is thrast forwards, whereas to express negation
the eyes are cast down.'

Physical Endurance,

Vaughan-Stevens remarks that he did not observe any difference between these
races in the power of enduring heat, e,g, when they had been exposed through
the whole day to the sun on a journey, except as regards their general [sicy
? individual] power of enduring fatigue. Elsewhere he remarks that in the sensi-
tiveness of the head to the sun's heat very little difference (between the three
races) at first probably existed. [This point, however, is a difficult one to establish,
since] the Semang (Menik) wear nothing as a rule but a head-band, and hence
scarcely feel any special increase of the sun*s heat.

There is never any appreciable degree of cold in the plains of the Peninsula,
and even such falls of temperature as occur are never of long duration. The
cold wet winds of the mountains are, however, felt more by the E. Semang
(Pangan) and Tembeh (Temia)* than the Sakai. The wild E. Semang (Pangan),
however, can bear such low temperatures as occasionally occur without the least
sign of discomfort, when the more civilised tribes are reduced to cowering over a
fire with chattering teeth.

* Z,f.E, xxix. 203. omitted. Even the answers given by

• Answers to questions drawn up by Vaughan-Stevens with regard to the
Darwin, collected by V.-St., and pub- Semang are sometimes inconsistent,
lished in F. B. G, A, xxviiL 270-272. * Vaughan - Stevens ascribes this
The answers referring to the Sakai greater sensitiveness of the Tembeh to
and Jakun are valueless, the two races the feet of their constitution having
being confused by V. -St. , and are hence been enfeebled by disease !

I SUMMARY OF NEGRITO CULTURE 53

The Negritos themselves acknowledge that the Semang (Menik) child
generally sufiers more when in want of food than the Sakai (Blandas) and Jakun
children.^

Summary of Semang Culture.*

The Semang are the most nomadic of all these
tribes, the wilder ones never staying, it is alleged,
more than three days in one place. But few of them
have taken to agriculture, and they obtain their liveli-
hood by hunting, fishing, and trapping, by digging up
wild roots and tubers, and by gathering the various
jungle fruits as they come into season.

They are fond of tobacco, but very seldom indulge
in betel-chewing, of which, in fact, I never saw an
instance among the Semang of Kedah and Ulu Patani.
They wear to some extent the loin-cloth of tree-bark
(the bark selected being in some cases that of the
upas or poison-tree), but their distinctive costume
appears to be a mere girdle of leaves, or, as especially
on festal occasions, a peculiar girdle manufactured from
the long black shiny strings (really the rhizomorph)
of a toad-stool !

The wildest of the Semang do not appear as a
r(ue to tattoo, or scarify, either the face or the body,
though in some cases they may have learnt the custom
(of scarification) from the Sakai. They (the men
especially) often shave the head, and not unfrequently
about half a dozen of their front teeth will be seen
to have been filed, though this is not necessarily a
Semang custom. The women wear in their hair a
magic comb which is believed to avert disease and
danger. The Semang do not circumcise. Their dis-
tinctive weapon is the bow with poisoned arrows,

* Z,f, E. xxix. 202, 203.
^ For CoL Temple's comparison of Semang with Andamanese v. Appendix.

54 RACIAL AFFINITIES part

though many of them have now adopted the blowpipe
of the Sakai and Jakun.

Their habitations are of the most primitive descrip-
tion, generally consisting of natural shelters under
overhanging rocks, or of the simplest form of leaf-
shelters, erected either on the ground or between the
branches of trees. The most advanced type of these
leaf-shelters was a shelter made long enough to accom-
modate the entire tribe and furnished with their re-
markable bamboo bed-places. They have no boats,
but occasionally use rough bamboo rafts for drifting
down stream. Their musical instruments are all of
bamboo, and consist of simple kinds of ** stamping "
instruments (intended for beating time rather than for
making music), the nose-flute and the Jews -harp.
They have no drums.

They barter jungle produce with the Malays, but
do not work for the latter to so great an extent as the
Jakun. Their religious ideas are of great interest.
They have a kind of deities called Kari and Pie, but
these appear, like some of the **high gods'* of the
Australian ** Blackfellows," to be rather of the nature
of mythological personages or otiose gods than real
divinities, as, although they have many divine attri-
butes, there is practically no trace of an actual cult.
The Semang marriage rite is of the slightest, but
they are strict monogamists, and both sexes are faith-
ful to the marriage tie. It is said by Malays that they
formerly devoured their dead, burying the head only ;
this assertion may rest on some old Semang practice
of disinterring the corpse, but they now invariably
bury the deceased entire. They have no great fear
of the ghosts of the deceased, such as is shown so
strongly by the Sakai and the Jakun.

Sakai of S. Pekak.

Vol. I. p. 55.

RACE-CHARACTERS OF SAKAI 55

II. — Race-Characters of Sakai.

The Sakai appear to have their racial focus in
the mountain ranges of S.E. Perak and N.W. Pa-
hang. Their district marches on the north (in Perak)
with that of the Semang, the dividing line being
stated by some observers to be the Perak river, and
by others (De Morgan, Hale, and others) to be the
Plus river already referred to. There can be no
doubt, however, that there has been a considerable
admixture ; witness the photographs of some so-called
" Semang " tribes of Perak and elsewhere, which
frequently include types that are distinctly Sakai ;
certainly no really distinct geographical boundary can
be drawn between the two races, and on the whole it
would seem that the much-talked-of line of demarca-
tion between the Semang and Sakai is (as far as race
and culture go) no line at all, but a belt of mixed tribes
which run, e.g.^ through mid-Perak and N. Pahang.^

On the east coast the Sakai do not appear to
extend far into either Kelantan or Trengganu, though
they are found in Pahang, their admixture with Pangans
commencing somewhere near Clifford's line, e.g.^ in
the district of Ulu Jelai. Westward of the central
chain, on the other hand, they appear to extend
through the interior of Selangor, and thence, in
the form of a narrowing wedge (and with a rapidly
increasing admixture of Jakun blood), through the
inland districts of Negri Sembilan, at least as far south
as Malacca, and almost certainly as far south as Johor.

' For further notes on their distribu- fortunately no clear proof that the

tioa, see, for instance, De la Croix's writer is always able to distinguish

article in Rev, d*Ethnogr, vol. i. No. between Semang and Sakai.
4 (18S2), p. 320 ; though there is un-

56 RACIAL AFFINITIES part

As, however, the exact racial limits of the Sakai have
not yet been defined (if, indeed, they will ever be
definable), it has been thought best to draw the line
between the Sakai and the Jakun at the point where
the influence of the latter commences to be fairly
certain and appreciable, i.e. at Southern Selangor and
mid-Pahang.

Passing to the general physical characters of this
second group, the Senoi' (or Cymotrichi of Martin),
I am indebted to Professor Martin for much of my
information concerning them. Owing to the fact that
their headquarters are in S.E. Perak and N.W.
Pahang, no member of our exploring party came across
any individuals. Consequently the following account
is drawn chiefly from published notes and other
material kindly supplied by Martin.*

In height the Sakai does not appreciably differ
from the Semang.

The average height of the men is 1504 mm., 85
per cent of the individuals measured ranging from
1460 to 1580 mm. Some few individuals were as low
as 1380 mm.

The average height of the women is 1437 mm., 53 per
cent ranging from 1390 to 1450 mm., and 17 per cent
below 1 390 mm. The smallest individuals, two adult
married women, possessed a height of 1320 mm. only.

The head is chiefly dolichocephalic, whereas the
Semang measured by Martin are described as mesati-
cephalic, with, however, a strong tendency to the
dolichocephalic condition.

^ Senoi = Orang Halas of Newbold. pines' quills therein.

Cp./. /. A. vol. iv. p. 429, where the * To this should be added the

O. Alas of Ulu Kantu (? Kinta) are measurements of Wray {Per, A/us,

described by Col. I-ow as a tribe of Nofes, iii. pp. 33, 34). Those in Fasc.

Perak Sakai, who pierce the cartilage Afai. are taken account of at p. 96

of the nose and ears and insert porcu- se^,^ infra.

RACE'CHARACTERS OF SAKAI 57

The face is fairly long and broad, but pointed
towards the chin. The forehead is, in the male, flat,
often far overshadowing the eyes, and causes the root
of the nose to retreat far back. Of the men 93 per
cent, and 73 per cent of the women, are mesoprosopic.
The lips are thick; the under-lip often hangs down
and may be described as "swollen." The Sakai are
distinctly lighter in complexion than the Semang. The
hair is black, but never deep black ; in most cases it
shows a brownish shimmer, especially in the young, and
differs widely from that of the Semang and the Malay.

From the remarks of other travellers who have
met with Sakai, as well as from photographs, we may
picture the Sakai as a slenderly built race, and as often
presenting an emaciated appearance, which is increased
by their long, unkempt wavy hair hanging down to the
shoulders, and by their large restless eyes.

In evidence of their striking resemblance to the
Veddas, it is perhaps worth remarking that one of the
brothers Sarasin, who had lived among the Veddas
and knew them well, when shown a photograph of a
typical Sakai, at first supposed it to be a photograph
of a Vedda.^

Without wishing to definitely commit myself as to
the affinities of this race, I think that it is fairly clear
even from the existing evidence that they are at any
rate quite distinct from the Semang or Ulotrichi of
Martin, as they are also from the Jakun (Lissotrichi)
type found among the southern tribes.

A number of other measurements concerning this
type are taken from the writings of Rudolf Virchow,

1 This information was given me by quite as emphatically remarked to me
Professor Martin, who himself showed upon the resemblance of my Sakai
the photograph. Mr. Shrubsall once photographs to Tamils.

58 RACIAL AFFINITIES part

who, in discussing the height of individuals measured
by Vaughan- Stevens, gives the figures which are
quoted in the Appendix.

In another volume of the Verhandlungen^ Virchow
refers to the skull of a Sakai (Senoi) woman, which
he describes as orthodolichocephalic, and the full de-
scription of which will be found in the Appendix.

The most interesting point about this skull, apart
from its dolichocephalic character and certain structural
anomalies, is the formation of the nose, which is de-
pressed to such an extent that Virchow was tempted
to regard it as pithekoid. Another no less important
point in Virchow's paper is the description he gives of
the Sakai hair-character, concerning which he says : —

*• On the other hand, I must also point to a very pronounced Sakai (Blandas)
characteristic In a recent consignment sent by H. Vaughan-Stevens was found
the lock of hair of a Sakai (Senoi) man from the north of the Peninsula. The
memorandum sent with it was to the effect that * the clan to which the man
belongs does not cut the hair.' At the meeting of 2ist November 1891 {Verh.
p. 844), I treated the Sakai (Blandas) hair in detail from a large number of
specimens of hair sent by Vaughan-Stevens. As compared with those specimens,
I may briefly state that the lock of hair now before us exactly corresponds to
them. Its wavy structure distinguishes it completely from the spirally curled
structure of the E, Semang {Pangan) hair {Verh, 1892, p. 443). Its length
amounts to rather more than 20 cm. , but we cannot decide exactly how long the
hair was when entire, as it is not stated at what distance from the scalp the lock
was cut off. It is of a blackish appearance, and in reflected light of a slightly
brownish and glossy colour ; seen under the microscope in thin sections it is light
brown, with a dark and often interrupted medulla. The ends, as is the case
with the uncut hair, are pointed, broken at the sides, and frequently split into two
or more fragments.

* • The contrast between the two races cannot be more sharply expressed. Unfor-
tunately Vaughan-Stevens has neglected to take advantage of his opportunities,
and to send us a larger number of specimens of hair from his Semang friends, of
which measurements would also be highly desirable. We hope the opportunity
will be given him to fill up these gaps." ^

Elsewhere Vaughan-Stevens, writing apparently of
the body-hair of the Sakai (Blandas) tribes, says : —

« The natural growth of the hair is thin and scattered, and in both sexes the
direction of growth of the hair (of the body), as well as that at the back of the
head and under the arms, is slightly upwards."

^ V. B. G, A, xxviii. 154 (cp. I. c, * lb, xxvi. 359. See also Montano,

1894, for further particulars). PI. xxxi.

M^Crepffr,

Old Sakai Man, • Thk Fathkr of all the Sakai«." Ulu Berang, Eight Miles
FROM Tanjong Malim, South Perak.

I'ot. I. /. 59.

I RACE-CHARACTERS OF SAKAI 59

The hair of the Sakai (Blandas) in old age is less inclined to become grey
than that of the Malays, and complete baldness is actually so rare that it is
looked upon as a remarkable exception which only occurs occasionally.^

The more detailed account of the Sakai (Blandas)
hair referred to above as collected by Vaughan-
Stevens is as follows, the description of the specimens
being in Vaughan-Stevens* own words : —

^*No. 39. Specimen of hair chosen for me by an old Batin, as a typical example
of Sakai (Blandas) hair ; tradition declared it to be the original form. The Sakai
themselves unanimously declare that the straight, coarse hair sometimes found
amoBg them comes from cross-breeding with the Malays, and themselves call it
coarse (• Kasar *). The supposed original type, of which they are very proud,
is called Water-hair (* Rambut Ayer'); it is still to be seen occasionally and
has a distinct reddish tinge. Moreover, it does not as a rule turn white, as the
coarser hair does. The present specimen is from a Sakai woman 35 years old,
and has been cut off as close to the scalp as possible."

No, 40. From a 75-year-old Sakai man, wizened and bent with age.

No, 41. From a 37-year-old Sakai man.

No, 43. From children. The shortest specimen is from a 4-months-old
boy ; the next longest from a 2-year-old girl ; the longest from a 6-year-old boy.^

To the foregoing may be added Virchow's descrip-
tion of a remarkable specimen of hair (No. 105) sent
by Vaughan-Stevens : —

It b an immense shock (Schopf) reaching 30 cm. in length, and consists
of thick glossy black hairs, which display a somewhat reddish tinge towards the
tips.

A fourth specimen of hair (Na 104) sent by Vaughan-Stevens consisted of a
beautifully wavy lock of 36 cm. in length, which, taken as a whole, was of a
splendid black, with a reddish shimmer in reflected light, especially towards the
tips, though otherwise it is coarse but glossy. I find no noticeable difference
fix>m the Sakai hair which I have already fully described at the meeting of 2 1st
November 1 891 {Verh, pp. 844-846).

Not only from these statements of Vaughan-Stevens, but still more from inspec-
tion of the hair-specimens sent by him, it is clear that the Sakai (Blandas) cannot
be at all nearly related either to Negritos or Papuans. Moreover, the difference
of this hair from that of the '* Orang Sakai " described by Miklucho-Maclay is
abundantly clear.'

With regard to the above-mentioned specimens of
hair Virchow adds a few remarks of his own, conclud-
ing as follows : —

The net results of this investigation lead me to a conclusion similar to the
one to which I came at the meeting of the i6th February 1889 ( Verh, p. 158),

1 Z,f,E. xxix. 178, 179.

^ Vaughan-Stevens, quoted by Virchow in V, B, G, A, xxiii. 844, 845.

' V, B, G. A, xxviii. (Virchow) 149,150.

6o RACIAL AFFINITIES part

with respect to the more ancient races of the Southern and South -Eastern
Islands of the Malay Sea. Just as in these islands I could point out a broad
zone of wavy-haired people between the spiral -haired Melanesians and the straight-
haired Malays, so, too, in Malacca the wavy -haired Sakai race (Blandas)
appears to have established itself between the spiral-haired N^[Tito8 (Semang)
of the North and the lank- (straff) haired [Jakuns and] Malays of the South
and of most of the coast districts. For the islanders I have again adopted
for this race the old and certainly much-misused name of AlfurSs, It follows
that the near relationship of the Sakai (Blandas) to the AlfiinSs might be inferred
from this evidence.

Of the insular Alfur6s I remarked that, in respect of their hair-character, they
connect up with the Australians on the one hand and the Veddas of Ceylon on
the other. Perhaps, therefore, the Sakai (*' wild men ") of Malacca might be
regarded as Dravidians. However, we are precluded firom regarding them as
entirely identical, owing to the iacx. that the Sakai (Blandas) are inclined to be
brachycephalic, whereas these other races are dolichocephalic' This raises new
questions, which can only be decided by further information.^

The Colour of the Skin,^

According to Vaughan-Stevens, the Sakai (Blandas) of the present time (like
the western or domesticated (*' tame " Semang) offer nearly as great a diversity of
colour as the Malays.

The Sakai is lighter than the Semang, and seems to be more affected by
heat than the latter (v., however, supra).

Among the Sakai (Blandas), whose colour varies, he (V.-St.) saw nothing
that could support the theory that, among a number of individuals, those with
darker skins stood exposure better on the march. On the other hand, in this
thickly wooded country one cannot walk far without coming into the protection
of the shade of the forest

The Sakai (Blandas) prefer the lighter colour, and are proud of fair-
coloured children, in which they possibly follow the Malay view. But in olden
times the light colour was not an attribute of their chiefs.^

He could not find tliat there was any relation between a coarse or fine skin
texture and its colour, when the coarseness of the skin is not the result of special
exposure, or of a disease.

He found among the Sakai (Blandas), when no skin disease was present, no
other smell than that which is ever to be observed in cases where the activity of
the skin is suppressed, and no cleansing material, such as soap, etc, is employed ;
for the splashing of water over the body rather answers the purpose of refreshing,
than that of cleansing, the skin.

Sight,

The eyes of the Sakai (Blandas) are all alike, and Vaughan-Stevens observed
no deviation firom shades Nos. I or 2.^

* There can, however, now be little in small numbers between brachy-

doubt arising from this particular cephalic Negritos as well as brachy-

difficulty, in view of the fact that cephalic Malayan tribes,
in the purest strain of Sakai blood * K B, G, A, xxiiL (Virchow) 847.

doHchocephaly has been shown to ' Z,f,E. xxix. (V,-St.) 174-176.

obtain. The original dolichocephalic ^ This statement of Vaughan-Stevens

character of the Sakai appears to have is, I believe, without foundation,
been modified owing to their isolation * Virchow in V. B, G, A, xxiiL 840.

i!»,ifiP'*^:i<3M«

MiXKD Sakai-Semang Type, Ulu Batu, Selangor.

A/^iJft'^^or.

I'aL I. /. 60.

wr ii

McGregor.

MiXKD Sakai-Skmang Tvi>k. Ulu Batu, Selancjor.

Vol I.p.ti.

I RACE'CHARACTERS OF SAKAI 6i

In colour the eyes of all the Sakai are exactly alike (Z /. E, xxix. 176), and
do not have the conjunctiva coloured deep yellow as the Negritos do.

The eyes of their children are extremely well formed, and with their long
black eyelashes add much to the beauty of their appearance. There b no trace
of the " Mongolian fold," in which the skin of the inner comer of the eye droops
over the eye itself; the edge of the upper eyelid is always well formed.*

Squinting is certainly known to them, since they are much afraid of the
endangering of their padi-harvest by a demon (Hantu), whom they represent as
*' squinting." The Sakai (Blandas) believe that the visual field of a person
who squints is wider than of a person whose sight is normal.'

Among the Sakai (Blandas) he (V.'-St.) only met with three cases of short-sight,
two of which were men and one a woman. On the other hand, however, the
fiu'-sightedness of the eye cannot be well estimated in the jungle, thickly shut in
as it is by trees and leaves. Much depends on practice and general acquaintance
with the objects in the jungle, to which Vaughan-Stevens was, comparatively
speakings much less accustomed. But the jungle men or women would even
show him the points of an animal's horns among the surrounding foliage, a thing
which it is naturally very difficult to discover, whereas he, with normally good
sight (for an European), had to search vainly for a long time before he observed
them. Again, ever3rthing which was in motion they saw at once, however insigni-
ficant it might be in point of size.

The Sakai (Blandas) had, in general, decidedly weak eyes. In their
earliest youth, if no accident attacked them, they had good sight for any object
moving in the jungle. But, as might be expected in the case of a forest-people,
their eyes soon tired in a strong light. On the few opportunities which Vaughan-
Stevens had of finding himself with Sakai (Blandas) in a wide, open space, he
observed that he could distinguish fiur-distant objects much better than they could.

He adds that among the Sakai (Blandas), who wore Malay clothing, and
were acquainted with the use of needle and thread, he never met with an old
Sakai (Blandas) woman who could not thread an ordinary needle without
difficulty.3

On the subject of sight, Mr. L. Wray,* during his
travels in Perak, came to the following conclusions : —

'* Seven Sakais firom Ch^roh came up to carry down baggage, so ... in the
afternoon I measured them and tested their eyesight. I have now tested the
sight of between thirty and forty of both sexes, and there seems to be no doubt
that they have very good sight as a race. Of those tested in Batang Padang, the
shortest distance that the Army test-spots could be seen was 32 feet, and the'
longest 91 feet. In testing recruits for the British Army 20 feet is con^ered an
average distance for these spots to be read, and a man reading at over that
distance is classed as long-sighted, and under as short-sighted. In measuring the
women there was great difficulty, as they did not know Malay and could not count.
... I got over it by giving the subject a handful of matches, and explaimng by
signs that I wanted a match for each spot on the card held up."

Hearing.^

The sense of hearing of the Sakai (Blandas) and Tembeh, though not so acute
as that of the Jakun, was about equal to that of the W. Semang.

> Z.f,E, xxix. (V.-St) 176, 177. ^ J,R,A.S., S, B,, No. 21, pp.

' Griinwedel in Vaughan-Stevens, ii. 148, 149. For fuller statistics and

152. details, v, Perak Mtu, Notes^^^xx. p. 36.

3 Z,f.E. xxix. (V.-St.) 180, 181. « Z,f. E. xxix. 181.

62 RACIAL AFFINITIES

Hands and Fut,^

The Sakai (Blandas), like the Semang, experienced no difficulty whatever in
stretching out one finger when the rest of the fingers were closed.

The Tittle toe of the Sakai (Blandas) is much less straight than that of the
Jakun, although they never wear boots as we do to deform their feet, but the
tip of the little toe is nevertheless bent like ours, and is either comparatively
small in proportion or differs in direction from the other toes.

After remarking that the footsteps of the Orang
Utan are usually turned outwards, Vaughan- Stevens
adds : —

One thing, however, is worthy of remark among all Sakai (Blandas), the
setting down of the foot is done with the middle of the foot. The heel does not
touch the ground first. But in nine cases out of ten which came under observa-
tion the foot was injured by thorns, stones, etc., so that from time to time a more
or less unnatural gait was caused.

It is, therefore, very difficult to give an exact description of the walk of the
Sakai (Blandas). The body is held upright and very straight, while the whole
movement proceeds from the ankles, knees, and hips. At the same time there is
only a very slight, rhythmical swing of the arms.^

One hand usually carries the blow-gun (Sumpitan), the other being armed
with the parang, i.e, jungle-knife or chopper, and is always in readiness to give
a quick blow to a prickly rattan or other obstacle half hidden among the foliage
through which the path of the Sakai leads. This custom has to such an extent
become second nature that, even when he walks without a weapon in the open
plains, the Sakai holds his arms in the accustomed position. It is difficult to say
what is the usual carriage of the head.

In the matter of strength and physical etidurance the Sakai (Blandas) and
Tembeh (Temia) are at the bottom of the scale.

The Sakai (Blandas) are not so clever as the Semang in getting through
bush or jungle, though the Sakai have the better sense of direction.*

Climbing.

In climbing a straight high stem the Sakai (Blandas)
are better than the more civilised Semang. This,
however, is not saying much, since the Western
Semang are (according to Vaughan-Stevens) very bad
climbers* — an opinion already combated (p. 51).

When the Sakai (Blandas) want to climb a small tree only, they climb it like
the Central Sakai (Senoi). The larger trees usually have climbing-plants and
runners hanging down from their branches, or smaller trees in their immediate

* Z,f, E, xxix. (V..*~ ) 190. arms are not swung in walking.

^ On the very next r ^ (193), how- * Z. f, E, xxix. (V.-St.) 192, 193.

ever, Vaughan- Steve IS remarks that the * lb. p. 199.

Ccrntii.

Sakai Boy with Blowpipe, Ulu Sungkai, S. Perak

yd, I. / 62

Cerruth

Sakai Boy (probably ok Ulu Slim).

/W. /./ 63.

I RACE-CHARACTERS OF SAKAI 63

neighbourhood, from the branches of which the Sakai can swing himself up into
the branches of the larger ones. The Sakai, however, always knows how to
cut notches in the bark for the purpose of climbing.

At the present day they practise every method of climbing which they can
learn from their neighbours.

Access to the high-raised huts of the Tembeh (Temia) is afforded by a tree-
trunk placed diagonally, similar to the shorter tree-trunk utilised by the Sakai
(Blandas) of Kuantan, who are much mixed with Tembeh (Temia) blood. They
allege that as their huts have no doors, the dogs and fowls which are wandering
about everywhere might otherwise get into the huts and do mischief there when
the men were away.

Among the Tembeh (Temia) the object is solely to keep intruders out,
especially the black panther and the python. For this reason a smooth and
slippery bamboo is carefully freed from all projections at the nodes, with the
exception of a few thin twigs, by which the feet may be supported in climbing,
and set up in a sloping position. No special grip of the toes is used in climbing
them, and the toes of the Tembeh (Temia), especially the great toe, are not more
strongly developed for gripping than the toes of other Sakai Very small
children are often left for hours in those airy huts, on account of their safety, as
they are here safe from the great cats and snakes, and prevented from falling
down by the low parapet^

Swimming,

The Sakai (Blandas) swim but little, in fact they only do so when they are
obliged to cross a river, or when they are bathing. They then swim like dogs.
They throw out their arms forwards in a swinging, circular stroke, while the
body turns towards the side away from the stroke. Both the breast-stroke and
side-stroke, as well as swimming on the back, are unknown to them.

Among the Sakai (Blandas) the Central tribes (Senoi) are always con-
sidered the best swimmers ; this is probably due to the fact that the big Pahang
river has afforded them more practice.

The Tembeh (Temia) cannot swim at all.*

Sleeping,^

The Sakai (Blandas) women do not, as a rule, sleep on the side, but on the
bock, and try to raise the head a little by some sort of pillow. They give as
thdr reason for this that, if they lie on the side, the hip has to bear the weight
of the body, in which case they would get " latah," * and suffer from cramp in
their sleep !

The Sakai (Blandas) men often sleep on the back, at the same time drawing
the legs up towards the body, so that the sole of the foot rests flat upon the
ground But the side-long position is also not unfrequently adopted by the men
when they first lie down, in fact sometimes one side and sometimes the other
is chosen indifferently. Sakai (Blandas) men told Vaughan-Stevens that when
they lay upon their side such vermm as ants, scorpions, and centipedes would
crawl over the sleeping-mats and enter their eyes, nostrils, and mouth, whereas
by lying on the back they could feel their approach. Others, however, declare
that by sleeping on the back they can hear a noise or alarm-signal better.

Among the Sakai (Blandas), as among the Semang (Pangan), the bachelors
inhabited the verandah (when there was one) or else the external portion of the

* Z./. E, xxix. 200. * lb, p. 198. * A strange hysterical affection

3 Z,f,E. xxix. 186-198. common among Malays.

64 RACIAL AFFINITIES part

■ f

huts. Among the Tembeh the only difference was that the bedroom of the
married people was separated off by a low partition.^

Physical Eftdurance,^

Sakai tribes which have adopted Malay clothing generally experience dis-
comfort in the absence of headgear to protect them from the sun. On the other
hand, the Sakai (Blandas) appear to suffer more from the cold, wet winds
of the mountains than the Jakun.

If this power of withstanding change of temperature depended upon the
relatively greater abundance and regularity of their food, the Sakai should be
less sensitive to such changes than any other tribe. But whether their sensitive-
ness to such changes was originally greater than that of other tribes or not, the
fact that they are now accustomed to clothes and to the protection of better-
built houses has rendered them more susceptible to every change of temperature.

The Sakai children endure want of food better than the Semang children
(z^. supra).

The younger men of the Sakai have a game called " K'lupent," which is
usually played when they are sitting round the fire in the evening while their
womenfolk are plaiting mats and baskets. Each player who is a candidate for the
favour of a girl, endeavours to heap disgrace on his opponent and raise himself
in the esteem of the women. The game is played with short slivers of rattan,
which can by a particular knack be made to draw blood at every stroke, a rapid
backward motion of the arm and wrist causing the sharp edge of the rattan
to strike the skin like a knife, and cutting it easily. When I asked for its applica-
tion in earnest, the force of the blow from the knot made me writhe with pain.
The instrument is also made from string. The ring (of rattan slivers) is twisted
round the hand, the knot at the end of the strips being held between the thumb
and forefinger. The arm is then lifted, and as it is brought down the knot is
released and descends with a swingeing blow on the forearm of the opponent,
whilst at the same moment the arm is drawn rapidly in to the body.

The men sit opposite one another with bare arms. A small stake is deposited
by each. He who first acts as striker asks the other how many blows of the
rattan he will bear on his forearm without crying out. If he receives the
stipulated number without wavering, he puts his opponent's wi^er into his
pocket, and then in turn takes the rattan slivers and challenges the other to
name the number of blows he will endure; should any one who receives
the blows call out for them to cease, he loses his bet and is loaded by his
opponent and the spectators with scorn and jeers (which is the true purpose of
the game when, as usual, it is inspired by malice).

The Sakai (Blandas) children are acquainted with a form of the tug-of-war
in which one or more children on each side pull a rope in opposite directions.
They have probably borrowed the idea from Malay children, who may be frequently
seen playing at it.

Summary of Sakai Culture.

The Sakai, though still largely nomadic, and at first
extremely shy, are perhaps the most sociable and talka-
tive of the three races, when once their confidence is

I Z. /. E, xxix. 190. * lb, pp. 201-203.

SUMMARY OF SAKAI CULTURE 65

gained. Like the Semang they not unfrequently live
in tree - huts or other temporary forms of shelter.
Their men wear the tree-bark loin-cloth, and their
women a tree-bark wrapper, except, of course, where
they have borrowed Malay clothing. They tattoo
the face, the design commonly taking the form of four
gradually converging lines drawn from the region of
the ear to the root of the nose, with perhaps a sort of
pitchfork design incised upon the chin. These designs
are sometimes marked out in rows of black and white
dots (in lieu of scarification) ; with these may be con-
nected their black and white bead -necklaces. Both
scarification and body-painting take, however, various
forms, the latter having been developed into a regular
system. They do not circumcise, and seldom file the
teeth, but they not unfrequently wear a metal ring or a
{K)rcupine quill inserted through the septum of the nose.

Their distinctive weapon, like that of the Jakun,
is the bamboo blowpipe, which they have brought to
great perfection.

They have no form of boat, nor do they even as a
rule use rafts.^

Their musical instruments are very fairly similar
to those of the Semang, and, like the latter, they not
unfrequently engage in the barter of jungle products.
Their agriculture is of the most primitive description,
their chief implement (for breaking-up the soil) being
a pointed stick.

Of their religion very little is at present known —
less even than of that of the Semang. There is,
however, a kind of deity whom they call Tuhan, and
who appears somewhat analogous to the Kari of the
Semang. Their alleged totemism is quite unproved.

1 Hale, p. 286.
VOL. I F

66 RACIAL AFFINITIES part

Like the Semang they are strict in their observ-
ance of the marriage tie, but unlike them they
have the greatest possible fear of death, or rather,
perhaps, of the ghost of the deceased, and will
frequently burn down or desert an encampment in
which a death has occurred.

III. — Race-Characters of Jakun.

There remains for consideration the third group
of tribes which inhabit the southern portion of the
Peninsula. These are the mixed tribes of Martin, and
include the Jakun or ** savage Malays" of Wallace.
They fall into three main and two subordinate groups,
the latter of which are without doubt closely allied.

1. Tribes mainly of Semang origin, e.g. the
Kenaboi (?) and perhaps the Udai.

2. Tribes mainly of Sakai origin, e.g. the Blandas
and Berembuns (?).

3. The Jakun or Malayan aborigines, comprising —
{a) The Orang Bukit, or Land (lit. " Hill") Jakun.
{b) The Orang Laut, or Sea Jakun.

Although it is not possible at present to make a
proper classification of all the tribes of the Jakun
group, it may yet be useful to attempt a rough and
general identification of them so far as the very scanty
information we possess will take us.

The Blandas properly so called, whose home is in
Southern Selangor, have been described by Martin as
dolichocephalic, and hence are most likely to prove
largely of Sakai extraction.^ Their exact affinities,

^ For the "Blandas," see also Lenggeng, Singa Kuasa, and Pakat,

Newbold, ii. 393, where we are told and four Jinangs or chiefo of the

that they had (in 1839) four Batins second rank, viz. Pawang P&diching

or chiefs of the first rank, viz. Baning, (" Pawampa de Cheyng" !), Ampu

Mixed Jakun Type. Bukit Pkual, Sei.angor

M<^Gregoi

Vol. /./. 67

I RACE-CHARACTERS OF SA VAGE AfALA VS 67

however, have not hitherto been traced, and in spite of
their dolichocephalic skull-character, it would not be
safe, in the absence of more exact information as to
their hair - charactery etc., to attempt to so identify
them as such. They have, therefore, been retained
in the group of mixed tribes to which the name of
Jakun has been given in this book. It may be noted
that although their district is conterminous with that
of the Besisi, they present a marked contrast to the
latter tribe, both in respect of their head-index, which
is dolichocephalic as contrasted with the brachycephaly
of the Besisi, and also in their language and their
customs.^ No exact measurements of the Blandas
have yet been published, pending the appearance of
Martin s forthcoming work, and hence they will not
be referred to again in the present chapter.

The Kenaboi (or "Sakai" of S. Ujong) may
perhaps prove to be a mixed tribe mainly of Semang
type (though with some Sakai admixture), as the few
facts we possess would lead us to expect.* The
Berembun, or Birmun, and Pago tribes cannot yet be
safely classified. The Udai appear to have a stronger
Semang admixture than the tribes surrounding them.

The Besisi and Mantra of Selangor and Malacca
are brachycephalic (Martin), and are most probably a
mixed branch of the Sea-Jakun — in spite of the fact
that the Besisi dialect presents a close connection with

Manis, Palsai (? Pa' L&ai), and Ram- ^ For further remarks r$ admixture,

bofig("Rumbong"). Vaughan-Stevens v, conclusions, infra.

gives a quite unwarranted extension to * The Kenaboi is a stream in Jelebu.

the term which he generally uses as In a letter of 3rd November 1902,

the equiTalent of Sakal He also Mr. Hale writes that the *' O. Kena-

ttates (obviously as a pure guess) that boi " had so harmful a reputation that

the amount of Malay blood in them is it was believed that any one who ac-

*' not less than 2 per cent, and prob- cidentally trod upon their expecto'ra-

ably more" (V.-St. il 94), but the tion would suffer severely from boils

«ntire passage wants correction. and blains, if he did not die of it.

68 RACIAL AFFINITIES part

the dialect of the Sakai. They have certainly some
Semang, and probably a little Sakai admixture, but
appear nevertheless to be largely Malayan.

The Beduanda of Naning and Rembau are, as is
locally known, mixed with a strong Menangkabau Malay
element. The term " Beduanda " is to be applied —

(i) To Mohammedan Malays descended, it is
alleged, from Menangkabau men and aboriginal
women.

(2) To aborigines (heathen). These latter prob-
ably have no right to be considered as descended
from Menangkabau, although they do sometimes
claim it.

** Beduanda " appears to be a title introduced from
without (through Hinduised Malay influence) among
these tribes. The Malay Beduanda ^ are the premier
** Suku " or clan in their own estimation, and are
"sons of the soil," because of their (partial) aboriginal
descent They recognise the aboriginal Beduanda * as
distant kinsmen who have been left behind in the
march of civilisation. The Mantra are Beduanda,
but the Jakun are not so recognised.

The Benua of Logan and other early writers, here
called Benua -Jakun, cannot yet be classed, but the
Jakun and the Orang Laut have a comparatively large
Malayan element, though both have in some parts a
strong infusion of Semang and Sakai blood.

Labu Tribes.

Reliable accounts of the tribes in the Labu district
of Sungei Ujong are so rare that I make no excuse
for the following quotation : —

» «« Beduanda Jawa." * " Beduanda Jakun."

I RACE-CHARACTERS OF SA VAGE MALA YS 69

" The tribe settled here {ue. on Perhentian Tinggi estate) consists of twelve
men, seven women, six older and five small children. It belongs to a larger
tribe of about two hundred souls, which is settled in Batang Labu, Sungei
Ujong, under a Batin.

<* The Batin, who might have been able to give information on the point, was
not here, and from the somewhat indefinite statements of the older men I
conclude that this tribe belongs to one of the four great Sakai fiimilies, which
(according to Martin Lister), coming from the mountains of Skudei, have settled
in the States of Johol, Jelebu, Klang, and Sungei Ujong, and, indeed, in that
of S. Ujong, as from all that I could hear they have nothing in common with
the Sakais {sic, [?] Besisi tribes) of Klang.

'* Acconiing to the observations made up to the present, the height of the
men is on the average 1580 mm., of the women 1470 mm. The trunk is long,
the l^s short and sturdy, the arms long. The shoulders are broad, and the head
normal ; the &ce at the temples and lower jaw narrow, but broad in the middle.
The colour of the skin is usually 43/44 of Broca's scale ; the colour of the
hair 41, Broca. The quantity of hair on the head is considerable, in the beard
moderate, on the body scanty. The hair is certainly not generally crimped or
curly, as many report ; for although among the women it is usually so, among the
men I found it very variable, i.e. both wavy and curly, and yet again straight,
as amongst the Malays.

•* The colour of the iris is 2/5, according to Broca. The slits of the eyes are
somewhat crooked. The nose is small and pointed ; the root broad, as are also
the nostrils and the bridge. Seen from the side, the bridge of the nose is slightly
convex, the root deep, the point slightly bent to the side.

** The lips are thick ; the ear small and somewhat prominent ; the helix is
incurved ; the lobule adhesive to the head ; Darwin*s tip very insignificant.

<* The men are generally well formed ; the women are remarkably small and
slender as a rule. In physical strength they appear to resemble the Malays, though
they may perhaps be somewhat tougher ; in the handling of the chopper (parang)
and adze (bliong) they are acknowledged to be the Malays' superior, though this
may perhaps depend upon agility and practice rather than on actual strengUi. In
the felling of trees they always strike the same point with the greatest precision
vrith their heavy narrow axes. It is one of their special characteristics that they
do not use the hoe in the same way as other people ; instead of making the stroke
and bringing back the hoe in the same direction for the next blow, they bring it
back to its original position by raising it in both hands over the left temple and
over the head, so that every blow gains considerably in force.

** The carriage of the body is, in general, negligent ; the shoulders are drawn
inwards, the knees and feet turned inwards; in fact, even the strongest men
afford an unedifying spectacle. In the jungle, however, they appear to greater
advantage, as they are evidently more at home there. They do not strike about
them with the chopping-knife (parang) so much as the Malays in clearing a way
Ibr themselves, but turn and wind about with much agility in all directions, and
in this way move firom one spot to another very noiselessly and quickly.

«* In physiognomy they generally resemble the Malays so closely ( !) that one only
recognises them by Uieir look, which is invariably one of surprise and timidity ;
they have besides a somewhat wilder expression than the Malays.

** Their power of sight was throughout very well developed ; but without having
taken exact tests, nothing abnormal in this respect has struck me. The same
remark applies to their sense of hearing.

** I have not been able to notice any artificial deformities among them ; but as
natural abnormalities I might mention the unusually broad and inward-turned
feet of most of the men, and the quite remarkable pigmentation of the breasts
of the women. Of the seven multiparas which I had the opportunity of obser-
ving, two were already quite old and shapeless ; the other five, however, were
all imder twenty-three, and in each of them the extraordinarily light-coloured

70 RACIAL AFFINITIES part

areola (Broca, about 40) * covered the nipple and the greater part of the mamma
like a broad flat cover.' The diameter of the areola was never below 5 cm.,
and in some almost 10 cm."^

Kenaboi Tribes.

One of the tribes mentioned by Logan consists
of the "Sakai," said to frequent the neighbourhood
of Mount (Gunong) Kenaboi. These are doubtless
identical with the Orang Kenaboi^of Vaughan-Stevens.*
If it is possible to locate this " tribe," and at present
there is hardly any information concerning them, the
latter name, i.e. " Kenaboi," is obviously preferable
to that loosely used by Logan.

Vaughan- Stevens considered them, as already
stated, to be a subdivision of the parent-stock of the
Sakai (Blandas). This classification, however, re-
quires confirmation, the measurements taken showing
a brachycephalic as well as a dolichocephalic element.

Further measurements taken by Vaughan-Stevens
will be found in the Appendix.'

Berembun and Udai Tribes.

Logan* further mentions certain tribes living to
the north of the Benua-Jakun, whom he calls the
Berembun ('* Birmun ") tribes, because they have their
headquarters about Gunong Berembun and the neigh-
bouring mountains.*

The upper reaches of the rivers rising in the
Berembun mountains are occupied^ by the tribe called
Udai.

The Udai (who appear to be the same people
who are known to the Benua-Jakun of Johor under

* W. Rowland in Mitt. Geog. Ges, * Loc, cit,

fVien, xlL 706, 707. * Gunong Bennun appears to be

* Vaughan-Stevens, iii. 97. identical with Gunong Berembun,
' Virdbow in K B, G, A, xxiii. 842- which is situated in Sungei Ujong,

844. I02* 2' E. by 2* 55' N.

1 RACE CHARACTERS OF SA VAGE MALA YS 71

the name of Orang Pago) are found on some of the
tributaries of the Muar. This tribe has less approxi-
mated to Malayan habits than the others.^

Newbold,* on the other hand, makes the following
remarks about this tribe : —

The Udai tribe is little known. The Tuanku
Putih of Rembau once informed me that the Udai
were a race of savages thinly scattered over the states
of Jelebu, Pahang, Trengganu, and Kedah, and that
they resembled in features the darker variety of
Jakun." Their size is represented as smaller, and
their habits more savage.

Newbold regards them as distinct from the Benua,
under which title he groups the following tribes: —
Jakun, Orang Bukit, Rayat, Utan, Sakai, Alas,* Blan-
das, Besisi, and Akik.

Vaughan-Stevens * has the following note on the
Udai :—

•* The term Udai is applied by the Pangan to —

" (i) The pygmy tribes of Belum in Perak.

"(2) By the Malays to the Orang Jinak or
* Tame ' Semang.

** (3) And also to a species of demon (Hantu), who
was sometimes identified with the whole jungle race,
whom many Patani Malays call * Hantu Pari,' or
•UdaiParL'"

Belum, as already noted, is in the extreme north
of Perak, but the people referred to are Semang, as
may also be the Udai of Newbold and Logan. The
latter live on the Muar, which rises in the Negri

> Logan, vol. L /. <r. Perak " (Newbold, ii. 383). It should

* Newbold, iL 381, 38a be noted that such names as ''Orang

^ I,e, the Negrito element among Bukit," "Rayat," and "Orang Utan"

the Jakims. or '* Alas," can hardly be considered as

4 The " Alas are said to be a tribal names.

tattooed race, living in the interior of ^ P. loi.

72 RACIAL AFFINITIES part

Sembilan and in Sungei Ujong. Their alternative
name Pago is taken from a tributary of the Muar in
Johor which bears that name.

So little is definitely known of these Orang Pago
or Udai, however, that it is very difficult to ascertain
what is their exact relationship to the other wild people.
On the whole, they are probably a race somewhat mixed
with the Semang, dwelling in N.W. Johor, the Negri
Sembilan, Sungei Ujong, and Jelebu ; or they may
even perhaps be chiefly of Negrito origin, an outlier,
as it were, of the main groups of that race whose
principal home is farther to the north. For the
present, and until more definite information is forth-
coming, the question must remain open.

Besisi.

One of the most important of the tribes living on
the southern extremity of the Peninsula are the Besisi.
The name always used by themselves is *'Sisi*'; the
Malay explanation (Besisi = Bersisik) ^ is certainly due
entirely to Malay popular etymology.

According to Logan (/. c.\ the Mantra on the north-
west " march with the Besisi, one of the most numerous
tribes, who occupy all the streams flowing in that
direction from Gunong Berembun. It is this tribe
which occupies the Sungei Ujong and Linggi, and the
lower part of the Langat, with their feeders."

Martin says of the Besisi that they are essentially
brachy cephalic, whilst the Blandas, like the Sakai
(Senoi), are chiefly dolichocephalic. He adds that
whilst the Sakai (Senoi) are amongst the shortest of
the wild tribes, the Blandas and Besisi show a larger
percentage of relatively taller individuals. With them,

* Le, the "scaly" people.

I RACE-CHARACTERS OF SA VAGE MALA YS 73

curiously enough, the women also are tall (1510 mm.),
and the sexual difference sinks with them to 2.4 cm/

Mantra or Mintera.

The Mantra (Mentra or Mintera),^ the largest
tribe, dwell about Gunong Berembun and the adjacent
mountains. They possess the higher part of both the
western and eastern streams. On the south they fre-
quent the upper part of the Langat, etc. The follow-
ing notes on the physical characters of the ** Mantra"
are given by Logan," who gives figures : —

The remarks respecting the Benua physiognomy
{v. infra) are, on the whole, applicable to the "Mantra."
The face of the woman (figured), in particular, although
grave, is not dull and sullen. In the case of the
most intelligent of the party, the head preserves the
general Benua characteristics. The forehead is fine,
but as usual the cheek-bones swell out laterally beyond
it The faces of all the Mantra seem to be formed
of two parts, separated by a line across the eyes.
The upper (part) is the forehead, rising from a base
considerably narrower than the line connecting the
zygomatic projections. The great bulk of the lower
part is horizontally oblong, the external lines having
a slight inclination inwards from the zygomatic arches
to the angles of the lower jaw opposite the mouth,
after which they converge towards the chin, which
forms an angle much more obtuse than in the Beduanda

* For further measurements see App. ' Often derived from Mai. " Mantra"

According to Newbold (ii. 393) the (a "charm"), I believe wrongly, the

chiefs of the Besisi included one Batin word being pronounced MSnterfi' by

or chief of the first rank only, viz. Pa* the Mantra themselves. ** M5n-

Limpei, who succeeded his uncle Breh dSra' " ( = a ** man " in Semang) seems

(" Breyk I "), a Jinang called Mumin, a a better derivation, though the " d " is

Jnkrah named Sakinal, and a Poyang certainly a difficulty.

named Manan. ' /. /. A. vol. i. p. 294.

74 RACIAL AFFINITIES part

Kallang.^ This form is given by the lower jaw not
proceeding directly to the ear, but forming an angle
below it. The vertical elongation of the upper part
of the face is a striking feature. The nose in all is
small and slightly turned up, and the mouth large.
The hair falls over the shoulders ; and, in one of
the men, showed a profusion of curls. The toes of the
Mantra tribes, like those of all the tribes of the interior
with which I have any acquaintance, are spreading,
so that the foot is very broad anteriorly in propor-
tion to its length. Other characteristics may be
gathered from an inspection of the annexed table.*

Elsewhere • the lips of the Mantra are said to be
** gross and loose," and the profile prognathous.

M. Borie * stated that the tribes from Selangor up
to Mount Ophir are known as Mantra, and that " the
number of Mantra " did not appear to him to exceed
2000, although it was one of the most numerous tribes.
To many authors even this estimate appears too great
It is indeed doubtful if M. Borie was right in stating
that the Mantra were the most numerous tribe. They
distinguish themselves both from the Besisi and the
Jakun. M. Borie speaks of the Mantra as extending
from Selangor to Mount Ophir, in which case he has
evidently included with them the Besisi.

The Catholic mission to the Mantra near Malacca
was visited by Miklucho-Maclay, who gives the head-
index of the Mantra (15) as between 74 and 89.*

Further measurements will be found in the
Appendix.

* Sec under O. Laut. • /. /. A, vol. i. p. 301. The

^ See Appendix. The '* profusion *< loose '* lips are a Sakai feature.

of curb*' may be due to Semang ad- ^ (Trans. Bourien), p. 72.

mixture ; in other respects the features ^ Virchow in V, B. G, A, xxiii.

described are Sakai. 843.

I RACE'CHARACTERS OF SA VAGE MALA YS 7S

M.-Maclay strongly supports the Malayan character
stipulated for the Mantra, although as he believed
that element to be due to admixture with civilised
Malays, he fails to see the full force of his facts.

He says that the Orang Mantra, near Malacca, are a small tribe better known
than the other Orang Utan, from the fact that, so long ago as the year 1848,
Catholic missionaries settled down among them.^ He visited a number of them
at the Ayer Salak Mission near Malacca, and found them, in consequence of the
influence of the school and their constant intercourse with the missionaries, " the
most nninteresting of all the Orang Utan tribes for the purposes of his particular
studies." Their language had been forgotten and had been replaced l^ Malay,
in which all their school-books and religious works were written. The mission-
aries had done nothing to collect the remains of the old language.

The Mantras whom he saw (most of them children and women) were almost
without exception of a Malay type ; if he had come to see them without knowing
that they were Mantras, he would probably have taken them for a number of
Malays, badly fed, and brought up in a miserable condition, and he should have
doubted the possibility of any mixture of Melanesian blood.'

According to Logan, the Mantra were chary of
bathing, and their only plaything was a kind of top
called "gasing kunde."'

Beduanda.

The Jakun of the Rembau and Negri Sembilan
states are said to bear the closest resemblance, how-
ever, to the Malays of those states. " But we cannot
infer from this that they descend from these Malays,
as we know by history and tradition that they were in
the Peninsula before them ; and that the Rembau
Malays descend from the Jakun by their mother's side,
as we have seen when speaking of the arrival of To'
PSt6r (Tu Puttair), which explains sufficiently the re-
semblance we perceive in the [Rembau] Malays to
the Jakun."*

Favre states that the Jakun — of these states {i.e.

^ The foonder of the mission, M. mission in 1878.
Borie, has written a short paper upon ^ J, R, A, 5., S, B.^ No. 2, pp.

them, since printed in Mise. Essays 218, 219.
on IndO'China^ series ii voL i. pp. * /, I. A, vol. i. p. 330*.

286-307. Herr F. Jagor visited the * Favre iny. /. A, vol. ii. p. 245.

76 RACIAL AFFINITIES part

of Rembau, Negri Sembilan, etc.) — were very short,
their physiognomy was low, and seemed to announce
great simplicity ; many of them were ugly and badly
made — they had the inferior part of the nose much
depressed — but though their lips projected a little they
were generally well formed. To the foregoing Favre
adds that he had already observed that this class of
Jakun bore a great resemblance to the Malay ; or at
least to many of the Malays.'

JoHOR Land-Tribes — Distribution.

The Jakun of Johor were spoken of by Logan
as being a taller race than those of Malacca. He
found several of them with hawked or aquiline
noses ^ — the men were healthy but generally thin;
the women, on the contrary, were plump, and though
healthy too, were not particularly ** stout "(.'^).

Logan has given the fullest account of the wild folk
that inhabit Johor. He divided them into several
distinct tribes, the first of which he called the Orang
Benua of Johor. These occupied all the interior of
Johor properly so called. They also possessed the
interior of the most southerly portion of Pahang. The
most definite description of their territory, however,
was that they occupied the upper branches of the most
southern system of rivers in the Malay Peninsula.*
These rivers, from west to east, were the Batu Pahat,
the Pontian, the Johor river, and the Endau. This
latter communicates in its upper reaches with the Batu
Pahat by a branch called the Sembrong, so that the

1 /. /. A. vol. ii p. 246. may be due. It does not, moreover,

\h} This, coupled with the greater appear to be so common as to be

height, points to some sort of admixture, typical of the tribe, much less of the

but it is impossible in the absence of race,
further details to say to what race it * y. /. A. vol. i. p. 246 ieq.

RACE-CHARACTERS OF SA VAGE MALA YS 77

communities living to the west could communicate
with those of the east, and vice versa.

All these rivers except the Pontian rise in a group
of mountains known as Gunong Blumut.

Two rivers in this neighbourhood do not appear
to be inhabited by the Jakun ; these are the Pulai in
the south-west of Johor, and the Sedili, lying just to the
north of the Johor river. Logan found no Benua on
the Johor river below the junction of the Sayong and
Lenggiu (branches of the Johor river). On the
north-west they did not extend beyond the Simpang
Kiri — a branch of the Batu Pahat. Whether the
Pahang tribes — to the north of the Endau — ^are similar
to the Benua, he had no opportunity of ascertaining,
but the Benua inhabiting the country indicated un-
doubtedly formed a separate tribe in themselves —
they had no connection with any other tribe and
scarcely any knowledge of such.^

Race-Characters of Johor Land-Tribes.

Speaking of the personal appearance of the Benua-
Jakun (or " Benua of Johor," as he calls them), Logan
says * that in personal appearance they bore a strong
family resemblance to the Malays, and he remarked of
many of them, as he had previously done of the Besisi,
that the difference was scarcely appreciable so long as
they remained at rest and silent. But the great majority
were at first- glance distinguishable from Malays.
The most constant and obvious characteristic was the
eye, which, as in the Berembun tribes (noticed below),
was soft, mild, and with a liquid brilliancy, very different
from the dark, cloudy aspect of that of the Malay. He

1 Logan, y. /. A, vol. i. p. 246 seq, ' lb, p. 249 seq.

78 RACIAL AFFINITIES part

only noticed in two or three of the men that habitually
wild expression which occurs more frequently amongst
the Berembun tribes. The mouth varies greatly, but in
all is open and entirely devoid of that degree of firm-
ness which generally characterises that of the Malay,
but which is sometimes wanting in them also. In a
considerable number the lips are thick and projecting,
and this is sometimes carried so far that they are as
prominent as the nose. The lips do not form an acute
angle but are often in a line. The forehead has a
moderate slope, and in itself is well formed, though
small. But it is disproportionate to the face, the
middle part of which, between the posterior part of
the lower jaw and the upper part of the cheek-bones,
expands laterally much beyond the base of the fore-
head. The nose is always low, whereas in the Malay,
although it is frequently of the same description, it is
sometimes seen higher and more shapely. The general
shape of the head and features of the Benua assimilates
to the Malayan, although it is decidedly smaller ; but
it is not clear whether more examples might not be
obtained of approximation to Bugis faces than to
Malayan. In many cases the Benua -Jakun face
is fat and fleshy and all the features heavy, but in
general it is not fat. The greatest breadth is commonly
across the cheek-bones, but in several instances where
the jaws were prominent the lower part of the face was
broadest. Viewed in profile, the jaw-bones are seen
to advance more than in the Malays in general, so
that the chin, lips, and extremity of the nose are in
one line, approaching to the vertical, which forms an
obtuse angle with that on which the nose and fore-
head are placed. Physically they may be considered a
link between the Negrito ("negro") and brown races

I RACE-CHARACTERS OF SA VAGE MALA YS 79

of the Archipelago. The general expression of the
face denotes good-nature, mildness, innocence, content,
want of mental energy and reflectiveness, and a pre-
dominance of the senses over the intellect. The com-
plexion is generally similar to that of the Malays, but
he noticed several who were much fairer than any
Malays. The hair is black and in general smooth
and lank, and in all somewhat more dry and tangled
than in the Malays, arising from the little oil which
they use. The children were often dull and fat, and
very timid, yet many were lively, bold, and engag-
ing, and his Malay followers everywhere remarked
that in appearance they could not be distinguished
from Malayan children. The body is smaller and in
general shorter than that of a Malay, but it is hand-
somer and less heavy ; the great length of the trunk
in proportion to the limbs sometimes destroys the
effect of the slighter and neater build. The chest is
generally broad and full, and the shoulders narrower
and less sloping than is the case with Malays. The
pelvis is not so broad, and the limbs in particular are
lighter, neater, and often well shaped. They are almost
always in excellent condition, without being too fat,
although the softer sex has often a tendency to obesity.
The comparative shortness of stature, and the smooth,
rounded surfaces which the person presents throughout,
in a large majority of the Benua-Jakun, add to the
Bugis aspect which is often observable among them.^

Most of the preceding remarks may be extended
to the Berembun tribes.

Miklucho-Maclay, in a brief account of an excursion
made long after Logan, in 1875, through Johor, comes
to the conclusion that there can be no doubt of the

* Logan in/, /. A, vol. L p. 250.

8o RACIAL AFFINITIES

existence in Johor of an aboriginal non- Malayan
population, not only not of Malay origin, " but prob-
ably related to the Papuans " (!).

Here and there ^ he came across individuals whom
he could not consider otherwise than as retrogrades
to the main aboriginal type. In most of these cases
the hair, though not absolutely identical with that of
the pure Papuan type, resembled in texture and growth
that of the Malayo-Papuan (mixed race) of the West
Coast of New Guinea, who are by no means incon-
siderable in number. In these individual cases the
hair was quite different from the curled hair of the
other Jakun ("Orang Utans").*

The chief reasons for his decision on this point
were deduced from the existence of these reversions
from the present to the aboriginal type ; the fact that
the Jakun (**Orang Utans") were not easily dis-
tinguishable from the Malays inhabiting the interior of
Johor did not diminish this decision, because these
Malays had "by intermarriage partly inherited the
Jakun ('Orang Utan') type."

This system of intermarriage had, in M.-Maclay s
opinion, been ** in practice for centuries," and was
likely to have been occasioned " by the flight into the
interior of those of the coast Malays who preferred
retirement into the jungle to embracing the doctrines
of Islam " at the time of the conversion of the country
to Mohammedanism.

^ The italics are mine. The net consciously selected Negritos to figure
result of M.-Maclay*8 remarks is to and observe, without pajring any re-
establish the presence of a small gard to the perhaps somewhat less
Negrito element among some, at all striking characteristics of the Malajran
events, of the Jakun tribes of Johor. tjrpe so general in the tribes through
Unfortunately M.-Maclay could not get whom he passed. But this weakness^
rid of his preconceived ideas, and as unfortunately, is a very general one.
he was hunting for what he believed ' M.-Maclay, Joum, East Asia, i.

to be the Papuan (I) element, he un^ 97.

I RACE'CHARACTERS OF SA VAGE MALA YS 8i

Miklucho-Maclay figures a woman of the river
Leba, a tributary of the Endau, age about i8 years,
and mother of two children ; height 1420 mm. ;^ head
brachycephalic ; index 81. The hair was frizzled, and
for this reason Miklucho-Maclay selected her to figure.
She cannot then be regarded as a typical example of
the Wild Tribes (*' Orang Liar ") of that neighbour-
hood — who are in all probability identical with
Logan's Benua-Jakun, — as Maclay speaks of meeting
with individuals with frizzled hair only "here and
there."

A male Jakun ("Orang Utan") from Garib, on a
tributary of the Endau, is also figured by the same
author. His height is 1500 mm. ;* cephalic index 79 ;
age about 18. "The face is remarkable owing to the
small forehead, a broad, slightly projecting nose, thick
lips, narrow under-jaw, and receding chin. The hair
is of Malayan type."

The third person figured, a woman of the Jakun
(" Orang Utan ") Sletar, belongs to a branch of the
Orang Laut.'

It is difficult to form any estimate of the numbers
of the Benua- Jakun of Johor.

Maclay remarks that these tribes are gradually
becoming extinct, and attributes it to the constant
advance of the Malay and Chinese population, and to
frequent intermarriage between the Malays and the
Jakun (" Utan") women ; the latter race is becoming
intermixed into the former, and this mixed race is fast
increasing.

But it would have been more consistent had he said

1 In orig. 1.42 inches {su\ O. Sletar see Lapicque, Touri du

• In orig. 1.50 inches (w). Af.y N.S. ii. (1896), !'*« sem. pp.

' For other illustrations of the 58, 59.

VOL. I G

82 RACIAL AFFINITIES part

that the "aboriginal non- Malayan population** was
being swamped by intermixture with Malay blood,
assuming his view to be correct, for the "aboriginal
population," according to his own theory, already
largely consists of individuals of mixed parentage.

Hervey, writing six or seven years after Miklucho-
Maclay, states that the settlements of the tribe under
discussion, whom he calls Jakun, on the Sayong and
Lenggiu, on the Benut, Pontian, and Batu Pahat, as well
as those on the Madek, a tributary of the Sembrong,
and the upper Endau (Indau), may be described as
Orang Ulu Jinak, or "tame tribes of the interior."
He believes that there are within the limits of Johor
a few representatives of the Orang Liar, or wild men,
amongst the Segamat hills, near the source of the
Endau.*

The " Madek tribe " was visited by Hervey, who
says that their numbers are very limited, comprising
no more than thirty souls. They are not uniform in
type, even their limited community presenting several
varieties, which is accounted for by the intermarriage
with Malays ; the Chinese have, he believes, had little,
if any, intercourse with them.

In the Appendix will be found Virchow's remarks
on the Jakun material (measurements, etc.) collected
by Vaughan-Stevens.

Under the same reference will be found Virchow*s
description of three Jakun skulls sent home by the
same collector, the main points of interest in which are
as follows : —

The first of these skulls was that of a young
woman, and was very light, the second, that of an
old man ; yet both, in fact, were characterised by

^J,Ii,A,S.^S.B,, No. 8, p. icx>j^.

I RACE'CHARACTERS OF SAVAGE MALAYS 83

Virchow as being, in point of size, a dwarf skull
(nannocephalic). The skull shown in Fig. 3 belonged
in shape to the bullet-head type, but was high in
proportion (hypsi-brachycephalic). The nose was
very broad, the bridge being deeply incurved and
short, its position, together with that of the teeth
(which were thickly encrusted with betel), agreeing
very well with the extreme prognathism of this
specimen. The second skull (that of the old man)
was a little broader in proportion than that of the
young woman (ortho-mesaticephalic). The features
were large and heavy, the orbits very large, and the
nose broad and flat (platyrhine).

The third (which was stated to be that of a male,
but appeared to Virchow to be that of a female) was
of yet broader and flatter appearance (eurycephalic).
The cheek-bones, as a whole, were depressed, the
orbits of moderate size, and the nose resembled that
of No. 2. In this skull, again, as in No. 2, progna-
thism of a pronounced' type was present. The pro-
portions of the face in all three skulls were much more
constant than those of the cerebral portion of the
skull. Nevertheless, in spite of a certain amount of
marked variation in the latter, ** the racial unity of the
tribe cannot be doubted, as the similarities are greater
and more numerous than the differences." Virchow
proceeds to describe the limb-bones of a female skeleton
sent home by the same collector, and in this con-
nection remarks that, although they undoubtedly come
from an adult individual, '' they are small and delicate
like children's bones."

From this Professor Virchow drew the conclusion
that "in any case we can congratulate ourselves
on seeing before us the most unmistakable dwarf

84 RACIAL AFFINITIES part

bones offered by ethnology.*' If, however, by this
expression he intends to convey — ^^which appears to
be the only interpretation possible — that the Jakun
are a dwarf race, one can only reply that any such
conclusion, especially when based upon measurements
taken from a single individual, even if it were other-
wise well founded, would be altogether premature, and
furnishes an example of one of the curious lapses to
which even great intellects appear occasionally liable.
We shall have to await, there is very little doubt, a
considerable body of fresh evidence before any such
conclusion can be either definitely established or
refuted.

On the important subject of the hair-character of
the Jakun, Virchow remarks that in his opinion the
hair of all the Jakuns examined (by Vaughan-Stevens)
belonged to the same type, and that the contrast with
that of the Semang and Sakai was " as sharp as can
be imagined." This was a matter of the more im-
portance "as the relationship of the Jakun to the
other tribes has always been a matter of dispute."

The Jakun hair, then, appears to have been,
generally speaking, black ("glossy black" in the case
of a specimen sent) and straight, and the percentage
of Jakuns with wavy or curly hair seems to have been
extremely small. There can at all events be no
doubt whatever, in spite of the exceptions that
admittedly occur, that the former is the real hair-type
of the Jakun race.

The skin -colour in general was a yellowish or
greyish tint of brown (No. 37 of the Parisian colour-
plate being the commonest shade).

The eyes of the Jakun were usually a dark
shade of brown (Nos. 2-3), and the conjunctiva

I RACE-CHARACTERS OF SA VAGE MALA YS 85

frequently more or less bloodshot. The teeth were
good, often slightly projecting, but free from caries ;
the lips well formed and thin ; the ear lobes invariably
perforated and much distended.

Hearing,

The sense of hearing was certainly sharper among the Jakun ^ [than among
either the Semang or the Sakai].

Hands and Feet,

In the case of the Jakun, especially with the children, it is possible to
ascertain pretty exactly, by observing the feet, whether any kind of mixture with
Malay or other blood, at least of recent date, has taken place. The little toe
of the Jakun, especially in childhood, is very straight in comparison with that
of the Sakai (Blandas), and quite especially so in comparison with that of the
Malays and Chinese. It has much less of the talon-like crook which is so usual
in our own feet. I have, in fiaict, seen little toes in Jakun children which were
as straight and well- formed as any of the other toes of the foot.

When, moreover, the Jakun arrives at manhood, and especially by the time
he is upwards of thirty years old, his feet become covered all over with knobs
and knots, are stiff, ugly, scarred and diseased. The Jakun never wash,
and although their hands and feet are often in water, it is usually dirty, marshy,
and unhealthy water, which penetrates into the cracks of the skin, scratches and
pricks caused by thorns, etc, and causes the limbs to swell and stiffens them,
until they look like the work-worn hands of an old labourer in England who
has had to be out in all sorts of weather.

This is one result of the hardships of their life ; for the infants and children
have small, well-formed hands and feet. The contrast between those of the
father and of the youngest child is very great. The hands of the women, how-
ever, are beautiful and soft

The half-blooded Orang Laut are skilful at thieving, especially with the toes.
I have been robbed of small objects which lay on the ground, while I have been
talking with a man, face to face, and never noticed that he took them off. I have
also seen from the comer of the eye how the toes of the foot slowly slid over the
desired object and dragged it along with them, till the foot could be raised to the
hand, when the thing could be grasped in the fingers and hidden.'

Climbing,

The oldest (1) method of climbing employed by the Jakun (or «Benua")
consists in binding the ankles with a head-rope {Kbpf'Seil) as the Sinhalese do.'

Swimming,

The Jakun (Benua) swim well, and are good divers. They use the Malay
method. The Orang Laut is an excellent swimmer. He swims, like the Malay,
on the Inreast, so that his body is in a somewhat sidelong position. He stretches
the left and right arm alternately out of the water, and brings them back to the
side of the body, like the spokes of a wheel from the hub. The hands are

» Z,/. E, xxix. 182. « lb, p. 190. » lb. p. 200.

86 RACIAL AFFINITIES part

thus directed backwards with open palms, and the legs are struck outwards at
each motion of the body, like those of a frog. The children swim as well as
adults, even before they can walk. The Orang Laut are also excellent divers.^

Among the Jakuns, two children at a time will take the end of a rattan-rope
between the teeth and tug till one has conquered the other ; but they have not
the Malay tug-of-war.

It amused me very much to see how a small Jakun boy one day diverted
his comrades by sitting down in the well-known Indian fashion, with the soles
of his feet placed flat on the floor, his legs bent at the knees, and drawn up
close to the body, and his body depressed till it almost touched the ground.
While he was in this position a short stick of bamboo was placed through his
elbows behind his back. Thus handicapped, the fisit, tubby little fellow had to
bend forward till he touched the ground with his forehead, without letting the
bamboo slip out of position. All made the attempt, but this little fellow was the
most expert and agUe of all.'

Sluping,

The Jakun, whether lying on one side or the other, usually rolls himself
together into a ''ball" for sleeping. If the night is hot, he soon begins to
unroll himself a bit, but in the early or colder hours of the morning one
can be quite sure of finding both sexes with knees drawn up to the body.
The children sleep from earliest childhood on a mat which is laid upon the
ground. Their place is at their mother's breast, between her and the smoulder-
ing fire, and enclosed more or less in her arms.'

As soon as signs of approaching puberty appear in their children, the Jakuns
arrange for them to sleep apart. On land, the boy slept in a separate part of the
hut, or in the front part of the boat if he was on water. In the covered
platforms on the coast the girls slept with the married people. In the temporary
huts with covered platforms used in former times, which the Jakuns visited in
their well-known places of assembly on the coast, the bachelors, when they
passed the night there, always slept in huts which were separate from the married
people.*

Physical Endurance,

In illustration of the fortitude of the Jakun, Vaughan • Stevens tells of
one who had deep-seated ulcers. '* I gave him sulphate of copper {Blattstcin)
and dncoid, showed him how to use it, and expressly warned him to be careful.
But as I feared a misunderstanding, I followed him soon after he had left me,
and came upon my patient just as he had made use of the Blaustein, That
had been done very freely, as the earlier neglect of the ulcer prevented him
from feeling it at once, although the whole surface of about four square inches
was touched with it.'* The patient squatted on the ulcered leg, and Vaughan-
Stevens saw the muscles of the leg quiver and contract into knots in con-
sequence of the pain which the patient felt after a few minutes ; but not a
movement, not a sound, nor any other sign except a deep breathing was to be
observed. **He began to speak in firmly measured tones, and when I
remarked that that was called medicine (* ubat '), he calmly replied that the
doctor (' bomor ') had told him so. He had shown endurance with a vengeance,
but as there was no reason to put him to a further test, I gave him a morphia
injection, for which he was very grateful." *

The question of the Jakun's sensitiveness to heat is difficult to answer, since

1 Z.J\E, xxix. 198. « lb. p. 201. 3 lb, 186.

* lb, p. 190. * lb, pp. 205, 206.

I MALA VAN SEA-G YPSIES 87

he wears, as a rale, nothing but a head-band to keep his long hair in order, and
hence gets so accustomed to the sun's rays that he scarcely feels any special
increase in the son's heat.

The Jakon appear to suffer less from the wet, cold winds of the mountains
than any of the other tribes. The Jakun appears to owe his powers of endurance
to the relative robustness both of his physical and mental powers, due to his
greater tendency to savagery.

He has, moreover, long carried on a rade but persistent form of agriculture,
cultivating rice and tubers, though he also consumes much more fish than the
others.

The Jakun children endure want of food better than those of the Semang.^

Sea-Jakun or Orang Laut — Distribution.

Orang Laut is the name applied to wandering
coast tribes whose permanent dwelling is usually in
their boats. They are spoken of as Rayat Laut, or
Sea-subjects — subjects, that is, of the kings of Johor
or Malacca. According to Crawfurd,* they are some-
times called Sika, Orang Akik ('•Akkye"), or more
frequently Bajau or pirates. Their headquarters are
the narrow straits between the islands of the Johor
archipelago.* The same writer says that from this
neighbourhood they have spread to the shores of
Banca, Billiton, some of the islands of the coast of
Borneo, and even as far as the Celebes and Bum,
from whence they make voyages to the north coast of
Australia. Prior to the introduction of steam-vessels
by the English and Dutch Governments these " Sea-
folk " are said to have been formidable pirates.*

The Johor archipelago is thinly peopled by a
number of " tribes " of Orang Laut, known collectively
as the Orang Pe-suku-an,*^ a name meaning the people
divided into tribes. A list of some twelve of these
tribes is also given, and we are told that besides these

> Z.f. E, xxix. 202, 203. Singapore and Billiton (see /. /. A,

* Des€r. Dict,^ s,v, "Orang Laut." voL i. p. 336»). * V, p. 570 infra,

* The Johor archipelago consists of ^ See/. /. A, voL L p. 336*, ** Eth-
the innumerable islands lying between nology of the Johor Archipelago."

88 RACIAL AFFINITIES part

there are some wild tribes in the interior of the larger
islands.

The Sabimba river has not yet been traced, but the
Orang Sletar take their name from Sungei Sletar, a
creek of the island of Singapore, only 8 miles distant
from the modern town. According to Thomson,^ they
numbered in all 200 people, or 40 boats, and were
subject to a Batin or petty chief, under the sovereignty
of the Sultan of Johor.

At the time of the first landing of Sir Stamford
Raffles at Singapore about thirty families of Orang
Laut lived a little way up the Singapore river, about
half of them on shore and half in boats.* This settle-
ment had been in existence since 181 1 or thereabouts.*

At the present time there are still a few of the
Orang Laut to be found in the island of Singapore.

Amongst other branches of the same race one or
two may be mentioned as having been described by
various writers. Such are the Beduanda Kallang * of the
Pulai river in Johor. These folk formerly haunted the
^* Kallang " creek to the east of the town of Singapore,
but when the island was ceded to the British they
were removed by the Temenggong (or raja) of
Johor to the Pulai river in that state, where they have
since dwelt. From about 100 families they have
been reduced by the ravages of small-pox to eight.
They were, beyond a doubt, very closely allied to the
Orang Sletar of Singapore, as well as to the Orang
Laut who formerly inhabited the Singapore river, and
the few survivors now living in the island.

The Orang " Muka Kuning," also described by

1 /. /. A, vol. L p. 342* (1847). bimbangs, Muka Kunings, and Bidu-

2 /. H, A. 5"., S,B, No. 10, p. 285. anda8,"thensettlednear Cape Romania,
^ Crawford, DescDici,^ s.v, "Singa- at the mouth of the Johor river.

pore.'* Borie (1861) mentions the ** Sa- * /, I, A, vol. i. p. 299 (Logan).

I RACE-CHARACTERS OF MALA VAN SEA-G YPSIES 89

the same writer, inhabit the forests on the banks of
the Sa-raya and its tributary the Muka Kuning.

Pulau Tinggi, off the east coast of Johor, was a
favourite lurking-place for the Orang Laut in the days
when they practised piracy.

We may conclude then that the almost innumer-
able creeks, inlets, and islands lying along the coast
of Johor and to the south of it, as far as Billiton at any
rate, are — or perhaps it is necessary to say were —
peopled by wild men of Malayan origin, who spent
most of their time on the water, and that almost every
community of these people was called by a different
name, the name of the locality that it occupied for the
time being.

And finally we are told by Anderson that in the
upper coasts of the Malay Peninsula, from " Poongha "
to Trang (in the neighbourhood of Junk Ceylon), in-
cluding a coast of 16 or 18 leagues and a number of
islands, there were no inhabitants except the Orang
Laut who navigated from island to island.^

Race-Characters of the Orang Laut.

The physical characters of members of this race
have been described by Logan ^ and Thomson.*

The former gives an account of three men of the
Beduanda Kallang. The chief features of the face
appear to be the great width of the forehead, which is
at the same time unusually low, the absence of prog-
nathism, and the thinness of the lips. The face is flat
and the eye-brows horizontal. The general character
of the face is between that of the Malay and Siamese,

1 Appu to Anderson's Cansideraiions^ " Cellates *' or *♦ Men of the Straits."
p. liv. (1824). The O. Laut are first ^ J, I. A, vol. i. p. 301 seq,

mentioDedliyDeBarros, who calls them ' lb. p. 347*.

90 RACIAL AFFINITIES part

but perhaps nearer the latter. The features of Saweng
and Sango (two of the men described) had a pinched
or compressed look. He had never seen any men
who resembled them. The Orang Sletar are closely
allied to the Beduanda Kallang (both indeed appear to
be branches of one tribe, the aborigines of Singapore).

In the same paper the height of three individuals
of the Beduanda Kallang is given as respectively 5 ft.,
5 ft. 4 J in., 5 ft. 5 in.^ Other measurements of interest
are — circumference of the head, average 2 1 in. ; height
of forehead, 2 in. ; breadth of forehead, 5^ in.*

Thomson,* remarking on the physical characters
of the Sletar tribe, says that they are closely allied
to the Beduanda Kallang. This, coupled with the
fact that the Sletar and Kallang are both creeks of the
island of Singapore, the original locality of each, and
that sampans (canoes) can approach the navigable
part of either creek within two miles, there need
not be any hesitation in proclaiming their identity
of origin, although they now live as separate
tribes. The most distinctive features of these tribes
are the lowness of the brow, retreating back-
wards from the superciliary ridge; a protrusion of
the lower part of the face, not in the manner of
prognathous tribes, but by the acuteness of the facial
angle. When viewed from the front they are found
to possess an obliquity of eyes and eyebrows, the
eyelids being much closed and only showing half the
pupil. The general contour of the face obtains a
decided character by great breadth of forehead, ex-
pansion of zygoma, and rapid tapering to the chin,
which is lengthy and narrow. The nose is depressed
and mouth moderate. Such may be considered the

> 1.523 m., 1.638 m., 1.657 m. * 532 mm., 5 cm., 13 cm. * Loc, cit.

Group of Jakcn (Abokiginal Malayans) irom Klang

#>/. /. /. 90.

ORANC; LAUT OR SKA-JAKUN.

Orang Laut of Kai.ang. Singapore.

A*. //. Yaf^p,
Okang Laut of Kai.ang, Singapore.

A'. //. >Vi/A
Orang Laut of Kalang, Si.ngapore.

"^4 ' \ \ a

A". //. ) ■«/.-> (AMva/ Exp<(iitioH).

Orang Laut of Kalan(;, Singapore.

Vol. I. p. 91.

I RACE-CHARACTERS OF MALA VAN SEA-G YPSIES 91

distinctive features of the race, though many were
seen possessing the Malayan type strongly marked.*
In a previous passage Thomson states that in his
own opinion this tribe of Orang Laut may be
said, with litde fear of contradiction, to be merely un-
converted Malays in the general acceptation of the
term, though a distinct class from the Malays properly
so called who poured their hordes over the Archi-
pelago {sic ?) * prior to 1 200 of the Christian era, from
the great river Malayu (** Malayoo "), in Sumatra.
While all the tribes of Malays on the coast of the
Malayan Peninsula and adjoining islands have em-
braced the tenets of Mahomet, they have remained
unaffected by the movement.

Taking into consideration Logan's view as to the
*' Tartar " characters of the Jakun quoted above in
dealing with that race, and the close relationship
existing between the Jakun and the Orang Laut,' it
seems safe to conclude that both are branches of a
Mongoloid stock which probably inhabited the Penin-
sula before the irruption of the more civilised Malays,
who in this case are to be r^arded as a specialised
branch of the same stock.

A distinguishing feature of the Orang Laut appears
to be their height, which is about 5 ft. 3 in.* on an
average, to judge from the scanty measurements avail-
able. That of the Besisi and Blandas appears to be
about 5 ft I in.* according to Dr. Martin's statement
But an extensive series of measurements is necessary
before it is justifiable to make a definite statement on
the subject I venture, however, to suggest that the

* Thomson, loc, ai, 5, p. 325 ; also Crawfiird, Descr, Diet,

' The interrogation is mine. under ** Benua."
' See Newbold, ii. 410, 411, 413, ^ 1.6 m.

4r4;andSkeat,/./?.^.5.,5.^., No. * 1.548 m.

92 RACIAL AFFINITIES part

greater height of the Orang Laut may depend, at any
rate, partly on the smaller amount of intermixture with
Semang (and Sakai) tribes. The more inland Jakun
of Johor and Selangor sometimes show considerable
traces of a Negrito strain. Had this been noticeably
present in the Orang Laut, I think Logan and
Thomson and other good observers would have
noticed it, especially if it had affected the hair.^

It is impossible to form an estimate of the number
of Orang Laut existing at the present time. Certain
it is that the number is much less than it was a century
ago, largely owing, no doubt, to the ravages of small-
pox as well as to their conversion to Islam and con-
sequent absorption among the Malays.

Walking,

The children of the Orang Laut very soon become tired on land, and walk
with legs bent outwards ; the half-breeds are straighter and strcmger.

The adult Orang Laut soon becomes tired in walking, and the walk of the
entire race is, in fact, very clumsy on the land, because they squat down so much
together in their little boats ; they can, in fact, be recognised at once from this
characteristic'

Cltmbifig,

The Orang Laut climb well, when obliged to do so. As the trees on the
coast are usually of small circumference, they can clasp the roimd trunk more
than half-way round with their arms, and use the inside of the foot in climbing up.
They do not appear to be acquainted with the idea of climbing by help of a rope
or noose. If, therefore, they wish to climb a larger tree, which they cannot
climb up by the help of the arms and legs alone, they are obliged to make a ladder.
For this purpose bamboo p^p are driven into the tree one above the other, at
distances of about two feet. To the ends of these pegs a bamboo pole is lashed
so that it stands out from the tree about six inches. By means of these pegs,
which serve in place of the rungs of a ladder, the man climbs up, and as he
climbs drives fresh pegs into the tree above those already driven ; when he has
reached the end of the first pole, he fastens a second pole to the tree in con-
tinuation of the first, and so on till he reaches the branches. Bark-fibre is used for
lashings, and the ladder thus constructed is left in its place till it falls to pieces.'

Thrcwitig,

The Orang Laut are very sure and strong throwers, and fax excel all the
other tribes in this respect They are, for instance, very clever at throwing the

^ There are, however, to be seen though there are straight-haired ones
curly-haired Orang Laut bojrs in Singa- as well,
pore. In fact they are fairly common, * Z./. E, xxix. 194. ' lb. p. 198.

I SUM MAR Y OF SA VA GE MALA Y CUL TURK 93

shells of flat bivalyes C'Muschel"), such as that of the pearl oyster. They
hold it at the edge between one finger and the thumb, so that the shell lies
back flat over the wrist, and jerk it at a crab or a bird upon the sands, striking
their ta^et with the s^rp edge. A lump of hard coral with a natural hole,
through which a line woven from willows is threaded, and bound into the form of
a ring, is thrown by help of this line with great force and certainty of aim at
crabs on the shore, and so forth. ^

Summary of Jakun Culture.*

The Jakun, no less than the Semang and Sakai,
are largely nomadic tribes, and though the Land Jakun
for the most part practise some form of agriculture,
they also live to a great extent by hunting, trapping,
and fishing, and keep both dogs and fowls.

Some of the Jakun of Johor cultivate rice, others
plant yams, plantains, water-melons, sugar-cane, and
sometimes also, on a very small scale, tobacco. In
particular, however, they plant durian trees, on which
they set a high value on account of the fruit.' The
Mantra and Besisi hold a marriage-carnival at harvest-
time.* They smoke tobacco and chew betel, or, as a
substitute, cassia- leaves, together with gambir and
lime, which they obtain by barter from the Malays
of the coast.* Their clothing is like that of the
Malays but scantier, that of the men only a linen
apron {e.g. among the Mantra and Udai), that of the
women a sarong.* They are accustomed to file their
teeth to a point ; they do not practise circumcision,
but a form of incision has been recorded.^ The
universal weapon of the northern Jakun (Besisi,
Mantra, and others) is the blowpipe with poisoned
arrows. Bows and arrows are known to them, but

» Z./. E. xxix. (V.-St.) 200. 5 Logan in /. /. A, i. 254, 255 ;

' This account is re-written from the Favre, ib, ii. 259.

summary of Benua Culture by Waitz ^ Logan, loc. cit, p. 260.

(who uses Benua as the eqtiivalent of ^ Logan, loc» cit. ; Newbold, ii. 406.

" Savage Malay," in which sense * Logan, loc. cit. p. 252.

Jakun is used here). ^ lb, p. 271.

94 RACIAL AFFINITIES part

are not employed ; they do not engage in tribal
fights.^ The blowpipe is often fitted with a spear-
point at the muzzle, as is frequently the case among
the Dayaks. That of the Sabimba is said to have
been introduced to them from Sambas in Borneo by
the Malays of the sea- board, from whom they also
obtain other objects, especially rice.^ The ten-foot
blowpipe of the Benua, and the preparation of their
arrow-poison, has been described by Newbold.^ The
Jakun, who do not invariably poison their arrows, carry
spears and long knives ^ in addition to the blowpipe ;
the Mantra use the sword and kris of the Malays,
as well as the blowpipe and spear.* The huts of
the Benua- Jakun vary in point of size and fittings ;
they have usually only one room in the centre, are
built on piles, and are reached by means of a ladder ;
many of them are not altogether without such com-
forts as Chinese curtains for dividing the rooms, and
perhaps a few Chinese dishes ; • for the most part,
however, they are but poorly built and furnished, the
sides being only constructed of leaves or tree -bark,
and they are forsaken by the inhabitants when a
death occurs.^ The Jakun of Malacca build their
huts only two feet high, four feet broad, and six feet
long, but raise them on piles and surround them with
a bulwark of thorns for protection against tigers.* For
river voyages (with the exception of the Sabimba)
they employ boats constructed out of a hollow tree-
trunk, but they do not venture on the open sea, which
they are said to dread.® Of musical instruments the

1 Logan, i. 272, 273, iii. 405, 406, • lb, p. 253, 254.

iv. 429. ' Newbold, ii. 404 ; Bone in

« Thomson in/. /. A, i. 337* 338*. Tijdschr. Deel x. 420 ; Netscher, ib.

* "• 395> 396. Deel it 138 ; Moor, 242.

* Favre in/. /. A, ii. 262. * Favre, loc, eit. 257.

* Logan, i. 330. » Logan in J, I, A, i. 271, 284,

J SUM MAR y OF SA VAGE MALA Y CUL TURE 95

Mantra employ a bamboo flute and a kind of guitar,^
though others are recorded. From their position it
follows that all the trade of the Jakun is in the hands of
the Malays, who give them cloth, pots, dishes, ironware,
etc., in exchange for jungle produce, but who at the
same time greatly oppress them by means of the debts
into which they lead them, as well as by their treacher)^
and unjust dealing,* this treatment being in direct
contrast to that which they receive from the Chinese."

At their tribal feasts they chant songs and perform
mimetic dances in imitation of the various denizens of
the jungle, the performer, who is dressed in leaves,
carrying a peculiar dance- wand, and the performances
themselves being apparently a form of productive
magic They have a more advanced social organisa-
tion than the Sakai and Semang, and in some cases
their Batin or chief has a peculiar and unknown object
as part of his regalia.

They also practise peculiar marriage and burial
rites (e.g. the mound-ceremony, a species of marriage-
carnival at harvest-time, and the erection of a miniature
hut for the soul of the deceased), and have many
magic ceremonies and traditions which point to the
prevalence of ancestor - worship and Shamanism as
ingredients in their religion.

297» 332 ; Thomson, ibid. 347* ; cp. men " for pirates, or in some similar

a^ Logan in J. I, A. voL L p. 388, motive. But these Benua may have

where he remarks that *< like the been Land Jakmi after all.

northern tribes, the Benua have a ^ Borie, loc. cit. p. 424.

great dread of the sea," a characteristic ' Logan, loc. cit. pp. 261, 285.

which he attributes to ''exaggerated ' Waits, pp. 176, 177. As Col.

ideas respecting waves, sea -sickness, R. C. Temple points out, what such

and pirates." On this it may be re- tribes get by barter may be of >'alue to

marked that it is hard to believe that themselves ; what they give is of none,

any true Sea Jakun really dread the sea, But though the bargaining of the

and that formerly when they professed Chinese may perhaps thus be defended,

themselves afraid of it, the reason might that of the Mala]^, who go far beyond

perhaps be sought in a fear of their the Chinese, can not. — Temple in

being themselves taken by the ** white /. A. I. vol. xxix. p. loi.

Note by W. L. H. Duckworth on " Fasciculi
Malayenses," Vol. I.

Messrs. Annandale and Robinson,^ whose expedition
to the Malay Peninsula followed that of Mr. Skeat
(of whose party Mr. Annandale was a member), have
provided abundant data which will yield much in-
formation when fully worked out. At present the
chief results that have come to hand appear to me
to be the following. Firstly, as regards the living
inhabitants of the Malay Peninsula, we are presented
with observations whence the average colour of skin
and eyes, the hair- characters, the stature, and the
cephalic index of Semang, Sakai, people of the
Trang coast, and South Perak Malays are obtainable,
founded on a much broader basis than has hitherto
been accessible. As regards the South Perak Malays,
the data are probably entirely new. The foregoing
results have been tabulated in the Appendix* (i) for
purposes of general comparison in the comparative table,
and (2) separately for purposes of comparison inter se.
In the second place, the craniological collection
comprises some extraordinarily valuable specimens,
though unfortunately the number is not very large.
Special mention must be made of the collection of
skulls of the Orang Laut formed by Mr. Annandale.
The appended table ^ gives concisely the results of the

* Ax\i\iOxs oi Fasciculi Malay en ses. * For thb table see Appendix. ' /^,

PART I NOTE ON " FASCICUU MALA YENSES " 97

craniometrical study of these. It will be noted that
the Orang Laut and Orang Bukit, although separated
by Mr. Annandale, are yet closely associated physically.
When the general results of the expedition are reviewed,
it becomes evident, in the first place, that the Semang
and the Sakai types are connected by transitional
forms so numerous that it is only from the examination
of very large numbers of individuals that the two
extreme forms can be differentiated It is particu-
larly to be noted that the cephalic index fails con-
spicuously to differentiate the two, whereas the stature
is a more reliable characteristic, and it is from this,
with the skin-colour and hair-characters, that evidence
upon which the distinction is based is to be obtained.
In the second place, the Samsams of the Trang coast
(as is also the case with the South Perak Malays)
stand, as indeed might have been expected, quite apart
from the Semang and Sakai. Thirdly, as regards the
results of the Skeat expedition, the characters of the
Pangans measured by Messrs. Skeat and Laidlaw fall
within the range of variation established by the more
numerous observations in the Fasciculi Malayenses.
When we turn to the craniological side we find that
the Pangan skull provided by Mr. Skeat possesses
characters which bring it also into line with the
Semang and Sakai group of Messrs. Annandale and
Robinson in everything except cranial capacity, which
in the former example is greater than in any case
observed by the authors of Fctsciculi Malayenses.

Then comes the extraordinary case of Grubauer's
Semang skull* This, although microcephalic, provides
the unusually high cephalic index-figure of 85, which
carries it far beyond the range of indices otherwise

1 Cf. Man, No. 18, 1903.
VOL. I H

98 NOTE BY W. L. H. DUCKWORTH part

available for comparison. This unusual index need not
be regarded as ruling out the skull from the ranks of
the Semang-Sakai group, as the total number of skulls
known is but fifteen or so, and in the living the index
may, as is seen from the table, reach the figure of 85.5
(=.83.5 on the skull).

Three more remarks may be made on the results
of the authors of the Fasciculi Malayenses.

In the first place, they have obtained extraordinarily
high figures for the radio-humeral index in the living
Semang: results which do not accord with those
obtained from the data of the Skeat expedition (whether
from living Pangan or Semang or skeletons of the
same), nor with Messrs. Annandale and Robinson's
own results in the case of the skeletons collected by
them. This is evidently due to their method of
measurement, for their results for the living Semang
are consistent throughout inter se. But the final effect
is to give an incorrect idea of the preponderance of
forearm lengdi, which, though present* is not nearly so
marked as the figures suggest.

Secondly, and regarding the craniological results
detailed in the Fasciculi McUayenses^ the skulls repre-
sented in photographs afford but slight material for
comparisons, partly owing to the fact that two of them
are skulls of aged women. The Semang skull, Plate
xvl Figs. 4, 5, 6, has a much flatter nasal skeleton
than that of the Pangan in the Cambridge Museum ;
and also presents less subnasal prognathism than the
latter skuU.

Finally, Plate xviil Figs. 4, 5, 6, gives photo-
graphs of the skull of an ''Orang Laut Kapir" {i.€.
•* Kafir " or " unconverted " Orang Laut) of the
Trang coast : were the provenance of this specimen

I ON " FASCICUU MALA YENSES " 99

not precisely known, its dimensions, as given in the
table, and its proportions and appearance would lead
to its being regarded as a good example of the Oceanic-
negro type as met with in New Guinea, New Britain,
and neighbouring islands. Caution must therefore be
exercised in basing conclusions on skulls taken from
ancient cemeteries of the kind whence this skull was
obtained.

Note on Diseases of the Aborigines.

Very litde has been observed about the diseases to
which the wild aboriginal tribes are subject, and on the
whole it appears that they are not much troubled by
sickness, the reason being doubtless that as they live in
a state of nature only the hardiest of their children
survive. All of them are, however, in mortal terror
of one disease in particular, viz. small-pox, from which
many of their tribes have greatly suffered from time
to time.

I. — Semang.

Fever does not appear to trouble the Semang
so much as a malignant sort of ulcers and various
minor forms of cutaneous disease (Mai. "kurap")
which are very prevalent locally. The wife of the
Semang chief (Pelima) at Siong was afflicted with
an ulcer which was one of the worst I have seen in
the East, and which had eaten deeply into the left leg.

Both Semang and Sakai are generally well formed,
and are not unfrequently described as showing a
magnificent physique. Deformed people and dwarfs
are extremely rare, probably for the reason already
given. One of the Semang (Pa' Gelugor) whom I
observed at J arum may, however, have approximated
to a dwarf type, all of his measurements proving to be
under the average. On the other hand, his back was

100

PA*T I NEGRITOS OF KEDAH loi

slightly bowed, but as he had arrived at an advanced
age, this is perhaps more likely to have been due to
physical infirmity than to congenital deformity.

Some form of acute rheumatism, or more probably
sciatica, appears occasionally to attack them, as
in the case of a woman belonging to the Kedah
Semang, of whose temporary "cure" I myself was
witness.' From the woman's own account, the pain,
which was extremely acute and caused her great
suffering, was situated in the bones of the leg. The
pain caused her to break out openly into weeping
and loud crying, but nevertheless she was able to
make her way into the forest for some thirty yards
till she reached the site of her former house, in which
she was presently " doctored " by the chief of the tribe.

The teeth of the Semang, like those of most other
savages on a similar plane of culture, were extremely
good, and were seldom attacked by caries.

Delivery, as a rule, was attended by very little
difficulty, the woman usually resuming her ordinary
avocations after three or four days' seclusion.

It could not be determined what sickness was
meant by a ** great death" or plague that was
traditionary among the Semang, but the symptoms
were described to Vaughan-Stevens as follows : those
who were attacked by the disease about noon, died
before sunset, by which time the body had turned
black in colour. It was evidently also much swollen
up, since it was described by the Semang as looking
" like a leech, when it falls off."

That the Semang ("Menik") had no name for
the disease seems to show that it was formerly
unknown to them, and that they had no other tradi-

* Cp. vol. ii. p. 230.

I02 NOTE ON DISEASES OF THE ABORIGINES part

tion about it than that **it had only come twice."
The only thing that could be found out about it,
besides, was that nobody attacked by it escaped with
his life. It was further stated that it had arisen in
consequence of the neglect of Pie's command never
to stay more than five days in one place. This
command, however, only applied to the men.^

Vaughan-Stevens gives Semang names for many
other diseases, but in almost every case fails to
translate or identify them.

1 1. — Sakai.

The foregoing remarks appear to be as applicable,
generally speaking, to the Sakai as to the Semang.
At all events, the Sakai have the same dread of small-
pox and the same liability to ulcers and skin diseases,
of which latter Hale (p. 288) distinguishes three kinds
(**Kurap," "Kurap ayam," and '*Kudis"), the pre-
valence of which he ascribes to the fact that the Sakai
** very seldom bathe. "^ He also mentions' headache
and stomach-ache as being diseases which are prayed
against by the Sakai. De Morgan (ii. 717) mentions
fevers (which are cured by the use of crushed
'* langsat " stones), colic, diarrhoea (for which calcined
bones are used), dysentery, "kurab," and "wounds,"
which latter are dressed with sugar-cane pulp, bound
with a strip of bark-cloth,

III. — Jakun.

Blandas. — There are no very special remarks to be
made with r^^rd to the diseases of the Blandas
tribe. Some individuals suffered greatly both from

^ 5m: Vaughan-Stevens, iii. 102. iL 717 ; Bran de Saint -Pol Lias,

' The two latter are ringworm and and other writers,
itch. Cp. De Morgan in VHommt^ ^ Hale, p. 301.

IT,

1 SA VAGE MALA YS OF SELANGOR 103

cutaneous disorders and ulcers, but this was probably,
as with the Semang and Sakai, the result of the food
that they lived on, more especially of some of the
yams and roots. Fevers were also very prevalent at
certain seasons, but small-pox was the one disease that
they most greatly dreaded, and on the appearance of
which they would flee from the district

Besisi. — Owing to their way of life, it was not
uncommon to meet amongst them individuals who had
been accidentally maimed or wounded, and on one
occasion, whilst driving along the Langat road at Klang,
I encountered a Jakun who had been badly lamed by
the injury and contraction of the muscles of the knee.
After considerable persuasion, I induced him to return
to Klang and enter the hospital, which was then
in charge of the late Mr. W. M. Little. Mr. Little
kindly interested himself in the case, and succeeded in
affording the man a good deal of relief; but when the
man had been a few days in hospital he returned to
the jungle, saying before he left that he could not live
in a place which was so shut in and devoid of trees.
\ never knew a case of mental disease among any
of these tribes.

Jakim of Negri Sembilan. — The chief diseases are
more or less malignant kinds of skin*disease — in part
inherited, in part brought on themselves, for the
hillmen of Negri Sembilan never indulge in the
luxury of a bath.

They do not appear to possess much stamina for
resisting fever and other internal ailments. When
they had been living in the house assigned to them by
Rowland for a short time, they became dissatisfied, and
all developed a dry, painful cough, and moved about
very despondingly ; scarcely an hour passed without

I04 NOTE ON DISEASES OF THE ABORIGINES part

one of them coming to Rowland and saying that he
was about to die, until at last Rowland had huts built
for them after their own manner, when they at once
recovered. Rowland adds that he heard nothing of
mental diseases among them, though there are many
such among the Malays.^

Jakun of Johop. — The Jakun were not much
subject to sickness ; though none the less, for want of
proper care, few of them reach to an advanced age.
The sickness of which they have the greatest dread, and
from which they suffer most, is the small-pox. If any
one is attacked by it, he is at once entirely abandoned ;
parents, relations, friends, and neighbours all fly from
him alike, and the poor sick man, left without any
assistance, of course dies miserably. In the case of
other diseases, the sick are not so entirely uncared for ;
some sort of physic, which consists ordinarily of an
infusion or decoction of wild plants, being given
according to the rude prescription of a Pawang,
though usually without any success. The Jakun die
for the most part of fever caused by the dampness
and insalubrity of the places they inhabit.^

Like the people of India, they are also generally
very subject to ulcers. Many of them have very
troublesome skin diseases, though as a rule these are
not dangerous. If the missionaries succeed in
gathering the Jakun into villages, as they intend to
do, and to make their habitations more salubrious,
ulcers will certainly be much more scarce amongst
them; and it may be hoped that the cure of their
skin diseases will not present any great difficulty.
A small provision of quinine or other remedies

* Rowland, p. 707.
* Favre iny. /. A, vol. ii. p. 265.

SA VAGE MALA YS OF JOHOR 105

for fever would also doubtless preserve the life of
many.^

Benua-Jalnm. — Of the Benua of Johor we are told
that, like all these tribes, they have an excessive fear of
the small'pox. The explanation they give of this is that
in former times their tribe was severely visited, and
greatly thinned, by it, and that a vow was then made
that they and their descendants in all time to come
should flee from its presence whenever and wherever
it appeared. If it should again break out, they would
necessarily abandon both the victim and the locality.*

The Benua of the Lenggiu and Sayong are said to
close their rivers by felling trees across them whenever
they hear that this disease prevails at Johor Lama
{ji.e. "Old Johor") or elsewhere in the country.
Vaccination would prove a great boon.*

Orang Laut or Sea-Jakun.

0. Laut, BeduandaKallang. — The Beduanda Kallang
of Singapore formerly consisted of about a hundred
families occupying as many boats, but the ravages
of the small-pox have reduced the number to eight.*

0. Laut, Sletar. — Several of the men and women of
the Sletar tribe were subject to deformity in hands
and limbs, a rather unusual circumstance for these
parts, and the disease most prevalent among them
was a cutaneous scaly eruption (Mai. ** Kurap ") that
covered the whole body. To this disease whole
families were subject, from the mother to the infant at
the breast, nearly every second person appearing to be
afflicted with it The feet of the old people were also

> Favre in/. /. A, vol ii. p. 265. * Ih,

* y. /. A, voL L p. 284. * lb, p. 300.

io6 NOTE ON DISEASES OF THE ABORIGINES part x

attacked by a sort of disease resembling leprosy, and
the features of the face in one or two cases were found
to be contracted from some such cause/ its victims
being naturally rendered hideous to look upon.*

^ From the description this might be suffered from a disease of the skin of

attributed to some disease of syphilitic the feet and hands, named "Kedal,"

origin, which is not impossible, seeing which had, however, no affinity with

the propinquity of the Sletar to Singa- leprosy properly so called,
pore. On the other hand, it may be ^ J* I A. vol. i. p. 345*.

remarked that the Malays themselves

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.

PART II

CHAPTER I.

Food— Stimulants — Narcotics.

Although food is always (naturally) a burning ques-
tion among the wild tribes that are still nomadic, it
apparently becomes, strange as it may seem, of even
greater importance among those that are just entering
the path of civilisation, who are frequently rendered, to
a pitiable extent, dependent upon the Malays for their
very existence, a circumstance which the latter are not
slow to turn to their own advantage. The wildest
tribes, who are thoroughgoing nomads, seldom stay
more than three or four days in one place, but as
soon as they have exhausted the sources of food in
one neighbourhood, move on to the next, and hence
are as a rule fairly, though not liberally, supplied.

The staple food of these tribes does not consist so
much of the flesh of animals as of such wild vegetable
food as may happen to faU from time to time in season.
When this fails, the men engage in hunting, trap-
ping, and fishing excursions in order to eke out
their dwindling stock of vegetable supplies, which
consist mainly of wild yams,^ roots, and fruits of the
jungle.

The less wild tribes who have learnt the use of

^ According to H. N. Ridley the of the wild tribes is Dioscarea penta'
yam most sought after by all branches phylla.

109

no FOOD PART II

rice are forced to obtain their supplies of it by the
barter of jungle produce at ruinous rates, as they
seldom succeed in obtaining a crop of their own which
will last for more than a small portion of the year.

As will readily be expected, not only the knife and
fork of civilisation, but even such objects as chop-
sticks, are completely unknown^ the flesh of the animal
which has been killed being broken up into pieces of
convenient size, which are picked up from the dish
(which often consists of nothing more elaborate than
a large banana-leaf obtained from the neighbouring
forest) and conveyed to the mouth by hand* In the
case of a leg or wing of a small mammal or bird the
bone is held in the hand in primitive fashion, and the
flesh gnawed off" it sans cdrimonie and sansgine. For
drinking purposes bamboo vessels, gourds, and coco*
nut-shells are used, though a mere leaf, or the hand
Itself, are used at convenience.

In eating, the women and girls of all three wild
races wait until the men have finished.

For drinking purposes the " tamer " tribes generally
keep in their huts earthenware water-pots> for which a
half coconut-$heU is, as among the Malays, the most
generally accepted ** bailer." In drinking from running
water, however, the water is thrown into the mouth
by hand, unless a big leaf happens to be available.

In this connexion it may be of interest to
note a statement to the eflect that the Orang Laut,
when they wished to drink, threw the water up into
the mouth with the hand with unerring aim, and
instead of splashing the entire face (as a European
would), they were able to throw water into the mouth
at about the distance of a foot from the palm of the
hand without wetting their faces to speak of. Even

CHAP. I GENERAL REMARKS iii

the children employed this method. On the other
hand, when a mother wished to give her infant some
water to drink, she let it drip from her hand into the
child's open mouth.^

With regard to rice, the wildest tribes of the
Peninsula (Pangan, etc.) do not eat it, although it is
the staple food of the Malays and all the later im-
migrants to the country.

The first step towards the adoption of a grain diet
would seem to be taken when the wild people take
to cultivating and eating a species of millet ('' sSkoi '')}

For this, at a later period, a more or less scanty
diet of rice (obtained from the Malays by barter) is
gradually substituted by the less nomadic tribes
(generally by tribes who have learned to grow a few
light ''catch" crops, in which rice is not included),
and eventually we find the first beginnings of rice
culture among tribes who cultivate for themselves not
only bananas, maize, tapioca (and in a few cases even
tokicco), but also a scanty stock of half-wild rice.

The wilder tribes of Semang and Sakai, and even
perhaps a few of the Jakuns, practise methods of
obtaining fire by friction. The Malayising tribes
appear, however, for a long time past to have known
the use of flint and steel, which is periiaps the method
still most generally in vogue. A few of the more
advanced have, however, learnt the use of ** trade"
matches, which they call by their Malay names
("tarek api "-pull-fire, or "gesek api "-scratch-fire).
The tinder used consists of the downy substance or fluff
which collects round the leaf-bases of certain palms.*

' Z.f. E, xxix. 184. > It is chiefly obtained from Caryota

' De Ut Croix, p. 340. It is Pemicum mitts. Lour.— Ridley.
Hiiiicum, — Ridley.

112 FOOD PART II

This fluff is also used as a kind of wad to prevent
windage in shooting with the blowpipe.

A simple form of torch, consisting of lumps of
** dammar" (Mai. **damar") wrapped round with palm-
leaves and tied with vegetable fibres, is also pretty
generally employed.

Among the Semang, cooking is the duty of the
women, and among the more nomadic tribes usually
consists in slightly roasting the flesh of the small
mammals and birds killed by the men, though it is
certain that, in some cases at all events, the definition
of man as a " cooking animal " breaks down, for the
meat is eaten absolutely raw. Flesh-meat is inserted
in a cleft stick, which is made to lean at an angle over
the fire. Rice, if obtainable, is fire-dried in green
bamboos, which are carried about and broken open as
circumstances may require. Yams and roots are grated
and wrapped up in strips of banana-leaf for baking.
Fish are usually baked in the same way as the flesh of
birds and animals.

The methods of the Sakai are very similar, and
both they and the Semang have several ingenious
methods of treating poisonous yams, etc., in order to
make them fit for consumption.

Among the Jakun of the coast, and to some extent
among the inland Sakai and Semang, iron cooking
utensils (Malay rice-pots, etc.) have been introduced,
and with these the difficulties of cooking largely dis-
appear.

I. — Semang.

Food and its Preparation.

Kedah Semang. — The food of the Western Semang,
when I visited them in Kedah, consisted -of rice eked

CHAP. I NEGRITOS OF KEDAH 113

out with a little sugar-cane, both of which were cultivated
by themselves, together with a little tapioca and the
wild roots and fruits of the jungle. Their flesh-food
consisted of small birds and animals, but more often of
fish and turtle, etc., which they caught or harpooned
in the river at the foot of the hill. A few of these
Negrito tribes still hunt with the bow, but the blow-
pipe has also made some converts, especially towards
the south. They are unfettered by religious re-
strictions in their search for food,^ and are averse to
nothing which can be converted into a means of
sustenance. We often encountered the holes made by
them in digging for roots in the deepest recesses of
the forest.

Pangan. — The food of the Eastern Semang (Pan-
gan) does not differ from that of their western kindred.
In a small rock-shelter which I visited in the hills
of Patalung near Singora, and which was deserted
by the Pangan just before we got there, we found
the remains of a fire, the ribs of a small tortoise
on which they had been feeding, and a half-smoked
(native) cigarette. In the deserted semicircular
huts of the Pangans at Ulu Aring, in Kelantan,
we found the remains of fires, short bamboo vessels
which had been used for carrying dried rice (''nasi
iSmang"), and a half coconut-shell, which had, no doubt,
been used for drinking. These Pangan when in the
neighbourhood used to come down to the Malay
hamlet at Kampong Buntal for rice and tobacco.

Kedah Semang and Pangan. — Fire -making by
friction is the simplest method practised by both
Eastern and Western Semang. It usually takes the
form of rubbing together short blocks of wood,

* For rules as to eating the <* soul-bird *' (an alleged exception), v. vol ii. pp. 4^.
VOL. I I

114 FOOD PART u

bamboo, or cane. A common method consists in
passing a rattan line round the portion of a dried
branch (that of certain kinds of trees can alone be
used), and holding the branch down by the foot, whilst
the line is rapidly worked to and fro with the hands,
until the friction ignites the dust which falls from the
wood.

The Semang also not unfrequently supply them-
selves with fragments of flint and tool-iron, which they
carry about with them.

They use as tinder the down-like substance or
fluff which gathers about the leaf-bases of palms, and
which they also, as has been said, use as a wad in
shooting with the blowpipe.

This complete fire apparatus is generally carried
on the person, not unfrequently in a small bamboo
cylinder.

Perak Semang. — The same remarks apply to the
Semang of Perak. De Morgan adds that the bamboo
tube in which the fire apparatus is carried is often
beautifully decorated (by incised lines). He also
states that the Perak Semang obtain their tinder from
the sugar-palm ^ (" kabong ").*

Semang and Pangan. — The Semang hearth con-
sists of a few short logs or sticks, whose ends converge
to a common centre. They are laid upon a clear spot
of ground, and the fires are allowed to smoulder away
gradually, being only **made up" when a bigger fire
is required for cooking, though they are kept burning
night and day until the encampment changes its
ground.

Kedah Semang. — Of roots and fruits it is not only
the innocuous kinds that are employed ; even poison-

* Arenga saccharifera, — Ridley. * De Morgan, viL 414.

CHAP, I NEGRITOS OF KEDAH 1 1 5

ous yams and roots are specially treated by the
Semang to render them fit for food. For this pur-
pose they are rasped against a prickly stick (a sort of
natural '* nutmeg grater "),^ the raspings being mixed
with a little lime (slaked with water in a coconut -shell)
and worked up with a small spatula of *'bSrtam"*
palm. Finally they are kneaded by hand into a sort
of dough, which is wrapped up in a strip of fresh
banana -leaf, slipped into a cleft stick, and slowly
roasted over the fire. The yams thus treated
are called "kleb" by the Semang, and "ubi kapor"
by the Malays. The Semang informed me they
were highly poisonous, unless treated as here de-
scribed.*

I noticed a number of these yams ('* ubi kapor ") in
the Semang shelter at Siong in Kedah, where they
were inserted between the slats of the roof. Other
kinds of yams employed by the tribe in question
were the *'ubi takob," which is baked; the "ubi
tanjong," which is boiled ; and *' kensS " or tapioca-
root, which was no doubt obtained by barter from
the Malays, as none was grown in the clearing at
Siong.

Perak Semang. — The Perak Semang render the
roots of the wild yam edible by means of prolonged
fermentation (in the earth ?) and by culinary treat-
ment extending over six days.

But the roots of the amorphophallus cannot, it
appears, be made edible by any sort of treatment, this
latter plant being regarded as furnishing, when mixed
with Ipoh, the most deadly kind of poison known to

* The prickly stem of a kind of (or <'gadong"), [that requires to be
rattan {CcUiumii), ^ EugMsona tristis, prepared in this way. The other
' It is only Dioscorea damona, Roxb. species are harmless. — Ridley.

ii6 FOOD PART II

the tribe, whilst even the contact of the sap with the
skin produces considerable irritation.^

Meals.

Kedah Semang. — Among the Semang of Kedah the
women and girls, after cooking the food, were not
allowed to eat any of it until the men and boys of
the tribe had finished their repast. At Siong on
one occasion I photographed a number of Semang
in the middle of a meal. Their food, which they
eagerly devoured and obviously enjoyed, consisted
of a quantity of rice and some small fowls that
I had brought with me, — a sufficient reply to the
assertion which has often been made that these tribes
are afraid to eat the flesh of any domestic creature.
These materials, after cooking, were deposited in
separate heaps upon large banana -leaves, and were
partaken of first by all the males of the tribe sitting
together.

The women could be seen inside the hut waiting
quite patiently when their work was done until their
lords and masters should have finished their repast.

{Stimulants and Narcotics.

Kedah Semang. — Betel -chewing appeared to be
very sparingly indulged in by all the Semang tribes
that I came across. Occasional instances certainly
occur, but the custom is certainly very much more
rarely found among the Semang than among the more
southern tribes, and their teeth were, as a rule, entirely

1 De la Croiz (quoting Sir H. I ow), same as that of the Semang of Kedah,
p. 334. From Mr. L. Wray I learn that with the addition of gourds, pumpkins^
in other respects their diet is much the chillies, maixe, and sweet potatoes.

Skeat.

A. Semang of Kedah rasping yams with prickly
Stem of young rattan.

Skeat.
B. Pouring lime upon the raspings preparatory to
mixing anil cooking.

Semangs preparing Poisonous Yams for Food.

^kcat.

Semang ok Kedah n.\jiiNG a Meal.

Vol. I.f. it6.

CHAP. I NEGRITOS OF KEDAH 117

free from the discoloration which necessarily accom-
panies the custom referred to.^

Semang* and Pangan — Perak Semang. — On the other
hand, both Semang and Pangan (East Semang) are
(like all the wild tribes of the Peninsula) inordinately
fond of tobacco. They carry it in a small but beauti-
fully decorated bamboo tube, a specimen of which I
obtained in Ulu Kelantan. Some of the more civilised
tribes are said to grow their own tobacco. Almost
invariably, however, they obtain it by barter from the
Malays, as do also the Semang of Perak.^

II. — Sakai.
Food and its Preparation.

Perak SakaL — The wilder Sakai tribes (Sakai
Bukit), like the Semang, live upon wild tubers, roots,
and fruits, together with the flesh of animals and birds
that fall victims to the darts shot from their blowpipe.
They do not as a rule search for game until every-
thing else fails.* They will, however, eat almost
any sort of animal food, and the land tortoise is as
acceptable to them as to the Karens of Martaban.*

To both these classes of food must be added,
among the more settled tribes, the produce of their
gardens, which includes maize, sugar-cane, tapioca,
sweet potatoes, yams, rice, and many plants which can
be cultivated as catch crops. A curious fact recorded
of them is that they do not make use of salt.* This

^ Mr. L. Wray tdls me that in * Hale, p. 295 ; see also De U Croix,

Upper Peiak be saw some Semang- p. 340.

Stkai (from the Pins) burning fresh- ^ /. /. A. vol iv. p. 430.

water shells to make lime for their betel. ■ lb. vol. iy. p. 429. To this list

< /. /. A, vol. iv. pp. 425, 426. of plants millet must be added.

ii8 FOOD PART II

has been contradicted by other writers,^ though it is
quite possible that salt, owing to the difficulty of
obtaining it, may not be used by some of the wilder
tribes, who fear the risks attendant upon barter. The
young growing shoots of the giant bamboo ("buluh
bfitong ") are eaten both cooked and raw.^

According to M. Lias, the food of the Perak Sakai
consists mainly of tapioca-root, yams, sweet potatoes,
maize, bananas, poultry, eggs, fish, and game killed
by the blowpipe.

**They also," he continues, "eat rats, snakes,
monkeys . . .," a Malay said to me, laughing.

But To* LelS denies it.

"It is not we, the Sakai of KSrbu, who eat that,
it is the Ulu Burong people."*

De Morgan says that they eat the shoots of ferns,
palms, bamboos, pVah-fruit, certain fungi that grow on
rotten trees, and yams of every description, together
with tapioca (which has been imported in recent times,
but the use of which has spread everywhere), sugar-
cane, maize, gourds, and water-melons, turmeric,
millet, and (half- wild) bananas which have big seeds
in them. Kulim leaves are used as seasoning.*

Both these accounts, curiously enough, omit to
mention the wild fruits which grow in great profusion
at certain seasons of the year in the forests of the
Peninsula. It would be interesting to know whether the
Sakai are less markedly frugivorous than the Semang

* L. Wiay, Cave-dwellers^ p. 39. *y. R, A, S,, S, A, No. 21, p. 154.

Mr. Wray tells me that the food of ' Brau de S. P. Lias, pp. 279, 280.

the Batang Padang Sakai (and those of * De Morgan, viiL 157 ; cf.

the Hills between Kinta and Pahang) VHonime^ iu 713. The Sakai are

agrees with that of the Perak Semang, also said to eat the tuberous roots

except that millet is substituted for of Smilax megticarpa^ De C. Its

rice. Frogs and snakes are also eaten, Malay names are ** Akar banau,**

as well as some insects, e.g,^ the "Rabanu," "Rabana," ** K*luna,"and

< * Buprestes *' beetles, which are roasted. * * Lampau Bukit. '* — Ridley.

CHAP. I SAKAI OF PERAK 119

or Jakun. But there is no reason to think so, and most
probably, like the others, they will eat anything that is
not actually poisonous. Thus Mr. L. Wray writes that
once, in an evil moment, he was induced by assurances
and example of some of the Sakai to eat some pretty
apple-like fruit with which a tree growing by the side
of the river was laden. The fruit, though pleasant at
first, left a very disagreeable after - taste, and he
suffered for the remainder of the day with sore mouth
and lips. It was a species^ of the genus Garcinta, of
which the " gSlugor " fruit ^ is a well-known and closely
allied example.

Mr. Wray first saw, on Gunong Chunam Prah,
at a height of 3350 feet (1021 m.), a blackberry
which grows amongst the underwood (** blukar ") on
the old Sakai clearings ("ladang"). The berry was
red and long, and had something of the flavour of its
English ally. The leaf and method of growth were also
very similar. Raspberries * were common in the same
situations, but the fruit was small and nearly tasteless.*

The methods employed by the Sakai for obtaining
fire are similar to those used by the Negritos. To
procure fire the hill Sakai (Orang Bukit) rub two dry
pieces of bamboo together.*

In Kinta, according to Hale, every Sakai carries a
tinder-box, which, however, he does not use more
than he is obliged to do, as the fire of each family is
always kept smouldering to prevent its extinction.*

Hale's description of the Sakai hearth deserves
full quotation. Each family (he writes) and wife . . .
had a separate hearth. These hearths are very

* Probably Garcinia Castata^ Hensl. * De la Croix, p. 340.

> MaL *' gflugor,*' i.e, Garcinia ^ Hale, p. 294. The Batang Padang

atraoiridis, ' Rubus roscrfolius, Sakai are said to use the fire-drill. —

^ J.R.A.S,^ S,B,, No. 21, p. 155. Fasc, Mai, 41.

I20 FOOD PART II

simple constructions ; a mat of leaves is spread
on the floor, and over this is spread about three
inches of earth, and a fire lighted, which once lighted
is not allowed to got out For although every Sakai
carries a tinder-box, it is much easier to blow up
a smouldering log into a blaze than to rekindle it.
Three or four long logs of suitable wood, each about
nine inches in diameter, are arranged so that their
ends approach the middle of the hearth. A small fire
of sticks is lighted in the centre, and the logs keep the
fire up for weeks, and as they bum away are drawn
gradually into the fire. The burning ends serve to
support the saucepans, and the accumulated ashes
below to^ roast tapioca and sweet potatoes in. As
there are always several other logs lying about the
floor drying so as to be ready for use, it is not very
easy to get about without knocking one's shins. ^

The Sakai generally use earthen cooking vessels,
but prefer iron ones when they can get them. Like
the Negritos, they have many ingenious methods
for the preparation of their food. The wild yam
and the "kapayang" fruit ^ ("piyung") are cut into
small pieces, cooked, and laid in running water for
twenty-four hours to draw the poison out of them.*

A similar process is employed in the preparation of
the bitter cassava * {Manihot lUilissima).

A yet more curious process described by Hale is
to bury such poisonous tubers for days together in one
of the swamps in the jungle. After being steeped in
this way till they are sodden, they are dug up again
and rasped with a prickly shoot of rattan (already

^ Hale, p. 294. * SU Vaughan- Stevens (^.), but

> PangiumeduU. Thehuskofthenut according to Mr. H. N. Ridley the
is used as a receptacle. — VH, ii. 619. bitter cassava is not cultivated in the

> Vaoghan-Stevens, it 112. Peninsula!

CHAP. 1 SAKAI OF PERAK 121

described). The raspings are put into a matwork
bag, and the foul -smelling, unwholesome moisture
squeezed out of them with a kind of primitive lever.
They are then dried over the fire in a green bamboo,
and put aside till required for food.^

This preparation is said by Hale to be called
" koyi " (" koyee *'), and will keep good for a month.*

The seeds of some trees (such as the " p'rah ") • are
similarly treated; they are put into a matwork bag
and buried in swamps sometimes for months together
before they are touched. Eventually, however, they
are lifted out of the swamp by means of a cord attached
to the bag, and are then pounded and squeezed into a
bamboo, when they are ready for use. The result is
a highly flavoured kind of preserve called by the
Malays "sSrum p'rah/* or "pVah paste," which in
spite of its strong odour is yet greatly prized.*

The Sakai use rude wooden spice-blocks (" sfing-
kalan") for grinding their spices. Not unfrequently
part of a bamboo internode is used for the purpose
when they are travelling in the jungle. In this way
they grind up their salt, chillies, and the other season-
ings • which they eat with their rice, the latter of which
is boiled in an internode of bamboo.*

Meals.

Perak SakaL — Hale says of the Sakai that they
have only two regular meals, an early morning break-
fast and a midnight supper, but that they were con-
tinually having slight snacks of some kind of vegetable

* Hale, p. 298. ^ De M. Bgures a wooden plate

^ VS. p. 295. (probably used for this purpose) and a

^ Afezzettia leptopoda^ Oliver (Ano- bamboo water- vessel. — VH, ii. 619.
). * Hale, p. 298. « L. Wray, CoDe-dwelUrs^ p. 39.

122

FOOD

PART II

food (sugar-cane, tapioca, or sweet potatoes) when
they happened to be indoors during the daytime/

Stimulants and Narcotics,

Perak Sakai. — Of tobacco and betel the Sakai are
exceedingly fond, the leaf of a wild betel (** chambai ") *
being freely taken when no other is obtainable. Both
of these habits are probably acquired from the Malays,
from whom a Sakai will also occasionally learn to
smoke or eat opium.*

III. — Jakun.

Food.

Blandas. — There is nothing requiring special
comment about the diet of the Blandas, except that it
contains less animal food and a larger proportion of

> Hale, p. 295.

Vaughan-Stevens states that he had
often read that the aborigines (Orang
Hntan) relieve themselves from flatu-
lence in any way that they please,
without the least notice being taken of
it by any of those present, but that this
habit is condemned and regarded as
** vulgar." Vaughan - Stevens often
heard one Sakai reprove another when
such a breach of decorum was made,
although men only were present. On
one occasion an excuse was offered by
one of those present on behalf of
his comrade, the offender "looking
ashamed as he went out." Whenever
Vaughan - Stevens asked the Sakai
what was their opinion in such a case,
they always condemned it very strongly,
but suggested that it might have
occurred accidentally and unintention-
ally, by way of apology. The idea
that this habit might be regarded (as
among the Chinese) as a compliment

to the host cannot be entertained,
as among the aborigines it would be
an insult rather than a compliment.
Accidents of the kind may happen
from their greedy manner of eating, and
if the men appear to take no notice,
it is only because they do not wish to
attract attention to the mistake which
has been made (Z./ E, xxix. 184).

* Mr. Ridley writes me that several
wild pepper leavesare used as substitutes
for the betel-leaf. He has seen Selangor
Sakai near Kuala Lumpor cut off* long
strips of bark from Piper argenteum^
with the object of chewing them. A
portion only of the bark was taken in
each case, so that the plant might not
be killed.

« L. Wiay, Cave-dwellers^ p. 39.
Mr. Wray tells me further tluit the
Batang Padang Sakai grow tobacco,
drying and cutting but not fermenting
the leaves, and wrapping the product
in young ** palas" leaves.

CHAP. I SA VAGE MALA YS OF SELANGOR 123

rice than that of the Semang and Sakai, the Selan-
gor tribe being rather more advanced in matters of
cultivation. In Kuala Langat, I have myself fre-
quently seen the latter at their meals (which I have
also occasionally shared), when their only food consisted
of boiled rice, seasoned with acid fruits ('* asam k'lubi "
^Zalacca confertd) obtained from the jungle.

Food and its Preparation.

Besisi. — A favourite kind of preserve not yet
mentioned consists of a paste obtained from the pulp
of the durian, which the Besisi bury in the ground for
months together until long after it has fermented.

A curious but firmly held belief of the Besisi is
that acid fruits must not be eaten with the game
killed by their poisoned darts, as to do so will, they
imagine, bring out the full symptoms of the poison in
those who partake of it

When cooking such game they generally cut
out the part surrounding the puncture caused by the
dart.

In some of the songs improvised by the Besisi
the various processes employed in the preparation of
their game for food are described in detail. The
game (if an animal) first has its fur removed by
singeing, when the skin is ** poked" off, and the
carcase quartered and cooked.

The seasonings used are "kulim"^ leaves, tur-
meric, and (wild) ginger, leaves of the *'kayu klat,"^

* Sorodocarpus bameensis (Olacinese), • A name applied to many species of

a large tree, every part of which smells Eugenia of the section *< syzygiam,"
ttioogly of onions. — Ridley. and other trees somewhat resembling

them (Myrtacese). — Ridley.

124 FOOD PART II

"spices" (the precise kind is not mentioned), and
"kesom."'

Different kinds of seasoning are mentioned in
other songs, especially various kinds of wild pepper,
"p€das chanchang"* and "pSdas jintan."* "Asam
k'lubi"^ is excluded as a seasoning for animals
killed with the blowpipe, for the reasons stated above.

The most usual method of making fire among
all the branches of the Jakun race (including the
Besisi) is by means of flint and steel. Logan, how-
ever, mentions a case in which some Jakun produced
fire by circular friction, exactly as it is sometimes pro-
duced by civilised Malays.* The steel consists of a
fragment of tool-iron, and is generally wrapped up
together with the flint in a piece of cloth and left in
the hut during short absences of the owner, or carried
on the person (in his ** bujam " or matwork pouch)
together with the usual palm-fluff" tinder.

The commonest type of hearth is the Malay box-
hearth, which consists of a shallow box filled with
earth, upon which are usually laid, in a triangle, the
Malayan firestones, between which a fire of sticks is
kindled. Fire-logs, such as are used by the inland
Sakai, are, however, often to be seen.

Meals.

BesisL — As in the case of all the wild tribes, the
Besisi men eat before the women. Morning and
evening are their special meal- times, but they con-

^ Probably ss^kisum," Pofygtmum ' Cummin, also used by the Malays

flaccidum^ Meissn. (Polygonacese), a in making curries. — Ridley,

common weed, also called *'kalima * The fruit of Zalacca conferta^

paya " or ' • swamp " kalima. — Ridley. Griff.

• Unidentified. */. /. A, vol L p. 255.

CHAP. I SA VAGE MALA YS OF SELANGOR 125

stantly chew sugar-cane, etc., throughout the day, and
they do not hesitate to accept an extra meal whenever
the opportunity offers. They gorge, in fact, like
pythons whenever they get the chance, and are only
too willing to sleep it off afterwards. It is, however,
only fair to them to say that they do not often get the
opportunity of eating to excess, except in the fruit season
or at harvest-time. They eat monkeys, rats, snakes,
and even crocodiles.

One of their more elaborate banquets, at which I
was present, will be described in detail in a later
chapter.

Betel-leaf and Tobacco.

BesisL — The chewing of the betel-leaf is a favourite
occupation of the Besisi, who especially affects the
wild betel-leaf called " chambai " and the bark from the
stem of a creeper called ** kalong," ^ which is, I was told,
identical with the stem of the ''chambai." I have
tasted both, and found that both possessed equally the
pungent aromatic flavour of the betel-leaf, and left
behind them a sort of roughness of the palate for at
least a few minutes after they had been chewed.
The Besisi are also extremely fond of tobacco, which
is generally smoked in the form of small cigarettes,
rolled up in thin coverings of palm-leaf after the Malay
fashion, but which is also occasionally chewed..^

Food and its Preparation.

Mantra. — Of the Mantra we are told that no kind
of food comes amiss, so long as it does not " intoxicate "
or poison them.*

* Piper caninum, * Skeat uxSeLJoum, vol. v, p. 381.

' y. /. A, vol. L p. 2S4*

126

FOOD

PART II

According to Logan, the Mantra never eat the
flesh of the elephant.^ The same writer gives a list of
no fewer than forty different jungle fruits, all of which
the Mantra are in the habit of eating.^

Father Barbe has said that if the flesh of monkeys,
to which the Mantra are very partial, were not
prohibited by the Koran, there is no doubt that the
generality of them would have been converted to
Islam.*

Meals and Tobacco}

The Mantra have three meals — morning, mid-day,
and evening.

The Mantra women were much addicted to to-
bacco, but they did not smoke it.

* Bone (tr. Bourien) says they •* cat
all that falls into their hands — bears,
monkeys, squirrels, rats, deer, birds, and
the roots and bulbs which the earth
produces in abundance, such as the
kaledek, or sweet potato ('kledek*);
fruits such as the banana, and the sugar-
cane, which serves to satisfy their thirst
as well as to nourish them. The maize
and rice which they cultivate can only
support them four months in the year.
To cultivate rice on the mountains it
is necessary to cut down the forest, to
burn it, and then to sow, which de-
mands more labour than is required for
hunting in the forest, where perhaps,
too, they may find roots or other vege-
table food. The hunting of monkeys
and squirrels pleases them more than
anything else, and they give themselves
up to it with ardour ; their labour and
fatigue they count as nothing if they
can but capture their prey, which they
distribute part to their parents, part to
their relations, and part to their friends
who attend the feast If they are
joined by no one, they first of all bum
off {i.e. singe) the hair, and then cut
up the carcase, and throw the portions

into a frying-pan to cook them, when
each person proceeds to devour his
share silently in the shade" (Borie,
PP* 76, 77). Later, M. Borie adds,
the Mantra '*do not give themselves
the trouble of cutting out that part
of the flesh which has been pierced by
the arrow, and which has a slightly
bluish appearance" (p. 78). This is
contrary to the usual statements of
the Besisi, who maintain that the flesh
surrounding the wound ought always
to be cut out

• ** The fruits used are the tampui,
takaro, lari, kandim, kimok, kledang,
tampune, kleres, pulasan, rambutan,
ramnian, lerang, prah, jireh, kingong,
kadumpal, kumpal, binnong, tangkoi,
redan, sikrang, ampadil, bangkong,
puteh, lonah, kamalun, didalin, mang-
le apas,jangkang, bombong, luen, kamui,
sop, diittong, sippam, lanjut, kUssa,
lalam, kimoh, sirlang, rumang."— ^/I /.
A, vol. L p. 331*. For identifications,
V. Ridley's Plant-List (/.f.), and other
parts of this book.

• Barbe, /. /. A, vol. v. pp. 487,
488.

*/. /. A. vol. L p. 254, 255.

CHAP. 1 SA VA GE MALA YS OF JOHOR 1 27

Food and its Preparation.

Benoa-Jakun. — Much of their [the Benua's] food is,
according to Logan, derived from fishing, snaring, and
hunting, no sorts of flesh being rejected. The
ungka, kra, and probably some other species of
monkeys, are, according to Logan, used by them
as food, but he believes not frequently so, and
"although the Malays asserted that snakes were
eaten," he could find no corroboration of the state-
ment while amongst the Benua.^

According to the same authority, the Benua-Jakun
tribes of Johor also make use of a considerable
number of fruits and seeds, which they obtain from the
forest, and eat either in their raw state or after boiling
or roasting them. He mentions the names of no less
than sixty-nine of these trees.*

In dealing with the subject of fire-making among
the Benua-Jakun, Logan remarked that the means of
obtaining a light were so simple that there was no
occasion to carry fire on their journeys. On his way

* Logaii,y. R. A,S, No. 7, p. 87. Cp. one with fleshless seeds ; the rambutan,

Newbold : '*In eating, no dish adorns ther.gading,r.uban,r.kasumba,rambei,

their table, save occasionally the leaf of duku, two kinds of manggis (mangostin),

the ' sajak ' tree, and that of the Biro bangke, bidara, tampui, marki, lunko-

(? Birah) fiimishes their usual drinking- koyo,k]ueng, bokobaka, bahkon, katian,

cap. A vessel of clay called 'Tarn- chaminoi, rampinoi, saun, kampong,

nramong ' is applied to the purposes of sundeh, taban, merpadi, kes, garop,

cooking, differing in shape from that chabet, rameng, palas, gippu, kadun-

used by Malays. The entrails of wild dong, kulem, ^oi, hukam, tampanoi,

animals are taken out and the hair p^tai, kerdas, bluru, blatong, malai,

scraped or singed off before the flesh mindaleng, kapas, ridan, ramampas,

is boiled. Instead of betel-leaf, they ramun, jila, ujol, k^rabu, pahet, kich-

often chew the leaf of a tree called ipo, tikaet, kikai, pinjeng, jiring, kika,

' kassi,* together with the areca-nut and buntol, jilibom, mayong, machang,

gunbier, but seldom mix them with kachang, kirpol, kawe, pakop, tayo,

lime. Tobacco, whenever it can be timambun, gungang, dumpa, merliUn,

had, is used to excess, even by women kansil, pilampi.— y. /. A, vol. L pp.

and children." — Newbold, ii. 405, 258, 259. For identifications, see

406 ; cp- y. /. A, vol. i. p. 257. Ridley's Plant-List, and other parts of

2 Induding several kinds of durian, this book.

128 FOOD PART II

from Pines to the Lenggiu his two guides asked him to
allow them to go for a little while to a small deserted
gutta-coUectors (*'taban") hut not far from the path.
As their absence was prolonged, and a heavy rain was
falling, he went to the hut, and there found them
comfortably extended and smoking native cigarettes
('* roko* "), and it was only with great difficulty that he
could induce them to resume the journey. They had
procured a light by making the end of a piece of dry
stick revolve rapidly in a small depression which they
had made in another stick.*

There were usually two fireplaces among the Benua,
and they were furnished with the ordinary ,pots and
pans used by the Malays, and had also small supplies of
the coarsest Chinese plates and saucers. Water was
carried and kept in the shell of a peculiar species of
large melon which they cultivate, and which forms a
very neat and serviceable, though not durable, jar.
The bamboo is converted to the same purpose, but
not often. The stem of an '* onak " ^ with the [tips of
the] thorns broken off formed a strong and very
effective grater. This was also used by the northern (.•^)
tribes. Platters made of hard wood, cut into neat
shapes and slightly curved, served, in conjunction with
a half coconut - shell, to bruise chillies and other
condiments. Malays have generally adopted for this
purpose a pestle and shallow stone mortar. Most of
the condiments were supplied by the Malays, such as

1 /. /. A. vol. i. pp. 254, 255. up which it climbs in the jungle.

* ** Onak '* is the whip-like structure There may be some doubt, however,

(or *<flagellum") which forms the con- as to whether this "whip" is ever

tinuation of the midrib of a rattan (or strong enough to be used for the

calamus) leaf. It is armed, as a rule, purpose described, and as *' onak ** is

with most formidable (recurved) thorns, often mistakenly used for the creeper

and serves as a species of grapnel by itself, it is possible that the stem

which this gigantic creeper hooks itself of the rattan Is all that b here in-

on to the higher branches of the trees tended.

CHAP. I SA VAGE MALA YS OF JOHOR 129

onions and turmeric, etc. The roots of a cultivated
plant were variously prepared. In the time between
meals, or when a person came in hungry, they were
roasted amongst the embers. For regular meals they
were grated down or simply boiled with the addition
bf hog s grease or vegetable oil.^

Meals.

Banna- Jakon. — The whole household ate together,
the wife sitting near the fireplace, so as to have the
smoking pots and pans within reach. From these she
replenished the plates from time to time. From the
activity, relish, and high good-humour with which the
viands were discussed, it was very apparent that the
Benua is blessed with a strong appetite, and looks
upon the satisfying of it as the main end of life. The
children were in general overfed, and even those who
were naturally vivacious seemed with difficulty to
resist the lethargic influence consequent on their
cramming themselves with potatoes boiled in hog's
grease, a kind of food with which their natural nutri-
ment is eked out from the third or fourth day of their
existence.^

Stimulants and Narcotics.
Benna-Jakun. — The Benua use betel -leaf, but not
to excess like the Malays. The gambier, betel-nut, and
lime which are eaten with it they, like other aborigines,
obtain from the Malays. Their favourite luxury wa3
tobacco, in which both sexes freely indulged. The
women were often to be seen seated together and
weaving mats, each with a native cigarette (" roko' ") in
her mouth. While they were speaking it was trans-

*/. /. A, ▼ol. I p. 254. • lb, pp. 266, 267.

VOL. I K

I30 FOOD PART II

ferred to the perforation in the ear. When they were
met paddling their canoes^ the '* roko' " was seldom
wanting.^

Articles of Diet.

Berembun Tribes. — Snakes (as well as the ungka,
kra, and some other species of monkeys)* were used as
food by the Berembun tribes, who employed dogs to
discover them. Those principally sought were pythons
{e.g. the ular sawa and u. sawa rfindam, cobra (u.
tedong), and others which are unidentified, e.g. u. ipong,
u. naga, u. gasing, u. ripung, u. ulabat, u. ringkup, u.
siu, u. manan, and u. kamong. The pythons (sawa) and
ripung were the best flavoured. They all possessed
"a fishy taste." Several kinds of snakes, even if the
teeth are carefully removed, like those of the preceding
species, cannot be used, the aborigines asserting that
their flesh is poisonous.'

The Berembun tribes use wooden platters and
coconut-shells (for grinding their condiments) like the
Benua (and the Javanese). They also employ either
large bamboos or the shell of a particular species of
large melon for carrying water.*

Food and its Preparation.

Jakun of Johor. — The food of the Jakun differs in
no way from that of the other semi -civilised tribes
already referred to. I may mention, however, that
they have grown so used to rice that they cannot do
without it, and probably first began to cultivate it
more than forty years ago.*

Tapioca -root appears, however, to be the staple

» /. /. A, vol. I pp. 254, 255. * lb, p. 254.

« Cp. p. 127 (of the Bcnua-Jakun). * See Hervey in/. R. A. 5., S. B.^

» /. /. A, vol, i. p. 257. No. 8, p. 122.

CHAP. I SAVAGE MALAYS OF JOHOR 131

diet of the Jakun living near Batu Gajah in Johor,
for, according to H. W. Lake, although they also eat
fruits and fish, with a little rice which they obtain,
together with salt and tobacco, from Malay traders in
exchange for rattan ("rotan"), resin or "dammar," gutta
("g€tah"), and camphor wood, they nevertheless
mainly subsist on the root of the tapioca. He was
further informed by the Batin that during the greater
part of the year, when they disperse in search of jungle
fruits, these people live entirely on tapioca-root (" ubi
kayu ") and fruit.^

On the other hand, Favre, writing of the food
eaten by the Jakun in general, emphasised the fact
that they had no regular diet They liked good
food, but when they were deprived of it they eat with
satisfaction any other, even such food as would be an
object of horror to civilised people. They lived upon
the flesh of every kind of animal — snakes, monkeys,
bears, tigers, birds, etc., whilst yams, plantains, wild
fruits, the leaves of trees, and certain roots furnished
the principal part of their ordinary food. Those of
them who cultivated rice sold a part of it to the
Malays, or exchanged it for cloth, and upon the
remainder they lived for a few months in the year.
They did not dislike the flesh of domestic animals,
fowls, etc., but, on the contrary, they preferred it to
that of wild animals. At several of their houses there
was a good quantity of fowls. Sometimes they
cooked the flesh before they ate it, but at other times
they ate it raw ; some merely put the animal upon the
fire till the hairs were singed, when they considered it
'•cooked." Favre saw some large monkeys which,
after having been ** cooked " in this very fashion, were

» H. W. Lake in/. R, A, 5., S. B,, No. 25, p. 3.

132 FOOD PART 11

dished up upon a kind of mat as a meal to some seven
or eight persons, who speedily devoured the whole in
a few minutes, leaving only the skeleton. In eating
they used no dish; an iron frying-pan served for
cooking, plantain leaves served as plates, and some
coconut-shells formed their usual drinking-cups. Some
Jakun tribes^ refused to eat the flesh of elephants,
under the pretext that it would occasion sickness, but
many others were "not so scrupulous." When an
elephant was killed either by themselves or by the
Malays, they called together their friends and relatives
to partake of the large entertainment which was
prepared ; and then built huts in which to lodge their
• guests until the animal which furnished the feast was
entirely finished, when every one decamped and
returned to his usual way of living. When the durian
season was come, a good number of Jakun families
left their houses, both men and women as well as
children repairing to the places where the durian trees
grew. They then cleared the ground in order to find
the fruit more easily when it ripened and fell, and,
dwelling in a small shelter built of leaves, "prepared
themselves to enjoy the treat that nature presented to
them.*' For six weeks or two months they ate nothing
but durians. When the season was over the place was
deserted till the proper season next year.^

Favre further observes that "one of their most
prized dishes is a honeycomb," and "let it be said
with due respect to the opinion of our European
cooks, the time when the honey is in the comb is not
(amongst these epicures of nature) considered the

* Favre writes : " Plusieurs tribus de * J. /. A. vol. ii. pp. 260, 261 ; cp.

Benuas " (^. P, F, xxii. 303) ; but also vol. i. pp. 254-260.
totemism need not be hence inferred.

CHAP. 1 SAVAGE MALAYS OF JOHOR 133

proper moment to take the hive ; but they wait until
the small bees are well formed in the cells, and a few
days before they are ready to fly away, the honey-
comb is taken with great care, and, wrapped up in a
plantain leaf, is put upon the fire for a few minutes,
when wax and animals are devoured together, and
considered as an uncommon treat ! " ^

Jakon (onspecifled). — According to Vaughan-
Stevens, the Jakun were in the habit of using for
drinking purposes either ** some sort of cup " or a leaf
if nothing else were obtainable.*

The same authority informs us that the Jakun on
their wanderings always carried the smouldering end
of a rope made of tree-bark fibre.'

The ceremonial method used by the Jakun for
kindling fire will be described in detail in a latei
chapter.

Stimulants and Narcotics.

Finally Favre states of the Jakun that they were
in the habit of chewing betel-leaf together with its
usual accompaniment of areca-nut and gambier, and
that when they were unable to procure the betel-leaf
they used the leaf of a tree called " kasi."* Tobacco,
when it was procurable, was much used, even by
women and children, both for smoking and chewing.^

UdaL — Of the Udai our information is of the
scantiest, all we are told being contained in a sentence
by Newbold, to the effect that " they (the Udai) sub-
sist on the flesh of the animals they catch, on wild
roots, and on fruits of the forest"*

* J. L A, voL iL p. 261. * J. I, A, vol. ii. p. 261 ; see also

« Z,/. B. xxix. 184. vol. i. p. 255.

» Ih. xxviiL 168. • Newbold, u. 381, 382.

« G^mphia Hooken, Planch.

134 FOOD PART II

Orang Laut or Sea-Jakun.

Oranff Laut, Sletar^ — The food of the Orang Laut
or sea tribes appears to have differed very little from
that of the land tribes (Orang Bukit), though doubtless
it included much more fish than that of the latter. We
are told of the O. Sletar that the satisfying of hunger
was their only pursuit, of water they had abundance
without having to search for it ; with the * *serkap " or fish-
spear, and the " parang ** or chopper as their only imple-
ments, they eked out their existence from the stores of
the river and forest To them the staple of life in the
East, rice, was a luxury ; tobacco they procured by the
barter of fish and a few marketable products collected
from the forests and coral reefs. Of esculent roots
they had the ** prioh " and " kalana," * both bulbous and
not unlike coarse yams ; of fruits they ate the " tampoi,"*
"kledang,"* and " buroh,*' when they came in season ;
and of animals they hunted the wild hog, but refrained
from snakes, dogs, "iguanas," and monkeys. This
formed their principal food, for many minor products
of the forests and creeks must be left unmentioned.*

0. Laut, Sabimba. — The Sabimba, when visited by
Logan, planted no vegetables of any kind, but used such
leaves, roots, and fruits as the forest afforded.* They
ate the flesh of every forest animal which they could

n —

1 Dioscorea deflexay Hook. The palm {Oncosperma Tigillaria\ and the

'<akar kakap" (Diosccrea ordicu/a/a) fruit of the "tampoi," "maneling,"

is also eaten. — Ridley. "pancho," "kabcs," ♦*ridan" [A'i-

^ Baccaurea Maiayana, pheliutn glabrum^ Noronh.], "ka-

^ Artocarpus lanceaf alius, dumpa" [? '* kadampang^'s^/'tffVM/ki

*y. /. A, vol. i. p. 343*. parviflora^ Roxb.], "ranjas," "mangos

* E.g. the "akar kaJana" [Diosc, utan'* [Mangifira spp.], **kledang,"

dejiexajt ** simapo " [? Simpoh Dillenia " pasal " [Ardista odontophylla]^ " dur-

spp., of which the acid fruit is eaten], ian" [Durio %ibethinus^ L.], **lakup,"

••ajas," "anpiro," "katapa" [?"ka- "pakala," "tore." — •/. /. A, vol. i.

tapang" := Terminalia catappa^ L.], p. 296.

the cabbage ("umut") of the nibong

CHAP. I MALA VAN SEA-G YPSIES 135

kill, and when brought in contact from time to time
with more civilised people, showed no objection to any
kind of food, save the fowl, which they scrupulously
avoided. The wild animals and birds eaten were the
wild pig,* mouse-deer or chevrotain * (" plandok "), the
monkeys called "k'ra"*and " lotong," * the civet-cat*
("musang"), the squirrel (" tupai "), "kubong,"* monitor
lizard^ ("bewak"), "malok," imperial pigeon ("pergam"),
" kalongkang," "koko," mynah bird® (" tiong"), green
pigeon • (" punai "), the oil of snakes, and many kinds of
fish. The roe-deer*® ("kijang"), the sambhur deer
(" rusa "), elephant, and bear are not found in Battam.
Flesh of all kinds was cooked by the men, vegetables
by the women."

Another observer of the Sabimba (Thomson), who
visited them shortly after Logan, tells us that their
food consisted of rice as the staple article, but that
they added to this the flesh of the hog, monkey,
snake, and ape, and birds of all kinds excepting that
of the fowl, for the reasons stated in Logan's paper.
Their vegetables consisted of the wild fruits of the
jungle. This tribe was much more helpless than the
Orang Sletar, being entirely dependent on the Malays
for their arms and for the greater part of their food.
They were unacquainted with the brewing of inebriat-
ing liquors, though they informed Thomson that their
tribe formerly possessed the art . In their habits they
were, therefore, as temperate as the Malays.**

0. Laat, Maka Kuning. — Of the diet of the Orang

1 Sus indiois. ^ Hydrosaurus sdtvatar.

* TragtUus napu and Traguius ^ Mainaius javanensis.
kontkiL ^ Osmatreron vemans.

> Macaeus cynowiolgus, ^^ Cervulus muntjac,

* Semncpiih4cus. " /. /. A, vol. i. p. 296.

* Pttradexurus and Viverra, » lb, p. 347.

* GaUopitkecu^ — the flying squirrel.

136 FOOD PART II

Muka Kuning all that we know is contained in the
following passage : " The articles of food which they
derive from the forest are the same animals and
vegetables that are used by the Orang Sabimba (see
pp. 134, 135). As with the Sabimba, the fowl is for-
bidden food." ^

0. Laut (tribe unspeoifled). — Thomson found, at
Pulau Tinggi (off the east coast of Johor), a number
of O. Laut who had been attracted thither by a plenti-
ful crop of durians. Six boats from Mora, an island
of the Johor Archipelago (about 50 miles N. lat), he
found on their way to P. Tinggi ; they had travelled
by sea one hundred and eighty miles to partake of this
fascinating fruit*

* J, I. A. vol. L p. 337*. * flfid. vol. ▼. p. 140.

CHAPTER II.

Dress.

Although it has been more than once asserted ^ that
the wild people of the Peninsula are accustomed to go
entirely nude, I have hitherto failed to get any satis-
factory first-hand proof of this. On the other hand, the
fact that any such custom is invariably denied by the
wild people themselves, is by no means conclusive, and
the matter must, at least, await further investigation.
The Semang of Kedah, for instance, strenuously
denied it, and it was not alleged of them even by the
neighbouring Malays. There is no more proof of the
practice obtaining in the case of the Sakai than there
is in that of the Semang, and with regard to the Jakun
of the south, the opposite view has been strongly
set forth by Logan. The fact that the children, up
to the age of puberty, are allowed to run about un-

* Cp., e,g,f Bradley, pp. 294, 295 : does not appear from this statement

** The pitiable objects before us were that there was anything amounting to

completely naked, both men and a custom among the Benna of going

women." [Bradley, however, was a bad totally nude, and it is possible that

olserYer from ascientific point of view.] the impression may have got about

Bat see Logan's remark in /. /. A. from a few similarly isolated instances,

foL L pp. 252, 253: ''With the for which there was, doubtless, some

exception of one honse, where the special reason. See Favre in /. /. A,

mistress lay in a comer and appeared vol. ii. p. 258, where this view is

to be, like her husband, totally destitute advocated. Cp., on the other hand,

of dothes, I found the women every- Swettenham, p. 228 : ** Their clothing,

where wearing a short * sarong.' " It when they wear any^ consists,'' etc.

137

138 DRESS PART II

dressed does not of course imply that the grown-up
people do so.

Before entering upon a description of the dress
worn by the various tribes, I should like to point out
the remarkable fact that none of the wild tribes
of the Peninsula, so far as has been observed, are in
the habit of dressing themselves in the skms of
;animals, or of decorating themselves with the feathers
iof birds. In both respects they appear to obey what
'seems to have been an ancient and general prejudice
lj(possibly of religious origin) on the part of the tribes
of South-East Asia, and in this regard they present
a strong contrast to the bulk of the inhabitants of the
Malay Archipelago. This neglect is certainly not
due to the lack of opportunity, since the Malay
Peninsula is probably little, if at all, worse off from a
zoological point of view than any of the islands of
Netherlands India.

TAe Girdle,

In the matter of dress, the girdles worn by the three
main races form one of the most interesting subjects
of iriquiry. It is not easy to determine for certain
which of the various forms of girdle are of Sakai and
which of Semang origin, but there certainly appears to
be a strong affinity of type between the Semang
fungus-string girdle ^ and some forms of girdle worn by
the Andamanese. Moreover, this form of girdle
appears only to be found among fairly pure Semang,
and among such tribes as the N. Perak Sakai (who are
neighbours to the Semang, and have a strong infusion

1 Professor M. Ward, who has kindly structure this so - called '* Rock-vein
examined my specimens under the Creeper" can only be the rhizomorph
microscope, informed me that from its of a kind of fungus.

Negrito Dress and Articles ok Apparel.

De Morgan.

I, 2, 3. " Bouquets" worn in the hair by Sakai {sic) woman (No. 1 is wrapped in a painted leaf). 4. Head-
drclei or "diadem." 5, 6, 9, 10, 22, 24. Necklaces with pendants of shells, etc. (No. 6 of " buprestes "-legs
threaded like beads; No. 10 with squirrels' tails, etc.; the shells so used are Hybocystis cUphas, Jonsseautneiy
CyclopkoKHs Ma/ayanus, C semisulcatus^ etc.). 7, 8. Bracelets of coiled wire. 14, 15, 30. Two rings of
coiled bras* wire, and one [No. 30] of woven rattan. 16. Girdle. 11. Loin-cloth. 12, 73. Nose-quills (or
" nose-pins "X '8, 19, 28, 29. Combs (Nos. 18, 28 used for pinning flowers, etc., into the hair ; Nos. lo, 29 of
•ro'jd)L 17, 25, 26, 27. Bamboo hair-pins, 20, 23. Knives. 21, 31. Vessels of bone and of wild-goat's horn.

Vol. I. p. 138.

Skeat CoUeciioH.

Skmang Drkss.

I, 2. Two Pangan leaf-ornaments (UIu Aring, Kclantan).

3. One Pangan ear>ornament of rolled strips of palm-leaf (Ulii Aring).

4. Pangan woman's leaf-ornament worn as handolior (Ulu Aring)— leavc^ and strips of

palm leaf strung upon black fiingus-sirings.

Vol. I. p. 139.

CHAP. 11

GENERAL REMARKS

139

of Semang blood), whereas it is not recorded among
pur-sang Sakai in other parts of the country remote
from Negfrito influence. Hence there can be no reason-
able doubt that this form of girdle should be assigned
to the Semang tribes rather than to the Sakai.^

Another form of waist-belt which seems possibly
derived from Negrito sources is that consisting of a
fringe ^ of leaves suspended from a string, such as is
said to be worn by the wilder Negritos {e.g. the
Pangan).' It occurs, sporadically, among the Perak
Sakai (of G. Bujang Malaka), and also among the
Mantra of Malacca, in both of which cases it might
consequently be regarded as an interesting survival of
Negrito culture among the more southern tribes.

The original Sakai type of girdle has not yet been
identified, and in the present state of our knowledge
it is probably not identifiable with any certainty.
There only remain, in fact, for us to choose between
the girdle of coiled cane* and the bark-cloth girdle.
But both of these girdle -types reappear among the

^ Cp. Man's Amd.^ l.c, p. 181 :
'* Garenpeta, the ornamental waist-belt
of Denialium octagonum which is worn
occasionally by both sexes** (cp. ib,
Plate vii Fig. 35).

• Or fringes (r. infra) ; it would
appear that a string with the leaves
attached is considered soflSdent in the
case of men, but that several rows
of these fringes are worn by the
women.

' Man's ^iM/.,/.r. 109 : "The males
of this tribe (Jaiawa) wear round their
heads, waists, knees, and arms, fringes
of string attached to a cord or cane."
And cp. f^. p. no (note): "The
Jarawa women have hitherto been
seen with only armlets and cinctures
of string, to ¥^ch a few short fibres
were attached, obviously only for
ornamental purposes."

* The late Mr. J. E. PeaU, F.R.G.S.,
in the course of some notes on the
Malayo-Polynesian theory (/. R, G, S.
voL iv. p. 241), says : " At page 293,
note 100, of iiit Journal (vol. iv. ?), I
see the waist-girdle, *rua-rua,' men-
tioned. Q>iled cane waist-girdles are
common among most of our ultra-
Indian races, for men and also for
women. Baupa Nogas (sic}) call
them ru-pak, usually a long split cane
[is used], coiled eight or ten times round
the waist; chiefs have very orna-
mental ones, with patterns in coloured
seeds and trade beads ; an exception-
ally rare kind has thin plates of brass
on, and is called a ra rong ru-pak, A
monograph of the cane-girdle as seen
from the Himalayas to Eastern Poly-
nesia would reveal some startling
affinities."

140 DRESS PART II

Jakun, and indeed among other aboriginal tribes with
Malayan affinities, e.g. among those of Sumatra and
Borneo. This question, therefore, must also await
further inquiry.

The girdle of bark-cloth is so well-known and so
widely spread throughout S.E. Asia, the Malay Archi-
pelago, and the Pacific Islands, that a very few words
about it should here suffice. The finest and best-
known variety of this cloth is the "tapa" cloth of
Polynesia. The cloth made by the tribes of the
Malay Peninsula is, as a rule, more roughly manu-
factured, though some very good cloth, decorated with
zigzag patterns, is made in Perak. An interesting
point is that the grooving or toothing of the bark-cloth
mallet used by some of the Jakun runs longitudinally
instead of transversely as in specimens from Rotuma.*

Ligatures.

The bands or ligatures worn by the aborigines
round the upper part of the arm, the wrist, and just
below the knee, were doubtless originally employed,
as in other parts of the world, for a practical object,
viz. to strengthen the muscles and prevent strains,
the risk of which must be constantly present to the
mind of a jungle people. It would appear just
possible that even the use of the girdle, more especially
that of coiled cane, may perhaps, in some cases, have
had an equally utilitarian origin. On the other hand,
this explanation can hardly apply to the necklace, or
to rings, so that one key will certainly not fit all the
locks. The necklaces worn by these Peninsular tribes,
and I think also the rings, are certainly worn for

1 Cp. p. 389, infra. I have to thank Mr. J. Stanley Gardiner for pointing
this out.

CHAP. H GENERAL REMARKS 141

medical, or rather for magico-medical reasons, as are
the combs of the Semang and of the Semang-Sakai
women. I myself was definitely told this on several
occasions both by the Semang and Jakun, and it agrees
with the observations of other travellers in the same
region.

Thus, for instance, the Sakai of Kampong Langkor
(S. Kerbu) believed in the ubiquitous presence of
evil spirits (Hantu), against whose evil intentions
they protected themselves by means of charms worn,
in the forms referred to, upon their persons. Their
bracelets, rings, and copper ornaments were, in fact,
nothing but talismans, as De la Croix discovered in
the following way : — A young girl who had disposed
of her seed necklace to him came back in a hurry to
ask for it to be returned. He thought she was not
satisfied with her bargain, and was about to give
her some knick-knack or other in addition, when she
informed him that all she wanted back was the set
of small spirals of copper-wire attached to the neck-
lace. In spite of the most extravagant offers of
tobacco, which certainly ought to have persuaded her,
she would not allow him to retain the spirals, and
evidently attributed a far greater value to them than
could be accounted for by the mere worth of the
copper. De la Croix subsequently asked the chief
of the tribe (Bah Itam) about it, and the latter told
him, with evident conviction, that the girl would
certainly fall ill if she ceased to wear these metal
rings.*

' De la Croix, p. 338. See, too, use of necklaces and other ligatures
the necklace described by Vaughan- may also apply to the girdle.
Stevens, p. iS3f infra. This magical

142 DRESS PART II

I. — Semang.
The Girdle.

Kedah Semangr. — By far the most remarkable and
becoming form of girdle worn by any of these tribes, and
one which appears, as has been said, to be of typically
Semang origin (though occasionally found among the
Sakai and even the Malays of Perak), was the girdle
made from the long black glossy strings of a fungus
(called in Malay the "Rock- vein Creeper**).^ These
fungus girdles were of elaborate workmanship, the
strings of the rhizomorph being most beautifully woven
into a long narrow plait which was coiled round and
round until it formed a girdle of the requisite shape
and size, the loose ends forming a handsome fringe.
This girdle was rarely worn by men, but more
frequently by women, and it was from these latter
that I obtained the specimens now in the Cambridge
Museum.

A yet simpler form of personal attire worn by
the men of these Semang tribes as well as by the Sakai
consists of a simple waist-cord or string into which
leaves are inserted to form a fringe. The leaves
generally used are those of the " chalong " tree or the
**k6lawe;'

Even when the Semang were wearing the Malay
*' sarong" they still frequently retained this string
underneath it, either from the mere force of habit or for
reasons connected with their belief in Magic. In such
a case, however, the leaves were more conveniently
omitted, and the string alone retained.

A similar leaf-belt was also sometimes worn by

» Mai. "akar"or "urat Utu," U, " Rock-crecpcr " or "Rock-vein Creeper."

Skt'ai CoUcction.

Semang and Pang an Girdles.

I. Man's girdle of Iree bark i^Artocarpus) iXj^y^ Aring). 2. Black fungus-string woman's girdle,
bought ^m owner (Siong). 3. Girdle of Pangan woman (Kuala Sam, Kelantan river). 4.
Woman's string-girdle of jungle fibre (Siong).

Vol. r. /. 142-

Skea: Collection.

Fungus-String Girdle of Skmang Woman (Kedah).

Hought from the wearer.

Skeat ColUctioM.

Seed and Tooth Necklace of Semang Woman (Keuah).

Bought from the wearer.

Vol. I. A 143.

CHAP. 11 NEGRITOS OF KEDAH 143

the women, whilst the boys, as a rule, wore the string
or cord in all its simplicity. It was made, as a rule,
either of twisted strips of palm-fibre {Eugeissona tristis
or " bfirtam "), or of the long black strings of the Rock-
vein fungus ("akar batu") already mentioned.

The Semang of Kedah, however, most commonly
wore the ordinary (Malayan?) loin-cloth, which con-
sists, in its most primitive form, of a long narrow
strip of beaten tree-bark or cloth, one end of which is
wrapped round the waist, the other (loose) end being
passed between the legs and tucked in through the
part which serves as a girdle, with the free part hang-
ing down in front. This bark loin-cloth, however, was
not at all common among the Kedah tribes, the men
preferring to use the cloth variety, which they obtained
by barter from the Malays. In default they occasion-
ally utilised the bark of the Artocarpus or, preferably,
a finer cloth manufactured from the bark of young
saplings of the Antiaris or ** upas " tree.^ The most
usual attire of these Kedah women was a cloth waist-
wrap reaching to the knee.

Pangan,-»-The Pangan of the Bglimbing district in
Ulu Kelantan were said to make their loin-cloths from
the bark of a species oi Fictis ("ara"), as well as from
that of the '* upas " tree and the Artocarpus. A girdle
of coiled cane with a fringe of leaves was also worn by
the Pangan women,* if not by the men, in the Ulu
Kelantan (S. Sam) district.

^ De M.'s tumecessarily vehement {Calamus)^ which form a girdle round

tUtfunti is due, no doubt, to his not the waist as thick as the arm. They

having seen it also wear a piece of bast or cotton stuff,

' I give the following in a foot- Bsistened in front, drawn through be-
Dote as^ though it is certainly Pangan, tween the legs, and then tied to the girdle
there is nothing to show its locality : — behind. Fig. 2 (Plate ii.) shows a Sakai'
" The remainder of the costume of the {sic, rede Pangan) lady in her daily cos-
consists of a number of thin tume, drawn from nature." — M.-Mac-

and sometimes red • coloured rattans lay in/. R. A, S,, S, B,, No. 2, p. 214.

144 DRESS PART II

Perak Semangr. — The clothing of the Perak
Semang is similar to that of the Negritos of Kedah/

As they have no manufactures of their own, their
clothing consists chiefly of the inner bark of trees. A
few, however, who venture to approach the Malayan
villages obtain a little cloth in exchange for various
kinds of jungle produce.*

Necklaces.

Kedah Semang. — The simplest form of necklace
worn by the Semang in Kedah took the form of a
simple neck-string or ligature either of the " Rock-
vein" fungus or of fibre of the "bgrtam" palm
{Eugeissona)y and was sometimes further embellished
by stringing upon it the leaves of certain trees in
alternation with knots of palm-leaf (Luuala). It was
therefore, in fact, made on the same principle as the
simplest form of girdle.

More elaborate necklaces were, however, frequently
worn. These consisted of two or more strings which
were fastened together at a single point, and on which
were threaded various small trophies of the chase,
small wild roots, fruits, seeds, and other objects, all
of which appear to be commonly worn for magical
reasons.

One of these more elaborate necklaces, which I
obtained from the Semang of Kedah, consisted of a
double string on which were threaded the teeth of
an ape (Siamang), a number of minute bundles of
fragrant grass, a couple of bears(.'^) teeth, a number
of small flat beans, and a couple of small buttons of

1 De Morgan, vii. 412 ; cp. Swett. p. 228.
• /. /. A, vol. iv. pp. 425, 426.

CHAP. II NEGRITOS OF PERAK 145

European manufacture, the latter being evidently
regarded as objects of no small value !

Perak Semang. — The necklaces (of the Perak
Negritos) consist of a series of chains of black and
white seeds, alternately arranged and fastened together
in a bunch. Some of these are very small, others as
big as the closed fist.^

To these strings are attached hunting and fishing
trophies consisting of the teeth or bones of animals,
tufts of squirrels' tails, big fish-scales, and so forth,
together with shells of the genus Bulimus and Hybo-
cystis, or sea-shells of various sorts (but not Helix nor
Cyclophorus, which are common in these forests).
These shells are filled with a perfume extracted from
trees.^

The green legs of a beetle {Buprestes) are some-
times but very rarely inserted between the seeds.*
Whenever they can get coins, the Negritos wear them
on their necklaces. De Morgan saw them wearing
dollars, copper coins, and even Dutch coins of the
seventeenth century.*

Ligatures {Armlets and Bracelets).

Kedah Semang. — In addition to girdles and neck
laces, the Semang of Kedah almost all wore armlets,
bracelets, and knee-bands, which were usually made,
like their girdles and necklaces, from jungle-fibre, and
very much upon the same principle.

These ligatures were usually made, in Kedah, of

^ De Moi^;an, vix. 413. It must be doubtless Sakai. > Ihid,

remembered that he is writing of mixed ^ Ibid,

SemaDg - Sakai tribes, and does not ^ De Morgan, vii. 414. Cp. Swett.

apparently distinguish between Sakai p. 228 : ** The women (Semang) wear

and Semang neckkces. The black and strings of brass rings, boars' or squirrels^

white arrangement is not found among teeth, beads or beetles' legs, and coins

the purer Semang or Jakun, and is when they can get them."

VOL. I L

146 DRESS PART II

twisted fibre obtained from the ** bSrtam " palm
{Eugeissona). Sometimes, however, they were made
of finely plaited strips of rattan {Calamus), or of the
strings of the " Rock-vein " fungus. Metal armlets and
rings were, however, worn in a few cases, but these are
more commonly found among tribes who mix more
freely with the Malays. I never saw any armlets
with European beads among the Semang of Kedah.

The foregoing remarks apply equally to the Pan-
gan of Kelantan.

Perak Semang. — The bead -armlets or ligatures
worn by the Semang of Perak were frequently made
on the same plan as their necklaces (i.e. of black and
white seeds strung alternately). Ordinarily they were
very narrow, but in some cases they were very broad
and covered a large portion of the arm.^

Semang (of Perak ?). — The women wore, by way of
a charm, bracelets made from the leaves of the
" palas " (Lictuila peltata), the men bracelets of the
Rock-vein Creeper (the plant called "Tam-tum")
fitting tightly to the left wrist. These bracelets are
called " Chin-ing-neng." *

Head-dress — Mens.

Kedah Semang. — Among the Semang at Siong
some of the men were wearing short woolly hair forming
small spiral clusters close to the scalp. Most, how-
ever, had adopted the fashion of shaving the head,
which is found among other branches of the Negrito
race {e.g. the Andamanese), as well as, frequently,
among the local Malays.

None of the men that I saw were in the habit of

1 De Morgan, yii 413. > Vaughan-Stereiis, iii. 126.

CHAP. 11 NEGRITOS OF KEDAH 147

wearing anything on their heads, though several made
a rough kind of turban out of some strips of bright red
cloth that I had given them, and in this guise strutted
about for all the world like great turkey-cocks !

On special occasions they bound their heads with
fillets of palm-leaf, and for protection against various
diseases special head-dresses were used, which will be
described later. Flowers are also worn " for dandy."

The (Malayan ?) top-knot was worn by some of the
boys, but not by any of the men that I saw, though
Vaughan- Stevens says that he saw men wearing it

Perak Semangr. — Vaughan-Stevens'^ account of the
top- knot worn by the Perak Semang is as follows : —

Some of the Perak men leave a tuft — at the frontal end of the scalp, — ^bnt this is
adopted from the Battaks (x/V), who cut their hair into all sorts of shapes. Nothing
is known why this tuft is left. ** Plc*s orders *' [Pic, a deity of the Semang tribes,
brother of Karih] is the only reply they give. Each of the tufts was taken from a
man of about thirty years of age, whose hair had never been cut before, and had
ceased growing. They were not tied in any way while on the head and were cut
off for me readily without demur. . . . When the hair of the rest of the scalp
has been left for a long time without cutting, the tuft cannot be distinguished from
the rest of the hair. The exact position of the tuft varies slightly in different men,
by about 20 or 25 mm. either to the front or back, but always in the median line.

When the hair (as a whole) is not cut for a long time, the tuft shows the
'* pepper-corn '* character with increased distinctness, it being in that case less dis-
turbed by the leaves and twigs through which the Semang passes. The tuft,
when left to itself, gets more or less combed out from its isolated position.

The Beard.
Kedah Semang. — In one or two cases only did I
see Kedah Semang with anything approaching a

^ In the same passage we are told that much-mixed Perak Semang (No. 55).

the £. Semang (Pangan) men cut off ... The ' pepper-corn ' character is

their hair as dose to the scalp as the best shown some six months {sic) after

jongle-knife (parang) will allow, partly cutting, when the spirals lie only from

for coolness' sake and partly for deanli- 5 to 10 mm. above the scalp. I gave

But they left a small tuft, at each of the men furnishing specimens

the top of the ocdput, whidi they did 55 and 56 a high cap which I made

not cut. Vaughan-Stevens continues : them wear for a week, so as to allow

'*Two of these little tufts — called the hair to assume its normal shape

' Bag-i ' — I now send cut off dose to before cutting it. And I kept both

the skiDt complete. One belonged to an men near me for that time." (From

Eastern Semang (Pangan) of unmixed Fasc. A. fol. 29 ; Vaughan-Stevens in

blood (No. 56), and the other to the V, B, G. A, vol. xxiv. pp. 440, 441.)

148 DRESS PART II

beard, their chin-hairs as a rule being few, straggling,
and scanty. Yet in one case I saw a Semang with
a real beard, which, though very short, grew in closely
curled spirals, presenting a woolly appearance, exactly
like the owner's hair. On the other hand, most of
the grown men had slight black moustaches.

Pangan. — The wild pure-blood Eastern Semang
(Pangan) ** plucks out his scrubby little beard, but
tries to retain the moustache," in order, we are told,
that he may be " distinguished from a woman " (!) ^

Head-dress — Women's.

Kedah Semang. — The women's hair usually grew
longer than the men's, and was in some cases allowed
to grow (apparently uncared for) in a species of curiy
mop.* This, however, was probably in the case of
women who had some proportion of Sakai blood in
their veins. In several cases the women, as well
as the men, had partially shaved the head, the
women always leaving, however, a circular patch at
the back of the head, and a thin fringe on the fore-
head untouched.

Several of them were wearing the magic combs
which they employ as a safeguard against diseases, and
several of them too, probably with a view to receiving
"company," had bound their heads with the Licuala-
leaf fillets usually reserved for special occasions.

The following were some of the forms of head-
dress employed by the Semang women : —

a. An oval shaven patch on top of head.

b. A rectangular shaven patch on top of head.

c. Quill-like plant shoots worn like horns in the hair.

* Z.f, E, xxix. 179. The ab- the wtUst, is so obvious as to scarcely

surdity of the explanation given by need pointing out.
Vaughan-Stevens, as purporting to come ' Among these was the chieTs.

from a race who habitually go bar$ to wife.

Skmang with Gikdlks of Malay Cloth.

/Fraj'.

Vol. /. /. 148.

Seman(; Combs.

Airflf Ci'fUrit\'ft^

I, 2. Two West Xesrito (Semaiij; of Kedah), said lo be worn as charms — aid well-worn
specimens bought off the head of the wearers.

3. One E. NcRrito (Pangan) obtained from Ulu Aring, Kclantan.

4, 5. Two obtained by (irubauer in Upper Perak. — Proxenied to Cambridge Museum by

Ridge way.

J'o/. I. />. 149.

CHAP. II NEGRITOS OF KEDAH 149

In the method of dressing the hair represented by
a, three fillets of Licuala'\t^l were used. One of
these was carried from ear to ear over the top of
the head, and the other two from ear to ear over the
back of the head, the one just above and the other
just below the clump of untouched hair covering the
back of the head.

In ^, a single fillet was used, which was carried
all round the edges of the clump at the back of the
head only. In ^, the horns consisted of the quill-like
growing shoots of the Latvia grandifiora ("sulur
lobak "), and were worn for magical purposes. Another
woman had bound her head with a fishing line, using
the hook as a fastening.

Magic Combs.

Kedah Semang. — In addition to the various forms
of head-dress mentioned, some of which are common
to both sexes, the Semang women wore in their hair
a remarkable kind of comb, which appears to be worn
entirely as a charm against diseases.

These combs were almost invariably made of
bamboo (an average specimen measuring perhaps
three inches by five), and were decorated with an
infinite variety of designs, no two of which ever entirely
agreed It was said that each disease had its appro-
priate pattern, and hence in some cases several combs
were worn simultaneously, apparently to protect the
wearer against several diseases at once.

Similar combs are worn by the Pangan, the Semang
and Sakai of Perak, and most of the mixed (Semang-
Sakai) tribes, e.g. the O. Jelei of Pahang.

Their patterns and magical significance will be
fully described in a later chapter.

152 DRESS PART II

as I am aware, among other sections of the race more
remote from the Semang.

Necklaces, Armlets, Brcuelets, Rings.

Perak SakaL — De Morgan speaks of the necklaces
and bracelets of the Perak Sakai as in no way differing
from those worn by the Perak Semang (p. 146).

According to Hale, the men appeared to wear no
ornaments except very small bracelets and waist-belts
made of the " Rock-vein " fungus (already mentioned).*
The women, on the other hand, wore bracelets and
necklaces made of seeds, shells, certain sweet-smelling
roots, and anything they could get from the Malays
that could be strung on. A necklace, purchased from
an old woman, contained nine strings of black and
white seeds differently arranged, a string of old Malay
copper coins, a few glass beads, the tip of a squirrel's
tail, two tufts of monkeys' hair, a spiral of brass
wire, five snail shells, and the brass support of the
ribs of an umbrella. This was about the average of
a Sakai necklace.*

The Sakai of **Changkat Riam*' (in Perak),
according to De Morgan, strung upon their necklaces
and bracelets not only seeds but small bones as well.'

These necklaces and bracelets were very similar to
those of Sungei Raya, but at Changkat Riam brass
ornaments were conspicuous by their absence, prob-
ably owing to the great distance of the latter settle-
ment from any of the Malay villages.*

On the arm a thickish string, or series of strings, is

it as being worn by the Sakai men (of ^ Hale, p. 292.

Kinta in Perak), as well as by the local ^ lb. See also De U Croiz, p. 33a

Malays, who in this case are clearly ' 5<<-, ?<*Riang." — De Morgan, viiL

borrowers. 211. < lb.

Sakai GiKL OK Sol TH Pkrak,
showing bark doth dress, headband, necklace, armlet, ring, and bracelets.

I'ci. /. /. 152.

Sakai \V(hMKN IN Malay "SAKoxciN." showing Nixki.ac f.s, Akmlets, and Hracelkt!-

Ulu Hcitan^:. Perak.

;W. /./. 153

CHAP. II SAKAI OF PERAK 153

also occasionally worn by the Sakai, The women
(very rarely) wear anklets as well as bracelets and
armlets.* Moreover, whenever they are able to do so,
the Perak Sakai substitute metal rings, spirals, and
beads obtained from the Malays for the strings of
natural objects just described.^ Their favourite piece
of jewellery is undoubtedly the brass bracelet or
finger-ringj both of which are in the form of spirals,
which they fit on to their arm or finger.^

Vaughan- Stevens* states that necklaces (**dokoh*')
among the Sakai were worn by persons of both sexes
and of all ages, whereas among the Jakun or Benua
(" B^nar- Bfinar ") they were only occasionally worn.
Attached to them were amulets {''tangkar) made
from the **bunglei/' the fresh roots of which were cut
*' diagonally'' into small slices. When the necklace is
ready its maker lays it upon his palm, and facing
eastwards, touches it with his lips, and repeats the
following invocation addressed to the Evil Spirit
(Hantu):—

Necklace Chakm.

OM 3 Die, O Mati-anak, buried under the e^Lrth heaped up for the Roadway.

Wbit is the origin of thy existence ?

DeiDon of the biw>d of a person dead in chtidbirthf

Thai is the origin of thy exi.stence,

M^ttt'onaiv of the River-banks, return to the River-bunks \

Maii-anak of the ** outcropj" return lo the outcrop ;

Fluek oat with speJb and neutralise again and uigoin the demon Mati-anak,

Descend, O poison of the Mali^anak ;

Rise, O Neatraliser of mine.

I As soon as the words have been spoken, the
speaker spits twice upon the necklace and the cere-
mony is ended. The plants of which the necklace is
* De Morgan, vii. 413* black and white seeds with glass

* De MorganjvHi* ijo and vii. 413, beads, ' De Morgan , vii* 4 J 3*

Cp. Also Hale, p. 193. Their great * V,-Sl, ii. 144. The original has

Ambttran icems to be to replace the been corrected »

154 DJ^ESS PART II

made must, like officinal plants, be pulled up, and not
cut or dug up/

Selangor Sakai. — The foregoing remarks as to the
dress of the Perak Sakai apply equally to the Sakai
of Selangor, amongst whom, however, copper, brass,
and even iron arm -rings (spiral or otherwise) and
bracelets are perhaps rather more commonly worn, as
most of these Selangor tribes live somewhere in the
neighbourhood of Malay civilisation.

The same is true of finger-rings, which are still
occasionally manufactured from various products of
the jungle (bone, horn, tortoiseshell, the crest of the
Rhinoplax^ etc.), though metal rings are much pre-
ferred, and are usually obtainable.

The Head-dress,

Perak SakaL — The method of wearing the hair is
for the men (whose hair is long and wavy) to wear it
just down to the shoulders in a wild and unkempt
condition ; and the women are also said, among the
wilder tribes, to wear it in a mop, which "stands
out all round from the head." When, however, they
have intercourse with the Malays they tie it back in a
knot like the latter.*

According to Bartels, Vaughan - Stevens heard
(among the Sakai) that iron may not be used for
cutting either the hair or finger-nails, this being the
reason why the wilder tribes of them (Orang Liar)

* Vaughan - Stevens, ii. 144, 145. sionof**batuampat" ("four boulders")

Vaughan - Stevens' account contains with "batu ampar" ("outcrop of

several errors (due to his ignorance of rock "), and his building up of a pretty

Malay), which have here been corrected. little theory on the mistaken version.
The worst of these is perhaps his confu- * Hale, p. 293.

CHAP. II SAKAI OF PERAK 155

would never have their hair cut.^ Both men and
women left untouched the hair of the body.*

We are further told that the Sakai (Blandas), for
thoroughly washing the head and hair, employed the
scrapings of the inner part of the bark of a particular
creeper (" kletterrebe '*), of which the young stems and
shoots were armed with an abundant quantity of
sharp thorns, like those of the rose. The leaf was
like that of an acacia, dark green and smooth, and
of great circumference. A handful of freshly scraped
bark was applied to the head, together with water,
somewhat like a sponge, when it produced a thick
lather.*

This creeper may well be the **b'luru," a climber
used by the Malays as a substitute for soap.

By way of head-dress the men, however, some-
times wore a mere cord, furnished with two small
knots or rosettes, whereas the women preferred
merely to wear in their hair the flowers of the
field.*

Elsewhere, speaking of some (fifteen) Sakai women
whom he saw at Kampong Langkor (on S. Kerbu),
De la Croix remarks that one of them who had
charming features, and was indeed actually pretty,
wore in each ear a small white flower which she had
picked at the side of the path ; another wore a simple
tuft of grass in her hair, and (passed through her ears)
some kind of plant which hung down as far as her
back. An old woman, again, wore in her hair (or
** chignon ") nothing but a tall plant, which oscillated
with every movement of her body.*

The women also occasionally wear the combs of

* Z./. E, xxix. 178. * De la Croix, p. 330.

* lb, J). 179. ' lb, « lb, p. 336.

156 DRESS PART II

the N^frito women.* According to De Morgan,
these combs are made of decorated bamboo, or else
of small wooden teeth bound together by means of an
exceedingly tight string. These latter are used by
the Sakai of G. Bujang Malaka and of S. Kampar^
(both of which places are in Perak).

In addition to these combs the Sakai women,
when they wear their hair long, adorn their heads
with fillets and bouquets, which they keep in place
by means of a comb or a long dagger-shaped bamboo
pin, covered with (incised) patterns.'

The fillets and bouquets are generally gathered in
the forest and worn fresh, though the Sakai not
unfrequently also wear dried plants cleverly plaited.*

According to Hale, the Sakai women also wear
porcupines* quills, etc., through the lobe of the ear, rolls
of cloth and other materials being also worn, not for
the purpose of ornament, but in order to enlarge the
orifice.* Short bamboo tubes with flowers in them are
then inserted.^

For the quills, earrings were not unfrequently
substituted — probably owing to their greater con-
venience. According to De Morgan, the women also
wore earrings consisting of copper rings, a small
string of beads, or a mere flower, whose stalk is
inserted into the perforation of the lobe.^

Nose-sticks or Nose-quills.

Perak Sakai. — But one of the most distinctive orna-
ments is the nose-quill, which appears to be originally

> Hale, p.295 (and Plate xiiL ibJ). ^ De Morgan, viL 413, 414.

» De Morgan, vii. 413, 414. * Hale, p. 293 : cp. vol. iL 39.

' This pin is also used (Hale, p. * E,g, among the Semang-Siakai of

295) for disentangling the hair. For U. Jelei, Pahang .
patterns, v, Fasc, Mai, 35, 36. ' De Morgan, vii 413, 414.

Cet-mti,

Sakai Family, showing Xose-quills, Nkcki.aces, Akmi.ets, and
Leaf-Ornaments.

Ulu Bikum, near Bidor, South Perak

Vol. I. p. 157.

CHAP. II SAKAI OF PERAK 157

a Sakai ornament, and is worn by both sexes. Some
tribes {e.g. those of S. Kinta) wore porcupines' quills
passed through a perforation made for the purpose in
the septum of the nose.^ The men wore them with
the ends passed between the hair and the top of the
ear. The women passed them through the lobe
itself.^ A long bone of a fish, bird, or monkey* (and
among the Sakai of Pahang a nose-ring *) is sometimes
substituted for the quilL

Occasionally for the porcupine's quill a piece of
wood, about a quarter of an inch (6 mm.) in diameter
and about six inches (15 cm.) long, was substituted.^

A few who affected to be dandies used to orna-
ment their nose-sticks***

An occasional substitute for the quill is a roUed-up
piece of banana-leaf'

Selangor Sakai- — The nose-quill is also occasionally
worn by the Selangor Sakai {e.g, in the district of
Ulu Langat),*

IIL— Jakun.

Blandas of Selangor. — The Blandas of the Kuala
Langat district have now largely adopted the Malay
dress, though when at work in the jungle they still
frequently revert to the bark loin-cloth, which forms a
more convenient working dress. The women more
usually wear a sort of short skirt or kilt of bark-

* Accorditig to Colonel Lov, the of porcupiDes (/. /. A, vol. iv. p. 429).

MaUyfc dividfcl the Sakai of Pemk ^ De Morgan, vii. 414.

into three classes — the '<Tame" Sakai, ' Hale, p. 293.

the '* HUP' Sakai of Ulu BirtaDg (jtV, ^ As in a photograph by R. Martin.

gtutre "Bertang"), and the Alas of * 15 cm. by 6. 2 mm. Q^,/.R,A,S.^

Uln Kantu (sic, quart "Kinta"). 5. -5., No. 4, p. 30.

This last tribe differed from the other ® fb. This applies also to the

two in having adopted the custom of Semang-Sakai of Ulu Jelei, Pahang.

piercing the cartilage of the nose and ^ Swettenham, p. 228.

ears, and inserting therein the quills ^ J. A. G. Campbell, p. 243.

158 DRESS PART XI

cloth, the ends of which, though usually unsewn, are
sometimes roughly stitched together with jungle fibres.
The " feel *' of the bark-cloth made by these people
is not unlike a sort of rough leather.

The above remarks are equally true of the Besisi
tribes of Selangor, who were pretty generally in the
habit of wearing Malay dress.

BesisL— The everyday dress of the Besisi differed
very little from that of the Malays, the men wearing
for the most part a loose cotton jacket and trousers,
and the women a jacket and a Malay sarong. In the
jungle, however, the more convenient " chawat " ^ still
lingered on, and shy as the Besisi might be of
wearing it before strangers, they had no such scruples
when by themselves. Red '* sarongs " were preferred.

Bracelets and armlets, rings, necklaces, etc., were,
on the other hand, worn most profusely, a good scrap
necklace, with plenty of coins on it, being highly
valued, as the wearing of coins was believed to be
especially good for the eyes.

The rings worn by the Besisi were made of
various natural products of the jungle, bone, horn,
tortoiseshell, etc. ; from chips of coconut-shell ; from
black coral ("akar bahar") ; from "batu akik," a species
of stone ; from various kinds of shell ; and from the
red crest of the solid-crested Hornbill or Rhinoplax.
This latter was valued by the Besisi, as by the Malays,
on account of the belief that it would turn green
whenever poison approached the wearer. Finely
woven matwork pouches (" bujam ") were also com-
monly carried for holding betel-leaf, etc.

Nose-boring and tattooing of all kinds (or rather
scarification), if ever practised, had, however, long

* Cp, voL ii. p. 144, n, i.

Sakai Gkoli', I'll- Lui, Ulu Langat, showing Women and Girls in Malay Dress.

rr/. /./. 153.

CHAP. II SA VAGE MALA YS OF SELANGOR 159

disappeared, and though face - painting was still
occasionally to be seen, it was only on special occasions
(such as the tribal feasts) that the ancient methods of
personal adornment were still in evidence.

Mantra. — The Mantra, with the exception of
their young children, never go absolutely nude, the
men always wearing at least some "covering round the
waist," and the women always wearing the "sarong" of
the Malays, " which covers the entire body from the
knee to above the breast." The " holiday garb " of
the men is the ordinary wear of the local Malays
(a loose jacket, a " sarong," or perhaps short trousers,
and a coloured handkerchief wrapped round the
head).^

Many of the Mantra around Gunong Berembun
still wear the bark of the Artocarpus (" t'rap "), the
men using the " chawat," and the women a piece of
rude cloth, formed by simply beating the bark, which
they wrap round their persons, and which, like the
" sarong " of the Johor females, reaches only from the
waist to the knees. They have no description of
shoe, sandal, or slipper, and no articles of the toilet.^

The women "take considerable care of their
hair, which they gather up on the top of their heads,
and plait in the shape of a crown," fastening it with
pins, and on special occasions inserting round it
flowers and leaves.*

The Mantra females have wider ear-pertorations
(than the Benua of Johor). They are enlarged to the
diameter of about half an inch by inserting a wooden
pin or roll of Ltcudla- (" palas ") leaf, which is gradually
increased till the desired width is acquired. Pendants
are not worn, but many have ear-studs (" subang "),

1 Logan in/. /. A, toL L pp. 252, 253, • lb. « lb.

i6o DRESS PAET II

about the size of a Company's rupee, made by Malays,
and similar to those worn by Javanese females.
Silver rings are also worn. They bind the hair in
the same way as the Johor Benua.^

The "little girls" have their ears pierced by
their parents for the reception of earrings ; in the
absence of earrings, these holes are filled with small
roUed-up strips of banana-leaf or a large stud of
wood.^

They also wear large Malay waist-buckles (of the
kind called "pinding") and Malay bracelets.*

The children wear necklaces consisting of strings
of monkeys' bones, teeth of bears or tigers, coins, and
shells; these necklaces, however, are not worn for
mere ornament, but as a talisman against disease/

The only other point that calls for remark with
regard to the dress of the Mantra, lies in the close
resemblance between the form of girdle worn by the
Sakai women in the neighbourhood of G. Bujang
Malaka (which consisted of a row of small grass-
bundles fastened to a cord which went round the
waist), and that observed in 1869, by Marche, among
the Mantra women north of Malacca.^

Benua - Jakun of Johor. — According to Logan,
the original dress of the males, to which a few
individuals whom he met were still restricted, was the
" chawat " — a narrow strip of cloth passing between
the legs and fastened round the waist. With these
exceptions all were provided with the Malay short
trousers ("sfiluar"), jacket ("baju"), plaid skirt, or
wrapper (" sarong"), and headkerchief ("saputangan"),
or some of them, but often in so ragged a condition as

* Logan in/. /. A. vol. L pp. 252, 253. * Bone (tr. Bourien), pp. 75, 76.

• /J. * lb, « De U CroU, p. 330.

CHAP. 11 SA VAGE MALA YS OF JOHOR i6i

to show that they carried their wardrobes on their
persons, and were seldom able to renew them. With
the exception of one house, where the mistress lay in a
comer and appeared to be, like her husband, totally
destitute of clothes, Logan found the women every-
where wearing a short "sarong," fastened at the
waist or a little below it, and barely reaching to the
knees — it was, in fact, only the half of an ordinary
Malay "sarong." This was the only garment that
they possessed, but in a few families, such as that of
the BSntara of Boko, some of the females wore the
Malay jacket ("baju"). The hair was bound in a knot
behind. From the great desire universally expressed
for pretty ** sarongs," jackets (** bajus "), handkerchiefs,
and ornaments, we must do the Benua ladies the justice
to believe that they would willingly deck themselves in
the full Malayan costume if they had the means.^
The only ornaments that they possess are plain
brass rings and bracelets. Their ears were pierced,
but the orifice, which is of the diameter of a quill, was
more often occupied by the native cigarette or "roko*,"
or a piece of cloth, than an earring.^

The hair was black and in general smooth and
lank, but in some it was frizzled, and in all somewhat
more dry and tangled than in the Malay, arising from
the little oil that they use. It is worn long or

^ " Both men and women go nearly to appear more decently clad. The

naked whilst near their own haunts ; women particulariy take great pleasure

they wear nothii^ but a strip of the in silver bracelets, rings, and other orna-

fibrous bark of the U^rap' tree, beaten ments. IdonotrecoUectthat Ihaveseen

iBto a sort of cloth of a reddish-brown any instance of the Benua wearing the

colour, called a * sabaring,' round their skins of wild beasts, as has been alleged.

k>tns ; part of this comes down in They carry about with them little mat

£ront, is drawn between the legs, and pouches, containing generally a small

fastened behind. The men sometimes portion of tobacco, a flint and steel, a

encircle their heads with a string of knife,and a rude bamboo call or whistle'*

/.iWmi^i- (* palas ') leaves. On visits to (Newbold, ii. 398); v. p. 137, ante,
Malay villages they generally contrive ^ J. /. A, vol i. pp. 252, 253.

VOL. I M

i62 DRESS PART I

cropped short, as with the Malays, according to the
taste of the individual. Some old women had long
discontinued the use of oil, and their dry, rusty,
unkempt locks, aiding the effect of their piercing,
sinister eyes, which almost seemed to be touched by
insanity, frightened some of Logan's Malays not a
little ; and so persuaded were they that the old ladies
had the " evil eye," that they felt greatly relieved when
he left the house.^

The clothes of the Jakun (when they used
any) were ordinarily the same as those used by
the Malays, but poor, miserable, and, above all, very
dirty ; many of them used clothes without washing,
from the day they received or bought them until they
became rotten by use and dirt, when they were
obliged to throw them away ; if vermin were found,
which was often the case, principally upon the women
who were more dressed up, they were immediately
eaten with delight, as in Cochin-China. If many of
them were badly dressed, and some nearly naked, it
was more from a lack of clothing than in accordance
with their own wishes, especially amongst the women ;
for all desired to be clothed, and the most agreeable
presents which could be offered to them were the
short (Malayan) trousers, " sarongs," jackets, or hand-
kerchiefs to put round their heads, according to
the Malay fashion. Those of them who went
habitually nearly naked never appeared in that
condition before strangers, except when they actually
had no clothes. The Jakun of Johor, who were
superior to the others in many respects, as can be
inferred from what has been said, were also the best
dressed ; their women wore much the same as Malay

» /. /. A. vol. i. pp. 251, 252.

CHAP. II SAVA GE MALA YS OF JOHOR 163

women, both as to dress and the order of their appear-
ance ; they had, moreover, a great number of rings on
their fingers, some of which were crystal, some of
copper, and some of tin, but also a good many of silver;
they took a peculiar pleasure in these ornaments, as
well as in silver bracelets.^ The men had at least the
trousers, a small jacket or " baju,'' and a handkerchief
for the head. The Jakun of the N^ri Sembilan
and Rembau had the same dress as was used by the
Jakun of Johor, and the women the same ornaments,
but they were not so well clothed, many of them
going nearly naked, at least near their houses; and
those who used clothes often showed an embarrass-
ment which proved that they were not accustomed
to their use. The Jakun of Malacca were badly
dressed, many of the women had only a " sarong," and,
if they were married, a ring, the necessary present of
the husband at marriage. The greater part of the
men had nothing but a strip of the fibrous bark of the
^ t'rap " tree, beaten into a sort of cloth of a reddish-
brown colour, called a " sabaring," round their loins ;
part of this came down in front, was drawn between
the l^s, and fastened behind.*

As r^ards the hair, some of them left the
whole to grow and turned it round the head, like
the Cochin-Chinese ; others, as for instance many of
those of Malacca, cut theirs off entirely;* yet others,

1 J. /• A. ToL ii. p. 258. hair, however, is allowed to grow as

s Ih, long as possible. The Jakun custom

> *' Formerly the Jakun did not cut of binding the fringe of hair with a

the hair, but let it grow (from child- band of tree-bark, to keep it out of

hood to age) down to their neck and the eyes, is imitated by the Orang

dwolders. The hair of the boys is at \jb.mV' {Z. f. E. xxix. 177). «The

the present day cut to a fringe oyer Jakun girls stick flowers in their hair,

the Ibrehead, or else it is all cut off instead of the brightly coloured shells

with the exception of a scalp-lock, as used by the Orang Laut '' {ib. p.

Malay children. The girls' 178).

i64 D/^ESS PART U

chiefly those of the Negri Sembilan and Rembau and
Johor, shaved the head, leaving unshaven only, on
the crown, a space about three inches in diameter,
where they never cut it, just in the same way as the
Chinese ; and to prevent this head of hair from being
hooked by the branches of trees in the jungle, they
tied it up in the form of a top- knot. They had
scarcely any beard, and many of them had none at
all. The women left their hair to grow, and then tied
it up in the same way as the Malay women ; but as
they had but little occasion to care much for appearance,
it will be easily imagined that they were not very
particular in this respect. Some of them are said to
treat their hair with lime.^

It does not yet seem to have been recorded
whether the Jakun are in the habit of eradicat-
ing their beard, but there is, I believe, very little
doubt upon the point. Vaughan - Stevens does
not actually state that the Jakun men pull out the
hair of the face, though he clearly implies it in
saying that the beard and whiskers (of the Jakun)
are scarcely ever present, even if they are not in«
tentionally pulled out.^

Orang Laut or Sea-Jakun.

Necklaces and Armlets.

Name of Tribe unspecified. — The Orang Laut have
now all taken to the Malay dress. The desire to
adorn the person exists among their women despite

* Logan in /. /. J. vol. ii. p. 248. people, to which I called their attention

Cp., however, the statement of V.- a long time before, ever treated their

Stevens — "I could not learn whether the hair with lime, as some of the New

Jakun, although they perceive<l the Guinea men do " (Z./. ^. xxix. 178).
reddish colour of the hair of the young ^ ^^y; £^ j^^ix. 179.

CHAP. 11 MALA VAN SEA-G YPSIES 165

their usually degraded condition. The girls will take
any object that glitters to wear upon their armsl,
neck, or breast. Nowadays these objects are nearly
always the products of civilisation obtained from
Malays and Chinese, but formerly coloured bi-
valves, seed-grains, etc., were employed. Vaughan*
Stevens saw a prettily composed necklace, with which
the woman who possessed it positively refused to
part. It was made up of variously coloured plant-
seeds growing on the coast, small vari^ated
marine bivalves gathered from the sands, and short
segments of crabs* legs (like one of our own coral
necklaces).*

The Hair.

The ** turned in " {eingeh&ngte) part of the claw
of a crawfish is often used by the Orang Laut as
a head-scratcher, and for this purpose is stuck in the
hair or kept in the girdle. If the claw is short, a
little piece of stick is stuck in it, in order to lengthen
it sufficiently. Half of the lower jaw of fishes which
have " needle- teeth " is frequently, even to the present
day, used in place of a comb.^

As might be expected from people who are so much
on the sea, the Orang Laut girls use brightly
coloured shells for hair ornaments, instead of the
flowers which are used by the Jakun.*

Up to manhood the boys do the same, but no
later, unless there is some special reason (besides
mere decoration of the person) for their doing so.*

At the present day the Orang Laut bind the hair
back to keep it out of their eyes either with a band

» Z.f, E, xxviiL 170. * lb. xxix. 178. « lb. * lb.

i66 DJ^ESS FART It

of cotton stuff, or else, in imitation of the Jakun, with
a similar band of tree-bark. They do not, however,
like to wear any sort of covering for the (top of the)
head, even in the sun.^

Among the Orang Laut both sexes use fat or oil
for their body and hair, because, as they say, the sea-
water irritates the unprotected skin, if it is later
exposed to the sun. At the present time coconut-
oil and other oils are easy to get, but formerly fish-fat
was used.*

In the following accounts the name of the tribe is
specified : —

0. Laut, Sletar. — The middle of both men and
women was generally covered by a coarse wrapper made
from the bark of the Artocarpus, and extending
from the navel to the knee. The women affected a
slight degree of modesty at first approach, but this soon
disappeared. Instead of the wrapper of " t'rap," they
frequently put on instead an old patched-up Malay
" sarong." The locks of the men were bound up
with a tie of cloth, and sometimes by the Malay
headkerchief or " saputangan " ; those of the women
fell in wild luxuriance over their face and shoulders.
Their children went entirely naked until the age of
puberty.*

0. Laut, Sabimba. — Their close relations with the
Malays have given them a taste for dress, as they
were wearing cloth instead of the bark of trees. The
women were dressed in " sarongs," after the manner
of Malay women, but the men wore only a strip
of cloth of scanty dimensions round the middle and
passing between the thighs.^

» Z./ E. xxix. 177. ' /. /. A, vol. L p. 345*.

* lb, p. 185. * lb. p. 350*.

CHAP. H MALA VAN SEA*GYPSIES 167

0. Laut, Maka Kuning. — The males (of the Orang
Muka Kuning) mostly wear the " chawat " of Arto-
carpus ("t'rap") bark, and the females short "sarongs'*
of cloth.^

0. Laut, Aklk. — Their dress resembled that of the
Malay, but was coarser and poorer, and when they were
engaged in ordinary pursuits seldom extended beyond
a waist-cloth or "chawat."^

' /. /. A. vol. 1. p. 337*. * Newbold, ii. 413, 414.

CHAPTER III.

Habitations.

The two first and most obvious forms of shelter would,
to a wild jungle-dwelling race, naturally be the large
umbrella-like palm-leaves growing in the forest, and
natural caves or holes in the ground. In the case of
the latter, however, it appears that certain preferences
exist, for " the caves which have been inhabited (in
Perak) are those which are formed by the overhanging
of the cliffs {t.e. * rock-shelters '), and not those caverns
that have been hollowed out in the rock. The same
class of cave was inhabited by many of the cave-
dwellers of Europe, as well as by the early New
Zealanders." ^ Mr. Wray further informs me that
he could find no trace of human remains in the caves
themselves, but that in some rock-shelters near the
'* dark caves " there were some thick deposits. For
an exception to this rule, however, it ought to be
pointed out that the well-known ** limestone caves *'
at Batu (six miles from Kuala Lumpor in Selangor)
were certainly at times inhabited by some of these
jungle -folk, as was stated by W. T. Hornaday
in his account of his discovery of the caves, in the
company of the late Captain Syers, and confirmed by

* L, Wray, Cave-dwcl/ers, p. 37.
168

CHAP. Ill GENERAL REMARKS 169

later visitors. The reason for this use of these caves,
moreover, is in this instance known, viz. : the fact
that they afforded protection against wild elephants.
At the same time it is only £ur to add that this is the
only exception I know of

Although, however, the practice of utilising such
natural refuges as are afforded by the geographical
features (such as trees and rock-shelters) of the country
they live in appears to be common to all the wilder
members of the three races alike, and although it may
be possible to trace certain similarities in the methods
by which their more settled fellow-tribesmen succeeded
in evolving a hut-type which, at first of the pile-hut
type common in S.£. Asia, became gradually assimi-
lated to that of the Peninsular Malays, it is neverthe-
less quite possible in certain respects to differentiate
the various types of hut, and even to specify with
almost complete certainty to which of the three races
these tjrpes should be assigned.

The Semang huts, for instance, frequently resemble
(as might almost be expected) the huts built by the
Andamanese, and the circular (and semicircular) huts
formed by planting a number of palm-leaves upright
in the ground, with their tops drooping over to a
common centre, appear also to be only recorded in
districts where Negrito influence is either certain or
to be suspected. The long leaf-shelter, too, that I
visited in Kedah was certainly of a type apparently
confined exclusively to the Semang or N^rito. It
may be added, moreover, that the Semang appear
(speaking broadly and generally) to be on the whole
more given to the use of tree-shelters and huts on
ground-level than the average Sakai or the Jakun,
and that both of the latter races seem especially fond

I70 HABITATIONS part ii

of building their huts upon very lofty house-posts.
Mr. Wray informs me that he has never seen in
Perak a "bee-hive" hut, or even a tree-hut, made
either by the Semang or by the Sakai, although at
Kuala Dipang and elsewhere he has seen very tall
tree-huts built by the Malays.

The most interesting question, however, connected
with this subject is undoubtedly that concerned with
the successive steps by means of which the hut-type
is evolved.

Among the Semang its evolution is perhaps on the
whole the clearest, the various stages being, as they
appear to me, the following : —

1. Natural shelters — rock -shelters, caves, tree

buttresses, branches, etc.

2. Artificial shelters or weather-screens — a single

large palm-leaf, either planted in the ground
or fixed across the fork of a tree.

3. A number of such palm-leaves, planted in a

straight row, or in a semicircle or circle, their
tops drooping over towards a common centre,
thus forming a " round " or ** bee-hive " hut
— if in the fork of a tree, the hut's shape is
naturally adapted to suit its branches.^

^ For one of the earliest ac- neighbourhood of this river, through

counts of these tree-dweUingS our glasses, our notice was attracted by

/^ ^ , r i_ ^ what seemed to be some enormous

(treated from a somewhat sensa- birds' nests in the trees. The si<e of

tional standpoint), see 7>Yiv^/aff^ these nests was prodigious, yet they

Sport in Burmah^ Siam, and were not placed at a very great height

Malay {sicX by Capt. J Bradley, J~«" ^»>« ground, nor in the tallest trees.

/,Q*^\ TT^f^,*„Jr«*J« «.k^ «1 Th« number of them was seven, but we

(1876). Unfortunately the ac concluded there were others noJ visible

count is only of general interest, from our posiUon, We were puzzled

as no means are afforded of to think what bird could construct nests

even approximately identifying ^^ ^"^ »>»«» fo' ^^J appeared from our

the locality. ^"^ f "^^^ ^""^ « "«J« tolefaWy.

^ sized huts, and much the shape of

*' While searching the country in the roughly constructed wigwams. While

CHAP. Ill

GENERAL REMARKS

171

4. The " long " or " communal " shelter, which is

nothing more than a round or " bee-hive "
hut extended to form an ellipse or oval.

5. Small granaries or store-huts on high posts,

and perhaps also huts which commence to
approach for the first time the Mala)ran hut-
type, but are still built on the level of the
ground.^

6. A hut similar to the last, but with floor raised

on posts (which makes it still more conform-
able with the common Malayan hut-type).

we were still speculating, the difficulty
was aolved. A large ape was obsenred
to leave one of the nests and descend
to the ground ; and he was soon fol-
lowed 1^ eis^t or nine others, who all
walked about erect like men. We
watched them for a long time, and saw
them picking berries, or something else
of a similar kind, from the bushes.
Their actions were most human-like.
They walked about exactly like men,
and even appeared to be talking to each
other. Several of them climbed the
cocoa-palms in search of the nuts ; but
they did not display that activity in
ascending which disting^uishes most of
the ape tribe. Their every motion was
human in the extreme" (p. 292).
Later, he discovers that the supposed
" apes ** are men.

[The mention of '< cocoa-palms "(!)
b a strange circumstance requiring ex-
plaoation, as none of these wild tribes
plant coconuts, at least until they are a
good deal more advanced in civilisation
than these tribes otherwise appear to
have been. It may of course have
been that they were living in or near
an abandoned Malay clearing, or that
they were less wild than was supposed,
or, most probably, I think, that the
trees were not really coconut-palms.
— W. S.]

In a later passage we read : « They
[the tree-huts] were from 30 to 50 feet
[9-15 m.] from the ground, built in the
lower branches of a species of large,

wide-spreading tree, in general appear-
ance very much like the oak. Access
to them was gained by a number of
notches cut in the tree-trunk, . . .
and when we got amongst the branches
we had to crawl out snake - fashion,
to get at the huts, which were the
shape of a bee -hive, though rather
more pointed at the apex. They were
constructed entirely of small branches
and twigs tied together at the top, and
bent round to form the hollow space in
the interior. The height of each hut was
about 6 ft.[ 1 80 cm.], the internal diameter
about the same. The entrance was a
hole in the side, so small that we could
scarcely force our way in. The cordage
with which the huts were constructed
was made of some tough creeper, and
the strands were so loosely twisted
together that the least toudi parted
them." — Bradley, pp. 297, 298.

Elsewhere (J. B. pp. 319, 320) Capt.
Bradley mentions a settlement of fifteen
huts, "one or two" (he says) **in a
tree." On pp. 330, 331 he mentions
another of these tree-villages. ** It *'
(the village) " consisted of five huts built
in the trees, and seven hovels erected
on the ground." "They were" (he
continues) " built of branches like those
described in a former chapter; but
were overlaid with deer-sldns."
Another settlement (described on p.
315) had four tree -huts only in
number.

^ De Morgan, viii. 296.

172 HABITATIONS

The last type of dwelling — and by no means the
least interesting one — to find a place in these pages
is that of the old " Orang Laut " of Singapore and
Johor. These once most formidable pirates (who at
that time dwelt exclusively in their boats) were the
only inhabitants of the island of Singapore (which has
now a population of over 200,000) on the memorable
day of February (1819) when Sir Stamford Raffles
landed to make a city out of what was then a mere
desolate mangrove swamp. Contemporary and more
recent writers give us a picture of the ** Orang Laut,"
and the extraordinarily restricted quarters in which they
lived. Huddled up in a small boat, measuring scarcely
twenty feet in length, they found all the domestic
comfort of which they were in need. At one end was
the hearth, in the centre their few utensils, and at the
other end, beneath a matwork awning, not exceeding
six feet in length, was the sleeping apartment of a
family that often counted five or six, together with a
cat and a dog. Under this awning they found shelter
from the tropical rains and heats alike, from the time
of their birth to the grave.^

I. — Semang.

The Rock-shelter.

Kedah Semang. — The Semang are almost in-
eradicably nomadic, have no fixed habitations, and rove
about like the beasts of the forest.* The wilder ones
seldom stay more (they informed me) than three days

* See Crawfurd, Dtscr, Dict.^ s,v, "Malay Peninsula.*'
* y. /. .4. vol. iv. pp. 425, 426

CHAP. Ill NEGRITOS OF KEDAH 173

in one place/ Rock-shelters are also commonly used
by them.*

Pangan. — At Ban Tun, in the province of Pata-
lung on the north-western shore of the Inland
Sea (Singora), I visited one of these small rock-
shelters which had been inhabited, up to the night of
our arrival, by nine Pangans, who had only deserted
it on hearing our approach. It was formed by a large
overhanging rock under the brow of a very steep and
lofty hill. Its size was very small, measuring only
from about 9 to 12 feet (2.7 m. to 3.6 m.) in length by
6 to 8 feet (1.8 m. to 2.4 m.) in width, and from about
4 to 5 feet (1.2 m. to 1.5 m.) in height. Its position
on a shoulder of the hill was very well chosen, as
the ground fell away precipitously in front of it, and
the only way to reach it was to go round by the back
of the overhanging rock itself. The mouth of the
cave was, moreover, further concealed and protected
by a thicket of thorny bamboo, which grew at the
more precipitous end. Altogether it was as difficult
a spot to find without a guide as any which could have
been selected. The sole article of furniture was one
of the rough bamboo sleeping-stages, or " barbicans,''
which are to be seen in most Semang encampments,*
and which are made by lashing half a dozen thick
bamboo poles together. This particular bed, however,
could not have accommodated more than one or two

^ Among the E. SemaDg (Pangan) Semang are less particular than the

it is an established custom to break up Pangan (Vaughan-Stevens, iii. 103).

the existing encampment on the fifth ^ See a valuable note on this subject

day at the latest. This custom is called by Mr. L. Wray {Cave-dwelUrsy p.

"Jog," and is attributed to the com- 37).

mands of Pie ; indeed, the days are ^ These most peculiar platforms or

counted on the fingers, and it is believed *' bedsteads" are found also in the

that if this custom be seriously in- Andamans, and (according to my friend

fringed, a severe form of plague will Mr. Lorimer Fison) in Fiji ! I should

attack the guilty parties. The \V. be glad to know of other examples.

174 HABITATIONS part ii

persons at most, and the other members of the family
had evidently been sleeping on beds of heaped-up
leaves, which were still quite green and fresh on our
arrival. There were also the ashes of four separate
fires, one at least of which had been extinguished by
water ; and there were fragments of the ribs of a small
tortoise on which they had been feeding, as well as a
half-smoked (native) cigarette, an indication that they
had probably had some traffic, either direct or through
the medium of "tamer" fellow-tribesmen, with the
Malays or Siamese of the locality.

Tree-shelters.

Perak Semang. — Another obvious kind of " natural
shelter ** is that afforded by the branches of trees, the
scanty protection thus obtained being speedily im-
proved by the building of a weather-screen, out of
which is easily and naturally developed the tree-built
hut. The exact purpose served by those arboreal
dwellings has been much disputed, but the most
reasonable explanation — and I think undoubtedly the
correct one — is that they are built for protection from
wild beasts. In most cases the proximity of wild
beasts is certainly their raison ditre. We are told,^ for
instance, in so many words, that some of the Semang
** in the thicker parts of the forest, where the elephants y
tigers, and other wild animals are most abundant, make
their temporary dwellings upon the cliffs and branches
of large trees." * The simplest form of the tree-shelter

1 y. /. A, vol. iv. 425, 426. their houses on the level of the ground.

* Another possible cause (inunda- When, however, safeguarding against

tions) is certainly suggested by the tigers is necessary, they build between

following note (for which see Bastian, the branches of the trees, just as the

RHsm in Birma, Leipzig, 1886, p. Puleahs build their nests in their

432): — " The inhabitants of the hills forests." But in the Malay Penin-

in Pegu, who are insured [by their sula this first reason would rarely if ever

position] against inundations, build i^pply*

CHAP. Ill NEGRITOS OF PERAK i7S

consists of a screen of leaves fixed across the branches
of the tree a little above the fork to serve as a roof. Usu-
ally, however, side-screens are added, for comfort's sake.

I am told by Mr. Wray that he once visited a
Semang house in the Piah valley, in Upper Perak.
It measured about 50 feet (15.2 m. x6 m.) in length
by 20 feet in width, and was built on posts of such
a height that the floor was 15 feet (4.5 m.) above
the ground. There were three ladders on one side of
the house to give access to it, and it appeared to have
been inhabited by at least three families. Underneath
it Mr. Wray found the bones of the wild pig, deer,
and " s^ladang " {Bosgaurus, the wild bull or ** bison '*),
as well as the horn of one of these latter animals.

Pangan. — The Pangan tree-huts observed by
Messrs. Ridley and Kelsall on the banks of the Ulu
Tahan river in Pahang (in 1891) were "small roofed
platforms, raised about 15 or 20 feet (4.5 m. to
6 m.) from the ground," ^ and were reached (as Mr.
Ridley tells me) by a ladder formed of sticks lashed
across two neighbouring trees.

Ground'Screens of Leaves.
Semang and Pangan. — Yet another kind of shelter
used by the Semang is the palm-leaf ground-screen,^
which is intended simply as a protection against rain
and wind. It is constructed by planting three or four
stout sticks or poles in a row in the ground at an
angle of about 60** to 75**, and lashing palm-leaves
across them so closely that the rain cannot penetrate.*

^J,R.A,S,, S.B., No. 25, p. will frequently content himself with the

45- shelter of a single palm-leaf planted in

* It goes without saying that these the ground.

sacens ^aiy in size and construction ^ Cp.Logan(y.^.^.i'., 5.^.,No. 7,

according to the needs of the party. p. 85) : The '* temporary lairs '* (of the

When a Semang is travelling alone, he Semang) are ** only protected from the

1 7^ HA BIT A TIONS

Shelters of this type are also largely used by the
Malays for temporary purposes, especially in the
eastern states of the Peninsula.

Pangan. — The next stage would appear to be that of
the round or bee-hive hut. In the interior of Kelantan
(near Kampong Biintal in Ulu Aring), Mr. Laidlaw
and I visited several of these curious habitations. One
that we photographed was a hemispherical leaf-
shelter, very slenderly constructed, the materials em-
ployed being leaves of the **bSrtam" palm {Eugeissana)
and a Rattan or Calamus called " Rotan Dudok." The
bases of the leaf-stalks were firmly planted in the ground,
the upper ends of the leaves bending naturally over so as
to protect about one-half of the hut-floor from the rain.
The leaves planted round the circumference of the
semicircle at the back of the shelter were of full length,
but a slight fence of shorter leaves, about 2 feet (60 cm.)
high, completed the circumference. At the back of
the hut was the usual big abattis or chevaux-de-frise
of felled trees, which is very generally formed by these
people for protection against wild beasts.

A slightly different type of hut was seen on the
banks of the Tahan river by Mr. Ridley in 1891. The
huts themselves consisted of a bee-hive-shaped structure
of palm-leaves about 4 feet (1.2 m.) high, the bases of
the leaves planted in the ground and their upper parts
interwoven together. So far the structure was similar
to those already described, but these particular huts
" were completely filled with palm-leaves, in the midst
of which could be seen the depression caused by the
occupant when he curled himself up in them " either for

weather by a few branches or leaves stuck in the ground, with a small cross-
hung over two or three sticks.*' And piece, and a few leaves or branches of
Cp. alaoy./.^. voL iv. pp. 425, 426 : trees laid over to secure them from the
** Their huts . . . consist of two posts weather."

i?. //. VappiSkeat Kxptdition).

Pangan Weather Scrken of Palm Leaves (Ulu Kklantan).

R. H. Yapp {Skeai Expedition).

Interiur of Round Leaf-Shelter of Pangan (Ulu Kelantan)

Vift. I. p. 176.

One

of the

young

men

One

of the

young:

men

CHAP. HI NEGRITOS OF KEDAH 177

rest or warmth. " There were altogether seven of
these ' nests ' on the river-bank," ^ and the occupants,
who were, I think, undoubtedly Pangan, had only just
left them before his and his companion's arrival.

Communal Shelters,

Semang of Kedah. — From an ordinary round hut
which will shelter one or two small families the transi-
tion to an elongated shelter which will hold a greater
number is not very difficult. The Semang shelter at
Siong in Kedah accommodated all the members of the
tribe who were living in the neighbourhood, and con-
tained no fewer than eleven (?) sleeping-places arranged
in two long rows ; it may therefore be described as
being of the ** barrack " or " long-house " type. The
upright timbers of this shelter consisted of young sap-
lings planted in two opposite rows, across them being
lashed the leaves of the "chenchAm,*' a low-growing
palm not unlike the well-known **b€rtam** palm
{Eugeissona tristis) in appearance, but which was
declared by the Semang to be a different tree. The
uprights of the shelter were called " pengkong,*' and
the leaves lashed across them ** hapoi." There were,
besides, two central posts or pillars (**jghu**), each about
a third of the distance from either end of the shelter,
and a dozen poles placed, as props or "wind-braces,'*
in various positions and at various angles, in order to
strengthen the structure and keep it from being blown
over in a high wind.^ In front of the shelter at the
upper end was a big opening which served as the
main entrance, but there were in addition several

* /. R. A, s., s, B., No. 25, p. 45.
« "T^nungked," Plus dialect ; or **chenidel," Kedah.

VOL. I N

1 78 HABIT A TIONS part 11

smoke-holes^ which were also used for ingress or ^ress
as occasion might serve. The two slopes of the roof
were not united over a ridge-pole, as in the ordinary
(Malay) house, but a longitudinal aperture was left be-
tween them for about two-thirds of the entire length of
the roof, and through the gap thus caused the greater
part of the smoke from the many fireplaces issued.
All round the walls were ranged a number of
^ bamboo sleeping-platforms, consisting of a framework
of split bamboos, each end of which was supported by
a horizontal slat or rod.* These latter were in turn
supported on low forked wooden trestles called
"jongka.** These bed-platforms were between 5-6
ft. (1.5 m. to 1.8 m.) in length by about 3 ft. (.91 m.)
in breadth ; and their exact position was as shown in
the accompanying diagram. Young men of the tribe
slept near the main opening or door, and the chief
at the upper end as shown.

I may add that the owner of each sleeping-platform
or family unit possessed a separate fire or hearth, over
which he used to sit and warm himself when the nights
were cold. On the other hand, I never saw any kind
of pillow, either in the houses of the Semang of Kedah
or in those of the Pangan.

Huts.

Kedah Semang. — We now come to the last class
of Semang dwellings in which they begin to build
huts of a rather more substantial character than those
hitherto described, apparently, in the first instance,
to serve as store-houses. An excellent example of this
was to be seen in the Semang encampment at Siong

I «• Karop ? " Plus ; or " pcmong ? " Kedah.
2 " KWing," Plus dUlect ; or "pelayen," Kedah.

Semano at Ulu Jelkntoh, Gopeng, Kinta, with Nipah-Palms [Xipa fruticans)
IN Background, newly cut for Thatchwork.

I'^L /. /. 178.

Skmang standing at sidk of Hut (at Sungei Tafah), nkar Batu Gajah, Kinta. Peraf

The hut shows one of the methods of interweaving palm leaves.

Vii.I.p. 179.

CHAP. Ill NEGRITOS OF KEDAH 179

in Kedah, where, side by side with the long ** communal "
shelter in which the tribe lived, stood a tiny granary
in which their scanty stores of rice were preserved.
This little granary stood on six thin posts, the floor
being raised about 4-5 ft. (1.2 m. to 1.5 m.) from the
ground, for the purpose of protecting its contents
from small marauders. It measured about 4 ft. in
length by about 3 ft. (1.2 m. x .91 m.) in width, and
was little more in fact than a large box on posts. Its
walls were made of tree -bark, and the roof was
thatched with the leaf of the **bgrtam*' palm, and
it was entered by a tiny doorway to which access was
afforded by a long inclined pole. From the stage in
which these tiny huts were used solely for the pur-
poses of istorage, to one in which they could be used
as dwellings, the transition would be as easy and as
natural as possible.

On the other hand, it must here be remarked that
although in this way they may sometimes come to
dwelling — in Malayan fashion — in a hut with raised
flooring, the Semang nevertheless appear to retain a
strong predilection for building their huts either
altogether aloft in trees, or else upon the level of the
ground itself.^

Perak Semang. — Direct evidence of huts with raised
flooring being inhabited by pure Semang is very scanty.
The Semang village mentioned by De Morgan prob-
ably belonged to this latter (more developed) class,
especially as he describes it as standing in the midst

1 The huts built by the Paogan seem carry about with them when they move to

rather Intended for the purpose of their next camping-place. These huts

storing supplies {fi,g. rice) than for are always set up in the thickest part of

r^ular occupation. Five or six of the jungle, and by way of further precau-

these huts are usually built in one place, tioh the articles left behind are frequently

and the Paogan leave such articles of marked with special signs. — ^V.-St. iiu

property there as they do not wish to 102, 103.

i8o HABITATIONS part ii

of an immense plantation (** un vaste jardin "), which
seems to imply some degree of permanence. All he
says of the houses, however, is that they ** were con-
structed on a level with the ground,** and ** were open
to all the winds that blow," and that the Semang
protected themselves at night against the attacks of wild
beasts by means of great ** braziers '* {sic) which they
light up under their roofJ On the whole, it seems
that the Semang take much less readily than the Sakai
to the Malayan custom of building their huts on piles.
Among the Semang of Perak (Menik) no one uses
any special kind of pillow, whether of wood or of any
other material. Often they use no pillow at all, and
if they do, the first thing that comes to hand (such as
a bundle of grass or twigs), or the arm will be used.-

II. — Sakai.
Shelters and Tree-huts.

Perak SakaL — The wild tribes of the Perak Hills
(Sakai Bukit), according to what De la Croix was
told by the tame Sakai of S. Kerbu, are seldom met
with, as they do not live in villages, and build no
houses, but when night arrives they either sleep in
the shade of a tree, or (at the most) hurriedly erect a
shelter of leaves.*

Selanpor Sakai. — The Sakai, like the Semang,
make use of caves as well as trees to dwell in. Mr.
Ridley informs me that he once saw an excellent
example consisting of a rock-shelter which he visited

1 Dc Morgan, viii. 296. ever, seems to have been hearsay, and

* Z,f, E. xxix. 186. Elsewhere (p. Mr. Wray informs me that the Sakai

iS7),V. -St. says that the wild Semang of the Perak Hills build very good

(Pangan)alonedonot use the pillow con- houses (q). VH, ii. 646), which prob-

sisting of a cloth bog stuffed with cotton. ably accounts for De M.'s much too

3 De la Croix, p. 340. This, how- sweeping difftenti {LH, iii. 43).

^
<,

Sakai Trkk Hut. Singki Hkrang, Pkrak, Skvkn Milks from Tanjong Malim.

Vol. I. p. 181.

CHAP. Ill SAKAI OF PERAK i8i

at the Batu caves seven miles from Kuala Lumpur in
Selangor. Here, as in the Semang rock- shelters, were
the remains of a bamboo bed-place, and in addition
there were screens of palm-leaves which had been put
up as a protection against the weather. In this rock-
shelter, as in others in the same district, the walls
were decorated with rough charcoal sketches of well-
known objects, e,g. boats, etc. Excavations were made
in the floor of this rock-shelter on the chance of finding
traces of earlier occupation, but nothing was found
except a round stone evidently brought from the river
to support a cooking-pot.

In spite of the foregoing, however, both rock-
shelters and palm-leaf wind-screens appear to be less
popular with the Sakai than with the Semang, and
there are few records, if any, of their employment of
the bee-hive type of hut, at all events beyond the
limits of Negrito influence. So far as I have been
able to discover, the huts of the pure-bred Sakai are,
as a rule, rectangular in plan.

Tree-huts, on the other hand, analogous to those
already described as used by the Semang, are certainly
to be seen among the Inland (Sakai) Tribes of
Selangor at least. On an expedition to Ulu Kali in the
interior of Selangor in 1893, ^ myself saw two of these
Sakai tree-huts, one of which must have been from
30-40 ft. (9 m. to 12 m.) from the ground. Both must
have been very nearly the same size, about 6 ft. by
4 ft. (1.8 m. X 1.2 m.), and not more than 4 ft. in height/

1 Of the same district Mr. William huts high up against the trees, usually

T. Homaday says : •* We were at Batu fifteen to twenty feet from the ground,

in the durian season, and often visited to get out of the way of wild beasts,

the trees in the forest when the Malays But the rascally elephants often take

were collecting the fruit as fast as it the trouble to pull down even those

fell. Like the Jakun, they build little high platforms and frighten the in-

I82

HABITATIONS

PART II

Huts and Houses.

Perak Sakai. — The Sakai in commencing to build
their huts with rather more reference to Malay
models still retain the communal idea. One of these
Sakai communal houses, described by Hale,^ was built
on a slope, close to the summit of a lofty hill. The
thatching of the roof (with leaves of the bfirtam palm)
was a clumsy imitation of Malayan methods. The
floor of the house, which was raised above the ground,
rested upon nine posts, eight of inconsiderable and
one of very great diameter, which was, in fact, the
trunk of a large tree. Every other part of the house
was entirely built of bamboo.^ The walls consisted of
long screens of sheet-thatch, which were suspended
loosely at their upper ends under the eaves, so that
the lower ends could be pushed open outwards. The

habitants half out of their wits. The
herds to which we paid our respects
had just the night before visited several
durian camps, and had torn down the
highest platform of all, as if to show
the Malays that it was of no use trying
to build a hut out of their reach. Of
course the Malays fled to the jungle.
There are several lai^e caves in the
vicinity, and the Jakun are in the
habit of taking refuge in them when
the elephants become too neighbourly "
{J,R,A,S., S,B., No. 3, p. 128).
Batu is a small village six miles from
Kuala Lumpur in Selangor. Mr.
Homaday is probably here writing of
the Inland or Hill Sakai. The
Jakun are really the savage Malayan
tribes, but the word is often used
loosely, especially by Malays (as here).

' P. 249. So too, according to De
Morgan, the entire tribe of Sakai at
Changak (?Changkat) Kerbu (in Ulu
Perak) lived in a big house which they
shared in common.

The house was divided into com-
partments, where the various families

were separately installed, the hearths,
however, being shared in common, and
placed in the centre of the building.
The room of the chief (Penghulu) was
much better kept than the others, the
sleeping - places of flattened bamboo
being covered with mats decorated with
yellow patterns ; all the blowpipes of
the tribe were suspended from the
rafters, and big bamboos covered with
decoration were deposited in the comers
to supply him with water (De Morgan,

J. 43).

2 Mr. Hale, however, very rightly
points out that the Sakai are very
ready to adapt themselves to circum-
stances in the matter of material. Thus
elsewhere Mr. Wray remarks that the
leaves of fan -palms are used by the
Sakai to thatch their houses, and that,
owing to the extreme hardness of the
stems, they are not in the habit of
cutting the palms down when felling
the jungle for their clearings, which
probably accounts for their great abund-
ance (/. i^. >/. 5., S,B., No. 21, p.
155).

Trke Hut, Ulu Batu, about Twelvk Milks fk(;m Kuala Lumpur, SKLANf;oR.

;'.'/. /. /. 183.

CHAP. Ill SAKAl OF PERAK 183

house in question was more than an hour's climb from
water. It was surrounded by a clearing of about two
acres in extent, where tapioca, maize, sugar-cane, and
tobacco were grown. The house contained sixteen
inhabitants, divided into six distinct family units, each
of which had its own hearth. In the case of a man
having two wives, each wife had her own hearth,
marked out by means of a low partition of split
bamboos. There was a door in the end-wall, and also
an outlet in the slope of the roof.^

On the other hand, the Sakai huts observed in Ulu
Kinta by De Morgan are described as being built
very far apart from each other, and situated in the
midst of immense plantations of tapioca, ** sorgho " (?)
and maize, from which it may possibly be deduced
that they were on rather less strictly communal
principles. De Morgan was invited to enter the
Penghulu's hut, which was, like those at S. Raya, built
at a height of about 1.50 m. from the ground. It was
very small, but very clean. Blowpipes, arrows, and a
spear hung from the roof, and it contained many betel-
leaf-wallets, necklaces, nets, lines, and a small but
highly decorated piece of bamboo, the use of which
was for carrying the worms used in rod-fishing.*

In another place. De la Croix, in describing the
Sakai village of Kampong Chabang, in the upper
reaches of S. Kerbu (a tributary of the Plus river in
Perak, which is a few miles further north than Ulu
Kinta), remarks that the village consisted of a dozen
huts, erected in the midst of a clearing, on the banks
of the river. The chiefs hut (the largest) was built
upon piles, and measured ten metres in length by five

1 Hale, p. 294. ii. 645, for illustrations showing ground-

' De Morgan, viii. 167. Cp. VH, plan and elevations of a Sakai hut.

1 84 HABJTA TIONS part ii

metres in breadth. The flooring, consisting of flattened
tree-bark, was raised about a metre above the ground.
Both the walls and the roof with its double slope were
constructed alike of broad strips of bark, which afforded
an excellent shelter from the floods of rain that fell in
the wet season. A notched tree-trunk served as house-
ladder for giving access to the interior of the building.*

In the middle of the only room was placed a hearth
consisting of a thick layer of clay deposited in a (square)
wooden frame. This was the hearth ("dapor") of Malay
houses. A few pots and receptacles of various kinds
containing provisions were hung upon the walls. The
remaining huts were all of the same type, except two
or three whose side-walls were made of matwork, in
imitation of the Malays.-

Pahang Sakai. — A graphic description of the
mountain hut of a Sakai by Mr. L. Wray is interest-
ing from the fact that the locality referred to is in
the far interior of Pahang.

Mr. Wray wrote' that the house (in the Tahan
valley) in which he passed the night was a large and
well-built one, and seemed to be occupied by two
families. It was at an elevation of about 4000 feet
(1225 m.), and being perched on the top of a cleared
hill fully exposed to the winds, he found it very cold.

Hanging up in the house were strings of the lower
jaws of monkeys, musangs, and other animals, and in
another house he saw bunches of hornbill skulls.
These were kept hanging up in the smoke as trophies,
in the same way as the Dayaks keep human heads in
their houses. Another custom which seemed to point

' De la Croix, pp. 322, 323. Brau fifteen families in the same place (pp.

de S. P. Lias, in writing of the Sakai 279, 280).
of Sungei Kerbu, adds that they ' Ibid.

always lived in groups of from ten to •/. R, A, S,^ S, B,, No. 21, p. 162.

Transverse Section.

Longitudinal Section.

-:^\

Elevation

\ jj.. - ' ■■

Plan.

Dc Morgan.

Sakai House at Changkat Kerbu or Kokbi'.

y^L I. /. 184.

Hn(.>ii: OK Akmhiuim-is at KlaI-V Si^l.lm, L'ia' Klan<;.

.V!;.^.>r.

Hits at Dl^rian Chanuong, Ulu Langat, aboit Thrf.e Miles abovf. Kll'bi, bl't on
A Tributary of the Langat. Men absent Hunting.

Vol. /. /. 185.

CHAP. Ill SAKAI OF PA HANG 185

to a connection between the two races was that they
kept large fires burning in the centre of their houses
during the night, and that it was only during the first
part of the night that they slept, after that they sat up
round the fire and talked till morning.^

Hut Furniture — Pillows.

Perak Sakai. — It appears that pillows were much
more generally used by the Sakai than by the Semang.
The pillow of the Central Sakai (Senoi) men was
always an internode of bamboo, through each extremity
of which four small round pegs were driven. The
pillows of the women were the same, but they were
usually fitted with a pair of pegs or ** feet ** pointed at
both ends, so that by a blow they could be driven into
the hole at the end or taken out. For this purpose part
of the node was cut away, in order to allow the inside of
the tube to be reached. Small objects that the women
used for their toilet or for other purposes were kept in
the interior of these bamboo pillows ; and by means of
the •' feet " they were prevented from falling out again.^

These pillows were of various patterns, which
differed with the tribe. The Central Sakai (Senoi),
who always appear to have had a somewhat more
artistic feeling than the other Sakai (Blandas), say
that their bamboo pillows were formerly ornamented
with incised lines or '* painted " emblems,' but that
these are all now forgotten, and the form of pillow
now universally employed is a kind of stuff-bag or
pillow filled with cotton. This new form of pillow,
however, could only be used when the tribe became
more settled. So long as they remained entirely

> Wray in /. R, A, .S., S, A, No. « Z./. E, xxix. (V.-St.) 186.

21, p. 162. 3 In original, ** painted totems"!

i86 • HABITATIONS part ii

nomadic, bulky things, such as these pillows, could
not be carried with them ; and if the present cotton-
filled pillows were left a week in a house uncared for,
termites and other vermin would injure them; even if
damp and mould did not do so.^

The bamboo pillows referred to formed part of the
furniture of the house, and when not being used lay
together in a corner.^

III. — Jakun.

Blandas. — As far as I was able to discover, the
Blandas (Hill Tribes of the Kuala Langat district in
Selangor) seldom if ever dwelt in leaf-shelters, and
the only important difference between their houses
and those of the Besisi — which will presently be de-
scribed — lay in the far greater relative height of the
wooden posts on which the Blandas house was built.
These high-built huts of the Blandas were frequently
entered by means of a movable ladder, which was re-
moved when they went abroad into the forest. Their
traditional pillow was a block of ** pulai " {alstonia, a
soft, cork-like wood).

Besisi. — On the other hand, although I never
came across an instance of a Blandas family living in
a tree-hut, I think there is practically no doubt that
the Besisi, who had a relatively larger proportion of
Semang blood in them, did occasionally do so. At
S. Nipah (in the very same district of Selangor) I
once knew a soi-disant Malay family (in reality they
were Besisi converts) who lived in a tree-hut some 20
ft. to 30 ft. (6 m. to 9 m.) from the ground, and on one
occasion I climbed up to have a look at it. The **hut"
itself was a tiny shelter about 6 ft. (1.8 m.) in length,

» Z.f, E, xxix. (V.-St.) 187, 188. 2 lb.

-,, — ^ — ■ : — ^ k — :

■^^

1^ *'.^^

T#^-^3fi>:. .;.

__.> ~

i.-^

i -H .;

It-

^S"^:k

■ \

■**^-lSil

bii^ii^-ui^rL'^T*

Sakai House, Lui River, Ulu Langat, Selangor.

Noticf the height of the house-posts.

MiGrfgor.

McGrei^or.

Ground Hut with thatched Roof, Ulu Kuang, about Three Miles from
KuANG Station, Selangor.
Vol. r. /. 1 86.

F. M. FMiot.

Besisi Huts about One and a Half Miles from Sepang,

showing abattis of trees felled as a protection against wild T>easts.

F. M, EllioU

Besisi Hut about One and a Half Miles pkom Sepang (Kuala Langat
District of Selangok), showing overlapping Gable-Ridge.

1 was myself inside this hut when it was taken.

Vol. I. p. 187.

CHAP. Ill SA VAGE MALA YS OF SELANGOR 187

by 4 ft. (1.2 m.) in width, and was not more than three
or four feet high. The walls and roof were made of the
Malay palm-leaf awning ("kajang"), and it contained a
small sleeping-mat and mosquito-curtain (an unlooked-
for luxury in so poor an abode), and a few cooking
and other utensils. A man and his wife lived there,
but I cannot say whether they had any children. Both
happened to be very short, I should say not more than
4J^ ft. (1.37 m.), but I should much doubt whether
either of them could stand upright in it. The method
of entering it was enough to try the nerves of any
one that was at all inclined to be dizzy. The ascent was
achieved by means of the rudest and most primitive
stick- ladder imaginable, a large creeper that grew
upon the tree affording some slight additional assist-
ance. On reaching the top of this ladder, one had to
rest one's elbows upon the floor of the shelter, and
swing one's self up into safety by main force. The
descent was, if anything, the more trying process of
the two, yet the Malays did not appear to mind it.

The actual houses of the Besisi in this same district
were built of timber and palm-thatch like the houses
of the local Malays, but had several peculiar points
about them. The slopes of the roof-gable, for one
thing, were carried much lower than in an ordinary
Malay house, and in some cases at least the eaves
were actually level with the floor.

Another characteristic feature was that one of the
slopes of the gable was frequently carried much higher
than the other, so as to overlap and leave a gap
through which smoke could issue, without the rain
penetrating too easily. In the Malay type of house,
the upper edges of the two roof-slopes meet at the
top, and the rain is kept out by an arrangement called

i88 HABITATIONS part ii

" pgrabong/' which covers over the gap between the
edges.

The houses are exceedingly diminutive, much
more so, in proportion to their inhabitants, than
Malay houses ; in fact, I saw many among the Besisi
that were little more than boxes. They are usually
thatched with palm-leaves loosely strung together, the
kind of leaves usually employed being either those of
the fan-palm or the " b^rtam " palm. A few of these
houses were supported on fairly high posts, higher
than those of Malay houses. The Besisi, who carry
the eaves of their huts down to the level of the floor,
generally use, however, very short house-posts.

The joists are tied together with split rattan or
other strong lashings, and each settlement, however
small, is as a rule defended by an abattis of fallen trees.
The Besisi often, perhaps in imitation of the Malays,
erect a sort of landing of split ** nibong " stems in
front of the door whereon to winnow their grain.

The house of one of the Batins or big chiefs of
the Besisi (Batin Suntai by name) was described to
me in one of their tribal songs as follows : —

Song ok the Batin's Hut.

** K^pong '* bark was all its roofing,
** Bertam " leaves were all the side- walls,
** Bertam " stems were all the flooring,
** Loyak '' stems were all its pillars.
Such the house of Batin Suntai,
At ** Nine- Rivers," up the Kalis, —
Durian-wood did form his pillow,
T^eaves of ** lemba *' were hb dishes.
His the beaten tree-bark girdle.

The pillow generally used by the Besisi is said to
have been a block of hard wood, without feet, concave
on the upper side, and convex on the lower,^ and cut

^ In the original it is described as take and an impossibility, which is
being convex on the upper side, and clearly due to some confusion,
concave underneath, an obvious mis-

CHAP. Ill SAVAGE MALA YS OF SELANGOR 189

off squarely at the ends. It differs from the Jakun
and Blandas pillow, the wood of which was very soft.^

The Balai.

BesisL — Before leaving the subject of Besisi huts I
must not omit to mention the important fact that there
were among these Jakun tribes traces of the use of a
Tribal Hall, such as is always attached to the house
of a Malay chief, and is called ** Balai " both by Jakun
and Malays. On the occasion of a Besisi wedding,
the Besisi of Ayer Itam (on the Selangor coast) had
built a hall of this kind at right angles to the house of
their tribal chief or Batin (thus forming a sort of ** T "-
shaped building in which the ** Balai " formed the
downstroke of the ** T'*). Such Balais are frequently
mentioned in Besisi songs, and I think there is very
little doubt that we do not find here a simple instance of
borrowing from the Malays, but rather an example of a
custom sprung from their common origin. The building
in question was erected by the voluntary labour of all
the men of the tribe (just as would have been the case
if it had been built by a Malay chief), and it was large
enough to contain about sixty to seventy people or
more (the members of the tribe itself numbering about
sixty). It was opposite the door of this building that
the bell-shaped mound which was explained to me as
the religious emblem of the tribe ^ was thrown up.
And it was inside this same building that the various
tribal feasts took place.

Hilts.
Labu Tribes. — Their dwellings are the simplest and

^ Z,f,E. xxix. 186. See p. 186, supra^ and p. 195, infia.
^ Cp. vol. ii. pp. 72-74.

190 HABITATIONS part 11

rudest that can be imagined. Rowland, in writing of
the Labu tribe that he observed, mentions that when
they had deserted the house built by his coolies, with
its raised sleeping-platforms, he found them again in
the interior of the jungle (instead of at the edge),
and that every married man (or bachelor) had built
V for himself a small round hut on the level of the
ground. Each of these huts was entirely constructed
of the leaves of the ** bgrtam " palm {Eugeissona tristis.
Griff.), measuring about two or three metres in length,
the stalks of which were planted close together in the
ground, so as to form a circle of about two metres in
diameter; the extremities of the leaves met at the
top, but gave only a scanty shelter from the rain.
The people in these huts lived upon the ground itself,
which is always moist in the jungle, and generally
considered to be unhealthy, and in heavy rain were
not protected from flooding even by a ditch round the
hut. Yet in these huts they soon recovered from
their fevers and coughs, and regained their usual
serenity. These huts stood close together, a few steps
from a brook.^

Hut Furniture.

KenaboL — The Kenaboi, who appear determined
in this as in many other things to take a different line
from the Sakai, to which race Vaughan-Stevens says
he assigns them,^ made their pillows of split lengths
of bamboo cut square at each end, the lengths being
interwoven with one another " in and out." ' The
interior served the women for holding small objects,

^ Rowland, p. 708. have Semang affinities.

' This begs the entire question. It ' An obscure and obviously in-

is more probable that the Kenaboi may accurate description.

CHAP. Ill SA VAGE MALA YS OF MALACCA 19*

such as combs and medicines. The exact patterns
were said to be lost.^

Huts and their Furniture.

Hantra. — Of the Mantra huts, M. Borie says that
their dwellings scarcely kept out the rain, and were
open to every wind, most frequently being without
either doors or windows. The best of them consisted
of nine posts, of which three were about a third longer
than the six others. These nine posts were strongly
planted in the ground in three rows, with the long
posts in the centre ; these posts were then united at
the top by means of longitudinal and transverse
timbers lashed together by means of rattans ; upon
these timbers were placed rafters ^ to sustain the roof,
which was made of leaves ; and the floor, which was
generally raised several feet above the ground, was
formed by laying laths across the longitudinal and
transverse timbers and covering these laths with the
bark of trees ; the sides were similarly more or less
covered in either with leaves or tree-bark.*

The following articles were found in a compara-
tively well-fumished Mantra hut, which was occupied
by two men, two women, and two children.
There were two blowpipes (** sumpitan '*), several
choppers and axes, two torch-stands, two iron pans,
two earthenware pots, two wallets or back-baskets
(" sgntong "), a kind of basket termed by the Malays
"garing," two plates, two cups, five small tea-cups,
four earthenware spoons, seven " sarongs," three jackets
("baju"), three pairs of trousers ("sgluar"), four
waist-bands, four headkerchiefs, one pair of ear-

' Z.f, E, xxix. 187. * In original, "shingles" {sic),

* Bone (tr. Bourien), p. 76.

192 HABITATIONS part ii

Studs (" subang **), three hair-pins, and three copper
rings.^

Shelters and Tree-huts.

Jakun. — Of the tree-huts of the Jakun M. Borie
says, that however poor might be the huts of the
Mantra, those of the Jakun were still more primitive ;
it was their custom to perch their domicile on trees,
sometimes at a height of from 25 ft. to 35 ft. (7.6 m. to
10.6 m.) from the ground ;^ most commonly, however,
they were only about twenty feet from the ground, and
were ascended by means of a ladder, which even their
dogs became accustomed to climbing.*

On the other hand, some members of the tribe
would construct their huts at a height of no more than
3 ft. or 4 ft. (.91 m. to 1.2 m.) from the ground. Like
the Mantra, they lived, ate, and slept on the main
floor of the building. At one side of it was the hearth,
on which a fire was always kept burning to drive away
mosquitoes, and they used the loft for putting away their
weapons, their provisions, and their cooking utensils.*

Jakun of N. Sembllan. — The best houses of the
Negri Sembilan Jakun were about the same as the
poorer and ruder houses belonging to the Jakun of
Johor, but others were, as described by Newbold,
rude edifices perched on the top of four high wooden
poles ; thus elevated for fear of tigers, and entered by
means of a long ladder, and presenting, when viewed
through certain holes which served as doors, no very
satisfactory appearance to the uninitiated. The roofs
were often thatched with "chucho" leaves. There was
but one room, in which the whole family was huddled
together, with their dogs and the bodies of such animals

* J. I, A, vol. i. p. 254. and even more.

^ Bigandet {p. 427) says 60 feet ^ Borie (tr. Bourien), p. 76. * lb.

CHAP. lii SAVAGE MALA YS OF MALACCA 193

as they might have caught. They were interdicted, by
one of their singular rules, from using any other wood
than that of the " pgtaling " and "jambu k'lat" in the
construction of these huts. The huts were made so as
to be movable at a moment's warning ; on the appear-
ance of small -pox, or any other contagious disorder,
a whole encampment would vanish in the course of a
single night. The huts were ordinarily situated on
the steep side of some forest -clad hill, or in some
sequestered dale, remote from any frequented road or
footpath, and with little plantations of yams, plantains,
and maize about them (some also had fields of rice).
The bones and hair of the animals whose flesh the
inmates might have been feeding upon strewed
the ground near them, whilst numbers of dogs —
generally of a light brown colour — gave timely notice
of the approach of strangers.^

Jakun of Malacca. — The Malacca Jakun(or"Benua"),
characterised by Favre as the most ignorant, were the
poorest and most miserable, their best houses being
about the same as the worst of those of the Menang-
kabaus ;* indeed Favre found several families who lived
without houses at all. These latter, gathering them-
selves together to the number of five or six families,
would choose a place in the thickest of the forest, and
there clear a circle about 25-30 ft. (7.6 m. to 9 m.) in
diameter ; having cleared this space, they would sur-
round it with the branches of trees they had just cut ;
to this they would add other thorny branches collected
from other parts, and so make a sort of bulwark
against tigers, bears, and panthers, which were present
in good numbers. Having done this, they would pro-
ceed to establish their dwelling in the enclosure thus

1 Newbold, voL ii. p. 404. ^ Le, Inlaod Malays near Malacca.

VOL. I O

194 HABITA TIONS

formed in the following way; each family worked to con-
struct what would afford them a bed during the night,
a seat in the day-time, a table for their repasts, and a
shelter in bad weather ; it consisted of about fifteen
or twenty thin poles about 6 ft. (1.8 m.) long, which
were laid the one beside the other, and supported at the
two extremities by two transverse sticks set upon four
wooden posts; the completed structure being about
two feet in height, four feet in breadth, and six feet in
length. A dozen leaves of the "chucho" gathered
together by their ends, and tied up at the head of the
bed, extended over it and covered it from end to end.
These beds were placed all round the enclosure, in such
a position that when all the occupants were sleeping
every one lay with his feet directed towards the centre
of the hut, which was purposely left vacant, to serve
either as a place for cooking, or for any other purpose.^
Jakun of Johor. — Before Favre himself visited the
Jakun, report had induced him to consider them (he
says) as savage as wild beasts, and as sleeping like
birds on the branches of trees. Even afterwards
when he questioned the Malays on the subject, some
of them answered as before ; but this was far fi:x)m
being the truth, as there was no Jakun without some
sort of more or less well-ordered dwelling. Some of
them indeed had habitations which could scarcely be
called houses ; but these were very few ; and for the
most part they had houses. The Jakun of Johor
built houses in the Malay manner, some of them being
"fine buildings." Favre found several which were
much more comfortable than any Malay house he had
seen in the interior of Johor ; such were the houses

* Translated iny. /. A. vol. ii. pp. 250, 257. For the original, see Favre in
Ann, P. /'. xxii. 301.

CHAP. Ill SA VAGE MALA YS OF JOHOR 195

of the Penghulu Bat in on the Johor river, and that of
a Jakun chief on the Benut river. These two houses
were divided into several rooms, some of which were
for the private accommodation of the Jakun women«
and the furniture consisted of a few pots, plates,
several other similar vessels, and a good quantity of
mats. Other houses were much more ordinary, but
were yet pretty comfortable and clean, and were
always divided into two or three rooms at least, and
furnished with an iron frying-pan for cooking rice in,
a few coconut-shells for holding water, and baskets
for carrying food. All these houses were raised about
6 ft. (1.8 m.) from the ground, and were entered by a
ladder like the Malay houses.^

House Furniture — Pillows.

Jakun (district unspecified). — The Jakun pillow was,
unlike the others, made of soft wood, probably because
it could in that case be made without iron tools. It
was always convex at the sides and underneath, but
concave at the top, and was often stained red, yellow,
or black. These colours were obtained, the red from a
tree-bark, the yellow from a root, and the black from
a mixture of oil and charcoal. The yellow appears
from the description to be the Malay **kunyit" or
turmeric — a well-known root. The particular tree
which gave the red is not known, although there are
several trees whose bark gives a red colour.

It was the log-pillows of the women which were
most carefully stained. Those of the men were used
during the day for all sorts of purposes, e.g. as a float
for a crocodile line, in which case their dark colour

* /. /. A. vol. ii. pp. 255, 256.

196 HABITATIONS part ii

makes them easily visible, and hence soon shows where
the crocodile has gone after swallowing the bait. The
above type of pillow, however, is never seen now ;
stuff-pillows filled with cotton having replaced it.^

Houses and House Furniture,

Benua-Jakun of Johor. — According to Logan,
the houses of the Benua of Johor varied greatly in
size, neatness, and finish. They were much slighter
and more primitive than the huts of the Malays, the
greater part consisting only of one small room raised on
thin posts made of saplings, with a rough flooring
of small sticks placed at irregular distances, and some-
times with such large gaps between them that children
were liable to fall through. The sides were made of
bark,^ and were generally enclosed all round, but
sometimes they had only a piece of bark here and
there, and Logan himself slept in houses three sides
of which were quite open. A rude and very narrow
and steep ladder led to an open doorway. The roof
was covered with leaves, commonly those of the
" sfirdang," which answer as well as the leaves of the
nipah palm, but last only half as long. The leaves of
the" Palas'* and other palms were also occasionally used,
and Logan was told that even padi-straw was some-
times collected for thatch. The floor was constructed
at various heights from 5-9 ft. (1.5 m. to 2.7 m.) above
the ground. In localities where elephants abounded it
was generally high. Houses of greater pretensions
were sometimes to be seen. On the Pau, Logan visited
a house which, under one roof, had a large hall with an

1 Z./. E, xxix. (V.-St.) p. 189. chiefly used for this purpose, both in

' The bark of the "kcpong" was Johor and by the Berembun tribes.

CHAP. Ill MALA VAN SEAG YPSIES 197

elevated recess facing the door, where guests sat
during the day and slept at night. At the sides were
two large rooms and a long narrow apartment with
two fireplaces and an array of cooking utensils. An
open platform, a foot or two below the level of the
floor, connected the hall with two other bedrooms
under a separate roof. At Paya Sandar, near the
Sembrong, he visited another large cottage which, in
addition to bedrooms which were partitioned off, had
several recesses with curtains of coarse cloth hung before
them. Sleeping mats and pillows were in every house.^

Berembun Tribes. — The Berembun tribes had mats,
but as a rule no pillows or curtains. Coarse Chinese
curtains were general, but were often lacking, and
where this was the case the whole family, with the
guests, slept in one and the same open apartment, and
were sometimes packed rather closely together. There
were usually two fireplaces, and these, in the larger
huts, were sometimes in a separate room, but they
were in general at one side of the single apartment,
where the floor was depressed by about a foot.*

Udai. — According to Newbold, the Udai were said
rarely to construct huts. They employed the day in
roaming the forest, and sank down to rest wherever
fatigue or the shades of night overtook them.*

Orang Laut or Sea-Jakun.

Orang Laut, Sletar. — The Sletar tribe of the Orang
Laut, though confining their wanderings to a limit of
some 30 m. sq. (7500 hectares), might still be considered
highly nomadic. In boats (or ** sampans") barely
sufficient to float their load, they would skirt the man-

* /. /. A. vol. i. pp. 253, 254. « lb. 3 Newbold, ii. 381, 382.

193 HABITATIONS part ii

groves, collecting their food from the shores and
forests as they proceeded, exhausting one spot and
then searching for another. To one accustomed to
the comforts and wants of civilisation, their life ap-
peared to be one of extreme hardship. Huddled up
in a small boat hardly measuring 20 ft. (6 m.) in
length, they yet found in it all the domestic comfort
they were in want of; at one end was the fire-
place, in the middle the few utensils of which they
might be in possession, and at the other end beneath
a network awning (or "kajang"), not exceeding six
feet in length, was the sleeping apartment of a
family numbering as many as five or six, together
with a cat and dog; under this awning they took
shelter from the dews and rains of the night, and from
the heat of the day. Even the Malays in pointing
out these confined quarters exclaimed "how miserable,"
though of any misery the objects of their commisera-
tion were not aware. In these same quarters they
found all their wants supplied ; their children would
sport on the shore at low water in search of shell-fish ;
and during high water they might be seen climbing
the mangrove branches, and dashing from thence into
the water, with all the life and energy of children of a
colder clime, at once affording a proof that even they
were not without their joys.^

Orang Laut, Sabimba. — The Sabimba tribe (of the
Orang Laut) erected in the forest rude temporary huts,
the floors of which were on the level of the ground,
and never remained long in the same spot.^

Orang Laut, Huka Kuning. — The tribe consisted of
about fifty families, who lived scattered in small huts
beneath the trees of the forest. Their huts were

* y. y. A, vol. i. pp. 344*, 345*. * Logan in/. /. A. vol. i. p. 297.

CHAP. Ill MALA YAN SEA-G YPSIES 199

formed of a rude platform supported by four posts
about three feet in height, from which the roof of
"sSrdang" leaves rose at once without any inter-
vening wall. They were open at both ends, and had
no ladder or door.*

Orang Laut, Beduanda Kallang. — Before the British
obtained possession of Singapore, the Kallang river,
which may be said to bound the present suburbs of
Singapore to the eastward, was the immemorial haunt
of a small tribe who lived in boats, but avoided the
sea. Upon the cession of Singapore they were re-
moved by the TSmenggong * to the Pulai, where they
have remained ever since. They formerly consisted
of about one hundred families, occupying as many
boats, but these members .were reduced to eight by
the ravages of small-pox. They had so much dread
of the sea * that they did not venture to quit the river,
and constantly proceeded towards the interior before
night. When a strong breeze arose they would drag
their boats ashore, but yet they never made huts.*

Orang Laut, Akik. — The Akik tribe of the Orang
Laut, on the other hand, did build houses, erecting
temporary sheds called ** bagan " along the coast,
whenever they had occasion to go ashore to build boats,
mend nets, or collect dammar or wood-oil, etc. Other-
wise they resided along with their families in their
boats for months together, during which they employed
themselves both in fishing and in collecting Zostera
(agar-agar) and b^che-de-mer (or tripang). They
frequently made long voyages in their fragile vessels.*

1 /, I. A. vol. i. p. 337*. ' But sec p. 94, «. 9.

« /./. the Raja of Johor. * /. /. A, vol. L p. 300.

^ Newbokl, il 413, 414.

CHAPTER IV.

Hunting, Trapping, and Fishing.

Although the aboriginal tribes of the Peninsula do
not usually resort to the hunting of game until their
supply of vegetable food begins to give out, and they
thence begin to feel the pressure of want, yet from the
moment they set out on the chase they shake off their
apparent apathy and appear as if transformed, show-
ing themselves most keen, clever, and determined
hunters. Their rate of progress through even the
thickest parts of the jungle has already been noticed.
In shooting, they are most careful and accurate, seldom
wasting an arrow or a dart, and simple as their
weapons may appear to us, they are able with these
imperfect means to attack and destroy both the elephant
and the tiger. Their powers of scent, sight, and
hearing are very fully developed ; they are credited
with the power of tracking snakes (which, however,
have a fairly strong odour) by their smell alone.
Their knowledge of the movements of game amounts
to intuition ; they know better than any one the rare
hot springs and ** salt licks '* where the wild beasts
congregate, the small cleared patches on lonely
mountain-heights where the argus pheasant " dances,"
or the monkey-king hunts for grubs, and the far-off

200

CHAP. IV

GENERAL REMARKS

20I

forest -pools, which are the drinking -places of the
birds.^

The weapons of these tribes consist chiefly of the
blowpipe and the bow, the former being the weapon
of the Sakai, the latter that of the Semang. To these
may be added a rude kind of adze and a jungle-knife
or chopper, spears of palm-wood or bamboo, which
are replaced by iron-bladed weapons among the
Malayising tribes. Of the use of the " squailer '* or
throwing-stick, there is not much recorded, although
these are undoubtedly used, especially by the Jakun
tribes of the south. Throwing-sticks of hard wood,
some of which are sharpened at one end only whilst
others are sharpened at both, are also used by the
Peninsular Malays, by whom they are called (as by
the Jakun) " sfiligi."^ They are, moreover, I believe,
much used by other races of Indo-China.

In trapping and fishing they are particularly
expert — some of their traps having the simplicity of

* Of their extraordinaiy skill in
jungle travelling, M.-Maclay wrote as
follows: — Knowing the direction in
which he was to go and keeping it in
mind, the Sokai would try to find out
the thinner patches in the jungle.
The saplings which he could not avoid
he would bend aside ¥dth his hand
without breaking them ; the larger ones
he would stoop or creep underneath.
He would never tear or cut away
a liana or creeper which hung in his
way, preferring to hold it in bis hand
and crawl underneath it ; and in spite
of this constant stooping and crawling,
circumventing and circuitous running,
he would advance with great rapidity.
In following, not vnthout trouble,
these real men of the jungle, M. -Maclay
had to confess that, in spite of his
loi^ experience and practice in these
things, he had found his master in a
fiftcen.year-old boy (/. R, A. S,, S.B.,

No. 2, pp. 212, 213),

* Capt. J. Bradley mentions seeing
on several occasions in the Penin-
sula what he evidently took for
*« squailers," and though he gives no
details of locality, his evidence is very
circumstantial. Thus in one place he
sa]^ that outside the tree-huts which
they discovered, " a number of spears
were laid among the branches of the
trees." These consisted merely of
" long sticks of hard wood, sharpened
at both ends " ; in other words, the
Malay "seligi" (J. Bradley, Travel
and Sporty p. 298). In yet another
place he mentions that he found, ** in
the interior of one of the huts, a
number of short thick sticks intended
apparently as missile weapons. Several
of them had traces of blood and
feathers adhering to them, as if they
had been used for knocking down
birds" {ib. p. 330).

202 HUNTING, TRAPPING, AND FISHING part ii

genius. Snares are perhaps the most commonly
employed by them, often differing little from those in
use among the Malays — in which case it is hard to
say which way the borrowing went. An example of
this is to be seen in the Semang rat-trap, which
appears to be exactly identical with a bamboo rat-trap
commonly used by the Malays {e,g. in Selangor and
Perak). So, too, many of the bird -snares and
monkey-traps employed by the Jakun are hardly to
be distinguished from those used by the Malays,
although in a few instances, such as in their method
of catching fish by splashing or dabbling for them, and
a peculiar method of entrapping the argus pheasant,
the Langat Malays themselves informed me, probably
not without good reason, that they had picked up
these ideas from the Jakun in the same district.

I. — Semang.
Hunting and Trapping,
Semang Gocality unspecified). — The Semang
handle both the bow and the spear with wonderful
dexterity, and destroy even the largest and most
powerful animals (such as the elephant and rhinoceros)
by ingenious contrivances. They are also very
expert with the blowpipe, and poison their darts
with a deadly poison called Ipoh, procured from
the juice of various trees. They seldom suffer from
beasts of prey, as they are extremely sharp-sighted,
and as agile in climbing trees as the monkeys. Their
method of destroying elephants, in order to procure
their flesh or their tusks, is both extraordinary and
ingenious. When they have perceived any elephants
ascending a hill, they lie in wait in small parties of two
or three, and as the animals descend again (which

NEGRITOS 203

they usually do at a slow pace, plucking the branches
as they move along), while the hind legs are lifted up,
the Semang cautiously approach them from behind,
and drive, by main force, a sharp-pointed and fire-
hardened splinter of bamboo or palm-wood (*• nibong '*),
which has been touched with poison, into the sole of
their victim's foot.^ In this way they effectually lame
him, and not unfrequently bring him down, when the
whole party rush upon him with spears and sharp-
pointed sticks and soon despatch him. The
rhinoceros they obtain with yet greater ease. This
animal, which is of solitary habits, is frequently found
wallowing in marshy places, with its whole body
immersed in the mud and only part of its head
visible* The Malays call such an animal " badak tapa,"
or the ** recluse " rhinoceros. Especially towards the
close of the rainy season they are said to seek places
in which to bury themselves in this manner, and upon
the dry weather setting in, through the powerful effect
of the vertical sun, the mud which surrounds them
forms a hard thick crust, in which the rhinoceros is
imbedded, and from which it cannot effect its escape
without some difficulty and exertion. The Semang
thereupon collect large quantities of combustible
materials which they convey to the spot, and quietly
approaching, quickly build up over the animal an im-
mense fire, which, being well fed with fresh fuel,
soon completes his destruction, and renders him in
a fit state to make a meal of The projecting horn
on the snout is carefully preserved, as it is supposed

> y. /. A. vol. iv. p. 426 ; cf. infra, p. man who . . . would drive a large-bladed

207, i«. I. And q). also Ridley, i^ay;//»a/x spear between the hind legs [of the

ef the Male^ Peninsula^ 'p, ifi'^ I "The elephant] into the abdomen, which

Aborigines known as Sakai sometimes wound was soon after fiital, and tracking

hunt it. There was recently living a the animal he would secure the ivory."

204 HUNTING, TRAPPING, AND FISHING part ii

to be possessed of medicinal properties, and is highly
prized by the Malays, to whom the Semang generally
barter it for tobacco and similar commodities.^

Kedah Semang. — I had, unfortunately, while in the
Semang country no opportunity of testing in the
capacity of an eye-witness the remarkable account of
their methods of big-game hunting as related above by
M^rsden. The weighty authority of the latter, how-
ever, should strongly support his account, even if we
did not know that in other parts of the world, and
even of the Malay Peninsula itself, methods quite as
inl^enious have been recorded.^ The Semang of
Kedah, in addition to the bow, spear, and blowpipe,
make use of all sorts of ingenious traps, pitfalls, and
snares to secure their quarry. Birds are caught by
means of a species of bird-lime manufactured from the
viscid sap of some of the numerous "ficus" or
**gutta'* trees that abound in the forest, and even
rats are caught by means of a peculiar snare which
resembles, however, in principle, a rat-trap commonly
used by the Malays. For hunting purposes a kind of
semi-wild reddish-coloured dog is used, but it does
not appear to have much pace.

I may add that the Semang do not appear as a rule
to keep the domestic cat, but they not unfrequently
make pets of young monkeys {e.g. the " lotong '*),
which, it is alleged, are sometimes brought up by hand.

Perak Semang. — Mr. L. Wray writes me (in a
letter dated November 12, 1903) that the Semang of
Upper Perak kill big game by means of their bows
and arrows, the latter being poisoned, and having
barbed heads and detachable fore-shafts.

1 J. /, A, vol. iv. pp. 426, 427. not credit this account, which is

* Mr. Wray informs me that he docs supported by Logan and others.

CHAP. IV NEGRITOS OF KEDAH 205

Fishing.

Kedah Semangr. — The wilder Negrito tribes who
live on high mountains naturally depend little upon
fish as an article of diet. Those who dwell near
rivers, however {e.g. the Semang of Siong), no less
naturally make use of fish for purposes of food, and
though I believe they usually eat them in a fresh
condition, they certainly do not always do so, as is
stated of the Sakai by Hale.^ The simplest instru-
ment that they employ for this purpose is a kind of
small basket-work scoop, which is made of bamboo,
and is used for catching small fry in pools or sluggish
waters, or in any place from which their retreat is cut
off. For angling the Semang employ the rod and
line, the rod being usually a straight unpeeled stick
about six feet in length, and the line — which is usually
not much longer than the rod — being made from
twisted strands of tree-bark {Artocarpus). The line
is always made fast to the tip of the rod, and no reel
is used, though the use of it is well known to the
neighbouring Malays. The hooks are, as a rule,
roughly manufactured from bits of brass or other wire.

In addition to the foregoing the Semang are
adepts in the use of fish - spears and harpoons, by
means of which they kill or capture quite large fish
and tortoises. The harpoon used by the Semang at
Siong was of very great length (about ten feet), and
was made of the leaf-stem of a kind of large palm.
The river being shallow at this spot, and full of
obstacles, the Semang who was to act as harpooner

^ Cp. De M. viii. 285 : " Beside the the coast, whence they obtain salt,
river Krian the Semang frequently de- nipah leaves, shell-fish, tmdfish which
scend to the pUin, on their way to they dry. ^^ Cp. VHomnte^ ii. 716.

2o6 HUNTINGy TRAPPING, AND FISHING part ii

would take his stand in concealment behind a fallen
tree-trunk or snag, and there wait whilst another
Semang drove the fish upstream towards him. The
fish in endeavouring to conceal themselves from the
latter would naturally make for the snag or tree-trunk,
thus affording his opportunity to the harpooner.

The harpoon-head was of iron, obtained from the
local Malays, and the shaft was the leaf-stem of a
palm called ** ranggam/'

The temporary poisoning of the stream by means
of the root of Derris elliptica (Mai. **tuba"), which
is a general method of fishing among the Peninsular
tribes, may also have been practised by the Semang
at Siong, but I neither saw nor heard anything of it
during my stay, any more than I did of the use of the
casting-net.

II. — Sakat.

Hunting and Trapping.

Perak Sakai. — Their most important weapon is
the bamboo blowpipe, a full account of which will
appear in a later chapter. By means of the poisoned
darts blown through this tube, both birds and monkeys
and other small animals are brought down from quite
high trees at distances varying up to 60 yds. (55 m.).^

Mr. L. Wray informs me that he knew of a
well-authenticated case of a leopard being killed near
Gopeng in Perak by a Sakai with a blowpipe.

To kill an elephant the Sakai stalk it from behind

' "Almost their only weapon consists couple of minutes. They say that if

of a blowpipe about seven or eight feet they can hit an elephant or a pig

long, from which they shoot poisoned in the eye, a couple of darts will do

darts with great accuracy as much as the job" \j,R.A.S.^ S,B,^ No. 4,

thirty or even forty paces (23 m. to p. 29). Cp. De M. ii. 649 seg, for

30 m.); a single dart is sufficient further notes on hunting and

to bring a bird or monkey down in a trapping.

Saeai wriH iUAW Vehak—Umv EVrLAJNiSr; n^ ACTI**%

•^*/^A»«6.

Cerruti.
Sakai Boy watching Rat-Tkap. (Jun<)N<; I'bi, Ui.u Si.im.

Sakai I3uv watching Pkj-Tkaf (with 8pking-si'i:ar). Ulu Slim.

/ *e>/. /. /. 207.

CHAP. IV SAKAl OF PERAK 207

until they are able to drive a sharp-pointed stake into
the sole of its foot as the latter is lifted in walking.
The elephant being thus eflfectually lamed, and un-
able to pursue them, they shoot their poisoned darts
into him from behind a tree (preferably into his eye),
and thus despatch him. They are no less ready to
attack the tiger and the rhinoceros.^

The Sakai of Perak, like the Semang, not un-
frequently employ dogs in the chase, a custom which
Mohammedanism has, no doubt (to some extent, though
not entirely), brought into disuse among the Malays.-

The traps and snares used by the Sakai are of
various sorts and sizes, one of the commonest being
the " b'lantek " or spring-spear trap, of which there is
a very good account in Hale.* This trap is used for
killing game of almost any size, from the rhinoceros
to the porcupine. When used for large game the
spear is either manufactured from a single piece of
bamboo, or has its shaft made of a hard piece of wood,
with a bamboo spike or blade firmly bound to its
lower extremity. In either case the point of the
weapon is generally fire-hardened. For small mammals
a hardwood shaft, the end of which is similarly
sharpened and fire-hardened, is employed.

The "blantek" described by Mr. Hale is one of the
forms of a Malay spear-trap called ** b'lantek parap,*'
or the " slapping spring-spear." The different parts of
it are as follows : —

1 De la Croix, p. 335. De M. held in a bent position by a bit of

{VHomme^ ii. 651) questions the truth jungle cord, which at a touch releases

of this account. the spring, when the spike, which is

* y. /. A, vol. iv. p. 429. eight to ten inches long, is buried in

' Hale, pp. 289, 290. Cp. **They the animal. The existence of these

generally get pigs and deer by an in- spring traps makes it advisable always

genioas wooden spring made of the to be accompanied by a Sakai guide

branch of a tree with a bamboo spike when moving about their country.'* —

fixed td the end of it ; the spring is /. R, A, S., S, £,, No. 4, p. 29.

2o8 HUNTING, TRAPPING, AND FISHING part ii

(i) A powerfully elastic and tapering rod or
" spring " is set horizontally, with its thicker end
passed between two trees, the butt-end of the spear-
shaft (2) being securely lashed to its thinner extremity.

Two strong uprights (3) and (4), firmly planted
in the ground at right angles to the big spring, are
then connected by a stout cross-bar (5) and two pairs
of crossed sticks (6) and (7), the latter being planted
in the ground in a line with the two uprights.

A cord is then made fast to the outsideVpair of
cross-sticks (7) and attached to a rattan ring (8),
which slides along the cross-bar (5) till the cord
connecting it with (7) is drawn taut ; the smaller end of
the big spring is drawn back till it touches the anterior
upright (3), and set by means of a strong bamboo
noose (9), which is held by a small spring (9), the
other end of which is connected with the rattan ringr
(8) already referred to.

Any animal which passes along the path between
the two sets of cross-sticks (6) and (7) and touches
the taut cord, in so doing pulls away the rattan ring
(8) and releases the small spring (9), which flies up,
releasing the big spring in its turn, the result being
that the spear is driven, with all the force that the
spring is capable of giving it, straight towards the
animal that touched the cord.

The next kind of spring-trap, referred to by Hale,
is one in which the big wooden spring is made to
strike the butt-end of a spear, causing it to fly like
an arrow across the track of any passing animal.

This spring-trap is undoubtedly the "b'lantek
paut," or "draw-back spring-spear," of the Peninsular
Malays.

The third kind of spring-trap, which is described

I 2 3 \ De Mot^an.

Types of Fish-Hooks (Natiral and Artificial).

1. Natural hooks of the rattan or clinibinn cane
{Caiamus).

2. Single Malay fish-hook (iron).

3. Double hook of rattan used by aborigines.

4. Single hook of rattan used by aborigine.-..

De Morgan.

Sakai Fish-Dam, for catching Fish in the Kinta
River at Lubo' Kelah ("Lobou Kela").

See p. 211.
(.v./?. The lettering is not explained in Dc Morgan's text.)

/ V/. /. /. 209.

CHAP. IV SAKAI OF PERAK 209

as being worked on the bow principle, is the Malay
** b'lantek tSrbang," or " flying spring-spear/*

I do not, however, give Hale's description, as he
states that the Sakai professed ** utter ignorance " of it.^

All three forms of the spring-spear-trap described
are, however, certainly known to and used by the
Peninsular Malays, though it may be an open question
whether the Malays or the aboriginal tribes were the
first to employ it.

Of ordinary snares or springes (for animals and
birds) Hale says that they are made of rattan by the
Sakai and variously set ; the most usual form being
a simple rattan noose set taut by a stout wooden
spring : with these they catch rats, squirrels, and
animals as large as the porcupine.^

Bird-lime is also employed. The sap of a " gutta-
tree'* is boiled down until it attains the required
consistency, when it is applied to a number of thin
slips of rattan, these slips being thickly planted over
the ground to catch small birds : of some gregarious
sorts, like the little padi-bird, great numbers are
taken.'

Fishing.

Perak Sakai. — Of the Kinta Sakai Hale says that
they do not trouble themselves about fishing until
their vegetable food is on the point of exhaustion.
They live on the mountain -tops, and do not go
down to the big rivers for fish unless forced to do so
by scarcity of food.* Once in about three months
they will make a journey to one of the big rivers, and
there, by means of fish-dams,^ etc., obtain a large

1 Hale, p. 290. 2 lb. » lb. p. 291. « lb,

^ Cp. De M. in VH. \\. 653.

VOL. I P

2IO HUNTING, TRAPPING, AND FISHING part ii

supply of fish. They do not, however, understand
the drying of it, and hence even the biggest haul
only means a few days* feasting, while the fish
remains good.^

De Morgan states that fishing with rod and line
{lignes volantes) is practised by the Sakai, a very
primitive form of hook being employed, which consists
of the ** curved-back '* thorns of certain kinds of rattan
{Calamus), the line being made from strands of tree-
bark (the fibres of Artocarptis)}

De la Croix says they are very clever at making
** bow-nets," etc., and that he and Mr. Brooke Low,
in ascending S, Kerbu, saw many small Sakai fishing-
huts on the banks.*

The Sakai also make much use of " very beautiful
casting-nets," manufacturing the twine of which the
net is made from the inner bark of a creeper, by
twisting two strands together on the thigh in the
usual way. These nets are weighted, according to
Hale, with chains manufactured from tin, which are
obtained from the Malays, and attached to the outside
edge of the net.*

De Morgan, however, saw some which were of still
simpler construction, and weighted with stones,* the
twine of which the net was made being manufactured
from strands of bark of the " t'rap," or wild bread-
fruit tree {Artocarpus).

* Hale, p. 291. carrying the worms that they use as

2 LHomme^ ii. 653, 655 ; but, on bait. Cp. LHomnie, iL 619 (illustra-

the other hand, Hale (p. 291) states tion).

that the Sakai "do not appear to ' De la Croix, pp. 322-325;

know anything of angling." De M. V Homme, ii. 655.

{^VH, ii. 655) also speaks of their em- ♦ Hale, p. 291.

ploying small bamboo receptacles for ^ De M. vii. 418.

CHAP. IV SAKAI OF PERAK 211

Fish-dams, Weirs, and Traps.

The Sakai also commonly take fish by means of
fish-dams, weirs, and traps (all of which are con-
structed very closely in accordance with the methods
of the Malays, from whom they are most probably
to a great extent copied. In the case of a wide
shallow river, a V-shaped fish-fence is set across the
stream, and a fish-trap or " weel " set at the point of the
V (which fronts upstream). Deep narrow streams
are fenced or dammed across, and the weels set in
the opening.^

Hale describes in detail (p. 291) an extensive
fish-trap which he saw in the Kinta river, where it
was about sixty yards (54 m.) wide and rather swift.

His description is as follows : —

A is a grating of bamboo, B a platform to catch
the fish. C and D are two rows of strong posts. This
grating is built half-way across the river (30 yards ?),
and being strongly made will last a year. During
Hood-time many fish are taken, but most during the
driest season of the year, when the second half of
the river is dammed and all the water made to pass
through the grating.

In order to assist this latter process the scrapings
of a certain poisonous jungle-root ^ is thrown into the
river some distance above the grating, the effect of
which is to drive the fish down half-stupefied. Several
hundred fish (many of a large size) are often taken by
this means.

1 De Morgan relates how he passed for catching fish (De Morgan, viii. 160).
a n^t in a deserted (Sakai) fishing- ^ Doubtless Derris elHptica, called

hot which fronted a huge dam (then **tuba" by the Malays; v. Wray,

half demolished) which had been used /Vr. Mus. N», No. I. pp. 19-23.

212 HUNTING, TRAPPING, AND FISHING part ii

Hunting and Trapping.

Selangor Sakai. — The second form of spring-spear
trap ("b'lantek paut**) appears to be identical with
that described as the " p'lantek " by Letessier, among
the Sakai of the Kuala Lumpor district.

Among the snares used by these Sakai, the " p'lan-
tek " (he says) is the commonest and most dangerous^
being composed of a strong springy rod furnished
with a bamboo dart, which is intended to pierce any
animal of sufficient size that disengages (in passing)
the short cord keeping the rod in position. Before
crossing the felled trees (which are always in the
proximity of a Sakai habitation) for the first time, it is
just as well to ascertain that there are no traps of this
description along the route.^

In a graphic account of some Sakai tribes of the
Ulu Langat district, the late Mr. J. A. G. Camp-
bell remarked that it was very amusing to go out
hunting with the Sakai in the jungle, and to see
the stealthy way in which they went through it with-
out breaking a twig. Although their pace seemed
slow, it was very difficult to keep up with them, and
they seldom failed to bring home some bird or beast
for their evening meal. No other race in the Malay
Peninsula could be compared with them in respect of
their wonderful knowledge of the jungle. They were
absolutely at home in it, and did not mind sleeping
out in the rain either under a tree or up among its
branches. They had a wonderful instinctive knowledge
of the presence of animals, and could tell, when nobody
else could, of a bird or animal moving at a great
distance. They were even believed to be able to track

^ Letessier, p. loo.

Sakai in Jl'NGle Accoutrements, Sungei Berang, Seven Miles from Tanjong Malim.

I'oL I. p. ai2.

CHAP. IV SAKAI OF SELANGOR 213

snakes by their smell, and could at all events catch
any number of them without the slightest difficulty.
The Sakai of Ulu Langat made a good deal of money
by selling animals and birds to the Malays. They
hunt with blowpipes, spears, and knives ; but some
have bought guns, which many of them use in common.
They seldom hope to get more than two deer a year
each, but count on about fifteen pigs. They have
many modes of trapping game, a favourite one being
to make game-fences (made of sticks planted in rows
with palm-leaves tied across them), some of which are
500 yards (450 m.) long, and then to drive the game
against this fence, and there shoot or spear it. They
have many other snares which are well known to the
Malays. They are not particularly brave. Many of
them who have guns are not brave enough to hunt the
elephant or bison, and are not ashamed to tell you so.^

Fishing.

Selangror Sakai. — The method of fishing which
the Sakai consider the most important from their
point of view, since it is also the most effective,
consists in temporarily poisoning small streams and
rivers in the manner already described, by means of
the powerful sap obtained from the pounded root of a
plant which the Malays call " tuba " {Derris elliptica).
By means of this poison which is thrown into the river
fish are stupefied in large numbers,^ and. may then be
caught by hand or transfixed with a sort of harpoon or
gaff made for the purpose.

* J. A. G. Campbell, p. 243. whether this method of fish-poison-

' The fish stupefied by means of ing is borrowed from the Malays,

*• tuba " are in no case, I believe, killed or vice versa. It is in any case a

outright by the poison. I should add, custom of exceedingly wide distribu-

perhaps, that it is impossible to tell tion.

214 HUNTING, TRAPPING, AND FISHING part ii

ThefoUowing descriptionof oneof the Fishing Feasts
of the Selangor Sakai, which was witnessed by the
writer in the interior of Selangor (Ulu Langat district),
is taken from the account ^ of Father Letessier. He
writes that the fishing at Ulu Beranang, at which he
was present, was a great festivity. Installed upon the
bank under a few large leaves of the ** b^rtam ** palm,
which were made to lean obliquely against a horizontal
pole nine feet from the ground, each family at evening
counted the fish caught, and dried them upon a large
wooden grill built over the fire, where a bountiful
supper was cooking.

The children, one above the other, holding on to
the giant creepers which hung from the great trees,
swung themselves from bank to bank or played in the
water, in spite of their mothers, who feared that the
poison might affect their little ones. Indeed, one of
them suffered a long time from colic from having
drunk the water too soon.

After supper, which was served on plates of leaves,
without spoon or fork, the children recommenced their
games, whilst their elders smoked cigarettes, stretched
at ease upon branches or mats. The women, who had
done nothing during the day, continued drying the
fish far into the night.

III. — Jakun.

Hunting and Trapping.

Blandas. — The Blandas of K. Langat, like most
of the tribes referred to, will eat everything that they
can catch, and are very expert in the use of the blow-
pipe, and employ dogs to discover their quarry. They

* Letessier, p. lOO.

McGregor.

Sakai fishing at Ull' Kam, Ulu Selangor.

M'Crcgor.

Aboriginks Fishing at Ulu Ki.ang.

Women in stream driving the fish, old man on the bank with harui-net (" binioh ").

VoL I. /. 214.

Two Sakai VVomkn with Pet Jungle-Pk;s. Ull' Slim, Perak.

Sakai Women and Children with Pkt Jingle-Pk;.

The chiltlrcn's turn (notice face-paiiu of wt>inan fct-iliiiK child). Ulu Slim, Perak.

Ctrruti.

I'oi. I. p. J I 5.

CHAP. IV SA VAGE MALA YS OF SELANGOR 215

do not, however, in hunting trust merely to their own
skill, or to that of their dogs, as the following charm,
which was given me by them as a charm of great
efficacy in bringing down monkeys, will show : —

The Monkey -Charm.

Chann the souls of apes and monkeys,
Souls othtongy i^roy and wa^wa\
Come ye down — or feed the wild beasts !
Come ye down — or feed the bear-cat !
*Tis the * • lemp'rai " stem up-tippling,
Tis the " lemp'nii " stem down-settling,
Tis the " kumbang " stem down-settling !
Forward then, at random stopping —
Though one handmaid be short measure —
Come ye down, with souls enchanted,
MonkejTS, by my spells enchanted.
Lo, it is no dew descending.
But the tears of apes and monkeys.
Tears of loiong^ Jl^ra, and wa^wc^.
Maidens, 'tis your souls descending.
Deem ye me some tree-stump walking,
Deem ye me the lightning's shadow.
Though your eyes may see me walking.
Walk I hid, as one smoke-shrouded.
Though I pass, may ye not see me.

The Blandas also occasionally keep wild animals
for future consumption, though they cannot exactly be
said to fatten them. I have seen a young wild pig
kept in this way, a strong cage being built for it
underneath the raised hut -floor of a Blandas man
who lived on the river Langat.

Besisi. — The Besisi of K. Langat, in hunting, still
as a rule use the blowpipe, though in many places it
is fast becoming obsolete. Most of them also are
well provided with spears and jungle-knives, but in a
good many cases one meets with men who have
managed to barter or buy an old Tower musket from
the Malays, and this gun is then used in common by
all members of the tribe.

The Besisi, like most of the aborigines, are won-

2i6 HUNTING, TRAPPING^ AND FISHING part ii

derful woodsmen. When I was at Sepang they
frequently brought me in wild animals and birds that
they had caught alive, among them being specimens
of the Malayan partridge ("sorong lanting"), the
" bfirtam " bird, the argus pheasant or '* kuau," various
kinds of chevrotain, and even, on one occasion, the
rare and curious mammal called Gymnura (**pijat-
pijat"). So, too, in his account of the wild tribes
of the same district, Mr J. A. G. Campbell re-
marked that the Besisi (** Orang Laut ") used to
bring him as many as ten "mangrove** snakes
(** ular bakau *') at a time, telling him they had caught
them all that morning. Monkeys, birds, tiger-cats,
etc., were sold by them for very small sums, and a
monkey that would bring ten dollars in Singapore
could be bought from them for twenty cents.^

In addition to spring-traps, such as those already
described, many kinds of fall-traps and springes ot
various kinds, as well as game-fences, were used by
the Besisi for trapping game of different sorts and sizes.

For bird-lime many sorts of trees possessing a
viscous sap were resorted to and the sap mixed in
various proportions, the liquid being boiled down if
necessary till a proper consistency is reached. The
sticky gum thus obtained was applied to the ends of a
number of short rattan sticks or slivers (from i ft. to
2 ft. in length), and these as a rule were set in notches
cut for the purpose with a jungle-knife in the branches
of the trees to which the birds resorted.

The bird-lime was usually kept (by the Besisi) in
small bamboo tubes, which were corked with a section
of the leaf-stalk of a *' bertam ** palm.

In order to capture the argus pheasant the foUow-

' J. A. G. Campbell, p. 243.

CHAP. IV SA VAGE MALA YS OF SELANGOR 217

ing very peculiar though cruel method was pursued.
The argus pheasant, which is a most beautiful bird,
is exceedingly shy of man, and lives, as a rule, a long
way off in the hilly part of the forest, where it may
be heard calling, and sometimes (but very rarely) can
be seen flying overhead.

Here and there these birds have regular dancing-
grounds which they clear of weeds and small shrubs by
seizing the roots with their beaks and twisting their
necks round the stems so as to drag the latter up out
of the ground.

The Besisi of Kuala Langat, being aware of this
habit, search for one of their dancing -grounds and
plant in the centre of it one or two long and flexible
slivers of bamboo, bent double so as to form a stiff"
kind of noose standing upright in the ground. The
edges of these slivers are as sharp as knives, and
when the birds twist their necks in the nooses (mis-
taking them, it is alleged, for newly-grown weeds)
and try to drag them out of the ground, they generally
kill or choke themselves in doing so.^

Fishing,

BesisL — The Besisi of Langat (as their claim to be
Orang Laut might lead us to expect) are very expert
fishers. Their bait,^ for the most part, consists of
worms, especially the sand-worm (** pumpun sarang "),
which they stalk and very adroitly dig up out of the
sand before it has time to bury itself too deeply.
They commonly also use, however, the ** pumpun

^ Ofteiit however, they are taken markable process here described, is
alive in one of the many kinds of bird- contained in the Museum at Cambridge,
traps used by the Jakun. A model, ^ It is described by Klinkert as re-
made at my request by a member of sembling a millipede, as living in the
the tribe in order to exhibit the re- sand, and as affording bait for fish.

2i8 HUNTING, TRAPPING^ AND FISHING part ii

mat," which is a mud-worm of immense length (some
I have seen measured upwards of three feet) living
deep down in the mud of the mangrove swamps. A
good deal, perhaps most, of the angling is done by the
women, whom I have often seen fishing in this way,
and who become very clever in the use of the rod.^

A somewhat unusual method of rod-fishing in vc^ue
among some of the Besisi, as well as among some
of the local Malays (who are said to have learnt it from
them), is extremely curious. The fisherman goes out
in a dug-out canoe, at about half- tide, and paddles
gently in and out among the mangrove -roots in the
little salt-water creeks of the tidal rivers. On
reaching a suitable spot he starts angling, using an
extremely short rod (not above two feet long), and a
line not more than three feet long at the most. A
novice might suppose that the only chance of getting
a bite at all under such circumstances from anything
better than a gudgeon would be to remain as silent and
still as the grave. The Besisi, however, knowing his
fish better, splashes the tip of his rod vigorously in
the water. This has the effect of making his quarry
(big mud -fish such as the ** s^mbilang " ^ and the
** b'lukang ") go for the bait with a greedy rush which
results in their immediate capture. The fisherman,
however, cannot be too careful, as the **sSmbilang"
is furnished with very poisonous spines (one at each
side and one on its back), and I have known these to
cause painful wounds, the effects of which continued
to be felt for several days afterwards.

^ Mr. G. C. Bellamy says : " Some throw the bait similarly to fly-fishing,

of the women are expert fishers, and whipping the fish out with great skill "

make use of a light rod and a line of (Bellamy, p. 229).
about the same length as the rod. ^ Plotosus caniasy etc. The *' b'lu-

They stand in the shallow water and kang " is unidentified.

Q
Z
<

173

H
Z

Hinting Paktv with Blowpipes, Bukit Priai., Kepong, Selangor.

Vo/. /. p. 219.

CHAP. IV SA VAGE MALA YS OF SELANGOR 219

I may add that I myself have caught " sfimbilang ''
by the method described. The Malays call it
** kachau " or ** m^ngachau s^mbilang " (** splashing " or
" dabbling for s^mbilang "), and it is thought that the
fish take the splashing for that made by the crabs on
which they feed, and which may often be seen flitting,
like small violet will-o*-the-wisps, along the edge of
the tidal waters, among the forked mangrove-roots.

The Besisi also make use of the Malay casting-net
(" jala"), as well as of many kinds offish-traps, which they
frequently set in dams or fish-fences. They also use
the fish-spear, but the method of poisoning fish by
means of "tuba" {Derris elliptica) is now little practised
by them, as it is discountenanced by the Government.

In addition to fish, the Besisi (as Orang Laut) live
largely on shell-fish, which they collect (for the most
part by hand) on the sandy flats of the foreshore in
the Kuala Langat district. I have frequently seen them
collecting cockles ("krang'*), **kepah," "lokan," and
mussels(** kijing "), whose breathing-holes are plentifully
visible in places where the sand and the ipud-flats
meet and the B^rembang and Api-api trees cover the
surface with their network of surface-roots and pointed
suckers. The discarded shells are thrown away near
the houses, and diminutive kitchen-middens are thus
occasionally to be seen in the actual process of formation.

Hunting and Trapping.

Mantra. — The Mantra use poisoned bow : traps
as well as darts for killing their game. A springy
rod is planted in the ground with a short spike fixed
to it near the point, at right angles. The spike is
poisoned with ** ipoh," and the point lightly pinned to
the ground with a wooden fork, so that the slightest

220 HUNTING, TRAPPING, AND FISHING part ii

touch may release it, and the spike strike its intended
victim.^

Benua-Jakon (of Johor). — According to Logan,
it was in the forest that the Benua sought their
principal supplies of animal food. Their fetvourite
dish — the flesh of the wild hog — was also that which
was procurable in the greatest abundance. Logan
passed several tracts which seemed literally to swarm
with the hog. For miles together the banks of some
streams were covered with the prints of their feet,
and in some moist hollows their tracks were so abun-
dant that it was impossible to recognise the path, and
his guide repeatedly lost it. In other districts, again,
they seemed to be less numerous. They were par-
ticularly plentiful in some places to the southward of
the Lulumut chain, and the men of the settlement
called Durian-tree Village (Kampong Pohun Durian),
on the river Pines, a few days before his arrival there,
had killed fifteen. They were killed by the help of
dogs and spears. Of the two varieties of dog which
the Benua possessed, the larger one was the proper
hunter of the hog, although the smaller used also to be
joined in the chase. Their spear- head, which was of
native fabrication, was broad and very thin towards
the edges. It was set on a shaft about eight feet
long, and formed a light and serviceable weapon,
without which the Benua never ventured into the
forest or went upon a journey, and in the efficiency of
which, for defensive and offensive purposes, he had
much confidence. Whenever he entered a house his
spear was stuck, with the head upwards, into the
ground in front of the doorway.^

^ Geigcr, p. 29.
* /. /. A, vol. i. pp. 256, 257 ; cp. ib, vol. ii. p. 258.

M<rGrtg:cr.

Jakun Womkn (Ulu Ki-au, Pahang). with Hunting Dcx; in Foreground.

/W. /. /. 221.

CHAP. IV SA VAGE MALA YS OF JOHOR 22 1

Elsewhere we are told by the same writer that next
to the hog, deer were most sought. The roe-deer
(** kijang ") and the sambhur (** rusa ") were chased by
the larger variety of dog, and the diminutive mouse-deer
(" plandok ") by the small variety, which was generally
reserved for that purpose. It had some resemblance
to the Bengal fox, and appeared to be allied to the
Chinese breed. The most common mode of hunting
the mouse-deer was to send the dog into the jungle
on the banks of a stream, the Benua either slowly
floating down the current, or pulling against it in his
canoe, and cheering on and guiding the dog with his
deep, long-drawn, monotonous cries of " oh ! oh ! oh ! "
The dog, on running down a mouse-deer, was said to
be in the habit of breaking its leg, and then, by means
of barking, to direct the hunter to the spot. The
only domestic animals besides the dogs, of which
several were to be found in every cottage, were fowls
of a larger breed, and the common Malay cat.^

Trapping.

Benna-Jakun. — A formidable and effective snare
was used by the Johor Benua, as well as by the
Berembun tribes, for capturing or killing the deer
and the hog, and even in some cases the tiger. It
consisted of a slight and rude game-fence carried to
a considerable length across the ground which the
animals were expected to traverse. At every twenty
pr thirty feet openings were left, between which spears
were fixed (close to and parallel with the fence), with
the heads reaching across the openings. The end of
the shaft was fastened to the extremity of a freshly cut,

1/. /. A. vol. i. p. 257.

222 HUNTING, TRAPPING, AND FISHING part ii

and therefore highly elastic, sapling, placed hori-
zontally, and measuring about fifteen feet in length
and two to two and a half inches in breadth. The
other extremity was fastened to a strong stake driven
into the ground, and within a few feet of this another
stake was placed (in such a direction that when the
sapling was forcibly bent back against it for two or
three feet it was perpendicular to the fence). The
method by which it was retained so retracted was
equally simple and effective. A rough pole secured
by two stakes was placed parallel to one of the poles
of the fence (on the side where the spear and its other
apparatus were), but at a level a little below that of
the spear. A stick measuring a few feet long was
then bound firmly to one extremity of the sapling so
as to be parallel to, and on the same level as, the
spear, while the other extremity, well smoothed, was
made to pass under another stick which was fixed at
right angles to it, the ends of which passed under
the two poles. The sticks retained their position by
their mutual pressure. To this cross-stick a black and
thin, but very strong, string was fastened. The other
end of the string was attached to the further side of
the opening, and the portion passing across it was
made to hang loosely. When an animal entered the
opening the pressure of its body on this part of the
string pulled the cross-stick forwards. An advance of
less than an inch released it, and the instant the stick
which kept the sapling bent was thus freed in its turn,
the latter sprang forward with immense force to its
natural position, and the spear was driven into the
body of the animal, indeed in many cases probably
right through it. The slightness of the pressure
required to release the spring, and the rapidity and

CHAP. IV SA VAGE MALA YS OF JOHOR 223

irresistible force with which the spear was impelled
across the opening were admirable. The materials
for every part of this contrivance were collected from
the forest around. Even the spear-head was made of
a species of bamboo (the **buloh kasap**) and was
exceedingly hard and sharp.^

The Berembun tribes also, to capture wild animals,
dug pits about twelve feet in depth, which they
covered over with brushwood.^

Wild pigeons, wild fowl, and many other birds
used for food were caught by means of bird-lime, of
which they possessed several very effective kinds,
prepared by mixing the viscid sap yielded by different
trees.*

Fishing.

Benua^akun. — Many families had small huts on
the bank of the nearest stream on which they kept
canoes, and men, women, and children, one, as a rule,
to each canoe, were everywhere met with engaged
in the quiet occupation of angling. They had, how-
ever, other methods of catching fish. The most
common was by means of small portable traps woven
from rattan creepers {Calami). Rows of stakes or fish-
fences were also used. But the most elaborate form
of fish-trap consisted of a large framework, like the
skeleton of a bridge, which was thrown right across
the stream, and at a level some feet higher than the
banks, so as to be above inundations. A line of stakes
was fixed across the river-bed, an opening being left
in the middle. Above this the Benua took his seat
on a small platform (sometimes sheltered by a roof),

> /. /. A, vol. i. pp. 257, 258. proved fatal, v. Lake in /. R, A, 5'.,
Acddents from these traps often occur S, B,, No. 25, p. 4.
to hnman beings. For one which * /. /. A, voL i. pp. 257, 258. ^ /j.

224 HUNTING, TRAPPING, AND FISHING part ii

and suspended a small net in the opening. On this
net he kept his eyes intently fixed, and as soon as a
fish entered he raised the net and extracted it. The
rivers and streams abounded in fresh- water fish, and
there were about fifty species.^

Udai. — The Udai were described by Newbold as
preferring the delights of the chase to the drudgery of
agriculture; they employed the day in roaming the
forest, and subsisted on the flesh of the animals that
they captured.^

Orang Laut or Sea-Jakun.

Orang Laut, Sabimba. — To the blowpipe as their
principal weapon the Sabimba owed all that they could
obtain of the animals that lived in the trees of the
forest, whilst with their dogs (a ** species of pariah ")
they hunted the wild hog.^

Orang Laut, Beduanda Kallang. — The Beduanda
Kallang were fishermen and foresters, and divided
their time between these two pursuits. They had
small fishing-stakes near the mouth of the river which
some of them visited in the mornings.*

Orang Laut, Akik. — The Akik were expert divers
and fishermen, and employed nets which they made
themselves.*

1 /. /. A, vol. i. p. 256. 9 /. /. A, vol. i. p. 347*.

* Newbold, ii. 381, 382. * lb. p. 300.

^ Newbold, ii. 413, 414.

CHAPTER V.

Modes of Barter.

Money is not yet understood by any but the most
civilised members of the three races, all of whom trade
to a greater or less extent in jungle produce, the chief
articles bartered being gutta, tree-gum or " dammar,"
wood-oils (camphor, benzoin, etc.), perfumed wood,
e^. eagle-wood or " gharu," and to a limited extent,
minerals, more especially tin.

In return the jungle -folk get rice, tobacco, salt,
areca-nuts, cloth, cooking utensils, implements, tools,
and weapons, and occasionally such luxuries as beads
and (very rarely) looking-glasses.

They appear to possess a decided preference
(doubtless due to the fact that neither are Mussulmans)
for dealings with the Chinese, who obtain for them
various articles which have now become necessities
of their existence, and who do not cheat them so
mercilessly as the Malays.

In many Malay legends reference is made to the
alleged Sakai and Semang practice of depositing
the objects that they were willing to barter in a
recognised spot, and then returning a few days later
to take up the articles that the Malays had mean-
while deposited in the same spot by way of payment

VOL. I Q

226 MODES OF BARTER part ii

— a method allowing plenty of scope for the chicanery
of which the Malays are so generally accused.

Logan's remarks upon the Benua-Jakun of Johor
are, however, quite to the point here, and apply
almost equally to all branches of the tribes in the
Peninsula.

At all events (he says) it is to the Malays that the
more civilised aborigines owe every departure from
their original forest habits. If we deprive them of
those articles for which the Malays have purposely
infected them with a taste, and those they have them-
selves voluntarily sought from the desire to imitate
and approximate to the habits of the more civilised
appropriators of their country, there will remain hardly
anything to distinguish them from their wilder com-
patriots. Indeed, examples may still be seen of men
whom indolence alone prevents from working up to
the high prices that the Malays would exact from
them, and who live in a wild nomadic condition, their
only clothing a loin-cloth, and their food limited
during the greater part of the year to the produce of
their clearings and of the forest.*

Compared with the labour that the acquisition
of the necessaries of life costs them, that which is
required to obtain the few luxuries and conveniences
to which they are now habituated is excessive.
Instead of a scanty and irregular supply of clothing
and other articles, it should, in view of the fact that
their industry is greater, suffice to raise them eventually
to a condition of greater plenty and comfort than has
been attained by the Malays themselves.*

» /. /. A, voL i. pp. 285, 286. « Ih.

CHAP. V NEGRITOS 227

I. — Semang.

Semang (no district speeifled). — In 1835, the usual
method of barter employed between the Semang
and the Malays was for the latter to deposit their com-
modities, consisting chiefly of coarse cloths, tobacco,
and knives, in any open space in the vicinity of the
known Semang camping-grounds, and then retire to a
convenient distance. The Semang would next ap-
proach, and, having selected such articles as they
fancied, bear them off, leaving in their place what-
ever they might deem a fair equivalent ; this latter
consisted chiefly of elephants* teeth, eagle- wood, resin,
canes, rattans, and so forth, of which, through ignorance
of their market value, the Semang always left an
ample supply. A few, however, who had partially
overcome their timidity, and occasionally ventured to
approach the Malayan villages, speedily learned to
profit by the superstitions and fears of their new
acquaintances, and to demand a high and exorbitant
rate for the vegetable preparations which they were
wont to use as medicine.^

In a more detailed account we are told that a few
of them who ventured to approach the Malayan
villages obtained a little cloth in exchange for elephants'
teeth, eagle-wood, wax, woods, gums, ** dammar," and
canes which they procured in the forest, but of the in-
trinsic value of which they possessed but little know-
ledge, so that they were generally imposed upon by
the crafty Malay. From the Malays also they pro-
cured their arms, knives, and tobacco, of which last
they made great use. In their own turn, however,

» Begbic, pp. 8, 9.

328 MODES OF BARTER part ii

they frequently learnt to work upon the superstitions
of the Malays (when they had no products to barter,
and wished to procure a supply of tobacco), by pre-
senting them with medicines which they pretended to
derive from particular shrubs and trees in the woods,
and represented as efficacious for the cure of headache
and other complaints.^

Pangan. — The Pangan or Eastern Semang that
we saw at Ulu Aring in Kelantan used to depend
upon the Malay hamlet of Kampong Buntal for their
rice, as well as for their salt and their tobacco, and
had come down, in fact, at the time when we were
there for the purpose of obtaining this latter com-
modity, of which I myself was able to present them
with a considerable supply. The only other articles
for which they were usually indebted to the Malays
were the cloths they wrapped round their waists, and
the blades of their jungle-knives and spear-heads. On
the other hand, one of the men that we observed was
in possession of a razor which had been " given " him
(doubtless in return for more than its fair equivalent
in other commodities) by the Malay chief or '* Peng-
hulu " of the village.

Kedah Semang. — The Semang of Kedah had
themselves grown a small field of rice, and to the
extent of their harvest were independent of the local
Malays, so far as their food-supply was concerned.
Nevertheless the scantiness of this stock made it
quite clear that in a few months they would have
come to an end of it, and would either be obliged to

^ /. /. A, vol. iv. pp. 425, 436. SimiUur charges are, of coune, often

This account is not quite just to made by the Malays (from whom this

the Semang, who undoubtedly offered idea may have be«i derived), but on

to the Malays what they themselves proper investigation they prove to be

regarded as efficacious medicines. baseless.

CHAP. V SAKAI OF PERAK 229

live again for a while on roots and fruits, or (more
probably) to eke out the shortness of their own supply
with a fresh store obtained from the Malays. The
knives, spear-heads, and even the harpoon-heads used
by this tribe were all of Malay manufacture, as were
also all the cloths that they were wearing.

Perak Semansr* — As to the extent to which these
simple ways of trade were employed, De Morgan says
that the Semang obtained a " considerable portion " of
their livelihood by the barter of jungle produce with
the Malays.^ Like the earlier authorities quoted, he
adds that they were " absolutely ignorant " of the
value of money.*

II. — Sakai.

Perak Sakai.— The wild Sakai of the Perak Hills
(Sakai Bukit) in trading with the Malays always
either employ a ** tame " Sakai as their intermediary,
or else confine themselves to depositing their jungle
products on the banks of the rivers at times and in
places which are tacitly understood. They then
withdraw, returning some time later to fetch the
articles which the Malays offer them in exchange.'

The articles in which the Sakai usually trade are
enumerated by De la Croix as including tree-gum, resin
(or "dammar"), gutta, caoutchouc, wax, honey, ivory,
and rhinoceros horns. These articles they dispose
of to the Malays, not for ready money, but for cloth,
salt, kitchen utensils, etc., the Malays being too
clever to lose by the exchange.*

Selangor Sakai. — The Sakai of Selangor (Kuala
Lumpor district) appear to have a decided preference

* Dc Morgan, viii. 296. • De la Croix, p. 340.

^ lb. ^ lb, p. 337.

230 MODES OF BARTER part ii

for dealing with the Chinese, who supply them with
tobacco, cloth-stuffs, rice, tools, and cooking utensils,
in return for various articles of jungle produce, such
as gutta-percha and charcoal. They do not have
recourse to the Malays except when there are no
Chinese, as they are frequently cheated by the former,
whereas the latter treat them not only with scrupulous
honesty, but even with a sort of ** fraternal cordiality." ^

III. — Jakun.

Blandas. — The foregoing descriptions of barter as
it obtains among the Semang and the Sakai of Perak
apply so closely to the Blandas of Kuala Langat
that it is hardly necessary to particularise further.
An interesting point, however, which is worth men-
tioning is that both the Blandas and the Besisi, their
neighbours, make considerable use of incantations and
magic in collecting their jungle produce. The follow-
ing charm employed by the collectors of wild honey
is a fair example : —

Honey-gatherers* Charm,

<* Mung, mung, mung ! " the moon -white apes cry

(Apes of " rock " and ** well " and «* basil "),

Come ye out into the moonlight.

Hearken to me with affection,

List to me with kind affection,

Grannies, hark to me, your grandchild,

Who but begs for you to teach him

How to weave a mat — of rushes !

Grannies, o'er the seas come hasting,

O'er the hills come hasting. Grannies !

Swinging, swaying, come ye hither !

All I b^ is, you should teach me

How to weave a mat — of bees-wax !

Grannies, hark to me your grandchild !

When I have explained that the moon -white
" apes " in this invocation are probably intended to

1 Letessier, p. lOO.

CHAP. V SA VAGE MALA YS OF SELANGOR 231

represent the Blandas honey -collectors themselves,
and that the word " Grannies " refers to the wild bees,
who are supposed to be deceived by this quaint piece
of fiction, I think the purport of this charm will be
sufiBciently clear without further explanation.

Besisi. — The same remarks apply to the Besisi;
one of the charms used by whom (in collecting wild
honey) was quoted by the present writer in Malay
Magic} I may add that the Besisi in the Kuala Langat
district often raised a considerable crop of rice, and
it was the object of the neighbouring Malays to cajole
as much of this out of them as possible. On several
occasions I was obliged to step in to protect them as
far as I could from their rapacious neighbours. The
latter frequently charged the Besisi with using false
measures and similar methods of deception, but I
never found that the charge could be fairly sub-
stantiated, and have little doubt that the real object
of these charges was to discredit and rob the Jakun.

Mantra. — Of the Mantra we are told, on the high
authority of Logan, that there were *' no traders, shop-
keepers, or artificers *' among them,^ but this does not,
of course, signify that the Mantra do not engage in
the ordinary trade' in jungle products. In addition
to this we are informed that the Mantra have no
weights, but employ the (usual) coconut -shell as a
measure.*

Benua-Jakun of Johor. — But by far the clearest and
most circumstantial statement of the trading methods
of any of those Peninsular tribes is Logan's report
upon the trade of the Benua-Jakun of Johor.

The Malays (according to Logan) have taught the

' For this, and another Blandas App. p. 611.
charm of the same kind, v, Mai, Magky ^ J, /. A, vol. i. p. 330*. ^ lb.

232 MODES OF BARTER part ii

Jakun to covet things which he knows not how to
procure save from them. These are cloth, and certain
articles of earthenware and iron, such as coarse plates,
pots, pans, chopping-knives or ''parangs,'' and axes.
Sugar and coconuts again are both much prized.
The Jakun's supply of rice often fails. His tobacco
is deficient in strength. Although he has both wild
and cultivated betel-vines, he has neither gambier,
areca-nut, nor lime. Hence the Malays often ascend
the river, their canoes laden with a tempting variety
of these particular articles, and the Jakun, unable to
resist the desire of calling some of them his own,
needs little persuasion to become indebted to the
Malay trader for any amount the latter may choose to
impose upon him. The Jakun now finds himself in
possession of a few of those things which bring him
nearer the Malay, and at the same time under an
obligation to collect rattans for his creditor, various
kinds of eagle - wood, (" gharu '* and " chandan "),
camphor, resin or "dammar," wax, and "gutta taban." *
These articles, with the exception of the " dammar,"
of which he makes torches, are articles of no value in
his own eyes, but in which his forests so abound
that, if a more equitable system of exchange were
established between him and the Malays, he would
not only find himself in possession of a large supply
of all those articles which are now sparingly doled out
to him, but actually also of a growing capital. The
collection of the above commodities, however, does
not form a constant or regular employment for any of

' Hcrvey, in/. R, A. S,, S. B,y Na I was told they were loo busy getting

8, pp. 103, 104, says, in writing of the rattans for the Malays, which they do

Jakun of Johor : " At this place, Kam- at a fixed price in rice and other

pong Kenalau, I found a clearing, but articles, such as clothing, crockery,

no cultivation ; on asking the reason, parangs (choppers), salt, and tobacco."

CHAP. V SA VAGE MALA YS OF JOHOR 233

the Jakun. It is only when there is an unusual
demand for any of them in Singapore that the Malays
hurry to the interior and induce the Jakun to engage
for a time in procuring a supply of whatever happens
to be in request. At the period of Logan's visit
nearly every man in the country was searching for
** gutta taban/' to which the name of " gutta-percha,"
a gum yielded by a different tree, is erroneously
applied by Europeans. This tree was one of the
commonest in the forests of Johor. It is not found
in the alluvial districts, but in undulating or hilly
ground (such as that which occupies the centre of
the Peninsula between the Endau and the Batu
Pahat) it occurs frequently, and in some places
abundantly. Wherever Logan penetrated he found
that collectors of " taban " had preceded him.*

The Jakun, after felling the tree, " ringbarks ''
the trunk by making an incision completely round it,
from which the viscous milk flows. Similar incisions
are made at distances of from 6 to 18 inches through-
out the entire length of the trunk. The rings are
no broader than the blade of the chopper with which
they are made, no bark being removed save the
rough superficial coating for an inch or two on each
side. Many trees felled by Malays had rings of bark
to the breadth of about an inch cut right out instead
of a single incision. A Malay woodman who had been
employed in different places in procuring the gutta
stated that this was the usual Malayan system. The
bark is not stripped off the tree, as has been stated.
Logan asked both the Malays and the Jakun in different
parts of the country whether they could not procure the
gutta in the same way as they collect the dammar,

^ /. /. A, voL i. pp. 260, 261.

234 MODES OF BARTER part ii

without destroying the tree. But the answer always
was that the "taban" would not run like dammar,
or like many other guttas, such as caoutchouc, and
this is probably the fact. Varying statements were
made as to the produce per tree, the extremes
mentioned being two kati's and fifty kati's,^ but it is
doubtful whether anything near the latter quantity is
ever obtained from a single tree. Many of the Jakun
who had been engaged for some months in collecting
assured me that they had occasionally obtained as
much as eighteen kati's, but never more, and that the
quantity obtained is usually nearer from three to five
kati's than it is to the maximum mentioned. Logan
described the collection of " taban " at length, because
nearly the whole of the Jakun tribes had for some
time past been withdrawn by it from their usual
pursuits. They were not, however, under any ap-
prehension that it could be extirpated, as it was
only full-grown, or nearly full-grown, trees that repaid
the labour of felling them and extracting the gutta, and
the younger trees which they were compelled to leave
would be amply sufficient (they believed) to keep up
the stock. They were, no doubt, to some extent correct,
but the effect of thinning out the ** tabans '' too rapidly
had already been to reduce the annual supply of seed
and seedlings. The seeds were eaten by the Jakun,
but they did not, like the Malays in some countries
{e.g. at Siak), extract an edible vegetable tallow from
them.*

Of the methods in which the other articles of traffic
yielded by the jungle were procured, Logan con-
sidered it unnecessary to speak at any length, because
he did not learn that they differed in any respect from

* A "kati"=ijlbs. « /. /. A, vol. i. pp. 262. 263.

CHAP. V SAVAGE MALAYS OF JO HO R 235

those adopted by the Malays. He mentions, how-
ever, that both races had very superstitious ideas
regarding the collection of camphor. When engaged
in searching for it they abstained from certain kinds
of food, ate a little earth, and used a kind of artificial
language, which was called the ** Camphor Language "
("bhasa kapor"). This language Logan found to be
the same on the Sedili, the Endau, and the Batu Pahat.
From specimens which he subjoined it appears that
most of the words are formed from the Malayan, in
many cases by a mere periphrasis, such as "grass-
fruit" for "rice," "far-sounder" for "gun," "short-
legs " for " hog," " leaves " for " hair," etc.^

It was believed that if care were not taken to use
this " Camphor Language," great difficulty would be
experienced in finding camphor trees, and that when
found the camphor would not yield itself to the
collector. Whatever may have been the origin of
this superstition, it was evidently based on the fact
that iilthough camphor trees were abundant, it very
frequently happened that no camphor could be ob-
tained from them. " Were it otherwise," said an old
Jakun, who was singularly free from superstition,
" camphor is so valuable that not a single full-grown
tree would be left in the forest." Camphor was not
collected by the Berembun tribes, at least on the
western side of the Peninsula, and they were, there-
fore, unacquainted with this Camphor Language.^

But the present sketch of the Jakun trade in
jungle produce would be incomplete were no reference
made to the regular organisation established by the
Malays for the purpose of exploiting their unsuspect-
ing neighbours.

* y. /. A, vol. i. pp. 263, 264. • lb, pp. 265, 266.

236 MODES OF BARTER part n

The Malayan Penghulu, Jinang,^ or other head-
man in each river-district was also the head of the
monopoly of trade with the Jakun. Hence traders
entering the river most commonly visited him, and he
either supplied them from his own store, or purchased
what they required from the riverain Malays, or
allowed them to do so themselves. This system was
enforced with more or less rigour, according to the
character of the Penghulu, but traffic was always to a
certain extent carried on without his intervention,
though strangers were absolutely prohibited from
trading with the Jakun direct.*

To get a more complete understanding, however,
of the system by which this monopoly was maintained
and worked, it is necessary to explain the scheme a
little more fully.

The Malays settled on the rivers leading into
the country of the Jakun might be divided into three
classes: (i) the Penghulu and his relatives and
dependants; (2) the Johor Malays (who frequently
belonged to Telok Blanga, and enjoyed a certain
consideration and prestige owing to their means and
their Singapore connexion) ; and (3) miscellaneous
settlers who did not possess these advantages. The
trade with the Jakun was chiefly in the hands of the
first and second classes, who acted in concert. The
prices at which purchasable articles were to be valued
was from time to time regulated by the Penghulu, who
in this, as in all other matters, consulted the principal
men of the river. The Penghulu next conferred with
the Jakun chiefs or Batins, and so managed the dis-
cussion as to carry the point already agreed upon.
The principle on which the sliding scale of prices was

J Cp. /. /. A, vol. i. pp. 273, 274. * lb. p. 286.

CHAP. V SAVAGE MALAYS OF JO HO R 237

managed was simply that of maintaining a high value
for anything that was sold to the Jakun, and a low one
for what was bought from them. When the Jakun
rice -harvest had been reaped, they were persuaded
that rice was everywhere so plentiful that its price
was very small, and that, on the other hand, the price
of cloth had advanced as much above as the price of
rice was depressed below that of the Singapore market.
The conclusion of all the inquiries made by Logan, and
of numerous instances of barter of which he was a wit-
ness, was that the Malays sold the goods which they
purchased in Singapore at advances of from 100 to 400
per cent, whilst they bought "taban," camphor,
dammar, and other produce of the forest at from 100
to 400 per cent below the prices which they received
in Singapore. Thus a voyage of two or three days
enabled the Malay to double or quintuple the value
of goods transferred from Singapore to Johor and
from Johor to Singapore. As the trade was almost
entirely carried on by barter, the Malays had a double
profit on every transaction. Yet they were not
satisfied with having established this vulture -like
system of trade. They resorted, besides, to every
indirect means of enhancing their gains that was at all
consistent with the preservation of the trade. They
made, for instance, advances of goods, and as their
debtors were entirely unacquainted with writing and
accounts, they had little difficulty in exacting far more
than the stipulated return from those Jakun whose
memories were not very tenacious ; for the return
was made in small quantities from time to time, as
the jungle produce happened to be collected. But
the most certain and constant mode of defrauding the
Jakun was in weighing the goods which were the

238

MODES OF BARTER

PART II

subject of the bargain. This was generally done very
hurriedly, and when a pretence was made of doing it
more carefully the beam was brought into a horizontal
position, not by the counterpoise of the weights,
but by the finger of the Malay. This method of
weighing had, at the time of Logan's visit, become so
general, that although the Jakun generally were
aware that the Malays did not weigh fairly, and some
had even acquired so much knowledge of the balance
as to point out in what the fraud consisted, the Malay
would laugh it off, insist that it was all right, and
either deliver the article to one of his attendants, or
toss it into his canoe. To show more definitely the
extent to which the Malays took advantage of the
ignorance of the Jakun, Logan added the following
lists of prices of various articles, as ascertained in
several localities : — ^

Trade on the Sembrong.
Articles sold to the Jakun,

Local Price. Singapore Price.

Tobacco per kati '

Salt per gantang

Coconuts each

Common ** sarongs'* or skirts . . each

Bugis ** sarongs " (inferior) ....
White cotton jackets (**bajus") . . each

Headkerchiefs each

Common red cotton cloth . . per yard
LAige plate (common) .... each
Small plate (common) .... each

Saucers each

Cups each

$ c
i.oo

.04
2.00
5.00 to 6.00
.38 to .75
.58
.38i
.38
.09
.03i
.09

% c

.13

.04

.01 to

.50

1.00 to I
.10

.14

.10
.10

.04
.01
.01

1 /. /. A. vol. i. pp. 286, 287. But
see n. to p. 95, ante,

^ These are the actual prices ex-
amined, and the Singapore prices in

general are those of articles of the
same quality. A <*kati'*asl^ lbfi.s
Y^ pikul. A << gantang" varies, but
roughly ss i gallon.

CHAP. V

MALA VAN SEA'GYPSJES

239

Articles bought from

the Jakun

Eagle-wood (lignum aloes) per kati

Camphor per kati

Dammar per pikul

Benjamin (mixed) . .per pikul

Local Price.

Singapore Price.

CenU.
.38
.16

.35
.09

Cents.

.50 to .66
.30

.57 and up-
wards

.60 to .80

On the Lenggiu.
Articles sold to the Jakun}

Rice (coarse and uncleaned) per 5 gantangs
Tobacco per kati (of about 12 tahils)

Salt per 13 gantangs

I small earthenware pan or ** blanga'' .
I small rice-pot or saucepan (" kuali ") .

I large rice-pot

I chopper or parang .....
I common kmfe

Local Price. Singapore Price.

$ c.
1. 00

.18
1. 00

.09

.38i

.38J

.20

Cents.

.33J

.09 to .10

.50
.04

.39

.Ili

.08

Orang Laut or Sea- Jakun.

Sabimba. — The colony of Orang Laut who were
living {circ. 1850) near the source of the Tembrau
(which falls into the ** SSlat Tembrau" or *'01cl
Strait" of Singapore, opposite the most northerly
point of the island) consisted of twenty -five men,
thirty women, and fifteen children. They were slaves
of the reigning Chief of Johor (Temenggong), being
under a Malay "Jinang," who employed them in
collecting "taban," '* dammar," rattans, eagle-wood
("gharu"), ebony, " chandan," and wax. In return
he supplied them with rice, sago, and (very rarely)

1 /. /. A, voL L p. 288.

240 MODES OF BARTER part ii

with a little cloth. Other Malays were also allowed
to carry on a little trade (by barter) with them,* and
by this means they obtained a supply of axes, hatchets,
earthenware, cooking-pots, iron pans, salt, chillies,
and tobacco.^

Elsewhere we read of the Sabimba tribe as con-
sisting of eighty individuals, young and old, and as
being employed in cutting rattans for the Malays,
who furnished them with rice, weapons, and utensils
in return.'

Orang Muka Kuning. — The Orang Muka Kuning
(we are told) were entrusted to the care of a Malay
headman or Batin, named Pajar, who lived on Pulau
Loban,and was appointed by the chief (Yam-tuan Muda)
of Rhio. He visited them from time to time, bring-
ing rice and other articles, and receiving in return the
jungle produce that they had collected for him. We
are further expressly told that the Orang Muka
Kuning were prohibited from trading with other
persons "under penalty of a ducking.*' Rattans,
dammar, and eagle-wood they barter for rice, cloth,
implements, tobacco, and salt.*

For looo rattans they received four " gantangs "
of coarse rice;* for loo dammar torches, six ** gan-
tangs"; and for one basketful (measuring i^ foot
deep and broad) of eagle- wood, four ** gantangs " of the
same commodity .*

Beduanda Kallang. — Similarly we are told that the
Beduanda Kallang were fishermen and foresters,
dividing their time equally between the two pursuits,
and that they were in the habit of collecting jungle

> Except in «uban," which they >/./.^. vol. L p. 298.

cannot dispose of to others under pain • lb. p. 347*. * /J. p. 337*.

of a ducking. ^ lb. * lb. p. 338*.

CHAP. V MALA VAN SEA-G YPSIES 24 1

produce for a Malay headman under the reigning
chief (Temenggong) of Johor, who had charge of
them.^

Orang Akik. — The Orang Akik erected temporary
sheds along the coast whenever they had occasion to
go ashore, to collect dammar and wood-oil, etc., etc.
For months together, however, they resided in their
boats, employed not only in fishing, but in collecting
agar-agar (Zosterd), and tripang or bSche-de-mer
{Holothuria), etc. When the season or the weather
did not permit of this, they employed themselves in
gathering wood and pork-oil.*

* /. /. A, vol. L p. 300. = " hog's grease,** the Malay for

^ Su m origiiial, bat I cannot be which (*<minyak babi") may be so

sure what is meant by '* pork-oil," translated; v, ante^ p. 129. New-

as I think most probable, it bold, ii. 413, 414.

VOL. I R

244 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS

such articles as ** axes/* ** spears," and ** knives," ^ does
not, unfortunately, prove that the material of which
these implements were made was necessarily any sort
of stone ; whereas the fact adduced by Wray that no
single stone spear-head or chopper (or, I may add,
arrow-head) has ever yet been found in the Peninsula
(although in several dialects aboriginal names for them
occur) appears conclusive in the opposite sense.*

On the general question, Grllnwedel, in reporting
the receipt of forty-nine stone implements (**batu lintar ")
sent home by Vaughan-Stevens from the Malay Pen-
insula, remarks that these implements are distributed
throughout the entire Indian Archipelago, and reappear
even in Further India, Burma, Cambodia, etc. Vaughan-
Stevens could not say what race they were once used
by, for neither the (civilised) Malays nor any of the
wild tribes knew anything certain either about their
origin or their use. The latter paid no attention to
them when they met with them on their wanderings,
and the superstitious Malays only believed them to be
the missiles of evil spirits, and, when they found them,
would store them away in their huts without having

1 Clifford in/. R, A. 51, S. B., Na (5) Skinning-knife (?). It i»a ** flat,

24, p. 27. thin lamina of diorite or greenstone,

* Wray, Per, M. N, iii. p. 3. Mr. slightly concave and convex, and

H. N. Ridley informs me that he has measures about i foot in length by

found about seven main types of stone 2 inches wide by about ^ of an inch

implements in Kelantan. The seven thick in the thickest part,
chief types obtained were as follows: — (6) Small knife.

(1) Stone club (or mallet?). (7) Large knife or chopper.

(2) Stone chisel or gouge (New According to Mr. Ridley, the sup-
Guinea type). [It may, however, be posed agate of which these implements
doubted whether these so-called chisels are often said to be made was probably
are in reality chisels or axes. Of the a burnt diorite.

latter there are two types : ( i ) the axe Not a single specimen either of a

whose head Bts into a socket; (2) the spear -head or of an arrow -head was

one whose long and chisel - shaped found,
head goes through the helve. — Ed.] For a recent find in Pahang, z'. Swan

(3) Stone adze (ordinary Teninsular, in Ma*t^ 1904, 34 (with diagrams).
ue, Malayan type). The most curious of these specimens is

(4) Stone adze (New Guinea type). the stone ring here figured.

vj;.**^.

MfGregor,

Jakun Man in Hunting Accoutrkments,

showing bArk-jlolh girdle, blowpipe, and quiver, with hone fastener. Ulu Hatu, Sclangor.

Vol. I. /. 245.

GENERAL REMARKS 245

any idea of their real use. They are found at various
depths below the surface, and although nothing cer-
tain is known about them in the Peninsula, yet as the
various wild tribes nevertheless assert that in former
days a race of men, differing both from themselves and
the Malays, lived in the Peninsula, it may be assumed
that it is to them that the use of stone implements is
tacitly attributed, though this evidence is altogether
too ^ague \o rely upon.^

By the aid of the microscope traces of copper and
iron may be identified on these stones. The stones
showing such traces are used by the Malays to fur-
nish tips for the metal spurs of their fighting-cocks,
since they believe that tips thus furnished cannot be
blunted. The Malay children play with them, and
try to make them smoother than they were when first
found.' In no case did Vaughan- Stevens discover
them in situ, the specimens being all obtained from
Malays during his twelve months* journey between
Johor and Kelantan.'

Stone implements are numerous in Pahang, Negri
Sembilan, Selangor, and South Perak, very rare in
Johor and Kelantan. Sometimes they occur in Kedah
and Trengganu, but are very rarely found in Patani.*

The ailments bearing upon this most difficult
subject were excellently stated many years ago by
Wray, who, in an article on the cave-dwellers of Perak,
remarked that it had been somewhat too rashly taken
for granted that the cave-dwellers (of Perak, etc.) were
the makers of the stone implements which had been dis-

1 V, B, G, A, xxiii. 832. obtained from the eastern sea-coast

2 But their roost important use among of the Peninsula, and the abundanoe
the Malays is medicinaL of those found on the western coast,

3 V, B, G, A. xxiiL 833. point to the possibility of their having
* Vaughan-Stevens, iii. loi. The been introduced from some part of

comparative rarity of the specimens Sumatra.

246 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part ii

covered in such abundance in Perak and the neighbour-
ing states. The least reflection would have served to
show that these implements indicated a much higher
intelligence than would be compatible with the evidences
afforded by the remains discovered in the caves.^

All the stone implements were of axe or chisel
blades, and not one single spear-head had ever been
found. The second division of the stone age was
divided from the first by the introduction of axe-
pointed implements and all the important advances
that were indicated by the use of this type of tool.
If the cave people had been acquainted with the use
. of stone, they would almost certainly have employed
spear-pointed implements of the rudest kind ; as when
they had advanced as far as the making of chisels and
axe-pointed tools, they would have been able to build
houses and be independent of the shelter of caves,
and have been in a position to cultivate the soil and
raise food instead of having to subsist on shell-fish and
the animals of the jungle. The multiplicity of the
types of stone implements found in Perak showed that
the users of them must have been in a comparatively
high state of civilisation.*.

The remarkable absence of all palaeolithic patterns
might be explained by supposing that there had never
been a period in this part of the world when the ruder
implements were in use, but that the people (who-
ever they were) that employed them were settlers
from some other locality who on arrival had reached
the second stage of the stone age. There was of
necessity no means of fixing, even in the most ap-
proximate manner, the date of the introduction of the
use of stone in Perak, but the similarity of the types

* L. Wray, Cave-tkoelUrSy pp. 43, 44. Cp. VHommt^ iu 494 seq, - lb.

CHAP. VI GENERAL REMARKS \ 247

of the implements was quite sufficient to indicate that
it was a continuation of the same wave of progress
which led to the evolution of these tools in other
countries. This was, of course, far from saying that
the stone age in Malaya had been contemporaneous
with that of Europe. The number of the stone im-
plements was, however, as striking here as in other
parts of the world, pointing indubitably to the long
continuance of the use of these lithic tools.^

The finding of a few implements in the cave-
deposits would by no means prove that the in-
habitants of these caves were the makers of them, but
only that they were of the same age. For it was
quite likely that there had been two races of different
degfrees of advancement living in the country at the
same time, and that the lower might occasionally
acquire either by barter or other means the weapons
of the higher race. In the same way the wild tribes
were now accustomed to the use of iron axes, pottery,
clothes, and other things bought from the Malays,
whilst the Malays themselves in turn used articles of
European manufacture.*

The aborigines, again, might well have been able
to fashion weapons out of bamboo with knives made of
the same material (especially when hardened by the
application of fire), and these would be probably
supplemented by the use of sharp fragments of stone
[as well as of bone]. In this way it would be quite
possible to make bamboo-pointed spears, blowpipes,
darts, and bows and arrows. Bamboo weapons'would,
of course, have left no trace, in view of the long

1 L. Wray, Cave-dwtllers, p. 43, 44. Bozzolo, about 150 specimens obtained
Mr. Wiay informs me that he purchased in Ulu Perak, and Pfttam.
for the Perak Museum, from Mr. ' Ibid. ; cp. Wray, Joum» F, M. S.

Mhs. I. i. pp. 13-15.

248 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS ^art ii

period that must have elapsed since they had been in
use. That the aborigines used fire was abundantly-
evident, and this, in the hands of other savages, had
been made into a most effective means of shaping
wooden objects./

In other words, the rudimentary stage of culture

through which these tribes have passed, and in some

cases are still passing, may perhaps be more accurately

y described as a " wood and bone " age than as an age

of stone.

To sum up, we may conclude that the wild tribes
(Sakai and Semang) were not the manufacturers of the
stone axes and chisels found in the Peninsula, and the
case in fact appears to be a close parallel to that of
the Andaman islanders, of whom Man has recorded
(p. i6i) that " they never, even when iron was scarce,
made arrow-heads, axes, adzes, or chisels of stone."

The following list includes, on the other hand,
the stone implements which certainly are, or are at
all likely to have been formerly used by the wild
tribes of Malaya. They are the anvil and hammer
recorded by De Morgan (consisting of an upper and
a lower stone),* the whetstone,'^ chips or flakes used as
knives, and cooking -stones/ To this list, which so
J far agrees with the list of implements used by the
Andamanese, may be added the stone rasp or file,
consisting usually of a piece of sandstone,^ which is
used especially for filing the teeth among the Pangan
of Kelantan.

On the other hand, the wild aborigines of the
Hills (Orang Bukit) of to-day, who possess no imple-

* L. Wray, Cave-dweUers^ p. 46. is osed ; qx Hale, p. 286.

* De Morgan, vii. 415. * V, supra, p. 124, etc
' Sometimes a stone axe-head itself * F. in/ra, vol. iL 33.

CHAP. VI GENERAL REMARKS 249

ments of iron, rely almost entirely upon wood or
bone for the blades of their weapons, as well as for
all their implements.^

Knives and Spears.

The most primitive form of knife, and at the same
time the most natural form for the country, still to be
found among the wild tribes (as also on some cere-
monial occasions among the Malays) consists of a
sharp sliver of bamboo, which makes a very fair knife.

It is possible, and perhaps even probable, that
flakes and chips of stone may have been used in
former times when the knife of Malay civilisation was
not procurable,- and when the work required could
not be performed by a knife of bamboo,^ or bone.

The Malay '* dagger " or " kris " and other kinds
of Malay weapons are also occasionally used by the
wild tribes, especially the Jakun, but wooden and bone
awls (for boring purposes) are used to this day.*

In its earliest form the spear of the country
seems to have been some form of throwing-stick or
"squailer," the use of which has been recorded
among the Jakun by Logan ,^ whilst at least two
forms of it^ are certainly still known to the Pen-

^ De la Croix, p. 340, where this being more effective than might at first

statement is, however, confined to the be supposed. In Borneo, for instance,

SakaL a bamboo knife is used by the exe-

' Capt J. Bradley, p. 298, also cutioner for catting off heads ; being

mentions finding in one of the tree- merely sharpened whenever it is used,

huts which he discovered "a curious * For examples, see pp. 316 and

instmment made of bone, and appar- 329, infra,

ently intended to serve as a knife." * For the spear, v, J. /. A, vol. i.

And on p. 331 he says : «* The cmly p. 257, and Lake in/. R, A, S,^ S. B,,

other articles found were a number of No. 25, p. 3. It is pre-eminently a

sharpened stones, serving the purpose '' savage Malay " weapon, and is used

of knives.*' Cp. p. 269, u, i, infra. universdiy by the Jakun.

' Such cases would, however, be * One sharpened at one end, the

exceedingly rare, these bamboo knives other at both.

2SO WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part ii

insular Malays.^ The bamboo spear is still largely
/ used, especially by the wilder aborigines. The metal
spears, which are of several types (all of them
Malayan), are used for fishing as well as hunting.

The fact that no stone spear-head has yet been
found in the Peninsula is certainly a notable one, and
may point to the fact that the spear-heads used by the
men of the Malay stone age were made of bamboo
or of some other equally perishable material. There
is little differentiation of metal spear-types as between
the aborigines, doubtless owing to the fact that all
have borrowed alike from the Malay. In war, spear-
\/ heads are sometimes lashed to the muzzle-end of a
blowpipe.

Hatchets.

The hatchets now used by the wild tribes
throughout the Peninsula are obtained by barter or
purchase from the Malays, except, perhaps, in a few
cases in which some sort of rude substitute is roughly
forged. Even in the latter case, however, the blades
are, I believe, invariably copied from Malay models,
and there appears to be no record of the use of
an independent axe -type among either Sakai or
Semang, even though they may (and certainly do)
have non- Malay names for them.*^

On the other hand, there is, I believe, a good
deal still to be learnt from the nature of the rattan

' Cp. J. Bradley, p. 298 : ** Outside sticks, intended, apparently, as missile

the (tree-) huts a number of spears weapons. Several of them had traces

were laid amongst the branches of the of blood and feathers adhering to

trees. They consisted merely of long them, as if they had been used for

sticks of hard wood sharpened at both knocking down birds.'*
ends." And cp. also f 5. p. 320: "Some ^ Capt. J. Bradley (p. 298) alone

of them (the wild men) seized their mentions finding in a tree-hut " a sort

spears, or pointed sticks." Also p. of tomahawk, formed by fixing a

331 : ''In the interior of one of the pointed stone upon a stidc."
huts were a number of short thick

CHAP. VI GENERAL REMARKS 251

lashings by means of which the adze-head is made
fast to the helve, for I was repeatedly assured t)y
Malays living in the Besisi and Blandas country
(on the Langat) that the difference between the
lashings of a Malay and a Jakun adze-head could be
detected without the least difficulty by the expert.

Firearms.

All branches of the wild tribes now generally
possess some form of firearm, which most usually
takes the shape of an old Tower musket, and is not
unfrequently owned, or at least used, in common by
all the men of the tribe who claim it.

These guns are obtained by barter at extortionate
rates from friendly Malays or Chinamen.

The use of firearms by the Sakai and Semang
appears, however, to have been of extremely recent
date, as it is only since the establishment of a strong
government in the Malay States that there has been
any sort of peace between them and the Malays, and
before the establishment of this peace the Malays
were not likely to be willing to put such dangerous
weapons in the hands of their victims.^

The Bow.

The use of the bow in the Peninsula is confined
to those tribes which are (wholly or partly) of N^rito v-/
origin. It is indubitably their chief tribal weapon, as
the blowpipe appears to be that of the Sakai,* and as
the spear is that of certain of the Jakun tribes.

There are, it is true, several references in old
writers to the use of the bow by Sakai and Jakun,
but upon examination it will easily be seen that they

* Sec/. /. A. Yol. i. p. 272. * Cp. Dc Morgan, vii. 415.

252 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part ii

are not of such a character as to shake the statement
made in the forgoing sentence. Some of these
statements, especially those of M.-Maclay/ De la
Croix,^ and perhaps even De Morgan and Maxwell,
are due to the fact that none of these writers were
able to distinguish between the Sakai and the
Semang, and habitually applied the term *' Sakai " to
groups of Negritos. Pleyte, therefore, in his great
monograph on "the Blowpipe and the Bow," was
perfectly right in correcting M.-Maclay, who is perhaps
the most typical example of this class of writer. And
although it must be admitted that when all these
statements (based on misnomers) have been dis-
counted, there still remain one or two testimonies
to a knowledge of the bow, on unimpeachable authority
(not on the part of the Sakai, but on that of the
Jakun), even these latter yield to investigation.

Lc^an, for instance, informs us that the bow and
arrow were known to the Jakun (whom he calls
" Benua ") ; but he immediately proceeds to qualify
this statement by adding that though they were
known they were not used, and I think there can be
no very great doubt that the tradition was based on a
rumour of the bows of the far-off Semang.' Again,

1 Cp. M. • Maclay in /. R, A. S., latter point, see Pleyte, loc. cit. It

S, B,^ No. 2, p. 214. is also entirely incorrect (as Pleyte

Miklucho-Maclaysays,** Another not points ont) to describe the bow as a

so dangerous, but ethnographically a Sakai weapon, it being the distinctive

much more important weapon, is the weapon of the Negrito tribes. The

bow (Moids'), the use of which I have alleged Sakai bow described by

only seen among the unmixed Orang Miklucho- Maclay is, as his map shows,

Sakal It is about two metres long, is a Pangan bow, and it is very unlikely

made of bamboo, and the arrows have that the arrows, still less the bow, would

iron pdnts.*' This quotation, however, be of bamboo. Lastly, for ** loids " we

is a tissue of misstatements. The bow should read *' loidd *' or * ' loydd," which

of the aborigines of the Malay Peninsula is the ordinary Semang name for

can neither be described as more im- the bow.
portant ethnographically nor as less > De la Croix, p. 331.

dangerous than the blowpipe, on which ^ Logan in J. /. A, vol. L ^p. 272.

CHAP. VI GENERAL REMARKS 253

another observer (quoted by Pleyte ^), when staying
in Singapore, observed and described in detail some
methods of arrow-release employed by the Temiang
tribe (of the Orang Laut), and states that the bow of
which he writes was used for shooting small game and
fish ; adding that the same weapon was employed in
the magic ceremonies of the tribe.^

This account, at first sight, seems clear enough,
but it has to be noted that the giver of the informa-
tion had come from Sumatra, and that what he was
describing was probably a Sumatran custom, and had
nothing to do with the customs of the " Orang Laut."
If correct, it is one of the interesting instances of
Semang influence in the south, of which we sometimes
get examples.

It cannot, therefore, be considered as yet estab-
lished that the bow is employed as a tribal weapon
by any tribes that are either of Sakai or Jakun ex-
traction ; and I may add that there is very little prob-
ability of its ever being so established. If, however,
this should ever prove to be the case, it must certainly
be in a mixed Semang-Sakai or Semang- Jakun tribe, in
which the Negrito influence has remained so strong as
to resist effectually the incursions of the alien culture.
A survival of this kind is not impossible, even in the
extreme south of the Peninsula, where the Semang
influence, in small patches, is sometimes particularly
strong. But apart from this remote possibility, I think
that any idea of discovering the bow in use either as a
Sakai or a Jakun weapon may once for all be definitely
abandoned, and that, if it should ever happen to be so
found among either of these two races, it will only be
in the guise of a '* borrowed plume."

> Iniemat. Arch,/. E, Bd. iv. S. 34 et seqq, * Doubtless as a ** fleam. »*

254 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part ii

There is not much more to add with regard to
the bow, unless it be to note the fact that the bows
of the Semang very closely resemble one figured by
Man, who describes it as coming from the southern
group of the Andamans.^ The bows from the North
Andamans appear to be of a different character, and
it is therefore in these South Andamans that it might
be advisable to look first for evidences of connexion
between Semang and Andamanese culture. Unfor-
tunately, however, these are just the islands of which
least is known, and I am therefore only able to draw
attention to the subject as one that especially requires
to be worked up.

The Blowpipe.

The distribution of the bamboo blowpipe or
blow-gun, as Geiger, following Pleyte, has recently
shown, is (with the possible exception of the Mentawai
Islands) inseparably bound up with the use of Ipoh
poison, the region covered being in either case
limited, broadly speaking, to the confines of the
Malayan region, using that word in its widest sense.

In the Malay Peninsula itself the blowpipe is
found among all tribes, from Johor, in the extreme
south, to Singora, in the north.^

The blowpipe is to be seen in its highest develop-
ent (as far as the Peninsula is concerned) among the
Sakai, Besisi, and Mantra, whilst among the Semang
(and some Jakun) it is found in its lowest and
roughest form.

The Sakai and Jakun, on the other hand (as has
already been shown), do not employ the bow, the use of

1 Cp. p. 280, n, I, infra, J. R. A. S., S. B,, Na 25, p. 3, and

* M.-Maclayin/.^.^.^.,5.iff.,No. No. 26, p. 14.
2, pp. 213, 214. For exceptions, v.

CHAP. VI GENERAL REMARKS 255

which is confined to the Semang.^ It is in fact now
quite certain that the natural weapon of the Semang
is the bow, and that they only learnt the use of the i^
blowpipe from the Sakai. Hence even when they did
take to it, they adopted it quite perfunctorily, and at
no time took such trouble over its manufacture or pride
in its possession as the two other races mentioned.*

In the islands of the Malay Archipelago (in^
Borneo, for instance), the blowpipe consists of a long
wooden barrel or tube the interior of which has to be
bored out.' This method of manufacture is much
clumsier and more laborious than that by which its
bamboo fellow of the Peninsula is made, and it
stands, I think, more or less to reason that if the
wooden blowpipe of Borneo (or that made by some of
the savage Malay tribes in the Peninsula) had had to
be invented before the idea of utilising Bambusa
Wrayi for the purpose had arisen, the bamboo
blowpipe as we know it would never have existed. On
the other hand, the sporadic existence of the wooden
blowpipe may reasonably be due to the rarity or the
absence of the particular species of long -jointed
bamboo (Bambusa Wrayi) * from which the wild tribes
of the Peninsula manufacture their blowpipes, for it is
inconceivable that any intelligent race that had once

^ Qk Swett p. 228 : *'The Sakai use that he has seen some beautifully made

no other weapons than the blowpipe, blowpipes among the Semang of

but the SemoDg have a very powerfid Upper Perak and Selama.

bow and iron -barbed arrows, with ^ H. ling Roth, vol. ii. pp. 184-187.

which they can kill the largest game." ^ Mr. Wray writes me that B,

Cp. also De Quatrefoges, pp. 230, 231. Wrayi is only used by the Semang of

* Thb remark applies espedally to Upper Perak and Selama, and the

the Semang tribes furthest removed mixed Sakai -Semang tribes of the

from Sakai influence, e,g, to the Plus district in Perak. In other

Semang of Kedah, and perhaps in districts of Perak another species is

some degree to the Pangan of Ulu used, of a kind not yet determined,

Patani and Ulu Kelantan. On the with intemodes of 3 to 4 ft. in length,

other hand, Mr. L. Wray writes me Cp. Wray, Per. M, N. iii. pp. 54-58.

256 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part u

discovered the ready-made blowpipe of bamboo would
ever again have resorted to the method of boring its
tube out of wood, or to the perhaps still clumsier
process of uniting a couple of wooden half-cylinders,
which when fitted together do duty as a tube.

Speaking generally, it appears on the whole
most reasonable to suppose that the blowpipe was
introduced into the Malay Peninsula by the Sakai,
upon their first advent into that region, that it has
since been perfected by the same race, and that the
modern blowpipe of the Malayan tribes in the Penin-
sula (as well as that of the Archipelago) was either
an inferior imitation of the Sakai weapon, or else that
^ the wooden blowpipe was an altogether independent
invention, which appears at the best most improbable.
'* The only point in which the Bomean blowpipe is
in any way an improvement on that of the Sakai is in
its possession of a "sight," which the Sakai blow-
pipes are, I believe, universally without. Yet even a
rifled blowpipe has been recorded from Perak,* and
although the statement is unsupported, in all other im-
portant respects — in the labour required for its construc-
tion, in the important matter of weight, and in finish
— the Bornean weapon is certainly inferior, not only
to the Sakai blowpipe, but even to that of the Semang.

The exact distribution of the various types of
blowpipe in the Malay Peninsula yet remains to be
worked out. Some information on this point is, how-
Vi ever, already forthcoming. The most highly devel-
oped (and decorated) type of blowpipe is, as has
abready been said, found among the central Sakai

^ See De Quatre^ages, p. 231 (^9^tf). ** choke-bore" blowpipe, soch as is
This must be a mistake of M. Lias. found among the Besisi (9. p. 30S,
I believe what he saw was a infra)^

CHAP. VI GENERAL REMARKS 257

(Senoi), the Besisi, and the Mantra. To these the
Blandas of southern Selangor should, I think, be
added. In its rarest form, that of the jointless tube,
this blowpipe is only found within a yet more
restricted area, i.e. in parts of Perak,^ and (according
to one writer) in the Nenggiri^ district of Kelantan.
Outside the geographical area covered by these tribes
we find, as a rule, rougher and less-finished specimens
of this weapon. The Semang of the north, for in-
stance, and, as far as I am aware, the Semang alone,
make use of a roughly made blowpipe which bears
very little decoration, but which not unfrequently has
a mouthpiece of native gutta or resin.

The most interesting type, the wooden split-tubed
blowpipe, which is identical with one used in Peru, is
said to be '* only used south of the Pahang river in the
state of that name."* Yet the specimen now in the
British Museum came from Kuantan, which is a good
way north of the Pahang river. Vaughan-Stevens is,
however, probably right in stating that the tree from
which this wooden blowpipe is made (Calophyllum, sp.,
called in Malay ** Pgnaga ") is used because it is proof
against warping, but that it is only of local distribution.

Quiver and Darts.
What is true of the blowpipe in general, is true
of the quiver and the darts. Thus the quiver of the

1 Messrs. R. H. Yapp and Laidlaw between the old and new worlds consist

(who were with me in 1899- 1900) in stone and bronze implements, round

found the bamboo from which these towers, pyramids, coins, methods of

blowpipes are made on Mt. Inas, on the embalming and skull - deformation,

north Perak frontier, and obtained circumcision, early carvings of ele-

single-jointed blowpipes in the same phants found in Central America,

district. Mr. Yapp tells me that this and prehistoric tobacco - pipes found

bamboo closely resembles the blowpipe- in Ireland. — Wray in Per. Mus. Notes ^

reed of S. America {Artmdinaria vol. iii.
Schomburgkii^ Benth., Bamlmsea). ' V. B. G. A. xxiii. 834.

Other proofs of prehistoric intercourse ' Vaughan-Stevens, I.e.

VOL. I S

258 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part ii

Borneo natives presents several marked points of con-
trast with the quiver used by the Sakai. The device
of having a separate reed for each dart has not been
adopted by the Borneans, who have, however, invented
the long wooden ** hook " or " prong " which is attached
to the quiver, and is inserted through the hunter's
belt to keep the quiver in position. This appears all
the more natural, since it is more likely to have been
invented by a race wearing better and stronger loin-
cloths than those of the Sakai, who may perhaps once
have gone naked, and who still fasten their quivers
about their waists with a cord/

As regards the dart, Professor Tylor was, I think,
the first to point out as a general distinction that the
blowpipe darts of south-east Asia do not have the
\ butt made of cotton, whereas this is commonly the
^ case with the dart of the South American Indians.^

Iron dart-points are never employed by Sakai or
/ Semang, though they are used by Borneo natives, the
^ point being always (among the former) of one piece
with the shaft. The Semang dart is of much coarser
and clumsier construction than that of the Sakai, and
that of the Bomean is clumsier still, the shaft of the
dart being driven right through the butt, so that it
often slides up and down, a piece of bad workmanship
not found among the Semang or the Sakai.

1 For an account of the Borneo by the last-mentioned. He adds that the

weapon, v. Ling Roth (ch. xxii. ). Here wooden cap is now used by the Sakai, the

perhaps may be mentioned the somewhat rattan one by the Mantra, Besisi, and

gratuitous assumptions of Vaughan- Kenaboi(V.-St ii. 120). Mr. Blagden

Stevens, who considers the evolution tells me that the Malacca Mantra

of the cap or cover used for the use wooden caps bound with rattan,

quiver to have been carried out as ' For a good deal of miscellaneous

follows: — (1) cover made from cuticle information about the darts (which,

of trees, as used by the O. Kuantan however, is of small value in view of

and (formerly) by O. Kenaboi ; (2) cap the way in which the tribes have been

made of wood hollowed out by fire, as mixed up together), see Vaughan-

used by the O. Sakai ; (3) cap made Stevens, ed. Grtlnwedel, in V, B. G, A.

of wood hollowed out by a knife, as used xxiii. 835, 836.

CHAP. VI GENERAL REMARKS 259

Use of Clay Pellets.

Captain P. J. Begbie, an old and painstaking and
(for his time) fairly accurate authority on the Malay
Peninsula, records the shooting of clay pellets (as well
as darts) from the blowpipe by the Jakun ^ at Malacca
in 1833. This statement is confirmed by Mr. L.'
Wray, who informs me that these pellets are often
employed by bird-collectors at Malacca, where they
have been used from time immemorial. Mr. Wray
himself had a Malacca bird-collector (an Eurasian
Malay) who used these pellets for collecting purposes
in Perak. Mr. Douglas, of Sarawak, also tells me
that boys in Borneo commonly use small clay pellets 1^'
for shooting small birds, and that these pellets are
shot out of a small blowpipe.

Use of the Blowpipe?

In loading, the blowpipe is held vertically in one
hand and^^ the .pointed end of the dart inserted with
the other mfo the orifice in the centre of the mouth-
piece.* The latter is always fitted to the root-end
of the bamboo. Into the tube of the blowpipe, and
behind the butt-end of the dart, is almost invariably
inserted a small wad for the prevention of " windage."
This wad is made from the flocculent down that

* BegUe, pp. 5, 6. for their reception), and he was only

^ As an example of the extreme able to obtain four specimens altc^ther

difficolty of obtaining information from (V.-St. ii. 113).

the aborigines about the blowpipe, ' So Borie (tr. Bourien), p. 78 :

Vaughan-Sterens remarks that many *' Into the bore of the inner bamboo, at

Malays Hving near the O. Kuantan the mouthpiece, is placed an arrow

have never seen their blowpipes, several inches long.'' For an unique

though they know that they possess and questionable exception see Maxwell

them. In some cases these weapons m/,R.A,S,^ S.B,, No. 4, p. 48 : *< I

were Aid in ike stems of living bamboos had always regarded the blowpipe as a

in the jungle (the nodes being removed breechloader," etc

26o

WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS

PART II

collects about the leaf-bases of certain palms, especially
the " tukas " {Caryota Griffithii or C mitts), or certain
kinds of rattan {Calamus geminifloris\ and results
from the destruction of the softer tissues.^

In shooting, the entire mouthpiece is, as a rule,
taken into the mouth, the fingers being commonly-
crossed beneath the tube (near the mouthpiece).
Sometimes, however, the edges of the mouthpiece
alone are inserted between the teeth and the lips.
As the dart leaves the tube, there is a sharp hollow
** ping " like that of a pop-gun.^

Range of Dart,

The effective range of the blowpipe darts used
by the best *' shots " of these tribes may be put at from
50 to 60 yards as an outside limit, but in practice a
range of 100 feet is seldom exceeded.'

1 Vaughan-Stevens, ii. Ii6. Really
the fibro-vascular bundles of the leaf-
sheaths.

^ Cp. Newbold, ii. pp. 400, 401 :
*'It is propelled by collectii^ a con-
siderable quantity of air in the lungs,
and suddenly emitting it with a sharp
noise resembling that occasioned by
the discharge of an air-gun."

* Cp., for example (of the Sakai),
(I) Hale, p. 289, where it is stated that
the range is effective up to 60 yards (55
m.), and that at 50 3^ards (45 m.) a
skilled performer will put five out of
six darts into a playing card.

(2) De Morgan (vii. 417) says they
can shoot straight up to 80 metres,
but in practice do not shoot more than
30 to 35 paces (23 m. to 27 m.).

(3) Letessier puts the range at 28-30
yards (25 m. to 27 m. ), but he is no doubt
speaking of the ordinary range of their
shooting. They usually shoot at fairly
short range, in order to make sure of
their aim, as they do not wish to risk
wasting their arrows.

(4) J. A. G. Campbell says : "I have
myself seen birds and monkeys killed
on high trees at a distance of 60
yards" (55 m.) ; and adds: «*The
Sakai seldom misses his shot" {S, J.
iii. 241).

Of the Jakun— (I) Logan (in/. /. A.
vol. it p. 262) states that the range
(of the blowpipe-dart) to take proper
effect is about 70 or 80 feet (21 m.
to 24 m.). ** Some can reach 140 or
150 feet (46 m. to 49 m.), but then
there will be little chance of their
inflicting a dangerous wound."

(2) Borie (tr. Bourien), p. 78, says
50-60 yards (45 m. to 54 m.).

(3) Newbold, ii. 400, 401, puts the
effective range at 60-70 feet (20 m.).

(4) Vaughan-Stevens, in V, B, G, A,
xxiii. 835, 836, puts it at 20-30 metres
in a horizontal direction, and more
in a vertical.

(5) The Kuantan blowpipe is very
roughly made ; it has a range of 40
paces (30 m.) only (Vaughan-Stevens,
ii. 113).

CHAP. VI GENERAL REMARKS 261

The Use of Ipok.

The question whether the use of Ipoh is of
Malay origin must (says Geiger, p. 38) in all prob-
ability be answered in the negative. It is clear,
however, that he is here using the word Malay in its
narrowest sense, as he subsequently points out (pp.
40, 41) that the eastern boundary -line between those
who use the blowpipe (and Ipoh) and those ^who do
not does correspond to the boundary-line between the
Malay and the Polynesian languages (p. 41). In this
latter case he is clearly using the word Malay in its
wider sense, as applied to what may be called
'* Greater Malaya'* (including the countries inhabited
by the " savage Malays " of Wallace). Moreover, he
then proceeds to quote Brandes* remark, that ** the
natives who use the blowpipe form one family of
languages."

The true conclusion, after all, appears to be that
the use of Ipoh may be of Malay origin, but only in the
wider sense of the word; and in the same way, it is just
conceivable that the blowpipe may be (in its wooden
form at least) of ** Greater Malayan " origin. On the
other hand, the wooden blowpipe is so different a
weapon from the blowpipe of bamboo that it will
perhaps be maintained that the two forms may have
arisen independently. Even, however, if this was the
case, the bamboo weapon must certainly have been
invented in some country like the Malay Peninsula or
Sumatra, where Bambusa Wrayi or longinodis is known
to be indigenous ; and further, as has been remarked
already, it is inconceivable that any intelligent race
should descend to using the wooden form of blowpipe
when it had once known and used the infinitely

262 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part ii

superior blowpipe of bamboo. The only other possible
alternative seems to be to accept the wooden blowpipe
as the original form, and to suppose that the race
which invented it failed to improve upon it, the
invention of the (improved) bamboo form being
conceded to a race infinitely behind the Malayan
race in the matter of culture. To speak frankly, this
last alternative does not appear credible, and unless
on the whole we prefer to concede the possibility of
the invention of at least two independent blowpipe
types in the Malayan region, we are forced back upon
the first of these two alternatives, viz. : the supposition
that the bamboo blowpipe was introduced by the
Sakai, who subsequently perfected it, and that it was
then more or less roughly copied by the aboriginal
tribes of Malayan origin in districts where B. Wrayi
was wanting.

I have spoken mainly of the blowpipe itself,
rather than of the poison that was used with its darts,
partly because I think that Geiger has shown that for
all practical purposes the introduction of the one
meant the introduction of the other, and partly because
it is easier to get at the facts about the blowpipe than
it is to get at those about " Ipoh." But I will now
proceed to a discussion of the poison itself.

In remarking that the various kinds of Ipoh poison
are, as a rule (though not exclusively), rather used for
hunting than for warlike purposes, Geiger explains
that both Ipoh antiar and derrid, taken internally, are
practically harmless, whereas Ipnh tieij^e- on account
of the strychnine contained in it, "might be dan-
gerous." Hence the latter poison is usually em-
ployed for the destruction of beasts of prey such as
the tiger (Newbold and Malbec and Bourgeois),

CHAP. VI GENERAL REMARKS 263

though it certainly is used for apes. And this is
probably, as Geiger suggests, the reason why the
part struck by a poisoned arrow is usually excised
before the game so killed is cooked and eaten — a
practice which is doubtless of far more importance in
the case of some of these poisons {e.g. tieute) than it
is in the case of the others.

The arrow and dart poison called " Ipoh " by the
Malays has obtained its native name from the fact that
the two chief substances which (either separately or
in combination) form its basis are derived from plants y^
distinguished, the one as the Ipoh tree (Aniiaris), and
the other as the Ipoh creeper {Strychnos). Derris
elliptica or " tuba,*' on the other hand, is but rarely
used, so that the poison-mixture almost invariably
contains one or other of the Ipoh's as its main
ingredient. The action of these two chief poisons is
very different, and the choice of one or the other is,
as has already been pointed out, dictated by the
circumstances of supply. Incomparably the most
famous of these two ingredients is, however, the sap
of the Ipoh o r Upas tree , which owes its notoriety
to the inventions or exaggerations with which Foersch
once ** amused the credulity of Europe."

The deadly exhalations attributed to the Ipoh tree
{Antiaris) certainly have, as has long been proved, no
foundation whatever in fact, at all events so far as the
tree itself is concerned.

But it seems, on the other hand, well worth
pointing out that the sap of the ** RSngas *' tree
certainly produces at the least contact (as is well
known locally) an extraordinary inflammation of the
skin. When I was residing at Klang in Selangor,
there was a fine Rgngas tree growing at the back of

a64 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part ii

my house, and one day, not dreaming of the con-
sequences, I ordered my Boyanese sais to climb the
tree and lop off a few small branches which obscured
the view. This he did, not knowing the tree, the
result being that both his face and his hands quickly
became inflamed and swollen beyond all recognition,
and I was obliged to send him to hospital for treat-
ment. This fact about the R6ngas tree sap is well
known in Malaya, and taking it in conjunction with the
fact that Rfingas sap often forms one of the ingredients
of Ipoh poison, I cannot help thinking that here we
have a quite possible source of the Upas-tree fable.^

Ingredients of the Poison,

The proper proportions of the ingredients used in
making the dart-poison of the wild tribes have doubt-
less been ascertained by centuries of trial, and are
now in many cases handed down from father to son.
Although, however, the basis of the poison may be
the same among all the members of a given tribe, the
exact proportions, and even the exact ingredients,
forming the *' blend " vary to a very great extent with
the individual and (of course) with the locality and the
season, and hence any conclusions reached must be
necessarily general ones.^

^ For an actual legend of the Upas-tree got in exchange from the Malays, were

type, see the Besisi tradition in vol. ii. mixed up together. It thus came to

' According to M. - Maclay the pass that the dart-poison not only of

chief ingredient of this poison was every tribe, but of every individual of

the juice of the well-known Upas tree each tribe, was made up of different

of the Javanese, the Antiaris toxicaria, materials, and that in consequence of

With this juice a great many other sub- this the effects were very various. The

stances were mixed, the number and effect on man was certainly very deadly

nature of which depended partly on and very rapid : thoroughly trustworthy

chance, and partly on the science of Malays in different parts of the Penin-

the preparer. TTie poison fangs of sula told him that they knew from

different kinds of snakes, the juices of actual observation that a man who had

a number of trees and fruits, even been wounded by it was not able even

arsenic, which the 'Hame'* aborigines to finish his *<sirih" (betel-chewing).

CHAP. VI GENERAL REMARKS 265

Even Vaiighan-Stevens, who talks of the "real arrow
poison " as if it were a certain definite composition
(instead of a set of compositions), states that indi-
viduals of the same tribe disagree as to the proper
composition of the poison, and that if a man dreams of
killing a beast even with some perfectly harmless
substance, he will in future add this to the ingredients
which make up his own particular " blend" of the
poison in question.^

Miscellaneous Ingredients.

The employment of pepper, tobacco, capsicum,
onion, and other comparatively harmless ingredients
may be due (vide Geiger, p. 18) to the fact of their
pungent qualities being regarded as likely to produce
inflammation. According to Van Hasselt, on the
other hand, they are added to give the poison the
desired consistency, but this does not seem very
probable. Scorpions* stings and snakes' fangs, etc.,
are also added to the mixture, as well as Pangium
edule, Reinw., which contains prussic acid. In this last
case, however, as well as in that of some of the other
ingredients just mentioned, Geiger points out that the
poisonous principle is almost certainly evaporated by
boiling, and it may well be that some of the substances
aforesaid are employed rather for magical than for
pharmacological reasons.

Use of Mineral Poisons.
Geiger further informs us (p. 18) that no single poison
(of all those that he investigated) showed the slightest

but was seized with violent cramps very rapid effect, even when adminis-
and severe vomitings, and so died. In tered in very small doses {/. H. A. S,t

experiments that M. - Maclay S, B., No. 2, pp. 213, 214).
niade upon animals the poison had a ^ ii. 128. Cp. also il loS.

266 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part n

« chemical trace of either arsenic or antimony in its
composition. Hence he elects to consider them as
pure plant poisons. On the other hand, the weight of
native testimony (of all kinds) as to the addition of
arsenic to these poisons is so universal and over-
whelming, that I am inclined to think we have not yet
quite got to the bottom of the matter, though in the
view of Mr. L. Wray it is the use of arsenic by the
Malays, in the cleaning of their kris (and other)
blades, that has given rise to these reports. " As a
dart-poison ** (Mr. Wray writes me), " arsenic would
be useless, and it is not found in the Peninsula in a
state in which even the Malays could extract it from
its ores." It is sold in the bazaars, however, and may
be used for special purposes ; e.g. in shooting tigers.

Durability.

As regards the durability of Ipoh poison, Geiger
is doubtless right in ascribing the conflicting reports
which characterise it in that respect to the variability
of the ingredients composing the poison.^ There is
almost certainly a great difference in durability
between the poison obtained from the Upas creeper
and that of the Upas tree.

Effect of the Poison.

Small birds or mammals when struck by a dart
coated at the point with poison of an average
strength are killed almost instantaneously, but bigger
ones take, as a rule, some minutes to die. In the
case of the largest and strongest monkeys the effect
of the same (average) poison may take a quarter of

^ Geiger, p. 24. The chemical the scope of this book, is AiUy treated
aspect of the question, which is beyond by Geiger, ioc. cU.

CHAP. VI GENERAL REMARKS 267

an hour or perhaps rather longer. In all cases the
time which elapses before the animal dies depends
naturally upon the strength of the poison which has
been used.^

In the words of De Morgan, *'a man or (big)
animal," struck by one of these poisoned arrows, feels
for several minutes nothing but the pain of the wound.
This is followed by muscular spasms and vomiting,
and death follows in a few (more) minutes, if a strong
preparation of the poison has been used. If, how-
ever, the poison is no longer fresh (or in any way too
weak), the agony lasts for several hours, in the course
of which the wound inflames and acquires a bluish
tinge.*

Vaughan-Stevens says that apes and gibbons when
struck run a little further through the branches and
then fall down in about twenty minutes — less if Upas
(Ipoh) is added to the poison. Old men (of the wild
tribes) say that Ipoh makes the poison spread more
rapidly through the blood. Ipoh acts instantaneously
even when hard and dry ; without it the poison works
much more slowly.^

Antidotes.

The antidotes mentioned by Geiger (p. 26 seqq.)

consist of certain plant-roots,* the leaf-stalks of a tree

called ** pule," ^ the chewed root of Hemandia sonoray

L. ; as well as that of Ophioxylon serpentinum^ L., and

* Cp. J. A. G. Campbell (p. 241): arrows of the Semang bow, but
"For a large bird (as a horn- the Upas poison is used for these
bill) or a monkey it takes about a as well as for the darts of the blow-
quarter of an hour for the poison to pipe.

work, after which time the animal ' ii. 128 ; andcp. Wray,/. A, /. Lc,

falls to the ground ; with small birds * E,g. those of Crinum asiaticum^

or beasts the poison is almost in- L., or Radix ioxicaria^ Dutch,

stantaneous. " ^ Sic ( ? sipulih) = Alstonia scholaris^

* Dc Morgan (vii 417; V Homme, Br. In Malay **pulih" = ** return to
ii. 621) is here writing of the poisoned life."

268 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part ii

Andira Horsfieldi, Lesch. {Papilionacea:), as well as
certain indescribable emetics such as that referred to
by Friar Odoricus.^

To these may be added the plant called ** crab's-
fat " (** I6mak kgpiting ")* mentioned by Newbold, and
common salt, which is also (according to De Morgan)
occasionally referred to as an antidote. According to
the Malays, a particular kind of black maize if applied
to the wound will act as a remedy. Some such
substance may possibly be of use as an absorbent
where a very mild preparation of poison is used, but as
a rule the aborigines declare that the only remedy is to
cut out the part affected immediately, whenever the
strongest preparation of the poison (for which there
is no known antidote) is used. This, however, is
seldom possible, because even at a distance of from
20 to 30 yards the aboriginal can drive his dart into
the flesh up to the butt.*

I. — Semang.
Stone Implements — Knives and Hatchets.
The attempt of Vaughan- Stevens to identify
certain stone implements, of which he obtained models,
with tools of East Semang or Pangan workmanship,
can hardly be sustained, for the reasons already set
forth, and it may, I think, be taken as a certainty that
no branch of the Negrito race in the Malay Peninsula
has ever arrived at a sufficiently advanced stage of
civilisation to enable them to produce the highly
finished neolithic implements that are so common in
the Peninsula. On the other hand, it is exceedingly
probable that the Semang, like their Andamanese

> Odorici Lib, p. 21. * Newbold, ii. 403.

' Vaughan-Stevens, ii. 128.

CHA?. VI NEGRITOS OF KEDAH 269

cousins, formerly employed both chips and flakes of
stone for various cutting purposes, as well as the
simple two- stone apparatus which with the Anda-
manese takes the place of hammer and anvil.

Slivers of bamboo, again, were and still are un-
doubtedly used by the Semang as knife-blades^ and
spear-heads, whilst long needles and other boring
instruments are made of bone or wood.

For filing the teeth (Malay fashion) the Pangan
employ a piece of sandstone.

The iron knives ("pisau"), choppers ("parang"
or "golok"), and hatchets (*' b*liong "), ordinarily
employed by the Semang, are undoubtedly all of
Malay origin, and are usually made by Malays, or by
Chinamen following the ordinary Malay patterns,
and have nothing particularly distinctive about them,
which probably accounts for their being omitted from
the accounts given by the usual authorities. I have
ventured to draw attention to them, however, because
even in cases where the blade may be actually of
Malay manufacture, yet both the helve (or shaft) and
its rattan lashings may be, and no doubt often are,
distinctive of the race, and as such would repay any
attention that might be given them. Indeed, I have
often been informed by Malays that the axe-fastenings
of the aborigines could be easily distinguished from
those employed by the Malays in the same neighbour-
hood.

The Malay dagger, or "kris," and the "Tower
musket " have both found their way to some extent
into the hands of the Semang, by whom they —
especially the latter — are greatly prized.

' Mr. G. C. Bellamy has sent me a of Ulu Jelei, Pahang; cp. p. 249,
boDe-hafted knife, from the " Pangan " ante, «. 2.

270 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part n

The Spear,

Kedah Semang. — Hardly any writer, except De
J Morgan, mentions the use of the spear by the Negritos
(Semang), though many talk of their bows and blow-
pipes. It is, however, interesting to find that the
Semang of Kedah have a word of their own for the
spear, and that their name for it ^ is totally different
both from the word used by the Sakai * and that used
by the Jakun and Malays.*

A spear which was collected among the Semang
tribes of Upper Perak (Gunong Sapi) by Grubauer,
and which is now in the Ethnographical Museum at
Cambridge, measured 5 3^ in. ( 1 307 mm., over-all length)
by about i in. (25 mm.) in diameter at the thickest part.

Its shaft was made of some tough and heavy
wood, and had received a certain amount of polishing.
The upper end of the shaft tapered to a point, which
its owner had evidently been in the habit of planting
in the ground. Its blade, which was of iron, measured
6^ inches (153 mm.) from point to shoulder, and a
little less than an inch {ca. 20 mm.) in width.

The Bow,
Kedah Semang. — The Semang living at Siong were
evidently quite familiar with the bow, as they described
it to me minutely in every detail, but they told me
that they had now given up using it. It is quite
possible, on the other hand, that they were concealing
their bows, as they are known not unfrequently to do.
The bow (** loydd ") that they once used (and of which

' ** Ad.'* For De Morgan's account support the view that the Sakai leamt

cp. Vff, ii. 618. the use of the spear from the aboriginal

« "Tarok" (Senoi dialect); "W- Malayan tribes,

lush " (Tembeh dialect) : both of which » "Lembing" or **bolos"— con-

words are of Malayan origin, and thus nected with Mai. **buloh"=:banbQO.

JfitjtletJC

De Morgan,

Semang Implements.

I. Semang bow. 2, 3. Arrows. 3 a. Transverse section of shaft. 4. Arrowhead with two barbs.
S- Butt-end of arrow showing vanes and notch. 6. Arrows in their quiver. 7, 8. Bamboo tubes used
2S poison receptacles. 9, 10. Spears with bamboo heads. 11, 12. Spears with iron heads. 13. Cane.
M«, 14^. Bamboo fishing receptacles. 15. Large bamboo water-tube with arm. 16, 16 a. Wooden
plaie. X7. Small box or receptacle made from the hard outer part of the " kapayang " fruit. 18.
Bamboo whistle. 19,20. Flute*. 21. Bamboo "guitar" with strings made by raising the skin of the
Wboo itself, and inserting wedges beneath them. 22. Drum with wooden barrel, and headed with
slcin tightened by wooden wedges. 23. Bamboo Jew's-harp. 24, 24 a, b, Flint and steel, with bamlxx)
receptacle.— De Morgan in L'H. 25th October 1885, p. 619.

Vol. /. p, 970.

[■^

'i.

CHAP. VI NEGRITOS OF KEDAH 271

they made me a model) was, they said, roughly speaking,
*' a fathom and a half " in height (probably 2.1 m. to
2.4 m.), and was made of a kind of wood called, in
the Semang dialect, " tSmSkih." The string was of
twisted jungle-fibre and the arrows ("wong loydd")
were of bamboo with barbed iron heads.

I was further informed that the string was made from
carefully twisted strands of tree-bark, greased and waxed,^
and the arrow-shafts from an intemode of bamboo.

The same informants told me that the shafts of the
arrows are often decorated with incised patterns, and
have barbed-iron points which fit into a socket at the
end of the shaft. This part of the shaft is bound
round with a thin sliver of rattan, and the point is so
fitted into it that any wounded animal that tries to
rid itself of the arrow (by rubbing itself against the
brushwood) may succeed in breaking off the shaft, but
will leave the point sticking in the wound. A wound
from this point, moreover (which is crusted with
several coatings of Upas poison), soon kills its victim.
The arrow is usually winged with feathers of the
hornbill, and the point is rudely forged by pounding
a red-hot piece of iron between two large stones.

Perak Semang. — The Semang (of Perak) have a
very powerful bow and iron-barbed arrows, with which
they kill the largest game.^ It is usually about 7 ft.
(2. 1 m.) in length, and the iron heads of the arrows,
which are given a high finish, are of good workman-
ship, and poisoned.' Mr. L. Wray writes me that
the arrow-heads (of the Perak Semang) are made of

* De M., who confirms this {VH, ii. = feathers or •* vane " ; and " go " =

618), adds that sinews of wild animals quiver. The bow isof *Mbul" wood, and

(deer or bull) are also used for the cord. 2 metres in length, with a curvature of

' Swett. p. 228. According to 0.30 m. The arrow b 90 cm. in

Dc M. "5k"— bow; "ya6" = bow- length. For further details, cp.

string; " loi ** = arrow-point ; **preg" LH, ii. 618. ' Hale, p. 290.

272 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part ii

hard wood, of thin sheet-iron cut from meat-tins, etc.
(mounted in wood), and also of forged iron, and that
he has sent specimens of all these kinds to the
British Museum from Selama and Upper Perak.

Mr. Wray further states that, besides the blowpipe-
darts, the Semang used bows with poisoned arrows.
These arrows had detachable fore-shafts, with either
barbed-iron or hard wooden heads. The heads are
about 2 in. in length by f in. in breadth (50 mm. by
19 mm.), and are thickly coated, except near the point,
with poison. Mr. Wray had not seen the effect of
one of these arrows on an animal, but the Semang
amongst whom he lived for about three months on one
occasion said that they were able to kill pig, sambhur
deer, wild oxen, and even rhinoceros with them, and
as he saw bones of these animals at their camps, there
appeared to be no reason to doubt the truth of the
statement. It was asserted that a deer would drop
in from 30 to 40 yards (27 m. to 36 m.) after being
struck by an arrow, the rapidity of the action of the
poison depending on the vascularity of the portion
of the body pierced by the arrow.^

But the best idea of the Semang bow can be
formed from the description of two specimens which
were collected in Perak by Grubauer on his recent
expedition to the Malay Peninsula, and which were
purchased from him by me on behalf of the Cam-
bridge University Museum.

The first of these two bows, the stock of which
was made of a light-coloured but tough kind of wood,
measured 77 in. (over-all length) by i in. (1957 mm.
by 25 mm.) in thickness at the handle, and the
shoulders, which took the knots at each extremity of

^ /.A,I, vol. xxi. (1892), pp. 477, 478. Cp. UHomme^ ii, 6 1 8.

CHAP. VI NEGRITOS OF PERAK 273

the bow-cord, were 3 in. (76 mm.) from the tip of the
stock at the lower end, and i^ in. (38 mm.) from the tip
at the other. The length of the cord, which was made
of stout twisted jungle-fibre (probably manufactured
from the bark of the artocarpus or " t'rap " tree), was
about 68 in. (1907 mm.) from knot to knot.

The second bow was made of a different kind of
wood, which was of a dark brown colour, and polished.
Its over-all length was 71 in. (1983 mm.), and it was
rather thicker at the handle (i^ in. = 38 mm.); the
distance from the extreme upper tip to the shoulder
taking the upper knot of the bow -cord was i^ in.
(38 mm.); the corresponding measurement at the
lower extremity being 2 in. (5 cm.), and the length of
the cord itself, from knot to knot, 63 in. (160 cm.).

Together with the bows just described were a
couple of quivers containing poisoned arrows. Each
of these quivers was made from a bamboo internode,
the lower knot of which formed the bottom of the
quiver, but neither had any sort of cover or lid, the
projecting butt-ends of the arrows preventing it.

The body of the first quiver was made from a
particular kind of bamboo which appeared to me to
resemble the kind called " buluh kasap." It bore no
decoration of any description, and its diameter was
i^ in. ('38 mm.), its length being 19^ in. (484 mm.).
In this latter measurement, however, is not included
a projecting spike which served as a foot when
planted in the ground, and which, in the present case,
measured 5 in. (126 mm.) in addition; so that its
over-all length was 24^ in. (611 mm.).

Its contents were a couple of arrows and one long

hornbill feather measuring 14^ in. (344 mm.) in length.

The length of the first arrow (over-all) was 40 in.

VOL. I T

274 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS fart ii

(loi cm.), and its diameter two-fifths of an inch (i cm.).
The shaft was of bamboo, and the arrow was made on
the harpoon principle ; that is to say, its head was fitted
into a short wooden socket-piece with a sharp upper
end which fitted into the hollow at the lower extremity
of the shaft or "stele," so that the head could be
drawn out without difficulty when required. The
head itself was of iron, and was thickly coated with a
dark brown (almost black) incrustation of Upas poison.
It had only a single barb, which before it was caked
over with the crust of poison must have been about
an inch in length, and had been fitted into the socket-
piece by a whipping of some strong but fine jungle-
fibre (probably the strong thread-like fibres of the
"langkap" palm, or some allied material). The
entire length of the head (including the socket-piece)
was II in. (28 cm.), and the latter was nicked all
round at the point where it joined the shaft.^

At the butt-end of the shaft was the rounded nock,
about a fifth of an inch (5 mm.) deep, and just below
this nock was the outermost of the two fastenings of
the feathers, the precise object of which latter is not
very clear. The feathers used are those of the horn-
bill, and only two are used at a time. The quill
having been split, the feather is divided, half being
attached to one side of the shaft and half to the other,
by means of two lashings, one close to the nock (as
described) and the other about a quarter of the way
down the shaft, the exact length of the feathering being
8^ in. (204 mm.). But the extraordinary part about
the feathering of these arrows is that the web of each

1 For a Semang quiver, v, VII, ii. could not be ascertained in the case

618. of these first two arrows, since the

* The exact method by which the juncture was entirely concealed by

head was fitted into the socket -piece the lashing.

CHAP. VI NEGRITOS OF PERAK 275.

feather is clipped right up to the quill, so that it can
have only the very slightest effect upon the flight of the
arrow. Moreover, the two webs are affixed (all that
is left of them) at a convergent angle, and the question
which at once suggests itself, in view of this peculiar
method of fastening them, is whether the Semang
really understand the principle of feathering, and
whether they do not rather employ it either as the
mutilated survival of more intelligent methods, or
perhaps make use of it for solely magical reasons.
At all events, the probability that they do not
understand the principle is borne out by the in^
dependent observations of Vaughan-Stevens, in con-
tinuation of the passage quoted below ; and the
(apparently inevitable) conclusion that in the Semang
we have a race of archers who employ feathering, but
do not understand its elementary principles, is a
sufficiently remarkable fact, and one which may
perhaps be taken as showing the extreme simplicity
of the civilisation that we find among them. I
should add that the only part of this arrow which is
decorated is the part covered by the feathering, which
has a large number of incised rings cut round it.

The second arrow (of the first quiver) was like ta
the first, from which it only differed slightly in
respect of its measurements. Its shaft, for instance,.
was 37^ in. (897 mm.), over-all length, and two-
fifths of an inch (i cm.) in diameter. The length of the
feathering, including the lashings, was 8^ in. (210-
mm.), and the web was clipped off as above de-
scribed. The iron head, which was single-barbed, like
that of the first arrow, was, however, a trifle shorter.

The second quiver, — which is decorated with a
number of concentric rings and a bold geometrical

276 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part ii

design consisting of two rows of triangles, with con-
verging points (called ** puchok rSbong " or the " bam-
boo-shoot" pattern), and below this with a pattern
consisting of a number of the concentric and conterminal
curves, known to the Semang as the **hawk's-eye
pattern'* ("mata lang"), — measured 24^ in. (611
mm.) over-all, the projecting spike or foot being 8^
in. (204 mm.), and if in. (35 mm.) in diameter.

There were no loose feathers inside it, but four
arrows, whose over-all lengths were 32^ in. (814
mm.), 34^ in. (864 mm.), 33^ in. (834 mm.), and, again,
32^ in. respectively, with a length of feathering varying
from 7 to 7^ in. (177 mm. to 200 mm.). In diameter
they were a fraction less than the arrows contained in
the first quiver, but the only important respect in which
they differed consisted in the treatment of the head.

Two of these arrows were of the same type
(roughly speaking) as those in the first quiver ; ue.
their iron points were spliced into a short wooden
socket-piece, which latter in its turn was inserted into
the hollow end of the bamboo shaft. Between these
two the only noticeable difference lay in the manner
in which the juncture had been effected between the
wooden socket-piece and the iron point ; in the first
case the spike of the iron point had been driven into
the socket-piece (which latter had been bored out on
purpose to take it), the two parts of the head being
bound very firmly together at the point of junction with
a lashing of split rattan coated with resin ; in the second
case the juncture was effected by setting the spike of
the iron arrow-head between two short prong-like
projections (of the socket -piece), somewhat on the
** rat's-tail" principle, and binding the two parts
round as before.

NEGRITOS OF PERAK

277

Both these two arrows are single-barbed, and are
decorated, like those contained in the first quiver,
with a number of incised rings between the two
extremities of the feathered portion of the shaft.

The remaining two arrows of the second quiver,
which have not yet been described, are much more
roughly made, and make no pretension to any skill
of workmanship. In both of them the iron spike of
the arrow-head is inserted into the hollow at the
bottom of the shaft direct, and they are entirely un-
provided with the wooden socket -piece or holder
present in all the other specimens. Also, they are
quite undecorated.

I think there can be no doubt that these last two
arrows have been hurriedly made, for use, perhaps,
in an emergency, and that they are less typical of the
arrows ordinarily used by the Semang than those
which have received the greater care and finish.

According to Vaughan - Stevens, the feathers of
the rhinoceros bird (** tekub ") are used as a charm to
make the arrow fatal when it is employed against the
tiger, and only tiger-arrows are so equipped.^

Vaughan-Stevens further remarks that this feather-
ing is not adopted to make " the arrow fly straight as
in Europe,'* or at least that the Semang does not
understand the principle involved in it. " The
feather is stuck in the middle of the shaft, and its
vane may point either forwards or backwards, and
it does not matter how it happens to be fastened
on." When Vaughan-Stevens pointed out that the
arrow, when released (if the vane pointed forwards),
would offer resistance to the wind and flutter sharply
towards the left, the Semang replied that if the

* Vaughan-Stevens, iii. 135.

278 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part u

"wing" of the feather pointed backwards, it would
be " compressed '* (?) when in actual use. Vaughan-
Stevens further remarks, somewhat naively, that, " at
all events, as a tiger is always attacked at a distance
of a few yards only, an exact aim is of little con-
sequence " ! ^

The feathers are of five types, which are con-
sidered to be of varying values. In one the full
breadth of the wing is cut down whenever it is
required for use. The least valuable kind is only
used if the better sorts are rare or unobtainable. In
one sort the feather is split with a chopper (" parang "),
an operation which requires the greatest care and
precision.^

In order to make the feathers more effective, the
Putto is said in ancient times to have pronounced a
charm over them, but nobody now knows this charm,
for the Puttos are long ago dead and gone.*

The illustrations which accompany the foregoing
account represent the following objects : — (a) quiver as
used by the Semang, not for hunting but on his
travels through the jungle. It does not contain more
than ten arrows, which are, however, of different
sorts, two being tiger-arrows ; {b) quiver with magic
rings ; {c) obsolete tiger-arrow, headed with bamboo ;
{d) and {e) other types of arrows.*

The decorated bamboo quiver, which holds only
three or four arrows, terminates in a point which
enables it to be planted in the ground, and is either
simply carried in the hand, or passed through the
back of the wearer's belt.^

1 Vaughan-Stevens, ilL 135.
2846 Ibid.

CHAP. VI NEGRITOS OF PERAK 279

Preparation of the Poison.

Perak Semang. — The methods employed in pre-
paring the arrow-poison of the Perak Semang are
identical with those used for the manufacture of poison
for their blowpipe-darts.

De Morgan states that a coating of poison is
applied directly to the arrow-head, which is dried over
the fire like the wooden spatula, when it is covered
with the dart-poison. A considerable number of
coatings (of poison) are applied, so that the arrow-
head gets thickly encrusted with it.^

The same writer's account of the effects of the
poison, which of course vary considerably with its
strength and that of the victim, has already been
given, and so need not here be repeated.^ -

The ordinary range at which the Semang bow is
used is from 30 to 40 paces (23 m. to 30 m.) — no
greater than that of the blowpipe. The actual
distance, however, to which the arrows will carry is
something much greater ; De Morgan, in fact, places
it at about 150 metres.*

This same authority states, and here he is in
complete accordance with what I have heard from
the Negritos myself, that these arrows are employed
by the Semang for attacking all kinds of animals, not
only monkeys and birds, but big and dangerous game
such as the elephant, rhinoceros, and the tiger. And
although Vaughan - Stevens alleges that they are
employed for tigers only, the statement of De Morgan
is undoubtedly, I think, the right one.*

Patau! Semang. — Of the bow used by the Eastern

' De Morgan, vii. 417. ^ De Morgan, vil 415.

« Supra,*^ 267. * Ibid.

28o WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part ii

Semang, or Pangan, we know little more than what
is contained in the account given by De la Croix.
The Semang of Patani employ instead of the blow-
pipe an immense bow of about 6 to 7 ft. (1.8 m. to
2.1 m.) in length, which is made either of bamboo or
of iron wood, the bow-string being a cord of twisted
rattan.* The arrow, which is 0.70 m. in length, is
made of bamboo, and carries at the butt-end a couple
of feathers, clipped and fitted to it longitudinally, and
at the point an iron blade sharpened and furnished
either with one or with two barbs.^

These arrows, like the darts of the blowpipe, are
always poisoned with " Ipoh.** '

The Blowpipe and Darts.

Kedah Semang. — In addition to their national
V weapon, the bow, the Negritos also very frequently
make use of the bamboo blowpipe, which they have
undoubtedly borrowed from some of their wild neigh-
bours, either Sakai or Jakun.

The blowpipe has received but little elaboration
among the Semang. It consists of a long and delicate
inner tube (which is the actual blowpipe), protected
by an outer tube or casing, which serves the double
purpose of preserving the fragile inner tube from
damage and of keeping it from warping as the sap
dries out of it.*

1 De M. (iii. 42) declares, and I
agree with him, that bamboo is not
used for bows. It is too weak. If the
illustration given by De la Croix on p.
341 of the article here quoted be com-
pared with those of Negrito bows in
Man's Andamanese {VloXe VI. pp. 174,

Andaman Negritos (which difiers widely
from that used by the natives of Great
Andaman) ; and that even the arrows
(though the similarity is less marked
than in the case of the bow) never-
theless show a general resemblance.
* De la Croix, p. 331. • Ibid,

1 7 5)> it will be seen that this Semang ♦ Cp. De Morgan, vii. 415, and

bow is exactly similarto that of the Little Begbie, pp. 5, 6.

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CHAP. VI NEGRITOS OF KEDAH 281

The inner pipe or blow-tube naturally requires to
be absolutely free from any roughness or inequality,
such as might in the least interfere with the propulsion
of the dart. Hence it is manufactured when possible
from a single internode of a particular species of
bamboo, whose stem combines the two essentials of
great length of internode with an extremely small
diameter.^ This plant, however, is very rare, and
has only been recorded hitherto from one or two
mountains in the Peninsula {e.g. G. Inas and others),
and bamboos whose intemodes are of sufficient length
to form a single jointless tube are rarer still ; ^ though
even these are occasionally met with.

Most usually, therefore, the inner tube is composed ^
of two internodes. The node or joint is excised, and
the two extremities brought carefully together and
clamped by means of a closely-fitting sheath (usually
of palm- wood), which is slipped over the two abutting
ends on what may perhaps be called a sort of fish-
plate system.

Up to this point the method of manufacturing the
Semang blowpipe does not differ in any essential from
that employed by the Sakai. The Semang, however,
apparently finds it tpo much trouble to poke out the
central node of the blowpipe case, and to polish it
within (Sakai fashion) by drawing through it the
prickly whip-ends of the rattan. Hence he simply
cuts the outer tube through at the central knot, and
having excised the latter, slips the two portions
of the now bisected casing over the inner tube, and
unites them by a mere splice of the roughest
description. Again, he seldom takes any great

^ Bambusa Wrayi or Umginodis, are also made by the Senoi and Tembeh

^ Cp. Hale, p. 288: sudi weapons (see Vaughan-Stevens, ii. 112).

2B2 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part ii

trouble in decorating or giving a " finish " to the
completed weapon.

Perak Semang. — Another peculiarity about the
Negrito blowpipe is that its mouthpiece is frequently
made of gutta-percha or resin.^

One of the blowpipes that was brought back by
Grubauer from the same district possessed a jointless
inner tube of Bambusa Wrayi, and measured 85^ in.
(217 cm.), over-all length.^ It had a round wooden
mouthpiece of the type found among the Semang in
the northern frontier of Perak and in Kedah. This
specimen is now in the Cambridge Ethnographical
Museum, together with another blowpipe, collected at
the same place and time, the peculiarity of which is
that its mouthpiece is made of a solid lump of resin,
apparently as a substitute for gutta-percha, which is
more frequently used for the mouthpiece by Semang
tribes.

The over-all length of this latter specimen is 80^
in. (204 cm.). It has a spliced inner tube, joined in the
usual way, and it also has what one hardly expects to
find in a Semang blowpipe, viz. the short cylindrical
bamboo block inside the muzzle-end, which is so
commonly used by Sakai tribes, though its exact
raison cCHre is not very clear.

Pangran or East Semangr* — Among the Eastern
Semang (Pangan) the shaft of the blowpipe-dart is
generally of rougher workmanship than it is among
the Sakai. The former manufacture it from the leaf-
stalk of the ** bgrtam " palm {Eugeissona tristis), the
shaft being simply pared down with a knife until it
reaches the dimensions of a rather thick knitting-
needle or **crow quill," when it is generally polished with

> De Morgan, vii. 416 ; VH, ii. 613, 614, ^ See p. 255, if. 4, supra.

Semang Blowpipe Apparatus.

De Morgan.

1,2. Negrito blowpipes. 3. Dart. 4, Poison-spatula. 5. Section of mouih-crid
of a blowpipe, showing dart in position in centre of inner tube, with wad (A') behind
the butt-end (-V) of the dart, /*, A*, 5', being the arrangement for splicing the
inner tul>e, and L, L\ that for joining when necessary the mouthpicce-cnd on to the
outer tube (6, 7). 8. Semang dart-quiver.

Vol. /. /. 282.

CHAP. VI EAST COAST NEGRITOS 283

" tiger's-tongue" leaves ('*m€mplas rimau"), lightly
touched with resin, and fitted into a small cone-shaped /
butt-end. It is then sharpened to a fine point, and
has a slight incision or nick cut all round the shaft at
the commencement of the point. This nick enables
the point (whenever the shaft collides with anything)
to break off short, and thus, bee-like, the dart leaves its
sting in the wound when the quarry tries to escape
through the jungle. It is not, perhaps, going too
far to describe the dart as a sort of human bee-sting,
and it is not impossible that this feature of the wild
man's armoury may have been copied from nature. It
is of course only the point, below the nick, that is
coated with poison.

The point itself is as long and fine as a needle,
but is nevertheless as a rule wonderfully strong,
though this strength naturally depends upon the
qualities of the stem from which it is made. The
conical butt, which steadies the dart in its flight and
assists its momentum, is fitted on to the thicker end
of the dart-shaft, and is made of a species of rattan
(" rotan 'lang **), which is pared down with a knife just
sufficiently to allow it to pass with freedom through
the tube.

As regards the length of the darts, a Semang
named Chintok told me that the Pangan of Ligeh
make use of the foot (from heel to toe) as the re-
cognised standard of length for a blowpipe-dart, but
that longer darts carried both further and truer than
the shorter ones. Another standard which was said
to be in use was the bone of the forearm measured
from the elbow to the little finger-joint.

The quiver in which the Semang kept their
new-made darts was of the simplest possible type.

284 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part ii

consisting of nothing but an intemode ("joint") of
bamboo, which was, however, often highly ornamented
exteriorly,^ but was nevertheless entirely devoid of the
elaborate fittings which are to be found in the quivers
used by the Sakai.

Preparation of the Poison.

Kedah Semangr. — The following is a detailed
account of the method employed by the Semang for
tapping the Upas tree. During my stay at Siong
(in the interior of Kedah), a Semang named Padang
went out one morning to collect Upas poison for his
darts, and I was allowed to accompany him. He took
with him a poison receptacle made out of a bamboo
intemode (it was about one foot long, and just big
enough in diameter to admit a man's thumb), a jungle-
knife or chopper (" golok "), and a small lump of wax
obtained from the comb of a small wild bee.* A
few yards away from the hut, in heavy jungle, he
stopped in front of a fine tree from 40 to 60 ft. (12 m.
to 18 m.) high, and with smooth bark not unlike an
English beech. This was a specimen of the Upas
tree. Picking a leaflet of the low-growing " bSrtam "
palm,* he cut off a part of it, taking a strip of leaf
about 9 inches long. This strip he affixed by means
of the wax to the stem of the tree. He then vigorously
slashed the bark of the tree with the chopper,
cutting a succession of lai^e V-shaped marks, one
above the other, in the bark. This process, he de-
clared, was dangerous, from the liability of the sap to
spurt into and blind the operator's eyes. The poison,
however, is a blood poison, and there does not appear

1 Cp. LH, ii. 617 (illustration). » Mai. '*kelulut."

3 Eugeissona tristis^ Griff. {PcUma),

CHAP. VI NEGRITOS OF KEDAH 285

to be any real danger, as even the practice of cutting
out the flesh surrounding the wound, before eating
an animal which has been killed with a blowpipe-
dart, does not appear to be practised universally,^ and
there is probably no great harm in the poison unless
(as stated) when it gets into the blood.*

To return to the subject, another Semang (named
Chintok) showed me how to apply the poison to the
darts. This process was usually performed over one of
the numerous hearth-fires within the palm-leaf shelter,
but on the present occasion it was performed outside.
Chintok took the bamboo containing the poison, and
borrowing a fire-log from his own hearth, settled down
quietly to the work. Having first poured the poison
into the bamboo tray (formed from a diagonal section
of a big stem of bamboo), he next took up a little of
the liquid in a primitive kind of bamboo ladle, and
pouring it out upon a broad wooden spatula, com-
menced to toast the latter at the fire, working up
the poison with a small bamboo spatula. When first
deposited on the spatula, the poison was very fairly
liquid, and of a light brown, liver, or coffee colour, but
Chintok continued to heat it until it became of a
very rich, dark ''Vandyke" brown, little (if at all)
lighter than the dried poison which is still to be seen
on the darts. As soon as it had sufficiently thickened
and browned, Chintok rolled the tip of each of the

1 For an exception see Borie (tr. sap, and for experiment have lain along

Bonrien), p. 78 (of the Mantra). the trunk, sleeping there for a whole

* The wild tribes certainly appear, or night, without its having the slightest

pretend to be, very much afraid of the effect on me. I have held my head

tree, but on this point Vaughan-Stevens close over the boiling sap and breathed

says : " I have myself felled four, have the strongly • smelling steam for an

spent three to four hours sitting on the hour together without getting even a

trunk, and waited till the sap flowed headache, and I never felt a burning if

oat of the cut rings, have had my I put the juice on my skin or any Irri-

hands and arms quite sticky with the tation in the eyes" (V.-St. iL 112}.

286 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part ii

darts in turn in it until they acquired a thick, coagu-
lated clot about the point, which extended as high
as the nick already referred to. The darts, thus
poisoned, were dried in the sun, being made to lean
against a stick or log, with the points directed upwards.

It was alleged by the Semang that the ^'blackening"
of the dart would render it less visible when in use,
but even if the assertion were true, it seems hardly
necessary. Yet some of the Semang maintained that
the dart-point (when coated with the poison) is regu-
larly " blackened " by being smoked either over a fire
or in torch-smoke. Possibly, however, the reason of
the popularity of the black tint may be merely that it
shows that the dart has been well dried.

The poison used is of several strengths, which
vary according to the kind of quarry which it is de-
signed to kill. Chintok informed me that when it was
used in its full strength a thin line was burnt across
the butt-end thus, © ; but that when the poison used
is of inferior strength (as it would be if designed for
small game or birds), no mark was made on it.

None of the Kedah Semang were in the habit of
mixing anything with the Upas poison. This, how-
ever, was due (they said) to the fact that they used
poison derived direct from the Upas tree {Antiaris),
which can be utilised without any further admixture,
whereas other Semang tribes, e.g. those north of the
Plus, employed the Upas creeper (**ipoh akar," or
**ipoh gunong"), which has been identified with
Strychnos tieute {BL Loganiacea)}

The cuticle or bark of this latter plant is (by the
Semang north of the Plus) shredded and boiled till it

» Sec Ridley's Plant-List, s,v. «*Ipoh." Cp. also J. A. G. CampbeU,
p. 241.

CHAP. VI NEGRITOS OF KEDAH 287

becomes sufficiently thickened for use, but they believe
the fumes of the boiling liquor to be so poisonous that
they sit yards away from the pot during the operation.*

According to Vaughan- Stevens, the Ipoh by
Itself does not kill in twenty-five cases out of thirty,
and, in the other five, does so only through the pier-
cing of an artery or other vital part. This statement,
however, must be received with caution, as the poison
is not required to kill, but merely to bring down the
quarry, which is usually followed up and despatched
by hand,* the strength of the poison used naturally
varying greatly according to the resisting power of
the object struck. If the quarry, e.g. a small bird, were
allowed to fall dead in thick jungle, it would certainly
be hard to retrieve, whereas when it is wounded and
trying to escape through the jungle, it can be tracked
more easily (from a native point of view) by the rustling
it makes. Moreover, the aborigines naturally husband
their scanty stock of poison as far as possible, and
seldom if ever waste their ammunition.*

The question of antidotes has been much debated,
but the only one that the Semang of Kedah could
si^gest was the eating of earth mixed with "asam

* For a similar instance of the based not on the Ipoh creeper (5'/ry^^«^^)
use of the tree-Ipoh poison alone, see but on the tree Ipoh ; and as no men-
Hale, p. 289. See also De Morgan tion is made of Strychnos ("Blay")
(Z'JET. ii. 620), who is perfectly clear on being added to it, and Vaughan-
the point, and bears out what I my- Stevens himself adds that even for large
self independently observed. De birds the •* Ipoh " itself was sufficient,
Moigan remarks that ** if they require the conclusion is obvious. Moreover,
a less - powerful poison, they employ on p. 107 he distinctly implies that in
the sap of the Ipoh trUy with the some cases only AnHaris poison is em-
addition of the sap of certain small ployed.

roots (*tubercules'), or even the sap ' Cp. Z. /. E, xxvi. 169, where

of the Ipoh by itself." monkeys wounded by one of these darts

But the most conclusive evidence on are described as being despatched by

thb point is that of Vaughan-Stevens the chopper (*• parang"),

himself, according to whose account the ' Cp. VH. ii. 617, where we are told

poison of the Benua-Jakun tribes is they never shoot at a moving object.

288 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part ii

klubi " (an acid jungle fruit), but this does not seem to
agree with the Sakai and Jakun prejudice, which is
directed against the eating of acid fruit with the flesh
of animals killed by the dart. On the other hand, the
eating of the earth would no doubt in itself be good.

Perak Semangr* — De la Croix quotes^ from Sir
Hugh Low's journal the results of some experiments
with Ipoh poison which Sir H. Low had carried out.
He quotes, inter alia, Sir Hugh Low's remark to the
effect that the Semang informed him that in preparing
their poison they mixed the sap of the tree- Ipoh with
that of a particular kind of climbing plant, and that
they then dried it immediately on a spatula over the
fire, no further preparation being required.*

Sir Hugh Low is further quoted as writing that
on a particular day one Lela Perkasa had just brought
him some fresh sap from an Ipoh tree growing near-
by, the trunk of which had been cut down, and that
in view of previous experiences, he (Sir H. Low) had
the poison prepared in his own presence.*

The man began by making a small wooden spatula,
on which he spread successive layers of the poison.
This he dried gradually over a slow fire, or rather over
hot embers, the substance immediately turning a nut-
brown colour. He assured Sir Hugh that the poison
was thus carried on the spatula, and that when it vras
required for use it was only necessary to moisten the
point of the arrow and rub it over the poison.*

The tree which furnished the sap had been cut
down, but young branches had sprouted since, and those
that he brought in proved that it was essentially the
same as an artocarpus, from which Sir H. had obtained

* Sir H. Low, quoted by De la Croix, p. 331.
'** Ibid, Cp. VHommt^ ii. 620-622.

CHAP. VI NEGRITOS OF PERAK 289

some poison some time back on the banks of the
Plus.^

After describing further experiments with the
poison, Sir H. Low remarks that Lela Perkasa had
assured him that the sap of the Ipoh creeper, when
not quite fresh (as in the previous day's experiments),
could not produce so rapid an effect as that which had
been prepared the same morning.^

Lela Perkasa further stated that the sap of the
Ipoh' was absolutely innocuous until it had been
heated as above described. When a stronger poison
is required, the sap of the Ipoh is mixed with sap
obtained from the roots of a plant called ** l6kir "
("lekyer" — a common AmorphophaUus). A tenth
part of this latter added to the mixture will make the
poison strong enough to kill a rhinoceros or a tiger ;
if it merely touches the skin it will raise a blister, and
hence they are afraid to keep it ready-made for fear of
accidents. There is another plant called **gadong,"
which is described as a species of wild yam, and
whose sap increases the activity of the poisonous
principle of Ipoh ; yet Lela Perkasa declared that
none of these saps is poisonous in the state in which
it is gathered from the tree, but requires admixture
and heating over a slow fire. This operation, he
said, should only be performed in the jungle, and in
the presence of not more than two persons.*

The " l€kir " has a stem about 9 feet high. The
leaves, which branch into three separate parts, are
from 4-5 feet long. The stem of the biggest, though
not yet quite full grown, was 4 inches (" pouces ") in

^ Sir H. Low, quoted by De la meant For Vaughan-Stevens' experi-
^^«» P" 331- * -^^« ments with the sap, see p. 287, n. i.

5 Probably the Ipoh tne is here * Sir H. Low, loc, cit, p. 333.

VOL. I U

290 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part ii

diameter, and was variously coloured with shades of
brown, green, and grey. The blossom is white, and
only appears when the leaf and stem are already dead.
At the moment of expansion it emits an intolerable
odour, resembling that of putrefying matter. The
lower part of the blossom continues to shoot up as
the ends ripen. Sir Hugh had seen it reach a height
of 4 feet and with pericarps (J) more than a foot
long. He had also had brought him a specimen of
*'gadong," which was a thorny creeper with trefoil
leaves, growing out of a bunch of slightly flattened
roots.^

Yet another excellent account of the methods of
poisoning the dart-points, as practised by the Perak
Semang, is that given by Mr. Wray, who states that
he once visited Ulu Selama, where some of the
Semang lived, and was taken by them to a place
called Kuala Jah, at about five hundred feet of
elevation, where he was shown, growing in the virgin
forest, within a hundred yards of one another, two
large Ipoh trees. The larger was about five feet in
diameter at a height of five feet from the ground, and
had a trunk full a hundred feet in height at the first
branch. It had been tapped many times, the bark
being deeply scored up to a height of twenty-five feet
from the ground ; the smaller tree was also scored all
over. The bark externally was white, and internally
orange-brown, and was very thick and fibrous. On
fresh scores being cut into the bark, the dirty whity-
brown sap ran very sparingly out, and was conducted
down palm leaves, stuck on to the trunk of the tree
with clay, into bamboos. The scores weie cut slanting
alternately right and left, like what is known as

1 Sir H. Low, quoted by De la Croix, p. 333.

CHAP. VI NEGRITOS OF PERAK 291

herring-bone stitching, with the lower ends of the
scores pointing inwards. At the bottom of each
series of scores was put a leaf, fastened to the bark
with clay, to lead the sap which trickled down into
a bamboo. Only about three ounces of sap was got
the first day ; but two days afterwards, by erecting a
scaffolding around the tree and extending the scores
up the trunk, about one pint was obtained. Three
ounces of sap, the Semang declared, was enough to
poison a hundred blowpipe-darts.^

The sap having been collected from the trees, a
spatula-shaped piece of wood was taken and heated
over a clear wood fire, and a small quantity of the sap
poured on to it and spread out with another but
smaller wooden spatula, and held over the fire till
nearly dry, and the process repeated till all the sap
was evaporated. There remained on the spatula a
dark brown gummy substance, on which the points of
the darts were rubbed three times, being dried over
the fire between each application of the poison. This
simple process completed the preparation of the
poison, with the exception of the other things that
are sometimes mixed with the Ipoh.

The sap, which proved to be bitter and biting in
taste, and decidedly acid to test-paper, on exposure to
the air quickly darkened to a brown colour, and
yielded, when dried on a water-bath, twenty-nine per
cent of solid Ipoh. This substance, if put thinly on a
slip of glass and examined by a microscope, is seen to
contain numerous crystals ^*of antiarin.

In the course of the same account Mr. Wray
further observes that what Griffith says about the
poisonous properties of the Ipoh being derived from

> L. Wray in/. A, /. vol. xxi. (1892), pp. 476, 477.

292 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part ii

admixture of arsenic was information probably derived
from the Malays, for the aborigines are quite ignorant
of that poison ; and, as Professor Ringer pointed out,
the action of arsenic is very different from that of
Ipoh, besides which animals killed with arsenic would
be quite unfit for food.^

Mr. Wray here observes that it is the aborigines
alone who use poisoned weapons in the Peninsula.
The Malays put arsenic on their krises and spears,
but it is employed solely with the view of bringing
out the damascening of the blades, and not as a
poison.^

Mr. Wray once had the opportunity of noticing
the effects of Ipoh poison on a human being. It
occurred while he was descending a river in Upper
Perak in 1889, and he made at the time a note to the
effect that, while unloading and carrying the baggage
over the rocks, a poisoned blowpipe-dart fell out of a
quiver and stuck into the upper part of one of the
men's feet. It was at once pulled out, and a Semang
squeezed the wound to get as much blood as possible,
then tied a tight ligature round the leg and put lime-
juice on to the wound. The man complained of
great pain in the foot, of cramp in the stomach, and
vomited, but these symptoms soon passed off. The
point only went into the foot about one-third of an
inch, and the dart was instantly pulled out. The
Semang said that had it gone deep into a fleshy part
of the body it would have caused death.*

As stated above, the Semang sometimes mix
other poisons with the Ipoh. The plants from which
these are derived are known to the Malays as " l6kir "
and " gadong." In both cases it is the expressed juice

» L. Wray in/. A, I. vol. xxi. (1892), p. 477. 2 /j. s yj.

CHAP. VI NEGRITOS OF PERAK 293

of the tubers that is employed. The "Ifikir" is an Aroid
belonging to the genus Amorphophallns, and the
** gadong " is a thorny climbing yam belonging to the
order Dioscoreacece. Botanical specimens of both
these plants had been sent to the Calcutta Botanical
Gardens, but identifications had not (when writing)
been received. It was probable that the specimens of
" 16kir " had been transmitted to Kew by Dr. King, in
which case they would be found numbered 3327.^

The tubers are rasped up fine with a knife, and
the soft mass put into a piece of cloth, which is then
forcibly pulled through two pieces of stick tied firmly
together a short distance apart, so that the juice,
which is very acrid, is expressed without coming in
contact with the hands. The juice of the " Ifikir " and
" gadong " tubers so obtained is mixed with the Ipoh
sap, and the mixture dried on a wooden spatula over a
fire, and the darts poisoned in the way that has already
been described.*

The tubers of both these plants, which contain
starch in large quantities, are cut up into thin slices
and suspended in a basket in running water and
allowed to steep until the poison contained in them
has been dissolved out. They are then cooked and
eaten by the aborigines, and also occasionally by the
Malays.*

The acrid juices of these plants are said not to be
fatal by themselves, and the part they play when
mixed with the arrow-poison is to cause local irritation,
which hinders wounded animals from escaping before
the antiarin has time to act ; but all the Semang and
Sakai encountered declared that the pure Ipoh was
more deadly than the mixture.*

^^^L. Wiay in/. A, /. vol. xxi. (1892), pp. 478, 479. ^^^ lb.

294 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part ii

The juice of the tubers of the "gadong" is decidedly
acid when fresh. It smells somewhat like raw
potatoes, and is bitter and astringent, producing a
stinging sensation on the tongue, and a very un-
pleasant dry feeling in the mouth, which persists for
a considerable time. The acidulated juice yields a
yellowish-brown precipitate to a solution of iodine in
iodide of potassium. The precipitate redissolved in
sulphurous acid and evaporated yields long, branching,
needle-like crystals. The juice mixed with spirits,
filtered and evaporated to dryness and redissolved in
dilute sulphuric acid, filtered and evaporated again,
also yields long branching crystals, which have an
astringent taste like the juice, and are possibly the
poisonous principle.^

The freshly expressed juice of the " ISkir " tubers is
faintly acid to test-paper. It smells somewhat like
beetroot, and is acrid and causes irritation when
applied to the skin. It appears not to contain alkaloid,
as it affords no precipitate when a solution of iodine
in iodide of potassium is added to the filtered and
acidulated juice, nor when the juice is just rendered
alkaline by potash. When distilled, the distillate
smells like the juice, and is slightly opalescent, but it
does not cause irritation when applied to the skin, or
even to a wound. It tastes the same as it smells, and
does not injuriously affect the tongue.^

Antidotes,

The only antidote for Ipoh poison (said Lela Per-
kasa) was to eat earth. Any sort of earth will do, and
the patient, however ill, will always end by getting

* L. Wray in/. A. L vol. xxi. (1892), p. 479. * lb, pp. 479, 480.

CHAP. VI EAST COAST NEGRITOS 295

better. He learned of this antidote by seeing a crow
that he had wounded fly down to the ground, swallow
some earth, and resume its flight.^

Pangan or E. Semang. — The following is a summary
of Vaughan-Stevens' description of the preparation of
Ipoh poison by the Pangan. The sap of the tree
(obtained by shaving the stem and bruising it with
the back of a *' parang ") is poured into a vessel made of
twisted palm-leaf It is stirred till it turns bright
yellow, when it is poured into a pot for boiling. The
bark of "perghoo," "choichoi," "kree," "lendow,"
and " garsung " is put into a bamboo with the leaves
of " rumpi " (stc, ? " rami ") and " jelatang " * ; water is
added, and the mixture heated for about ten minutes.
The liquor is then added to the pot, the lees of wet
bark being wrapped in a leaf and wrung out to extract
the remainder of the liquid. Meanwhile the bark of
" Blay kechil," " Blay besar," *' Blay hitam," and " Bhoi"
is similarly boiled and added to the liquor. The tubers
of *'gadong" and **k5payang" fruits are cut up small and
boiled for four hours, when they too are added to the
mixture. The fruit of " s'lowung" and ** chow '* and the
roots of " bal/* ** sedudo*," and ** begung " are boiled in
yet another bamboo and put into the pot with the rest.
The sap of two rattans (Riong and Butong) follows,
and the heads of centipedes and snakes and scorpions'
tails are smoked between two knife-blades and added
also. Fresh RSngut (" ringhut ") fruits may now be
added if procurable, and the pot containing the mixture
is boiled till its contents are reduced by one-half.^

The contents are then poured through a palm-leaf
funnel into a clean bamboo, the pot washed, the

1 Sir H. Low, quoted by De la The account is probably (as usual with
Croix, p. 333. * V.-St «« jdatung." V.-St.) eclectic. For identifications,
' VaughiA • Stefens, iL m segg, v. App.

296 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part ii

*' filtered " liquor poured back and the Ipoh (Upas) sap
added, the pot being then boiled till the mixture
becomes a golden-yellow syrup. When sufficiently
thickened it is poured off into bamboo tubes, and is
ready for use. Its preparation takes about 2 J hours.^

II. — Sakai.
Stone Implements.

Perak Sakai. — The remarks already made with
regard to the use of stone implements by the Semang
apply with no less force to the Sakai tribes, none of
which, any more than the Semang, has ever yet
reached a stage of civilisation at which such implements
might have been produced, though they may never-
theless have quite well been in the habit of using
chips and flakes of stone to do their cutting.

On the other hand, they are, like the Semang,
undoubtedly acquainted with the use of cutting and
boring instruments made of bamboo or bone, and like
them too they now obtain their axes and spear-heads
and choppers from the neighbouring Malays.

The Spear.
Perak SakaL — Of the Sakai of Perak Hale * says, in
fact, that they purchase spears and other implements
from the Malays, but that though he also saw spears
which they made for themselves, and which were fur-
nished with fire-hardened bamboo blades, the Sakai
told him the latter were only used for setting in spring-
traps. This statement on the part of the Sakai was
doubtless true as far as the specimens that Mr. Hale
saw were concerned, but in those parts of the country

1 Vaugban-SteTens, ii. iii segq. ' Hale, p. 28S.

Sakai of South Pekak, with Blowpu'Es.

r<?A /. /. 296

'f^'ffftlJt

Sakai Quivkrs.

1. Sakai dart-quiver (S. Kiiitn, Perak).

2. Sakai dart-quiver (S. Bernam) : section showing darts (A) carrietl in
small bamboo tul>cs or reeds {A)', also the node {D) forming the bottom of
the (bamboo) quiver ; a rattan ring (O for holding back the wadding ; and
the recess {K) in which the wadding is carried. -De Morgan in L'H. asih
October 1885, p. 616.

yoi. I. /. 297,

CHAP. VI SAKAI OF PERAK 297

where iron blades are scarce, spear- blades made of
bamboo with palm-wood shafts are nevertheless em-
ployed as the most natural and usual substitute.^

The Bow.

Perak Sakai. — There are only two cases known to
me in which the use of the bow has been attributed to
the Sakai.

According to De la Croix, tlie Sakai of Kenering
possessed a bow ' which was similar to that used by
the Semang of Patani ; and a similar statement was
made by Miklucho-Maclay, who was, however, quite
rightly corrected by Pleyte. In both cases, however,
there can be no doubt that the error arose entirely
from applying the name " Sakai " to Negritos, and
that these so-called Kenering Sakai of De la Croix,
no less than Miklucho-Maclay's Sakai, were in reality
of Semang (or, at least, Semang-Sakai) origin.*

The Blowpipe.

Perak Sakai. — The Sakai blowpipe has the same
arrangement of an outer and an inner tube, and is con-
structed of the same material as that of the Semang.
The inner tube is closely fitted into the outer tube or
casing, which (unlike the casing of the Semang weapon)
is made in one piece, the central node (should a
jointless tube be unobtainable) being knocked out
with a wooden spike, and the jagged edges rasped
away by means of the prickly '* leaf-whips " of a kind
of rattan, and finally polished so as to allow the
inner tube or blowpipe to be fitted into it without

» De Moigtn, vil 417; viii. 225, 3Xhc"HmKreans"(i.<r. "Karens"),

and elsewhere. whose '* long bows and arrows " are

* De la Croix, p. 331 5 qj. V Homme y referred toiny, /. A. (voL iv. pp. 429,

iii. 42. 430), must certainly have been so too.

398 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part ii

injury. This doubling of the tube, as has been said,
is intended to keep it straight and to prevent warping,
and generally to protect the blowpipe, which would
be otherwise too frail to sustain its own weight.^

The Sakai blowpipe is, as a rule, far more highly
decorated (with incised rectilinear designs) than that
of the Semang, and has a wooden mouthpiece which,
for shooting purposes, is either placed between the lips
and the teeth or taken directly into the mouth itself,*

The darts, which are not of bamboo but of the
hard leaf- rib of the '*b6rtam," are of the usual "knit-
ting-needle " type, and have butt-ends not of rattan
but of *' bSrtam " wood, but are more delicately finished
and symmetrical than those of the Semang, which in
comparison are very roughly made. They are from
8-1 1 in. (20 cm. to 28 cm.) long. The usual wad of
flocculent palm-down is inserted in the tube behind
them to prevent windage.'

This down is obtained from the cuticle of a tree,
fined down with a knife, sun-dried, and rolled in the
hand in order to eliminate the harder tissues.*

The quivers of the Sakai are much more elaborate
than those of the Semang. They are made from a
bamboo (internode), which is highly decorated, and
which contains small bamboo tubes or reeds in which
the darts are kept; they further contain all the re-
quisites for making new darts and for poisoning them.*

1 For descriptions and illustrations, ^ De Moigan, VII, ii. 6i6, and
see De Morgan, vii. 416 ; Vffomme^ vil L c. Hale (p. 289) adds, «*At
ii. 614 ; and HaJe (who gives measure- the bottom of the quiver a supply of
ments), pp. 288, 289 ; cp. also/. /. A. bees- wax is always kept, with which to
vol. iv. pp. 429, 430, where, however, polish the quiver as well as the blow-
bamboo (1) darts are spoken of. P'P^ exteriorly ; this polishing, com-
" De M. and Hale, ioc, cit, bined with the ikct that they are always
* De M. ^. cit. Hale (p. 289) suspended over the fire, where the
sa3rs it is composed of the natural fluff smoke can get at them, helps to give
or down obtained from the leaf-bases them the rich red colour that the
of certain rattans (Calami), Sakai admire."

Sakai of Scjuth Perak, cakrvinc; Bi.owpipk.

yoi. I. /. 298.

SaKAI MliS, OnK (SIAT^mMi) WITH Rt,CWtMF"E AND ^JUIVO, Till UTlihFl iSEATKD^

Wmi BACK'IlVSiCKT,

J'iff. I. /h i99.

CHAF. VI SAKAI OF PERAK 299

A ring of woven cane (encircling the quiver) affords
the means of attaching the quiver to the waist-cord, a
similar ring being used for fastening the hinge of the
lid, which latter is of basket-work,^ and is fitted interiorly
with a ring of bent cane for holding the wadding, and
preventing it from falling out when the lid is opened.^

The girdle is made from the cuticle of the Arto-
carpus finely plaited, and is fastened about the waist
with a buckle made of bone.*

The range of a blowpipe-dart is about 80 metres,
according to the strength of the operator. But the
usual range actually employed is never more than
30 to 35 paces (23 m. to 27 m.). At this distance,
however, they are marvellously clever, and a Sakai
has been seen to hit with his first shot a dollar deposited
on the trunk of a fallen tree at about 30 paces (23 m.)
distance.*

M. Brau de Saint-Pol Lias declared ^ that he had
seen a blowpipe which was rifled, but he gives no
details, and until some confirmation comes to hand,
his statement, which is entirely unsupported, cannot
be received with too much caution.

When the Sakai require a very powerful poison
they mix together in a bamboo tube the sap of a tree
called Ipoh and the sap of a small root. They then
gently dry the mixture over a slow fire, adding
moisture from time to time in order to dry it afresh.

1 Or of wood hollowed out by fire * De M. VH, ii. 617. Cp. Hale,

and knife, that of the Kenaboi being p. 289. The blowpipe is a very deadly

of basket-work. — V.-St. ii. 120, 121. weapon for any animal up to the size of

^ De M. /^r. dj^. ; UHamme^ ii 620. a siamang, and up to a distance of 60

' Cp. Hale, p. 289, where we are yards (55 m.), whereas at 50 yards (45

told that the quiver is "supported m.) distance **a Sakai, clever in the

iDond the waist by a cord of native use of it, will put five darts out of six

manufacture, and listened with a buckle into a common playing card.'* Cp.

made from the bone of a monkey, the De la Croix, p. 334.

upper mandible of a hombill,*' etc. ^ Lias, pp. 258, 259 ; cp. p. 256, ante.

300 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part ii

The boiling is completed in four processes ; and just
before the last boiling a little poison obtained from
the poison glands of snakes, scorpions, and centipedes
is added. A little of the poison is then applied to a
small spatula, which is dried slowly over a smoulder-
ing fire ; a fresh layer is then applied and the spatula
moved slowly to and fro over the fire. The poison thus
prepared is dark brown, and is very soluble in water.
If a less powerful poison is required, the sap of the
Ipoh and the root is alone employed, or else the Ipoh
by itself; in either case the methods of preparation
are identical. The poison is now ready for immediate
use, the point of the dart being slightly wetted and
rubbed upon the small spatula which is covered with
the poison.*

To complete his inquiry into the sources of the
arrow-poisons of the aborigines, Mr. Wray visited the
district of Batang Padang, to ascertain how the Sakai
prepared their poison. As previously mentioned, they
only used it on their blowpipe - darts, as bows and
arrows are not employed by them.^

Mr. Wray visited two Ipoh trees, both of which
were deeply scored like those in Selama. The scoring
of the bark was not, however, so r^ular as with the
Semang, and no sign of the herring-bone method was
to be seen. The usual plan was to cut detached
V-shaped incisions, and the method of collecting the
sap differed also from that already described.'

Several pieces of bamboo were taken, and to each
was fixed a piece of wood, which was ingeniously cut,

> De M. /. c, Cp. Hale, 289. The for use, it is put on a spatula moistened

sapof the Ipoh tree is *' boiled down to and warmed over the fire, aad then

the consistency of thick treacle, a large applied to the dart.** Cp. also De la

(jnantity at a time. It will then, in a Croix, p. 354, as to the varying 1

properly stoppered bamboo, keep for of the Sakai poison (even on the darts
any length of time. When required of the same quiver). ** Wray, ^ r.

CHAP. VI SAKAI OF PERAK 301

SO that when its chisel-shaped upper end was applied
to the bark of the tree below a score the sap flowed,
first down its upper surface till it met with a cut
channel which conducted it round to the under surface,
and then into the bamboo receptacle.^

The sap being collected, two wooden spatulas were
prepared, and a piece of large bamboo split in half so
as to form a small trough, and the sap poured into it.
The larger spatula was heated over a fire and the sap
ladled out of the bamboo and spread on its heated
surface by means of the smaller spatula, and dried by-
being held with the uncoated side over the fire ; it
was then reversed and sap spread on its upper or
uncoated side, and when that was in its turn nearly
dry, again reversed and a fi-esh supply of sap applied
to the surface first coated. This was repeated until
all the sap had been inspissated.*^

The darts are coated in the manner before
mentioned, and when the poison is very hard and dry
and will not soften by being heated, a few drops ot
water are put on to the spatula and mixed, by means
of a smaller spatula, with the poison until it acquires
the right consistency to apply to the points of the darts.*

The Sakai and Semang methods of collecting and
preparing the poison are really the same, only differing
in details. The Sakai, however, do not mix " iSkir "
juice with the Ipoh,and the way they mix the "gadong"
juice with it is not the same as that employed by the
Semang. For this purpose the Ipoh sap is prepared
as just described, and a piece of the " gadong '* tuber is
peeled and sliced up fine and placed in a joint of a
bamboo, and ground up with water by means of a
wooden pestle. The fluid is then poured off and

» /. A, I. vol. XXL (189a), pp. 479, 480. « lb, « lb.

302 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part ii

fresh water added and the process repeated. The
fluid is then boiled and filtered through leaves in
which some fine scrapings of bamboo are put. It is
then evaporated in an open vessel over a fire to the
consistency of a thick syrup, and mixed with the Ipoh
in the proportion of three parts of Ipoh to one of
** gadong." ^

The Sakai living in the plains employ the
Antiaris poison, as a rule, since the plants from which
it is prepared are low-country forms ; but the Sakai of
the hills use a poison prepared from three hill plants
known as '* Ipoh akar," or root Ipoh — in contradistinc-
tion to the Antiaris or "Ipoh kayu" (tree Ipoh) —
"prual," and "lampong."*

" Ipoh akar *' is a large climbing Strychnos, with a
stem often as much as three inches in diameter. It
has dark green glabrous, opposite leaves, with three
prominent longitudinal veins. The fruit is said to be
large and round, and to contain seeds about half an
inch in diameter, and the flower is stated to be reddish.
It grows on the hills, and is to be seen at over
4000 feet elevation. The specimens procured were
collected on Gunong Batu Putih in Batang Padang.
The portion of this plant from which the poison is
extracted is the bark of the roots and lower part of
the stem. It is often employed without admixture,
and is then prepared * as follows : —

The bark, which is burnt sienna coloured, is
scraped with knives from the roots ; the scrapings are
put into a pan with water and boiled, the water is
poured ofl* and filtered. Fresh water is added to the
bark, which is again boiled for some minutes, and the
water poured off* a second time. The exhausted

* /. A, L vol. xxi. (1892)* p. 480. r^! r^[

CHAP. VI SAKAI OF PERAK 303

shavings of bark are then thrown away, and the
filtered infusion, which is bright burnt sienna coloured,
is reduced by boiling in an open pan to a syrup. It
is then poured while hot into a bamboo, where it
solidifies. It is applied to the darts in the manner
already explained, and is said to be more powerful
than the AntiariSy but is rendered quicker in its
action when mixed with the poison derived from the
other two plants above mentioned.^

Of these " prual " ^ is also a climber, growing on the
hills. The largest stem Mr. Wray had seen was one
and a half inches in diameter. It has opposite bright
green entire leaves, but of its flowers and fruit he
had neither seen nor been able to get any description.
The young shoots contain a very fine strong white
silky fibre. His specimens were also collected on
Gunong Batu Putih. The bark of the roots, which is
rather pale yellow in colour, is the part of the plant
which is employed in making the poison. This
arrow-poison is said not to be so strong as Antiaris,
but to be quite capable of killing when used by itself.*

The third plant is called " lampong," and is also a
climbing species of Strychnos.^ It has opposite three-
veined leaves like " Ipoh akar" (only they are consider-
ably smaller), and it is stated to have similar fruit, but
grows lower down on the hills, Mr. Wray's specimens
being collected on the Cheroh hills. Like the two
preceding plants, the bark of the roots, which is white,
is the part from which the poison is extracted. It is
said to be not so powerful as "prual," but is often
employed by itself.*

In making the mixed poison six parts of scraped

> /. A, L vol xxl (1892), p. 481. * Copiosapellaflavescms.

» Wray, /. c. * Sir. Maingayiy Chrke. * Wray, /. c.

304 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS

** Ipoh akar " bark are taken, to which is added one part
of each of "prual" and "lampong" bark, and the mixture
is exhausted with boiling water, filtered and evaporated
in the same way as has already been described when
simple " Ipoh akar " is treated.^

It was stated by the Sakai that Anitaris and '' Ipoh
akar " are rarely if ever mixed with one another. The
latter poison is said to retain its virulence, in the
form of an extract, for years.*

III. — Jakun.
Weapons and Implements.
The same remarks that have been made with
regard to stone implements in the case of the Semang
and the Sakai apply with at least equal force to the
third branch of these aboriginal tribes, and need
not therefore be recapitulated here. The weapons and
implements of the Jakun at present are the "parang*'
or chopping-knife, the "sgligi " or "squailer," the spear
(originally of bamboo), the blowpipe, and (finally)
the adze, although knowledge of this latter appears to
have been merely borrowed by the Jakun from their
more progressive neighbours. As has already been
recorded, an old writer declares that he met a Jakun at
Malacca in 1833, who claimed to have killed a man at
the distance of 40 yards (36.5 m.) with a clay pellet
that he had discharged from his blowpipe.'

The Spear.

Of the Jakun spear, we are told that it consists

of an iron blade of about i ft. long (30 cm.) and i in.

(2.5 cm.) broad in the middle, attached to a thick, rudely

worked shaft about five or six feet long, and sharp at

> Wray in/. A, I. vol. xxi. (1892), p. 481. ^~fb. ' B<^ie, {^ 5> 6.

^K^'^-i;^ ..;^-">

y.AS USlSr. BloWIMI K, BL'KIT PKUAL, SkLANGOR ; AT MIS LEFT SlDF. IS THE OFKN

QiivKK Willi Darts.

'W. /./. 304.

Jakun using Blo.vpipe, Lubo' K'lubi, Ulu Langat, Selangor.

/W. /. /. 305.

CHAP. VI SA VAGE MALA YS OF NEGRI SEMBILAN 305

the inferior extremity, in order to enter easily into the
ground ; for before the Jakun enter a house they strike
the end of the spear into the ground, where it remains
until they go away. It is scarcely possible to meet a
single Jakun without his spear,^ which is both a stick
to walk with and an offensive or defensive weapon as
occasion may require. The " parang " is an iron blade
of about I ft. (30 cm.) long, and 2-3 in. (5 cm. to 7.5
cm.) broad, with a shaft like that of a large knife ; they
use it to cut trees employed in the building of their
houses ; and to cut branches to open a passage when
journeying through thick jungle ; as well as for a de-
fensive weapon against wild beasts. On one occasion
Logan heard of a Jakun who, being attacked by a
tiger, defended himself with a "parang" (the only
weapon he had with him at that time). Nearly half
an hour was spent in this singular combat ; the Jakun
lost an eye and was seriously wounded in the head ;
but the tiger paid the forfeit with his life.*

Jakun, N. Sembilan. — Of the weapons of the Negri
Sembilan tribes scarcely any records have been
published. Rowland, however {loc. cit,), cannot help
expressing his astonishment at the certainty with which
they could hit a target measuring only i ft. (30 cm.)
square at distances ranging up to 80 m. At the same
time he describes in detail their method of discharging
the blowpipe, which was to take the mouthpiece
partially into the mouth (so that the mouthpiece for
at least 2 cm. was covered by the upper lip, and to a
lesser extent by the under one). And the same writer
has also remarked that instead of the arms being

1 ^. y. ^. vol. ii. p. 262. Cp.,how- parang, the sumpitan with poisoned

«vcr, Wray, who states that "the Jakun arrows, and a few of them the spear."
of the Menangkabau States use the ' Cp. vol. i. p. 272.

VOL. I X

3o6 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part ii

Stretched far forward to support the shaft of the blow-
pipe (as it might be expected would be the case), it is
the mouthpiece itself that is held (firmly and in both
hands) immediately in front of the operator's mouth.

Blandas. — The Blandas (Langat) blowpipe is hardly
distinguishable from the Besisi weapon, and will be
described more fully under that head. The dart was
of the midrib of a fan-palm leaf (** sSrdang '* or " kSpau"),
its butt-end (**basong") of ''akar mSnitan," and the
leaf carried inside the lid of the " tabong t6la," or
** dart-quiver," as a squirrel-charm, was •* sSlerik tupei."

The Spear.

BeslsL — The Besisi, like the Blandas, get their
spears from the Malays. A favourite form of spear
among the Besisi is the fish-spear, of which there are
several varieties ; most of these types, however, have
been borrowed from the Malays, as was their Besisi
name " tiruk."

The BloTvpipe.

The inner tube of the Besisi blowpipe is made
(as among all the tribes already referred to) from
a couple of internodes of the long -jointed bamboa
{Bambusa Wrayt). The middle node having been
excised, the abutting ends of the two pieces are
brought together again, coated with a little resin to
make them adhere better, and spliced, as among the
Sakai of Perak, by means of a connecting cylinder or
jacket, which is fitted over their abutting ends.

One of these pieces of the blowpipe is invariably
longer than the other, and is called by the Besisi the
'* man-piece," the shorter one being called the
** woman-piece," the Besisi women being, as a rule,.

CHAP. VI SA VAGE MALA YS OF SELANGOR yyr

markedly shorter than the men of the tribe. Occasion-
ally, however, these pieces are called the '* mother-
piece" and "child-piece" respectively. The con-
necting-piece is called "chSmat" (as among the
Mantra).

For making the mouthpiece, which is always of
wood, a hole is bored right through the piece of wood
selected for the purpose; it is then fitted by hand
into the butt-end of the inner tube, the end of
which is cut off flush with it. In order to make the
fit a tight one, the lips of the mouthpiece (which are
made long and thin to facilitate their introduction
between the inner and the outer tube) are in many
cases cut or broken at one side, thus enabling a fine
slip of cane to be pushed into the interstice, so as to
act as a delicate wedge. In some cases leaves are
used as a wedge (instead of this slip of cane), and
some of these bear traces of fire at their edges, as if
it had been intended to dry or harden them. Thin
strips of cloth are also sometimes similarly used by
the more civilised tribes.

The mouthpiece when complete is fitted on to one
end of the inner tube, which then only requires to be
fitted carefully to the bigger tube that forms the case or
sheathing. The latter, on account of the connecting-
piece or jacket that unites the two inner parts, has
naturally to be rather lai^er than would otherwise be
necessary.

The outer Tube or Casing.

The casing is manufactured either from Bambusa
Wrayi or some similar kind of long-jointed bamboo, by
poking out the central node with a sharpened spike or
boring-rod ( *' jengroh " or "jengrok " ) made of a hard

3o8 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part ii

kind of palm -wood. The ragged portions of the
internode which still remain are rasped down with the
formidably armed leaf-whip (** onak ") of a rattan (or
** Wait-a-bit Thorn "), which is thrust down into the
tube and worked to and fro until the jagged remains
of the node have been entirely removed.

Both the inner tube and its case having thus been
prepared and cut to the same length, it only remains
to push the former with great care into its casing.

Treatment of the Muzzle-end.

But in order to obviate the inconvenience and
risk of a " loose fit," several narrow and long wedge-
shaped strips about a foot and a half long (like the
" gores " in the waist of a lady's skirt) are excised at
the muzzle-end of the case, and the inner tube, which
is now cut shorter than the case (by about 3 inches),
is pushed down into it as far as it will go {i.e, to
within 3 in. (7.5 cm.) of the muzzle-end of the case).

The split ends of the case are now drawn together
till they fit the blowpipe tightly, and a short thick
cylinder, of a woody kind of bamboo, and measuring
about 3 in. (7.5 cm.) long, having been fitted into the
vacant space inside the muzzle -end (to which the
blowpipe does not reach), the whole affair is bound
round either by a single long strip of cane, or by
numerous rings of plaited cane, and coated over with a
thick crust of tree-gum or resin in order to keep these
lashings from working loose, this elaborate arrange-
ment being finished off by a small ring-shaped piece
of coconut- or tortoise-shell which is imbedded in the
resin at the muzzle-end of the blowpipe in order to
protect the muzzle from fraying or from similar

CHAP. VI SA VAGE MALA YS OF SELANGOR 309

injury.^ The blowpipe is now ready for use, and it only
remains to decorate it with the customary patterns or
magic emblems employed by the tribe.

Ornamentation.

The question of ornamentation will be treated
more conveniently elsewhere, but I may remark in
passing that although the patterns of the Besisi
blowpipes were, with few exceptions, of the highly
conventionalised rectilinear incision type, I neverthe-
less more than once noticed the delineation of some
animal or reptile {e.g. a lizard) upon their polished
shafts. The ordinary motive in the blowpipe and
quiver patterns of this tribe — at least as the matter
was explained to me by the Besisi themselves —
consisted of the representation (in an extremely rudi-
mentary form) of the limbs and body of the spectacled
monkey or *' lotong " (Semnopithecus).

The outer case of the Besisi blowpipe was divided,
as a rule, into two approximate halves by the central
node or knot. Subdividing it further, roughly speak-
ing, into quarters, the second quarter (counting from
the muzzle-end) was almost invariably left undecorated,
except perhaps by one or two rings or zigzags, this
being the part by which it was, I understood, most

^ There can be little doubt that the of blowpipes in the Peninsula are with-

object of this device is simply to out this device, yet the quarry is so

strengthen the blowpipe. Vaughan- little dbturbed by their *' tone '* that a

Stevens, in describing a similar device bird sitting on a tree may be shot at

among the Mantra, supposes it to be and missed several times before it will

due to a wish on the part of the move. Moreover, the sharper tone

Mantra to obtain a sharper tone or would necessarily be heard further,

note from the dart as it leaves the At the same time this device un-

tube, probably (he thinks) because the doubtedly improves the weapon by

sharper tone would be less audible to rendering it less liable to warp

the quarry. There does not, however, interiorly, and by weighting it better,

appear to be the slightest foundation It also has the advantage of keeping

for any such supposition. The majority out insects.

3IO WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part ii

generally held when it was being carried on a hunt-
ing expedition. I cannot say for certain whether
this explanation is of wider application, but if so it
would explain why this part of the bamboo is so
frequently stripped of its outer cuticle and polished
with wax.

The Cleaning-rod,

A primitive kind of cleaning -rod which was
frequently used by the Besisi was called ** jenghek."
It was made on the ramrod principle, a long rod of
palm-wood being perforated at one end, and strips of
palm -leaf threaded through the perforation. This
rod, when worked up and down the tube, made the
cleaning of the interior of the blowpipe an easy
matter. The muzzle of the blowpipe was in addition,
not unfrequently, stoppered with leaves in order to
keep out white ants, the small wild bees called
^'kSlulut," and many other kinds of insect — a pre-
caution which is of no small importance in the Malay
Peninsula.

The Dart.

The following are the names given by the Besisi
to the different parts of their blowpipe-dart ("ddmik").
The shaft is called " huyang," the butt-end " bentol,"
the point "chen,** and the nick above the point "gret."

The conical butt-end (also called ** tom bentol *')
is only made of what is called in Besisi "long angkau,"
— which is the stem of a kind of creeper called in
Malay ** akar lada luan," — or of some light wood such
as '* pulai."

The stem or shaft of the dart is made from the
leaf- ribs of various kinds of palm, especially the
*' sgrdang," ** ranggam," " kgpau," ** kumung ** (.'*), and

CHAP. VI SA VAGE MALA YS OF SELANGOR 31 1

"bgrtam/' though a shaft made of the last-named
material is generally considered to be of inferior quality.^

The shaft of the dart with the point broken off is
called *' pandong dimak/*

The polishing process, which is carried out very
carefully by the Besisi (with "memplas" leaves), is
called ** chSngat."

The Poison.

We now come to the Besisi dart -poison, the
ordinary ingredients of which were given me as
follows : —

(i) ** Ipoh batang" (in Besisi, **ch€s")=^«/mm
toxicaria, the Upas tree (the Poison-tree of Java).

(2) "Malai."*

(3) -Tenet."'

(4) ** J6na\" or " tuba," the well-known Malay fish-
poison similarly used by the Besisi.

According to another account that I received, the
ingredients of the Besisi poison * were : —

(i) "Chong ches" (root of the "ipoh" creeper =^
Strychnos tieute).

(2) " Ches {i.e. " ipoh ") malai."

(3) '* Ches \i.e. " ipoh ") tenet."

(4) **Ches(z>. "ipoh")kroi."

(5) **Jgna'"(Mal. "tuba").

(6) •• Pgdas," or pepper.^

(7) ** Warang," or arsenic.

^ Occasionally we meet with the being used at all requires corrobora-

statement that these darts are made of tion.

bamboo. Darts made of this material, ' 3= ** Blay " (V.-St.). For identifi-

however, would be of inferior quality, cations, v. App.

and where the report of its use is not • = " Kannet" (V.-Su).

due to careless observation, its employ- ^ For identifications, and a similar

ment is doubtless due to some tem- receipt given by Bellamy (p. 229), v.

^niy difficulty of obtaining a better App.

material. This employment of bamboo * For a suggested reason (for the em-
is not at all usual, and the fiact of its ployment of pepper), sec p. 319, «. 7.

312 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part ii

(8) ** Gengang" — a kind of large millipede.

(9) The "teeth** ("Igmoyn'*) of tigers, centipedes,
and snakes.

When the sap of the Upas creeper was used
instead of, or in conjunction with, that of the tree
Upas, the roots of the creeper were simply grubbed
up and shredded. When the sap of the tree Upas was
used, the collector, using his jungle-knife (** parang ").
would slash the outer bark of the Upas (a tall forest
tree growing sometimes to 100 feet in height),
making V-shaped incisions, at the lowest ipoint of
each of which the sap would naturally accumulate,
which was accordingly drawn off at will. When the
scar was healed (but not before) a fresh supply of
sap may be obtained by slashing the bark in a fresh
place. Each new incision was generally made a little
higher up than the last, and I have seen a tree covered
with the scars, the highest of which perhaps reached
a distance of at least 30 or 40 feet from the ground.

The sap thus collected was gradually reduced by
long and patient boiling, as among the Sakai, to
the consistency of treacle, and when sufficiently
inspissated, was poured off into a small bamboo
poison-tube called "jglok," which is carefully stoppered
with a wooden stopper until required for use. Bellamy
(/. ^.) says that prepared opium (** chandu ") is also
sometimes added.

Poisoning the Dart,

When the time arrived, the poison was applied to
the dart -point as usual, forming a thick clot about
the point, and an entire quiverful of darts having
been poisoned, they were at once deposited upon a
highly ingenious drying rack or stand, and placed in

CHAP. VI SA VAGE MALA YS OF SELANGOR 313

the sun to dry, the stand being designed not only
to hold them in position, but also to prevent them
from being accidentally knocked against, or perhaps
blown away in a high wind.

When the drying was completed the darts
were fitted into the reed-bundle of the quiver, and
their butt-ends branded or marked with lime and
water, in order to distinguish the various strengths of
the poison, the designs consisting of bars, crosses, and
dots.

The usual nick (as has been said) was made round
the dart, but there was a belief among the Besisi that
no acid fruit should be eaten with the flesh of animals
killed by these darts, as they believed this would
bring out the full effects of the poison in the eater.

In addition to the above must be noticed the
belief, which was related to me by the Besisi, to the
effect that even the branch struck by a poisonous dart
dies, not immediately, but slowly and surely.^

The Quiver.

The Besisi quiver (like that of the Sakai) was
carried on the left hip, and fastened about the
waist with a cord of twisted tree-bark, secured by
a buckle of bone or tortoiseshell.

The interior of the quiver is fitted with a roUed-
up bundle of small tubes or reeds made of young
bamboo twigs, about as big as an ordinary lead-
pencil. These reeds are united by lashings inside
the body of the quiver, each reed holding a single
dart, the butt-end of which fits closely into its
own individual reed at the upper extremity.

^ I may also mention that the Besisi, maize was the only antidote for this
like many other aborigines, asserted that Upas poison.

314 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part ii

The cover or cap of the quiver, which was made
of finely woven basket-work (of rattan), was fitted
on to its upper end or top.^ It consisted of three
triangular sections of basket-work, the edges of
which overlapped, and were so brought together as to
make a kind of peaked lid. Inside this cap was kept
a supply of the usual palm-down (or tinder),* the in-
teriorly projecting edges of the cap-sections being
left free to hold this down or fluff in its place.' An
additional supply, together with the complete apparatus
required for poisoning fresh darts when the supply
runs short, is sometimes pushed down into the centre
of the spiral formed by the rolled-up reed-bundle.
It was also the rule among the Besisi to carry in the
quiver a little beeswax for polishing the points of
their darts, so as to prevent them from adhering to
the sides of the reeds. To effect this polishing they
wax a rectangular panel on the front of the quiver,
after scraping off the surface of the cuticle, and work
up the points of their darts by rolling them upon it.

The quiver is called ** lok " in Besisi ( = " tglak "
elsewhere), and its cover (Mai. **tudong") was
called " tebong lok." Inside this cover, which was
hollowed out of a soft wood resembling " pulai," was
carried the tinder or palm-fluff (the "rabok tukas"
of the Malays =Bes. '*barok'*), which was used, as
has been said, as a sort of wadding for preventing
windage in shooting with the blowpipe.

In addition to this tinder, two or three leaves of a
creeper called the ** Bringer-down of squirrels " *
(•* akar pgnurun tupei "), or of another creeper called

^ Cp. V.-St. ii. 121. * ?=**Penurun lotong" ("Bringw-

^ See p. 260, ante^ n. I. down of monkeys "), GaUaria subulaiOr^

* In the wooden cap a slight bamboo MucU. It is called by the Blandas

bar takes their place. "salerik tupei."

y. <

E :3

_ V 1)

15 ^

Skeat ColUction.

Drying- Rack for Blowpipe Darts kmfloyed by the Bksisi.

^keat CotUcti0n,

Bksisi Apparatus for krkwing Dart-Poison.

I. Pestle for pounding "ipoh." 2. Cloth strainer. 3,4,5- Receptacles for the poi^on.
6. Poison-holder or tube for carrying? " ii>oh."

BrSt, Mus.

Kuantan Darts with Poison Spatila.

Presented hy Mr. I>ougla.s to the British Museum. (See p. 326.)

r^/. /./. 3t5.

CHAP. VI SA VAGE MALA YS OF MALACCA 315

** akar samQga'," are carried by way of a charm for
success in hunting, like the "siyap" of the Dayaks.

The reeds (of the reed-bundle in the quiver) are
called *'plet."

The Blowpipe.

Mantra. — The weapons of the Mantra are the
blowpipe, spear, the Malay dagger or ** kris,*' and
a kind of (Malay) sword called ** chgnangkas." ^

There is no important difference between the
Mantra methods of manufacturing the blowpipe,
and those practised by the Besisi. A few words
with regard to the polishing and other processes
may, however, here be added. The polishing of the
interior of the blowpipe-tube is begun by means of
bamboo shavings fixed to the end of a cleaning-rod.^

The process is then repeated a second time with
*' polishing -leaves" (of **akar simplas*'), and again
a third time with a small strip of bark-cloth, which
is used merely to give it a ** finish/' *

The two portions of the blowpipe-tube are then
spliced in the usual way (as among the Besisi). The
only difference lies in the nomenclature used by

* y.*/. A, vol. i. p. 330*. die, but they are generally lost to the

* ' Vaughan-Stevens, iL 1 14. For sportsman, as they are able to run

the Mantra blowpipe, see Barbe : ** To (after having been wounded) to a great

procure (their food) they use the sumpi- distance. These savages seldom miss

tan, which b a bamboo from 6 to 8 feet their aim. I have seen them thus

long ; the arrows are slips of bamboo shoot with their arrows monkeys seated

10 inches long, with a piece of lig^t on trees of 70 or 80 feet high, when

wood at the bottom, shaped to the the wounded animal, after jumping on

bore of the tube, which they propel some other branches, and throwing

by blowing hard. The point of the away what he was eating, immediately

arrow being anointed with a prepared after fell down, if the * ipoh ' had

poison called * ipoh,' communicates it been well prepared ** (Rev. M. Barbe,

to the blood, and after two or three in the Bengal Catholic Herald, 12th

minutes the animal vomits and falls June 1850 ; quoted in J. I, A, vol. v.

dead. Should the arrow penetrate the pp. 487, 488). Cp. also Borie, ante.
skin of large animals, many of them

3i6 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part ii

the Mantra, who call the longer portion of the inner
tube "sulu" ("sooloo"), and the shorter one **tongkat/*
the outer shaft or case being called "tagu" (**targoo").
As among the Besisi, the connecting-piece or "jacket"
(of ** rappen " bamboo) is called " chfimat." ^

The hollow in the mouthpiece of this blowpipe,
which is made of "jSlotong" wood, is bored with
" a wooden awl " — ** jfilotong *' being a very soft wood,
which lends itself readily to this treatment.*

The knots of the outer shaft are pierced in the
ordinary way, and the hole enlarged as usual with
the prickly leaf- whips or ** onak " of the " Rotan
tunggal." Next the leaves of the ** Rotan riong " (?)
are substituted and the process continued, until the
enlarging process is complete, when the interior is
polished in the usual way (as among the Besisi).
The bamboos are often dried and kept for a con-
siderable time before they are made into a blowpipe.'

The external cuticle is next scraped or shaved off
at the muzzle -end for a distance of a short span
(measured from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the
forefinger) to enable the resin to adhere more securely.
This portion of the tube is then split into the desired
number of subdivisions, one of which is again split to
take the end of a " rattan " lashing, which is pushed
home. A small hole is made at the upper end of
one of the splits, and the end (of the lashing) pushed
through it and fastened off there.*

A quantity of resin is then melted and coloured
with black from the cooking-pots, and poured round the
whole of the split part. Before the binding process

^ Vaughan - Stevens, il 114 seqq, of it; the sheath from tip of index -finger
The «* sulu " measures the maker's to the opposite thumb. Both tube and
** full arm-stretch," the ** tongkat " half case are of "tcmiang" bamboo. **♦/*.

CHAP. VI SA VAGE MALA YS OF MALACCA 317

has been completed, however, a small (tubular) piece
of another kind of woody bamboo (** pagai ") of small
calibre is inserted into the aperture of the muzzle. This
serves as an internal block (** sunglork " = ** senglik **)
for supporting and protecting this portion of the tube,
and for keeping the splits in their proper (relative) posi-
tion. It forms part of the case, not of the inner tube.^

The longer portion of the blowpipe-tube is fitted
to this block, and a ring of coconut-shell called
'*l6ngait" (" linghite **) is imbedded in the resin at
the muzzle-end, which is heated to receive it.*

This ** muzzle-block" produces an especially sharp
note as the dart passes out at the muzzle. It is
difficult to describe this note, which, however, is much
less audible than the note produced when no muzzle-
block is used, and Vaughan-Stevens supposes it to be
the result of an effort to weaken the note and make it
less audible to the quarry.^

The outer cuticle of the case is also scraped or
shaved off in several places, part being polished and
rubbed with bees-wax, which latter substance is also
used for rubbing that part of the case which is neither
shaved nor polished.*

The Dart.

The darts are of the thick outer rind of the
" krfidok " palm, the butts of the soft inner wood of

1 V.-St.ii. 119. See the Besisi blow- the curve of the mouthpiece b^ns"
pipe, p. 308, supra. The description in should be corrected to **at the extremity
the original (p. 1 19) is very involved of the muzzle-end," where the ** sung-
and muddled, owing to a confusion of the lork** is invariably placed, and indeed
muzzle-end and the mouthpiece. The if it were not so how could the darts
diagrams, too, in the original passage, pass out of the blowpipe ? The muzzle-
have evidently got mixed. Thedescrip- end, too, has no curve as the mouth-
tion of the ' ' sunglork " (probably *■ * seng- piece has. These errors have been cor-
lik") as being placed in position ** where rected in the present text, • • ♦ Id,

3i8 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part ii

*• habong," or of " tarentong." ^ The butt-end is fixed
on with resin, and the shaft of the dart is rubbed with
beeswax ; warped darts are straightened over the
fire by hand, and marks are only added to the butt-
end when it is necessary to distinguish two strengths
of poison in one quiver ; in which case it is (as might
be expected) the darts tipped with the stronger poison
that receive the marks.^ Various standards of measure-
ment • for the darts are given, a dart of the longest
standard being always used first at the trial of a blow-
pipe, and then the next and the next longest, until
the one which appears most suitable is selected.*

The Poison.

Vaughan-Stevens' account * of the Mantra poison
appears to be a jumble of several receipts, but is
given here as the details may be worth verifying.

To make a spoonful of poison five strips of " kroie " •
bark are pounded with a pestle (" pomonong," sic) in
an iron pot which has first been prepared by waxing.
Water is added, and the liquor boiled about ten minutes.
The pot is then taken off the fire and deposited on a
stand consisting of a wooden fork which has a cross-
piece, intended to hold the pot, fastened across the
bifurcated portion. The fork-ends rest on the ground,
and the upper end or shaft is supported at a sharp
angle of about 45 degrees. The pot is then tipped up

1 Or of bamboo, see p. 315, «. i, ** [arm] -bone," from elbow to wrist.

suffra. ** Habong " is unidentified ; Length of the butt-end : shortest little

" kr€dok" is Cyrtostachis laca; ** taren- finger-joint ; thumb or thumb-nail (?) ;

tong " is Campncsperma auricultUa, thumb-joint ; breadth of forefinger, or

Seep. 331, 1. 2. *«tampong k'ladi" (yam-calix), about

* Vaughan-Stevens, ii. 123. half of the first-mentioned.

• E,g. "ukor susu," i,e. breast to * Vaughan-Stevens, ii. 124.
breast, or elbow to nearest breast (of ** Ibid, p. 125 seqg,

the maker); and <*sattt tulang," an ^ Lophopeialum pallidum, — Ridley.

CHAP. VI SA VAGE MALA YS OF MALACCA 319

till the liquor is close to the brim, and one end of a
roll of bamboo shavings (about 4 inches long) is in-
serted in the liquor, the other end being placed in a
special receptacle made of bark, so as to draw off the
poison by suction. The liquor thus drawn off is put
back into the pot and root-shavings of the " umpas
padi," " koopur,"^ " prachek,*'^ ** mundess," ** chantong
badak," and "gadong"' are added. The pot is then
boiled for about ten minutes more, when it is again
set on the stand and skimmed with a kind of woolly
leaf — that of a plant called " chapa-neng." * The
bark receptacle (covered with a species of sieve-
shaped filter) is now set on the ground (underneath
the forked stand on which the pot is resting). A
funnel is made of the woolly leaves referred to, and
the liquor drawn off into the funnel by the suction of
the bamboo shavings (already described), a few fine
punctures being made in the bottom of the funnel to
facilitate the process.*

The pot is then rinsed, the liquor put back, and
the "ipoh'** and "tuba**^ added (the latter being
first, however, pounded and mixed in the bark re-
ceptacle with a little liquor from the pot).®

The bark receptacle is then rinsed and the rinsings
added to the pot, together with a pod of chillies
(** Spanish pepper ").*

After ten minutes* boiling the pot is again removed
and set down on the stand, and the process of filtra-
tion repeated in exactly the same manner as before.

» Le. "kupor" Cakar"). Prob. * V.-St. ii. 125.

Riibus moluccanuSt'L,,\}a!tcom.moTiv>i\\d • Antiaris toxicaria (Upas tree) or

raspberry. For identifications, v, App. Strychnos tieute (Upas creeper).

^ Or "pA'achet''= Tabemamoniana ^ Derris elliptica^ Benth. ^ V.-St. Ic.

malaccensis^ Hook. fil. ' This is to keep evil spirits from

' Dioscorea damonum, Roxb. entering the poison and destroying its

* CUrodendronveluHnum,—^^^, power (Vaughan-Stevens, iL 128).

320 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part ii

The pot is once more rinsed and dried on the fire,
the liquor (in the bark receptacle) put back into the
pot, the fire reduced, and the pot slowly boiled till
a mere spoonfiil of gold -brown syrup is all that
remains.^

When properly made, as described, the liquor can
(by dipping a spatula into it) be drawn out into long
thin elastic strings about an inch in length, though
this only happens when a sufficient quantity of
** tuba" is used,*

When the poison has been transferred (by means of
the spatula) into the bamboo poison-tube or poison-
carrier,* fresh poison obtained from snakes, centipedes,
and scorpions may be added to it. A lemon- (or lime ?)
pip is spitted upon the point of a dart and burnt, the
charred pip being mixed with a lump of arsenic " as
big as the head of a match,** and stirred round in the
poison-tube.*

Three drops of the sap of " Rotan kSmanting "
may be added, but this appears to be an innova-
tion. The Mantra poison is very sticky, and seldom
dries properly unless ** ipoh " is mixed with it.*^

Antidotes.

In speaking of antidotes, it is interesting to note
Logan's remark to the effect that the Mantra were
in the habit of saying that they found resistance to
the Menangkabau Malays in vain, because the latter
were armed with muskets, and had learned the use
of antidotes to their "ipoh" poison, so that the

1 V.-St il 127. « V.-St. (ibicL) called "tahi m'ret" ["tahi m&et"=

adds that when a ring of lighter colour ** ants' dung " in the Jakun dialect],

is seen at the edges of the "ipoh " during ' In original, " into the tube of the

the boiling, it is believed to be a sign quiver ^^ (sic).

of strength (of the poison), and is ^ ' V.-St /. c.

CHAP. VI

SA VAGE MALA YS OF MALACCA

331

slender darts of the blowpipe inflicted but little injury
upon them.^

The Quiver.

Their quiver, which is of** t^lang " bamboo, is dried
at leisure when not required for immediate use. Often,
however, it is merely filled with hot ashes and dried
in the sun for two to three days to expedite matters.^

The cap is manufactured from a small block of
soft wood (that of the ** jfilotong '' tree). After it has
been roughly shaped, a small depression is made at
one end, in which red-hot embers are laid. When it
has been charred sufficiently deep the hole is cleared
out and shaped with a knife, and fresh embers put in
to complete the burning-out process. The outside is
shaped with a knife as required.*

The Mantra quiver alone has a broad band woven
according to what is called the " bat*s-wing " pattern,
near the top, in addition to the ordinary rings or
lashings.^ The girdle is of ** t*rap " bark, with a knot
as buckle.

' /. I. A. voL i. p. 273.
' Vaughan-SteveDs (ii. 120) gives
several words for this process, as used
hj various tribes, but with one prob-
able exception they are all bad Malay
meaning ** quick " or " rapid.**

They are —
" chiipat " (used by Sakai) = Malay

««ch«pat**:
" banghat " ^ (used by T " bangat**
and > Kenaboi) < and
"dras** j =Malay ("dras**:
'^ertjoos" (used by Besisi), which is
merely a corrupt form of the common
Besisi word '^jo-joss** (whidi un-
doubtedly stands for "j6s-j6ss"=:
" quick-quick **).

* The description here (Vanghan-
Stevens, iL 123) is very obscure and
confused. The key to the employment
of this process is the use of j^otong **

VOL. I

wood, the soft central portion of which
has necessarily to be burnt out to pre-
vent it from decaying, the hole beii^
then plugged with wax to make the
cap water-proof.

♦ This same (bat's-wing) pattern as
seen (in the same position) on the
quiver of the O. Kuantan may per-
haps be a reminiscence of the time
when a woven band, similar to that
of the Mantra, occupied its place.
This woven band (of the Mantra
quiver) encircles externally that part of
the quiver in which is kept the "so-
called pintal tukas.*'

[5fVVaughan-Stevens, iL 122. But
here there seems to be a considerable
muddle, as on the same page " pintal **
is explained as the name of the girdle,
and <* pintal tukas '* as the name of the
floccolent wad which goes behind the

322

WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS

PART It

The Mantra, like the Besisi, make a rectangular
patch or panel in front of the quiver by scraping off
the surface of the cuticle and waxing it. It is on this
patch that they work up (by rolling) the points of
their darts. Vaughan-Stevens states that the effect
of wax is also occasionally obtained by their rubbing
the nose upon it, the required effect being produced
by the natural moisture of the skin. Grotesque as this
statement sounds, it may yet have some truth in it.
I myself have more than once seen the Besisi rub
the nose upon the panels of their quivers, though I have
never seen or heard of the remainder of the operation
here described, and at the most, all that can be safely
said against it is that Vaughan-Stevens* account re-
quires further corroboration.^

The Mantra, like most of the other tribes, carry
a small stock of resin at (or near) the bottom of the
quiver, this being chiefly intended for fixing on the
butt-ends of the darts should they work loose at any
time. The interior is fitted with the usual reeds.*

butt-end {pfrppfen) of the dart, and
which is the material really referred to
in the last sentence. For ''pintal tukas,'*
therefore, in this passage read *< tukas "
or <*rabok tukas," i.e, Huff of the
tukas-palm {wad. passim when this fluff is
referred to), but keep "pintal," ue,
plait or plaiting, for the girdle. *■ ' Tukas *'
has nothing whatever to do with
"tikus," as suggested by Vaughan-
Stevens (note to V.-St ii. 121).]

^ Vaughan-Stevens, ii. 121 -122.
This rectangular patch was only seen
by Vaughan-Stevens among the Mantra,
who use, he sajrs, a very sticky
poison which seldom properly dries.
The Mantra, he says, call it "linghur,"
which Vaughan-Stevens* editor suggests
may = Mai. **lingga." The nearest
word that I can find, however, is
Malayo-Javanese **lenga'* = oil. The
sense is right, and with Vaughan-

Stevens' wretdied orth<^raphy its cor-
ruption into such a form as ** linghur"
would be more than probable. I myself
have frequently seei^hese same patches
on the quivers of the BesisL

* See Vaughan-Stevens, iL 105, 106 ;
1 22. Vaughan-Stevens says this resin is
obtained from a tree which he has
been unable to identify, but which is
called **keeji" (su). According to
Blagden, **kijai" is (properly speak-
ing) the resin obtained from the
'*kedondang'' tree, and there can
be little doubt that this is its right
meaning here. He adds that it was
formerly used for fixing on the rattan
rings which encircle the body of the
quiver, but that now "the Malay
cement," prepared ''from bufBdo-milk
and chalk," is substituted. I am unable
to corroborate this, and it should be
quite unnecessary, as the wedging, to

CHAP. VI SA VAGE MALA YS OF PAHANG 323

Blowpipe and Quiver— first type.

Pahang Jakiin (Kuantan). — Of the blowpipes used
by the O. Kuantan there appear to be at least two
types, one of which is the roughest form of blowpipe
made, and the other resembles that of the aboriginal
Malayans. The former is described as being made
from long internodes of the "sfimSliang" ("semi-
Hang ") bamboo, whose internodes are much shorter
than those of the Bambusa Wrayi (" buluh tSmiang ").
The internal tube, therefore, is made in two lengths,
which are joined by means of an outer tube or sheath
which is manufactured from the midrib of the leaf of
the " langkap " palm, and drawn over them,^

When the two abutting ends have been fitted
together, a piece of rag (formerly, it is said, it was a
ligature of plant-fibre) is smeared with heated resin
and wrapped first round the end, the wrapping being
coated over with a thin layer of gutta-percha, which is
melted by turning it round a firebrand. The mouth-
piece is also made of {jsic, ? covered with) gutta-percha
instead of the more usual material, wood.^

These blowpipes are the least effective of all
those known in the Peninsula, and cannot propel a
dart above forty paces. They are little used, and are,
according to Vaughan-Stevens, hidden inside the
stems of living bamboos, the nodes of which have
been knocked out. Vaughan-Stevens was only able
to obtain four.*

The bamboo internode from which the quiver of

which V. -St. himself makes reference, is ployed by the O. Kuantan is '*damar

a much simpler method of tightening tooyoom" (Vaughan-Stevens, ii, 113).
these rings. ' Cp. Vaughan-Stevens, ii. 112.

One of the kinds of resin thus em- * /did. ' /did.

324 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part ii

the O. Kuantan is manufactured is not slowly dried
like that of the Benua-Jakun, and hence the rings
round it work loose and require to be tightened by-
wedges. The cap is made by the women of woven
(and untrimmed) pandanus-leaf (/^. furcatus). The
waist-cord, which is made of ** akar dow " (? " dauk *')
has no buckle, but a knot at the cord-end, and its
decoration is peculiar to itself. The interior of the
quiver is only fitted with a small reed-bundle, room
being left, whenever it is used, for the insertion of
the bamboo poison-holder. At the bottom of the
quiver a little resin ("tuyum'') is kept (as among
the Mantra) and used for making fast the butt-ends
of the darts. The arrows, which are made of the
leaf-stem of the ** langkap " palm, are very roughly
made, and are frequently used, without poison, for
killing small birds, and only rarely for killing apes,
when poison is obtainable. Their length is "from
elbow to wrist," but they are often shorter.*

Not more than one out of every five or six of the
O. Kuantan possesses poison at all, and that which he
has is frequently compounded out of ingredients which
are quite harmless.*

Blowpipe and Quiver — second type.

The second type of blowpipe used by the Orang
Kuantan appears to be peculiar to the Jakun or
savage Malayan race. A specimen of this rare and
interesting blowpipe, which has been presented to
the Ethnological Department of the British Museum
by a member of the Malay States Service, was de-

^ Cp. Vaughan • Stevens, ii. 113, end is said to be the combined breaddi
The breadth (sic^ ? length) of the butt- of the first two fingers. ^ Ibid,

CHAP. VI SA VAGE MALA YS OF PAHANG 325

scribed in i?/a«,' whence the following description by the
present author has, with slight alteration, been drawn : —
Mr. F. W. Douglas, of the Malay States Service,
obtained this blowpipe on the east coast of the Malay
Peninsula in the Kuantan district of Pahang, during
October 1897, from a man belonging to one of the
jungle-tribes dwelling on the borders of Pahang and
Kemaman. Its measurements are as follows : —

Total length (over-all) . . 5 ft. 2 in. (157 cm.)

Interior diameter at mouthpiece ^ in. (10.9 mm.)
Interior diameter at muzzle-end § in. (9.37 mm.)

Hence the bore of the tube at the muzzle-end is
a fraction less than it is at the mouthpiece, so that we
have here an instance of a wooden blowpipe imitating
the natural proportions that obtain in the original
bamboo blowpipe, from which it was copied ; for in
the bamboo blowpipe it is always the root-end which
is placed nearest the mouth, so that the bore at the
muzzle -end is generally a fraction less than at the
mouthpiece ; in other words, this blowpipe, like its
bamboo original, has a slight " choke " in the bore.*

The illustrations here given are full-size. They
show the muzzle -end and the mouthpiece in two
positions, the mouthpiece having been chipped in
transit. I had it photographed to show the binding
before it was mended.®

This particular blowpipe is made of some very
hard wood, probably of **p6naga" {Calophyllum).
The cylinder is carefully split down the middle and
the two halves grooved on the inner side throughout
their entire length, so that when fitted together again
they form a perfect tube. This tube, which forms

> Skeat in Ma*t, No. 108 of 1902. ^ lb. ^ lb.

326 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part ii

the blowpipe, is bound round from end to end with a
long thin strip of some kind of cane {Calantus)y over
which is deposited a thick incrustation of a gutta-like
substance, the object of which is evidently to protect the
bands and prevent them from being loosened, as well
as to hermetically close any cracks that might otherwise
permit the passage of air. The thickness of this deposit
is increased to about |^ in. (1.2 cm.) at the mouthpiece.^

In Vaughan - Stevens (ed. Grlinwedel)* a very
similar blowpipe (collected among the " Benua " or
Jakun of East Johor) is described. It is not abso-
lutely identical with Mr. Douglas's specimen, since
it is longer (by about nine inches), and its two half-
cylinders of ** p€n3Lg&" wood are protected by a bam-
boo casing. Mr. Douglas's specimen, on the other
hand, corresponds with remarkable fidelity to a Per-
uvian blowpipe, described in the second volume of
Reiss und Stuebel's Kultur und Industrie sUdameri-
kaniscker Volker. This Peruvian specimen came
from the Huallaya river, and was described as con-
sisting of "the two halves of a palm-stem carefully
grooved and fitted together and bound round with
9ipo, which was covered besides with a layer of black
wax. It was fitted with a short bone mouthpiece."'

The quiver belonging to the blowpipe (also pre-
sented by Mr. Douglas to the museum) similarly
presented some new and interesting features : — ^

The body of the quiver is made from a bamboo
internode measuring ii|^ in. (29 cm.) in length, and of
great diameter (4 in. = 10 cm.). It is covered with a

^ Skeat, loc, cU, Kuantan, but he cannot say for certain

' Vaughan -Stevens, iL 102. Mr. whether it is indigenous, or introduced

G. Pfenningwerth of Kuantan writes me by Dayaks.

that the "lx)red** blowpipe, resembling * Skeat, loc, cU, Cp. OtisT. Mason,

that of the Dayaks, is certainly used in Origin of Invention^ p. 208. ^ lb.

CHAF. VI SA VAGE MALA YS OF MALACCA 327

flattish four-peaked cap made of woven pandanus-leaf,
which is made fast to a double ring of plaited rattan
or Calamus (which encircles the body of the quiver)
by means of a short cord of plaited tree-bark {Art(h
carpus ? or Eugeissona tristis ?). The usual waist-
cord of twisted tree -bark is attached to the same
rattan-rings. The exterior of the quiver is decorated
throughout by the usual incised patterns (which are, how-
ever, unusually rough and irregularly executed), and
there are traces of resin at the bottom of the quiver.^

The interior is fitted with the usual rolled -up
reed -bundle, the number of reeds being sixty- five.
Of these, however, only five contain darts, and there
is one loose dart of which the butt-end has been lost,
making six darts in all. All of these darts have
broken or (as I think more probable) blunt points, and
have very probably been used for knocking over small
birds. Only one (the loose one) has traces of a coat-
ing of poison upon it, and even of this one the extreme
tip of the point is blunt like the rest.*

Of the darts the longer ones measure j\ in, (19 cm.)
in length, and the shorter about 7^ in. ( 1 8 cm.), and their
butt-ends are made of some very light pith-like wood
and are of irregular length, two being about i in. (2.5 cm.)
long, and the other three being only half that length.
But they are all very incompletely rounded, are all
cut off square at the lower end, and are all pretty
much of the same diameter throughout, instead of
tapering towards the shaft, as is the case with the
better -made darts used by the Sakai, Besisi, etc.
Another distinction is that in two of them the upper
end of the dart-shaft is driven right through the butt-
end, emerging at its extremity beyond the upper end

1 Skeat, loc. eiL * Ibid,

33« WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS paet ii

of the butt, a peculiarity which may be seen in the
blowpipe-darts of Borneo/

The only other contents of the quiyer were two
rolled-up pieces of old chintz doth, and a spear-shaped
wooden spatula, still coated with poison.^

In view of all the evidence, and in spite of slight
differences, I think there need be no hesitation what-
ever in identifying both the blowpipe and quiver as a
variety of the ** Benua-Jakun ** blowpipe and quiver
which Vaughan-Stevens obtained in the eastern part
of Johor, in spite of the fact that this specimen was ob-
tained in Kuantan, north of the Pahang, a fact which
disagrees with Vaughan-Stevens' own statement to
the effect that this type of blowpipe is not found (in the
Malay Peninsula) north of the river in question. This
particular specimen, at all events, has the additional
interest of more nearly approaching the blowpipe of Peru
than any other specimen yet recorded from this part
of the world — a fact which should be of special interest
to the students of the problems of distribution.*

The Blowpipe.

Benua-Jakun. — One of the Kuantan types of blow-
pipe is found also among the Benua-Jakun. These
tribes use a peculiar form of blowpipe, the internal tube
of which is made in a very primitive feshion, oiwood^
though its outer casing is as usual of bamboo. Its
length and calibre vary with the individual maker.^

It is exceedingly rare and hard to obtain, especi-
ally as it takes sixteen days to make. It is made
from the wood of the "pgnagi" tree (** pSnaghur/*
sic), a sapling of which is felled and split through-
out its entire length. The two halves are then

> Skeat, loc. at. « Ih, 3 yj, 4 Cp. Favre in Ann, P. F, xxii. 304.

CHAP. VI SA VAGE MALA YS OF JOHOR 3^9

roughly carved into shape, the flat parts planed
and fitted tc^ether with a chopping - knife, bound
round with rattan ** ties '* at intervals, and carefully
rounded. The "ties" themselves are moved occa-
sionally, according to necessity, to enable the work
to be completed. The two halves are ** trued'* by
wetting one half and then pressing the two together.^

Next a broad black line is drawn with charcoal
down the centre, and the groove cut out with the
chopper, a quarter of the circumference at a time
only, to prevent M^arping. The cutting-out process
is continued until the cleaning-rod (**bingrot") can
just pass along within the double groove, when the
two lengths are again bound tc^ether, at short
intervals, and made fast at one end within a
movable clamp or vice ("kahon"), the object of
which is to hold the two divided halves of the tube
firmly tc^ether and at the same time to keep the blow-
pipe in position till the binding process is completed.*

As soon as this process, which is effected with a
strip of cane (" rotan tunggal ") is over, the mouthpiece
is made. It is said that this was formerly made of a
soft wood called " k6l6bok" (" libut "), but it is now
made of harder wood. The orifice was first bored
out with a " bone awl " and then gradually enlarged,
after which the end of the tube was warmed and
rubbed with resin and the mouthpiece fitted on to it
and shaped with the chopper. The outer case was
made of bamboo, the nodes being pushed out (as
usual) with a long stick. The bamboo was then
heated over a slow fire and bent downwards with a
constant pressure, which was applied by means of a pair
of wooden pincers. This process was repeated about

^ Vaughan-Stevens, ii^ 102 seqq, ^ lb.

330 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS pa»t ii

a dozen times, the object being to make the bamboo
case soft and yielding. The broken edges of the nodes,
which still remained inside the bamboo, were removed
in the ordinary way. The bottom node, however,
was left until the completion of the following process.^
The end of the blowpipe being pushed into the
bamboo case as far as it will go without forcing, the
remainder is then driven home by bringing down the
extremities smartly upon a block of wood. This pro-
cess is assisted by the warming, and the bottom node
already mentioned is then cut away. Use is made
of the long cleaning-rod ("bingrot") to give a
further polish to the interior of the tube, the thin
end being first inserted, and then the thicker end,
with a piece of skate-skin attached. The final polish is
effected by substituting the leaves of the " mamp'las "
for the skate-skin, this part of the process alone taking
two or three days to complete. The mouthpiece is then
made out of soft wood smoothened and coated over
with a layer of gutta-percha to give it more durability.
A small hole is made in the centre of the node (at the
lower end) to let the air in, and the shaft is softened by
steaming and straightened by eye. When the node is
finally excised, a rod with twisted bamboo shavings
attached to it is pushed down inside the tube, and
worked to and fro to clear away the remains of the
node.^ y

The Darts and the Quiver. ^

The darts, which measure from " breast to breast "

(of the maker), are described as being manufactured

from the hard outer cuticle of a palm called " krSdok "

{Cyrtostachis laca)} Each of the spaces between

^ V.-St. ii. 103 seqg. ^ lb, dnlcis) is also said to be used by the

' The wood of tafMOca {Manihot Benua. — Vaughan-Stevens, iL 106.

CHAP. VI

SA VAGE MALA VS OF JOHOR

331

the knots furnished on an average forty arrows, a
single day's work for their maker. These arrows
are dried for a long time and kept in reserve, as they
are seldom used twice.^ When bent or warped, the
dart-shaft was straightened by hand over a fire.*
They are often used unpoisoned, without nicks.'

The quiver of these Benua tribes is made from
part of an intemode of the large bamboo, which is cut
when green, filled with wet clay, and exposed to
gentle heat. As the clay dries, the bamboo is gradu-
ally moved further from the fire, the process often
taking several weeks to complete, though when once
completed it effectually prevents the bamboo from
Mrarping. After the first heating it is wrapped in
bark to protect it from the smoke of the hearth-fire,
and thus gradually obtains its golden-yellow colour.
The cap, which is made by the women, is of woven
**nipah" or pandanus-leaves. The quiver itself is
fitted with reeds as usual, and the waist-cord is of
" t'rap " bark, with buckle of wood, bone, tortoise-
shell, or even cash. It is quite plain and undecorated.*

An elaborate system of marking the darts, in
order to distinguish the several strengths of the
poison, was employed by these tribes, as follows : — ^

Marks.

Nature of Quarry.

lATge birds

Squirrels {i,e, small
mammals)

Civet • cats (medium-
sized mammals)

Apes (large mammals)

Strength of Poison.

Ipoh {Aniiaris) only.
Ipoh + fish-** stings. "

Ipoh + fish-** stings " -f centipedes.

Ipoh -h fish-" stings " + centipedes +
snake-poison (i.<r. ** full strength "
of poison).

' Vaughan-Stevens, ii. 106.
2 lind, p. 123. Cp. Favre, Ann,
P, F, xxii. 304,

3 Ibid, p. 107.

* Ibid, pp. 104, 105.

* Ibid. p. 107.

332

WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS

PAKTU

Unpoisoned arrows (for small birds) were not
furnished with any distinguishing mark.^

The amount of poison * made at a time is sufficient
for a quiver containing (** nominally ") lOO arrows ;
this, however, no doubt merely means that the
poison - makers of these tribes make rather more
poison at a time than they require to use, since no
quiver holds anything near the number mentioned.'

^ Vanghan-Stevens, ii. 107.

^ lb. There is nothing special to note
as regards this poison, for which see App.

^ The following account of the
preparation of the poison of the
Benua is from Newbold : — "The
Benua employ three preparations of the
Ipoh or Upas poison to tip their arrows
with, these three kinds being distin-
guished by the names <Ipoh krohi,'

* Ipoh tennik ' or * kennik,' and

* Ipoh mallaye.'

"The *kTohi* is extracted from the
root and bark of the Ipoh tree, the
roots of the • tuba * and « kopah,' red
arsenic, and the juice of limes.
The 'tennik' is made in the same
manner as the < krohi,' leaving out the

* kopah ' root. The * mallaye * poison,
which is accounted the most potent of
the three, is prepared from the roots of
the «tuba,' the 'perachi,' the 'kopah,'
and the * chey ' ; and from that of the
shrub * mallaye ' ; hence its name.

"The process of concocting these
preparations is as follows : — The roots
are carefully selected and cut at a
particular age of the moon ; probably
about the full. The woody fibre is
thrown away, and nothing but the
succulent bark used. This is put into
a 'kuali' (a sort of earthen pipkin),
with as much soft water as will cover
the mass, and kneaded well together.
This done, more water is added, and
the whole is submitted to a slow heat
over a charcoal fire until half the water
hat evaporated. The decoction is
next strained through a cotton cloth,
and again submitted to slow ebullition
until it attains the consistency of s]nrup.
Red arsenic ('vraurangan'), which is

rubbed down in the juice of the sour
lime, the Mimau asam' of the Malays,
is then added, and the mixture poured
into small bamboos, which are care>
fully dosed up ready for use. Some
of the tribes add a little opium, spices,
and saffron ; some, the juice of the
lancha, and the bones of the songggt-
fish burnt to ashes.

" A number of juggling incantations
are performed, and spells gibbered
over the seething caldron by the Poy-
angs, by whom the fended moment of
the projection of the poisonous prin-
dple is as anxiously watched for as
that of the philosopher's stone or the
elixir vitae by the alchemists and philo-
sophers of more enlightened races.
When recently prepared the Ipoh
poisons are all of a dark liver-brown
colour, of the consistency of s]^up, and
emit a strongly narcotic odour. The
deleterious prindple appears to be
volatile, as the efficacy of the poison is
diminished by keeping " (Newbold, ii.
pp. 400, 401).

Newbold further mentions — as the
only antidote of which the Benuas
could tell him — the fresh sap of a
shrub called "lemak kipiting"
(" Lemmah kopiting " ; lit. = " crab's-
fat "), rubbed round and into the
wound, and afterwards over the limb
in which the puncture has been made.
— Newbold, ii. 402.

[For identifications, v. pp. 3 1 8, 319,
ante^ and App. " Krohi " stands for
"kroi" in the Besisi dialect, "tennik"
for "tenet," "mallaye" for "malai'*
( = "Blay" of Vaughan - Stevens, ?),
"Perachi" for "pftrachek" (or
"Perachet"), and "chey" for Bes.

CHAP. VI SAVAGE MALAYS OF MT. BEREMBUN 333

The Blowpipe.

Jakun of Berembun. — All the Berembun tribes
(visited by Logan) used the blowpipe and poisoned
darts. The former was a light and neat instrument,
and differed from the " bored " wooden blowpipe of
the Dayaks. That of the Berembun tribes consisted
of two bamboos about 7 ft. (2.13 m.) in length, the one
enclosed within the other, the external one being about
three-fourths of an inch (19 mm.) in diameter, and
neatly decorated for about i ft. (91 cm.) in the centre
and at each extremity. To prevent it from splitting,
the fibrous bark of the Artocarpus was bound around
6 in. (45 cm.) of the extremity and coated with resin
("dammar"). The internal tube was of the same
length as the case, but its "bore" measured only
three-fifths of an inch (15 mm.). It was composed of
two pieces of bamboo, united by a splicing-piece 8 in.
(20 cm.) long, which embraced both ends tightly at
the point of junction. The bamboo used in the manu-
facture of this blowpipe (" buluh tfimiang ") was very
light and finely grained.^

The darts (" damak ") were made from the stem
of the bSrtam-palm leaf. They measured 10 in. (25
cm.) in length, and ^ in. (1.5 mm.) in diameter at

**ches'*or "cheh"(Mal. "ipoh"). "Ko- the milky sap drawn from the stem of

y^^^=z}Carapamal€ucenns,\AxX."\miQ}X Antiaris that is generally employed,

asam " = the lime (Mai. *< Limau asam"). Of the thin poison mentioned by New-

Newbold (/.^.)disdDgaishes three kinds bold, <<Ipoh malai" (or "mallaye"),

of poison in the Malay Peninsula : which is the root of a West Indian

(I) «*Ipoh kroi" ("krohi**), (2) " Ipoh plant {Thevetiamrii/olia, Juss., Apocy-

tenet" (<*tenni"),and (3) **Ipoh malai" naeea), is said to be the foundation. —

(« mallaye "), of which the first two are See Geiger, p, 20.]

(bonded upon the root and bark of the ^ /. 7. A. voL L p. 272. From the

Ipoh tree. Newbold seems, however, to foregoing account it is probable that

have confused'* Ipoh akar" (5^rAff^i) the Berembun blowpipe belonged to

with *< Ipoh batang " {Antiaris), for it is the Sakai type.

334 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part ii

the base, from which they gradually tapered to a very
fine and sharp point. The base was inserted into a
conical butt-end of ** kayu tutu " ^ (which is very porous
and light), the dart there measuring about i in. (25 mm.)
in length and one-third of an inch (8 mm.) in diameter.
The points of the dart had been dipped for about five-
sixths (21 mm.) of an inch in Ipoh poison. This latter
is made by taking the sap of the Upas creeper, the
Upas tree (or ** kyas "),^ " tuba," and limes, which are
then bruised, boiled, and strained. Arsenic is added,
and other substances, such as " pachet," * " jimardes," *
"malai," and "gadong," are also sometimes added as
well. The liquid, which is called " ipoh," having been
thus prepared, has the colour and consistency of
prepared opium ("chandu"). An incision is made
round the point of the dart just above the poison to
ensure its breaking off and remaining in the wound.*

Each dart is kept (ready for immediate service) in a
reed or case of bamboo, the diameter of which is about
one-fourth of an inch (6 mm.). Fifty of these reeds
are laid side by side and united by strings. They are
then rolled up and inserted into a large quiver, which
is also made of bamboo, and which has a neat lid made
from the wood of the **jelotong." This quiver con-
tains, in addition, a quantity of the wadding (" barok "),
which is of a very light, spongy character, and is
also used as tinder, which these tribes extract from a
tree called **runut."^ When the dart has been inserted
into the blowpipe a little " barok " is introduced behind
it. When the operator blows into the blowpipe, this
substance is pressed against the butt-end of the dart,

^ SiCy} ^*\Mio\i'' = Hibiscus macro- * Sic } Unidentified.

phyllus. 5 y; /, ^^ vol i. p. 272 seqq,

2 "Kyas" = **kayas"("ipohkayu"). « SU, ? «'rengut"
-3 Sicy ? " pdrachet," jr.«/.

CHAP. VI MALA VAN SEA-G YPSIES 335

and effectually prevents windage. In shooting, the
blowpipe is firmly held by both hands, which are lightly
clasped over the near extremity of the tube, which in
turn is firmly inserted into the mouthpiece, which thus
serves as a species of handle.^

Weapons.

Udai. — The Udai use sharpened palm - wood
("nibong") stakes, hardened with fire at the end, as
spears, as well as the blowpipe with poisoned darts.*

Orang Laut or Sea-Jakun.
Weapons and Implements,

0. Laut, Sletar. — The Sletar tribe of the Orang
Laut are described as possessing no weapons, whether
for offence or defence.

In the same passage, however, we are told that
they do employ a form of fish-spear called " sfirkap,"
as well as the Malay ** parang " or chopper (which, of
course, may on occasion be used either as a defensive
or offensive weapon).^

0. Laut, Sabimba. — The Sabimba use a Dayak
blowpipe, which is also armed with a spear -head,
bayonet fashion. It is curious, says Logan, that this
weapon has been imported for the Sabimba from time
immemorial, and that they have not acquired the art
of manufacturing their blowpipes from bamboo like
the Berembuns. The Bornean sumpitan, adds Logan
(evidently by way of distinction), is artificially bored.*

1 y. /. A, vol. i. pp. 272, 27 3. The of the Keratong and Jekati.— /. R. A. S.y

blowpipe is not used by the Jakan of S, A, No. 25, p. 3 ; No. 26, p. 14.
Ulu Endau, Ula Sembrong, and Ka- * Newbold, iL 381, 382.

hang, though it is by their neighbours ' J, I. A, vol. i. p. 342*. * lb. 297.

336 WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS part ii

It is most unfortunate that this account is so
meagre, but a contemporary account by Mr. Thompson
adds a few more scattered facts. He describes the
Sabimba as hunting the wild hog by the aid of their
dogs, and as feeding on monkeys, snakes, apes, etc.
** Their blowpipe is the same as that used by the Dayaks
of Sambas in Borneo, from whence it is imported to
Singapore, and from thence finds its way to the
Tembrau, the river on which they are now located.
The dart of this blowpipe is delicately fashioned, but the
Sabimba make a ruder description themselves. The
darts are poisoned with the juice of the Upas tree, which
is called *ipoh.'" The admission that the Sabimba
make a ruder sort of dart themselves, tallies entirely
with what we find to be the case among many of those
tribes who are in the habit of employing not only
their own weapons, but those of their neighbours in
the chase, no doubt in hopes that the latter would
bring them better luck. It would be interesting to
know what proof there was that the blowpipes resem-
bling those of the Dayaks at Sambas were borrowed.^

0. Laut, Huka Kuning. — With the help of dogs, the
blowpipe, a kind of palm-wood spear (the " s^ligi " or
** spear of nibong "), the axe, the hatchet, and the
knife, the O. Muka Kuning procure their ordinary-
food in the forest, together with rattans, resin or
'* dammar," and eagle-wood, which they barter for rice,
cloth, implements, tobacco, and salt.^

The Bow.

0. Laut, Temlang. — The following reference to a
form of arrow-release attributed to a less-known sea-

* To me the statement is most milikely. J, I, A, vol. i. pp. 347*, 348*.
« Ibid. p. 337*

CHAP. VI MALA YAN SEA-G YPSIES 337

tribe is, so far as I have been able to discover,
unique : the bow (of the Temiang) was held in a
horizontal position (a hole being made in the centre
of the bow, through which the arrow passed), the
three fingers bent over the string, and the arrow
held between the first and second fingers, the thumb
straightened, and the little finger partially straight-
ened.^

1 Essex Inst, BulL vol. xvii. Oct -Dec. p. 21 of short copy. Sec, however,
remarks on p. 253, ante. The entire passage wants corroboration.

VOL. I

CHAPTER VII.

Cultivation.

The most primitive form of horticulture (if so it can
be called) employed by these tribes arises from the
throwing away of the seeds of fruit that they have
eaten in the jungle. A Malay chief of Selangor
informed me that the Besisi were originally in the
habit of eating the fruits of the jungle in a small
shelter built upon the spot where they had been
gathered, but on its being pointed out that this
practice resulted in a superfluous number of fruit-trees
all growing in the same spot, the whole tribe took to
carrying their fruit to a little distance before eating
it, and afterwards removed during the fruit season
to a fresh spot every year, in order to spread the
seeds over a wider region of. the country.

On the other hand, fruit-seeds or seedlings were
certainly planted by the aborigines from time to time
among the catch-crops in their clearings, and the
ground round the trees that were in bearing was
regularly cleared (about once a year) of undergrowth.
This, however, was probably intended rather to
facilitate the collection of the fruit than with any idea
of improving the fruit-bearing capacity of the tree.

For the latter purpose magic was more frequently

338

Jaklx walking ri* a Tkek, Ui.u Batu, Sklangor

M'^Gregor.

I'oi. I. p. 333.

Ccrruti.

Sakai Trke-Fellinc; : One Man (on Staging) starting Work, the Other
(on the Left) climbing up to assist him.

I 'o/. r. /. 339.

CHAP. VII GENERAL REMARKS 339

employed, though it is true that various ingenious
devices were adopted for the purpose of scaring away
wild animals (such as monkeys, squirrels, bear-cats,
and civet-cats) which were certain to assemble to feast
upon the fruit.

Amongst the animals that were fond of the
durian, bears and tigers were always especially men-
tioned, it being asserted that these animals were in
the habit of tearing open the huge, green, spiky fallen
fruit by inserting their sharp claws into the divisions
of its thick rind, and feasting upon the creamy
pulp that envelops the seeds within. Whether this
be so or not, it is certain that both bears and tigers
are frequently met with in the neighbourhood of the5e
durian groves, and that not a few of the aborigines
have lost their lives through being attacked either in
or near the tiny huts or shelters that are built under
the durian trees, during the fruit season, for the
watchers. I may add that the number and variety of
wild fruits eaten by the aborigines were far in advance
of those eaten by the Malays.

All the aborigines are adepts at tree-felling, at
which even the Malays cannot beat them. Standing
on a lofty platform made of a few crossed sticks,
they cut the stem through at the point where the
buttresses spring from the trunk. They never
seem to miss their stroke even by a hair's-breadth,
the cutting being so cleanly done that the top of the
stump often looks as smooth as a billiard-table, a great
contrast to the roughly cut stumps left by some
Malays and most Chinese. In the southern districts
of Selangor the Jakun, who did a good deal of felling
for the Protectorate Government, proved cheap and
excellent workers, though they required management,

340 CULTIVATION part ii

as they would never work unless they were in a
humour to do so. Their favourite method of felling,
when a large area had to be cleared, was to select
a tree of the largest size, and then to fell it in
a particular direction so as to bring down with it a
number of smaller trees in its fall.

In the earliest stages of cultivation, the first kind
of grain to be planted by the aborigines is a kind of
Chinese millet, which is grown together with a few
light catch-crops, more especially by tribes living
among the hills of the Peninsula at a considerable alti-
tude. The last mode of cultivation introduced is
usually rice, and even when this latter is cultivated, it
is generally on so small a scale and with such hopelessly
inadequate implements, that it could hardly be ex-
pected (when the various " enemies *' of the rice had
taken their toll) that there would be any substantial
harvest left to gather.

Magic rites play a large part in the rice-planting
customs of the Sakai and the Jakun, but less so, I
believe, in those of the Semang, who seem to be less
superstitious than their neighbours.

Mr. Blagden has shown that there are several non-
Malay aboriginal names for rice in the Peninsula, and
this fact, coupled with the existence of varieties of the
grain special to the aborigines, and with the generally
aboriginal character of the harvest -rites, argues
against such words being borrowed by the civilised
(Mohammedan) Malays. The line between pagan
and Mohammedan Malay is drawn at irrigation.

The fact that there have been cases in which the
Jakun have taken even to the cultivation of coffee
shows, however, that they are by no means incapable
of improvement.

CHAP. VII NEGRITOS OF KEDAH 34i

I. — Semang.
Agriculture.

Kedah Semang and Pangan. — The wildest Semang
tribes do not eat rice, except when they may have suc-
ceeded in obtaining a scanty supply through the medium
of other Semang more conversant with Malays.

They live, in fact, for the most part upon roots,
eked out by the trophies of their skill in hunting and
fishing, together with the wild fruits of the jungle as
they come in season.

The Semang, who have reached the first and most
rudimentary stage of agriculture, plant by way of a
substitute for rice a species of Chinese millet (" sSkoi ")
which is called in Malay " cat's - tail " (** ekor
kuching"), and which is perhaps selected from its
flourishing better than rice on the higher ranges.

The fact of these tribes being millet -eaters, of
which I was first informed by the Semang of Kedah,
I subsequently found had been already recorded by De
Morgan and several other writers. It is, of course,
conceivable that the fact of their being eaters of millet
may have given the nickname of " Orang Sekoi," or
" Millet-men," to the tribes who bear it. But on the
other hand the name might quite as easily have been
derived from some small stream or river (Sungei
Sekoi), since on the whole this is the more usual
method by which these tribes get their names.

In the next stage of development (in which the
Negritos are still semi- nomadic, and migrate from
one district to another as soon as their scanty crop is
harvested) they actually begin to grow rice in a primi-
tive fashion, as well as a few catch-crops, such as
bananas, sugar-cane, tapioca, maize, and sweet potatoes,

342 CULTIVATION

all, however, with a minimum expenditure of time and
trouble. The rice that they grow, at this stage, is
always "hill-rice" (Mai. "huma"), a fresh plot of
forest-ground (usually the sloping side of a hill)
being selected and cleared annually. The branches
are then lopped off from the fallen trees, the cUbris is
burnt, and the rice sown in the interstices between
the remaining tree-stumps, this latter process always
necessarily taking place during the more rainy season.

A good instance of this culture of ** hill-rice " was
to be seen at Siong (in Kedah), where the Semang
had cleared a great part of the slope of Bukit TSmSsu,
and planted it with rice and the light catch -crops
mentioned in the foregoing list, with the exception,
however, of tapioca, which, for some reason unknown
to me, they did not plant.

At the time of my arrival their scanty stock of rice,
which was of very poor quality, had all been harvested,
and they had stored it in a tiny hut or barn, built
upon very high posts and no bigger than a box
(4 feet by 4 feet), in order to remove its precious
contents beyond the reach of small mammals.

Perak Semang. — These remarks apply equally to
the Semang of Perak.

II. — Sakai.

Fruit-gathering.

Perak SakaL — The Sakai method of gathering
wild tree-fruit is to climb the trees in which ripe fruit has
been seen, and then to lop off the fruit-laden boughs,
so that the fruit itself may be picked off the boughs
(as they lie on the ground) and eaten at leisure.^

^ De Morgan, viii. 284. This method b also practised by the Malays.

CHAP. VII SAKAI OF PERAK 343

Agriculture.

The Hill Sakai (Sakai Bukit) are said to practise
no form of agriculture ; but those who have reached
the earliest stage of it are described as cultivating
the species of Chinese millet called " sSkoi " (or " ekor
kuching ") already mentioned.^ Mr. L. Wray saw a
field of this millet grown at an altitude of 2400 ft. (730
m.) in Perak, and remarks that this form of grain is
grown largely by the Sakai, both in the hills of N. Perak
and of the Plus district, but that no rice was grown
there, and that their staple food appeared to be tapioca.*

Mr. Wray adds that they also grew sweet potatoes,
sugar-cane, pumpkins, and tobacco, but no fruit, except
in the settlements near Malay villages."

Elsewhere the Perak Sakai are described as
planting not only the crops already named, but maize
and yams, etc., etc.^

According to Col. Low and De Morgan, the Sakai
make no sort of use of ploughing or harrowing
implements, but content themselves with making holes
in the ground with a pointed stick, in the open spaces
between the roots and tree-stumps,* to contain the rice-
seed which is dropped into them.

De la Croix, in describing the Sakai village of
Kampong Chabang, on the upper waters of S. Kerbu
(a tributary of the Plus river in Upper Perak), gives
a graphic description of one of these aboriginal
clearings, stating that the jungle had been cleared
for an area of about five acres {deux hectares), and

1 De la Croix, p. 340. Sed v. p. * Ibid.

340, €mie, ♦ /. /. A. vol. iv. p. 429 ; and cp.

« Wray in /. R, A. S., S.B„ No. Hale, p. 294.

a I, p. 163. For illustrations of clear- * Low,/. /. A, vol. iv. pp. 429, 430;

ings, q). VHomnu, il 642, 643. q). De Morgan, vii. 423; VH, iL 611.

544 CULTIVATION part ii

great trees lay on all sides, the open spaces between
them being planted with rice. Here and there were
upright posts from which were suspended pieces of
bamboo which sounded as the wind shook them.
These were scarecrows designed for driving away the
crowds of birds which came to rob the rice-fields.
When the wind was not strong enough to move these
scarecrows, the aborigines did so themselves by means
of an arrangement of cords or creepers, all of which con-
verged towards a small shelter in the centre, wherein
a watchman was always posted. It looked not unlike a
network of telegraph lines. The same apparatus was
used for scaring away wild elephants, which were a
veritable scourge to plantations in the jungle.^

Vaughan-Stevens, in giving a very long and full
account of rice-planting as practised by the Sakai,^
made out five main divisions of their agricultural
work — felling, burning, sowing, reaping, and the offer-
ing of first-fruits. To commence, he stated that as a
rule only one harvest was obtained, unless the soil was
exceptionally rich, when two harvests might possibly
be obtained. Hence it was the most usual thing for
the clearing to be deserted as soon as the harvest had
been reaped. The patch of forest which happened to
be selected was cleared during the prevalence of the
drier season, by means of the hatchet and the chopper,*
A favourite method of felling was to cut a number
of small trees half-way through, and then to fell a

^ De la Croix, p. 323 (1882). This ^ Called by Vaughan-Stevens
method is common among the Malays, Blandas, though, as has already been
but as Mr. Blagden shows, the abori- explained, Vaughan-Stevens almost in-
gines themselves may have grown rude variably employed this term for what
crops. Wray {Per, Mus. N, iii. pp. 29- are throughout this book called Sakai.
30) gives two kinds of rice, ** Padi Mr. Bladen, however, from internal
Sakai " and « Padi Si Antah," both linguistic evidence, attributes this parti-
described as varieties grown only by cular account to the Mantra of Malacca,
the Sakai. 3 Vaughan-Stevens, ii. 146.

2?^ Morg^aH.

Sakai Plantations near the Hkad-waters of the Riykr Kampar (Perak),

SEEN from the SUMMIT OF Mt. ChABANG.

Vol. I. p. 344

Aboriginal Hill Clkaring, with Huts, Ulu Batu, Sklangor.

Aboriginal Hill Clkaring, with mixkd Cultivation (Tapioca and
Bananas), Ulu Batu, Sklangor.
Vol. A A 345.

SAKAI OF PERAK 345

bigger one in such a way that it brought them all
down in its fall.

The felled timber, after being left to dry for a few
weeks, was then set on fire, and with the exception of
some of the thicker stumps soon burnt to ashes. In
the spaces between these stumps the padi was planted,
just before the commencement of the wet season.
Before felling, however, all tools, whether choppers or
hatchets, had to be charmed to avoid accidents which
might be brought about by evil spirits. Women and
children, on such occasions, were not allowed to be
present on account of the dangers that they might
incur. In every village there was generally at least one
man — perhaps several — who knew these charms. At
the present day the Penglima or village chief was as
a rule the only one who knew them, for since the
wizards had died out, any one who knew the charm
could work it.

The actual process was as follows : —

Two forked uprights (of no stipulated size or
material) were planted vertically in the ground (a few
feet apart) and supported a horizontal pole running east
and west. The handle or helve of a hatchet was then
suspended from the pole, and just underneath it were
planted a branch (of some kind of forest tree) and a
young shoot of " bunglei." To these were added a
half coconut-shell filled with earth, which served as a
censer (** sangkun "), a chopper, to be deposited on
the ground beneath the pole, and the blade of the
hatchet whose helve was suspended as described. The
ceremony commenced at sunrise, when the saplings
were cut and erected as related above.^

The magician then strewed incense (benzoin) over

^ Vaughan-Stevens, ii. 146.

346 CUL TIVA TION part ii

the embers, and facing the rising sun, knocked the
blade out of the hatchet-helve, and suspended the
latter as described. Next he deposited the chopper
and hatchet-blade, and picking them up again and
crossing his hands in the smoke, described seven
successive circles in the smoke, calling aloud seven
times in succession as he did so.

He then repeated the following charm : —

** O Spirits of every Hill-locked Basin, return ye
and seek the Spectral Huntsman. It is my desire to
open up this clearing. O ye Four (great) Magicians,
unto all Four of you I prefer my request. It is my
desire to open up this clearing. Grant me coolness
of body, and do me no harm nor scaith, but grant me
coolness and coldness within this body of mine."

The harm and scaith referred to included the risk
of being crushed by falling trees, of falls, and of
accidental wounds inflicted by the implements used by
the operator ; as well as the attacks of wild beasts,
and fever.

When the charm was completed the hatchet-head
was re-inserted in its helve and (along with the
chopper) returned to its owner. A first clearing was
then made, in the usual way, round the middle point
of a circle which was about twelve yards in diameter.
The chopper and hatchet were then turned seven
times round in the smoke in strict silence, after which
every one returned home. The owner of the tools
commenced his work on the following day. To the
foregoing should be added that the charm had to be
said for each of the tools separately.^

The burning ceremony took place as soon as the
felled timber was dry enough. Men, women., and

' Vaughan-Stcvens, il 147, 148.

CHAP. VII SAKAI OF PERAK 347

children gathered together at mid-day in an open
space on the sheltered side of the clearing. Here the
censer was set up, and its smoke used to fumigate a
half coconut-shell filled with coconut-oil. Before the
latter was poured into the shell two or three polishing
leaves (of the " akar simplas ") were put into it. The
oil was called " minyak b'rangsang." ^

The magician next turned his face towards the
east, lifted the shell full of oil to his lips and repeated
this charm : —

" O Lightning, in Heaven and on Earth, I desire
to give scope to the rage of Fire. I desire to burn off
this clearing. I desire to summon the Four (great)
Magicians. I desire to summon the winds from their
seven coigns, the seven winds of equal rank, and to
summon the whirlwind." ^

After this charm was spoken each took up his tree-
bark torch from the heap in which they had been
deposited and dipped the end of it into the oil in the
shell (which the magician had replaced on the ground).
The women and children did likewise. Each
individual then handed his torch to the magician, who
alone might kindle it (by means of the embers in the
censer). The company then hastened off in various
directions, and each of them kindled the fallen timber
in as many places as possible. This charm was con-
cluded at noon, as that was the hour by which the
leaves and twigs would all be well dried by the hot
sun.*

After this "burning" ceremony came that for
planting the rice. When the ground had been
cleared by the burning of all but the larger trunks it
was ready, aftfer the first showers of the wet season,

* Vaughan-Stevens, ii. 148. * lb. pp. 148, 149. ' lb.

34« CULTIVATION

to receive the seed. The men then prepared pointed
sticks (or dibbles) made from the saplings of a special
kind of hard-wood tree called " tamun," ^ the bark of
which was peeled off, and a hollow made at the thicker
end to receive the seed, which was stored in the huts
in sacks.

The magician set out at sunrise for the fields,
accompanied by all the men, women, and children
who were going to take part in the sowing. On
arriving at the first available open space near
the middle of the field the magician drew a circle
round himself with a specially made staff, which like
the other dibbles was made out of " tamun " wood,
and all the planting-sticks were heaped up inside the
circle. The whole of the company sat outside the
circle in a wide irregular ring, forming what is called
the Rice-bin ('* kepuk*' ).* In the centre the " bunglei "
plant already mentioned was planted in the ground,
and near it a branch of the " tamun " tree from which
the planting-sticks had been made.*

The " tamun " wood was chosen because the
" tamun " tree bears its fruits in a ring round the
base of the trunk at a height of only about 2 dcm.
from the ground, the object of the planters being
that the rice should by sympathy flower near the
ground, as the " tamun *' tree fruits, instead of
growing long and rank and weedy. So, too, the
** bunglei " plant was chosen because no animals ate it,
the hope being that the rice might be similarly spared.
The censer having been placed near this plant and
incense burned on it, seven small holes, each about
an inch deep, were made in the centre of the circle.

' Mai. **Satambun.'* » MaL "k*pok," a very large circular " rice-bin."

' Vaughan-Stevens, ii. 149.

CHAP. VII

SAKAI OF PERAK

349

Each individual then brought his planting-stick
and drove it firmly into the earth, inside the ring
(" kgpuk "). One of the women's seed-pouches was
then deposited within the ring and a quantity of rice-
grains (saved from the first seven ears cut at the last
year's harvest) ^ were mixed with the seed contained in
the pouch. A charm was then repeated as follows : —

** O Dong, Black Princess, who dwellest as a recluse
{lit. fastest) in the sea for six months (in the year), I
summon thee to assist me in planting rice, so that
from a fist-full, from a mere pinch (of seed) may grow
a hundred-fold, a thousand-fold, a koyan or two." *

Turning his face to the east, the magician then
took up the pouch and waved it in a circle seven
times through the smoke which was still rising from
the censer, counting aloud as he did so, " One, two,
three, four, five, six, seven."

When the charm had been said, a little rice-seed

1 This is the Rice-soul (or rather its
embodiment), called in Malay *' anak
padi'' or the "Rice -baby." See
Malay Magic^ p. 235 seqq,

* Vaughan- Stevens explains that
this little Black sea -Princess (who
descends with the wet monsoon) had
the reputation of being able to protect
the rice- fields if she vrished, against all
other evil spirits except the " Squinting
Demon," who was usually more or less
harmful All evil spirits but the latter
feared this Princess, who was wont to
taunt them with the misdeeds they had
committed during their lifetime, and
on account of which they had been
condemned by ** Granny Long-breasts "
(*< Gendui Lanyut **) to dwell in the sea
and pass their time in squirting water
up at the clouds. [The full name of
this Princess is Putri Sadong. She is
frequently referred to in the traditions
of the Malays, who describe her as the
Princess of the Limestone Caves, and
as ruling over the wild mountain goats
(**kambing gurun**). At the same

time she is usually connected ivith the
cultivation of rice. See Skeat's Fables
and Folktales from an Eastern Forest^
note to p. 49.]

On the subject of the Rice -soul,
Vaughan-Stevens further remarks that
the rice had a soul which was con-
demned to wander for three days.
During these three days and nights the
body of the rice was exposed, in a way
Vaughan-Stevens could not make quite
sure of, to the attacks of evil demons
which, under cover of darkness,
approached it in the form of mice.
But the demons could not break
through the enchanted ring of plant-
ing-sticks, nor could they penetrate
to the inner circle of seven holes in
which the body of the rice was
buried.

After the third night the "semangat''
or soul of the rice returned to its body,
after which it could take care of itself,
so that the protection of the planting-
sticks was no longer needed (Vaughan-
Stevens, il 151, 152).

350 CUL TIVA TION part ii

out of the pouch was dropped into each of the seven
holes and covered up with earth by the magician, who
made use of his stick for the purpose. The planting-
sticks of the company were then waved round seven
times through the smoke in a circle, the number of the
completed circles being each time counted aloud by
the magician. As soon as the planting-sticks had all
been fumigated, each person took up his own pair, one
in each hand, and went off with them to the field.
The women followed, and the pouch was taken as
well. The whole company now proceeded to plant the
seed, working in a long line or file, casting the seed
with one hand and pricking holes with the other.
The women then divided the rice-seed between them,
starting with that in the pouch, which must be planted
first in any case. They next resorted to the main
stock of seed, all of which they planted, dropping a
few grains into each hole, and covering them up with
hand or foot. When the day's work was ended the
planting-sticks had to be brought back to the place
where the ceremony was performed and restored to
their original position. This ceremony had to be
repeated for three consecutive days, but after that
they might be deposited anywhere.^

To the foregoing I should add that if the planting-
sticks in the course of the work got clogged together
with wet earth this might on no account be removed
by rubbing the stick against a tree, but had to be
wiped away with the front of the foot. If the stick
was accidentally knocked against a tree, the mouse-
demons would hear it, and, joyfully exclaiming, ** Rice-
planting, rice -planting," set to work to dig up the
seed.*

^ Vaugban-Stevens, ii. 150, 151. ^ Ihid,

CHAP, vii SAKAI OF PERAK 351

As soon as the rice began to ripen, all the men,
women, and children set to work to drive off the
birds, apes, elephants, squirrels, and other enemies of
the rice. A small hut or shelter was built in the
field ; and part or the whole of each family went to
live there while the rice was ripening. The reaping
was done with the same implements as are used by
the Malays. None of the aborigines could remember
any other kind being used. In default of the Malay
reaping-knife ("tuai**), the reaper would pinch off each
head of rice between finger and thumb. From five
to twenty ears, on the other hand, according to the
skill of the reaper, were seized between the finger
and the thumb and cut off close to the ear when the
reaping-knife was used, the stalks being left on the
spot, either to be burnt or to wither. The rice-heads,
were then collected together, and thrown upon a
threshing-floor to be separated from the husks.
Here they were trodden to and fro under foot,
and the stalk -ends sifted out. The rice required
for immediate use was then thrown into a massive
wooden mortar, where it was pounded with a heavy
pestle, which split the husks, and the husked rice, as
soon as the husks had been separated from it, was
then ready for cooking.^

Before the commencement of the harvest, how-
ever, a magic ceremony had to be performed, which
took place at sunrise. All who were interested in
the harvest assembled at one of the watchers' huts in
the rice-fields, and seated themselves in a ring round
its walls. In the middle of the hut stood a sack filled
with rice to the brim — an obvious piece of symbolism.
One of the reaping-knives was then inserted, with the

i Vaugban-SteTens, ii. 151, 152.

352 CUL TIVA TION part ii

pointed end downwards, in the centre of the open
mouth of the sack of rice, and to the butt-end of its
(projecting) bamboo handle ; above the iron blade a
small knob or clot of beeswax ^ was affixed.

With his face turned to the rising sun, the magician
now crouched down in front of the sack, and, placing
his lips close to the knob of beeswax, repeated aloud
the following charm : — ^

" O thou that squintest, turn thy back to* me ; thou
that art blind, confront me. Lo, I reap the seven
heads of rice, yea, and take the soul of the rice, and
bear it back with me to the house."

The magician then withdrew the reaping-knife
from the sack's mouth, and proceeding to the circle of
the seven holes and fastening seven rice-plants (one
taken from each of the holes) to the upper part of the
handle of the reaping-knife, turned his face towards
the rising sun, and (retaining meanwhile the reaping-
knife with the rice-plants attached) repeated the rest
of the charm, which consisted merely of the words :
** I will drive thee out, O Demon, from before me.''
At this he applied the edge of the reaping-knife to
the rice-stalks and cut them through.^

The rice-heads being still fastened to the reaping-
knife, the magician took them back with him to the

1 Vaaghan-Stevens explains that wax squirrels, etc. The demons soon notice

was used in order to symbolise the wax- all the unwatched places, whenever

like nature of fresh rice when boiled. the attention happens to flag, and

s Vaughan-Stevens, ii. 152. hence great care is taken of the grains

The squinting demon is represented which contain the soul of the rice, and

as squinting because the Sakai believe the spirit is so blinded by magic that

that a man who squints can see further they can be collected together in

round him than another whose eyes safety. The squinting spirit is always

are naturally formed. A large rice- spying round the house, and looking out

field demands ceaseless watchfulness, for a chance of playing off his tricks ; he

and the eyes of the owner cannot look incites the fowls and dogs to steal food

round fiu enough to take note of all out ofthehutswhen the master is absent,

the depredations committed by birds, ^ Vaughan-Stevens, ibid.

Aboriginal Wome>4 husking Padi (showing End-Vievv of Mortar)
Ulu Klau, Pahang.

Vol. I. p. 353.

CHAP. VII SAKAI OF PERAK 353

hut, and there untying them, wrapped them up in a
cloth or mat, and deposited them on the top of the
rice in the second sack. There they had to stay for
three days, during which time the women alone were
allowed to cut the rice in the field, after which a
pause followed until the end of the rice-feast. The
rice-heads thus collected were husked, but the stalks
and husks might not be thrown away before the feast
was over, and were preserved in a basket or sack, which
was kept in the hut. The rice thus obtained formed
the portion used for the rice-feast, it being the rule that
whatever remained over must be divided among the
guests before they returned home after the banquet.*
The following up of these three days' reaping by
the offering to the guests is considered as an act of
hQspitality on the part of the chief, any omission of it
being considered ** mean.'* The reasons given to
Vaughan-Stevens for not throwing away the remains
of the feast were (i) that the guests might see how
much had been obtained from the harvest, and assure
themselves that the host had not kept back any of
theiihusked rice ; further, it was asserted that the
Rice-soul, when it returns from its three days' wander-
ings, is made welcome by means of the feast, and
also, moreover, fortified by the charms against the
trouble that might be caused by the demons later
on. It was asSterted, too, that it would be an insult
to the Rice-soul if its husk were immediately thrown
away as worthless ; and hence the husks were pre-
served in order that the Rice-soul might see them
upon its return. As soon as it returned, the grain of
the seven rice-heads was collected together in a cloth
or sack and hung up in an out-of-the-way place, until it

^ Vaugfaan-Sterens, it. 152.
VOL. I 2 A

354 CULTIVATION part ii

was time for it to be mixed with the main stock of
seed. Till then it tpok up its abode in these seven
ears. To this it was added, that fresh rice when
boiled possessed a peculiarly pleasant aroma, which
was not to be obtained from old rice. Hence when
the guests arrived they would raise the husks to their
noses and inhale their aroma, as a means of ascertain-
ing the quality of the harvest ; for, although the rice-
grains had the same aroma as the husks, it would not
be seemly to test the grains themselves in this way.^

Whilst the women were engaged in reaping the
rice during the first three days, the men were em-
ployed in procuring from the forests and streams the
meat and fish required for the feast. Afterwards,
however, both sexes took a share in the reaping, since
the grains fall very easily and quickly out of the ears
as soon as they are once fully ripe.^

After the rice which had been collected during the
first three days had been husked and prepared, a
sufficient quantity was cooked for the entertainment
of the expected guests, the cooking taking place on
the morning of the fourth day, by which time the
supplementary dishes that had been procured by the
men were available.*

The men now put on their best clothes, and the
bachelors of the tribe, putting flowers in their head-
bands, took their blowpipes with them, and prepared
to lead their guests to the feast-house.* The most
distinguished guest, i.e. the Batin or one of the
subordinate chieftains or the magician, was fetched
last, all the people accompanying him, and the un-
married men acting as a kind of bodyguard.^

* Vaughan-Stevens, ii. 153, 154. 2 /^,vi s Ibid.

* Le. the "Balai." ^ Vaughan-Stevens, ii. 153, 154.

CHAP. VII SAKAI OF PERAK 355

As soon as the last guest had arrived, which was
usually about mid-day, the dishes were placed upon the
mats. Nowadays the host provides the rice and the
betel-leaf, and every one who receives the invitation
gives about ten cents towards the purchase of luxuries.
Formerly, however, those ten cents were paid in kind,
and consisted of various supplementary dishes, such as
fish, game, and vegetables. Waiting on the guests,
on the other hand, was the duty of the householder
and his wife and his grown-up daughters.^

Before the meal commenced, as soon as the guests
had chosen their places (the women and children
sitting tc^ether in one place and the men in another),
the magician took the censer and dispatched it seven
times round the circle of guests, who continued to
pass it round from hand to hand until it returned
again to the magician, the latter calling out "one,
two, three^ four," and so forth each time that he
received it, until the seven circuits were completed.
These were, however, the only words uttered by the
magician during the ceremony, and he did not turn in
any special direction.^

When this proceeding was over, the magician
waved the censer seven times round the reaping-
knives and the cloth in which the seven rice-heads
were wrapped, and both of the latter being sus-
pended from one of the central pillars of the house,
the censer was simply passed around that pillar.
Next, the censer was carried round all the rice-
sacks (which were intended to receive the harvested
rice), and, lastly, seven times round the cooking-pots,
which stood apart by themselves. It was then
deposited at the foot of the pillar at the top of which

* Vaughan-Stevens, ii. 154. * Ibid,

356 CULTIVATION part ii

were suspended the Rice-soul and the reaping-knives.
The magician next took a few boiled rice -grains
and laid some of them on the heads of each of the
children present, in order that they might always
remember when they were older how to prepare rice
for their children. This completed the ceremony, and
the actual feast then began. ^

After the meal the guests washed their hands in
the water which had been placed in coconut -shells
for every one to quench his thirst. And when they
had all washed, each person present greeted the others
of his (or her) sex in turn, stretching out the hand
without rising. Betel-leaf was then brought forward
and handed round, the host and his wife meanwhile
taking their own share of the repast in a corner of
the hut. When they had finished their meal, they
too greeted each of the guests in the same way, and
each guest, after responding, had to come forward again
and return the greeting of the host. Meanwhile the
wife of the host, on her own account, exchanged
greetings with the other women. The incense was
now removed from the censer and the smoking shell
offered by the magician once to every adult. When
he had received it back, he passed it once more seven
times round the pillar on which the Rice -soul was
hung, and then deposited it on the ground at the foot
of the pillar. The unboiled rice which remained over
from the three days' harvest was equally divided
among all the guests ; but the boiled rice which had
not been eaten at the feast was the magician's own
perquisite.*

The guests who lived at a distance now took their
leave, and as before were accompanied on their way

^ Vaughan-Stevens, U. 154, 155. ^ Ibid.

CHAP. VII SAKAI OF SELANGOR 357

by the owners of the rice-field. Before they departed
the women alone greeted the host seven times. The
host, however, was not permitted to accompany any
of them to their homes until his most distinguished
guest had departed.^

The wife of the host, although she sat near him,
received no greeting, except a quite informal one
from some of her special friends. All the guests left
the house in time to reach their dwellings before
nightfall.^

Horticulture.

Selangor Sakai. — Of the devices employed by the
Sakai of Selangor for scaring the monkeys away from
their fruit-trees, an official in Selangor, some years
back, observed one day as he was walking along
the central range a noise that resembled the stroke
of an axe on a hollow tree. Next day the same
noise continued, and he therefore started off to
investigate ; and in a small creek or water-gully came
upon an ingenious contrivance put up by the Sakai to
frighten monkeys away from some durian- trees, of
which there were a number in full bearing in the
neighbourhood. The contrivance was made out of
an internode of bamboo, some five feet long, and had
a fairly big stone lashed to the bottom end ; rather
less than half-way up a hole had been bored and a
long thin stick passed through it, the ends of which
were made fast to a couple of trees on either side.
The bamboo was fixed at about half a right angle, and
a second bamboo led a stream of water into it ; as
soon as the first bamboo became full, its top-heaviness
caused it to tilt up, when the weighted end fell with

* Vaughan-Stevens, ii. 155. * Ihid,

358 CULTIVATION part ii

a thud upon a third piece of bamboo which was fixed
ready to receive it. The same writer added that the
Sakai employed the ** whistling " ( or " iEolian ")
bamboo a good deal for the same purpose, but said
that this '* fog-bell " of theirs was better.^

III. — Jakun.

Blandas. — No record has hitherto been obtained of
the actual rice-planting ceremonies practised by the
Blandas in K. Langat. But the agricultural rites of
all these tribes, as might be expected, are borrowed
almost in their entirety from their Malay neighbours,
and hence there is reason to believe that they cannot
differ greatly from the ceremonies just described.
That this is the case is borne out to some extent by
the text of two padi - planting charms, which were
given me by the Blandas in this same district. The
first, which corresponds to the Malay tree-felling in-
vocations, may be rendered as follows : —

Charm to expel Earth-demons on opening up' a Clearing.

Leaves of " kreduk '» and " sdlimbar," »
Tree-shoots that entwine and dangle,
Dangle till they reach down earthwards.
Therewith chase I you. Earth-demons ;
Fly to leftward, fly to rightward,
I have chos*n this spot as lodging
For Bananas, Yams, and Rice-plants.
Lords of hill, and hill-locked basin.
Drive we back these foul Earth-demons \

The second of these charms is to be used for
calling the Rice-soul home at harvest-time (** panggil
sSmangat padi '*).* It runs as follows : —

* " Queensland " in SeL J, vol. i, ' A big climbing parasite (Klin-
Na 15, p. 230. kert).

* *• Menetau " ; so-called in Makiy * Cp. Malay Magic y p. 235 stqq.
also.

Cultivation of the Tapioca-Plant (on Left) and Sl'gar-Cane (in Centrei —
ABORir.iNAL Woman in FoRK(;RoLNn, I'lu Kali, Selancor.

I'ol. I. />. 359

CHAP. VII SA VAGE MALA YS OF SELANGOR 359

Charm for invoking the Rice-soul.

Rice-boat ^ male and Rice-boat female !
Clack, cluck cluck ! your souls I summon,
Both the girl-child and the boy-child
Come, we yearn to bear you homewards.
Souls of Rice-plants,' S'lotan, Borak,
Jambi, Pulut,' Maize, Bananas.
Thus into the house we bear you,
In the soil no longer slumber,
Slumber now within the curtains.^

The directions given me in connection with this
charm were that the magician, on reaching the house
(when returning from the rice -field), should say
" Coming " (Mai. " datang "). As soon as the people
in the house, who ought to be on the look-out, hear
this announcement, they should bid the Rice -child
welcome with " Come hither, then ! "

One of the most interesting facts to be deduced
from the above charm (which was given me by an old
Blandas chief) is the fact that by these aborigines
a soul is attributed to maize and banana trees, as well
as to the various kinds of rice.

Horticulture.

Besisi. — The Besisi have little that can be termed
horticulture, though by dispersing either in their own
plantations, or in the jungle, the seeds and stones of
the fruit which they eat, and sometimes clearing the
undergrowth around them afterwards, they naturally
come to look to some extent upon the trees that
spring from these seeds as the property of their tribe.

' The rice-boat or ** puan,'* as it is << Borak " and ** Jambi,*' are the names

called in Malay, is a boat -shaped of the best kinds of rice (*<padi'*) grown

wooden box (with built-out part be- in the district.

hind), in which rice is deposited by ' '< Pulut " is Oryta glutinosa^ or

Malays when used ceremonially on glutinous rice, used chiefly with turmeric

great occasions, or in processions, such on ceremonial occasions,
as that of a wedding, etc ^ Lit, ** mosquito • curtains " — a

* "S^lotan" or " SMotan," as well as wonderfully graphic and human touch !

36o CUL TIVA TION part ii

At the same time, it should be observed that their
claim when made, as so often happens, by way of pro-
test against some usurping Malay, is not to the owner-
ship of the tree or trees, but merely to a reasonable
share of their fruit. The Malay is frequently left in
possession by the simple jungle-folk with this express
proviso, but as frequently breaks his contract, and this
question of the ownership of such trees has repeatedly
received the attention of the Government, the dis-
appointment of the aborigines having repeatedly led
to great wrangling between them and the Malays,
whilst the latter never hesitate to use their power as
the stronger race for the purpose of seizing the trees
entirely whenever they find an opportunity of doing so
unchecked. The trees thus planted are the durian,
the mangostin, rambutan, rambai, lansat, tampoi,
and others, the value of even a small orchard of this
kind to a Malay being very considerable. The late
Sultan Abdul Samad of Selangor, whose mother was
said to have been of aboriginal extraction, had several
such orchards in his possession, and most of the in-
fluential Malay chiefs who surrounded him were the
owners of similar property.

The collecting of the fruit is done for the most
part by women. A special fruit-gathering implement
(which may, however, be copied from one employed by
the Malays) has been described by Mr. Bellamy, who
saw it in use among the Besisi, as I have myself done.
It was used mostly for fruits about the size of an
apple, especially the mangostin, and its main object
was apparently to do away with the necessity of climb-
ing the trees. To make it, the Besisi would procure
a long thin bamboo, and splitting it lengthwise (at
one extremity) between two joints or nodes, press

CHAP. VII SA VAGE MALA YS OF SELANGOR 361

the Split end forcibly down until the section opened
out and took shape not unlike that of a small round
cage. This cage -like formation was then bound
round with rattan to preserve its shape, and a portion
of two or three of the bars of the cage excised,
sufficient length being, however, left in the bars of
the upper section to form a sort of claws. The fruit-
gatherer, after strapping a basket on to her back,
then set to work, and passing the claws round the
stalk of the first mangostin, gave a slight pull so as to
detach the fruit, which, instead of falling to the ground
and becoming bruised, simply dropped into the cage
below the claws.

I may add that the Besisi also occasionally, like
the Malays, make use of magic to cause their fruit-
trees to bear better.

Agriculture,

The Besisi cultivated the usual catch-crops (maize,
tapioca, yams, and sweet potatoes, etc.) as well as
rice, though the harvests that they obtained were
seldom very much to boast of. Their settlement at
Ayer Itam stood in very low-lying ground which re-
mained more or less swampy throughout the year, so
that there was no trouble about water- courses and
embankments, a fact which they evidently appreciated,
this being the great stumbling-block in the way of
regular rice-cultivation, even among the local Malays.
The following lines of a song sung at a Besisi rice-
feast describe the various processes of rice-culture as
practised by their tribe : —

Song of the Rice-planters.

Go ye out to fell your clearings,
Bum ye then your sun-dried timber,

362 CULTIVATION part ii

Early plant, to make rice fruitful,^
Plant ye rice, yams, cane, bananas.
Bnild a hut to shade the planters.
When yoar crop's ripe, reap it quickly.
Or you'll want, your rice grown rotten.
Leave it not then, reap it thoroughly.

The operations of sowing and reaping were always
accompanied by the reciting of charms, which appear at
first sight to be borrowed, almost bodily, from the rice-
ciistoms of the local Malays, though it is more probable
that a large portion of them were of independent Jakun
{ix. aboriginal Malayan) origin. Periodical feasts
were also held in the house of the tribal chief or Batin,
both when the rice first began to bloom, and also at
the beginning, middle, and end of the harvest.

The Besisi have a ceremony (resembling that of
the Malays) for bringing the Rice-soul back to the
house. But on arrival at the house the Rice-soul is
suspended from the ridge-pole of the roof (" tulang bum-
bongan ") instead of being deposited (as by the local
Malays) in the rice-bin (**k5pok padi.'*)* As soon as
the Rice-soul has been brought home the Besisi hold
one of their great feasts or orgies (** main jo'oh "), at
one of which I was fortunate enough to be present, and
of which I accordingly took careful notes at the time.

This festival that I attended took place at the
Besisi settlement at Ayer Itam in the Kuala Langat
district of Selangor. On reaching the Batin's house
— which was the largest house in the village, and had
a specially built "balei" attached to it, which could
have probably held at one time a hundred people — we
found it decorated in expectation of our arrival, which
took place at about half-past one. By half-past two

^ Lines two and three are trans- ^ One of the points that suggest for

posed in the original, no doubt by this rite an origin independent of the
accident. ci\'ilised Malay customs.

CHAP. VII SA VAGE MALA YS OF SELANGOR 363

the cooking of the rice by the women of the village
was completed, and there being about sixty persons
present, the men sat down. Before the feasting com-
menced, however, a charm was recited by one of the
minor chiefs. Seating himself at the head of two long
rows of banana-leaf ** dishes " (all of which were well
heaped with rice as they lay on the floor), he addressed
a friendly invitation to those beasts of the jungle and
noxious insects which at all other times are considered
the deadliest foes of rice-planters, but which (on this
occasion only) were invited to glut themselves, and so
join in the general banquet. This charm, which I
afterwards took down from the chief who recited it,
was mostly in Malay, and ran as follows : —

Invocation of the Enemies of the Rice-crop.

Partake, O Round-foot.

Partake, O Rats.

Partake, O Blight.

Partake, O Finches,

Partake, O Stink-bugs.

Partake, O Caterpillars.

Partake, O Green-fly.

Partake, O Deer.

Partake, O Pig.

Partake all of you of the year's Eldest-born.

We have not eaten yet.

But are just about to do so.

** Round-foot *' is euphemistic for the elephant,
which, together with the wild pig, deer, and rats, used
to work terrible havoc in the Besisi rice-fields at times.
At the close of the invocation a small portion of rice
was carried out of the house by one of the company
and deposited on the top of an old tree-stump not far
from the house — in ^xooi oi bona fides.

The remaining banana-leaves were now unfolded and
the feasting began, and lasted a considerable time, the
Batin or chief of the tribe feeding last. When it was

364 CULTIVATION part ii

over we sat in groups and conversed till nightfall, when
our unsophisticated orchestra struck up its liveliest air,
and the business of the evening (dancing and singing)
commenced in real earnest. The performance was
strictly choral (in the old Greek sense of the word), and
the names of the airs (and their accompanying dances)
which were performed were as follows : — (i) ** Radin,"
or ''The Prince''; (2) " Gubang Laut," or "The
Pirateer"; (3) "Pukol Baling"; (4) "Ingkau Badan/'
the two last being tunes of the Bajau or Malayan
pirates, with whom the Besisi claim kinship. A little
later, after an interval for song-dances of the mimetic
type (viz. the '*Siamang," ** Bangkong," and ** Gagau "),
the women, after considerable pressing, were induced
to join the entertainment and perform certain dances
called (i) the "P'rang," or the war-dance; (2) the
** B^ngkalis" ; ^ and (3) the *' Kopak *' (the latter;of which
was said to be a purely Jakun air), the men doing the
actual dancing. Generally speaking, the motions of
the dancers were much freer than is the case with
the Malays ; indeed, some of the dances, such as the
** Pirateer " (or ** Gubang "), grew almost furious, and
roused great enthusiasm on the part of the audience.
The ** Siamang ** and its companion pieces, on the
other hand, were really cuted in character by men of
the tribe, the actor repeating the words of the poem
after the Batin or tribal chief, and suiting his gestures
to the words as he did so. Some of this acting was
particularly clever.

I may add that the full dancing dress of the Jakun
on these occasions consisted of woven strips of " s€r-
dang** (palm) leaves, which were made up into (i) a

' The name of an island off the believe, of a fish after which the island
opposite coast of Sumatra, and also, I was named.

CHAP. VII SA VAGE MALA YS OF MALACCA 365

head-band with a long fringe, which went completely
round the head and partially hid the face ; (2) two
tassels similarly constructed, which were attached to
the head-band ; (3) a sort of bandolier made of the
same leaves ; and (4) a " s^rdang ''-leaf belt. The full
dress was not ready on our arrival, but it was worn the
next morning at an additional impromptu performance
which was got up for our benefit before we left on our
journey home.

Agriculture.

Mantra. — The Mantra were not so advanced in
cultivation as the Karens of the Tenasserim coast.
These last cultivated cotton and made their own cloth,
which was not the case with the Mantra. The
Karens also had vegetables, which were unknown to
the Mantra. The latter contented themselves with
clearing a small piece of ground in March, and in July
set fire to the (felled) trees, which by that time were
sufficiently dry, and at the beginning of September
planted their padi and yams (" k'ladi "), etc. But
these clearings were usually so small that their
harvest ;of rice was only enough to last them for a
couple of months, the yam being then their only food
for the remainder of the year.^

L(^an relates that just as the Benua-Jakun on com-
mencing a new clearing made offerings to the earth-
genie (** Jin Bumi'*), so too the Mantra, when he had
resolved to abandon his old plantation, began first of
all by searching for a good locality. When he had
found one, it remained for him to discover whether the
supernatural powers were favourable to his occupation
of it. This he did by attending to his first dream
after making the selection. Should he dream of being

1 Barbe in/. /. A. vol. v. pp. 487, 488.

366 CUL TIVA TJON fart ii

chased by a dog, or by an enemy, or of entering water,
or of water flooding the locality, or of any other such
incident which was considered a bad omen, he pro-
ceeded to seek for another spot. Favourable omens
were to dream of felling or of climbing trees, of ascend-
ing a hill, or of growing plants, and so forth. When
by means of his dreams he felt assured that he had
selected a fortunate place, he repaired to the spot, took
a little betel-leaf, repeated a charm over it, chewed
it, and then spat or rather blew it out of his mouth
(** sfimbor ") in the direction of the four cardinal points.
The charm used was the following : — ** Huma,^ Opener
of the mouth. Opener of me, open, and let youth at the
river-mouth be fostered by youth. I cast down devils, let
them fall headlong even before I have charmed them.
I have driven away the venom of devils, I ask you to
expel and drive away devils of every description."*

The ceremony ended, he proceeded to fell a space
" big enough to cook in " (** tSbas api dapor "), and
retired. Three days later he returned to the spot,
and began his labour in earnest. Having cleared a
sufficient space, he waited until the trees he had felled
were sufficiently dry, and then, on some clear windy
day, set fire to them. When the ground was ready to
receive his plants, he prepared some rice-flour mixed
with water (Malay, "tgpong tawar**), in which he
dipped a brush made up of leaves of the " satawar,"
**gandarusa,** "ati-ati," and " ribu-ribu," and sprinkled
the liquid at intervals about his clearing.* He then
buried in the ground some talisman that had the pro-
perty of driving away the evil influence or bad demon
that lurked in the ground (** buang badi tanah "). The

* A clearing for dry hill-padi. * J, I, A, vol. L pp. 320, 321*.

' Cp. Malay Magu, pp. 230-233.

CHAP. VII . SA VAGE MALA YS OF MALACCA 367

clearing being now completely protected, he proceeded
with confidence to plant his potatoes and yams.^

Rice, however, required a special charm of its own,
and when it was sown, about two " chupak " measures
of padi were taken and mixed with the rice -flour
water (** tgpong tawar ") and lime-juice. This liquor
was carried to the place where the rice was to be
sown, together with a Malay peeling -knife ("pisau
raut "), a " sarong,'' a censer (" pSrasapan "), and leaves
of the ** ribu-ribu," ** sidingin," and ** pandan." The
padi was then fumigated in the smoke of gum ben-
jamin or eagle-wood (** lignum aloes "), and the leaves
placed over it, the ** sarong " being stretched between
two erect poles, and the knife deposited on the ground.
The following charm or invocation was then repeated :
— '* In the name of Allah. For good-luck's sake give
cold, give coolness. Lo, I deposit here this infant
{ue, the padi-seed)." The leaves were now planted
in the ground, and the padi was sown. Three days
afterwards the sowing of the entire field was completed,
the holes for the seed having been prepared before-
hand. In planting **wet" or ** swamp" rice ("padi
sawah ") similar ceremonies were used.^

When the grain was ripe, and a day had been fixed
for the commencement of the harvest, a large quan-
tity of food was collected, and guests invited to attend
the feast of the New Year's Day of the Rice (** makan
sulong tahun"). In the morning the head of the
family, having carefully wrapped his clothes round
him so as to conceal his entire person (** b€rs€lubong "),
proceeded to the padi-field with a Malay reaping-knife
(** tue "), and repeated this invocation : — ** In the name
of Allah. I take up the soul of the Rice. Let it not

* /. /. A, vol. i. p. 321*. * Ibid,

368 CULTIVATION part ii

suffer from coolness nor from cold. I take up these
infants (the Rice-souls) and bear them homewards."
The operator next cut (the first) seven ears, and carried
them away to his house. He next ordered some of
his household to go to a different part of his field, and
cut a considerable quantity of padi, the grain of
which, when brought in, was trodden and rubbed out
of the straw by foot,^ after which it was husked and
cooked along with the food that had been collected on
the preceding day. When the guests had feasted
and were about to depart, each of them received a
little of the new rice and food uncooked as a kind of
blessing or largess (** bSrkat ").^

The names given by the Mantra to the different
varieties of padi cultivated by them were the
following : —

Kledang Mret (elephant). Ribu. Hati kerbau (buflalo's

(a wild fruit). heart).

Tampoi Machin. Atap (palm- Sri gunong (luck of

(a wild fruit). thatch). the mountains).

Saring. Undan (pelican). Tingol. Pulut itam (black

glutinous rice).
Koai. Lampei. Burak. Pulut putih (white

glutinous rice).

The dry-rice cultivation is by far the most pre-
valent, but the wet cultivation is also resorted to at
Labu, Malim, Serdang, Payong, Pasang, Jugra,
Rawang Kechil, Rawang Besar, Kidang, and Sepang
Kechil.'

Of other forms of cultivation the only one which I
have found ascribed to the Mantra is gambier-planting

' C^, Malay Magic^ p. 245. There are in fiwjt three methods of rice-

*y. /. A, vol. i. p. 322*. planting practised in the country — (i>

5 Ibid, p. 331*. the dry hill-rice; (2) swamp-grown rice

It should be explained that the cul- (without embankments orwater-couise);

tivation of wet rice grown within low (3) wet rice (with both these latter).

embankments is not practised, so &r as Most of the places mentioned are in the

I know, by any of these Jakun tribes. Kuala Langat district of Selangor.

CHAP. VII SA VAGE MALA YS OF JOHOR 369

(which is mentioned by Logan), though I have little
doubt that many other light crops, such as tobacco,
are also grown by them when occasion happens to

serve.^

Horticulture.

Benua-Jakun of Johor. — Although their clearings did
not yield fruit, the Benua often planted young durian
trees and "chSmpgdak" trees among their potatoes
and bananas. In after years they would revisit the
place, and if the trees had grown up and bore fruit
they would cut down the young jungle (**b*lukar")
growing up around them, and thus reclaim their
orchard.^ In the forest Logan passed many of
these orchards, some of which contained durian trees
of great size and beauty. The durian groves were
frequently at a distance of one or two days* walk (or
even more) from the clearing, and families found it in
such cases more convenient and agreeable to resort to
the groves themselves than to have the fruit brought
to them. Slight temporary huts were therefore con-
structed beside the fruit-trees, and here they passed
the fruit season, which lasted from one to two months,
and only returned home when the last durian had
been gathered. In one of these groves, that of
Danlek, where Logan took advantage of the hut to
rest and pass the night, there were some smaller huts
on the ground, which appeared to have been specially
devoted to durian-eating, for while bushels of seeds
and husks were heaped around them, very few were

1 J, I. A, vol. i. pp. 254, 255. spent upon clearing the trees around

* These orchards generally con- them. See account of Jakun orchards

tained from ten to twelve large durian in^. /. A, vol. ii. p. 261.

trees, and great care and trouble was

VOL. I 2 B

370 CULTIVATION

to be seen below the raised hut. The durian feast
was the most joyous season of the year, and if the
wilder habits of their forefathers still had a poetical
charm for the Benua, as appeared to be the case, it
would not be easy to picture them in a happier mood
than when secluded in such a spot as Danlek, freed
for the while from the intrusions and exactions of the
Malays, and drawing from the pure waters of the
Kahang river, which ran past the grove, and from the
surrounding forest, the cheer which recalled the
banquets of the olden time when a traditionary prince
of their race ruled the land. A full-grown durian
orchard was the only kind of property in any form of
cultivation which was of permanent value to them, for
whilst neither houses, nor gardens, nor rice -fields,
nor in fact any land whatever, had sufficient value to
command a price, durian trees were not unfrequently
sold. One dollar was the standard price paid for
each of the buttress - like projections or "struts"
(**banir'*) which the trunk of the durian, like that
of several other Malayan trees, throws out at the
base of the stem. Those with plain stems and no
buttresses were valued at two dollars. Durian
groves were sometimes rented for a piece of cloth or
similar object of the value of a few dollars, and by
their custom ('*hadat*') the renter was invariably
entitled to the produce for two successive seasons.
This was probably founded in reason, for durians
generally have alternate light and heavy crops.^

Agriculture.

Their method of rice-planting was to clear fresh
patches of jungle annually, and to build their huts in

* y. /. A, vol. i. pp. 259, 260.

CHAP* VII SA VAGE MALA YS OF JOHOR 371

the clearings so made, the principal hut being built in
the piece of ground that had last been cleared. This
was usually at some distance from the bank of a river,
in order to avoid the inundations which occur after
heavy rains. Offerings were made, as by the Malays,
to the Earth genie (" Jin Bumi ") on commencing to
fell the forest. As soon as a sufficient space had
been opened, the trees were left for some months to
dry. They were then burnt, and holes made with a
stick in the ground (which was enriched by the wood-
ash produced by the burning) for the reception of
plants and seeds brought from their last clearing.
The cultivated plants found in almost every Jakun
clearing were the sweet potato (" kledek "), the
potato ("ubi bgnggala'*), the tapioca (**ubi kayu"),
the water-melon, and the sugar-cane. Bananas
occurred frequently, but not abundantly. Maize was
not so common as with the Berembun tribes. The
wild leaves and shoots used as vegetables by these
tribes^ did not appear to be resorted to in Johor. In
many clearings tobacco was cultivated, and in a few
some kinds of bean (" kachang bunga',*' etc.). In a
considerable number of the clearings a portion was
set apart for the growth of rice. The dry or wet
forms of cultivation were resorted to according to the
nature of the locality, but the former was most
general. Flowers were neglected. Only a single
instance of their cultivation was noticed, and they
were never worn in the hair. It must be remembered,

» Sach as the "lipu," "alung," and the leaves of ferns ("paku**), **j5-

••chinarong," "bayan,"an<l "maman"; latang," ** tuba," «* kapaya," *« kaiim,"

the «• cabbage " of the palms called " samoma," " papijih " ; and the roots

«« nibong," "langkap," *' enau," of the «*gadong," "gupul," "bajon,"

••runat," "chacheng," "d«mpong," ««k'luna," "lintag," "tragel," «*da-

"noin," "k'lasak,*' "limpet," "che. gun," " tukil," **kung," **wuan,"

chc," "simambu," and "serdang"; "woel," ** punu," **kapayang," etc.

372 CULTIVATION

however, that the dwellings of these people were
environed by one vast botanical garden, and that the
river-banks were hung and the forest paths strewed
with a great variety of beautiful flowers. All the
remarks in this section, with the slight exceptions
mentioned, apply also to the Berembun tribes. The
clearing having once been formed, received no culture,
and was left entirely to the control of the women.^

The only kinds of cultivation in which the
Benua-Jakun engaged have now been noticed. They
had no agricultural implements. A stick sharpened
at one end served as a dibble, and the chopper
("parang") was used for digging up roots, cutting
sugar-cane, etc. Rice (or padi) was reaped by
hand, and canoes were employed for transporting any
considerable quantity of it. A canoe from 12 to 15
feet in length was able to carry from 400 to 500
gallons ("gantangs") of rice, besides the two men
whose task it was to manage it.^

Orang Laut or Sea-Jakun.

Orang Laut, Sletar. — The Orang Sletar neither dug
nor planted, but lived nearly independent of their
fellow-men, for to them the staple of life in the East,
rice, was a luxury. Of esculent roots they had the
*'pVioh" (?"pgria") and *^k1ana,"« both bulbous,
and not unlike coarse yams; of fruit they ate the
**tampui," "k*ledang," and "buroh,** whenever they
came in season.*

1 y. /. A. vol. i. pp. 255, 256 ; cp. doned and another selected for the next

a similar method of rice - planting year.

ascribed to the Jakun, /. /. A, vol. «/. /. A. vol. L pp. 271, 272.

ii. p. 258, where we are told that ^ Sic, ? "k*luna,"as in note, p. 371.

after the harvest the place is aban- * J, /. A, vol. i. p. 343*.

CHAP. VII MALA VAN SEA-G YPSIES 373

Orangr Laut, Sabimba. — The Sabimba also abstained
from planting, and consequently their vegetables con-
sisted of the wild fruits of the jungle.^

Orang Laut, Hoka Kuning. — The Orang Muka
Kuning did not cultivate any plants, or breed any
animals save dogs.^

Orangr Laut» Bedoanda Kallang. — The Beduanda
Kallang not only did not cultivate any plants, but
asserted that their ancestors had made a vow on the
part of their tribe never to make clearings for the
purpose of cultivation, and stated that they believed
that if any of them were to break it death would be
the consequence.*

' /. /. A, vol. i. p. 347*. * Ibid, p. 337*. ' Ibid, p. 300.

CHAPTER VIII.

Arts and Crafts.

Division of Labour,

As a rule it may be said among all the tribes that the
men perform the essential minimum of such work as
requires brute force, and the women do the rest.
Among the wildest Semang tribes, the men do the
hunting, and the women the shelter-building and the
cooking, and so, too, among tribes which have
reached the agricultural stage ^ the men do the
felling and heavy clearing, whilst the women do
the lighter clearing and lopping of branches, as
well as the sowing and reaping, and not unfrequently
the tilling of the soil, if the scratching of its surface
with a pointed stick can be so called. Similarly, when
a regular house or hut has to be built, the men only

^ The following description, by to collect sweet potatoes, sugar-cane,

Logan, of the work of the Benua-Jakun and so forth, for the morning repasL

women applies, generally speaking, Breakfiut once cooked and despatched,

to all tribes that have reached this they employ themseWes in nursing

stage : — their children and weaving mats and

*< The plantation, having once been bags until it is time to go out and fill
formed, receives no culture, and is left their baskets again for the evening
entirely to the control of the women, meal. If the men are at home, a slight
who are never for a moment idle. In meal is also prepared in the middle of
the morning, having first refilled their the day. The only employment at a
melon -skins (or gourds) with water, distance from the plantation which
they fiisten a deep basket on to their they share with the men, and some-
backs by means of straps passing over times pursue by themselves, is angling "
the shoulders and head, and proceed {J, /. A, voL L p. 256.)

374

CHAP. VIII GENERAL REMARKS 375

perform such work as actually requires their strength
{e.g. the felling, transporting, and erection of the
heavier timbers), and the women complete it. On
the other hand, the men are very generally, I believe,
if not invariably, both the makers and decorators of
their own weapons {e.g. the blowpipe and the bow,
quivers and arrows) as well as their own implements
{eg. axe-handles, knife -handles, and spear- shafts),
whilst the work of making bags and baskets, mats,
wallets, and pouches, and in fact all kinds of mat and
bark-cloth making, and basket-work, commonly fall to
the lot of the women.

The men, again, do most; of the hunting and trap-
ping, but the women take a large share in the fishing,
and in the collecting of roots and fruits. All the
cooking, on the other hand, is performed by the
women and girls of the tribe, as is also, naturally
enough, the nursing and care of the children.

The catechism addressed to the bridegroom at a
Besisi wedding contains a fairly exhaustive category
of the duties of the would-be husband, and does not,
to my mind, bear out the general assumption that the
women are burdened with an unfair share of the work.
On the contrary, it appears to me that the division of
labour among these children of nature is very fairly
equitable, and that the man cannot reasonably be
expected to do more. Can it be that it is in a more
advanced stage of civilisation that the real oppression
of the woman begins ?

Manufacture of Bark-cloth.

The bark-cloth which forms the ordinary worka-
day wear of all the wilder branches of these tribes is

376 ARTS AND CRAFTS part ii

usually made from the same material as the ** tapa "
cloth of Polynesia, though it is rarely, if ever, quite
so finely worked up, and is generally, in fact, somewhat
roughly made. When stripped from the tree it is
beaten out by means of a wooden mallet, either round
or toothed.

A specimen of the latter, which was collected by the
writer among the Blandas of Selangor, is now in the
Cambridge Museum ; this specimen is grooved or
toothed transversely, as in Sakai specimens from
Batang Padang (Perak), whereas in other districts,
more under Semang influence, the flat under-surfece
of the mallet is subdivided into a large number of
small squares. The direction of the grooves or teeth
must of course depend upon the position in which the
operator sits or stands with respect to his work.^

The cloth when made is often decorated with
designs, which again bear a curious family resemblance
to the main designs sometimes seen on ** tapa *' cloth.

The tree from which the bark is generally taken is
a kind of wild bread-fruit tree {Artocatpus),^ which is
called by the Malays " tSrap " or " tVap." But the bark
of other trees (even that of the Upas tree,' which
furnishes the deadly dart-poison of these tribes) is also
very generally used, the poisonous sap being merely
well washed out of it with water. This particular
kind of cloth seems generally to be recorded from
districts under some degree of Semang (Negrito)
influence.

* Sec p. 140, ante, * Antiaris ioxuaria,B\.{C/rtica£ea),

^ /,c Ar^arpus JCunstUri, Hook. The bark of a kind of ficus (called

fil. (Urticacea), It is interesting to <<ara") was also said to be used for

note that both this bread-fruit tree cloth by the Negritos of Belimbing (in

and the Upas belong to the same Ulu Kelantan).

botanical order.

Skcat ColU-ctioM.

Whitk Cloth of Upas Bakk.

Made from the upas-tree {Antiaris toxicaria) by the Semang of Kedah. Helow ihe
cloth is the wooden cudgel with which it was made in my presence.

SAu-at L'oi lection.

Skmanc Hasket.s.

I. One small back-basket found in Fan;;an hui (Kuala Sain,Kelaman). 2. One matwork bag made by
Semang woman (Siong, Kedah). 3. One large pouch made by Semang woman (Siong, Kedah). 4. 5. Two
back-baskets or wallets obtained from liesisi.

Vol I. p. 376.

Cfrrmti.

Sakai Mkn wrrii H.\( k-Baskkt and Blowpipks, Ui.u Slim, S. Pkrak.

Vol. A A 377.

CHAP. VIII GENERAL REMARKS yjl

Basket-work.

The following remarks about basket-work fairly
apply to all three races :— Basket-work is perhaps one of
the most important industries of the aboriginal women.
It is frequently employed not only for the manufacture
of the all-important dossier or back-basket in which the
varied products of the jungle are carried homewards,
but also for many of the traps in which birds, fishes,
and some of the smaller mammalia are captured. The
work is as a rule beautifully executed, and in plaiting
the aboriginal women can rival the Malays. Split
rattan and split bamboo are perhaps the most usual
materials employed for these purposes, as they are not
only strong but pliant and durable. But like all jungle
folk, these races naturally adapt themselves to the
necessities of their surroundings, and of course use
whatever plant grows most handily for their purpose.
Thus not unfrequently the stem of the " bfimban " is
selected, even though it lacks the durability of the
other materials referred to. And the fibrous inner
cuticle of several kinds of trees (such as Artocarpus,
which furnishes the bark cloth) is yet another source
of supply.^

Network and Weaving.

Network, on the other hand, serms to be but
scantily practised by any of these tri -s, except, per-
haps, where Malay influence is appreciable, and of
the actual weaving of any, even the roughest kind, of
cloth, there is no record whatever.

^ See p. 376, opp.

378 ARTS AND CRAFTS part ii

Absence of Pottery.

There is also as yet no clear record of any form of
pottery having ever been manufactured by any of the
aborigines, and indeed, so far as is known, no pottery
of any sort is at present made by them. At the same
time, we have the generally reliable authority of
Newbold for the statement that a vessel of clay, called
'* tammumong,*' was applied (by the Jakun or Benua)
to the purposes of cooking, and that it differedin shape
from that used by the Malays}

Traditions of Written Characters.

In spite of their being one and all universally and
absolutely illiterate, there are nevertheless among all
these Peninsular tribes traditions of various kinds
relating to a lost book or books that are believed
to have once contained their sacred writings, and
are alleged to have been destroyed by some fatality.
This belief is common in Indo- China, and we are
informed, for instance, that if the Tavoy Karen
traditions are to be credited, the ancestors of their
principal tribe once possessed a written book or books,
which were given them by one Kachaklong, a very
sacred personage, and which were written on cowskin
parchment?

^ Newbold, H. 405-407. If there is remarks that '* this assumed use of

any reading of this riddle to be achieved, parchment made from cow and buffido

it may perhaps be that the Jakun or skin militates against the idea of a

*< savage Malayans" alone of all these Hindu or even of a Buddhist origin

tribes once possessed, before the influx being assigned to it'* On this point,

of the more civilised Malays from however, Dr. Stein, in his ** Prelimin-

Sumatra, the art of pottery, hence the ary Report on Archseolog. Explor. in

pots made by them naturally took a Chinese Turkestan" (London, 1 901),

shape of their own. p. 47, notes with surprise that the

* y. /. -4. vol. iv. p. 417. The writer rubbish heap near the Nuja River

CHAP, viii NEGRITOS OF KEDAH 379

Other Arts and Crafts.

Other kinds of arts and crafts practised by these
tribes will be found in other parts of this book, e^.
the building of houses and leaf-shelters in the chapter
on Habitations, the making of blowpipes and bows in
the chapter on Weapons and Implements, the art of
cooking as known to the Semang in the chapter on
Food, personal ornaments under Dress, the construc-
tion of traps and implements required for the chase
or for fishing in the chapter on Hunting, Fishing, and
Trapping, the art of agriculture in the chapter on
Cultivation, and Decorative Art under the chapter
so named.

I. — Semang.

General Industry.

Kedah Semang*. — The Negritos that I visited at
Siong in Kedah were very lazy workers, but as it was
harvest-time (the one season of the year when they
are most free from the pressure of want), they were
having just then an easy time of it. None the less
they are certainly the best and most skilful hunters in
the Peninsula, and, as a rule, made traps and weapons,
collected the poison from the Upas tree and applied it
to their darts, and when game failed, went out after

** yielded another writing material, above in/. K, A, 5., Jan. 1902, p. 232,

little suspected among a Buddhist remarks that these leather documents

population with an Indian civilisation. will probably prove to date from the

About two dozen Kharosth! documents second century A.D., and quotes a

on leather, mostly dated and appar- notice of an Indian official letter on

ently of official nature, prove that the parchment sent to Augustus in Strabo,

Buddhists of this region had as little xv. 72, 73, given by M*Crindle, in

objection to the use of leather for writ- Ancient India as described in Classical

ing purposes as the pious Brahmans Literature {\fyii\ p. 77.
of old Kashmir had to the leather bind- For similar traditions (to that in the

ings of their Sanskrit codices. " Mr. text) v, p. 347 of vol, ii.
Vincent A. Smith, in reporting the

38o ARTS AND CRAFTS part ii

fish and turtles, or assisted the women in their
search for roots.

Manufacture of Bark-cloth.

Kedah Semang. — I have seen the Semang of Kedah
make cloth of Upas-bark by cutting down young
saplings of the Upas tree (whose diameter was
perhaps no more than 3 or 4 inches). These they
** ring-barked " a few feet from the root-end, and then
loosened the bark in situ by hammering it with a
mere rounded (hardwood) cudgel, and then turning it
back by hand in the way that a sleeve is rolled back,
or a stocking taken off, the process being continued
until all the bark on each sapling has been similarly
treated. As soon as the last of the bark has been
thus stripped off it is thoroughly washed to remove
the poisonous sap contained in it, dried for a short
while in the sun, and is then ready for use without
any further preparation.

But by far the most interesting of all the Semang
articles of attire is the black girdle woven from " urat
batu " (or ** rock-veins *'). This girdle, which is called
** tgntom " in the Kedah dialect of Semang, is not
manufactured, as usually stated, from a kind of creeper,^
but from the vegetative parts or rhizomorphs of a
fungus which resemble long, slender, black, leathery-
looking shiny strings, rather thinner than ordinary
leather boot-laces. A number of these strings are
woven together into a single plait, which measures
several yards in length, the loose end, 4 or 5 inches
of each string, being allowed to hang down (when

* See p. 138, note i.

CHAP. VIII NEGRITOS OF PERAK 381

the rest has been worked in) instead of being fastened,
so that when the girdle is coiled round the waist a
continuous and thick bushy fringe is the result.

Perak Semangr^ — The loin-cloth of the Negritos,
which constitutes their sole garment, is made (accord-
ing to De Morgan) from the bark of a tree {Artocarpus).
The material is thick, but supple and soft to the feel,
and is occasionally painted yellow with the sap of
a plant, the patterns consisting simply of broken lines
{de lignes brisdes)}

Of the method of manufacture we are elsewhere
told that the bark (of the Artocarpus) is either rendered
supple by being pounded between two stones, or by
being beaten upon a tree-trunk with a strong wooden
mallet or cudgel. The strip of bark cut off from the
tree measures from 3-4 metres in length, and from
50-60 centimetres in breadth.^

In confirmation of the account given above of the
Kedah Semang, I hear from Mr. Wray that the bark of
the Antiaris was used by both the Semang of Perak and
the Sakai as bark-cloth. It was prepared as follows : —
A young tree was felled and cut into pieces of suitable
length. The outer portion of the bark was then
shaved off with a knife and the inner bark was beaten
with bat-shaped pieces of wood until it would slip off
from the stem. The bark was then put into running
water, in which it was allowed to remain for the space of
one month to free it of the poison ; then it was beaten
with wooden bats, on one face of which furrows had
been cut at right angles to each other, to produce a
grain on the finished cloth.^

In a recent communication Mr. Wray writes me

1 De Morgan, \-il 412. 3 ^ Wray in /. A, /. vol. xxL (1892),

8 Ibid, ii. 5. pp. 477, 478.

382 ARTS AND CRAFTS part ii

that these mallets employed by the Semang of Perak
to beat out the bark and give it the grain (which it
retains even after considerable wear) are made of hard
palm- wood. They are bat-shaped, with cylindrical
handles, and have one surface of the blade of the bat
scored with lines at right angles to each other, which
leave projecting squares about a quarter of an inch
across, divided by V-shaped grooves of the same
width. There are several of these mallets from
Upper Perak and Selama in the Perak Museum.

The fungus fringe is sometimes supplemented by
a fringe made from small strips of Artocarpus bark.
In a specimen from Selama the garment is made up
as a sort of belt, and ties behind, the fringe being
much fuller and deeper in front. Other specimens
from Upper Perak are made of long plaited cords
many yards in length, and are wound round the loins.
This woman's garment Mr. Wray considers to be
characteristic of the Semang.

Mai-making.

Kedah Semang. — The art of mat-making appears
to be natural to the Semang, although they make
but limited use of it. It is one of the industries
which are assigned to the women, the chief articles
thus made being the mat-work bags or sacks and the
wallets which are used by the Semang for holding
their husked rice, roots, and fruits, and similar articles.
It is quite possible that some kind of small sleeping-
mat may also be sometimes manufactured by the
Semang, though I have never seen it or met with any
record of its use among the pure Negritos.

CHAP, viii NEGRITOS OP PERAK 385

Substitutes for Pottery.

Perak Semang*.— Of the art of pottery, according
to De Morgan,^ the Semang are absolutely; ignorant,
the only vessels they use being manufactured
from big stems of bamboo, which they employ for
cooking purposes when green, and use as water-
vessels when the sap has dried out of them.^ De
Morgan adds that he only once (at S. Kerbu) saw a
wooden bowl used, this being one which had been
carved out of the root of a tree with a knife.*

Ra/t-making.

Perak Semang. — None of the Semang make boats,
but the Semang (of Perak) make rafts by lashing
together twenty or thirty bamboos of big diameter,
and on these they float down the Perak River nearly
as far as Kuala Kangsar, " though even they walk back
again.'* *

Ironwork.

Perak Semang. — One of the most primitive methods
of forging iron known is recorded of the Perak
Semang by De Morgan.* It consists simply in
heating the iron till it gets red hot, and then batter-
ing it into the required shape between two stones.
This, according to De Morgan, is the method by
which they manufacture the iron heads of the arrows
that are used with their bow.

It is interesting to read that the Negritos of the
Andaman Islands employed a yet simpler method, as

* De Morgan, viL 414. * De Morgan, vii 414 [ue, among

* Cp. Swctt. p. 228: **Of pottery Sakai-Sftnang ?)
they [the Negritos] have no know- * Hale, p. 286.
ledge." * De Morgan, vii 415.

384 ARTS AND CRAFTS part ii

although they similarly shaped the iron by battering it
between stones, they did not even previously heat it.^

De Morgan adds * that the material used by the
Semang for this rude form of metal-work consists of
old tool-iron, which they obtain from the Malays, and
that they have no idea of extracting the iron from the
ore, although the oxide of iron is fairly plentiful in
their part of the country.

Mr. L. Wray writes me that he once saw some
Semang forging iron in Upper Perak. They employed
the ** double-piston bamboo bellows " to blow up their
charcoal fire, and used a piece of iron fastened to a
block of wood as an anvil and an iron hammer. The
knives, spear-heads, etc., made by them were all of
the shapes employed by the Malays of the same
district.

II. — Sakai.
General Industry.

Perak Sakai. — The Sakai rise early, strap on
their wallets after breakfast, take their jungle-knives
or blowpipes, and set off into the jungle in search of
food and firewood, or tree-resin (** dammar") for torches,
etc. Others stay at home, and work in and about the
house, making blowpipe - darts, ornamenting their
bamboo quivers and other receptacles, and so on.*

Manufacture of Bark-cloth.

Perak Sakai. — According to De Morgan, the
Perak Sakai, when they wished to manufacture bark-
cloth, commenced by making incisions in the bark

1 Man's Andamanese^ P- I59 * De Morgan, vii. 415 ; viii. 296.

8 Hale, p. 295.

Skeat.

Nkgkito Industries.

Semang men at Siong, Kcclah, making blowpipe dart (on left), rat-lrap, and flute
respectively. Man on right holding yams in cleft stick ready for cookirig.

JW. /./. 384.

CHAP. VIII SAKAI OF PERAK 3«5

of a full-grown Artocarpus, so as to mark out a
broad band or strip of bark, the size of which varied
according to the object for which it was required, an
average size being from three to four metres by
from sixty to eighty centimetres.^

When the required strip had been thus marked
out, the bark itself was hammered in situ until it was
loosened and detached from the trunk. This strip
was then taken and laid upon a tree-stump or any-
thing else that might serve, and was then pounded
with a wooden mallet, and (occasionally) decorated
with designs in yellow paint (as among the Semang).

The Sakai of Batang Padang (Mr. L. Wray informs
me) employ mallets made of a piece of hard heavy
wood about 13 in. (33 cm.) long, by i^ in. (37 mm.)
in diameter. The side of the mallet with which
the bark is beaten is grooved transversely, the grooves
extending about half-way round the stick.

Mr. Wray writes me that the Sakai women also
wear belts composed of a coil of twine made from the
black fibre of the sugar palm (** gomuto* "). These
belts are about i\ in. (31.5 mm.) thick, and of
such a diameter that they can just be passed round
the hips of the wearer. They are often decorated
with flowers and sweet-smelling leaves, and with them
are often worn two bunches either of bark-fibre or of
finely-cut " pandanus "-leaves. These bunches, which
are about 6 in. (15 cm.) long, are placed one on either
hip, the upper (tied) end of each being inserted into
(and between) the strands of the belt. Both these
belts and hip-bunches are quite characteristic of the
Sakai.

^ De Morgan, viL 413, of the Sakai of Changkat Chabang in Perak.
VOL. I 3 C

386 ARTS AND CRAFTS part «

Basket-work.

Perak Sakai. — Baskets were made by the Sakai
women, of which De Morgan relates that they were
'* beautifully executed," and that their plait- work was
" fairly close." ^ They are usually made of split rattan.

According to De la Croix, the wallet, or rather
back-basket, in which the Perak Sakai, during their
journeys through the forest, carried their provisions,
trophies of the chase, etc., was made of ** artistically
woven rattan," and fixed upon their backs by straps of
tree - bark which were passed round their shoulders.^

Network.

Perak Sakai. — The wilder Sakai employed natural
fibres obtained from the **t'rap" tree {Artocarpus)
for the making of their casting - nets, which were
weighted with stones.'

The nets used by the more civilised Sakai do
not, however, materially differ from those used by
the Malays.

Mat-work.

Perak Sakai. — Mat-work was one of the Sakai
industries enumerated by De Morgan, who says that
it was mainly used in the production of small sleeping-
or sitting-mats {petits tapis) and rice-bags or sacks.*

Substitutes for Pottery.
Perak Sakai. — The same ignorance of the art of
pottery that exists among the Semang is also found

> De Morgan, vii. 415 ; cp. VH, ^ De Morgan, vii. 418.

iL 611, where he gives specimens of * 3id, vii 415. For patterns, q)^

both close and open work. Vff. ii. 611.

* De la Croix, p. 335.

Semang Mats and Baskets.

De Morgan.

1-4. Mats. 5. Bag made of matting. 6. Hack-hahket of ofjen rattan-work. 7. Back-basket of
close rattan-work. 8, 9. M.ilay junglc-knifc and sheath. 10. Jun^-lc-knlfe of a differeiit pattern.
II, 12. Digging sticks. 13-14. Hatchets. — De Morgan in L'H. 25th October 1885, p. 611.

Vol I p 386.

Jakl'N Hktki.-\Valm:ts.

Sk^at Collect i^.

One betel-wallet (liesisi) wiih small pouches (for holding l>etel-lcaves, areca-nul, aTicl lime) carried
inside il. Three other wallets (llcsisi and Ulandas) showing various patterns. (Sec p. 390,)

!>/././. 337-

CHAP, vm SAKAI OF PERAK 387

among the Sakai.^ For carrying water the Sakai employ,
says De Morgan,^ the largest bamboo stems they can
find, the smaller ones, when green, being reserved for
cooking purposes. The water-vessels of the Sakai
were frequently well decorated, and sometimes pro-
vided with a loop for ease in carrying them over the
shoulder.* Glutinous substances, such as grease, wax,
the viscid sap of certain trees (used as bird-lime), and
even poison, they kept in the shells and husks of big
nuts or fruits. For poison, however, they generally
employed a small bamboo intemode, which they corked
with a small section of the leaf-stalk of the ** bSrtam '"
{Eugeissona tristis), which is very abundant in these
forests.

Boat- and Raft-building.

Perak Sakai. — The inland Sakai of Perak, accord-
ing to Mr. Hale, were essentially landsmen, and
living as they did near the upper reaches of rivers^
where it was quite impossible to navigate them,,
they knew nothing of boat-building, not even to the
extent of making a bamboo raft.*

This statement, however, does not necessarily
apply to all the Sakai of Perak (probably not ta
those living some way down-stream), for we are told
by De la Croix that when they were driven to travel
by water, they would make a rough kind of raft con-
structed of bamboos, which were lashed together with
rattans or creepers. M. De la Croix continues that as
they were naturally idle, they would not expose them-

I De Morgan, VH, ii. 612. <* Many of our Sakai made boxes of
3 De Morgan, vii. 414. these bamboos ('buluh belong') and
3 For an instance of the application crammed into them all their clothes, and
of the big intemodes of the bamboo henceforth appeared clad only in a two-
called "buluh b^tong/' see Wray in inch vride strip of bark-cloth." Seealsa
/. R,A,S,, S,B,, No. 21, p. 154: p. 121, n, 5, ante, * Hale, p. 286^

3M ARTS AND CRAFTS paut ii

selves to the hard labour of re-ascending the rapids ;
and that, hence, when they reached their destination
they preferred to return on foot through the forest.^
M. De la Croix adds that he himself had often met
with these deserted rafts drifting with the stream.*

Mining.

Perak SakaL — It should be added that a few
individuals of the more civilised Sakai tribes {e.g. in
Ulu Kinta)* used to do a little mining for tin in a
primitive way, the process employed being usually
that of washing out the stream tin (known as 'tampan "
in Malay). The Sakai were also regarded both by
Malays and Chinese as the best prospectors, and
often received liberal payment for any work they
could be induced to perform in that capacity.

Selangor Sakai. — The habits of the Ulu Langat
Sakai are simple ; they live nearly the same life all the
year round. Up at 5 a.m., and out in the jungle
after eating some cold rice or plantains, hunting or
searching for jungle produce until about 1 1 a.m., and
then returning home for a meal. A couple of hours
later they go out again to inspect their jungle-traps
and fishing-stakes, and to collect the birds or beasts
they had shot with their blowpipes in the morning.
They seldom use their blowpipes in the afternoon.

1 This remark as to their idleness is, when there are many rapids in the

however, unjust to the Sakai, and is river ; to get it up-stream would, in the

obviously based on a misconception. upper reaches of many rivers in the

It is not through mere idleness that Peninsula, be a sheer impossibility, to

the Sakai omitted to work their rafts say nothing of the needless loss of time

up-stream again. Not merely the labour and trouUe involved. Moreover, I am

but the time spent in such a proceeding informed by Machado that the Sakai of

would make any such attempt little Ulu Jelei in Pahang can pole a raft ap-

short of absurd. It b hard enough stream as fast as Malays can pole a boat,

work, as the writer knows from ex- ^ De la Croix, p. 335.

perience, to get a raft dovm-streara ^ See Hale, p. 285.

CHAP. VIII SA VAGE MALA YS OF SELANGOR 389

They are most energetic, and never sleep in the
middle of the day; they go to bed early, and rise
early.^

III. — Jakun.

Blandas. — The methods used by the Blandas of
Kuala Langat for manufacturing their bark-cloth are
similar to those of the Sakai, the bark of the Arto-
carpus being detached and pounded in the same way.
An interesting development of the wooden mallet
used for pounding the cloth is, however, to be found
among the Blandas, this mallet being furnished with
transverse ridges or teeth cut into its under surface.
These teeth facilitate the process of separating the
fibres, and render the material softer and more
flexible.^ As a rule the bark-cloth of the Blandas is
quite undecorated, though when made from the bark
of the ArtocarpT^s it is stained by the sap of the tree
to a sort of deep reddish tinge. Their baskets are the
" sentong " or back-basket and the " kampah " ; their
wallet patterns are copied by the Malays.

BesisL — Among the chief articles of mat- work made
by the Besisi women of Kuala Langat are sleeping-
mats (made of undyed material, but otherwise not
unlike the ordinary Malay type), small square mats
for sitting on,' mat-work bags for holding rice and
other objects, and the small delicately woven pouches
of pandanus (or rush-work) which they continually
carry at their waists to hold their tobacco, their flint
and steel, their apparatus for chewing the betel-leaf^

1 J. A. G. Campbell, p. 243. and other non- Mohammedan tribes of

' This specimen is in the Museum the Malay Archipelago. Among the

at Cambridge ; v, anie^ p. 140. Peninsular tribes, however, they are

' These small square mats correspond never wom^ but rolled up for carrying

to the sitting-mats worn by the Dayaks whenever necessary.

390 ARTS AND CRAFTS part ii

and similar articles. The material of which their
mats are made consists mainly of pandanus or screw-
pine leaves, which they tear into longitudinal strips,
Malay fashion, by means of a short wooden holder in
which iron teeth are set.

The pouches are often decorated either by means
of raised^ or coloured rush- work, or by means of
coloured threads, which latter are stitched on to the
pouch, following the lines of the pattern required.

The Besisi, not only in Kuala Langat but through-
out the region inhabited by them, are very expert at
the building of small dug-out canoes {i.e. " ch6m-
plong "), some of which cannot be surpassed.^

Their paddle -blades are as a rule much longer
and narrower than those of the Malays, and are
consequently less trouble to make.

I cannot say that I remember ever seeing a
Jakun sail his boat, and am inclined to believe that
on the Selangor coast, at all events, they never
reached this point.

Iron-work.

BesisL — The Besisi of Kuala Langat have, moreover,
made some advance in metal- work, of which they have
picked up some idea from the Malays. Thus in writing
of the fish-spears used by this tribe, Mr. Bellamy
remarks that they make them by their own unaided
ingenuity, and that in the jungle near Sungei Am-
pang he once saw a small native forge, to which was
attached a rough species of bellows made of two
upright bamboos, each of which measured about three
inches in diameter, and that into each of these bam-

^ Like the well-known and beauti- are occasionally seen in this countiy.
fully made •* Malacca baskets " which * Cp. G. C. Bellamy, p. 230.

CHAP. VIII SA VAGE MALA YS OF SELANGOR 391

boos was fitted a sort of piston-rod, which was bound
round with cloth. These rods were held one in each
hand, and when moved up and down alternately pro-
duced a continuous current of air.^

Mantra. — Of the industries of the Mantra, with
regard to the subjects treated of in this chapter, nothing
special has been recorded, though we learn from
Logan's Journal that their girls were taught to make
bags and mats.^

Writing is unknown ; they reckon dates by tying
knots in a string.*

Jakunof Johor. — Like all Indian nations, the Jakun
have a propensity to idleness ; but to be exact in this
account, and just towards them, I must say that they
are not so lazy as either the Malays or Hindus. Their
first and principal occupation is the chase ; they have
a great predilection for this exercise, it being the first
means by which they feed themselves and their
families ; and from having been brought up in that
habit, in which the greater part of their life is spent,
they should be skilful hunters, which in fact they are,
both in their way and in the manner of using their
weapons, as will be seen elsewhere. In the daytime
they remain at home, where they prepare their arrows
and other weapons, the substances with which they
poison their arrows, and cook and eat the animals
caught the day before, or build or repair their houses,
etc.* The Jakun who have no taste for cultivating rice,
or who are not acquainted with the manner of doing
so, are generally very miserable ; they are then
obliged to look to the Malays to provide for their

* G. C. Bellamy, p. 229. tradition of a lost book, sec p. 536,

* /. /. A. vol. i. p. 330. infrcL, and ii. 346, 347.

* Ibid, For the Bcsisi and Mantra * /. /. A, vol. ii. p. 258.

392 ARTS AND CRAFTS part ii

livelihood; they traverse the jungle all the day
seeking after rattan, dammar, eagle- wood, and several
other articles of commerce ; the next morning they
go to some Malay house, where they dispose of the
produce of their search, receiving in return a small
quantity of rice, sometimes scarcely sufficient to
support their family for that very day ; after that they
return to the same thing for the purpose of in like
manner procuring food for the next day, and so on,^

Baskets.

Jakun of Johor. — Among the Jakun the panniers
or back-baskets (so generally worn by all the abori-
ginal tribes) are usually made either of basket-work
or of tree-bark.

D. F. A. Hervey, in writing of the Johor Jakun,
describes a pannier of the second kind mentioned as
being manufactured from the bark of the " mSranti." *

Mining.
Where the Chinese work tin-mines, they some-
times employ the Jakun as workmen. It is, however,
also alleged that there is a place in Jelebu where the
Jakun work the mines by themselves, and bring the
tin to Pahang, where they sell it.^

Boat'building.
Benua- Jakun. — Of Jakun boats we learn (also
from Logan) that their canoes were used for
transporting produce and for fishing, as well as for
visiting every part of the network of rivers on which
they lived. These canoes varied in length from 8 to

* y. /. A, vol. ii. p. 260. A fine hardwood kind of jungle tree,

* /. R. A. S,y S, B„ No. 8, p. 97. generally a Shorea {Dipterocarpete),

^ J, /. A, voL ii. p. 260.

CHAP. VIII SA VA GE MALA YS OF JOHOR 393

15 feet, and were always hollowed out of one piece
of wood. The most durable timber was selected, the
''kayu pSnak" being preferred as being capable of
lasting for upwards of twenty years. A canoe measur-
ing from 1 2 to 1 5 feet in length, which would carry from
400 to 500 gallons (** gantang ") of padi, together
with the two men who would be required to manage
it, was valued at from 10 to 12 dollars. A canoe of
rather smaller size (8 or 9 feet in length) was valued
at 7 or 8 dollars.^

Divisions of Time.

Benua-Jakun. — The Benua have no divisions of
time save the natural one of the north and south
monsoons, each of which they call a "wind year"
(** satahun angin "). They mark time (as the Mantra
also do) by the seasons when their rice-crops are
harvested ("musim padi"), or when fruits ripen
(" musim buah "). They indicate the progress of the
day by the inclination of a stick. Early morning is
represented by pointing a stick to the eastern horizon.'
Placed erect it indicates noon, inclined at an angle of
about 45 degrees to the west it corresponds nearly with
3 o'clock, and so on.* In this way a guide familiar
with the path can intimate within an hour the time
at which a particular place will be reached, and
describe with considerable accuracy the distance of
one place along the route from another. Distances
exceeding a fraction of a day are reckoned by nights,
as in some of the Polynesian islands.*

* y. /. A, voL I pp. 271, 272. * Ihid, p. 388 ; cp. Newbold in

' The Malays use the word « poko* ** vol. ii. pp. 417-421: "The Benua

to indicate directions on the horizon. have no written language nor symbols

' y. /. A. voL i. p. 283. for articulate sounds, as far as my

394 ARTS AND CRAFTS pa^t ir

Orangr Laut, Akik. — Of the Orang Laut or " Akik "
Newbold remarks that they were remarkably in-
genious in handicrafts, particularly in that of boat-
building, and that they frequently made long voyages
in their fragile vessels. The same writer informs us
that they made use of mat- (or leaf-) work sails and
awnings, and of cordage, all of which were of their
own manufacture. And he also tells us that they
built temporary sheds (**bagan*s") along the coast,
whenever they had occasion to go ashore for boat-
building, but that otherwise they resided, for months
together, in their boats alone. ^

Net-making.

The same writer records the fact that the O. Akik
made use of nets which they similarly manufactured
themselves, for purposes of fishing.^

personal knowledge extends ; though, counting, the natural plan of indigita-

as previously mentioned, I am assured tion is adopted, throwing the articles

by natives that some of the tribes counted into heaps of fives and

in Perak write on the leaves of the tens."

Stebbal. The Benua are ignorant of ' Newbold, ii. 413, 414.

the simplest rules of arithmetic. In ^ Ibid.

CHAPTER IX.

Decorative Art.

We now come to what is by far the most difficult
of all the many difficult subjects that have had to be
faced in compiling the description of these tribes —
the much-vexed question of the interpretation of
their art. The subject in itself offers a most fruitful
field of inquiry, such as might take years of the most
patient and conscientious investigation to complete.
The writer feels it here necessary to remind his
readers that he does not pretend to offer solutions
of the many important questions involved. The
building of theories has been kept outside the scope
of this work, the object of which is to describe cus-
toms as they are, and to lay a foundation upon which
in years to come a really reliable and lasting edifice
may be constructed. For we have to face the fact
that with reference to part of this subject an edifice
has already been reared upon a foundation of sand,
and that though the bricks of which it was com-
posed may to some extent be useful in laying the
foundation of the new building, the original edifice
is none the less inevitably doomed to irremediable
destruction.

395

396 DECORATIVE ART paet ii

The Flower-theory of Vaughan-Stevens.

The sandy foundation to which I refer, and on
which so airy a superstructure has been built, is
Vaughan- Stevens' so-called "flower-theory,'* which
has been regarded by many as a species of master-key
for unlocking the innermost secret recesses of Negrito
art in the Peninsula. This astounding theory, or
tissue of begged questions, for it is nothing less,
sets out by ascribing to one of the most backward and
undeveloped races of mankind — a race of lifelong
nomads, who go almost stark naked and live upon the
victims of their bow and spear — a system of decorative
art based upon scientific principles which would not
discredit a text-book of botany.

Certainly it was not without reason that one of
Vaughan-Stevens* own editors speaks of the " extra-
ordinary intellectual force of the primitive human
race " which alone could have evolved the " firmly
welded flower-system " (** discovered " by Vaughan-
Stevens himself in the Semang comb patterns), as
meriting that a monument should be erected to it by
way of recognition !

In order to explain what we are asked to believe
in the case of this flower-theory of Vaughan-Stevens,
one of the bamboo back- combs which the Semang
women wear in their hair must be taken, and the
entire pattern with which the solid part of the comb
is decorated carefully copied on to paper. The solid
part, as will then be seen, is divided by means of
straight lines running horizontally into a number of
separate panels. The number of these panels differs
as between comb and comb, but we may take the one
chosen by Vaughan-Stevens, which has eight panels

CHAP. IX GENERAL REMARKS 397

in all — there being four narrow panels at the top of
the solid part, and three more narrow panels just
above the teeth, with a central panel of great breadth
between them. By the side of this panel-scheme a
flower should be drawn (preferably an Ixora, that being
the flower selected by Vaughan- Stevens), showing
pistil, stamens, petals, and sepals — the smell of the
flower need not be drawn, but may be understood !
Now we are asked to believe that the first panel (count-
ing from the top of the comb) represents the smell^ of
the flower in question ; the upper edge ^ of this first
panel the pistil and stamens ; the second panel the
"lengthened (or projecting) spike above the green
sepals '* ; * and the lowest horizontal line, bounding
the eighth or lowest panel, the sepals themselves.*

The petals (**tapak"), which one would think
would be one of the most obvious parts of a flower in
the eyes of a savage, have no panel assigned to them,
and what other parts of the flower are represented by
the unassigned panels we are not informed, but we
have a shrewd suspicion that the botany text-book
had been unfortunately mislaid before this part of the
investigation was completed. Otherwise we might
have been treated to further ethnological (and perhaps
even to botanical) discoveries !

To be just to Vaughan -Stevens, however, the
obvious fact is that as he conducted his investigations
in Malay, he must have been early brought face to
face with the Malay word ** bunga," a flower
( = ** bakau " in Semang), and as he evidently did not

^ The Semang *'was" is said to seem that the pistil is what is really

= *< smell," but perhaps really means intended, but this has been mentioned

the solid part of the comb (v. p. 426, already under another name.
infra), « Sem. "t^L" * Sem. "mos." For the whole

' Sem. "pawer." It is by no passage, see pp. 426, 427, infra^

means clear what this means ; it would especially 427, n. i.

398 DECORATIVE ART part ii

know that a common secondary meaning of "bunga"
was a patteruy he was, most unfortunately, started
upon the wrong tack from the very outset. The fact
of the word **bunga," which he thought meant
" flower,** being applied to the whole pattern, naturally
suggested to him the idea that the series of horizontal
lines might perhaps be intended to divide the
various panels which (he expected) would represent
the various parts of the flower in question. He asked
his questions, we feel sure, in perfect bona fides, but
nevertheless he must have had some such idea as
this in his mind, and his accommodating informants
naturally supplied him with the very information that
he thought he wanted. Thus Vaughan-Stevens, in
falling into the trap, has furnished us with yet one more
of those awful object-lessons which are provided from
time to time by ethnologists who rely too much upon
the answers given by " question-worried savages." As
he is not the first, so he will not be the last, and there
are perhaps none of us who can tread this thorny path
so securely as never to come into danger of a fall.

Up to this point we know, I think, quite enough
to be able to state definitely what the " mos " and the
**pawer" are not; but our duty does not stop here,
and a little further consideration of Vaughan-Stevens'
material will show us, I am inclined to think, what
Vaughan-Stevens himself must have narrowly missed
discovering, viz. that the *' mos ** and " pawer " were
probably the names of two flowers — as indeed, with
that courageous inconsistency which in such a case may
be regarded as a proof of honesty, he himself has
informed us in the very same passage in which he
states his general flower-theory of the combs. The
**mos" is, if as I hope we may trust Vaughan-

CHAP. IX GENERAL REMARKS 399

Stevens for the fact, a strong-scented kind of Ixora,
and the **pawer" a similar flower with a somewhat
weaker scent. ^ It is therefore quite conceivable that
the two upper panels of the pattern of the particular
comb that he took for his type, or even of a set of
such combs, may represent, or at least in some way
possess an association with, two kinds of Ixora.
That this solution is more than merely possible is
shown by the names of the third and fourth panels,
whose names, as given by Vaughan- Stevens, are
partly Semang and partly Malay, and mean "rice-
fruit" (ji.e. rice-grains) and ** salak "-fruit ^ respectively.
This practice, in fact, of giving names to patterns or
parts of patterns, either from something that they
actually represent, or from something they are supposed
to resemble (or are associated with in use), is a very
usual and general practice in the Malay Peninsula, and
is so obvious a method of describing a pattern that we
must confess we see nothing very striking or original
in the idea. For an exact parallel, see the " cucumber-
seed " pattern described below. Hence the parts of the
pattern would represent different flowers or fruit ; — a
very different thing from the elaborate theory stated
above, which is based upon a botanical analysis of the
component parts of a single flower — this latter being a

^ The chief kinds of Ixora found species is the Ixora referred to as
indigenous to the Peninsula, according ** Tetawar bindang," for the Malay
lo'Ri^cy^s Plant' List,zxt Ixora fulgensy word "padi" means simply rice, or
Roxb., and other species {Rudiacea), a rice - plant, and ** bendang " {not
large orange Ixora common in the " bintang" = ** star '*) means "rice-
jungle ; Ixora opaca^ Br. ; Ixora swamp'' toa Elsewhere we are told
gTMdiflora, ZolL ; Ixora parviflora^ by Vaughan -Stevens that it is the
WalL ; Ixora pmdula, Jack ; and blossoms of certain parasitic plants
Ixora amctna^ Wall, (an orange-red that are especially efficacious against
Ixora). No such name as *' Tetawar diseases; and hence they are used in
bindang " is recorded for any of these, the charms (see Vaughan-Stevens, iiu
but as Ixora pendtda is sometimes 135).

called "Baratong padi," there can be > <* Salak " is a kind of palm

little doubt that Siis or a closely allied {Zalacca),

400 DECORATIVE ART patt ii

development which is entirely foreign to the cast of mind
even of the Malays, who are a race some centuries
ahead of the Semang in general intelligence.^

Vaughan - Stevens, however, not content with
applying this theory to the combs, attempted to carry
it even further and extend it to all other patterns
executed by the Semang, such as the patterns on
their blowpipes, their quivers, and their magic tubes.
This extension, however, is regarded, even by
Vaughan-Stevens' own editors, as utterly untenable,
so that we need not trouble to waste any more time
in following him further away from the track.

It is, unfortunately, necessary to speak thus plainly,
in order to prevent the published work of Vaughan-
Stevens from entrapping scholars who use it, and who
may not have had the right kind of field experience to
enable them to use it critically. But it is a far more
congenial and grateful task for the writer — knowing, as
he does, the all but insuperable difficulties of the subject
— to record the fact that, setting apart all question of
this absurd pseudo-botanical theory, that indefatigable
pioneer (Vaughan-Stevens) has left behind him, not
only a fine collection of specimens of Negrito art (now
in the Museum of Ethnology at Berlin), but also a vast
mass of most valuable observations which only require
critical revision and recension to render them a verit-
able storehouse of fresh and remarkable information
for the ethnologist. From this point of view, the

1 For other scarcely less grotesque the three concentric ring -lines which

and far • fetched ideas of Vaughan- separate the panels in a pattern repre-

Stevens, see Vaughan • Stevens, liL sent three kinds of lightning empUyed

136, and similar references, where by Kari — the straight fiash^ the

we are told that the hollow of forked flashy and the ** heavy hhte

a bamboo intemode (used as a tropic lightning' flash^^^ only the

quiver) represents a mowUain with middle one of which is suppMed to

caves in the interior^ and that be efiiective !

CHAP. IX GENERAL REMARKS 401

work that has been hitherto accomplished, not only by
Vaughan-Stevens himself in the collecting of speci-
mens and information, but also by his German editors
under the most difficult circumstances imaginable, is
worthy of nothing but the highest and most generous
praise. In the light of the fuller knowledge that we
now possess, I find nothing — even where I am
obliged to differ or to correct — but what proves that
their work has been done in the best scientific spirit —
in other words, with a single regard to truth.

Hence the plan of the present chapter has been
formulated with the object of giving in as complete a
form as possible the result of the inquiries of Vaughan-
Stevens, rescued as faf as possible from his faulty
classification and his blunders, and also from the vitiat-
ing influence of his " flower- theory." Any readers
who wish to see more of this theory for themselves
can do so by consulting the original articles in the
German journals from which the extracts in this
chapter are taken. The remainder of this chapter
will include — (i) the detailed explanations of a few
typical Semang patterns which the writer himself
has personally investigated, and (2) the substance of
the German articles based upon Vaughan-Stevens'
material, from which, as I have said, the fallacious
** flower-theory," together with other obvious mistakes
due to bana-Jide ignorance, have been as far as pos-
sible eliminated.

Symbolism,

One of the most important features of the art-
work of these tribes consists in their practice of
representing an object by means either of one of its
chief parts or of some closely associated idea. A
VOL. I 2 D

402 DECORA TIVE ART paet ii

bat, for instance, is represented by a wavy pattern,
indicating its wings ; a stag by a small triangle, re-
presenting his pointed slot. These facts were pointed
out to me both among the Blandas and Besisi of
Selangor, before I ever read a line of Vaughan-Stevens,
and subsequently by the Semang of Kedah. The
principle has also been noticed by other observers (apart
from Vaughan-Stevens),^ and may be accepted as
definitely established. It is, I think, not unconnected
in origin with the general ideas underlying the practice
of sympathetic magic or " make-believe," and there is
therefore no reason why it should not be employed
by the members of a race who, to a not inconsiderable
extent, employ what may be called "sympathetic
methods " in their " medicinal " ceremonies.

Representation of Entire Objects.
At the same time it must be insisted upon that
the powers of draughtsmanship of the aborigines do
not by any means stop at this point. I have myself
seen perfectly intelligible drawings representing com-
plete objects, both animals and plants, upon the shafts
of blowpipes and similar objects,* and in this respect
the fine collection got together by Vaughan-Stevens
is obviously rich. One of the best of these latter is
perhaps, as Vaughan-Stevens himself points out, the
drawing of a spider by a Sakai upon a bamboo
** stamper " or ** tuang-tuang." '

Geometrical Patterns.

But in spite of their possessing the power both
to conceive and to represent a complete artistic

^ Z,f, E, xxvi. 142. forbidden to the Mohammedan Malays,

' This was among the Blandas and they are probably of " savage Malayan *'

Besisi, and as sudi zoomorphs are origin. * Z,f, E, xxri 143.

CHAP. IX GENERAL REMARKS 403

conception, these tribes employ, in the vast majority
of cases, patterns which are purely geometrical, and
it is in respect of these that the explanations collected
by Vaughan-Stevens should be subjected, whenever
it may be possible, to the closest scrutiny. My own
experience has been, with regard to these geometrical
designs, that, as a rule, every other native has a
different explanation to offer about them, and that,
on the other hand, the same interpretation will
nevertheless be frequently given with reference to
two, or even perhaps to three or four designs which are
obviously different. In both of these ways Vaughan-
Stevens no doubt suffered considerably, as will, I
think, be clear to anyone who has the opportunity
of checking his work. Especial care should therefore
be exercised in dealing with this particular class of
patterns, and every possible means of checking the
explanations given of them by natives should be
adopted.

Dividing Lines or Borders.

A great deal of emphasis was laid by the informants
of Vaughan-Stevens upon the ring-lines (" keng-oin "
or " k£ning-uin ") which separate the various patterns.
Exactly similar ring-lines (or "party "-lines) are, how-
ever, employed by the Malays (as by many other races)
for separating their patterns, and there can, I think,
be no manner of doubt that the sole original function
of these lines was io divide the paitems and to keep the
varums rows of figures in their proper place. It is, of
course, conceivable that later on (as Vaughan-Stevens
in many passages is made to say) some superstition may
have arisen which postulated a particular number or
arrangement of these lines as a charm against light-

404 DECORATIVE ART part ii

ning, but I cannot personally believe this, and in any
case it will be evident to anybody who examines
this point that these lines do, as a matter of fact,
divide and regulate the patterns, and this is what, I
claim, must (beyond doubt) have been their original
function.

Essential Irregularity of the Patterns.

A yet further point in which, I regret to say, I must
differ entirely from Vaughan-Stevens is his continual
insistence upon the completeness and regularity of
each (geometrical) figure and row of figures. He
has gone so far in this respect as to correct (not
always accurately) his originals, a work of entire
gratuitousness, to make the best of it. It cannot, I
think, be too strongly emphasised that we want to
collect and to interpret the patterns as they are, and
not as they might or perhaps even ought to be.
This does not, of course, preclude the pointing out
of substantial irregularities whenever they are of any
interest and importance, but it cannot, I think, be too
widely recognised that the designs of these tribes,
like those of the Malays and of most other tribes on
a similar or even on a higher plane of culture, are
radically and essentially irregular, and that any ex-
cessive regularity in a pattern might be ground for
distrusting the authenticity of the specimen in which
it occurred.

Terminology.

Before going further, a clear understanding must
be arrived at about the names used in this section.
In spite of the distinction drawn by Vaughan-Stevens
between quivers and charm-receptacles, I confess that

CHAP. IX GENERAL REMARKS 405

I have not succeeded in discovering the smallest differ-
ence between them from the decorative point of view.

Vaughan- Stevens himself, in spite of his long
article upon this subject, headed *'goh" and "gah/**
is continually confusing them, and as his own editor
points out, his remark that " others {sc. designs) could
not be reduced (to a size that would suit the blow-
pipe), and hence were retained as ' goh * or * gah,' "
shows that in his mind there was no essential
difference between them. Elsewhere, after comparing
the blowpipe and "goh" patterns, he derives the
blowpipe patterns from a ** goh," whereas, according
to his own general theory, it was from a " gah " that
these patterns were evolved. Elsewhere, again, he
refers to both "goh" and "gah" together as dart-
quivers. The only conclusion that can be drawn, as
his own editor quite rightly points out, is that
Vaughan -Stevens really found no specific difference
between his " goh " and "gah " patterns, and that his
theory of the evolution of the blowpipe patterns from a
"gah" rests upon some misapprehension of his own.

The fact of the matter is (in my own mind at least
I am sure), that both these forms of the widespread
bamboo receptacle should be included in one class
merely as receptacles, without any reference to what
their contents might be. In fact the word " g5' " in
Semang ( = " gOb " in Andamanese)* is the exact equi-
valent of the Malay " tabong," and merely signifies a
vessel or holder formed from a single internode of a
large kind of bamboo, which had, as a rule, certain specific

' In orig. "gor" and "gar" {sic). probably be "g&'" and "gft'." The form

These names of Vaughan-Stevens are «gu'" ("gah") is probably identical,

both cockney spellii^s, there being no Cp. p. 448, infra,
" r " whatever at the end of either of ^ Man's Andamtuusei p. 8.

these words. The correct forms would

4o6 DECORATIVE ART part ii

uses, but might as easily be put to half a hundred
others. Hence the Semang " g5' " at times served as
a quiver, at other times served to carry magic herbs
and roots, and the general paraphernalia of the Negrito
sorcerer. If the fact is once recognised that, from a
decorative point of view, there is absolutely no differ-
ence between the quiver (*' goh ") and the charm-tube
(•• gah "), and that both alike are really ** g5' " (the form
*' gah" or " g§' " being probably, if it has any authority
at all, a mere dialectal variant of " g5' "), the source of
endless confusion will be avoided.

Similarly, the word '*gu'" also appears to be
applied indifferently both to bamboo quivers and
burial bamboos, etc. It probably signifies, like " goh,"
a bamboo tube or receptacle. There does not to
me appear sufficient evidence of the existence of what
Vaughan-Stevens calls ** gi " to include it in this list.
Vaughan - Stevens himself could obtain no specimen
of it, and himself says that they had been completely
forgotten and disused. What they purported to be
was a species of charm- tube carried by the women,
"on which all the seventy Disease-patterns were cut."
As, however, there are (not seventy but) a hundred
and forty of these patterns, and as it would be a
physical impossibility to crowd even the central panel
of seventy of these patterns upon the surface of a
bamboo that was meant to be portable, there can be
little doubt that this was one of the many cases in
which Vaughan-Stevens was led altogether astray.

Classijication of the Patterns.

The charm-patterns employed by the wild tribes
of the Peninsula may be roughly classified according
to the objects that they are employed to adorn.

CHAP. IX

GENERAL REMARKS

407

Dncriptioa of ObiecL

(I) Bamboo combs.'^

(2) Large bamboo tubes, cut from a
single intemode, and including —
(a) Bamboo quivers'^ (for ar-
rows or darts).

(3) Charm bamboos.'^
\c) Myth bamboos.^
{d) Burial bamboos. "^
(tf) Birth bamboos. "^
(/) Bamboo "stampers."*
\g) Seed bamboos (used for
dibbling rice).
(3) Small bamboo tubes, including —
(a) Poison-receptacles.

{b) Tobacco-receptacles.

(4) Blowpipes.*

(5) Miscellaneous objects, eg, arrows,

nose-sticks, fish-hooks, and vari-
ous implements (ring-lines only).

(6) Mats and wallets (mat-work and

embroidery).

(7) Bark-doth (painting only).

(8) The human body (painting and

tattooing and scarification of the
person)— -^r. vol. ii. ch. ii.

Use.

(I) Used chiefly by Semang (V.-St.
Uc, cit,) ; chiefly by Sidcai (Mar-
tin, 703). Not used by Jakun.

(2)

(a) Arrow • quivers used by
Semang only ; dart •
quivers by all three
races.

{6) Used by Semang only.

{d) Do. do.

(#) Do. do.

(/) Used by Sakai only (?).

ig) Collected among Semang.

(3)

{a) Commonly undecorated
when used by Semang,
but decorated by Sakai
and to some extent by
Jakun.

{6) Used especially by Semang.

(4) Borrowed in the case of the Semang,
but decorated by all three races.

(5) Some of these \e,g, arrows) are
used by Semang only, but they
cannot all be specified.

(6) Not used by Semang except when
borrowed, but found among Sa-
kai, and still more among Jakun.

(7) Decorated by Sakai especially,
rarely by Semang and Jakun.

(8) Scarification and tattooing (accord-
ing to Mr. L. Wray) appear to be
practised by the Sakai of Perak ;
body-painting by all three races,
but especially t^ the Sakai.

The asterisked objects are the only ones whose
patterns have been seriously studied, and that in
most cases for the Semang only.

Of these divisions the first (that containing the
Semang combs) includes prophylactic patterns in-
tended to protect the wearer against various accidents
and diseases, and must await a fuller discussion
below.

The Semang patterns of the second class were
supposed by Vaughan-Stevens to have been originally

4o8 DECORA TIVE ART part xi

copied from patterns on certain bamboo tubes, which
were merely used as charms (and not as quivers and
blowpipe-tubes). Vaughan-Stevens asserts that the
former, when first used as quivers, remained of the
same size as the tubes from which their patterns were
copied, but that in the latter case the patterns on
being transferred to the blowpipe-tubes were reduced
in size. What the truth may be is hard to say. No
foundation for this statement of Vaughan-Stevens
appears, and the writer does not himself regard it
as credible.

There are said to be in all seventy-three specimens
of these patterns (for quivers and charm-tubes) col-
lected by Vaughan-Stevens, who has attempted
to explain them by means of the " flower-theory " he
had employed in explaining the combs, but this
extension, as has already been pointed out, is quite
untenable (even supposing his *' flower-theory " were
admitted for the combs).

The main objections alleged are as follows : —

1. There are some quivers which have no patterns
at all but only a few ring-lines (ex. Fig. 8).

2. Some quivers have the same pattern in all
their panels (ex. Fig. 9).

3. In many quivers the central panel is left vacant,
and hence the *' Disease-pattern " must necessarily be
looked for in some one of the other panels (ex. Fig. 10).

4. Again, in some cases, in which all the panels
are occupied, the central panel is in no way more pro-
minent than the rest, so that its special importance,
and in fact its very place in the scheme, still remains
to be proved.

5. The patterns of the two upper panels (which
according to the theory should correspond to the

CHAP. IX GENERAL REMARKS 409

''was" and "paw^r" of the combs) are not in all
cases divisible as they would be on the combs.^

The chief difference, however, appears to be that
in the case of the combs the main Disease-pattern is
always to be found in the centre, whereas both in the
blowpipe patterns and in those of the quivers and
charm-tubes the central panel is often a blank one.
The fact alleged by Vaughan-Stevens, that in blow-
pipe patterns of the kind the upper pattern serves to
protect the men from epidemics, and the lower the
women {sic\ suggests to his editor the possible applica-
tion of some such explanation to the upper and lower
patterns of the quivers and charm-tubes. On the
other hand, the central patterns that some of these
very quivers and charm-tubes possess are explained
by the same authority as charms directed against the
Diseases that attack the men only. Finally, even
the division of the ring-lines into groups can be of
no very special significance, as they are sometimes
distributed at equal distances over the whole bamboo.*

Burial Bamboos.

The Semang "gu'" and burial bamboos are of
no account as charms.* On the former the mytho-
logical designs and emblems connected with the
Putto (of whom only the tradition remains that they
were once an order of greater chiefs and servants of
the god Pie) were incised, and the latter have now
passed to the Sna-hut. Four myth bamboos were
obtained from the Sna-hut by Vaughan - Stevens,
together with the interpretation of their patterns.

* Z,f, E, XXV. 7I-IOO. ^ lb, described as being available as a charm

' See, however, Gu* IV., which is against water-snakes.

4 lo DECORA TIVE ART part ii

There, for instance, is represented the thunder-god
Kari, and the symbols of his power, together with
the god Pl€ and his daughter Simei. In addition to
these there are certain fabulous animals, described as
the guardians of Paradise, and a great variety of
flowers and fruits. A Putto is shown lying with his
head upon a magic stone-cushion, and receiving from
Pl€ in a dream instructions as to the manufacture of
mats and other objects. But most unfortunately there
is no coherence, and the exact connotation even of the
word " gu " itself is wanting. The designs themselves
are so vague, that one can scarcely distinguish human
beings from animals, and the same design, or part of
a design, often signifies many entirely different objects.*
The burial patterns or "pgnitah"* of the dead are
said to be cut by the Sna-hut upon a bamboo tube which
is deposited in the grave (inserted in the deceased's
girdle). By these patterns the life-story of the person
or persons concerned is depicted, so that on their
appearing before the judgment throne of Kari the
bamboo serves as a kind of credentials. The patterns
inscribed on these bamboos vary according to the age
and sex of the deceased. Their import has up to the
present received no manner of explanation.*

Birth Bamboos.

The Semang "tahong" is a "birth bamboo"
carried by the woman, which nobody but her husband
may see, but which she must never go without. It
contains, we are told, " no flower-patterns." *

1 Vaughan-Stevens, iiL 124. mand," is of course a possible one*

* The form given by Vaughan- though I do not feel quite sure of it
Stevens is "pSnitor" ("peneetor"). ' Vaughan-Stevens, iiL 119, i«a

The suggested derivation from "titah," * K B, G, A, xxiv. 466, 467; cp.

the royal word meaning to '* com- Vaughan-Stevens, iiL 11$.

CHAP. IX GENERAL REMARKS 4"

Bamboo Stampers.

We now come to the Sakai " tuntong " (more
correctly " tuang-tuang ") or " kowet-niss," to which
recourse was had in every emergency of life. These
bamboos always consisted of a pair of tubes, one of
which was somewhat smaller than the other, so that
quite different tones were produced by them when
struck. These tubes were closed at the lower end
by the natural node ; but they were left open at the
top, so that the closed end, when struck upon the
ground, emitted a distinct musical note.^

The illustrations will be treated in fuller detail
below. The first is 48 cm. high, the second 56 cm.
high.«

There are also ** tuang-tuangs " in secular use.
These, however, are neither provided with incised
patterns nor painted, but serve merely to give a signal
for calling home the inhabitants of a house or
village, since they can be heard at a great distance
through the jungle. These undecorated tubes are
common among tribes who live in the neighbourhood
of the Malays. They serve in this case, however,
only as instruments of music*

The patterns of the other objects classified call for
no special remark, being mostly confined to ring-lines
and plain geometrical patterns, with the exception of
those employed for decorating the person, which will
be fully treated in another chapter.

^ Z, f, E. xxvL 140. Vaughan- «» Z,f,E, xxvi. 148. V.-Steycns

Stevens remarks that these *'tuntongs" has here evidently confused the *' tuang-

(as he calls them) are never struck upon tuang" of these patterns, which is a

wood. This refers, perhaps, to the mere "stamper/' producing a note when

Sakai customs, as I mjrself have more struck against the ground, with an in-

than once seen and heard them struck stniment bearing the same name which

upon the wooden floor -timbers of has a mouth-hole at one side, and is

Jakun huts. really used as a species of ** conch."

412 DECORA TIVE ART part ii

Blowpipe Patterns.

According to Preuss, the (129) specimens of
Semang blowpipe patterns, their dart^uivers (" g5' "),
and charm-tubes ("ga*") are intended to serve as
charms against the various diseases and accidents
which are likely to attack or affect the men.^

The tradition of the Semang about the origin of
their blowpipe patterns ascribes them to the invention
of their god Pie, who with the aid of his daughter
Simei planted the flowers of their chief god Kari or
"Thunder" near a mountain peak(Jelmol), and evolved
from them the patterns which would avail against
Diseases. The Putto ^ incised these correct patterns,
exactly as Pl€ had invented them, on bamboos which
were deposited in a large cave, where they were changed
into stone * by the god, in order that they might always
be ready to serve as patterns. A set of these patterns
was prepared for each of the Sna-hut ; whose task it
was to see that the correct drawings were used by
the people. The Putto alone, however, knew where
the caves were. The parts of the flowers represented
on the combs' in accordance with these traditions, viz.
" tgpi," " was,*' " pawer," and " mos," are dealt with ac-
cording to their existing arrangement on the blowpipes,
without, however, any further working out of the details,
e.g. the identification of the remaining parts of the cor-
responding patterns which are incised on the combs.*

In the publications of the Berlin Ethnographical
Museum,* mention is made of the Semang explanation

' Z. /. E, xxxi. 159. See also which is, at the best, a doubtful guess.

Z,f, E, XXV, 73/ There seem to be, ' This is doubtless due to some

however, more important uses. legend connected with one of the

* Spelt by v. -St **Puttow," which limestone caves, so common in the

may = ** Pattau," though Grtlnwedel north portion of the Peninsula,

suggests a connexion with "Buddha," ♦ V.-St. iii. no. * 16. p. 130.

CHAP. IX GENERAL REMARKS 413

of the patterns as derived exclusively from one of their
fundamental patterns (i a), which latter has a close
resemblance to a typical " motive '* employed by the
Sakai. The Semang are even asserted to know the
exact order in which the simpler figures were succes-
sively developed ! The first eighteen stages of this
development were described by Vaughan - Stevens,
but in this respect Nos. 1-4 (inclusive) and No. 13
are all that need be indicated. The fact that the
Semang are not acquainted with the development of
the complicated figures of which they make use,
Vaughan- Stevens seeks to explain — I confess un-
convincingly — by the fact that these latter patterns
were formerly incised by the Sna-hut, or even by the
Putto.^

The E. Semang (Pangan) have only one
" pichod " pattern, which they are said by Vaughan-
Stevens to have learnt from the Sakai (.^), but this
pattern and its variants are alleged to be used by the
Semang as the groundwork of all their patterns.*

Among the Semang the pyramidal figure is said to
be taken as the basis of all their decorative art. It is
an obvious and simple figure (possibly connected with
the zigzag) which is commonly found in the art of
almost all other savage peoples, and there is no
necessity whatever for supposing that it can only
have been borrowed from a foreign source.*

Turning to mixed Semang- Sakai tribes, the
Tembeh of the east coast states used no decora-
tion for their blowpipe or quiver; later they

^ Z. /• E, xxxi. 160. were indebted for this form of oma-

' Vaughan -Stevens, iiL 129 n, ment to an older stage (''stadium")

Vaughan-Steyens' comment is that this of the common race, from which they

figure must either obviously have been were both evolved {sic !).

borrowed from the Sakai or that both ^ Ibid, p. 130.

414 DECORATIVE ART part ii

copied the patterns of the E. Semang or Pangan,
but very sparingly.^ Vaughan - Stevens describes
in connexion with this tribe a strange "code"
or set of signs which he calls the "Tembeh
message-characters," and he adds that these message-
characters are known not only to a section of the
Tembeh, but throughout the whole of the Malay
Peninsula ! ® The signs were notched on a section oi
bamboo or drawn upon it in charcoal. At the top
stood the sign which represented the name of the
sender (which all parties concerned would be likely
to know), and underneath stood that of the recipient.
The characters employed represented such ideas as
"go," "return," "wait," "escape," "wood-felling,"
" man," " woman," " family," " danger," " salt,"
" tobacco," " day," " night," etc., and so on down to the
representation of the numbers i to ic* A special sign,
for instance, stands for " night " or " darkness," and
another special sign for " day " or " daylight." *

We next come to the magical designs of the
Sakai, who since they believed (unlike the Semang)
in demons, naturally used these designs in a way
that the Semang never did. Vaughan-Stevens here
tells us that each tribe of the Sakai has a design
which does for all the members of the tribe.

Vaughan-Stevens adds that the designs were used
merely as charms against certain evil spirits, and hence
were less numerous than the magical designs of the
Semang which were intended for use against all the
(personified) Diseases that they knew of or could
imagine.*

^ Vaughan-Stevens, iiL 98. numerals of its own beyond three or

* This, however, is certainly a stretch four,

of the ims^nation. * Globus^ Ixix. 117, 1896.

3 No Semang or Sakai tribe has ' Vaughan-Stevens, iiL 130.

/M./m.i/////ii0

nil III If I I w

>.JI\r/r\^A AVXJlf:^:

ii. \

o^>o^> ^€:@©

^^f^^^^^^^^^ ^'^'^^^^^^^^^^ /P^^RC^Rk

/ 'aughan-Stn'ens.

Development of the Patterns from the Chevron (/^./ E, xxxi. 160).

Skcai Colleciion.

Quivers for Blowpipe Darts employed
BY the Semang of Kedah.

Dc Morgan

Semang Quivers.

De Morgan in L' H. 25ih October 1885, p. 617.

Vol. I, />. 414.

^ 3 .£

si =

C J3 a .2

£ £ .

- 2

vi fB xt

CHAP. IX GENERAL REMARKS 415

The following is Vaughan - Stevens' statement
as to the alleged origin of the Sakai charm-
patterns : —

As he (Vaughan-Stevens) was anxious for further
explanation (about the patterns) he took a bamboo
(** tabong ") belonging to one of the men, and asked
to be shown which were Tuhan's finger-prints. In-
stead of replying, the man seized a piece of firewood,
rubbed his finger on the charred end, and pressed
his blackened finger-tip upon the bamboo, thus
producing a triangular pattern.^

Further inquiry elicited the information that for
the interior portion of this figure no fixed rule
existed, and that {e.g.) dots might be introduced
instead of lines. It was further asserted that the
more complicated patterns were only so many varieties
of the simple triangle or V-pattern, duplicated and
arranged X-wise instead of side by side.*

Of pure Jakun {i.e. Malayan) designs very little
seems yet to have been written, and specimen illus-
trations of Jakun patterns seem hardly less rare than
descriptions thereof. The decorative art of the Besisi,
so far as I have observed (like their language), so
closely resembles that of the Sakai as to be almost
indistinguishable. It is therefore among some of
the Johor and Kuantan tribes (probably among those
who still manufacture the wooden blowpipe) that we
must look for purer specimens of " savage Malay " art-
work. On the other hand it must not be forgotten that
much decoration of Malayan origin that was probably
indigenous in the first place among the Jakun or

' Vanghan-Stevens, iii. 130. This collected his information. Can we say

passage exhibits, unfortimately, the un- that the mark made by a blackened

criticid spirit (which in some respects finger-tip suggests a triangle ?
was a merit !) in which Vaughan-Stevens ^ Vaughan-Stevens, iil 1 30.

4i6 DECORATIVE ART part ii

heathen Malays, has undoubtedly been incorporated
in the art-work of Semang and Sakai tribes. Un-
fortunately, as I have said, practically nothing has
yet been done at this subject, and all that is possible
in the present work is to indicate the nature of
the inquiry which, it is most earnestly to be hoped,
some future investigator may find the means to carry
out.

I. — Semang.

Analysis of the Patterns of a Semang Quiver {Siang).

We now come to the interpretation of certain
typical specimens of the Semang patterns, which
were explained to me by the owners of the objects
described as follows : —

(i) Second Panel {a) —

Blossom of the ** p'rah tree, with its skin (or
bark.?)."

(2) Second Panel {b) —

Hill tortoise (" kura bukit '').

The " baning " (a bigger variety).

The " k4hh " (the biggest variety).

Ribbed breast of a tortoise, showing the bones.
It should be noted that in the case of the
smallest variety there are six tortoise
breasts in the field, whereas in that of
the middle-sized kind there are four, and
in that of the largest three only.

(3) Third Panel—

The fruit of the "kglubi."

(4) Fourth Panel —

Blossom of the ** rotan sSnik " (a kind of rattan).
Blossom of the ** rotan tunggal " (another kind).

CHAP. IX NEGRITOS OF KEDAH 417

(5) Bottom panel of the quiver —

Deer-slots. These are distinguished from the
rest of the designs by the scraping off of
the outer cuticle of the bamboo over certain
parts of the design that are darker than the
rest. The parts thus scraped are polished
with wax, which gives them a reddish tinge.

(6) Borders are added to all the panels —

Hawks' eyes (" mata lang ").

Although I was able without much difficulty to get the
explanation of the foregoing details, I had less
success with the remaining portions of the patterns,
though most likely the objects in the second panel
{a) were meant to attract the various kinds of land-
tortoise jportrayed in the second panel (3). In the
case of the fifth panel this intention is abundantly
obvious, since it consists of deer-slots pointing towards
the fruit of the " k€lubi " as well as to that of the rattan
or Calamus, the object of the design being, no doubt,
to attract the deer by a suggestion of their favourite
feeding-grounds, where they would, of course, be more
easily slain or captured.

Analysis of the Patterns upon a Second Dart-quiver.

The Semang further informed me that the object of
their entire set of quiver patterns was to bring down
various species of monkeys and apes and other small
mammals. This particular set of patterns was
described as possessing much magical virtue ("kom
jasa'"), the phrase being still more clearly ex-
plained by the comment of my informants, that it
would be a " slayer of many victims " ('* banyak bunoh-
nya").

VOL. I 2 E

4i8 DECORATIVE ART pa^t ii

Each panel of the pattern contained some special
design which was believed to be of the highest
efficacy in bringing down a particular species of
animal. Thus the first, second, third, fourth, and
fifth panels inclusive contained charms for bringing
down various species of apes and monkeys, e.g. —

(i) The " kaldos " (Mai. " sinekah " or " Chikah".>).

(2) The **talug" (Mai. "lotong").

(3) The "keboft" (Mai. "mawah" or " wa-wa").

(4) The "bawad" (Mai. «bW).

(5) The " bateyu " (Mai. " siamang ").

The two bottom panels, on the other hand, were
devoted to the bear-cat (" chepag " or " chfipog " =
Malay " binturong ") and the civet-cat or " kenseng "
(Malay " musang ") respectively.*

Analysis of the Decorations an a Third Dart-Quiver.

(i) First Panel—
Fish-scales.
Thorns of the rattan (leaf-whip and stem).

(2) Second Panel —

Python and pythons* bones (" ular sawa ").

(3) Third Panel-

Do. do.

(4) Fourth Panel —

Do. do.

(5) Fifth Panel-

Hawks* eyes and scales.

This appears to be a food-charm like the last. In
fact,! I cannot help thinking it more than likely that the

I The " lotong " is a SemnapUhecm the *<siamang," Hylobatcs lor (gibbon) ;
(spectacled monkey); the •«b'ro*," the<<wa-wa,**/^^^a/to^^£r/the«bui-
Macacus nemestrinus (coconut-monkey); turong, ** ArctUtU bintunmg.

CHAP. IX NEGRITOS OF KEDAH 419

proximity of the fish-scales and rattan thorns may be of
special significance, since these prickly leaf- whips of the
rattan are frequently used to make a funnel-shaped
trap for fish, which immediately on entering the mouth
of the trap are caught and held fast by their scales.

Analysis of the Decorative Symbols on a Comb.

(i) First Panel-
Rattan thorns (** duri rotan ").
(2) Second (central) Panel —

Diamond-shaped diagram filled with little pitted
marks called " cucumber seeds " (" bunga
timun"). The cross-lines are called "ten-
weg " ( = " tin-weg " of V.-St.).

The complete design is meant to serve as a charm
to protect the woman against venomous reptiles and
insects. The chiefs wife informed me that a similar
design, for a similar reason^ was sometimes painted
upon the breast of women belonging to the wild
Semang-Sakai tribes in the northern part of the
valley of the Plus.

The specimens above described were all collected
by the writer in the same region, viz. among the
Negritos of Siong, in the interior of Kedah.

The charm-patterns which have been studied by
Vaughan-Stevens are, with one exception (that of the
Sakai " tuang - tuang "), all Semang patterns, and
relate to the following classes (as given above) : —

Class (i). Bamboo combs.

Class (2). Large bamboo tubes, including {a)
bamboo quivers, {b) medicine bamboos, {c) memorial
bamboos, {d) burial bamboos, {e) birth bamboos.

Class (4). Bamboo blowpipes.

420 DECORATIVE ART part ii

The Theories of Vaughan-Stevens.
comb patterns.

In the following pages the description of the
patterns employed by the Semang, although given in
the form of a summary of Vaughan-Stevens* own words
as reported by his German editor/ has been revised,
rearranged, and corrected where necessary.*

The magical bamboo back-combs of the Semang
women are worn throughout the entire Semang region,'
though on the western side of the main mountain range
of the Peninsula, from Kedah to Perak, rather for orna-
mental than for any other reasons, the rules for com-
posing the patterns being now forgotten there. The
use of these combs (the name for which is **tin-leig" or
" tSla' ") is to serve as a means of protecting women
against the diseases {e.g. fever, called "pong" in Semang)
against which the flowers referred to are of service.
For external injuries, such as those caused by a falling
tree in the jungle, or by the bite of a centipede, other
talismans are used, not combs. The Semang employ
no comb for the purpose of dressing their stubborn,
closely curled hair, yet the women often wear eight
back combs at a time, and sometimes even as many
as sixteen, which in this case form a double row,
the one behind the other. When eight combs are
worn, two are fixed side by side facing frontwards, two
backwards, and two towards each side, the teeth being
inserted right up to the solid part of the comb. The
choice of a comb or set of combs depends in each

^ Z.f.E. XXV. 7i-ioo(^. Griinwedel). enclosed in square brackets.
For Ibt of comb patterns, v. App. ^ Hair-combs were also seen by

* For the convenience of future Lapicque among the Semang of Ulu

investigators passages that contain Selama. — Tour du Monde^ N.S., L

statements requiring corroboration are (1895), 620.

CHAP. IX NEGRITOS OF PERAK 421

case upon three considerations — (i) the Disease or
Diseases prevalent anywhere in the neighbourhood
at the time of choice ; (2) those Diseases which are
most dreaded at the time; and (3) the presence or
otherwise of other women.

[To understand this last consideration it must
be remembered that according to Semang ideas
the winds bring Diseases with them as punishment
for any sins that Kari, the thunder-god, desires to
avenge by their means. The Wind-demon, who is
sent from Kari with this message, passes over the
head of the person and deposits the Disease upon his
(or her) forehead, from whence it spreads over the
rest of the body. But the god Pie (" Play ") pacifies
Kari and turns aside the punishments decreed by him,
by giving the Semang a talisman that the winds dare
not approach. If, therefore, a woman is protected by
the correct form of magic comb, the Wind, on touching
her head, encounters the scent of the " was " (the first
or uppermost panel of the comb), and thereupon falls to
the ground until the wearer of the comb has passed.
If several women, each wearing a particular set of
combs, are sitting or walking together, and a Disease
comes in the name of Kari to punish one of them
who is not wearing the protective comb pattern, yet
so long as there is another woman close by who is
wearing it, the first panel pattern of the latter will
protect the former woman. Hence when several
women are walking together they wear different combs
for their mutual protection from different Diseases.]

[The winds do not bring every kind or any special
kind of Disease, though every Disease has a special
wind as its messenger, and hence comes the necessity
of varying first-panel (" was **) patterns. It is not as

422 DECORATIVE ART part ii

a rule the case that a " was " should especially avail
against more than one particular kind of Disease,
though many of these patterns to a lesser extent
may avail against other Diseases as well. It does not
therefore often happen (though it may sometimes do
so) that a Semang cuts a first-panel pattern on a comb
for any other than its specific purpose. It is said that
the profusion of first-panel patterns which exists has
arisen occasionally through their being changed by
the magicians, who excused themselves on the above
grounds whenever it happened.] On the whole, a
Semang woman possesses as a rule from twenty to
thirty magic combs, so that in an encampment in which
there are several women a great number of patterns
are present. The women lend each other their combs
or omit to wear them as the case may be, especially
when, e.g.y several of them are together, and one may
be protected by the combs worn by the others. In
the huts or shelters the combs are taken out of the
hair and inserted between the slats of the roof.

At night the combs are not worn. When a woman
is buried all her combs are buried with her, so that
the Diseases which have been warded off from her
body during her lifetime may not hurt her soul when
dead. The idea appears to be that the soul of the
deceased should have the same protection secured to
it that the living has possessed.

In the ways above described, the encampment is
sufficiently protected, as long as the Semang do not
leave the place they are in.

[Concerning the origin of the custom, the invariable
explanation of the Semang is that the patterns of the
magic comb were the invention of their god Pl€,
and that the patterns employed were not borrowed

CHAP. IX NEGRITOS OF PERAK 423

from any other people ; and they add that in olden
times the magic comb only possessed three teeth.*]
The E. Semang or Pangan still make their combs with
only four to five teeth to them, their sole instrument
for carving the bamboo being a rough chopping-knife
(*• parang '*), whereas the Semang of Perak (at Belum),
who possess a better class of Malay knives, give their
combs a dozen or even more than a dozen teeth.*

At the different places at which it was asked, the
question, "What is the use of the teeth .^" always
received the same answer, viz. that the combs would
soon fall out and be lost but for the long teeth, which
were the only means of fastening them into the hair.
The men, too, do not wear combs, because (as they
allege) their hair is too short. Their talismans are,
therefore, as stated above, incised on the quivers and
charm-holders. [It was further alleged that in very
ancient times the women also very often carried a
special charm-tube, on which all the seventy Disease-
charms were incised — in other words, a " gi *' of a form
resembling that of the modern dart-quiver.* This
special charm-holder was inserted in the loin-cloth or
girdle, in the same way as the quivers now carried by
the men. The modern girdle of the Semang men is
said to be based on this old custom, whereas] the
Sakai fasten on their quivers with special straps. It is,
moreover, still the custom for the Semang quivers
to lack any lid or covering ; for if a quiver (" g5* **)
or charm -tube ("gi") had a cover, the charms
being covered would therefore be powerless. The

^ The suggestion is here made that and among the central Sakai, these

the multiplicalion of the number of combs have fiEur more than three or four

teeth in these combs may have been teeth,

due to Sakai influence. Among Perak * Z,f,E. xxv. 75.

Sakai who have Semang admixture, ^ See, however, p. 406, ante.

424 DECORATIVE ART part ii

"tahong"* of the women is a modified survival of
this custom. [The comparative completeness of the
traditions of the Semang with regard to their patterns
was ascribed to the fact of these charm-tubes having
contained specimens of all their forms.^]

The Diseases against which the magic combs are of
avail only attack women, and many of these are very
largely the result of the imagination. [Diseases which
attack both sexes are usually (since the women as a
rule do not go far away from the men) arrested by the
quiver and blowpipe patterns of the latter. On this
account, the women do not as a rule use any quiver
patterns, although they are not prohibited from
doing so.*]

The combs, as a rule, do not last long. The teeth
easily break off, and the combs themselves are more
liable to be lost than the quivers and charm-holders of
the men. As, moreover, they are buried with the
women when they die, there is always something for
the young people to do and to learn. When they
know the patterns of the quivers and charm-tubes,
they are allowed to cut these for the men. But the
men also cut other patterns as well as those of the
quivers and charm-holders ; and the beautiful and
accurately incised patterns of the combs are the work
of men. The kind of bamboo most used for the
manufacture of these combs is a very tall species which
the Semang call ** semeng." The useless upper
portion is cut off, that required for use well dried,
and the process of making the comb then proceeds
as follows : —

A single internode is taken, and both knots (or
" nodes ") are excised, so carefully as not to crack the

» Cp. V. B, G, A. xxiv. 465 seqq, * » Z. /". E. xxv. 75.

CHAP. IX NEGRITOS OF PERAK 425

intemode. The cut edge is then most carefully
smoothed, and, precaution being taken to see that the
entire portion is sufficient for "two comb-lengths,"
the three double ring-lines are first incised twice
each upon both sides of the tube. These lines serve
not only to divide up the pattern, but themselves
possess a certain amount of charm-power. They are
produced by laying the edge of the chopper across the
bamboo at right angles and rolling the latter along
with the left hand. Sometimes these lines, it is true,
are first incised separately on the surface of the comb
after the splitting of the internode, but this was rarely
the case, because it was then more difficult to make
them parallel. The internode is now split into two
separate parts of equal size, which are then split again
into as many pieces as the bamboo allows. Large
bamboo shafts will produce four or even six laminae,
but smaller ones as a rule only yield three. The
pattern is now incised with the point of the chopper and
rubbed over with dry charcoal, a drop of water being
added to rub it quite into the lines. The lamina is
then heated over the fire and wax rubbed in with the
help of bark-cloth or something of the kind, after which
the lamina is wiped clean. The hot wax not only fills
up the incisions of the pattern and fixes the powdered
charcoal in them, but at the same time takes away all
traces of the charcoal from the smooth, hard, unincised
portions of the comb.

The comb is now turned round and a deep furrow
is cut on the back corresponding exactly to the lowest
line of the pattern on the front, half the thickness of
the bamboo being cut through and the gap widened
from below. The woody part of the interior is
then stripped off as far as this cross-cut, until

426 DECORATIVE ART part ii

the under part of the lamina is reduced by half
throughout. Next, the comb is ^ain turned round,
and from the front, at the bottom end, thin strips
of the outer cuticle are torn in order to mark the
interstices between which the teeth are to come. At
the bottom of the pattern an incision is made to
prevent these strips from tearing away and so spoiling
the pattern ; these small incisions are then deepened,
and the same process having been repeated at the
back of the comb, the teeth are thus entirely released.
It remains to polish the borders, to scrape away loose
fibres, to point the teeth, and the comb is finished.*

The process of incision is called " makeii "
("makiee"), the comb "tin-leig," and the entire
pattern "kenaij" (**kenije"), i.e. "drawing." The
whole of the solid part of the comb is sometimes
also called " was." ^ The old standards of measure-
ment for these combs, though they are certainly now
very little regarded, were : (i) for the teeth, a palm's
breadth ("tappar"); (2) for the length of the solid part,
from the upper extremity to the teeth, the length of
the forefinger (" jayi ") ; (3) for the width of this same
part the breadth of four fingers pressed together at the
tips ("en-chas"). The teeth of the comb are called
"mad," which in Semang either means "eye" or
" blade." [The eight parts of the pattern on the solid
part are named: — (i) first panel = " was"; (2) second
panel = " paw€r " ("pawaire ") ; (3) third panel =
" kabo' saleg " (" kabur salag ") ; (4) fourth panel =
"kabe' padi" ("kabur padi"); (5) fifth or central
panel = "tin-weg" or "tin-wag"; (6) sixth panel =
"ning"; (7) seventh panel ="bie" ("beay"); (8)
eighth panel = " nos." The top border or edge of the

^ Z.f. E. XXV. 77-78. * See p. 397, «. I, ante.

Z.f. E. x\v. Plate I.

Charm-Patterns on Combs.

oL /. /. 426.

I'oi. I. p. 41' 7.

Chakm-Pattkrns on Combs.

Z./.E, XXV. Plate I i

CHAP. IX

NEGRITOS OF PERAK

427

comb above the "was" (i) is called "tgpi," the
bottom border below the eighth panel ("nos*') is
called "mos."T

Looking at the prevalent patterns of the first and
second panels, it is easy to see that many of them are
identical with or form parts of the patterns which
represent the Disease in the fifth panel. [The ex-
planation given was that when the charm patterns were
being made, Pie wished, whilst assigning a pattern to a
particular Disease, to make known at the same time
what flower was blooming most freely when the
Disease prevailed, and hence gave both a similar form.
But when both the first and second panel patterns

^ These names are in part certainly
of Malay origin, and not pure Semang,
e,g. (i) = MaL "tapak," a palmV
breadth; (2)=MaL <*jari," a finger;
' ' mad " may be connected, through Indo-
Chinese, with Malay ♦* mata " = eye or
blade of an instrument. So too ' ' kabo'
saleg" (Mai. **salak") = fruit of the
**salak».palm; "kibo' padi" (Mai.
** padi ") = rice-fruit ; " t€pi " = Mai.
" tdpi," edge. On the other hand,
"ning," "bie," "nos" (?) = one, two,
four (in Semang).

The passage (Z,f.E. xxv.79 ) in which
v. -St. defines his flower-theory (v, p.
397) rtms as follows : — ** * Was ' and
* pawer ' are the protecting designs, the
power of which keeps off the sickness.
•Pawer,' *kos,' and *t«pi' are
parts of a flower, of which * was * is
the smell, and *t6p!' the pistil and
stamens, hence a supplementary line
above a *w^' has the same name.
The projecting spike above the green
sepals is called 'pawer,' the sepals * mos.'
To give the rest of the names: the
flower it self is called *bakau,' the
petals ' tapak * ; of a flower that has a
sweet smell, * ber-pen-hat * (beer-pen-
bat') is the word used by the Se-
mang; if a disagreeable smell, 'hl-
hid' (*hee-heed') is the word. Two
distinct jungle flowers are now

considered as 'jMlwer* — *Mo8,'
really a kind of Ixora, which
corresponds to the ' pawer,' and a
flower called by iht Malays ' tetawar
bintang,' or *star tetawar,' whose
botanical name is not yet known,
but which resembles the *mos.*
All slight - scented flowers of the
Ixora kind are called • pawer,' with
the addition of a specific second name."

On the forgoing tissue of errors I
would remark that **tepi"isa pure Malay
word ( = edge or border), and does not
mean pistil or stamens, for which there
is no name in Semang, nor could be.

The "projecting spike" can only
be the pbtil, which Vaughan-Stevens
has already told us is called (with the
stamens) * * tepi. " * * Pawer " and * * mos,"
on the other hand, are probably the
names of flowers, not parts of a flower,
as explained below. ** Bakau " =
•* flower " in Semang = Mai. ** bunga,"
a *♦ flower" or ^'pattern,''

The drawing of the Ixora (given
in Grtlnwedel's text) is, as he there
states, a hypothetical one of the writer's,
serving only to help to determine the
technical expressions.

As regards the plant "tetawar bin-
tatig " (sic), which is certainly a blunder
for ** tetawar (or * setawar ') bendang,"
see note to page 399, ante.

428 DECORATIVE ART part ii

were to be given an identical form, and confusion was
probable, he introduced certain special signs called
*' gghab " (" g'hab "), " kos," and '* ob." ^ No. 39. for
example, shows in its central panel reversed duplicates
of its first and second panel patterns, which in this
case appear to be absolutely alike ; with this, however,
should be compared the corrected sketch of this comb
pattern in Fig. 8. [This is due to the fact that the
"was" and "pawer" flowers bloom simultaneously, and
the patterns for them are therefore almost identical.*]

One reason for the numerous variations in these
comb patterns consists in the fact that the patterns
of the combs are mostly cut by young people instead
of by the men, as in the case of the more correctly
cut quiver and blowpipe patterns. But an error in
the pattern does not, as a Pangan man said, take
away the power of the comb. '' It is like a break or a
hole in a bird-trap : the bird may slip throughy instead
of falling into the trap^ but it is always a question
whether it will see the hole'' ^

All the figures on the combs, with the exception of
the first, second, and fifth panels, must in every case be
of the simplest kind. They are derived as a rule from
a first or second panel pattern, with the omission of the
special marks. The young people who copy the combs
often overlook this, and insert at the sides the first
or second panel patterns in full. But the error is no
worse than, e.g.y the writing of capital letters instead
of small ones would be to a European.*

As concerns the composition of the patterns,

1 These names want corroboration. II.), 62 (PI. II.), 60 (PI. IV.), 21A

See, for example, the combs num- (PI. III.), iF (PI. III.), lA (PI. I.),

bcred 29 (PI. III.), 13B (PI. II.), lE (PI. I.). 13A (PI. II.), 12B

4C (PI. I.), 4B (PL I.), 18B (PI. (PI. II.), 39 (PI. III.), 16B (PL II.).

II.), 50 (PL IV.), 42 (PL IV.), 63 « Z.f,E. XXV. 77-79.

(PL IV.), 21B (PL III.), 14A (PL »* lind.

2.... !

... r

(Fu;. 3.1

\
[Fig. 2.]

I- 'aughaH-Stei'€*is.
Hypothetical Ixora Blossom and Comb (Figs. 2 and 3, Z./. E, xxv. 78)

EXPLALMNG THE FLOWER-THEORV OF VAUGHAN-SteVENS.

The serial numljcrs in Fig. 2 indicate the position of the various panels airrying patterns
referred to in the text.

I'oi. I. p. 438.

CHAP. IX NEGRITOS OF PERAK 429

there are strict rules for composing them all, whether
combs, quivers, or charm-tubes ; these rules, however,
are not easy to set forth ; in the first place, let us
consider : —

1. In what cases is a panel left free ?

2. In what cases may the designer insert what
patterns he pleases ?

In the quivers the blank portion (or panel) is
always in the central part of the bamboo tube, but in
the case of the combs it must never come in the
centre, where the most important part of the design
is to go, but must be confined to the smaller panels.
In many combs it is the first panel pattern that is
omitted, in others it is any of the other panels (with
the exception of the second). The full description of
the combs (below) will not only show this, but will at
the same time show where partial or entire quiver
patterns may be inserted. In this latter respect it is
left to the designer to decide what pattern he will use,
and from whence he will take the design. He may
take either entire or modified quiver or blowpipe
designs, or even invent new ones, so long as he does
not choose first or second panel patterns.

The drawings and combs collected by Vaughan-
Stevens are nearly all from the E. Semang or Pangan,
and are all very typical specimens of the work of the
east coast Negritos, though they are not all made by
the men ; a single specimen was obtained from the
Semang of Perak (PI. IV.), and two others were also
collected on the west side of the Peninsula (see the
last three combs on PI. IV.).

[The reason why the patterns of the first, second,
and central panels alone are specifically laid down,
and not those of the remaining panels, lies in the

430 DECORATIVE ART part ii

feu:t (say the Pangan) that the women are not able
to go far enough alone into the jungle, to seek any
particular flower, when the Disease finds them without
the appropriate comb. In such cases the woman looks
for " was " or " pawSr '* flowers like those depicted on
the comb, and takes the nearest match she can get.
These, however, must not be the same as those for the
quiver and charm-tube patterns, but may correspond
to the third, fourth, and fifth panel of the comb.
These plants, which are akin to those of the precise
species desired, the woman deposits in a bamboo tube
filled with water, and stirs them round to some extent
in the water, and if she can likewise obtain the
special " was " and '* paw€r " flowers, she adds these
also and drinks the infusion. She then rubs the wet
flowers on the affected part of her body before
throwing them away.]

In course of time certain flowers came to be
looked on as having more healing power than others,
and in consequence the patterns derived from them
were preferred for wearing on the combs. This,
however, is a matter of individual taste.

[The fact is, that although the actually specified
flowers would (it is believed) have effected an
immediate cure, yet even the flowers most nearly
related to them will eventually, though much more
slowly, produce the desired result. If then, in panels
3, 4, 5, 6, 7, for which no strict rules exist, a special
sign is found, it is taken to indicate that the Sna-hut
should be summoned in case the Disease should get
too strong a footing. In former times, according to
tradition, it was the special duty of the Sna-hut to
see that the incised figures were correct, and from
this Vaughan-Stevens concludes that the choice of

^ ^ ^ ^

9 ir "^ 5 §^ k >^ ^

^
^

F^ SI

^- »-. ^ "i ^ ^ i^ ^

CHAP. IX NEGRITOS OF PERAK 431

the ground patterns was also left to them, so far as
they had learnt them from the Putto,^ the servant
of Pl€.] But now the people who cut the combs
choose these patterns themselves, and learn to incise
the quiver patterns.*

In the case of the individual panels, the following
observations may be made : —

[Every separate sign repeated in the first panel
pattern is called "was" also. A distinguishing
stripe, either at the top or bottom of the panel (in the
repetition of the first panel pattern) is called, as already
stated, "gghab" ("g'hab") — see, for example, i8E =
" kos " in the second panel pattern. When the first
panel pattern is blank it is called "was picheg." Where
and why these blank panels were introduced is not
known now — " the Puttos have so arranged it "
(see 60, 62).] If a supplementary line is introduced
at the top of the first panel it is called "tgpi" or
edge-line (see 8B). But this line appears on all the
combs and also on all the quivers and charm -tubes ;
though in very many cases it is not completed and
coincides with the line of section. In certain cases
this edge -line is represented by a broad, dark
stripe. In other cases {e.g. on the quivers and charm-
tubes) it comes between the first panel pattern and
the edge of the comb, and is, naturally, clear and
distinct.*

^ Cp. Vaoghan-Stevens, iil iii. (2) Combs which possess a blank

* • Z,f, E. XXV. 81. The combs first panel, ^.^. Nos. iB, 20A, 20D, 53.

with these clearer edge-lines are — (3) Combs which have blank panels

(I) Some combs which possess in one or several parts (other than the

common signs, but which were thus "was'*), €,g. in their third panels

selected and grouped by the Puttos (*' kabo' saleg "), etc ; for the second

without any known reason for their panel and the fifth are never simul-

being thus treated. These combs are taneously omitted from the comb.

Nos. iC, 8C, 9B, 12C, 1 4 A, 20G, These combs are Nos. 3 A, 3B, 3C, 7C,

22A, 26, 33, 39, 54. 8B, 18B, 19O, 23, 29, 32A, 50, 60, 62.

432 DECORATIVE ART part u

Second Panel (or ''Pdwer'')}

[When the second panel pattern is covered over
with a number of like figures, each figure is called
** yil-toij." If a specially distinctive element is intro-
duced into one or several *' yil-toij," such a mark is
called *• 'ziat " (see, for example, F19).

If a distinguishing stripe is introduced either
above or below the panel in question {e.g. at 7C),
such a stripe is called " kos,*' and serves as a token.
This token, however, appears on but few combs
(i7A, 19M, 22D, 28B). It may be at the top, bottom,
or either side. The three lines shown in the remain-
ing panels of 19M are due to an error of the cutter's.]

As already stated, there are combs which lack both
first and second panel patterns, but which are never-
theless of avail against the approach of fatal Diseases.

The *' Palm-fruit " and other Panels.

[When the third, fourth, sixth, seventh, and eighth
panels are covered with repetitions of a single separate
figure, each of these figures is called " yil-toij " ; if
they are covered with a single figure which cannot be
subdivided, but which is of avail for the whole, it is called
** ken " (see No. 61). Panel eight (" nos ") is bounded

Nos. 8C, 9B, 12C, 14A, 22A, 26, «*kapal," 56 "ingkcng," 64 "sand,"

33 of the first series possess a broad 65 "mankuing,""munlong,"66"tel,"

and black " edge "-line, which extends 67 "bahu," "bahur," 68 "challag," 69

from the first panel to the uppermost "hillog,** 70 "ballur," 25C "lanes."*

border of the comb. The outer cuticle These combs have no " was " or ** yil-

of the bamboo is pared off in order to toij," except Nos. 25C and 25D, wtiidi

blacken it with charcoal ( * « chen-el-us '*) have a * * 3dl-toij " sign above and below it

["us "is evidently the word for fire]. respectively in order to distinguish them

There appears to be some unwritten from A and B of these numl^rs. The

law as to the width of this blackened Disease expelled by 2 5 A, 25B may

portion, which also appears on the perhaps be fatal, but that prevented

blowpipe patterns. Cp. p. 437, infra, by 25D and 25C is certainly fatal if

^ Z, f, E, XXV. 8x. Nos. 25D the combs are not worn.

Charm- Patferns on Combs.

Z./,E, XXV. Plate II

I'ol. I. p. 432-

CIIAKM-PAI TKKNS ON CoMBS.

Z,/. R. XXV. Plate IV

/ ol. I. p. 433.

CHAP. IX NEGRITOS OF PERAK 433

by an imaginary line of juncture between the teeth and
the solid part of the comb. The lowest of the ring-
lines comes above the eighth panel.^]

The Central Panel (" Tin-weg'').

[The patterns for the various Diseases primarily
represent the affected part of the body ; when different
parts of the body are affected the patterns are com-
bined, but the exact rules which determine the
method of composition are forgotten. Only this is
certain, that in cases where the **was*' or "pawer*'
flowers (in the case of any particular Disease) are of
especial value for healing purposes, only repetitions
of the same pattern appear on the comb, and no
others. If the central panel shows a pattern which
covers the entire panel from left to right, it is
called "makeii" (**makiee*') — see, for example, 9B.
If, however, panel five is covered with a row of
repeated figures (as in 19B), each separate figure
or emblem is called "sumpid."^ If the fifth panel is
covered with an unrepeated pattern which entirely
covers the solid part of the comb, it is called " ne-
ning"* — see, for example, 68. Any special sign in
one of the central panels, or the " sumpid," etc., is
called *' ob." The figures delineated in the plate are
the accepted emblems representing various parts of
the human anatomy, which appear in the patterns of
the central panel.*]

* Z,f,E, XXV. 82. It is, heace, of Vaughan-Stevens, =Mal. "sumpit,"
clear that the diagram given to illus- or ** sumpitan," a blowpipe.

trate these remarks on p. 78 of the ' In the original spelt «*neningk,"

Zeitschrift is incorrectly drawn, and an impossible spelling in Semang. All

that the double line below the eighth these terms lade corroboration,

panel should be deleted. * Z. /. E, xxv. 83.

* Sic^ qtMtre " sumpit,'* a confusion

VOL. I 2 F

434 DECORATIVE ART part ii

Other Emblems}

[The emblem representing the square Q is called
**chenewel," that of the diamond <^ "ehut." The
triangle A is called *' leasing " (which is translated
by the Malay ** dahulu," ** long ago " or '* overpast ").
The circle O is called **nai" ("ni"), i.e. "one" or

** first/' The straight line ( ) is called ** pejuag,"

unless it is carried across the entire solid part of the
comb, when it is called ** win-yuing '* (" winyooeng ").
An emblem formed by two curved incisions or
ring-lines which run parallel to each other across the
solid part of the comb is called ** Snghongye " ^
(•* ng-her-'ngyay ") ; a dot ( ' ) is called **pawor"; a
short stroke ( — ) " bing " ; '* pawor *' was formerly
the E. Semang (Pangan) expression for both of
these signs, and **bing" an expression introduced
from the west coast of the Peninsula in order
to distinguish the one from the other. Both signs
have an identical significance. Diagonal hatching
is called *'chenass," rectangular "sud." Between
straight parallel strokes and curved strokes ZI ^ S
no difference is made. They are all called "sud."
So, too, any kind of sloping diagonal lines, whether
straight or otherwise, /// ((( ))), are called " chenass."]

[The signs for different parts of the human body,
referred to above, include representations of the
following parts of the anatomy : —

(i) The head, (2) the eyes, (3) the nape of the
neck, (4) the breast, (5) the stomach, (6) the back,
(7) the side, (8) the nose, (9) the breasts, (10) the
upper and lower jaws (with teeth), (11) [wanting], (12)
the forehead, (13) the hand, (14) the fingers or toes,

^ Z,f.E, XXV. 84. personal pronoun. These terms are

2 «« Ye " may stand for the first all uncorroborated.

KiG. 5.

A B C

Fig. 6.
CokRKCTiON OF lNAf:f:uRATK DRAWINGS (Figs. 5 and 6, /./. £ xxv. 85).

^o- O X A II 4f C^
•*>!< Tiv.;: ".^ "> :^ *) -^c^ ^vjf.

Alleged Representation of Parts of the Body.

(Kor explanations sec text.)

rol. i. f. 414.

CHAP. IX NEGRITOS OF PERAK 435

(15) the joints (elbows or knees), (16) the hips, (17)
the shoulders, (18) vagina and penis, (19) the anus,
(20) the arms, (21) the ribs (seen from the back),
(22) the ribs (seen from the front).^

Dotted lines ( ) or lines of dashes ( )

are only used to distinguish one ordinary figure from
another which otherwise would be exactly like it.]

Cross-hatching (''dtn^y

[Cross-hatching (on combs) has a threefold meaning.
In the representations of flowers it indicates a pro-
tuberance or "knobby" formation. In the case of
combs which have their central panel cross-hatched
(eg. that of No. 25 B) the cross-hatching indicates a
protuberance of great size, in this case a hill (!), the
individual lines of the pattern being said to represent
pathways upon it. In the **sumpits" ("sumpid") or
repeated Disease-patterns this cross-hatching typifies
the swelling or inflammation which the Disease in
question has caused. The cross-lines may be either
horizontal or at right angles to the line bordering
the figure (Fig. 5, A, B), In the case of a curve,
however, the cross-lines slope downwards from right
to left (C). When the figure is formed by three
parallel lines the cross-lines intersect the central
line of the three (D). In certain cases, whether the
pattern is drawn large or small, the number of these
cross-lines must be counted. These cases, however,
will again be referred to in the course of the descrip-
tions of particular combs.]

[As examples to show how necessary it is that
the patterns should be cut as exactly as possible,

^ But these signs rarely occur where and the whole of this part of the Sj^tem
we might expect them in patterns con- recalls the European investigator. See
nected with parts of the human body, Appendix. ^ /did.

436 DECORATIVE ART

and how the similarity of the combs to one another
might be exaggerated through inexactness, see Nos.
32 B, 22C. The patterns of the third, fourth, and sixth
to eighth panels are unimportant, since their selection
was optional on the part of the designer, but the first
panel pattern in 22C (Fig. 6) is absolutely wrong. ^]

Private Marks?

[The combs are always said to have once possessed
a particular name-mark in the seventh panel (" bie ").
This mark, however, is not to be confused with the
special signs, which may appear only in the patterns
of the first, second, and central panels, but must
be omitted in the next panel. The name -mark
naturally has no influence on the power of the
pattern. At the present day they very seldom appear,
and when they do, are inserted in the third, fourth,
and sixth to the eighth panels, and are called ** chor "
or " name "-marks.

Among all the combs represented below® there
is not a single specimen so marked. The marks
naturally differ with each individual, and whenever
a similarity of name-marks appears it is only through
some misunderstanding of the pattern copied, or
through some sign that has been wrongly transferred.]

QUIVERS AND CHARM-TUBES.*

Besides the charm-patterns on the combs of the
Pangan women, a corresponding system of charm -
patterns is employed by the men. These are incised
upon bamboos (" gO* " and ** ga' "), one of which is the

I Z, /. E, XXV. 84. At (a) the ^ Z. f, E, xxv. 8$.

left-hand side-line, and at {b) the third ' Cp., however, Vaughan - Stevens,

cross-line is missing, and at {c) the side- iii. s.v. And for detailed list of combs,

lines do not meet. The first-panel pattern v. App.
of 32B is a different flower from 22C. * Preuss in Z.f» E. xxxi. 131-147.

CHAP. IX NEGRITOS OF PERAK 437

Semang quiver, and the other is described as a
charm-holder (with patterns corresponding to those
now seen on the blowpipe), which is said to have
been formerly carried by the men.

[The Puttos ^ gave the Semang (in return for their
presents) certain sticks (charred at one end and
bearing mysterious signs upon them), which protected
the wearers from particular Diseases, when held with
the charred end downwards. For this purpose they
were inserted in the waist -cord. Originally the
patterns were marked out with charcoal ; but later
they were incised, when the same material (charcoal)
was rubbed into the incisions.^

By degrees light bamboo tubes, which received
the name " ga'," were found more convenient. Instead
of charring the end, the Pangan peeled off the smooth
outer cuticle, and then blackened it with charcoal,
which adhered better in consequence.] This lower
extremity, with its node or knot, was called " chen-
el-us." ' Both ends, in fact, were thus peeled, although
the upper node was cut off after a few days.* The in-
cised patterns were cut into the bamboo while it was
still green, usually after it had been held for a few
moments over a fire, to facilitate the cutting. If, on
the other hand, the cuticle is not removed from the
tube-ends, the latter would often split in the course
of a few days ; though this is not the case with the
blowpipe shafts, which are relatively stronger and have

* Vaughan-Stevens, iii. 1 3 1 , is taken * * dekan "), was used for incising bamboo
as read in what follows. before iron was known. For lists zr. App.

* According to another passage, the ' Cp. p. 431, n, 3, anie^ and see
designs were in the first instance in- Z./. E, xxv. 82, and note,

cised on the bamboos and rubbed over * The (Berlin) Museum possesses a

with charcoal. The Semang assert charm -tube (**gar") of Vaughan-

that often, instead of a knife, the tooth Stevens, which exhibits the upper

of a bamboo-rat, or " om " (Malay (peeled) node as well.

438 DECORATIVE ART part ii

a smaller bore. To make it more portable, the tube
(" %^ ") was of small diameter, and several tubes were
often carried at the same time, one fitting into the
other. They served at the same time to contain the
flowers and herbs that were required for warding off
Diseases.^

The quivers (" go* "), which are closely related to
the charm-holders (**ga' "), were cut and carried in the
same way, only the charm -tube was usually carried
in the quiver, which latter was the larger of the two.

When they adopted the blowpipe of the Sakai,
the Semang kept their darts in the *' g5'," ^ instead of
adopting the highly specialised Sakai quiver — the
Semang still retain a strong dislike to carrying any-
thing slung around the hips.^ This is the reason why
the darts are so much shorter than the quiver* con-
taining them, Le. because it was once used for another
purpose. The Sakai quiver had a soft wooden bed
at the bottom to receive the dart-points, and for this (in
the " g5* *') the magic leaves and flowers were substi-
tuted. The Sakai quivers had a cap to protect the
contents from rain ; but the Semang were prevented
from covering the orifice, [because the effect of the
magic flowers would in that case have been neutralised.
But on the introduction of the blowpipe, the patterns,
which (up to that time) had been incised upon the
charm-holders, were transferred to the shorter portion
(** yoh ") of the inner tube of the blowpipe. But
although the lower part of the pattern (corresponding
to the ** chenel-us " or charred end of the charm-tube)

* Cf, Vaughan-Stevens, iii. 131. "Quivers for blowpipe arrows."

* The proper name for the quiver is ^ Cf. Z,f, E, xxv. 75.

"go*," or "goh," which latter is De * Le, 28 to 30 cm. against the 35

Morgan's word for quiver ("carquois"); to 45 cm. of the quivers (without the
cp. Vaughan-Stevens, iii. 171, under knot).

CHAP. IX NEGRITOS OF PERAK 439

was occasionally more or less covered over by the
resin that coated the muzzle-end, the virtue of the
charm was not impaired thereby.

It was evident at once that many of the patterns
on the charm-holders (" ga' "), which were originally
designed for a bamboo of larger diameter, did not
suit the reduced area available for them in the blow-
pipe. The muzzle part of the latter, therefore, was
shortened to correspond with the design.

The patterns now constructed are of varying
length (as in Figs. 113, 114, 121, etc.), and further
ring-lines are either added at the muzzle-end, or are
omitted entirely ; even their pattern is varied. The
blackened muzzle -end of the blowpipe was soon
either altogether omitted or replaced by a band of
varying width, formed by stripping the bamboo of its
outer cuticle and smearing it with charcoal.^ It is
still to be seen in many specimens between the main
design and the muzzle-end.]

The general irregularities of design extend even
to the East Semang or Pangan. The Kensiu,
Kinta, Bong, and Belum tribes of the west coast
have added designs of their own to the old patterns,
and employ them merely as a form of decoration, bojjh
for the blowpipes and the dart-quivers that accom-
pany them. [Many patterns of the charm-holders could
not be adapted to the blowpipe tube, and hence were
retained for the charm-tubes only. The same patterns
were never employed in both sets, and hence the two
sets (of charm-tube and blowpipe patterns) must be
combined to form a complete series.]

^ See illustrations. The order in to Yi. Then come (3) the blowpipe

which they are arranged is as follows : patterns from i to 128, where 66A is

— ( I ) Quivers and chaim-tubes inter- inserted. The arrangement is that of

mixed from A to Z, and (2) from Ai Vaughan-Stevens himself.

440 DECORATIVE ART part ii

Classification of the Patterns ('* Go' " and " Ga' '')}

The patterns of the quivers and charm-holders
usually present such considerable divergencies (as
compared with the combs) that there can be no
question of dividing their patterns into chief panels
(first and second) and subsidiary panels, as could be
done with the combs. In the first place, their central
or Disease - patterns, when identifiable as such by
reason of their special size, are sometimes exactly the
same (as appears in the case of Nos. 30, 54, 6i, Ni,
N2, and N3 ; Oi and O4; O2 and O3). The central
Disease -patterns of these quivers and charm -tubes
bear, it is true, identical names, but it is against
different forms of the same Disease that they are
employed. In the combs, again, any such varieties
were always strictly separated when indicated in the
design. In the second place, the central panels, apart
from their size, are not invariably identical either for
all (**go\" O3) or several panels (quiver Di, blow-
pipe No. 51) of the same pattern, not to mention
the smaller panels of other patterns. Moreover,
very characteristic patterns sometimes occur even
in the smaller panels (Oi, Ri). In the third place,
we may note — and this is for the present the most
important item — that the two panels in the same tube
(corresponding to the first and second panels of the
combs) are in many quivers and charm-tubes identical
(O3, T2). They are also sometimes identical in
different tubes {e.g. Nos. 30 and 36 ; 54 and 71).

[Lastly, there are (apart from the central patterns
and the first and second panels) special designs that are

* In original " gor " and ** gar." Taken from Preuss in Z./. E, xxxi. 191-195
seqq. For lists of the patterns, v, App.

CHAP. IX NEGRITOS OF PERAK 441

never repeated throughout the entire range of the charm
patterns {e,g. Nos. 36, 66, 1 24, 1 ). The first and second
panels so insisted on do not, therefore, possess the
least advantage over the others. The aforesaid varia-
tions from the comb patterns receive considerable
emphasis (in spite of the general similarity of the
arrangement in both cases) as soon as one takes the
patterns in which the central panel, being of the same
size as the rest, cannot therefore be distinguished with
certainty. The above -described patterns almost all
belong to Class lA (see above) ; and the following
come partially under I A, but mainly under ID, which
might be expected to exhibit more or less similar
patterns in all the panels. Hence we can maintain
with certainty that, even if it were admitted that the
patterns on the tubes contained flower- designs (in
addition to the Diseases there represented), they
are not at all events based upon the system employed
for the combs.^ Moreover, it is certain that this
logical system is not primitive,^ but is the result
of a development at which, from the endlessly varied
patterns of the tubes, we can perhaps guess, but
of which scarcely any stages can be clearly deter-
mined.

[It is well known that the Semang hold that the
tubes with mere ring-lines (quivers A, B, and C ;
blowpipe No. 50) take precedence of all tube
patterns as a foundation for the arrangement of
the charm patterns by the Puttos. The original

^ It is quite incomprehensible why that Vaughan-Stevens occupied himself

Vaughan-Stevens, even in the tube with the comb patterns Brst, and found

patterns, should hold so strictly to the a solution of them tolerably satisfactory

system of "was" and ** pawer," as it to himself. — Note by Preuss [loc. cit,),
is impossible that he should have heard ^ There is, I think, no doubt that

anything positive about them from the the logic of the system was introduced

Semang. The only explanation is by Vaughan-Stevens.

442 DECORATIVE ART part ii

form of these designs is said to be the charm on
the arrow - quivers against lightning (see p. 400).]
The quivers in the Berlin Museum usually show
from five to seven triple ring-line groups, just about
equi-distant from one another; where there are six
groups there is often a wider space left in the
centre (see Illustrations). Apart from the number of
groups, these two kinds correspond in fact to the
commonest arrangement of the panels on the tubes
and combs, and even quivers D and E might be
here reckoned. Even a simple ring-line group, pos-
sessing no specific import, acts as a general charm
against Diseases (quivers B, C). There then follow
single and double hatchings within the groups of
ring-lines, the panels themselves being left vacant
(quivers G, Mi to M3, blowpipe No. 50, etc.).
Lastly, the same simple figure may occur in all panels
or in the second panel of any particular pattern
(quivers I, O3, Ti, blowpipes 33, 47, 49, etc.). This
fact may remind us either of the charcoal stripes
with which sick persons bedaub the diseased parts
of their body in order to recover, or the special
signs which the Puttos employed in like fashion
(see above), and which may be regarded as forming
the series of ring-lines, which appear to be greatly
multiplied here, without any clear object. As
soon, however, as the work of differentiating the
patterns of particular panels is approached, our
difficulties begin, as positive data are completely
wanting, and no panel (with the exception of the
middle one) is in any way more prominent than the
others.

The undivided patterns intended as charms against
serious Diseases, which cover the whole tube, seem

CHAP. IX NEGRITOS OF PERAK 443

to make it certain that the simple signs have always
been accompanied by the complicated representations
of Disease. These two extremes — simple ring-lines
and complicated designs — form the foundation of the
subsequent development.

[Only with regard to the occasional Semang practice
of inserting a pattern in the centre panel and leaving
the rest free, a conjecture may perhaps be offered.
The centre panel, like the original scheme of the
ring-lines on the arrow -quiver, is generally indis-
tinguishable from the other panels in respect of its
size (not to mention the blowpipes, where the design
is generally much crushed together). It is also often
quite indistinguishable from the rest in respect of
the special import attached to the general pattern.
It is therefore quite possible that its size, even when
unusually large, is not of any special import, and
that it was only at a later stage that it was reserved for
the chief Disease-pattern, as indeed we find to be
the case to some extent in the tubes and uniformly in
the combs. One stage of its development appears
to be marked by a simple yet specialised central
pattern, to which other panels (with pairs of incised
lines) are added at the top and bottom (see, e.g., Ni
to N3, Oi, Ri, R2, T2, Nos. 29, 30, 36, 51, etc.).

Again, in the description of the patterns emphasis
is often laid on the fact that the size of the vacant
centre panel is a matter of entire indifference. In the
blowpipes (as has been said) it is usually so crushed
together that a group is formed of the ring-lines which
serve as boundaries, and the alleged importance of the
size of the centre panel appears to be a mere fancy.
On the other hand, its separating effect is always
recognised and never forgotten, even though a

444 DECORATIVE ART part ii

particular pattern may be no longer distinguishable
from one with the incised centre panel. Now Vaughan-
Stevens in one place says that patterns with vacant
centre panel prevail against epidemics, and further,
that epidemics in the drawings are expressed by two
complete and undivided patterns, separated from each
other by ring-lines, the upper design being intended
to protect the men, and the lower the women. The
examples cited — 96, 97, 10 1, 105, 109 — all belong to
group IB,^ and therefore possess a blank centre
panel. It is only with respect to one specimen
(quiver H2) that any further explanation is required,
as in the quivers the large centre panels are not com-
pressed to the vanishing point. It may be conjectured
that these blank centre panels in every case are only
intended to separate the men's and women's patterns
from one another, but that in certain cases (as in that
of an epidemic which attacks men and women alike),
when it was not thought necessary to cut special comb
patterns for the women, the purpose was remembered.
In fact there is actually a quiver (Wi) with an empty
centre panel, purporting to protect men and women
alike from a Disease common to both of them.*

The following are the considerations which lead
us to this conclusion. Vaughan-Stevens says * that the
Diseases which may attack both sexes are, since the
women as a rule are not far from the men, warded off
by the patterns of the men's quivers and blowpipes.
Hence the women, as a rule, do not employ any quivers
as charms, although there is no rule against it. We
see, however, that the charms against epidemics, and
indeed even the charm on quiver W i , contained sepa-
rate and varying charm patterns both for men and

> Z,f.E. xxxi. p. 152. 2 /^. p, ,71. Quiver Wi. » Z,f,E, xxv. 75 f.

CHAP. IX NEGRITOS OF PERAK 445

women on the same quiver. We also see that varieties
of quivers F and G are allotted to the women by way
of compensation for the fact that they have their
seventy main Disease -patterns (not reckoning the
varieties) on their combs, and that these latter only
include the Diseases which may attack them alone.
Should we not then infer that men and women as a
rule have always had different patterns for Diseases
common to both? for it is scarcely to be supposed
that the seventy, or perhaps one hundred and forty,
Diseases of the women should be all absolutely diffierent
from those of the men {cf, quiver H). So the patterns
of the quivers and blowpipes, if they were to be
efficacious for both sexes at the same time, must
possess two patterns, and these would be the tubes
with the centre panel left blank. In this connexion
quivers H and O are especially striking. In quivers
F, G, and H the pattern is called **hu-ju-weg.'*
Quivers F and G possess no dividing centre panel,
and have special quiver patterns for the women.
Quiver H has not got it, and therefore shows the
division alleged above. Quiver O has an empty
centre panel, with exactly the same pattern at top and
bottom, though in reverse order.^]

Even, however, if this idea is right, it does not
help to make the signification of the patterns any
more comprehensible. The comb designs would,
however, appear to be an imitation of the men's
quiver patterns, with a broad incised centre panel.
[The signification of the latter was said to be ex-
plained by the patterns of the ancient **gi." The

1 The patterns of the tubes are never only exception. It is a simple pattern,

directed against Diseases which by their Thus no proof of the point at issue

nature can only attack the man. Si (apart from quiver Si) is possible in

against disease of the testicles forms the this direction.

446 DECORATIVE ART part ii

first and second panel patterns were new additions,
and the other (narrow) panels were taken over as
mere meaningless additions to the patterns of the men.

There do not appear to be any fundamental
differences in the outer arrangements of the quivers,
charm-tubes, and blowpipes. The alleged reduction
of the charm -tube patterns on the blowpipes may
show that the omission of particular panels did not
have much effect. Classes IE and IF of the blow-
pipe patterns are of special importance, since, in
contrast to the quivers and charm -tube patterns,
they exhibit entire panels, and even entire designs,
merely filled up with dotted figures. It might be
inferred from this that after the charm-tube patterns
were transferred to the blowpipes a fresh evolution of
patterns took place.] In the blowpipe drawings we do
not find spirals instead of the ring-lines, as in the case
of the quivers and charm-tubes.

The names of the tube patterns do no more to help
their interpretation than those of the first, second, and
fifth comb panels (" tin-weg," " was," and " pawer ").
In four of the names of the quivers and charm-tubes
(N, S, Vi, Xi) are to be found expressions for certain
parts of the body (the Diseases affecting which,
according to Vaughan- Stevens, are supposed to be
warded off by means of the patterns). Sometimes,
however (besides the name of the pattern), the actual
name of the Disease itself is given, and one of these
Disease titles (Pi) actually refers to the affected part
of the body. Moreover, the name for quivers D and
E ("lasai") must (according to Vaughan -Stevens) be
derived from the black ring-lines of the design ; and,
besides, the patterns, which possess the same name
and ward off similar sicknesses, in some cases are of

CHAP. IX NEGRITOS OF PERAK 447

identical form, but not unfrequently are entirely
different (see quivers Ii and I2, Li and L2, etc.). On
the other hand, the almost identical patterns of quivers
Ci and C2, which are both evidently directed against
a similar Disease, have quite different names.^ These
contradictory observations may be taken to prove that
the names of the quiver and charm-tube patterns must
have been strung together from conflicting sources.
Among the names of the blowpipe patterns occurs
"pong," which Vaughan- Stevens (as in the case of
comb I ^) translates " fever." Whether the other
names which are not translated also denote Diseases
must remain undecided. Every pattern here has a
special name. There are, indeed, many points of con-
nection with Professor Grlinweders glossary ; but in
the entire absence of more definite knowledge as to
their meaning it is not worth while to follow them up.^

* Cf, also the names and patterns of (blowpipe 39), cf, ** pelig " (comb 11) ;
<'goh," Ki and K2. "pen-al-dung" ("pcn-ul-doorng,"

* Z./. E. XXV. 87. blowpipe 30), cf, **pena-long" (**pena-
' Oat of the five categories men- long," second panel of 15 A, etc.);

tioned, the frequent complete agreement ** sob ** (quiver C2), cf, ** sob " (second

of names, without their patterns betray- panel of 50H, etc.); "tak-kor"

inganyspedal similarity, is very striking. (**tukkor," blowpipe 92), cf, "te-

They run as follows :— ** altcg " (blow- kor " (" tukkor," comb 60) ; " tls "

pipe 32), cf, "alteg" (second panel of (blowpipe 35), cf. "tls" (quiver Ci) ;

comb 49) ; **bil-uing" (blowpipe 78), *'cheg-la(r)pun" (blowpipe 5), if,

cf, "biling" ("billing," second panel "chig-la" ("chiglar," comb 52);

of 19N, etc); "buing" ("boing," " chel - chinin " ("chel chineng,"

blowpipe 74), cf, "boin" (first panel quiver Q2), cf, "chin-eng" (**chin-

of 30), "boing" (second panel of 17B, eng," second panel, 22C, etc.) ; "toig

etc.); "hili" ("hillee," charm-tube keling," quiver Ni), cf, "tu-eg"

Z), cf, "heli" ("hnee," comb 63); (blowpipe 24).

**Is" (blowpipe 81), cf "Is" (second Other names agree with the ex-
panel of comb lE) ; "let-tud" ("let- pressions for the "gu*" (v. p. 104 f.).
tod," quiver P2), cf "let-tod" (first "jelabor" (blowpipe 30), cf. "jelabo"
panel of 7C. etc); "lig-boid" ("lig- (*« jelabor," "gu'," I21, a mythical
boid," blowpipe 89), "lig-bui" ("lig- animal); " kang-kung " (blowpipe 98),
boi," blowpipe 75), cf. "lig-boig" if. "kangkung" ("gu'," I20, a
(secondpanelof 16A, etc.); "pa-ham" mjrthical monster) ; " k21i-char " (comb
<" pa-hum") (blowpipe 56), cf, **pa- 62), cf "klichar" ("gu'," III3, IV,
hom" ("pa-herm," second panel of iF, a flower) ; "sinai tepis" ("seni tepees,"
etc); "pasir" (blowpipe 12), r/i"pasir" blowpipe 117), cf, "sinei" ("seni,"
(first panel of 12A, etc); "pelTg" " gu*," I4, a rattan whip).

448 DECORATIVE ART part ii

This list might no doubt be considerably increased
if parts of the various expressions were compared.
In the complete absence, however, of Semang texts
(and hence of any knowledge of their grammar) this
partial agreement would not at present count for much.
It may, however, be concluded from the above list
that the names of the quivers, charm-tubes, blowpipes,
and combs must be taken in close relationship with
those of the first and second panels, so that the flower-
symbolism of these patterns appears all the more
mysterious and obscure.

MYTH-BAMBOOS AND OTHERS.^

[The **gu* " is a bamboo tube which is described as
having served originally for preserving records of every
description, and as having been in the first instance
known only to the Puttos. The entire mythology
(and history.'^) of the Semang is said to have been
engraved upon them, and some of these remarkable
records yet remain in the possession of the descendants
of the ancient Sna-huts. These same bamboo tubes
served, apart from their mythological significance, to
contain the magical and medicinal implements of the
Puttos, and were accordingly plugged at the orifice
with wood or bark-fibre. The four myth-bamboos
here described come from the E. Semang or Pangan
on the east coast of the Peninsula.^]

* The word **gu*" is undoubtedly hoot," ** k'ngoin," **lee-eg,'* "aiee,"

identical with the word "go"' (in **ken-ach6le," " pinjor tadook,"

some dialects **gu*") which we have **Kiee," ** Play," **Chinnoi," **ke-

had already, and merely signifies, as nigh," "kelos," **sem," "kabote,"

explained above, a bamboo receptacle. "jug," "Chilleg," ** Jelabor," "Cham-

The names which here occur were spelt par," ** Challog," ** Semi," ** sin-goie-

by Vaughan-Stevens as follows : " Guh " bewar," etc.

(pronounced " goo "), "Puttow," **Sna- * Vaughan-Stevens, iii. 104.

CHAP. IX NEGRITOS OF PERAK 449

Bamboo No. i with incised Mythological Designs}
Length of the original 45 cm,

1. The "lotong " monkey ("aii" = Semnopithecus),

2. " Penjok taduk."

3. *' Kenaij '* (" kenigh " sic, ? " kgnaii ").

4. **Seni;^

5. '' Jag/'

6. "Kelos."

7. Kari, the Thunder-god.

8. Simei.

9. Pie.

10. Sna-hut,

11. " Kla-tO-ong."

12, 13. " Sin-goi b€w5 " or " kampil."

14, 15. "Chileg langwa."

1 6, 17. ** Sin-goi bawa " or ** kampil.

18. Kari's throne and " kalcheng.

19. "Kanteh."

20. " Kangkung.*'

21. ^'jeiabo'."

22. '* Kangkeng."

23. "Champa'."

24. Champa's spear.

25. **Chalog."

26. Chalog's spear.

This bamboo is subdivided by the usual ring-lines.^*

The topmost panel contains an unfinished drawing

of a monkey called **aii" (Malay "lotong"), for

^ Vaughan-Stevens, iii. 107-124. the holes are sealed with resin, but

* When a spiral is substituted for these holes, of course, are entirely

these ring-lines, it is called **li-eg." devoid of significance (see Z. /. E,

In some cases the **gu's" have been xxv. (1893) 71 seqq,
gnawed into by mice, in which case

VOL. I 2 G

450 DECORATIVE ART part n

which see Bamboo 3, but why this figure was left un-
finished is unknown.

The second panel is called " kSnachol " (** ken-
nachole"), this name denoting, however, the panel
itself and not the figures inscribed upon it. The
figures in each panel will be taken from right to
left, beginning with Fig. 2. This figure and those
following represent objects which hang above the
judgment throne of the Thunder-god Kari (**Kiee" =
** Kayi '')} The Semang call this figure (No. 2)
**penjok taduk.'* The first word means loin-cloth,
and the second " pendant flower decorations."

It is difficult to explain exactly what is meant by
the expression, unless it may either be taken to
signify loin-cloth and flower-pendants (the con-
junction being omitted, as is so frequently the case in
these dialects), or unless the ** taduk " may be some
unknown or fabulous material, in accordance with the
explanation given to Vaughan-Stevens.* Kari alone
(according to the Semang) makes use of this material,
which, like everything else he possesses, is prepared
by the Chin-oi (** Chinnoi "), a race of people who
never die.

The object represented by Fig. 3 is called by the
Pangan " kenaij " (** kenigh " }), a term which is of
uncertain meaning. In the case of the women's
combs, it denotes the representation of the Disease
against which the charm pattern is devised, but it
was also applied to anything bright and glittering,
e.g. a sunrise or sunset, lamps, rings, and even
provision tins! It does not seem to mean "light-

^ This god, who is himself portrayed play a large part in the traditionary

by Fig. 7, is the chief deity or Thunder- accounts of Malay regalia, and this

god of the E. Semang or Pangan. may be the case with the Semang too ;

* Fabulous objects and materials V.-St. iii. io6; z/. pp.455, 511, injra.

mmmmm

•^Wpli

thX)Mrt>M»^|t

wm'

iwwnr

TWfrlwIi.

.-■ c

CHAP. IX NEGRITOS OF PERAK 451

ning," however, for the usual Semang word for
lightning is " kelos."

Fig. 4 is called '* Sinai " (" Seni "). These are
rattan whips, the emblems of Kari's servant, Sinai,^
used to whip the winds with, whenever they refused
to obey his master's commands. Sinai is himself a
wind, and invisible to all but Kari. Sinai has a
whip in either hand. The winds do not sit beside
Kari, but have a place assigned to them in the
clouds below him, at a place called " Kabut "^
(** Kabote ").* The winds which refuse to obey
Kari are represented by the figure left of Fig. 4 ;
the slanting, waved lines represent the winds, whilst
the side lines represent their prison, where they
await Kari's sentence.

The beaker-shaped figure (No. 5) which follows is
called "jag," and represents a wild fruit on which
Kari feeds ; it was not known, however, whether the
fruit is represented by the entire figure or by some
portion of it ; it was only known that the Puttos
intended it to represent a fruit.

All winds are here personified ; they are living
beings, servants of Kari, but invisible to all but
him.*

The next rows (3, 4, 5, and 6) were called "n'nam."

The zigzag line (Fig. 6) represents Kari's
lightning. Whenever he is wroth and wishes to
strike any one, he sends for his servants, who bring
him a flower which only grows at Kari's dwellings
place, and which consists of a spike of bell -like
flowers. Kari then leans forward on his throne and

* Vaughjm-Sterens' spelling of this ^ ^al. "kabut," or darkness; cf,

name varies greatly : Sin-ai, Cbin-ai, Newbold, ii. 423 ; V.-St iii. 106.
Sinnoi, Chinnoi, etc. * Vaughan-Stevens, iii. 107.

452 DECORATIVE ART part-h

shakes the flower -spike over the sinner, whereat,
just as when flint strikes steel, the lightning darts
whithersoever Kari desires it. Then from the bell-
like flower -cups themselves, as they strike against
each other, comes the far-rolling sound of thunder,
whilst the mightier detonations of the storm are the
voice of Kari's wrath. The echoes which reverberate
in the mountains are the answers of Pie, his fellow-
deity, who remonstrates with him. In the illustration
the flower is not visible, but only the universal zigzag
symbol.

The Semang have an intense dread of lightning,
their charm against which, employed (it is said) at
first by " Pie's command,*' consists of three ring-
lines, incised on the quiver at short intervals.* These
ring- lines were made in the first instance by the
Puttos, but that is all the Semang know about them,
though they trust in them blindly.*

Fig. 7 represents the god Kari. He is not always
depicted in this form, but invariably has with him as
his attribute the zigzag line which represents lightning.

Fig. 8 is Simei, the daughter of Pie.

Fig. 9 is Pie.

It is difficult (says Vaughan-Stevens) to say in
what relationship the E. Semang (Pangan) consider
their two gods, Tuhan and Pie, to stand to Kari, or
whether the two former are modern accretions. It is
certain, however, that Kari represents the highest
power, and that Tuhan, as well as Pie, is compelled
to obey him.®

Fig. ID represents a Sna-hut.

1 See, however, p. 400, n. i, other method of stopping lightning was
ante. by means of blood-throwing.

* Vaughan-Stevens, iii. 107. An- * Vaughan-Stevens, iiL 109.

CHAP. IX NEGRITOS OF PERAK 453

The black indentations below these figures re-
present the rattan mats on Kari's floor, which were
made for him by the Chin-oi or Sinoi.

Fig. II in the fourth row represents the tree
against which Kari's chair leans. In the branches of
this tree tarry the still unborn souls, and on its trunk
Kari cuts a tally for each new-born Semang. This
tree is called " kla-t5-ong,*' and is full of blossoms.*
The figures hanging on the right of the drawing are
the fruits of the tree which are eaten by Kari.

Next follow Figs. 12, 13, 16, 17, which comprise
the flowers "sin-goi bawa*' or "kampil" ; and Figs. 14,
15, which represent the flowers called "chileg langwa."*

Fig. 18 represents Kari's judgment -seat, con-
sisting of a short plank which rests at an angle
against a tree. The wavy lines between the branches
represent "kalcheng," i.e. fruits which are eaten by
Kari, and which his servants have set before him.
The waved line above the seat represents the flowers
called " sin-goi bewa," which are suspended behind the
throne on which Kari sits to judge the dead.*

In the fifth row. Fig. 19 represents a gigantic
spirit called " Kanteh," which resembles a Semang.
His office is that of door-keeper of Paradise, and it
is he who restrains the souls of alien races from
entering into that part of Paradise which is assigned
to the Semang.

Beside him stands (at his left hand, Fig. 20) a
powerful animal, called " Kangkung," * whose task it
is to keep tiger-souls out of heaven.

Next on the left comes Fig. 21, an animal called

1 Seep. 455, m/Va, where "klaton" * 7J. p. 117.

is a fruit Perhaps * ' klatung " is right. * Possibly the loris or Malayan sloth ;

' V.-St. iii. 112. Cp. Bamboo which is in the front rank as "magic"

No. 3 (p. 457, infra), lb, p. 122.

454 DECORATIVE ART

" j6labo*," whose function it is to keep the souls of
wicked Semang from entering heaven.^

Next again on the left (Fig. 22) is a beast called
^* Kangkeng," which keeps out the souls of snakes and
scorpions.^

In the sixth row follow Figs. 23 and 25, the last
of which has been unavoidably cut in two in obtaining
the illustration. Fig. 23 is a dark-complexioned
gigantic spirit "Champa*" called "Abang" (Mai. for
"elder brother"). No. 25 represents his brother
^* Chalc^," who is called " Adik " (Mai. for " younger
brother"). The latter is placed under the former's
authority, and both are the joint guardians of Tuhan's
heaven, Tasig.

Figs. 24, 26, 27 represent the bamboo spears of
these two brothers. The zigzag figures between 26
and 27 are the lightning - carrying flowers, which
belong to Kari, and whose custodians are the two
gigantic spirits just mentioned.

The last row, or "name "-row, which is called
*' chor " ( = name }), is always placed at the end of the
bamboo, and is covered with a uniform pattern. Its
decoration varies according to the other patterns on
the bamboo, but its real significance could not be
explained. Vaughan-Stevens regards it merely as a
sort of finishing touch to the rest of the figures.'

Bamboo (" Gu' '*) No. 2. Height 41 cm.^

Here, too, the order of the figures is fixed, but
no definite explanation is forthcoming of the slant-
ing line in the topmost panel.

^ The nearest Semang animal-name ' Vaughan-Stevens, iii. 122.

known to me is that of " t^labas '' (?= ^ Ibid, p. 124.

dial **telab&h"), the Malayan sun-bear. ^ Jbid, pp. 124, 125.

CHAP. IX NEGRITOS OF PERAK 455

The first row of figures is called **kenachol,"
as in Bamboo No. i.

Fig. I represents a sleeping chief (Putto) in the act
of receiving (in a dream) a communication from Pie,
who acts as Kari's go-between whenever the latter
wishes to communicate with the great chiefs (Puttos).

Fig. 2 represents a fruit called "klaton," which
the great chiefs or Puttos were in the habit of eating.^

Figs. 3, 5, 6 are flowers called " klai-yau ''
("kll-yow"), " bi-chu-ring " (" bee-choo-ring "), and
*' yawel " (*' ydwell ") ; and Fig. 4 represents a spear
called "at" ("art"), all these representing the
insignia of the great chiefs' power.

Fig. 7. The smaller part of this figure at the
top represents the mallet employed in the manufacture
of bark-cloth, the larger part of the figure at the
bottom represents the bark-cloth itself.

The following panels are called " n*nam," as in
Bamboo No. i.

Fig. 8. These represent "taduk" flowers {cf.
Bamboo Na i, Fig. 2), p. 450, ante.

Fig. 9. This object is called "bu-hu" ("boo-
hoo ") ; it represents a special kind of bark-cloth which
only the great chiefs wore.^

Fig. ID is a magic stone pillow, called ** sni-ding,"
on which the great chief lays his head when he wishes
to get information by means of dreams.

Fig. II. A Putto asleep with his head resting
upon the pillow (Fig. 10).*

Fig. 12. A mat called "chi-on," only used by
the great chiefs. It was manufactured from rattan

* Seep. 453, ante, of Mai. " buluh " = bamboo. Cp. p.

* QtuEreiioxsi Sem. "buyu" = Mal. ^\o^ infra,

** mtogkuang," or rather a corruption ' Vaughan-Stevens, iii. 124.

456 DECORATIVE ART part ii

("rotan s6ga"). This figure, tc^ether with Figs,
lo, II, signifies that the Putto is receiving instruc-
tions in a dream how a mat is to be made.

Fig- '3- **Angkel,"a magic pillow made of wood
which serves the same purpose as the stone pillow
represented by Fig. lo.

Fig. 14. A great chief asleep with his head
upon the wooden pillow (Fig. 13).

Fig. 15. A spear-point. This figure, tc^ether with
Figs. 13, 14, signifies that the great chief is dream-
ing how a spear-point should be made.

Fig. 16. A sleeping chief (Putto). By his side
(Fig. 17) is his servant (Hala).^

Fig. 18 represents two large black stones, which
the great chiefs or Puttos lay tc^ether at an angle, so
as to form a V-shaped trough, into which their magic
flowers and other materia medica may be put.*

Fig. 19. A tree-bark filter and a water-vessel,
signifying the pouring of water over the ingredients,
so that it passes through the filter into the vessel
in question, which is placed on a sort of stand
(Fig. 2oy

Fig. 16 represents a Putto dreaming of sending
his servant (Fig. 17) to gather flowers and herbs for
medicines and to prepare them for use. The servant
is shown pressing down the flowers into the trough
formed by the two stones described above.

Figs. 21 and 22 represent flowers called "tu-ag"
and "jampong," the ashes of which are used
medicinally.

^ In Semang **H&1&"= ** medicine- chiefe (Sna-huts) of the Pangan use

man." bones and teeth, which they grate on

' Among the medicines of the Puttos a stone with a little water, as also the

love-potions were also mentioned to Sakaido. Cf, V, B, G» A, zjrr, {1^2)

Vaughan-Stevens ; but the ingredients 468.

could not be ascertained. The lesser ' Vaughan-Stevens, iii. 124.

CHAP. IX NEGRITOS OF PERAK 457

The last row with the ornamental border is called
" chor," as in Bamboo No. i.

Bamboo (" Gu' ") No. 3. Length 40 cm}

1. **Tinjo'' or "Tin-jui" ("Tinjoe"), a kind of
saurian.

2. " Sin-goi bewa," the name of a flower.^

3. "Kll-cha."*

4. "Chig.eg."

5. "Aii."*

6. *' Sin-goi b€wa."

Fig. I represents a terrible kind of saurian, with
jaws shaped like those of centipedes, but which in
length are equal to the human arm. It is called
** Tin-jui." No one knows where the creature lives,
yet the great chiefs (Puttos) were able to conjure it up.
Directly they were angry with any one they called this
beast, which killed the evil-doer.*^ Since the Puttos
have disappeared, no one has seen this saurian again.

Figs. 2 (6) and 3 are flowers called ** sin-goi
bewa " and " kli-cha," which were of avail in exorcis-
ing the reptiles represented by Figs, i and 4.

Fig. 4 represents a creature called " Chig-eg,*'
which performs the same functions as the " Tin-jui,"
but only kills women.

Fig. 5 depicts the monkey called " Aii '' : a long-
tailed monkey resembling the Semnopithecus or
**lotong." When the winds sent by Kari as
messengers to the earth do not make sufficient haste,
Aii comes and chastises them with rattan whips.*

1 Vaughan-Stevens, iii. 125, 126. * Evidently a "sending" of some

^ See p. 453, ante, kind. Lizards are often closely con*

» In original " kli-char '* [sic), nected with magicians.

* See p. 449, ante. « Vaughan-Stevens, iii. 126.

458 DECORATIVE ART fart ii

Bamboo {*'Gu***) No. 4. Height, 41 cm}

Bamboo No. 4 is of quite a different kind from
the foregoing. The designs upon it only represent
" kli-cha *' flowers. When the great chiefs or Puttos
laid these flowers in water, they could drive the
poisonous sea-snake " Ikub " back to the bottom of
the sea.^

BIRTH-BAMBOOS (** TAHONG ").

[The ** tahong " is a bamboo tube which is worn
secretly under the girdle by expectant mothers. The
interior of the tube, when each extremity has been
stoppered, is used to contain flint and steel for making
fire and so forth. The main part of the pattern consists
of two portions, the upper part of which consists of
zigzag ring -lines, which serve as a charm against
nausea and vomiting ; the lower part contains a
number of rows or columns, each representing one of
the stages through which the woman has to pass from
the moment of conception till the birth.^

As mentioned, the " tahong " is carefully concealed
by the Semang women under the girdle, and may not
be seen by any strange man. The husband cuts the

^ Vaughan-Stevens, iii. 127. column-lines (at the end of the black

* Le, **Ikub Lingang" ( = Mal. chevroned line) represent the child in

** alar berang"), a sea-snake of a kind the womb. The black chevrons form

believed to be most venomous. In the connection between child and

case a Semang wished to employ these mother, the latter being represented as

flowers, they did not receive their much the larger. At the right extremity

magic power until he received the of the vertical chevroned line is a row

*< gu"* as well. Vaughan-Stevens, iii. of discs, on the side of the mother,

1 26. which represents the loss of blood by

^ It is difficult to fix these stages thetearingof the vessels at birth (ti^At/.).

accurately, as the Semang people often [It is perhaps worth while adding

made mistakes in locating the exact that the word ** tahong" is corioosly

position of the ailment The following, like Mai. '^tabong,*' a bamboo tube —

however, is certain: the ring -like a fact which raises some doubt as to

marks at the point of one of the the genuineness of the word. — W. S.]

CHAP. IX

NEGRITOS OF PERAK

459

pattern, and an enceinte woman who lacks a ** tahong "
is regarded by other Semang women in much the
same way as a mother without a wedding-ring would
be regarded in Europe.^

The patterns of the *' tahongs " differ but slightly
inter se, according to the skill of the men who engrave
them. One of the lesser chiefs (Sna-hut) is in pos-
session of the orthodox pattern, and is always in a
position, in case he is asked, to produce the accurate
design.*

The patterns given in the accompanying illustration
are not, according to Vaughan- Stevens, altogether
correct. He therefore supplies a commentary.^]

* Vaughan-Stevens, iii. x 1 5. ^Ib,-
^ The corrections nin as follows : —
"In I " there should be "a straight y
hortMontal band of double-lined, gable-
shaped figures, which do not run spirally
round the bamboo as in the case of
No. 2. The ends should not be
closed. In 2 " there should be "four
spiral bands of double -lined, gable-
shaped figures. In 3 " there should be
** the same pattern as in the case of No.
2 ; only that there should be single-line
figures instead of two. In 4*' there
should be '* a horizontal row of single-
line figures (as in 3) as termination of
the upper part of the pattern.

** In y^ " there should be **a cross-line
of disc-shaped figures. ^. These patterns
should have right-angled hatching.
C, The upper and under part of this
pattern consists of different figures.
The upper discs under the ring-like
pattern resemble those of ^ ; those run-
ning down below A should wind in
sinuous curves from one side to the
other. Z>. The > three-cornered
figures ought to be exactly opposite ;
the disc-like figure at A ought to end
at the centre of the angle. E. The
exact number of the thick black
chevrons on the vertical lines, as well
as the adjacent short vertical strokes, is
of no special consequence. F. The
same pattern as in A, but in a vertical

direction; the two middle ones are
correct, and show what the rest ought to
be. Gy ff. Should have right-angled
hatching ; at JET the right angles become
larger as they approach the corners.
/. These figures are exactly like those
at B, but above the disc -figure at
A there should only be two figures, of
which the lower is considerably longer
than the upper. AT. The crescent-
shaped figures should be one behind
the other, so that the point of the
upper is covered by the end of the
lower one. Z. A part of these figures
should show right-angled cross-lines.
M, These figures differ at the top
and bottom, but all should be regular
crosses. The lower figures should have
the points of the inner square on the
vertical matgin-lines. N, The cross-
lines of these figures should be right-
angled. O, The pattern above the
disc-pattern at ^ is incorrect. The
gable-shaped, one-lined figure over the
disc should be obliterated. The square
lying uppermost should have above a
one-lined, gable-shaped figure with a
short one-lined under-piece, the other
being triple-lined, forming a double
strip, so as to pass into the second figure
without any dividing line at the top of
the second square. AH other lines of
the lower square are double. The
third square must be extended towards

46o DECORATIVE ART

BURIAL BAMBOOS.^

[The " pSnitdh " or burial bamboo is a bamboo
tube covered with incised patterns which is buried
with the deceased, whose soul is supposed to take it
to the judgment throne of Kari. If the dead person
has been very wicked in life, his tribal chief or Sna-
hut, who alone is in a position to cut the patterns on
the burial bamboo, refuses to do so, and the soul
which, when interrogated by Kari, cannot produce
its own burial bamboo is condemned. The power
that the chief (Sna-hut) exercises in consequence of
this belief is boundless.

The engraved patterns differ for these chiefs (Sna-
hut) ^ according to the sex and age of the deceased ;
that of the Sna-hut himself differing from those of the
other members of the tribe. The Puttos or greater
chiefs, too, had their own *' p6nit4h '' pattern, but this
is no longer known to any one. Vaughan- Stevens
failed to obtain a detailed explanation of these patterns,
and all he could make out was that the pattern
assigned to the chiefs or Sna-hut had reference to
their functions as medicine-men, and that it had been
assigned to them by Pl6 and the greater chiefs or
Puttos.

The burial bamboo of the men is always a larger
and longer tube than that of the women. Formerly
it always bore a name-mark ("chor"), but now it is
usually made without any such distinction.*

The very different patterns which are in use for

A^ in order that the space may be filled — Vaughan-Stevens, iii. 1 16.
out." All this maybe true, but see, * Vaughan-Stevens, iii. 119-123.

however, remarks on p. 404 as to the ' See illustrations (t^. p. 119).

essential irr^[ularity of these patterns. ' lb, p. 120. C^ ^ in the illustrations.

z = = "^

-° JJP'

/^^ /^:=^ /^=^ z:^ /?=^

^,^^#

mmit

MM^iMMK)

^np"

IW. /. /.. 461.

tf /y

VrtMghaM-St riYns.
TuBfc: ("(k)R" AM) "Gak") Pattkkns, Platk I. {Z.J. E. xxxi. 142).

CHAP. IX NEGRITOS OF PERAK 461

the grown women are believed to be the invention of
the goddess Simei.^

The burial bamboo is inserted in the dead man's
girdle. The expression to "receive a pSnitih" is
equivalent to ** dying." ^

The following is the list of these burial bamboos
collected by Vaughan-Stevens : —

(i) That of a Semang Sna-hut. Height 2>1 cni.'

(2) That of a man. Height 40 cm. The hatch-
ing of the figure A is a name-sign (** chor ").*

(3) That of a married woman. Height 35 cm.*^

(4) That of a boy. Height 35^ cm. That the
two hatchings in the middle are to be regarded as
name-signs is very probable, but this is not quite clear
from the notes.*

(5) That of a girl. Height 38^ cm.^ (identical
with " Gu'," No. 2).]

BLOWPIPE PATTERNS.®

The list of the old blowpipe patterns was de-
scribed by the Pangan as being practically complete,
but plenty of modern ones certainly exist, to say
nothing of other patterns of the quiver and charm-
tube types. The topmost line of the pattern of the
latter always coincides with the upper edge of the
bamboo, the lowest with the commencement of the
peeled portion of the tube (muzzle-end or ** chenel-
us "). The blowpipe patterns, on the other hand,
with the exception of the first eight, were originally

* V.-St iu. 120. See accompanying ' Ibid, p. 118. * Ihid, p. 119.

illustration, which differs completely * Ibid. p. 120. « Ibid, p. 121.

from the others — those of a man, a boy, ^ Ibid, p. 123.

and a girl (f.v.)« * Z. f, E, xxxl 162-164. For list

' Ibid, pp. 118, 121. of patterns, v, App.

462 DECORATIVE ART part ii

taken from bamboo tubes, on which the patterns of
the original blowpipes had been copied. The upper
end of the design is always remote from the mouth-
piece, ix, from the bearer ; ^ whereas the first panel or
•* was '* end may, as already mentioned, be either
above or below, and its exact position in each design
will be given in accordance with Vaughan-Stevens'
statements. No portion of this tube is peeled
(" chenel-us "). Hence the uppermost and the lowest
line in the design coincides exactly with the upper and
lower extremities of the tube.*

[It is impossible to give so much space to the
description of individual patterns as is done by
Vaughan-Stevens. The reader must ascertain from
the design on his own account the differences between
the various pattern-bands, as well as the " peculiarities "
of each individual band. For in these Semang pat-
terns it is a cardinal feature that where a figure is
repeated at intervals, there always occur some slight
modifications {e.g. in the matter of the hatching, etc.)
of the exact design. Hence the position only of any
such peculiarities will be given. The number of the
figures in any particular ** row " or panel appears to
be a matter of indifference, and to depend upon the

1 In making his corrections of the exaggerated demand for geometrical
Semang drawings Vaughan-Stevens regularity, which the original patterns
himself (as his editor quite rightly themselves never show, must awaken
points out) is not free from errors. many doubts. It is true that so much
Moreover, as to Vaughan-Stevens* ob- accuracy must be claimed for the cor-
servation that the Semang knew no rect patterns as may be necessary to
semicircles, he himself allows that it keep all the manifold figures dbtinct,
is extremely difficult for them to cut but in consequence of Vaughan-Stevens*
curves on the bamboo, though semicir- insistence on ** accuracy ** one often
cular curves are, in ^t, very numer- asks one's self in vain, Does such and
ous. One might perhaps expect that such a figure belong to the essence of
a wild race should hesitate to attempt the pattern or not ?
to draw semicircles, but the idea that ' Z. /. E, xxxi. 163. For an ex-
it *< anxiously avoids** them is absurd, ception see, e,g.^ Nos. 5 and 7, com-
and untrue as well. Moreover, this pared with the original blowpipes.

;^^i^;/;i■.>;si7

MMMMM^i

'^^^^^mmm

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

mmmm^m r'

nmumma

f««H««U«*HM

7
n

/ 'aughaH'Stcrens.

Tube ("Gok" and ••Gar") Patterns, Plate II. UJ.K. xxxi. 143)
Vol. /. /. 462.

^//^jrMf%.

Vaughau SiaTms.
Turk (■•Gor" and "(iAR") Patikrns, Plate III. {/.././:. xxxi. 144).

/ 'o/. /. /. 463.

CHAP. IX NEGRITOS OF PERAK 463

actual Circumference of the bamboo and similar cir-
cumstances. It is not always possible to tell which
figure is the real subject of a panel. Where, how-
ever, nothing is said to the contrary, it may generally
be taken to be the figure furthest to the left in each
of the designs. Many panels, however, have only one
pattern throughout, and hence an irregular figure
inside the same is no "peculiarity" in the above
intended sense, and will only occasionally be men-
tioned in the description.^ Between a "pecu-
liarity" and such an irregularity there is a great
difference from the Semang point of view (see No.
40). Besides these two there is a third kind of
"deviation" or differentiation (see No. 96 and No.
112, etc.).^ Where there are only spirals instead
of the ring-lines, the exact position of both extremi-
ties relatively to the figures represented is always
exactly determined. In the case of the repetition of
figures in a band, the beginning or the end may occur
either to the right or left or in immediate coincidence
with one of the figures, the aforesaid " peculiarities "
occurring relatively to a definite figure (see, e.g., spiral
2 in charm-tube M). T2 may perhaps be taken as an
exception, as may be inferred from its design.]

The widths of the various pattern-bands or panels
are not arbitrary, but stand in a certain fixed relation-
ship to one another, very much as is shown by the
designs. The exact width, however, of the central
panel (when it is left free) is of no consequence, and
hence the Semang generally commences to cut the
pattern at the top and bottom first, and so gradually

^ Z,f, E.^loccit, It must therefore 'In the designs, however, no

be presupposed that the differentiations difference can be seen between a

not mentioned by Vaughan - Stevens "peculiarity" and a mere "irregu-

belong to the class of mere irregularities. larity. ** See No. 45.

464 DECORATIVE ART pjlrt ii

works towards the middle. On the other hand,
the design for the central panel is usually the first part
to be incised by way of a commencement. The vari-
ous kinds of cross-lines have already been partially
described in connection with the comb patterns.* [The
following rules, however, have also to be observed.
The not uncommon figure a must never be hatched
at the point of intersection.* The right-angled cross-
lines are scarcely ever inserted, except where they can
be given their full length (see figure b). Exceptions
may, however, be seen in quiver A2, part 3, in 8 and
9, II and 12 (lines counted from the left). Special
attention should be given to the cross-lines of two
pairs of parallel lines in and about the space formed
by their intersection (see, for instance, figure b^ as
well as quiver O, quiver Q, parts 3, 4, and 6). To
these should be added many other kinds of cross-lines
which help to produce a difference in the patterns {e,g.
parallel and slanting cross-lines). The effect of these
will become evident through a closer consideration of
the designs. Their number is usually quite arbitrary.]
Very short strokes have the same significance as
dots : they are produced by means of a blunt-pointed
knife (see, e.g., No. 24). The broad black stripes and
figures of the designs here given are produced in the
originals by peeling the part and colouring it black.*

Classification of the Patterns.^

If the general arrangement of the blowpipe
patterns is compared with that of the quivers and

1 See Z,f. E, xxv. 85. nately only too typical of the hair-

' These so-called '* rules " — to taboo splitting character of much of Vaughan-

the cross-hatching of a point, and to Stevens' work.

say that a line may only be inserted * Z.f.E. xxxi. 164.

when there is room for it — are unfortu- * Ibid, pp. 147-159.

??I

mxz

^z^'M

QQ Yf?

Iffl^ Mi

= r/

^M mia » — ■ff — Sk —

^^ AAT

Tar ^^

£1

Va tfgkan-Stevens.

Tube ("Gor" and "Gar") Patterns, Plate IV. {Z.J. E. xxxi. 145).

Vol. I. p. 464.

/ 'ol. I. p. 465.

I 'aughaH-Stirvns,

Tube ("Gor" and "Gar") Patterns. Plate V. [A.f.E. xxxi. 148).

CHAP. IX NEGRITOS OF PERAK 465

charm-tubes, their similarity«is evident, in spite of the
differences between the individual patterns.* The
Semang themselves appear to classify both kinds of
patterns in the same general groups, and although
this grouping was frequently undertaken by widely
different members of the race, it has always remained
essentially the same, even though the assigning of
individual figures to particular classes may have varied.
In the case of the blowpipe illustrations Vaughan-
Stevens has adopted this classification, though in
the case of the "go'" and "ga'" he has only occa-
sionally referred to it.*

The blowpipe patterns, called " tenwad," may be
separated into two types — {a) that of the majority,
which, as possessing ring-lines, have each band or
panel of figures separated from the next, and {b)
those which have these lines at the extremities alone
(see, for instance, Nos. 18, 21, 23, 44). In the first
class, subdivision I A (see, for insOriginal length, 42 cm.

Vol. I. p. 472.

CHAP. XX SAKAI OF PERAK 473

be the least convincing of the series, there being no
discernible reason for distinguishing this chevron from
any other.]

At C (Vaughan-Stevens continues) is represented
a long fish-fence with a trap or "weel" in a river
(Mai. "s^rok"), the wavy line in the centre repre-
senting the movements of a fish in the water. The
dotted straight line at C2 represents the posts of
the fish-fence as seen from above. The other three
parts are angles of the fish-fence. At D (Vaughan-
Stevens was told) a man warming his hands at the fire
was represented, the fingers of his two hands being
intertwined, the figure thus produced forming the
sign for "fire." But this explanation is not very
convincing, and of the rest of the pattern no explana-
tion whatever could be obtained.^

Bamboo No. 2.^

Fig. 7. — The wizards' staff proper was a crooked
bamboo. The one figured contains a charm against
the vampire, apes (i.e. epileptic attacks), and the
Argus pheasant (i.e. madness). On the upper-
most intemode is represented the figure of a house
or rather perhaps fence (such as that already men-
tioned).

A " vampire," according to the view of the Sakai,
is not a demon — even though it is incidentally so
called — but a being of flesh and blood. The ape-
demon and the Argus-pheasant demon (" kuang ") are
distinguished from it by the fact that the demons can
come through walls and hedges, which the vampire
cannot do. The dots near the figure of the fence

^ Z./.£. xxvi. 146. « /did, pp. 167-172.

474 DECORATIVE ART part ii

represent the upper extremities of the posts forming
the fence, as seen from above. The projections at
A in the fence pattern represent the feet of the
vampire, and hence, indirectly, the vampire itself. The
double row of dots running between the fence figures
represents the vampire's loin-cloth or " chawat." ^

The next row shows (at B — B) the " seven bam-
boos " of the " Tabong " legend,* which form a favourite
subject for representation. Between these seven
bamboos (all separate) there now remain the follow-
ing alternate figures: (i) a bamboo -leaf or leaves,
pointing upwards ; (2) the vampire's wings ; (3) a
bamboo-leaf or several leaves, pointing downwards;
(4) clouds ; (5) the vampire's wings and body ; (6) a
bamboo-leaf, pointing downwards ; (7) clouds.

The next division shows the figures on the
feathers of the Argus ; the scale-shaped figure which
is shown beside it in the illustration representing the
scales on the feet of the bird. The fourth division
contains the eyes on the feathers of the Argus
pheasant's tail. The fifth division represents clouds,
which, like the vampire, are emblematic of nocturnal
life. The sixth division again shows the eyes on the
tail-feathers of the Argus.

The seventh division represents the elbows of
the ape, as emblematic of an entire ape. The dots
shown above at C are the dots on the blowpipe-dart,
and help to distinguish the figure from others, such
as the elbow of an ape.

The broad stripes produced by stripping off the skin
in the eighth division again represent bamboo stems.*

^ Z.f.E. xxvi. 170. is possible that Vatigfaaa • Stevens

' This will be found in vol. iL pp. may have fallen into some trap

313, 314. through misunderstanding his in>

' Ihid, p. 171. Here again it formants.

CHAP. IX SAKAI OF PERAK 475

The figures in this field are: (i) a bamboo ; (2)
the vampire's claws, the double row of dots between
the claws again representing the "chawat" (or
" vampire's " loin-cloth) ; (3) a bamboo ; (4) clouds ;
(5) a bamboo ; (6) the wings of the Argus pheasant ;
(7) a bamboo; (8) clouds; (9) a bamboo; (10) the
vampire, hanging downwards; (11) a bamboo; (12)
clouds.

The lowest part of the stem of the instrument
represents clouds and stars, as emblems of night,
during which the demons are especially active.

It is with a musical instrument of this kind that
the magician conducts the ceremony, his pupil mean-
while sitting behind him with painted bamboos, of
which those portrayed at A and B are specimens.
The one marked A is 48 cm. long, and has a
diameter of 5 cm. ; B is 56 cm. long, and has a
diameter of 3^ cm. The patterns with which they
are painted are given again unrolled at the side of
this text, from a pattern made for Vaughan-Stevens
himself.^

[These particular bamboos were said to represent
in general the oldest form of this instrument. The
figure marked A was said to show the hot finger-
marks of Tuhan impressed upon the bamboo by way
of ornament, while the seven bamboos are again said
to be denoted by the peeled stripes.] From its shape
the object at A must represent the chief bamboo at
a ** tuang-tuang " ceremony, and B the second one.
The figures portrayed on the second bamboo represent
two sorts of rattan, called respectively ** riong " (or
'* rayong " ?) and " butong " (.? ** bgtong "), which play
an important part in the preparation of the Pangan

* Z,f.E, xxvi. 171.

476 DECORATIVE ART paet ii

arrow-poison. The figure is an ordinary representa-
tion of rattan; the interval representing the tree
round which the rattans climb. The repetition of the
figures indicates multiplicity.

These two bamboos do not form a pair, but came
from quite different localities. Vaughan - Stevens,
however, adds that up to the time of writing he had
not seen a painted pair really used. The shorter
of the two is always held in the right hand.^

Of the many existing patterns of these instruments
Vaughan-Stevens only succeeded in getting specimens
of the following : —

Fig. 8. A charm to be used by men as a protection
against scorpions and millipedes.

Fig. 9. Against mice and squirrels.

Fig. ID. Against ants.

Fig. II. Against a skin-disease.

Fig. 12. Against the collapsing of houses.

Fig. 13. Unexplained.

Fig. 14. Against millipedes, a charm intended for
the use of women engaged in searching for the fruit
of the " salak "-palm.

FJg' ^5* Against spiders supposed to be venomous.

Fig. 16. Against fish armed with poisonous
spines.^

Fig. 1 7. Against animals which destroy the rice-
harvest.

Fig. 18. Against drought.

The first two of the following illustrations are
taken from copies of designs incised upon bamboo
staves by a Sakai who refused to part with the origi-
nals. The rest are originals.

Fig. 8. — In the centre of the pattern is seen a

> Z./ E. xxvL 17a. * E,g, "sembilaiig" fish.

CHAP. IX SAKAI OF PERAK 477

male Argus pheasant (** kuang ") with its two long
tail-feathers covered with **eyes." The wheel-shaped
marks at A represent these " eyes/* the disc-shaped
marks at B its wings. To the left of this bird is
portrayed a long, reddish -yellow millipede, its head
looking in the direction of the Argus's tail. The
dotted lines running parallel to the millipede on its
right and left represent the traces that it leaves
behind on the flesh of any person whom it attacks.
To the right of the Argus are shown two blue
scorpions in the act of approaching each other. The
object confronting each of their stings represents the
swelling that forms in the flesh of any person stung
by them. The female of this kind of scorpion is
considered more poisonous than the male, and is said
to produce double perforations when it stings.^ Hence
the double row of dots at C denotes the effect of the
female's sting, the single row at D the sting of the male.

The original pattern was incised upon one of these
bamboo " tuang-tuang," and the interpretation given
to Vaughan- Stevens was that, "since the Argus
pheasant lives on scorpions and millipedes, its help
is summoned against them by striking this bamboo
upon the ground." ^

Fig. 9 (a copy like Fig. 8).^ — The illustration
shows three rows of designs, separated by lines,
which ran completely round the original bamboo. The
man who copied this drawing for Vaughan -Stevens
took only a half-stem instead of the whole, because
it was easier to hold on the knee while the figures
were being incised with the chopper (" parang ").

1 This distinction, perhaps, may be • Z./. E, xxvL 173. For more con-

due to a tradition of the double-stinged ventionalised Argus patterns, v. Ease,
scorpion. MaL 17-26. ^ /j^ pp, ,7^^ ,75.

47« DECORATIVE ART part ii

The central row is of special interest, as it shows
how the Sakai draw elevations as ground-plans. The
central figure represents a Sakai house, the structure
being raised on posts and lashed together with rattan.
The floor of these houses is raised, as a rule, two or
three feet above the earth, is of split bamboo, and a
roughly made wooden ladder leads up to it ; the
interior is divided by a partition made of split bamboo
slivers, tree-bark, or leaves. One of the rooms thus
formed (at the back) serves as a bedroom for the
married inmates, the other (the front one) being set
aside for cooking purposes, as well as for sitting in,
and for the reception of guests. At one end of this
front room is a small square wooden box, which
is filled up with earth to form the hearth. The
two gable-ends of the roof are filled in with palm-
leaves (" atap ") fastened to light slats to prevent the
rain from entering. The sides of the house consist
of upright sticks, with horizontal cross-pieces, to which
latter palm -leaves are fastened as before. Thus the
drawing is to be explained as follows : —

A is the track leading to the house.

B is the house-ladder.

C* the cooking-room.

O the sleeping-room.

D a doorway (without door).

E the partition.

F the hearth or fireplace.

G the side walls (except the front one).

H H the palm-thatched gables of the roof.

J the back gable-end.

The lowest panel with the dotted lines represents
a rice-field (** padi ") near the house.^

* Z,f,E, xxvi. 175.

|5 '^ ^)pp4>'i V i f

^^$arQ::t- i<!^v A. J?^ .'JgL^.,

U »

= 1
<6

- AW^^i^^Vv^

Fig. 12. — HuT-BuiLDiNG Charm (to

FACILITATK COLLECTION OF MATERIALS).
Original widih, 72 cm.

P 'auffhaH-Stevms.

Fig. 13. — Charm for Driving
AWAY Demons.

Original width, 71 cm.

Vol. 1.^.^79-

CHAP. IX SAKAI OF PERAK 479

In the upper panel are represented at Fig. i the
rice-stamper which the Sakai, like the Malays, use for
pounding rice out of the husk — (^) is the rice-mortar,
\b) the trestles supporting the rice-stamper, (c) and {d)
the stamper as it falls into the mortar, and {e) the
extremity of the stamper.

Fig. 2 portrays a tortoise ; Fig. 3 a frog.

Fig. 4 is the sieve used for winnowing the rice
when pounded.

Fig. 5 represents a mouse; Fig. 6 a squirrel —
recognisable by its bushy tail.

The entire design is a rain-charm, the effect of
the rain being symbolised by a tortoise and frog,
which enter the rice-field, the mice and squirrels which
come after the rice (when it is already gathered in)
being expelled thereby.

Figf. 10. — Original drawing of a *' tuang-tuang."^

The seven long stripes, where the outer cuticle
of the bamboo has been peeled off, represent the
seven bamboos already mentioned.^ The figures at
A stand for a house-floor (an abbreviated symbol or
emblem standing for the whole house.) The dots at
the bottom represent the hearth.

At B are shown the bristles of a wild pig, which
are introduced as symbolising game that has been slain
and brought home. At D is the pig's carcase. At C
are the ants which devour its flesh ; and at E the nest
in which they live.

The general design is intended to keep the ants
at a distance, and the bamboo that bears it is very
often given into the charge of one of the children,
who proceeds to strike it upon the house -floor
whenever there is boar -flesh about, if ants are seen

' Z.f,E, xxvi. 177. * Cy. Vaughan-Stevens, iii. 129.

48o DECORATIVE ART part ii

approaching. The Sakai believe that the hollow sound
of the bamboo, together with the vibration of the
floor-timbers struck by the instrument, will drive
away the insects.*

Pig. 11. — Original drawings of a ** tuang-tuang " *
intended for protecting the person against two forms
of skin-disease, one of which produces white leprous-
like ulcers, and the other hard knobs on and under
the skin. To take the bottom of the picture first
(the open end of the bamboo being uppermost)
— at A are shown a number of frog -holes in the
banks of a river. The dots and lines represent
these holes as they appear in the soft mud, some
(at A) being under water, others (at B) above it.
Above this figure, from which it is separated by a
ring-line, are portrayed (at B) a number of frogs'
legs, which are introduced as an abbreviated
symbol of the frogs themselves, completely con-
ventionalised. Above these frogs (at C) are a
number of elliptical figures, said to represent rows
of ant-heaps.

Other objects represented by these figures are (i)
a Disease ' whose effect is compared to the biting of
ants, and (2) the torso of a victim of the Disease
referred to.

Out of the ground (at D) grow creepers, which are
represented (by means of interlaced lines) as climbing
round the stems of trees, the short horizontal strokes
between the interlacing figures symbolising the stems
of the lianas. The still shorter strokes on the outer
side of the interlaced creepers show if they are
prickles and thorns, or (when they are mere dots)

1 Z./ B. xxvi. 176. • lb, pp. 177-179.

' Probably Mai. " semut-sJmutan," or ** cramp," lit, the "creeping of ants."

CHAP. IX SAKAI OF PERAK 4S1

the claw -marks of animals on the bark.^ Directly
under the ring-line» which divides this panel from the
one above it, are to be seen, between the lianas, four
minute figures (numbered i to 4) which are said to
represent a bird, a butterfly, a caterpillar, and a tree-
frog respectively. The panel (E) above the ring-line
represents various stages in the growth of a tree.
Reading this from right to left, we commence with
the broad black stripe signifying the leafless tree-
trunk. To the left of this there follow five similar
figures, which represent fully developed leaves. To
the left of this again is a black stem, with leaf-drawing
on the right side only ; these represent the young
and undeveloped leaves at the top of the tree. Re-
turning to the right of the panel, we come to a black
stem with zigzag figures i^yy) on each side of it;
these zigzag lines represent twigs.

The cross-hatched figure to the left of this latter
stem {zz) represents the extremity of the creepers
(which are shown in the panel next below), and signifies
that these creepers, starting from the ground, have
reached the topmost branches of the tree.^

Still further to the left (next to the stem with the
branches) is represented the topmost shoot of the
tree with its leaves still undeveloped. The lower
part of the tree is of some interest.

The broad part of the stem is portrayed by peeling
off a thin strip of the outer cuticle of the bamboo.

1 In the German original, a sentence a case would necessarily nm in a vtrtu

here follows to the effect that the short col direction instead of a horizontal

cross • strokes between each pair of one.

creepers represent two lines of ants, ' Z./.^.xxvi 178. Some of V. -St 's

which are portrayed as running up and explanations in this and the following

down the creepers. This sUtement, ten pages seem far-fetched, and should

however, conflicts with what goes im- be received with caution. He gives no

mediately before, as the strokes in such localities. .

VOL. I 2 I

482 DECORA TIVE ART part ii

This treatment, however, is only continued up to a
certain point, and then the stem shrinks suddenly
together to a single line ; this is to signify the diminu-
tion in size of the tree towards the top. Above this
panel there is a repetition of the pattern already de-
scribed at C, but in this case the three rows of the
pattern are explained as representing the spots on
the skin caused by the Disease, these spots being
described as resembling ** melon-seeds," and as break-
ing out upon the head, the body, and the feet, thus
necessitating the three rows of the pattern.

The topmost panel (above the one just described)
represents fish-scales, which signify the leprous scales
caused by the Disease, and which are again repeated
in three rows, corresponding as before to the head,
body, and feet of the patient. They are multiplied
in order to denote that if not cured they will gradu-
ally spread over the whole body. Near the right
extremity of this panel are to be seen a number of
dots on the scales; these are meant to signify the
last stage of the disease, which is marked by incur-
able ulcers out of which blood comes. They are
said to resemble the sores which come from wounds
inflicted by the poisonous spines of a kind of fish.*

The entire design is a survival of a charm-
pattern which was employed by the ancient Sakai
magicians.*

Fig. 12. — Pattern of a *' tuang-tuang " resembling
Fig. II, the open end of the bamboo being in this
case at the bottom.'

^ There can, I think, be no doubt sented, too, may quite possibly re-
whatever, from what I myself saw of semble the *' bidara pabit,'* which
small-pox on the east coast, and from the east coast Malays employ in their
what I remember of native descriptions ceremonies for warding off the attadcs
of the symptoms, that this pattern was of the Small-pox Demon,
a small-pox charm. The tree repre- * Z,f, E, xxvi. 179. ' IHdL

CHAP. IX SAKAI OF PERAK 483

The hatching in the lowest panel represents the
wall of a house, as symbolising the house itself. The
figures A A are partially burnt trees, which have
remained standing after the felling and burning of a
clearing. To the left of these trees (at B) is a
young *' b€rtam "-palm leaf placed upright (in its
natural position). At C is shown a branch or tree-
stem forked at both ends, stems of this kind being
used as props or trestles.

The next three figures to the left of these are
also "bgrtam "-leaves (one upright and two upside
down), the upright ones representing the central or
inner leaves of the palm, and the remaining pair the
outer ones (which are forced outwards and downwards
as the inner ones expand). At D there follows a tree
(either blown down by the wind, or perhaps uprooted
by human agency), which is shown lying ready for its
stem to be split.

At E we have a leaf of the " langkap "- {Licuala)
palm, such as is sometimes used for thatching in
substitution for " bfirtam " {Eugeissona). Above this
are drawings which symbolise house-building material.

a. This represents a creeper in full leaf. Whenever
this creeper (which is used for the house-lashings) is
pulled down from the top of the tree up which it has
climbed, it falls in coils on the ground. These are
symbolised by the duplication of the lower part of the
figure.^

b. Left of this is the figure at b ; the lower part of
which represents a kind of rough ladder by means
of which the roof (of the half-built house) can be
reached; half-way up comes a break showing the
place where the roof is joined on, and above that we

» Z,f.E. xxvi. 179.

484 DECORA TIVE ART fart i i

see the roof-timbers, which serve here as a substitute
for the ladder by which the ridge of the gable is
reached.

c. The figure at c (representing the roof-frame?)
is in contact with the roof (b) ; the lower half repre-
sents the thatch-work (" atap ") of ** bfirtam "-leaves.

d. Two rattans (cane -creepers) intertwined (to-
gether with their leaves) are seen at d {cf. Fig. 13).

e. At e we have rude steps which are ascended by
the worker when he wishes to detach the rattans from
the summits of the trees.

/. Joined to the thatch at / are small figures
symbolising the freshly cut leaf and the slat of thatch
made out of it.

g. The figure at g represents a long zigzag path,
the windings of which denote the obstacles round
which the cut "ataps** have to be carried in the
jungle before they can be brought to their destination.

The complete design is a charm to assist the
builder of a house in finding and using the materials
he requires.

Fig, 18, — The tradition explaining the origin
of this pattern is now, alas ! no longer current, and
for each of the figures two different versions were
given. This bamboo had descended from father to
son for three generations, and was universally reo^-
nised as a charm -pattern intended to drive away
demons seeking shelter on cold nights in the warm
upper story or loft in the roof. The various figures
of the pattern were still universally recc^ised —
with the exception of some about which nothing
certain was known, and which were only retained in
accordance with ancient custom. All that could be
remembered with r^ard to the tradition of this

CHAP. IX SAKAl OF PERAK 48s

pattern was that it was connected in some way with
the ** tabong " legend. Beginning at the open end
of the bamboo, the second important figure was the
rattan creeper, but the significance of the numerous
triangular figures could not be made out. Only in
one respect was opinion unanimous. The rattan re-
ferred to shows fruit and leaves, a^id a whip will be
seen in the same figure. Hence the conventional
forms of the rattan depend in each case upon the use
which is to be made of it.^

Fig. 14w— This is the original pattern * of a " tuang*
tuang " which is sounded by those who are about to
collect the acid fruit of the "nipah-" or thatch-palm*
(as well as that of a similar sort of palm called '' klubi
asam " in Malay) before entering the swamp in which
they grow. These particular fruits are employed as
spices by the Sakai. The palms in question resemble
the ** b^rtam "-palm in being stemless. The leaves
grow out of the ground in a great tuft, and the root-
clump itself, swelling gradually as the plant gets
older, forms a small hillock in the swampy ground.
These hillocks are full of scolopendra attracted by the
fruit, which always grow3 upon a thick stem, suspended
only a few centimetres above the surface of the ground.
Because of these scolopendra the women are not
allowed, as a rule, to pick the fruit, which is the
business of the men.

The figures depicted at a in the top panel of the
design are the typical " frogs*-leg " pattern, which are
said to be always used as the symbol of a '* swamp."

The fact that the figures are represented both at
the top and the bottom signifies that the entire region
where the fruit grows is swampy. The panel marked

» Z./. E. xxvi. 181. « /hid, pp. i8a, 183. ^ mpafnUicans,

486 DECORATIVE ART part ii

d represents the interlacing of palm -leaves amid
vegetation of such luxuriance that a passage has to
be cut through it with a chopper ("parang"). At
each side of the pattern a simple zigzag line {bb)
runs upwards. This represents a series of scattered
root-hillocks belonging to the palms on the landward
side of the swamp. The figures at c (the right-hand
bottom corner of the design) represent a slight rising
of the ground at the point from which the swamp has
been entered. The panel next above d represents
clumps of dead palm-stumps, the decay of which leaves
an open pathway composed of earth that is soft on
the top. Such a pathway, however, often conceals
the pointed growing shoots of the palms, which, as
they near the surface, often inflict severe wounds
upon the naked foot, whereas in the case of living
'* nipah "-palms, which have a firm stem to support
the foot, this cannot happen. It is on this account
that the outlines of the hillocks are furnished with
points on the inner side. When, therefore, the fruit-
gatherer walks across these hillocks to reach the
interior of the swamp (as indeed he always does from
the land side, rather than, like the Malay, in a boat
from the water) the ground gives way beneath him
and he sinks in. The surface of the hillocks is
heaped with dead sticks and leaves, and if the fruit-
gatherer happens to sink deeper still till he reaches
another hillock lying underneath, his foot is not un-
likely to come in contact with sharp shoot -points
below the surface {e). Farther on he comes to the
great leaf-tufts and the ** nipah " fruits, which latter
look not unlike a gigantic bunch of grapes protruding
from between the leaf-stems on the hillocks round
the palm -clumps. The figure at / represents one

Fig. 14. — Charm to. send Centi-
penes to sleep and protect
Oatherers OF *• NiPAH "-Fruit,

Originallwidth, 26 cm.

VaughaH'Stci'ens.

Fig. 15. — Charm against Venomous Spiders.

Original width, 28 cir*

l^cL /. A 4Mw

smM^m^M.

CHAP. IX SAKAI OF PERAK ifii

of these bunches of fruit and that at g the hillock
itself. Over this (at hi) is portrayed a millipede, and
at i the track of the same insect. The track of the
millipede as it creeps to and fro on the leaf-stems is
indicated by two drawings of millipedes looking in
opposite directions.

The object of the charm is to cause the *' milli-
pedes to fold their legs together and sleep," so as not
to be able to injure any one engaged in plucking the
fruit. At the right side of the figure (at k) a sleeping
millipede is shown.^

Flgf. 16. — Among the great variety of spiders in the
Peninsula there is a poisonous one that spins its web
at about a man's height in the jungle.* According to
the aborigines, it is the male that spins the thread and
directs the prey towards the female, who sits in the
web guarding it.

The angles (called ** elbows ") at the right of the
pattern {a) represent tree -branches, and the female
spider (the lower figure) is seated upon them. The
female spider in this case has a superfluous leg, which
extends to figure b at the left of the figure.

Such superfluous limbs are not unusual in the
drawings of the wilder Sakai. They are not due to
want of observation, but to want of calculation. The
more Malayized Sakai would never commit such an
error.*

^ Z./. E, xxvi. p. 183. reckon the two additional l^s, and it

* Ibid, pp. 184, 185. did not occur to bim to help himself

• When Vaughan- Stevens saw the out by means of the other hand,
mistake in the ^re he pointed it out After two or three failures, he took a
to the Sakai who brought it. The number of twigs in his hand, and laid
latter, taken aback, counted the legs them on each of the legs of the figure
by laying each of the fingers of one in succession. Then he caught a spider
hand in turn upon each of the legs of and killed it, and compared^t for some
the spider. After thus counting up to time with the drawing without being
five, he appeared not to be able to able to see clearly where the mistake

488 DECORATIVE ART FAmi

Other Sakai drawings of spiders have five legs,
but in this specimen we sometimes see seven and
sometimes eight. Perhaps the mistake may have
arisen from copying an older pattern. The fact that
the male spider (in the centre of the figure) has two
rows of legs, instead of one, was explained as indicat-
ing that these spiders do not remain in one place, but
run to and fro.

The Sakai believe too that the spiders have fangs
or jaws like the millipedes, but that they are too small
to be seen. As already mentioned, the "spider's
feet " at the edge belong to the female ; the explana-
tion being that the spider is supposed to have run
along the thread.

Near one of the right feet of the female is to be
seen a small round figure surrounded by short strokes.
This is the young one, which the female is supposed
to be tending.

The %ure on the body of the male is incorrectly
drawn, but has no significance.

The upper part of this pattern is of special
interest. It represents the stony side of a hill — a
locality where these spiders are supposed to be
specially numerous.

The figure c towards the upper half of the drawing
indicates a hill emerging into a sand-covered plain
(like the plains which lie near rivers). Over this
again rise hill-ridges, represented by a figure that
appears to possess three separate types, denoting
respectively (i) projecting rocky masses, (2) simple
rocky or stony ground, and (3) water-courses.^

was. At last he tore o6f the legs of were not enough to go round, llie

his victim, and laid them in successioQ only thing he then said was ** silap "

OB those of the figure, when he was (mistake),

highly astonished to find that there ^ Z./. E. xxvi. 184.

CHAP. IX SAKAI OF PERAK 489

The dots denote "leaves" or vegetation, e.g.
grass, etc. Slopes covered with forest are also shown,
with their summits bare of vegetation. The curves
[--^] which reach to the centre of the pattern represent
a ravine which is only wooded at the upper part,
where the trees of the surrounding jungle are shown.
The vertical lines are the trunks of the trees, the
curves |^] their branches, and the dots their leaves.
The boughs at the right are leafless. Then follow
two columns of leafy trees, and a third (leafless) one
with lianas, orchids, etc., growing upon its dead
branches. Above these, at the rim of the pattern >
the signs [^:r^^] represent long rattans and similar
creepers climbing from tree to tree.

The figure is the copy of a " tuang-tuang " pattern
— a picture of the forest as the draughtsman had
probably often observed it.^

Fig. 16. — Like Fig. 15 this is only a copy of one
of these patterns, with which the owner absolutely
refused to part. The original was intended to serve
as a charm to assist the women in catching small
fish, and at the same time to afford them some
slight protection against poisonous fishes. Towards
the left, at. the bottom, is depicted a big tortoise; a
little to its right, a small one and a rather lai^er
one ; these three, which typify a male, a female, and
a young one, are meant to symbolise the amount
of the booty. In the extreme left-hand (bottom)
corner is a fishing-rod, which is drawn upside down.
The rather thicker black line represents the rod,
the black spot near its foot the reel, and the thinner
line the line itself. In the centre of the right-hand
border are to be seen three rice-spoons of an ancient

1 Z./ E, xxvi. 185.

490 DECORATIVE ART part ii

type, consisting of a wooden handle with a bowl
made from a kind of shell. A little to the left of
these spoons stands a water-bird, the species of which
could not be ascertained. It has, however, webbed
feet and a pouch under its beak. Further to the left
are two frogs. Above the spoons, in the right-hand
top corner, stands a mangrove-bush, such as grows in
the salt-water swamps. The central figure of the
pattern is a rattan creeper of the kind called " manau,"
which frequently grows at the mouths of rivers. The
vertical lines [M^ are stems of this creeper with its
formidable thorns, the cross - strokes its leaves.
Between these two rattan-stems, and just above them,
one of the prickly leaf-whips of the same plant \s
shown, the prickles being so formidable as to have
earned from the Malays the name of ** tiger-claws.**
In the left-hand top corner is depicted a scorpion,
which serves as a sort of hieroglyph indicating the
word ** scorpion-tail," as the Sakai name these " tiger-
claw " thorns.^

Fig. 17, like Figs. 15 and 16, is the copy of one
of these instruments (" tuang-tuang ") with which the
owner would not part. This pattern is intended as a
charm to protect the growing crops and the plantations
round the house from injury by animals. In the
lowest (third) division of the pattern are to be seen —
(i) the house itself, and (2) near the house (at A) a
figure which looks like a ladder. This figure repre-
sents the steps, which consist of small logs thrown
into the mud and dirt in order to make the soft
ground passable. Around the house there is a field
planted with sweet potatoes. The round white
figures on stalks [ o] at B are the leaves of the

» Z. f. E, xxvi. 186.

CHAP. IX SAKAI OF PERAK 49i

plant ; the dark ones the edible tubers. The plant to
the right at C is supposed to be growing, as it appears,
at the foot of a slope, and the smaller one, shown upside
down at the bottom (near D), appears to be growing
on the hill. The Sakai frequently clear the side of a
hill for their small plantations and huts. The entire
landscape, indeed, is hilly, and the valleys are mostly so
overgrown with vegetation that a successful clearing
cannot possibly be made without good implements,^

The central division of the pattern is occupied by
several kinds of plants, divided from each other by
six dead trees, which are denoted by vertical strokes.
Starting from the right, we see, in the intervals
between these trees, (i) maize, (2) yams or
**k6ladi'* {Caladtum)y with their edible tubers, then
three sugar-canes, which are throwing out (edible)
shoots at the root. Next we again see maize and
tapioca (**ubi kayu"), the latter with its edible root-
tubers ; then come two plants, one above the other,
the upper one being a species of yam with tubers,
and the lower one a banana tree with young banana
shoots. The dots around the plants denote a con-
siderable growth of grass. The uppermost part of
the figure contains the animals against which this
charm is directed. Above, at the right-hand corner,
is to be seen a caterpillar, with a rat underneath it ;
then follow (on the left) two monitors or ** lace-lizards '*
(such as steal hens' eggs). Beside each of the
monitors stands a leafy tree, representing the favourite
hiding-place of these reptiles. The large trees, which
are often left standing in the clearing, then form the
hiding-places referred to ; the little strokes that cover
each side of their stems represent the running up and

^ Z./ E. xxvi. 187.

492 DECORA TJVE ART part 1 1

down of these reptiles at night-time. In the left-
hand top corner a tortoise with her young one is to
be seen. The crescent-shaped figure is meant for a
puddle, denoting the home of the reptile in question.*

Flgr* 18. — Copy of a ** tuang-tuang," which the
owner refused to sell. It serves as a charm to
produce rain when a light monsoon (and consequent
drought) is damaging the rice -fields. The figures
[//////] represent rain driven by the wind, the strokes
a violent downpour, the dots the drops ; [ //// ] is the
north-east, [///] is the south-west monsoon. The
lines of rain indicated by these curves typify a
tempest. The repetition of the rain-motive denotes
" much rain," Near these rain-figures is a double
row of tortoise eggs as symbols of the tortoise, which
in its own turn represents moisture, wet, dirt, etc.
Down the centre there runs a row of figures
representing young '*k6payang** ("piyung") fruits.
The ** kgpayang " begins to develop its fruit when
the rainy season commences, and its ripened fruit drops
as the season ends — which explains the symbolism.
There are certainly some kinds of " kfipayang " trees
that bring forth their fruits in other months, and the
Sakai, when shown these trees, remarked that the rainy
season was the season in which the **k6payang " trees
of his ancestors ripened. What the real explanation
may be is not known, but most probably the tradition
of the Sakai is quite correct, even if one cannot
explain' it in every detail.^

Magic combs are also found among the Sakai, but
little is known of them. They usually have more
teeth than the Semang ones.'

> Z,f.£. xxvi. i88. 2 Ibid

^ Sec, however, Martin, 703, and cp. p. 423, n. i, ofite.

Brit. Alus.

KuANTAN Dart-Quiver.

(See also p. 315.^
[For rubbings of Besisi and Hlandas blowpipe patterns, 7'ide Appcndi^c.]

Vof. /. /. 492.

*' Krakap chamni " : this " okeh " (ornamental design
on the blowpipe, Mai. " ukir ") is so called l>ecause it
imitates the growth of the wild *' sirih " or betel-vine
("chamai ").

"Okeh le-it hubi," Mai. "ukir lilit ubi," con;pjrri
to the intersecting branches of an " ubi " (turK.rk

Mantra Pattkkns,

Skeat CoiJtitJ^m-

Bksisi Zuomorfhs.

Centipede on Hesisi flute, bought from the performer. Lizard on shaft of FeMsi blowpipe.
(See also p. 309, ante.)

I 'ol. /. /. 493.

CHAP. IX SA VAGE MALA YS AND SEA-GYPSIES 493

III. — Jakun and Orang Laut.

As has already been pointed out above, no
material is at present available which would enable us
to come to any conclusion with regard to the artistic
work of the Jakun. The patterns employed both by
the Blandas and the Besisi showed no appreciable de-
parture from those employed by the Sakai. Yet it is
perhaps worth while recording that the same practice
that has been recorded among the Sakai of drawing
the part of a figure instead of the whole was certainly
well understood by the Besisi, who were themselves
the first to inform me of this fact, and who showed me
many specimens of their work in which this principle
was acted upon. The commonest Besisi zoomorphs
were lizards, centipedes, and the " lotong," the long-
tailed " spectacle monkey " of the Peninsula, of which
I have seen drawings both on their blowpipes and
their quivers, and although as a rule it was only the
bones, or in some cases the extremities ("jari" =
fingers and toes), that were represented, every
member of the tribe appeared to recognise them,
without the slightest difficulty, as the symbol of the
Semnopttkecus. The pattern representing it bore
some resemblance to a pattern recorded by Mr.
Blagden among the Mantra of Malacca ; these latter,
however, gave it the name of "krakap chamai," or
"wild betel-vine shoots." Another pattern, which
Mr. Blagden sketched at the same time, was called
" le'it hubf " or " entwined tuber-shoots" ( = Mai. " lilit
ubi"). But these, with a few Kuantan and Mantra
patterns preserved by Vaughan-Stevens, form about
all the material at present available.

CHAPTER X.

The Social Order.

chiefs, laws, and succession.

A STRIKING difference between the three races is
discernible the moment the question of social or-
ganisation is approached. The Semang have at
present no organised body of chiefs, and though it
is true that, according to Vaughan- Stevens, they
possessed a set of superior chiefs called " Putto "
(** Puttow " or ** Puttau "), and a set of inferior chiefs
called ** Sna-hut," neither title has yet been recorded by
any other observer, and all that we know at present from
other sources is that the tribal heads of the Semang
tribes were called " PSlima" ( - Mai. '* Pgnglima"). The
Sakai, again, appear to possess nothing more elaborate
in the way of social organisation than the Semang,
but among the Jakun of the south we have, under
the tribal Chief or Batin, a series of subordinate chiefs
called respectively ** J inang," **Jukrah," ** Penghulu,"
** PSnglima '* — a state of things which points to a com-
paratively great advance on the part of the race in the
art of self-government. And it is also significant that
the titles of the first three of these offices (Batin, Jinang,
and Jukrah) are very rarely found north of Selangor,
except perhaps in some of the scattered communities
of the Orang Laut on the western sea-board of the
Peninsula. It is, in fact, among these very Orang Laut

494

CHAP. X GENERAL REMARKS 495

or Sea-Jakun that this system of tribal chiefs and sub-
chiefs is most fully developed,^ In other words, we
here have evidence that the aboriginal Malayan race
stands upon a higher social plane than either the Sakai
or the Semang — a fact which agrees very closely with
the conclusions derivable from other grounds of com-
parison. This fact, however, will appear still more
clearly from the detailed descriptions of social customs
to follow, e.g. from the evidence of their possessing
some knowledge of political boundaries — a knowledge
which both the Sakai and the Negritos fail to possess.

To sum up, every portion of the primitive social
fabric reared by these tribes bears the clear impress
of the child -like simplicity and trustfulness that lies
at the root of their character ; and in no department is
this more evident than in that which pertains to law and
public order. The evidence discovers an unappreciable
amount of crime, few laws, and still fewer hard-and-fast
penalties fixed for the non-observance of the latter.

De Morgan considers that the laws of the Sakai
should attract attention, not only from the fact of their
forming a rudimentary system based solely on customs
which, originating in the peculiar circumstances and
habits of the people, have grown to possess the
authority of a legal code, but also from the remark-
able spirit of equality and fairness which this primitive
body of custom exhibits, and which is calculated to
produce a high impression of the intellectual worth of
the race that made it, in spite of their having always
lived apart from the civilisation of their neighbours.*

1 Most of the Jakun tribes have was inferior to the Orang Ka3ra, though

traditions of a great chief of their own, superior to the Penghulu, of whom he

superior even to the Batin {e^g, the had several under him. Miu,Ess,^Lc,

Mantra, Misc, Ess. rel. IncLy Sec. Ser. p. 288. It is here, therefore, that we

voL i. p. 301) ; and in the old consti- must look for the Batin's original status,
tution of the kingdom of Johor the Batin ' De Morgan, viL 4 1 9.

496 THE SOCIAL ORDER part ii

They live as nomads in a densely forested region, in
which, as a rule, they make small clearings or planta-
tions, remaining in one place for this purpose during
varying periods from about three months to a year,
but never more. When they migrate and form fresh
clearings they seldom move to any distance, but remain
in the neighbourhood in order to gather the crops
which come to maturity after their departure/ Hence
their hunting is also confined within definite areas.

They thus possess the characteristics at once of
nomadic and agricultural races, shunning their more
civilised neighbours, and only engaging in trade to an
altogether negligible extent.^

The most rudimentary of the social systems that
obtain among these tribes is that of the Semang, who
live under the simplest form of patriarchal government.

The Semang and Jakun chiefs have a kind of regalia.'

I. — Semang.

Kedah Semang. — The chief of each Semang tribe
is now called " PSlima " ( = Mai. " PSnglima," the *' Sna-
hut" of Vaughan-Stevens). Proof is still required of the
statement that there were till recently yet greater chiefs,
who possessed a more extended influence and were
called ** Puttos." These, if they ever existed, seem to
have now died out, at least in name, if not in function.

I was told that the last Big Chief (" Pglima B€sar ")
of the Kedah tribes was called '* To' Pglima Chiak "
(or ** Old Chieftain Finch "). He was reputed to be
invulnerable (" b^kStok,'* i.e. ** pachydermatous through
magic"), and hence had great influence. His tribe told
me he once kept a Malay who had murdered a Semang

^ De Morgan, vii. 419. Semang) ; 5 10, 5 1 1 (of the Besisi) ; and

^ IhitL p. 420. vol. ii. pp. 291 and 313, n9te <of the

' See vol. i. pp. 450, 455 (of the Jakun of Jelebu).

CHAP. X NEGRITOS OF KEDAH 497

tied up to a tree for two to three months, until a
blood -fine of twenty- three dollars was paid. To'
Chiak (though even he died not long afterwards)
was, moreover, the only Semang in the whole country
who ever entered the presence of the Raja of Kedah.

In modern days the Pelima's authority is confined
to his official relations with his people. He is, how-
ever, still the chief medicine -man of the tribe, and
actively follows his profession.^ His duties appear in
fact to be practically identical with those of the obsolete
Putto, his position and authority being practically those
of the head of a family, which in this case is represented
by a larger family, the tribe.

In Kedah the tribal chief of the Semang was called
(as already mentioned) ** PSlima," but in Perak the
word " Penghulu " appears to be more general.

Laws.
Crime among the Semang appears to be extremely
rare, but I was given by the Pelima the following scale
of fines. These, however, are less by way of illus-
trating the precise amounts which would be actually
levied in each case than the general principles and
proportions according to which the amount would be
determined.

Theft of a blowpipe . . $5.00

Theft of a bow 6.00 *

Theft of a shot-gun (European blun-
derbuss) 10.00

Abduction of a married woman (nom-
inally) 40,00*

^ As in a case of which I had was considered a greater offence than

personal cognizance, cp. voL ii that of a blowpipe.

p. 230. ' But this is a sum which no Semang

< It is interesting to note that among would usually be able to pay ; hence the

this Negrito tribe the theft of a bow idea was probably taken from the law of

VOL. I 2 K

500 THE SOCIAL ORDER part ii

II. — Sakai.
Chiefs,

Perak Sakai. — The only functionaries of the Sakai
are the Penghulus, of whom there is one to each
village, who " is succeeded at his death by his eldest
son, or by any one else whom he may have appointed,
in default of a son, as his successor during his life-
time."^ Over his tribe he has every right (but the
capital one), but the enforcing of his authority is mainly
due to his position.^

When a village migrates, the Penghulu conducts
the migration ; if more than one village is established,
the original Penghulu appoints a chief (from among
his sons or relations) to take charge of each of them.'

The chief is the equal of his fellow - tribesmen,
except when he is acting expressly on behalf of the
common interests of his village.*

Of the Ulu Bertang (Bujang Malaka) Sakai, Dr.
Luering writes me, that they do not employ the title
of Batin, their chieftains being called "S^ruyan.***
The first ** SSruyan *' Dr. Luering's informant could
remember was one Ba-Naun, who is now dead, as is
his son Ba- J Slang. Ba-Naun had authority over all
Chenderiang and Dipang.

Then there are special titles given to the Sakai by
the late Sultans of Perak. " My ancestors," said the
same informant, " were made * mgntri,' ^ and my proper
title should be Singa* mentri " (** mentri " is a Malay
title of dignitaries). Another title given by the Sultan
was that of To' Sang, who died without children, and a

* Women excepted. Z./. E. zxviu. ^ This title was also given to the
167. *'* De Morgan, vii. 420. chief of the Sakai at Slim. — Swett in

* I have no other record of this title. J.R,A,S,^ S,B,, No. 5, p. 59.

CHAP. X SAKAI OF PERAK 501

third title is L€la Pa-jangga. The last occupant of
this latter title had a daughter, who is now alive
and is married to Si Itam, the elder brother of Dn
Luering's informant Singa*.

Laws}

The penalty of death is reserved for murder,^ and
the execution of the murderer is permitted to the
relatives of his victim, the weapon which is to be used
being that with which the crime was committed.
As a rule the criminal escapes into the forest, where
he is pursued and killed, frequently during his sleep.
Crimes of this kind (murder) are, however, so exceed-
ingly rare as to be a quantity ndgligeable. The penalty
for theft, which is equally rare, is exclusion from the
tribe — " a sort of banishment." The man thus exiled
has to fell and plant a new clearing at a distance from
the settlement of his tribe, and if he refuses, is tied
up to a tree and flogged with a rattan.

In cases of dispute (about women), or assault, the
Penghulu (who acts both as civil and criminal judge)
condemns the guilty party to pay fair compensation to
his victim.

For enticing away a married woman, the penalty
is a fine of seven dollars "at the most." Among
tribes which use money, the fines vary from one and
two to seven dollars ; among the wilder tribes they
are paid in kind (tapioca, rice, etc.).^

1 De Morgan, vii. 25 ; UH, ii. 558. sidered a great crime. To' Lil& told me,

^ The punishment of those who used and often gives rise to a fight. The

the blowpipe to commit murder was guilty parties are made to pay a fine to

especially severe ; the murderer being the husband, generally thirty dollars

compelled to eat a portion of his each. (This well proves the enormity

victim's fiesh [no doubt in order that it of the fiiiult I ) The woman's fine is

might poison him]. — Eth, NotinbL i. 10. paid by her fether or brothers. I pro-

' Cp. Br. de St -P. Lias, p. 281, secuted my researches on the penal

where we find: — ** Adultery is con- l^slation of the Sakai :

502 THE SOCIAL ORDER part ii

Elsewhere De Morgan adds that in case of banish-
ment the condemned party has to leave at two nights'
notice, abandoning for ever, not only his property, but
his wife and children. In serious cases the Penghulu
always takes counsel with the elders of the tribe.^

Contracts}

The following is a summary of what De Moi^^
says about Sakai contracts : —

There is no form of actual sale among the Sakai,
who do not use money or any substitute for it. Fre-
quently, however, a form of contract is met with which
consists in handing over some portable object, such as
a blowpipe, in return for a promise to supply a family
with food for a specified period. Thus a blowpipe and
quiver with darts are valued at a fortnight's food-supply
for a family, and a loin-cloth of beaten tree-bark
(" t'rap ") is priced at a month's supply of food, and so
on, according to the character of the object transferred.

Leases are rare, on account of the patriarchial
system in vogue. The family takes the place of an
artificially created society, and is usually numerous
enough to cultivate its own lands without farming
them out to strangers. Such land is, however, occa-
sionally leased in return for a supply of food. Loans
for one or more stated occasions are more usual ; e^.

** * And when a Sakai kills a man <* ' He asks or bu}^*

. . . ?' *** If he has no money?'

** * Never ! ' interrupted To' Lil& " • That does not matter, he is given

quickly. them. When a man from a distance

t< c When he steals . . . ?* enters the country, he has only to ask

** * Never ! ' he replied, with the and is given food.' "

same energy. See NotizbLy i. 7-11, for further

** * What ! Are there no robbers?' information by Vaughan-Stevens, who

*• * No.* does not, however, specify from what

♦* 'When a man is hungry, and he localities he collected it.

has no yams ?' > De M. viiL 224. * lb, viL 424.

CHAP. X SAKAI OF PERAK 503

loans of knives, hatchets, and other objects which the
Sakai cannot make themselves and obtain from the
Malays ; as well as loans of houses, clearings, or crops.
The Sakai are honest and always return a loan.

For all these contracts consent alone is necessary,
and no regular form is used.

The ** contract of donation " is chiefly applied to
some portable article, e.g. a knife. Similar presents
were those made by a son-in-law to his (prospective)
father-in-law.

Debts may arise, e.g.y from failing to return a
borrowed article that has been lost, or from fines,
etc.

The debtor and his family work for the creditor
for one or two months (according to the Penghulu's
decision), the creditor finding them food. They then
retire into the forest until their plantation is once
more able to support them. A debtor is despised by
everybody, and is derisively given, when a monkey
is killed, the creature's muzzle as his portion of food.
Sometimes the creditor is put by the Penghulu in
possession of a debtor's crops.^

Property}

As has already been pointed out, the petty chief
of each Sakai village (Pelima or Penghulu) has, as
De Morgan states, every right but the capital one
over the members of his settlement. His authority
is enforced (like that of the father of a European
family) by means of the influence derived from his
age and position in the tribe, rather than by that
of any legal sanction. The tribe, in fact, merely forms
(as it were) a rather larger family circle.

^ De Morgan, vii. 424. ^ Ibid. p. 420.

5Q4

THE SOCIAL ORDER

PART II

Individual property does not exist ; its place is
taken by family property,^ So, too, cultivation is
carried out in common, and the plantation is culti-
vated by all the members of the family under the
directions of the father, extra work being imposed in
default. The produce is shared between all the
members of the family (and, perhaps, even with a few
of their neighbours). What proves this community
of cultivation, is the fact that as soon as one of the
sons of the family takes up land elsewhere, he is ex-
cluded from his share of the produce of the plantation,
although he is nevertheless very well received when
he comes to pay a visit to his parents.*

Stucession}

The order of inheritance is as follows: — (i) De-
scendants, (2) ascendants, and (3) collateral branches
of the same family. The rights of the first class
include representation, or the rights of the children of

^ On the other hand we have the
following statements from Vaughan-
Stevens : — " Women, though they
might not hold office, were allowed to
possess land. At marriage such land
passed to the husband, the wife losing
all title to it. But all durian and
other trees, if planted either by herself
or by her orders, were her exclusive
property, and might be made over to
any one whom she chose in the life-
time of her husband. In such cases
the tree was marked in the presence of
the chief with the sign of its new
possessor (such signs consisting of an
incision), which varied with each in-
dividual, and which was cut into the
bark of the tree thus disposed of. A
married woman ran no great danger
of contracting debts. If she had any
such before her marriage, the bride-
groom was informed of them ; and if
the marriage took place, he himself
became responsible for them. If,

however, he was not informed, the
woman's parents were held re^wnsible.
If the woman had lost her parents, or
if she were a widow, and gave her
[new] husband no information about
such debts, she was liable to be pun-
ished for her deceitiiilness by a miaor
chief, but the creditor dared not press
his claim upon her [new] spouse,
since it was the creditor's business
to see that the prospective husband
knew of it, as every marriage was
spoken of far and wide bdbre it
actually took place. The failure of
a crop which she had sold before-
hand might bring a woman who
owned land into debt, and she wms
unable to work off the debt as the
men could, except by the protracted
process of mat- and basket-making ; so
that in the eyes of the Sakai, this was
a [valid] excuse for her debt " {Z.f. R,
xxviii. 168).

' De Morgan, viL 421. * lb, p. 423.

CHAP. X SAKAI OF SELANGOR 505

' the deceased to take his place in the succession. In
default of heirs belonging to any of the three branches
referred to, the house and clearing are abandoned as
if accursed.

If the deceased has died of an epidemic sickness,
everything is abandoned by his heirs, who fear that
the very soil or goods of the deceased may contain
the germs of the disease.

Property rights are collective, not individual.

This flows from the custom by which the Penghulu
designates, in every case, the limits of the ground
that each member of the tribe may occupy. Even
abandoned land may not be taken up again without
the consent of the tribal chief.

The result is that all the members of the tribe are
guaranteed against dispossession.

Chiefs, Laws, Succession.

Selangor Sakai. — There is no trustworthy authority
for the title of ** Batin " as obtaining among the
Sakai of Perak. Whether we may conclude that this
title is not used at all in Perak is doubtful, but in any
case the completest form of the Sakai constitution
(and that one of Malayan origin) ^ is to be found in the
interior of Selangor, where the Batin is the chief of a
group of Sakai villages, which as a rule are fairly near
each other. Under the Batin are the Mentri or Jinang,
Jukrah (or jSkra), Penghulu Balai, and Penglima.

The foregoing is probably the full list of these
functionaries, but it very seldom happens that any

^ Letessier, p. 99. Both fonns J£kra does not seem altogether certain, and the

and Jukfa(or Jukrah)areused. The form form Jukrah may merely be an instance

Jukrah is explained as an abbreviation of popular et3rmology. All these titles

of Juni-krah, or ''r^rt^^officer" ( " super- are Malayan, and show the strong Jaktm

visor of the corv^") ; but this derivation influence among the Sakai of Selangor.

5o6 THE SOCIAL ORDER part ii

group of villages has a complete set of them all at
once. Some tribes have a Batin, Jinang, and Penghulu,
others a Jinang, Jukrah, and Penghulu, others a Ju-
krah only, and so on.

Three of these six titles (Mentri, Penghulu, and
Penglima) are used by the civilised Malays of the
Peninsula, but the other three are otherwise only
used by the Jakun, from whom the Selangor Sakai
have clearly borrowed.

The title of Batin is hereditary and passes as a
rule to the eldest son ; but if the Batin die without
issue, and none of his close relatives happens to
be a suitable person, the Jinang or Jukrah appoints
as Batin some close relation of another Batin of the
same tribe.^

The Batin is the executive, and at the same time
the administrative, head of the tribe, although his
methods of performing his duties are distinctly
patriarchal in character. In addition to the duties
already mentioned, he is required especially to insist
on the enforcement of the tribal customs generally,
and the selection of seasons and methods for the fishing
of the river.^

A fine is the penalty most generally inflicted on
the guilty parties, but for insubordination or serious
crime it commonly takes the form of banishment from
the tribe, or death by the kris, in conformity with
ancient custom.* Of these two forms of punishment

' Letessier, p. 99. The rule among closely with what I myself was told

the Sakai trib^ of Selangor is on more than one occasion by the

certainly as described, but vide Logan Jakun chie&. But from the extreme

in J, L A. L 275 : ** At the death of rarity with which anything of this

a Batin his successor is chosen from his sort happens, I am somewhat in-

sisters* sons." This is probably among dined to doubt whether the power of

tribes under Rembau influence. inflicting the death penalty, which is

^ Letessier, p. 99. claimed by the Batins, was not borrowed

3 Ibid. This last statement agrees by the Sakai from the Jakun or Malays.

CHAP. X SAKAI OF SELANGOR 507

the former alone appears to be an original Sakai prac-
tice. A small tribute of rice (says Letessier) was
paid annually to the Batin by the members of the tribe.

The Jinang is the representative of the Batin on
all occasions when the latter is unable to be present in
person, and not unfrequently is tacitly allowed to
assume the government of the tribe, without the elec-
tion of a Batin at all. ** Mentri " is probably only the
Malay equivalent of " Jinang."

The Jukrah is the petty chief who marshals the
tribesmen (for any necessary work that has to be per-
formed in common).

The Penghulu (or P. Balai) fills the post of a
sort of master of the Batin's household, and is also,
generally speaking, his administrative officer. The
Penglima (Letessier adds) is his executive officer.

Selangor SakaL — Of the Sakai of Ulu Langat, Mr.
Campbell relates that they very rarely commit such
crimes as murder. He enquired (he says) what
punishment a murderer would probably receive, and
was told that he would be fined ten jungle-knives
(" parangs "), ten hatchets (** b'liongs "), ten blowpipes
(**sumpitans"), ten saucepans, and such-like. In a case
of adultery the man was fined as for a murder, but he
kept the woman. Very frequently no fine was inflicted
for adultery, but the woman was simply taken over.
But in any case, the woman was not punished. Mr.
Campbell adds that he was told that there were no
specific punishments for theft, which rarely occurs.
Things taken out of another person's house were re-
garded as '* borrowed, not stolen." In the case of a

On the whole, it is more probable, I seems pretty clearly to show. The

think, that the idea was borrowed from kris is certainly a Malay rather than a

the Malays, as indeed the method of Jakun weapon, and execution by means

enforcing it, by execution with the kris, of it is a typical Malay practice.

5o8 THE SOCIAL ORDER part ii

hardened offender, the Batin would send him some
miles away into the jungle to live by himself.^

III. — Jakun.

Blandas. — The Blandas of K. Langat have the same
system of government as that of the Selangor Besisi.
They have further, however, condensed the description
of the limits of their jurisdiction in a series of pro-
verbial or legal ** maxims," which have all the force of a
duly formulated, though unwritten, code, and which are
invoked by their chiefs for the purpose of settling
any disputes that may arise among them. The
following are a few examples which I took down
from the lips of one of their chiefs : —

1. The laws of Batin Tanggong Gagah : '
By hill and hill-foot, cave, MU-basin
Lies the path, prevail the customs,
Of the kin o' the wasting millet.'

2. The Batin and the Jinang tarry
At the limits of full flood-tide ;

The Land-folk's chief frequents the hill-tops.
His sway is o'er the upper Langat,
His are the dues of yams and < gharu,*
• Chirok,' * los,' tin-sand, mine-paddocks ;
Tis his to feed upon wild aroids.
His are rattan and gutta taban.

3. To the Batin of the Sea-folk*
'Longs the bellying sail of palm-leaf,
'Longs the swirling of the oar-blade,
Anchor dropped and spreaded awning,
Clearing, felling for fish -fences,
Hunting fish, and sting-ray spearing.

4. The laws are at the top of the trunk,
The genealogy at the bottom,

The laws of our chiefs follow the Raja's ruling.

5. Where the wild-bees' nest swings, where the wait-a-bit creepers &11 away from
their supports,

* J. A. G. Campbell, p. 242. probably means "of the kinsfolk who

* Said to be a son of To' Klambu, live upon millet " (instead of rice), this
who lived and died at Tunggul Si being a custom of the wilder tribes.
Jaga. * I,e, of the Besisi (as a Coast tribe).

' The expression is obscure, but ♦* Ch€rok" and **los" arc unexplained.

CHAP. X SA VAGE MALA YS OF SELANGOR 509

Where the streams commence their tricklings, where the '' kasai " trees crowd

ever closer together,
Where the croak-croak-croaking of frogs is heard,
Where the wind follows through the divide
And the streams follow down into the valleys.
There through the swamps — ^splash-splash — go the chiefs of our trihe.

Another version of the Law, of a slightly different
type, ran as follows : —

Gobang Gubin, Buluh Bohal ;
Round the Island of Sumatra,
Round the Menangkabaus* Island,
Came we unto Pagar Ruyong,
Came we to the land of Jati,
Came we unto Tanjong Pagar, ^
Came we unto Johor Lama.
^ Toh Bombong * opened the Nine Rivers,

With Batin Chap, and Batin Maniis,'
Batin Lengges, Batin Bereh,
Batin Kantun, Batin Galang,
With old To' Klambu, Granny Beoi,
Batin Wat, and Batin Minah.*

Says the Law again : —

Where betel-palms grew thick together.
Where coco-palms grew thick together.
Where betel-palms their crests were waving.
Where coco-palms their crests were waving,
Founded we the Land S^mujong,^
Ruling o'er the Nine Streams' Sources,
By the Fourfold States maintain^
By the Fourfold Clans sustain^.
Thence we spread to the Pass of Bidai,
Thence we spread to the Pass of Naning,
Thence we spread to the Stream of Labu,
Thence we spread to Granny Beoi's.
All the land's To' Bombong's country.
He it was became To' Klana,
Founder of the Land Semujong.
Batin Galang wended seawards,
Seawards wended and turned pirate.
Granny Beoi and Batak G'rodok,
Reaching Rawang, went ashore there ;
At Rawang, Big and Little Rawang,
Dwelt our Sires both big and little.

A collection of these Jakun records, which are

1 At Singapore. twelve of these Batins. See p. 5 1 3, ». 2.

* This was the name of To' Klana * The older (and accurate) name of

before his inauguration (" b^lum di- the State that is now (I believe through

lantik "). » Or Baruis. a white man's blunder) called Sungei *

^ Altogether there were said to be Ujong.

5IO THE SOCIAL ORDER part ii

comparable to those of the Rembau Malays, would
prove of great interest.

Chiefs.

BesisL — Among the Besisi of Langat the Batin
is the arbiter of all disputes, at least of all such as are
referred to him by the subordinate chiefs of the tribe.
He also acts as priest at marriages, as magician, and as
judge in cases of wrong-doing, the fines that he inflicts,
in place of money, usually taking the shape of pieces of
cloth (" sarongs," etc.) or cooking-pots (" kuali," etc.).*

The Jinang is their vice- Batin; the Penghulu
Balei has charge of the tribal feasts and the holding
of councils ; the Jukrah is the summoner of the tribe ;
the Penglima the Batin 's executive officer.

There are, I think, some grounds for believing the
drum (which is not usually found among the Semang
or Sakai) to be part of the insignia of Jakun chiefs.

The Besisi of Sepang more than once described to
me a strange sort of head-gear which had formed the
insignia of their lineal chiefs ; and I heard later from
a local Malay chief that this head -gear had been,
within his remembrance, in the actual possession of
Batin Pah Kasat (a former chief of Sepang Kechil),
who showed it to my informant, and who used to
wear it on his head whenever the tribe met in council.
My informant stated that this head-gear was made of
some unusual material, which might have been some
kind of manufactured tree -bark; strands of this
material (whatever it might be) were cunningly inter-
woven to form knots resembling the " buku bSmban "
(a kind of multiple knot) of the Malays. This head-
gear was called the Buluh Bohal (lit. " Bamboo of

* Bellamy, p. 227, etc.

^m^

Skeat Collection.
Model of Insignia of Bksisi Batin or Chief.

A mystic knot (in foreground) of some unknown material. It is carried
in the bamboo receptacle here shown upright behind it.

I'ol. I. p. 511.

CHAP. X SA VAGE MALA YS OF MALACCA 511

Bohal"), and descended direct as an heirloom
("pSsaka") from father to son in the male line. It
was not used, however, by any other than this one
tribe, and although I offered great rewards, I was never
able to obtain a sight of it. Indeed, I was told that
when the Batin who had owned it died, it was taken
back to Selat Dumei in Sumatra.^

Chiefs}

Mantra. — The constitution of society was as simple
amongst the Mantra as amongst the Benua of Johor.
Perfect equality prevailed. The Batin was not dis-
tinguished in his manner of life from the others.

Of Batins the Mantra had Batin Palimei, who
ruled in Jempul, Batin Chinchang of Johol, Batin
Puchu of Batang Muar, Batin Kechi of Ulu Muar,
and Batin Jedam (? Jadam) on the borders of Pahang
and Muar. Each of these Batins had under him a
Jinang, a Jukrah or Juru-krah, and an indefinite
number of Penglimas and Ulubalangs. On the death
of a Batin a successor was chosen from amongst the
sons of his sisters.'

The Batin must be called to take part at the
installation of every new Raja. This is because all
rulers, from the Raja downwards, were first " in-
stituted " by the Batin.*

* Finding that there was no means described by Vaughan- Stevens {s,v,

of seeing the thing itself, I had a copy ** penjok "), which appears, from the

of it made in cloth by one of the name "buhu" {sic, ? "buluh"), and

Besisi, on the understanding that the from the fact that *' penjok'' is a

copy was to be as exact as it was Semang-Sakai word for *Moin-cloth,"

possible to make it. On the whole, I to have perhaps been a loin-cloth of this

am inclined to believe that Buluh Bohal very material. Vide p. 455, ante ; and

was a place-name (? in Sumatra), whence cp. p. 450, ante.
came a piece of bamboo "cloth," ^ /. I, A, vol. i. p. 330*.

which was believed to have been taken ' Ibid, p. 275 ; compare Misc»

from the bamboo out of which the first Ess, rel, Ind,, Sec. Ser. vol. i. pp.

ancestor of the race was said to have 301, 302.
issued. But cp. the insignia of Kari * Ibid,

5H THE SOCIAL ORDER part n

In the work of government (added the relater),
the Batin, in the forest, was guided by the ancient
customs (** Selasila' "), or what used to be done from
times of old ; the Penghulu, in his Hall of Audience
(*' Balei "), by the written laws (" BSrundang ") ; and
the Raja, in his Palace ("Astana"), by equity
(^''Adilan").^

Laws.

Crimes were very rare. Theft was unknown,
and children were carefully instructed to avoidjt.*

Property and Succession,

Mantra. — Amongst the Mantra the distribution of
property on the death of the husband was as follows :
the goods which belonged to the husband before the
marriage went to his parents and brothers and sisters.
Those acquired during the marriage were divided
equally between these relations and his widow, who,
however, was considered as a trustee for the children.
The clearing (** ladang **) was inherited by her. On
the death of the wife, in the event of her husband
surviving, her antenuptial goods go to her children,
and the goods in common are equally shared between
the husband and the children, who leave their father
and live with the nearest female relatives of their
deceased mother.*

The Family,

BenuEf-Jakun. — The Benua family was an innocent
and happy one, and mutual kindness prevailed on

* J, /. A. vol. L p. 327*. Penghulu 'Adilan= Mohammedan law.
here = the chief of the State, Raja= * Und. p. 330*.

head of the confederation of States, and 3 /^^ pp^ 274, 275.

CHAP. X SA VAGE MALA YS OF JOHOR 513

every side. The authority of the father was absolute,
nor were the sons freed from it even when they
had themselves become the heads of families. It is
probable that in the more purely nomadic ages the
family was less subject to be early broken up, and
that the patriarchal system prevailed to a yet fuller
extent. In the house, however, the husband
appeared more as an honoured guest than as its lord.
The wife had the entire management. A Benua
expressed their ideas on this score figuratively, by
saying that the husband was the captain of the vessel
(** Nakhoda prahu ") and the wife captain of the house
\' Nakhoda rumah ").'

Chiefs?
Benua- Jakun. — The boundary between the east
coast State of Pahang and Johor intersects the Benua
country ; the whole of the Anak Endau and the lower
part of the Sembrong being in Pahang (and conse-
quently under the Bendahara), and all the other rivers,
including the Madek, on which the Benua are found,
appertaining to Johor (so that they are, consequently,
under the Temenggong). The authority of the Benda-
hara and the Temenggong, however, was little more
than nominal, the affairs of the Benua being entirely
administered by their own chiefs, each of whom had a
definite territorial jurisdiction. The highest in rank
and in nominal authority was the Batin Anak
Setia, the descendant of the ancient (traditionary)
Raja of the Benua. On the Endau, below the
junction of the Sembrong and Anak Endau, resided

1 /. /. A, vol. L pp. 266, 267. into tribes, each under an elder, tenned

< Ihid, pp. 273.275 (quoted by De the Batm, who directs its movements

QuatrefiLg», pp. 221, 222). See and settles disputes. In the states of

also Newbold's account (voL ii pp. Sungei Ujong and Johol are twelve

392-394) : " The Benua are divided trib^ consisting of upwards of 1000

VOL. I 2 L

514 THE SOCIAL ORDER part ii

the Batin Hamba Raja. The Lenggiu, a branch of
the Endau, was under the Batin Setia Raja, who was
also their great executive officer; his relationship
to the Batin Anak Setia having some resemblance to
that between the Malay Temenggong and the Sultan
of Johor. The Sungei Selai» again, was under the
Batin Singa Dewa. The Sembrong in the vicinity
of Tanjong Bongko* was under the Batin Setia Bati,
higher up near Gagau under the Batin Jukrah, and still
nearer its source under Batin Dewa Kasuma (?) and
under the Batin Bentara. All these, except the two last,
were within the Pahang boundary. The local Malay
authority, who, in matters of government, possessed
a nominal power, and whose relationship with r^ard
to the Benua was properly that of the maintainer and
regulator of the Malayan trade monopoly, was called
To' Jinang. The Benua on the Batu Pahat and its
branches were under the Bentara or Mangki (sic, ?
Mangku) Pemanggun of Bekok. The jurisdiction of
the Malay Penghulu of Batu Pahat had once ex-
tended to Ginting Batu on the eastern Sembrong, but
since the waterways became obstructed the To' Jinang

individuali, under twelve Batins, who, limpei '), who succeeded his uude,

as mentioned in the account of these Breyk, a short time ago /fv tempore,

states, have the power of electing the until his son, now a child, be old enough

Malay chie&. [These twelve chiefs to take upon himself the direction of the

were probably those referred to in the affiiirs of the tribe. The Blandas have

Blandas traditions {v, supra).] Under four Jinangs, viz. Pawampa de Cheyng

each Batin are two subordinates, termed {sic, ?), Ampu Manis, * Palsye ' (? Pa'

Jinang (*Jennang') and Juru-krah L^Ssai), and Rumbong ; and two Jum-

(*Juroka'), who assist the former in kras. The Besisi, one Jinang named

his duties. A Juru-krah of the Besisi Mumin ; one Juru-krah, Sekanal ; and

tribe, named Tenggin(?), from the one Poyang, Manan(*Mannan'). The

interior of Selangor, and a Poyang frinctions of their Batin resemble those

named Ambui, of the Blandas tribe, pertaining to the Malay Raja; the

informed me that the latter had four title of Jinang is equivalent to that of

Batins named Baning ('Banning') the Malay Pfoghulu; and that of the

or the 'Tortoise,' Lunggeyng, Singa- Juru-krah to that of Mata-Mata.

kuasa ('Singa-quassa') or the 'Mighty There is also a war chief called

Lion,* and Pakat. The Besisi tribe P^lima, identical with the Malay Pteg-
has one Batin only. Pi' Limpei ('Pft-

CHAP. X SAVAGE MALAYS OF JOHOR 515

of the Endau had engrossed the trade of the Johor
portion of the Sembrong river.^ The Benua of Benut
were under a Jukrah (*' Juru-krah'*) and a Batin.
Each Batin had absolute authority within his own
jurisdiction, but he referred difficult or unusual
cases to a Council composed of all the Batins,
excepting the Batin Anak Setia; and matters in
which all the Benua were concerned appertained
to the same Council. Their deliberations were said
to be sometimes very prolonged, particularly in
affairs of a novel character, when their knowledge
of the old " 'adat '* did not supply them with any
precedents.

Laws.
BennapJakun. — Offences against property or person
were, from the mildness of the race, of very rare occur-
rence. Crimes of all kinds might be expiated by the
payment of fines, the sentences being invariably im-
posed, not in the form of coins, of which very few
reached their hands, but in coarse Chinese plates or
saucers (" pinggan **). Adultery was punishable by a
fine of from 10 to 20 plates according to circumstances ;
theft the same ; murder, which, however, seems to be
almost unknown, by one of 60 plates. One-half of the
fine went to the Batin and the other half to the injured
person. If the offender failed to deliver the plates, he
became the slave of his victim. Complaints were
inquired into by the Batin, who assembled a number of
the elders and consulted with them. The Batin was
considered to be responsible for any property that was
stolen. But he could not convict the thief without
confession or direct evidence of the theft. No regular

^ So Logan, but do part of the and only part of the left bank of the
Sembrong river is now in Pahang, Endau.

5i6 THE SOCIAL ORDER part ii

tax was paid to the Batins, but presents were fre-
quently made to them.^

Loans were freely given, but no pledge was ever
taken.^

Property and Succession?

Benua-Jakun. — On the separation of husband and
wife by mutual consent, their hitherto common property
was divided into three parts, of which the husband
took two and the wife one. On the husband's death,
one-third of the estate went to daughters and two-
thirds to sons. On the wife's death, the goods in
common fell to the husband's share.

Again, if the wife happened to own a clearing
("blukar") it descended to her children, the father,
however, being an usufructuary trustee during his life.

Chiefs.^

Johor Jakun. — Each tribe was under an elder,
termed the Batin, who directed its movements and
settled disputes.

Under each Batin were two subordinates, termed
Jinang and Juru-krah, who assisted him in his duties.

A fourth title was that of Pawang, but it was rather
a title of honour than of jurisdiction, and indicated
the persons who were generally charged with fulfilling
the offices of physician and teacher.

1 /. /. A. vol. i. p. 274. {jUfid,) that adultery is punished with

Of the Benua Newbold says (ii. death if the parties are taken in the act.

394> 395) : '* Capital crimes such as Cp. also Vaughan - Stevens in

murder are punished by drowning, by V, B. G, A, xxiii. 834. [The only im-

impaling, or by exposure to the sun, portant point is that for theft double

leaving the criminal bound to a Nipah restitution had to be made, etc. But no

(ue, thatch-leaf palm) to perish from localities being given, it is quite on-

heat and hunger." [The penalties certain of what tribe Vaughan-Steveos

mentioned are all practised by the is speaking.]

Malajrs, from whom their institution is ^ J*I' ^* voL L p. 3S5.

probably borrowed.] Newbold adds • lb. p. 274. * lb, vol. iL 267, 268.

SAVAGE MALAYS OF JOHOR

517

The functions of the Batin resembled those
appertaining to the Malay Raja. The title of Jinang
was equivalent to that of the Malay Penghulu, and
that of Juru-krah was applied to the inferior executive
(police) officers. There was also a war chief called
Penglima.^

After the death of a Batin (or chief of the tribe)
the eldest of his sons would be presented by his
nearest relation to the whole collected tribe, and
would then be declared and publicly recognised as
the successor of his father in the Batinship. If the
people refused to declare him Batin, the second son
of the late Batin would be presented ; and if this
second son and his other brothers were refused by
the people, a stranger to the family would be elected.^

1 /. /. A. vol. it p. 267.

' /did. It is related by some persons
that the Jakun have great influence in
the respective Malay states where
they are living, and chiefly in the
election of Malay Penghulus in the
Menangkabau states. Newbold too
says the same, and confirms it by the
following feet ! — " A few years ago the
late Penghulu of Sungei Ujong, Klana
Leber, died, leaving two nephews,
Kawal and Bhair. It is an ancient
custom, prevalent still in the interior
and, I believe, generally throughout
Malayan nations, that when a chief
dies his successor must be elected on
the spot, and before the interment of
the corpse (which is not unfrequently
deferred through the observance of this
usage to a considerable length of time),
otherwise the election does not hold
good.

** Now it happened that Kawal was
absent at the time of Penghulu Leber's
death. The three Sukus and one of
the twdve Batins took advantage of
Bhair's being on the spot, elected him,
and buried the body of the deceased
chief. Against this proceeding the
Raja di Raja and the remainder of

the elective body, the eleven Batins,
protested ; a war ensued, which ter-
minated in 1828, pretty much as it
began. Kawal, however, by virtue of
the suflirages of the eleven out of the
twelve Batins, and by the support of the
Raja di Raja, is generally considered
the Intimate chief. In Johol the
Batins have a similar influence in the
election of the Penghulu.**

It appears certain that in tormer
times the Batins exercised such an
influence in the elections of the Malay
chief; but we must say that they
have at the present time lost a great
part of it ; for in Johol, Rembau, and
several other places they are so few in
number that such a feet would be im-
possible, and the contempt which the
Malays have for them, as well as their
own natural disposition to tranquillity
and peace, scarcely permit us to
believe that such is the case now even
for Sungei Ujong, where they are the
most numerous.—;/'. /. A, vol. ii. p.
270.

Vide, however, M. Lister {loc, at.)
on the constitution of N. Sembilan,
where this alleged influence of the
Batins is confirmed.

5i8 THE SOCIAL ORDER part ii

After the death of a Jinang or a Juru-krah, the
Batin would appoint the eldest son of the deceased to
succeed to his office. If, on the other hand, the
Batin should find the eldest son of the late dignitary
unfit for the appointment, he would nominate another
of the same family, and only when there was no proper
person in the family itself to fill the office would he
then appoint some one outside it.^

Jakun. — Though the Jakun were generally good,
and little inclined to evil ways, they showed, notwith-
standing, from time to time (though seldom) that
they were in natura lapsa, like the rest of mankind,
from whence the necessity of establishing laws
amongst them ; though we can say, to their praise,
that their laws rather prevented disorder than
punished it. Their laws were not everywhere
uniform ; each tribe had its customs and regulations,
those here stated being those more generally received.
They were not written down ; but might be ex-
pressed in some such way as follows : —

Murder and Assault?

If a person kill another without just cause, he
shall be put to death.

If a person beat another, he shall be beaten in
the same way ; if he wound him, he shall be wounded
in the same way.

If a person insult another, he shall pay a fine.

» /. /. A. vol. ii. p. 268. * Ibid. p. 267. » IHd, p. 269.

CHAP. X SA VA GE MALA YS OF JOHOR 5 19

Theft}

If any person steals the property of his neigh-
bour, he shall return it, and pay a fine to the Batin.

If a person has already stolen several times, the
Batin shall confiscate all his property.

If it is recognised that a person is in the habit
of stealing, he shall be killed ; because it is not con-
sidered possible that a man who has given way to
such a habit can ever again become an honest
man.

The laws about marriage and divorce, and the
disposal of children, will be dealt with more fully in the
chapter on Marriage. Suffice it to say, with regard to
marriage, that they are strict monogamists, the penalty
for conjugal infidelity being the capital one ; and that
the laws concerning divorce provide for the return of
the dowry by the defaulting party ; and with regard to
children, that they cannot be sold against their will,
whatever age they may be, but must be taken care of,
on the death of both parents, by the next of kin.

Inheritance}

After the death of the parents the whole of their
property shall be divided amongst all the children in
equal parts.

To the foregoing account it may be added that
if a Jakun man died in debt, his debts were paid to
the extent of one half, the creditor losing the other
half, even though there were property enough left
to pay the whole. The balance went to the next of
kin ; to the widow, if there were one, in preference to

1 /. /. A, vol. ii. pj 269. * Ibid, p. 270.

520 THE SOCIAL ORDER part ii

a grown-up son, but a man might leave his property
to any relation he pleased.*

Chiefs.

UdaL — The Udai are described by Newbold as
being "without either laws or any form of govern-
ment/'* but this statement must not be taken aupied
de la lettre.

Orang Laut or Sea-Jakun.

The Orang Laut system of chiefship seems to have
been the same as that of the Jakun, the titles of the
tribal chiefs including those of Batin, Jinang, Jukrah,
Penglima, Hulubalang, etc. Even among the tribes
to be found at the present day on the island of
Singapore {e.g. the men of Kallang), these titles are
still preserved, in spite of the close proximity and
influence of Singapore itself.

With this exception, however, there is scarcely a
single remark extant to inform us what were the
actual methods of law and government as practised
by the Orang Laut, though there can be little doubt
that they were practically identical with those of the
Jakun. With regard to the rule of succession to
property, we may infer from Logan's remark about
the Sabimba* [that the father's property descended
to the sons], that it was actually identical with the
Jakun rule.

I /. R. A, S., S, B., No. 8, p. I20. « Newbold, ii. 381, 382.

3 See vol. ii. p. 116.

CHAPTER XI.

Dealings with Other Races.

The most nomadic of all the wild tribes of the
Peninsula are certainly the wilder Semang, who
seldom stay more than three days in any one locality,
and spend their entire lives in the hunt for wild roots
and game. These " cheery little hunters," as they
have been well described, travel continually in the
north of the Peninsula, but do not usually appear to
go far southward, their journeys being generally
confined to the interior of the States of Perak, Kedah,
and Kelantan, the old Malay State of Patani, and a
portion of Trengganu and Pahang (north of the
mouth of the river Tahan).

Of the Sakai tribes of Perak Sir F. Swettenham
remarks that the common idea that they wander at large
all over the hills is certainly a mistake. Each particular
tribe keeps exclusively to its own valley, and is
frequently at feud with its neighbours on either side.^
Their habits are migratory within their own districts,
but except when compelled by the oppression of the
Malays or other causes they seldom leave their own
valleys.*

The Jakun or "savage Malayan" tribes, among

^ This does not mean that they actually go to war.
* Swettenham, op, cit,

521

522 DEALINGS WITH OTHER RACES part ii

whom may be reckoned the Besisi (the most numerous
of the Coast-Jakun tribes) are, on the other hand, in
the habit of migrating to greater distances, such as,
for instance, to Batu Pahat in Johor and to the Strait
of Dumei (Selat Dumei), off the west coast of Sumatra,

One of the most important causes which contribute
to these periodical migrations is their great love of
fruit, especially that of the durian. The seasons at
which this fruit ripens vary in different parts of the
Peninsula, and the wild jungle -dwellers (when not
forestalled by Malays), pass from one fruit-grove to
another as the trees ripen. But the number of fruit-
groves thus visited by any given tribe is always
limited, and usually consists, I believe, of the very
same series, no attempt being made to poach upon the
preserves of other tribes ; that is to say, the Sakai
would not visit a Semang fruit-grove or vice versa,
so that their wanderings are thus confined within
certain well-defined limits.

It has often been stated by way of demonstrating
the low state of their intellect that the wild tribes of
the Peninsula are unable to count beyond three.
This statement, however, is somewhat misleading, as
although they can only count up to three in many of
their dialects, higher numerals are still preserved in
some localities {e.g. in Johor), and there is besides
sufficient evidence to make it very fairly certain that
the Mon-Anam numerals up to ten (and perhaps
higher) must have formerly been known at least to
some of the tribes in question.^

Many of them can to this day count up to ten in
Malay, their knowledge of Malay numerals being
doubtless due to their practice of bartering jungle

» Cp. C. O. Blagden,/. R, A, S., S. B., No. 27, p. 40.

CHAP. XI GENERAL REMARKS 523

produce with the Malays. From these latter they
have learned the higher numerals, retaining only, in
their own dialect, the names of the first three or four^
of them, which are all they would commonly require
for everyday use among themselves.

In the following pages will be given a few examples
of the inhuman treatment that these wild tribes have
suffered in the past at the hands of their Malay
persecutors — a treatment of which several writers,
among them Mr. Hugh Clifford — have described the
results in vivid and picturesque narrative.

As an offset to these cases, complaints of being
cheated by the Sakai and Jakun are not infrequently
made by Malays, and some countenance is even lent
to these statements by the high authority of writers
like Logan. There are, however, the gravest reasons
for disbelieving, or at the least for heavily discounting,
all tales of this kind, which it is never safe to accept
without the strictest investigation. Having investi-
gated a good many Malay complaints of this sort, the
present writer is convinced that in the majority of
cases, at all events, there is as little likelihood of
Malays being cheated by any of these wild races as
there would be of the wolf of the fable being
deceived by the lamb.^ The Semang are perhaps an
exception.

The most carefully collected government statistics
do not (as has already been stated in the first part of
this book) bear out the idea that the aborigines of the
Malay Peninsula are destined to be killed off" by
the kindness of civilisation. Their actual numbers

1 Cp. Clifford, J,R.A,S.t S. B,, bearing on the same subject will be
No. 24, p. 18. found in an earlier chapter — that on

'A good deal more information "Modes of Barter."

524 DEALINGS WITH OTHER RACES part ii

(especially when the small but necessary allowance is
made for wastage through the conversion of an in-
creasing number to Islam) have certainly not decreased
to any appreciable extent, and the position of all the
tribes, as a whole, is gradually improving. The
policy of reserves is obviously unsuited for a race
in which the nomadic instinct is so strong; to
confine a head of deer in a buffalo-pen must needs
be fatal to the deer. A just and strong govern-
ment has already given them what they most
required, viz. protection against their most powerful
and aggressive compatriots the Malays. The raids of
the latter, which were once so common, have now been
rigorously repressed, the result being that the relations
between the aborigines and their quondam persecutors
are much improved, though the necessity for constant
vigilance has not by any means as yet been super-
seded. In spite of the devoted labours of the
missionaries — more especially those of the Roman
Catholic persuasion, who find in the simple hearts
of this wild and untutored jungle-folk the very best
possible soil for the sowing of their seed — it is
perhaps most probable that the ultimate destiny of
the great majority of these wild folk is absorption
into the Mohammedan population. On the other hand,
the fact is, and it is but scant justice to acknowledge
it, that rude and uncultivated as these people are,
yet in some respects they are vastly superior to
the races by whom they are likely to be absorbed —
more honest, more truthful, less covetous, more free
in every way from crime ; and on this account, as
well as on others, they have a foremost claim on the
consideration of the responsible Government.

CHAF. XI NEGRITOS OF PERAK 525

I. — Semang.
Dealings with Strangers.

Semang*. — The Negrito lives by his bow and blow-
pipe alone, and sleeps in a temporary lean-to shed in
spots where game is plentiful. The Sakai affects to
look down upon the Negrito, while the latter is a
happy-go-lucky, cheery little hunter who looks down
on nobody.*

The Semang are very merry and lively, and even
their women and young girls are much less wild than
those of the Sakai, and assail the traveller with all
kinds of extraordinary questions.^

Kedah Semang. — A good many years ago the
Bendahara of Kedah sent two of the Kedah Semang
for the inspection of some of his English friends
at Penang; but shortly after leaving Kedah, one of
them whose fears could not be appeased became very
obstreperous, and endeavoured to upset the small
boat in which they were embarked. The Malays,
therefore, with their usual apathy and indifference to
life, put the poor creature to death, and threw him
overboard; the other arrived in safety, was kindly
treated, and received many presents of cloth and
money. He was taken to view the shops in the
town, and purchased a variety of spades, hatchets, and
other iron implements, which he appeared to prize
above everything else. On his return to Ian he
built himself a small hut, and began to cultivate mace,
sugar-cane, and yams.'

Perak Semang. — In exchanging jungle produce
(of the intrinsic value of which they are ignorant)

» Clifford,/. R, A» 5., S. B., No. 24, p. 14.
' Dc Morgan, viii. 297. ^ Anderson, p. 427.

526 DEAUNGS WITH OTHER RACES part ii

for cloth, the Semang are generally imposed upon
by the crafty Malay, but they in turn, however,
frequently impose upon the superstitious Malays,
when they have no products to barter and wish to
procure a supply of tobacco, by presenting them with
medicines which they pretend to derive from parti-
cular shrubs and trees in the woods, and which they
represent as efficacious for the cure of headache and
other complaints.^

I am told by Mr. L. Wray that the Semang of
Upper Perak have large clearings in which they
cultivate rice and other grains, and have quite good
well-built houses. There are others who appear to
live in a more nomadic way, but even these have
houses to which they resort sometimes. They go
at times over the mountains to Selama and to Kedah.

The tribes of Upper Perak are in the position of
dependents to the Malays, and appear to have been
so for a long time past. The Malays call them in
and make them fell the jungle and plant up their
ladangs, collect jungle produce, and do house-build-
ing, etc., for them. In exchange they give them salt,
salt-fish, tobacco, knives, axes, etc.

They appear to have been hunted and enslaved
less than the Sakai,* but on the other hand their
position has apparently affected them more than some
other subject races, and they are untruthful, cunning,
and unreliable to a very marked degree. Mr. Wray
was once for three months living amongst them, and
this was the conclusion that he arrived at, much
against his will. It may not apply to the wilder
I^egritos.

1 Anderson, pp. 425, 426 ; qp. De Morgan, VHomnu^ iL 556,
* For an instance, see p. 530 infra^

CHAP. XI SAKAl OF PERAK 527

II. — Sakai.
Dealings with Strangers.

Perak Sakai. — Clifford says,^ that in contrast to
the Negritos, who live as hunters in slight lean-to
sheds, the Sakai live in houses, and plant as well
as hunt ; and adds further that the Sakai tribes are, for
the most part, now split up into innumerable clans,
each consisting of a few families living in places
surrounded by the Malays, and thus cut off from
communication with each other, these small^ clans
being more advanced in civilisation, and at the same
time more degenerate than their brothers the Sakai
of the far interior.

De Morgan says that, thanks to their honesty,
they can do without police, and that as often as he
compared our feverish life in Europe with the peace-
ful existence (of the Sakai), the comparison always
proved to the advantage of the latter.^

Hale, who saw a great deal of the Sakai people
in Perak, invariably found them (where not demo-
ralised by Malay intercourse) most kind and simple-
hearted, and always anxious to do their best to
assist any white man that happened to be in want of
assistance. He found this, moreover, the general
opinion amongst those who had had dealings with
these tribes. As has already been stated in the case
of the Semang, the Sakai in their natural state were
given neither to lying or cheating, though, on the other
hand, they themselves are often the victims of the
most shameless imposture on the part of the Malays.*

1 /. R. A. ^., S. B., No. 24, p. 14.
' De Morgan, vii. 425 ; q). VHomme^ il 556-559. * Hale, p. 286.

528 DEAUNGS WITH OTHER RACES part ii

Hale adds that, the Malays themselves cheated
the Sakai most remorselessly. He was informed
by one of his men that he could always get tin ore
sufficient to smelt ten kati's [rather over 13 pounds]
of tin for a jungle-knife (" parang ") worth only thirty
cents.*

They are a most peaceful race, and now at all
events never make war on each other or go in for
any sort of inter-tribal fighting. They are affectionate
and faithful both to their family and friends, and will
treasure objects which belonged to the deceased.*
For the rest we may accept the statement that they
are by no means stupid, but very much the reverse
in all matters that even indirectly concern their own
interests. They are incapable, however, of standing
any prolonged mental strain, and their inventive
faculties seem dormant rather than non-existent.
When the occasion arises they are by no means want-
ing in resource.*

The Sakai of Perak (as Mr. L. Wray writes me)
are quite independent except in a few places. They
were, in Malay times, hunted like wild beasts, and
when captured enslaved by the Malays. At the
same time there seems to have been a certain amount
of intercourse kept up between the two races in the
shape of a traffic in jungle produce and tin ore, on
the one part, and knives, axes, cooking-pots, salt,
cloth, etc., on the other. A few isolated tribes are

1 I am not quite sure, however, Cp. also Montano (quoted hy De

that some injustice is not done to the Quatrefiiges, pp. 226, 227) : <* M.

Malays in this particular respect, as Montano informs us that they never

Mr. Hale (p. 287), himself records make war on each other, and that the

instances in which articles were offered parents watch tenderly over their

to him by the Sakai at a ridiculously children, and will even when necessary

low valuation. deprive themselves of food on their

'« Hale in/. A, I, pp. 291, 292. account."

CHAP. XI SAKAI OF PERAK 529

Still to be found, such as the Sakai of Blanja and
those at Pulau Tiga ("Three Islands") in Batang
Padang, both of which have maintained their in-
dependence though completely surrounded by Malays.
The Sakai are very shy, but are truthful and honest.
Those of Batang Padang have lately taken to going
by the railway down to Telok Anson to sell rattans,
dammar, and other jungle products at better prices
than they could get from the up-country Malays.
They are now beginning to show a fondness for dress,
and it is no uncommon sight to see a party of Sakai
women coming into the towns very much smarter
and better dressed than the average of Malay
women.

Mr. Wray tells me that he has known several in-
stances of Sakai living in Malay Kampongs in Larut
and Kuala Kangsar, not as slaves but as independent
land- and house-holders.

Before the emancipation of the slaves in 1882-83,
there were many Sakai women in the houses of
the Malays, and quite a considerable number remained
after that date. The children appear to be treated
just the same as the wholly Malayan members of the
family.

Mr. Wray adds, that the Sakai of Perak, who are
in touch with the Malays, employ the Malay numerals
up to quite high figures, and are sharp in money
transactions. In the eighties he saw an excellent
instance of this at Batu Pipis in Kinta. In paying
for some things he gave some coppers to a Sakai, who
picked out a Sarawak cent and gave it back, asking
for a Straits cent in exchange.

The following passage by M. Maclay gives an
accurate picture of the hostile relations still subsisting

VOL. I 2 M

530 DEALINGS WITH OTHER RACES pa«t ii

in some parts between the Malays and aborigines.^
Maclay remarks that if the " tamer " Sakai are some-
what dependent upon the Malays, the ** wilder " ones
remain decidedly hostile to them, and never lose an
opportunity of taking revenge on these foes of theirs,
who by continually laying out new plantations diminish
the territory of the original inhabitants, get the pro-
duce of the jungle from them for a mere trifle, and
also, whenever they can possibly do so, capture their
children in order to keep them or sell them as slaves.
This man-hunting, which is now very rarely practised
by the Malays, was formerly practised on a larger
scale, and in many districts where numerous tribes
of the original inhabitants used formerly to dwell,
no traces of them are now to be found. The
Malays, however, in spite of their superiority in
all respects to these denizens of the jungle, are
nevertheless very much afraid of them, and do not
venture either alone or in too small parties into those
parts of the forest which the wilder aborigines are
known to frequent.^

L. Wray has remarked that Sakai tracks, where-
ever possible, invariably follow the bed of some
stream, and there is thus nothing to guide anybody
in attempting to follow them. This, he was informed,
was intentional, and in times past was a necessary
measure to prevent their being followed and hunted
out of their mountain homes by the Malays.'

^ Maclay in writing of the Pangan, jurisdiction of the F. M. S. For an
whom he calls Sakai. J,R,A,S,yS.B,^ instance in which six Malays

No. 2, pp. 212, 213. It is, how- severely punished, see Maxwell in

ever, bare justice to the Government of J, R, A, 5., S, £,, No. 4, p. 46.

the British Protectorate to say that * Miklucho Maclay in /. R. A, 5*.,

the raiding of the aborigines by Malays S, B,, No. 2, p. 213.

has been sternly repressed, whenever ' /. R. A. S.f S, B., No. 21, pp.

the opportunity has offered, within the 163, 164.

CHAP. XI SAKAI OF SELANGOR 531

The "tamer" Sakai, on the other hand, even
when exploited by the Malays, frequently stand on
somewhat better terms with them. It is in this lighter
vein that a French traveller in Perak (M. Brau de
Saint- Pol Lias) ^ writes as follows : —

** I approach an old man with a round, good-
natured face, white hair, and grey moustache and
beard, and ask him his age.

"He smiles, hesitates a moment, and replies :

" • Sa-ribu T (' a thousand ').

" The Malays annoyingly break out into a great
shout of laughter, whereupon I ask them :

" * Why do you laugh like fools } Perhaps he
means a thousand months. Which of you can tell me
how many years that makes } '

" They hold their peace.

** I return to my Sakai. I am determined to clear
up the point at once, and to find out if the Sakai,
as I have been told, can really only count up to
three.

" * Sa-ribu ! That is perhaps too much,* I say to
the good-natured old man ; * it is too much. Let us
see about how much it is approximately.'

" * Sa-ratus * (* a hundred '), he replies quickly.

" * That is still too much. Perhaps you mean
sixty } *

" * Yes, sixty.'

** I have not settled the point yet." ^

Selangor Sakai. — The nomadic instinct of the
Sakai dies hard, even among the more settled tribes,
and Letessier records the fact that many Sakai
who had been enslaved and converted by the Malays
have taken the advantage of the establishment of the

1 Bran de Saint- Pol Lias, pp. 251-253.

532 DEAUNGS WITH OTHER RACES part ii

British power in the Peninsula " and for the most part
gone back to their hunting of monkeys and wild
pigs."^ Their wonderful knowledge of the jungle
and instinct in finding and capturing game has been
referred to elsewhere.

It cannot be denied that they are, generally speak-
ing, dirty to an extreme as compared with the Malays,
scarcely any of them bathe except when caught in the
rain, and a great number of them, more especially
the members of the inland tribes, suffer from some
more or less advanced stage of skin disease, which
is due, no doubt, entirely to their way of living.
There is, however, a good deal of difference in this
respect between the inland tribes and those near the
coast who have come to a greater extent under Malay
influences.

They are also often very lazy, and, as might be
expected, improvident, both characteristics being due
to the life which they lead.

In many respects the Sakai of Kuala Lumpur are
far better off than their forefathers were in the days
when Malay influence was predominant in the Pen-
insula. In those days, as Letessier says,* they had no
fixed abode. Hunted by the Malays, who stole
their children, they were forced to leave their dwell-
ings and fly hither and thither, passing the night in
caves or in huts (** pondok '*), which they burnt on their
departure. " In those days," they say, " we never
walked in the beaten tracks lest the print of our
footsteps in the mud should betray us." For wherever
the Malay perceived any indication of their presence,
he would build himself a small shelter, and never

1 Letessier, p. lOO. Cp. Maxwell,/. R, A, 5., S, B,^ No. i, pp. 112,
* Letessier, p. 100.

113.

CHAF. XI SAKAI OF SELANGOR 533

leave it until he had discovered the place of retreat
where they generally spent the night. Accompanied
by a few accomplices, he would then repair to the spot
at nightfall, and the party, concealing themselves until
dark, would wait to commence their raid until the
** Hill-men *' were asleep. The Malays would then fire
several rifle shots, spreading terror and confusion
in every family, whose breaking up made them an
easy prey to their assailants, who would promptly
make a rush for the spot where they heard the shrieks
of the women and children. The girls were, as a rule,
at once knocked on the head, and the boys were carried
off and sold as slaves. There is hardly a family that
has not its own especial calamity to relate, the result
being the profound aversion that they avowedly
cherish for the Malay ; no hatred, however, exists nor
desire for vengeance, as such a feeling would be
incompatible with the extraordinarily peaceful nature
of the race.^

Any act of vengeance, moreover, would be fatal to
them, in view of their insignificant numbers and lack
of means of defence. They prefer therefore to
sacrifice the part for the whole, and this is certainly
the only possible course open to them, so far as
regards the loss of their property. Since the arrival of
the English, however, they have grown much bolder,
for as the government has always befriended them
whenever they have chosen to make a complaint, they
are now able to hold their own in spite of the un-
ceasing menaces of their enemy.^

By the Chinese, on the other hand, they are very
much more kindly treated, and are consequently much

> Leteisicr, p. loi. * Ibid.

534 DEALINGS WITH OTHER RACES part ii

more at home with them, and deal with them in
preference to the Malays.^

Finally, we are told by Letessier that what chiefly
distinguishes the Sakai from the Malays is the
natural simplicity of their manner. They have a
childlike openness of speech and are scrupulously just
in their dealings. This uprightness and simplicity is
so visibly expressed on their frank and smiling
countenances, that even when they are attired like
Malays it is almost invariably possible to recognise
them when encountered on a journey. Both their
food and clothing are as simple as possible ; they find
all their wants supplied by the forest.

Sakai of UIu Langat. — Campbell, in writing of the
Ulu Langat Sakai, states that their manners were
simple, and that they were naturally liberal, and
would share anything in their house with any one,
and were hurt if their offer were refused. At the
same time, they were neither spiteful nor vindictive,
and though many of them had guns, they were not
brave enough to hunt the elephant or bison, and were
not ashamed to say so.

A curious feature of their hospitality, pointed out
by Campbell, is that whenever asked to do anything
they would at once comply, but would not as a rule
offer to do it of their own accord.

On the other hand, they would not refuse any
gifts that might be offered them, and indeed in most
cases, would look for presents whenever a European
visited their settlements.

Their mode of trading was very simple, and they
never got the best of a bargain.^

^ Letessier, p. 99. ^ Campbell, p. 240.

CHAP. XI SA VAGE MALA YS OF SELANGOR 535

III. — Jakun.

Besisi. — Like many wild races in other parts, they
are reticent and shy of strangers, and will frequently
hide in the jungle or up trees when a white man is
visiting their settlement for the first time. This shy-
ness, however, wears off much sooner than it does with
the Malay, so long as they are well and justly treated ;
in fact, in many cases it soon entirely disappears.

Their ignorance not unfrequently takes a form
which though natural enough in itself, appears ex-
ceedingly comical to a European.

Bat in Tirus of Telok Pulai once asked Mr. G. C.
Bellamy if he could take off his boots. He apparently
had an idea that the white man was bom with
boots on. Mr. Bellamy asked him how old he
was, and although he was a great-great-grandfather,
his reply was " More than ten years old " (** SSpuloh
tahun Ifibih"). He put the same question to the
Jinang at Sa-jangkang, and received a similar reply. ^
I myself have had exactly similar experiences.

The Besisi are to a man most hospitable and
liberal, and their sense of gratitude is far more
developed than is the case with the Malays. Mr.
Bellamy adds that they never forget a kindness, and
always remember the *Tuan* (White Man) who
visited them on such and such an occasion.*

If treated properly, they will do almost anything
to oblige. On several occasions Mr. Bellamy had to
use them as guides through the jungle, and all that
he had to do was to state his requirements, when,
without any hesitation or bargaining for wages, they
at once afforded him the assistance required.'

» Bellamy, p. 238. « Ibid. » Ibid.

536 DEAUNGS WITH OTHER RACES part n

Mr. Bellamy adds that although they hold such a
low position in the scale of society, yet they are
perfectly happy and contented. Their earthly bliss is
contained, as they themselves will tell you, in " eating,
working, and sleeping," and they ask for nothing more.
Meet them where you will, either in their wretched
huts, in the jungle gathering fruit or honey, by the
seaside fishing, or anywhere else, they are always
ready with a cheery response to your salutation.^

It is certain that they have never possessed
an alphabet of their own, though they do possess
the tradition of a sacred volume (** Kitab"*) which is
said to have been destroyed by fire many years ago.

But to describe them as children, or to assume
that their brain is in a state of arrested development,
is by no means an adequate statement of the case.
They will work very hard and very rapidly for short
intervals, even on their own account, and when
** sweated '* by the Malays who compel them to collect
jungle produce, etc., they will often work, literally
like "slaves," for a long while together. The fact
that they have picked up agriculture when they might
have got sufficient to supply all their wants from the
forest, and had been in the habit of so doing for
hundreds of years, shows that they are not incapable
of progress. I have even known a small group of
Besisi families take to the planting of Liberian coffee,
whilst others have leased land from the government,
have done road -work for government officers, and
have even acquired such industries as that of the
blacksmith. I think, in fact, that it can safely be said
that the Malays can do very little that the Besisi, if
taken young enough, and with equal advantages,

1 Bellamy, p. 228. > Ibid, p. 227 ; and q>. 378, 391, ante.

CHAP. XI SA VAGE MALA YS OF SELANGOR 537

could not acquire; though certainly those of them
who have been spoilt either by opium-smoking or other
Malay or Chinese vices, can hold their own with their
teachers in a contest of misapplied wits. All these
facts help to bring out what I believe to be the most
salient characteristic of these tribes, viz., their un-
rivalled power of adaptability.

Jakun of Sungei Ujong. — The Jakun of Sungei
Ujong were till recently on no better terms with the
Malays than the aborigines of Selangor and Perak.^

At a Malay wedding-feast in Sungei Ujong, some
of the Jakun guests (of whom nearly one hundred
were present) informed the Rev. M. Borie (a French
Roman Catholic missionary) and Mr. J. R. Logan
how unhappy they were in that place, and what bad
treatment they experienced from the Malays, so much
so that only a few days before several of them had
been killed and wounded by order of the Malay chief.
They declared that they intended to escape over into
the Company's territory, where they hoped to find more
tranquillity and assistance ; and asked the Europeans
to take them with them. Two of them offered them-
selves as servants for ever, or rather as slaves, as
they intended not to receive any pay. This was a
great mark of confidence, since by so speaking they
took their lives in their hands, for the mention of their
design would have undoubtedly been the cause of
some fresh order for killing the first authors of this
resolution, which would have been called a conspiracy.
These requests were not acceded to, but some advice
was given to the aborigines, the Europeans of the

^J./.A, vol. ii. p. 280. The S. the tally-stick as a mnemonic when they
Ujong tribes, who are no better at want to calculate, v. Knocker, y^^i^ni.
counting than others of their race, use F, M, S, Mus, vol. i. No. ii. pp. 6o-6i.

538 DEALINGS WITH OTHER RACES part ii

party intending to return again to the place after a
short interval.^

Mantra. — The Mantra of Malacca have suffered like
other aboriginal tribes from the raids and incursions of
the neighbouring Malays, their most implacable foes
being the members of a Malay tribe called Rawa. This
people are natives of a country in Sumatra called
Rawa, Rau, and Ara, lying immediately to the north
of Menangkabau, and penetrated by the large but
scarcely navigable river Rakan. They are dis-
tinguished for their trading character, and, as traders
and settlers, they have for a long period, but particu-
larly during the last twenty or thirty years, annually
repaired to the Peninsula opposite, sometimes by way
of the Rakan, but more generally by the river Siak.
They are bold, persevering, and thrifty, qualities
which have long enabled them to engross the principal
internal traffic between Malacca and Pahang. They
always go well armed, but the chief source of their
strength is their social spirit, which leads them to
make common cause against those who have injured
any of their nation. They are now settled in con-
siderable numbers in Rembau, Sungei Ujong, and
the western part of Pahang, and their numbers and
power yearly increase and become more formidable.
Seven months before the time of Logan's (present)
memoir, large bands of them, under one Bata Bidohom,
who was reputed invulnerable, attacked the Mantra
in several places, killing many of the men and carrying
away more than a hundred of their women and girls
into Pahang, where they sold them as slaves. The
Rawa declared that they would hunt down the Mantra
everywhere and deal with them all in the same way,

* /. /. A^ vol. ii. pp. 280, 281.

CHAP. XI SA VAGE MALA YS OF MALACCA 539

in consequence of which the greater number of Mantra
left their houses and became scattered far and wide
about the country.^

At the same time it must not be forgotten that the
enmity of the Malays is often limited considerably by
a superstitious fear of their victims.^

Amongst the Malays themselves the "tuju," or
Pointing charm, and other supernatural arts are also
to some extent practised, but their practitioners are
considered inferior in power to those of the aborigines.
The very circumstance of these tribes remaining
unconverted is probably a principal cause of the belief
crediting them with the possession of unhallowed
powers. In no country where new creeds are received
is there a total immediate abandonment of the ancient
ones. So long as the existence of the old gods and
demons of the land is believed in there will always be
multitudes ready either to ask their aid or deprecate
their wrath, in spite of the fact that they believe it
sinful to do so. To this day neither Hinduism, Islam-
ism, nor Christianity itself have totally extinguished
the ancient superstitions of the countries where they
prevail. And this same unreasoning fear of the
aborigines has doubtless in numberless cases operated
more powerfully in their defence than the best of laws
could have done."

Of the visit of a party of Mantra to Singapore,
Logan has left a most interesting and valuable ac-
count.* On the occasion referred to his Malay writer
(one Inche Mohammed bin Haji Abdul Fatha, whom
he had sent to Malacca to collect additional materials
for a comparison of the languages of the aboriginal

1 /. /. A. voL i. pp. 328* 329*. ' 8 Ibid. p. 328*.

* Ibid, p. 332* seqq.

540 DEALINGS WITH OTHER RACES part ii

tribes) informed him that he had brought a party of
Mantra to his house in Malacca, and thought he could
induce them to visit him in Singapore, so that he
might be enabled to gain more thorough knowledge of
their character and condition. The party in question
had moved into British territory some time previously,
and had settled at Rumbiah on Mr. Westerhout's land.
Logan requested Mohammed to bring them to Singa-
pore, and they arrived there on the i6th of October
and remained till the 7th of November. The party
consisted of a Mantra named Pawang and his wife, a
second man named Parut and his wife, and a third
man named Tala.

They hesitated much about undertaking the voyage,
as the members of this race, like all the tribes of the
interior, have a hereditary dread of the sea, and no
Mantra had ever ventured upon it from time imme-
morial. When they came on board the ** scotchy "
they were at once placed below, to prevent their being
frightened by the waves and the motion of the vessel.
They soon became very sea-sick, and it was not till
the boat was opposite Pulau Pisang that one of the
men had so far recovered as to venture to rise and
look round. But no sooner did the rolling waves
meet his sight than he was seized with fear, and
plunged below the deck again.

When they took up their residence in Logan's com-
pound they were at first a little reserved, although they
had evidently seen Europeans frequently. On the
second and third days their principal employment, while
their poisoned arrows lasted, was to shoot birds, and
they soon discovered more species in the " kampong "
than we had ever observed ourselves. On the second
day they had depopulated all the trees. Amongst the

CHAP. XI SAVAGE MALAYS OF MALACCA 541

Spoils which they seemed to prize most were two owls
and a colony of bats. The latter they seized upon
with great glee, carried at once to their house, broiled
slightly, and devoured. Nothing being now left in
the compound, Logan took them next evening along
the Garden Road, but they did not succeed in getting
any birds, and this made them think Singapore a poor
country. Some clumps of jungle on the hills beyond
Mr. Caldwell's villa redeemed it a little in their eyes,
and they were anxious to reach them, but disliked
having to cross the swamps. Logan offered to give
them a small plantation if they would remain in Singa-
pore, pointing to the sugar-canes and fine fruit-trees
in the Chinese plantations on the side of the road.
They said they could not live where there was so
little forest, and as for plantations they could make
clearings of their own in Malacca. They pointed to
Said Omar's and Mr. Dyce's hill, and asked what was
the value of such a house with the hill and trees
around it. When told that it might sell for 3000
dollars, they expressed the liveliest astonishment.
Shortly afterwards, when Pawang was describing the
mountains of his country, he was asked for what price
the Mantra would sell Gunong Berembun. He hesi-
tated, looked at Mr. Dyce's hill, and at last said, " Ten
godowns," i.e. store-houses (" sa-puloh gSdong ").

Of all the sights that they saw in Singapore, the
Chinese Temple pleased them most. But after hav-
ing visited the town, Telok Blanga, Seglap, and some
other parts of the island, they declared that Malacca
was a much finer place.^

The three men differed considerably in disposition.
The most remarkable was Pawang, who displayed

^ /. /. A. vol. i. pp. 332* 333*.

542 DEALINGS WITH OTHER RACES part ii

much sense and firmness in his character, and a slight
degree of pride and reserve in his manner. He was
looked up to by his companions as a man of superior
ability and knowledge, and his reputed skill in natural
and supernatural medicines made him an object of
much attention to the Malays in the neighbourhood,
who invited him to their houses and visited him, to
solicit herbs and charms. The women in particular
regarded him as a magician of undoubted art, and
many, on first approaching him, threw themselves at
his feet. His head was decidedly intellectual in its
formation.

Parut was a picture of indolence, good-nature, and
contentedness. He seemed to enjoy what the passing
moment brought, without any intrusion of thought or
care.

Tala was also good-natured and indolent, but more
lively, and not without a little humour. He was
exceedingly fond of raw brandy, and, when slightly
elevated, danced, sang, and played on his flute — a
mere piece of bamboo with some holes in it. On the
third evening he was seized with melancholy, his
thoughts reverted to his absent wife, and he sat for
some hours by himself drawing plaintive notes from
his flute, and singing of her, by turns, while the tears
coursed down his cheeks. His temperament was
much more excitable than that of the others.

The women were good-natured, and one of them,
Pawang's wife, was even lively. Whilst their con-
versation was characterised by an Old Testament
simplicity and unreserve, their manners were in every
respect modest.

The impression which they made upon every one
who saw much of them was very favourable. In

CHAP. XI SA VAGE MALA YS OF MALACCA 543

manners they were soft, simple, candid, and, at the
same time independent. Their whole conduct was
marked by a tone of propriety and good sense. They
showed an entire absence of obtrusiveness, greediness,
deceitfulness, intolerance, or any other of the vices
which so often mar the effect of the good qualities
possessed by many of the races who inhabit Singapore.
In a word, they were perfectly well behaved, and in-
spired a trustfulness and liking which are not often
awakened by Asiatics in the breast of the European.^
Within a fortnight after Logan had wished them a
safe voyage back to Malacca, and promised to visit
Gunong Berembun under Pawang's guidance, a
rumour reached him that the trading boat which
carried them away had been wrecked and three of
them drowned. This most painful intelligence was
confirmed, and the satisfaction that he had anticipated
when bringing these notes to a close, from the hope
that some attention and sympathy might be drawn to
the race, was embittered by the reflection that the
resolution of his simple friends to overcome their
natural dread of the sea had proved a fatal one to
them. It appears that stormy weather was ex-
perienced from Pulau Pisang to Padang. When off
the latter place, on the 14th, the boat being much
damaged and the wind rising to a gale, the Malays
made for the shore. They had nearly reached it,
about nine o*clock at night, when, dreading that the
boat would be dashed to pieces, the crew prepared to
leap overboard, and wade to the land. Tala and
Pawang's wife were afraid to do so, but his sister and
Parut, her husband, consenting, Pawang fastened them
to himself by their waist-bands, saying that they would

^ /. /. A. voL L pp. 333* 334*

544 DEALINGS WITH OTHER RACES part n

live or die together, and then they all plunged into
the waves. They sank at once, for it was deeper
than they had believed, and the bottom being a stiff
mud, they never rose again. Next morning the
Malays, who had succeeded in reaching the shore,
saw the boat still holding together, and, on going to
it, they found Tala and Pawang's wife alive in it.
The survivors procured a boat and arrived at Malacca
on the evening of the following day.^

Jakun of N. Sembilan. — In contrast to the bad treat-
ment of these tribes is the position of the aboriginal
element in Rembau, of which the late Mr. M. Lister
has informed us that the ** Batins " or chiefs were,
according to ancient usage, closely connected with
the Malay tribe from which the Penghulus of States
were in nearly all cases elected. The four principal
Batins were those of Ulu Klang, Sungei Ujong,
Jelebu, and Johol. They had a strong voice in
the election of the Mohammedan Penghulu. The
cause is apparent. The Menangkabau colonists
married the daughters of Batins. Their children
were Mohammedans and their female children (in
accordance with Menangkabau law) inherited and
became the origin of the "Waris" or tribe of
" Beduanda," which was declared to be the inheriting
civilised tribe, whilst at they same time they still had
to recognise the Batin or Jakun*s powers in the
mountains and forests, and preserve their position
and identity in connection with the ** Beduanda "
tribe.^ Hence came the custom of female inheri-

^ J, /. A. vol. i. pp. 334*, 335*. and other Malay pirates occupying a

^ The reason for this striking dif- coast -line, as in the case of Selangor

ference in the treatment of the Kembau and Perak, driving back and taking as

aborigines are stated by Mr. Lister as slaves the non-Mohammedan aborigines

follows: — *' First and foremost it must of the Peninsula termed 'Semang,'

be understood that instead of Bugis *Sakai,* 'Jakun,' and 'Wans Laut,*

CHAP. XI SAVAGE MALAYS OF N. S EM B I LAN 545

tance, and according to Menangkabau custom a man
cannot marry in his own tribe, that is, in the tribe of
his mother. Hence a Beduanda man must marry into
another tribe, and his children belong to the tribe of
the mother.^

It is often most interesting to converse with Batins
and Jakun chiefs on their traditions and laws, especially
in tracing the connection with the Malay Moham-
medan customs. A Batin will invariably tell you
that all the forest and waste lands — called by them
" Gaung,'* " Guntong," '' Bukit," " Bukau," as inclusive
of everything uncultivated — belong to them. This is
by origin correct ; but there is at the same time no
doubt that they have parted with their rights to the
Mohammedan tribe of Beduanda in all cases of
government, concession, and taxation. Still the
Dato' of Johol pays to the Batin of Johol a pro-
portion of the revenues derived from waste lands
through his minister the Jinang of Johol, who is, so
to speak, minister for the aborigines. The Batins
often collect themselves where the Beduanda are
remiss in doing so. For instance, in Muar {i.e. on
the reaches of the Muar river above the Segamat
boundary), Batin Gemala, who is the principal Batin
of Johol, declared that he collected a fee that he called

the people of Menangkabau who countries in which they might quietly

penetrated into the Negri Sembilan settle and make their home. Now it

vid Malacca or the Muar river came is more than probable that all these

as settlers. They came in search of settlers came from the interior of

pastures new, possibly on account of Sumatra. They were accustomed to

troubles and disturbances in the State mountains, hilly districts where existed

oi Menangkabau in Sumatra, just as rich alluvial valleys, in which they

we did in leaving English shores for knew they would find soils fertile

the continent of America. They were and easy of irrigation " (/. R, A, 5.,

no Rajas or warriors on the look-out S, B,^ No. 22, Dec 1890, pp. 299,

for conquest and plunder, but merely 300).

peaceful immigrants from Sumatra, ^ /. R, A, S., S, B,^ No. 22, p.

who hoped to find fertile and rich 302.

VOL. I 2 N

546 DEAUNGS WITH OTHER RACES part ii

" penchong alas " from the Malays who collected
jungle produce. The amount of the fee was insignifi-
cant, being one dollar per man once in three years.
He declared with pride that this was the " penny-box
of the man of the woods." ^ The simplicity of this
form of taxation was most curious, and shows the
freedom from guile of the aboriginal mind. He was
attempting at the time of this meeting to collect this
fee for the past three years, not in advance. Lister
tried to assist him, but the attempt was vain. He was
somewhat indignant at the falseness of the Malay ; but
for his own part, Lister was not astonished. In talking
of his position with reference to the Dato* of Johol,
he said that as between him and the Dato', " custom
cannot be altered, agreements cannot be changed,
alliances cannot be revoked."* This is a very
beautiful expression of Malay fealty and loyalty.
Sometimes a Batin or Jurukrah, who is minister
to the Batin, is very indignant. He will say, "the
Penghulus* get thousands of dollars now in selling our
forests." Then it is explained to them how necessary
it is this earth should be developed. They are in-
formed that they are not able to govern or regulate
such things, and that they cannot truly claim the forests
as being theirs ; but that what they can claim is to have
all that they require for their maintenance from the
forests. They will then reply that this is quite right,
and that they are really perfectly happy as long as
they have forests reserved to them, and that they do
not know what to do with money. They are delighted
with presents of tobacco, stuffs, and other trifles. If

** Peti duit orang utan." ** Alas " is an obsolete Malayan word for "jungle."
' ** Adat tiada benibah, peijanjian tiada beralih, setia tiada b^rtukar.*'
' /./. Lesser chiefs.

CHAP. XI SA VAGE MALA YS OF N. SEMBILAN 547

you give them money they generally go home to the
forest and bury it, never telling any one where, sa
that on their death it is lost. There was one man who
liked getting money, and he always came alone to
Lister to ask for it. He came alone so as to be
able to bury the money without difficulty. He had
evidently a craving for silver, and experienced the
satisfaction of a miser in knowing that he had money,,
though he did not make use of it.^

The conversation of the Jakun is full of proverbs,,
and they constantly quote sayings which have certainly
become Malay, but which often and often are unknown
to Malays of the present day. It is a usual thing for
a Malay to exclaim when a Jakun is talking, " How
clever he is at talking!"* and to look at him in
admiration. The Malay, however, knows the Jakun's
intense simplicity; and if he wants any advantages
from him, he will get all he requires. He will also
laugh at him, though in a friendly chaffing way, and it
is often amusing to hear the Jakun get by far the best
of the laugh.®

The Jakun never object to the collection of
revenues by British officials. They say that the
English know how to do it, and that they do it
rightly, and that it should be so; but they say the
Malays know nothing about it, and that when money
comes into a Malay country it makes nothing but
difficulties and trouble. They are lookers-on, and it is
hardly necessary to say how correct their views are.*

A Jakun has the greatest dread of a grant for
land. Nothing will persuade him to take out a
grant, and if pressed (which in the Native States is

^^^ J.R.A,S,, S, £., No. 22, pp. 302, 303.
* *• Pandei s'kali chakap."

548 DEALINGS WITH OTHER RACES part ii

unnecessary), he will leave the country and travel
away into the mountains of the interior. Anything
binding, any direct taxation or registration, drives
him away.^

The real objection of the Jakun to taking out
grants for land is because of their custom that if there
is a death in the house, they must leave the place and
settle elsewhere, generally many miles away.*

The origin of the land tenure in Rembau is very
curious, and probably unknown in any other State of
the Malay Peninsula. When the original settlers
arrived they ingratiated themselves into the good graces
of the aborigines, and first of all, no doubt, got free gifts
of forest land from the Batin. Later on there probably
was competition for waste lands in fertile valleys, and
presents were given to the Batin of the land. This
resulted later in the sale of land to the Mohammedan
settlers. The price was a knife or a weapon, a piece
of cloth or some article valued by the Jakun ; but it
became an actual sale. According to Mohammedan
law, land cannot be sold ; it is God's land, and man
cannot sell it. Thus here we have distinctly the
aboriginal origin in the sales of waste lands. Later,
as the Mohammedans became powerful in the country,
the Mohammedan tribe of Beduanda took up the sale
of waste lands and made considerable profit by it ;
and during the last twenty years the Beduanda chiefs
have sold waste lands of, say, three or four acres
in extent, for eight and ten dollars and sometimes
more.^

As this custom was against the Mohammedan law,
it was easy for the government to put a stop to an

^^^ J.R.A.S., S, B., No. 22, pp. 303, 304.

CHAP. XI SAVAGE MALA YS OF N, SEMBILAN 549

usage which caused many disputes, much trouble, and
even bloodshed in the country.^

In an article printed in this same Journal (1889)
Lister gave the dry facts in connection with the
origin of their constitution. The tribes are governed
by the *' 'Adat Perpatih," and by the customs derived
from the aborigines. With the Raja family this is
not the case, and the " 'Adat Temenggong ** governs
property and inheritance.*

Here again is a case that has only been referred
to as having created ill-feeling, but which illustrates
the Batin's influence in State matters. Batin Gemala^
the principal Batin of Johol, who lived some miles in
the interior on the left bank of the Muar river, was
induced, in consequence of a number of his people
becoming Mohammedans and of other Mohammedan
settlers arriving in the reaches ("rantau") of the
Muar river above Segamat, to consider the advis-
ability of bringing forward a Penghulu.^

The Penghulus of States having by origin been
brought into office by the Batin, this was no doubt
constitutionally correct. Batin Gemala brought the
individual whom he had selected to the Dato' of Johol
in order that the Dato' should recognise this new
Penghulu-ship. The Dato' of Johol did so. He
thought it would conduce to a settled population in
Muar, where formerly, as on many other rivers, the
people of the ** reaches " had been nomadic, moving
from reach to reach and never permanently settling.
The Penghulu of Ladang, however, whose ancestors
before him had always ruled this district under the
Penghulu of Johol, was much annoyed at this new
departure, and the result was quarrels and jealousies.

^^^ J.R.A. 5., 5. ^., No. 22, pp. 304, 305.

550 DEAUNGS WITH OTHER RACES part ii

When the Penghulu of Muar subsequently died, the
Dato' of Johol would not make further experiments
in accepting a Batin as Penghulu.^

Berembun Tribes. — The great superstition of the
Berembun tribes is their best safeguard against their
equally superstitious though more civilised neighbours.
The Malays and Chinese of Malacca, with few ex-
<:eptions, but especially the Malays of Naning,
Rembau, and the other States of the interior of the
Peninsula, have implicit faith in the supernatural
power of the Berembun Poyangs, and believe that
many lay members of the aboriginal tribes are
imbued with it. Hence they are careful to avoid
offending the Berembun tribes, because although
the latter do not attempt, at the time, to retaliate,
or even use threats, they are believed nevertheless
to have taken the offence deeply to heart, with the
intention of revenging themselves, sooner or later,
by occult means. Moreover, the Malays, when they
have the opportunity, resort to the Poyang for the cure
of various diseases, with which either they themselves
or their relatives are troubled. A third motive, viz.,
revenge, also not infrequently sends the Malays to
the Poyang, whose power is invoked with the object
of causing disease and misfortune, or even death, to
any one by whom they have been injured.*

War in all its forms is quite unknown to them.*

Benua - Jakun. — But in order to understand
thoroughly the relationship between the Benua and the
Malayafurtheracquaintance with the Benua is necessary.

To commence with, the Benua who is not well
supplied with the necessaries of life in considerable

» /. R. A, 5., S, B,, No. 22, pp. '^ /. /. A, vol. i. p. 328*.

310, 311. 3 jf^^ p^ 273.

CHAP. XI SA VAGE MALA YS OF JOHOR 551

variety has nothing but his own indolence to blame.
As in other communities, the condition of individuals
varies much. The active and persevering do not
grudge their labour to render themselves and their
families comfortable. Their clearings are well stocked
with vegetables. Their families are clothed. They
have their fishing-hut and canoes on the river, and
their durian-grove and hut in the forest, and they and
all about them are cheerful and even happy. And yet
they never have any other capital than their industry.
Others again have not a tithe of their comforts, but
are so reconciled to their own indolence and its
results, that they are contented with their lot. I
soon found that a large house and a sufficient supply
of clothing were certain evidences that the head
of the family was endowed with a superior measure
of intelligence and cheerfulness. Where all are on
an equality, accumulated capital wanting, and hardly
anything inherited but the common right of taking
the produce of the forest, personal advantages are
the only ones known. He who has most intellect
and activity fares the best.^

The good-humour and cheerfulness of the Benua
are amongst their most striking characteristics.
Their minds are free from thought and free from
care. They are timid, but at the same time
perfectly independent, and, whilst entirely exempt
from all servility of manner or address, and want-
ing in that peculiar courtesy which distinguishes
the Malay, they are thoroughly respectful. Though
in address they are abrupt and open, they have the
same natural softness of manner and unwillingness to
offend which characterise the uncontaminated Malay.

" /. /. A, vol. i. p. 266.

552 DEALINGS WITH OTHER RACES part ii

Their plainness and modesty of manner is accompanied
by a mental candour and truthfulness which the Malay
regards as barbarous simplicity, but which must attract
the sympathy and good -will of the European in a
strong degree, and place them in his estimation far
above all the more civilised Asiatic races with whom
he is familiar. Amongst the Benua he feels as if the
oppressive moral atmosphere which surrounds him
elsewhere, were exchanged for a pure and elastic one,
in which he can once more breathe freely. The
simplicity and openness of their minds, combined
with their freedom from vanity, levity, and any over-
weening pride, communicate a tone of sense to their
conversation. In their personal habits the Benua
are as cleanly as the Malays. Their paucity of dress
even gives them an advantage in this respect over
the Malay. They scrupulously wash and clean every
article of food before cooking it, and reject meat that
is at all tainted. The ground below the hut, as with
the Malays, is made the receptacle of all the vegetable
dibris of their cookery and repasts, but it is free from
the noisome smell which surrounds the dwellings of
the Jakuns. The dogs live in the hut, but are cleanly
and receive their share of wholesome food. In re-
spect of the personal appearance of the Benua, it is
said that the sensual predominates over the intellectual
in the expression of their countenances. In their
manners they are perfectly modest, while familiar and
open, and although both sexes at all ages freely
associate, I did not observe anything that could have
led to the supposition that there was not the strictest
reserve amongst the unmarried, and fidelity amongst
the married.^

> /. /. A. vol. i. pp. 267, 268.

CHAP. XI SA VAGE MALA YS OF JOHOR 553

To this imperfect sketch of the character of the
Benua it should be added that although less sensitive
in their feelings than the Berembun tribes, whose
pride takes offence at the least appearance of a slight
or assumption of control, they would probably show
themselves reserved, unsocial, and even sullen if they
were not treated with kindness and respect. They
are less distrustful, less changeful, and more robust in
their character than the Berembun tribes, who require
to be humoured like children, and, if they are not so
treated, easily convince themselves that they are
wronged, neglected, or treated with a want of con-
sideration. Like children, too, they are very suscep-
tible to flattery.^

It is this excessive sensitiveness both to flattery
and slight which seems to supply that psychological
link between the aborigines and the Malays, which at
the first contemplation of the great difference between
them, seems to be wanting. Civilisation has deprived
the Malay of the openness and simplicity of the
Benua, and hardened him. But although he has
substituted for a total want of manner one of the most
strongly marked manners possessed by any race, his
pristine sensitiveness is covered, not conquered. It
is indeed the secret of much that is peculiar in his
social deportment. That art of putting everything
in a pleasing point of view, of softening and concealing
the natural asperities of a subject under discussion,
of rendering even that which in other hands might
wound the self-love of the person addressed, the
medium of a compliment — an art in which the well-bred
Malay is unsurpassed and which the combined soft-
ness, frankness, and simple dignity of his manner so

* /. /. A, vol. i pp. 267, 268.

554 DEAUNGS WITH OTHER RACES part ii

well second, — is the growth of this very sensitiveness.
He soothes and flatters others that he himself may be
soothed and flattered. The command over his own
passions and feelings which he has obtained renders
courtesy and politeness habitual, but has veiled, not
subdued, his Benua nature, and the sense of wrong,
when not relieved by speedy revenge, sometimes
preys upon his mind till he is goaded into fury, and
moodiness becomes madness. It is another result of
the inherency of the Benua disposition that many
Malays, who have not the sustained animal spirits or
firmness required by the civilisation and position
which the race have obtained, are disposed to a
degree of melancholy which sometimes becomes suUen-
ness. Let the Benua be drawn from his seclusion
into intercourse with other nations, and his character
will be emboldened and hardened by the change in
his habits, and unless a more powerful and spiritual
religion than that of the Malays should elevate
him in character as well as in civilisation, we may
see him bring the kris to the aid of his spells, and
substitute the "amok" for the "tuju." As yet the
race sits happy in the ethnic nursery, unconscious
of the progress of events which must force it
from its child -like ignorance and peace, and teach
it to know the corruption and the strife which
nations of larger growth have found in civilisa-
tion.^

The Benua occasionally embrace Islamism, but
although attachment to their old habits and pride in
the antiquity of their race combine with their want
of regard for the Malays in rendering them averse
to this conversion, the Malays are persuaded that

' /, /. A. vol. i. pp. 269, 270.

CHAP. XI SA VAGE MALA YS OF JOHOR 555

they will ultimately be entirely amalgamated with
them. This is a fate which every consideration of
humanity and religion urges us to endeavour to avert.
As yet the Benua preserve much of their natural
openness and honesty of character, and their whole
disposition is such as to give assurance that they
would prove willing recipients of Christianity, were
it presented to them in its purity and simplicity.
Were an intelligent and kindly missionary to settle
amongst them, the superiority of his character to that
of the Malays would speedily gain for him the in-
fluence and authority of a father. A great improve-
ment in their condition might be brought about by
merely placing their intercourse with the Malays upon
a juster footing, to accomplish which the influence of
the Singapore government and the authority of the
Temenggong (the Sultan of Johor) would, it may be
anticipated, be readily accorded.^

To compare or contrast the aborigines of the south
of the Peninsula with the Bataks and the Dayaks and
the Malays, it need here only be remarked that the
character of the first three races mentioned is essen-
tially the same, and that it may still be recognised
even in the Malay.^

The Benua has less development of intellect, and
less corruption of the passions. Natural influences
are with him greater than artificial ones. Every
individual and every family lives rather in the pure
and fresh presence of nature than of men. Detached
in family groups in the forest, Malay corruption,
which would long ago have reduced them to its own
dye if it could have operated on them en masse in
villages, has found no assailable point. The absolute-

* J. /. A. vol. i. p. 291. ^ Ibid,

556 DEALINGS WITH OTHER RACES part ii

ness of the influence of the family, and of simple and
solitary pursuits, has also prevented the internal
growth of vices. There is no outward influence to
counteract it. Society in its turn contains no institu-
tion or principle that can interrupt its harmony. Their
character and habits afford no room for any disturb-
ance of the equality that reigns throughout the whole
country. Hence there is no appreciable social strife
or ambition.*

As has been said, both the Bataks and most of
the Dayaks preserve the Benua character at bottom ;
but, unlike the Benua, they have elaborated their
superstitions and their social habits, and have acquired
some vicious propensities, such, as gambling, and the
unnatural customs of head-hunting and cannibalism,
though it is undeniable that the Bataks as a race
have a greater prevalence of social virtues than
most European nations, and that truth, honesty, hos-
pitality, benevolence, chastity, absence of private
crimes, are here found actually to co-exist even with
cannibalism.*

The Benua nature, as we have already had occasion
to notice, is also very recognisable in the Malays,
although the pride and pretension engrafted upon it
by Mohammedanism, the bold and active part which
they have played in the modem history of the Archi-
pelago, and the influence of courts formed on the
Mohammedan model have obliterated much of its
simplicity and all its artlessness.*

War is unknown to the Benua, as it is to the
Berembun tribes. The Menangkabau Malays are
rapidly increasing in the portion of the Peninsula
occupied by them, and are even spreading over the

^ /. /. A, vol. i. pp. 292, 293. 2 ' Ibid. p. 293.

CHAP. XI SA VAGE MALA YS OF JOHOR 557

interior of Pahang, and, from their Chinese-like habit
of combining for mutual ends, are growing formidable
to the Pahang Malays. It would appear that they
deal more harshly with the aborigines than the Malays
of the Peninsula, for they are recorded to have
formerly attacked the Mantra and killed some of their
Batins. This proceeding drove many Mantra families
from the neighbourhood, and small colonies found their
way into the British territory at the back of Malacca,
and other places. The Mantra say that they found
resistance in vain, because the Menangkabau Malays
were armed with muskets, and had learnt the use
of antidotes to the ipoh poison, so that the slender
darts of the blowpipe inflicted but little injury upon
them.^

Every outlet from the country of the Benua is
occupied and guarded by Malays, who, by preventing
the free access of strangers and working upon the
ignorance and fears of the Benua, keep them imprisoned
in the interior of the country. Having thus effectually
locked them up in the jungles, they prey upon them
in a most unscrupulous manner. It is probable that
if the character of the Benua had been weaker they
would have been long since reduced to direct slavery.
But although timid and unwarlike, they have stubborn
notions of right and wrong, and any attempt at com-
pulsion is met with an obstinate resistance. The
Malay, therefore, respects the independence and the
customs (" hadat ") of the Benua, adapts himself to his
notions, and has recourse to craft and cajolery to
attain his ends.'' He treats his victims with a great

* y. /. A, vol. L p. 273. MS. which was forwarded by one of

^ The following passage, explanatory the Selangor chiefis, and purports to

of the customs of the Benua, is trans- be the answer given by the four chiefe,

lated from a copy of an old Malay or Neneks (1.*. "elders," lit. grand-

558 DEALINGS WITH OTHER RACES part ii

show of respect and kindness, and cheats them to
their faces in the most courteous and friendly manner.
Though he himself dreads the power of their Poyangs,
he is well aware at the same time of the influence of
his bolder and more energetic and reckless character
on the Benua, and, when occasion requires it, talks of
his good -will being abused, of the inadequacy and
dilatoriness of the return that is being made to him
for his advance, and hints that if his debtor does not
prove more diligent, he will not be able to restrain his
anger.^

Jakan of Johor. — The Jakun tribes are entirely
inoffensive, having an excellent temper; they are
generally kind, affable, inclined to gratitude and to
beneficence. Hospitality is much practised amongst
them, not only towards other Jakun but towards any
stranger who reaches their habitations. All Indian
nations are much inclined to begging ; and anything
they happen to see that pleases them they ask of the
owner, when they know that there is no means to
steal it, and sometimes their demands are so frequent
and repeated as to appear very importunate. The
Jakun, however, are not so ; they differ much in this
respect from other Indians ; they are liberal and
generous. When visited they very seldom ask for

Others), who were summoned to the lofty branches, where the *K€mpas*

presence of Mahomed Shah, king of links its knots, there we love to

Johor : — sojourn. Our weapons are the blow-

**We wish to return to our old pipe (*temiang'), and the quiver of

customs, to ascend the lofty mountain, arrows imbued in the gum of the

to dive into the earth's deep caverns, deadly * Telak * {sic). The fluid most

to traverse the boundless forest, to delicious to us is the limpid water that

repose, with our head pUlowed on the lodges in the hollow of trees, where

knotted trunk on the * Durian ' tree, the branches unite with the trunk ;

and curtained by * Resam ' leaves. To and our food consists of the tender

wear garments made from the leaves shoots of the fragrant 'Jemantong'

of the * Lumbah,* or * Trap ' tree, and the delicate flesh of the bounding

and a headdress of *Bajah' leaves. deer." — Newbold, pp. 394,395.

Where the • Meranti * trees join their * /. I. A. vol. L p. 285.

CHAP. XI SA VAGE MALA YS OF JOHOR 559

anything, and will never refuse what is asked from
them ; and when after asking their visitor refuses to
take anything, they will press him to do so. They
very seldom have quarrels among themselves, and
their disputes are usually settled by their Batins or
chiefs without any display of malice or fighting. Their
laws allow of punishments for several sorts of crime,
but the Batin seldom has occasion to apply them.
Candour and honesty, qualities very rare in India,
and perhaps so in all Asia, are notwithstanding found
amongst the Jakun. It is remarkable that they abhor
lying and thieving, not in words as the Malay, but
really and in practice. They are never known to
steal anything, not even the most insignificant trifle.
These remarkable qualities have on more than one
occasion induced persons to attempt to domesticate
them, but the result has generally been the disappear-
ance of the Jakun upon the slightest coercion. A Mr.
Lewis, formerly Assistant Resident at Penang, had
for some time a Jakun family in his house. They
appeared at first to be very glad of their position, but
having been one day employed in some servile work,
they fled away and appeared no more. The reason
is that the Jakun are extremely proud, and will not
submit for any length of time to servile offices or to
much control. This, if it was a defect, was the only
one that Logan remarked in them. ^

Europeans are known to the Jakun, as a rule, by
report only, the greater number of them having never
seen a European. But on account of the great
number of Chinese in the Peninsula, few of them are
unaware of the existence of China ; they are told, too,

^ /. /. A, vol. ii. pp. 266, 267.

56o DEALINGS WITH OTHER RACES part ii

of Bengal, of Sumatra, and of Siam ; these are the
boundaries of their knowledge in geography. Their
science in astronomy is yet more limited ; they see
the sun rise and set every day ; that the moon some-
times appears, sometimes not ; they use the light of
the heavenly bodies when present, and sleep when it
is dark, but they have never noticed or inquired about
the course of the stars ; they scarcely know how many
days go to the duration of a moon, nor how many moons
go to a year. They are not at all aware even of their
own age, or of that of their children ; such observations
appear to them mere superfluities as being not re-
quired in their way of living.^ Their ignorance of
such matters, however, may be less surprising when
we remember that those of the Malays themselves
who live in the interior of the Peninsula are not
aware of all these things, and that on these subjects
many of them are no better informed than the Jakun.
A thing in which the Jakun (especially those of the
Menangkabau States) are truly skilled, is the art of
using the blowpipe and poisoned arrows ; as has been
pointed out in speaking of their weapons. They have
no knowledge of writing, nor do they make use of
any symbolical signs.^

Both the intellectual faculties of the Jakun and the
knowledge they evince are very limited ; the reason
of which is probably, however, not so much the defect
of their intelligence itself, as the want of the necessary
means to develop it. The Jakun are indeed very
ignorant, but are also certainly capable of acquire-

^ *' The Jakun are entirely ignorant the decimal calculation, the natural

of the Hrst principles of mathematics, indigitation, is adopted by them in

nor do they know the simplest rules of ordinary use." — Newbold, ii. 394.
arithmetic. The mathematical instru- ^ /, I, A, vol. ii. p. 251.

ment which probably gave origin to

CHAP. XI SA VA GE MALA YS OF JOHOR 561

ment ; they are endowed with a sound mind, a right
judgment, and a good memory. They are seldom if
ever either insane or idiotical ; all are more or less
intelligent, and have all their intellectual faculties in
a sound state, corresponding to the common and
ordinary rules of nature. There can be little doubt
that if they were to receive the same care that is
given to European children, they would become
equally intelligent, and possibly more susceptible of a
good education than a great part of the natives of
India.^

Relations between J akun and Malays,

When these two races, whose common origin is in
many respects clear, are compared, it is hard to avoid a
feeling of astonishment on perceiving so remarkable a
difference between them. The dissimilitude in their
physical appearance is very slight when compared
with that which exists in their manners, customs, and
moral qualities.^

The Jakun and Malays, so different in many points,
are notwithstanding similar in some respects ; both are
ignorant and consequently superstitious. In these
two points they resemble each other, with this differ-
ence, that the Malays are ignorant and pretentious,
whereas the Jakun are ignorant, but aware of their
ignorance; and though they are proud and in-
dependent, yet they think that others know better
than themselves and thus easily endure to be taught.
Moreover, though both races are superstitious, the
Malays are certainly more so than the Jakun ; and
those of the Jakun who have the least to do with the

1 /. /. ^. ToL ii. p. 348. « Ihid. p. 274.

VOL. I 2 O

562

DEAUNGS WITH OTHER RACES

Malays are at the same time the least supersti-
tious.^

The Jakun hates the Malay, and the Malay
despises the Jakun. There is a natural and un-
controllable antipathy between the two races ; but
they stand in need of each other, and their mutual
intercourse is indispensable. The Jakun launch out
into incessant complaints against the Malays, as being
bad people, cruel murderers ; ^ and, what is no less

* /. /. A, vol. ii. pp. 275, 276.

^ Some few years back the Jakun on
the Endau, that is to say, the Endau,
Sembrong» and their tributaries, were
in comparatively comfortable circum-
stances, procuring the produce of the
jungle for traders, and receiving the
ordinary returns in kind, or planting
tapioca, sweet potatoes, sugar-cane, and
plantains; they finding Johor rule
comparatively quiet, rather took to
the Johor side of the Endau, to the
annoyance of the Pahang authorities.
These latter in their jealousy issued
an attractive but deceitful proclama-
tion intended to draw back the runaway
Jakun into Pahang territory, on pretence
of celebrating some ancestral feast,
but in reality with the intention of
enslaving them ; the Jakun were in-
duced to go into Pahang, but got
wind of what was likely to happen in
time for some of them to get away.
On another occasion some Pahang
Jakuns crossed over into Johor
territory ; Che Ngku Da of Pianggu,
who is the local chief on the Pahang
side, ordered them to return, and shot
one of them who did so ; nor are the
foregoing solitary instances of the in-
human treatment suffered by these
tribes, as by similar tribes in the north
of the Peninsula, at the hands of the
Malays ; but it is needless to multiply
instances, the fact that it is systematic
is already sufficiently well known and
authenticated, though it has been
hitherto allowed (except in Perak) to
remain an unnoticed fact What is
required is that steps should be taken

to make the ruling powers in Malay
States aware that we can no longer
view with indifference any toleration
by them of misconduct by any of their
subjects towards the aborigines resid-
ing in their territories, and that we
shall expect severe measures to be
adopted against any one offending in
this way.

The Malajrs of Johor, though they
have not imitated the brutal conduct of
the Pahang Malays, have nevertheless
taken advantage, though not perhaps
more than is natural, of their superior
position in their dealings with the
Jakuns. They do not give them the
fair market value in kind for the
jungle produce they receive from them,
and are not content with an exchange
which brings them less than 100 to
200 per cent profit; by this means
they keep the Jakun constantly in
their debt ; he has learned wants now
which he has to work so hard to
satisfy that he has little or no time
left for the cultivation which would
formerly have kept him In comfort ;
still more is this the case, where they
are forced to work for a local MaUy
official, not at the ordinary rates of
exchange in kind, but merely for
sufficient rice to keep body and soul
together, while they toil to satisfy bis
grasping greed. Treatment such as
this elicits comment even from the
apathetic Malay, especially when he is
a fellow-sufferer, perhaps a constable
on a station drawing a monthly salary,
which he seldom if ever enjoys the
sight of, though it is, no doubt.

CHAP. XI SA VA GE MALA YS OF JOHOR 563

criminal in their eyes, thieves, pilferers, and liars.
Some of them made the sensible remark that the
numerous ** sgmbahyangs," or prayers of the Malays,
could not be of any use to them so long as they re-
mained addicted to so many vices; but they took
great care before thus expressing themselves to look
about, for they knew that if any Malay should chance
to overhear them, they would not remain long un-
injured. But the Jakun not only hates and abhors
the Malays, he fears them as well ; and what makes
his position yet more irksome, is the necessity he is
under of being obliged to trade with them. The
** dammar" and other products he finds in the forest
cannot be disposed of except through the medium
of Malays, and this establishes a daily intercourse
between them. But what is really surprising is that
in these communications they always remain on good
terms, and that although the Jakun is rude and wild,
he yet knows how to give the Malay de Peau binite
de cour, and habitually keep great harmony and peace
in his relations with them. But if the Jakun hates
and fears the Malays, the Malays in return both
despise and fear extremely the Jakun. The Malays
consider the Jakun as infidels (** kafir "), and therefore
despicable, and as being in a rank only a little higher
than animals; but on the other hand the Malays
themselves are superstitious in the extreme. For
Malays, everything they do not understand is a
mystery ; everything not common must be endowed

transmitted regularly from Singapore. taught them the value, but which was

But this is merely by the way, an not originally in their list of articles

illustration of personal characteristics of food ; they have gone so far as to cul-

which do not end with the Jakun. tivate it for the last thirty years when

The Jakun cannot now get on with- allowed the needful leisure. — Hervey

out rice, of which the Malays have in J, R, A. S,y No. 8, pp. 120-122.

564 DEALINGS WITH OTHER RACES part ii

with extraordinary virtue ; and consequently, to a
Malay, a Jakun is a supernatural being, endowed with
supernatural power, and with an unlimited knowledge
of the secrets of nature. He must therefore be
skilled in the arts of divination, sorcery, and fascina-
tion, and able to do either good or evil according to
his pleasure ; his blessing will be followed by the
most extraordinary success, and his curse by the most
dreadful of disasters. Whenever he hates a person
he turns himself towards the house, and strikes two
sticks the one upon the other, and thereupon, what-
ever may be the distance between himself and his
enemy, the latter will fall sick, and even die if the
Jakun perseveres with this ceremony for a few days'
duration. Moreover, to a Malay the Jakun is a man
who, by his nature, must necessarily know all the
properties of every plant, and consequently must be a
clever physician, a belief which explains the eagerness
of Malays who are sick to obtain their assistance, or
at least to obtain some medicinal plants from them ;
and these they must obtain on any terms, because
they are necessary for them to preserve their life. It
is unnecessary that a physician of this sort should
actually visit the patient's house, since he knows
everything, he can give in his own house the proper
remedies to cure the sickness. He is also gifted with
the power of charming wild beasts, even the most
ferocious. Such are the effects of Malay superstition ;
and this is the reason why though they despise the
Jakun they at the same time fear them, and will in
many circumstances refrain from ill-treating them.^

But if the Jakun hates the Malays and fears them,
it is certainly not the result of any natural timidity,

* /, /. A, vol. ii. pp. 272-274.

CHAP. XI SA VA GE MALA YS OF JOHOR 565

for they do not do so towards other nations ; they do
not dislike the Chinese, and they have a remarkable
sympathy for Europeans, and place unlimited trust in
them after a single interview. The reason is that
Europeans generally show a security and frankness in
their conversation which by its great contrast with the
deceitfulness of the Malays at once catches the hearts
of this childlike race. They love the European, and
attach themselves to him as soon as they know him,
and the slightest good office received from him is the
source of the most unbounded gratitude.^

When Favre was journeying in Johor, every time
a Jakun settlement was reached, and one of the houses
entered, one of the women of the family would at once
take a basket, disappear, and a few minutes after re-
enter with some yams or other vegetables, which were
cooked and offered to their guests about half an hour
after their arrival. When next day a few small
articles were offered them in return, they were re-
ceived with some appearance of shame ; so much so,
that it was necessary to explain to them that they
were not intended as a present, but in settlement of
a debt ; and that they were merely offered according
to European custom, by which a traveller must
always give something to the owner of the house
where he happens to have slept. On the contrary,
whenever a Malay house was entered, the chief of
the family, persuaded that this was a lucky windfall
and not to be lost, would at once commence by every
imaginable means to speculate upon his guests ; hence
the exaggerated difficulties that would be alleged against
continuing the journey, which was made to appear im-
possible for want of coolies, guides, etc., the significa-

J /. /. A, vol. ii. pp. 277, 278.

566 DEALINGS WITH OTHER RACES part ii

tion of which was that, " If you do not give me a
substantial present, you shall not pass farther ^ The
traveller may give as much as is in his power, but yet
this will never be sufficient. The actions of these
Malays generally show low and sordid sentiments,
whereas the Jakun are naturally proud and generous/

UdaL — The Udai are said to be of more savage
habits than the (purer-bred) Jakun, prefer following
the chase to the drudgery of agriculture, and are de-
scribed as being without religion,* laws, or any form
of government.*

They have no knowledge of letters, and are
accused by the Jakun of devouring their dead and of
cohabiting with the beasts of the forest, particularly
the siamang. They go nearly naked, never wash
their bodies, wear no covering for the head, and use
the blowpipe, poisoned arrows, and sharpened palm-
wood stakes as spears.*

Orang Laut or Sea-Jakun.

Orang Laut Sletar. — Thomson describes the Orang
Sletar and their kindred tribes as wild, ignorant, and
indolent.* Such sweeping criticism of unknown tribes,
however, is seldom of any real value, and is not in-
frequently very far from the truth. The following
detailed description of his visit to the locality in which
the Orang Sletar lived is infinitely more valuable in
enabling us to form an idea of the race with which
we are now dealing.

One day, when anchored close to the shore, several
small boats and canoes were seen skirting the man-

* /. /. A, vol. iL p. 275. * I,e. in the popular sense of the term.

5 Newbold, ii. 381, 382. < Ibid, & /. /. A, vol i. p. 346*.

CHAP. XI MALA VAN SEA-G YPSIES 567

groves and slowly approaching. These proved to be
two families of the Sletar tribe. After careful ex-
amination it appeared that they were known to the
Malays as " Orang Utan Sletar." On their first
approach it was difficult to avoid being struck with
the extreme squalidness of their appearance, united
as it was to a dull insensibility to what was going
forward, a marked contrast to the pertness of their
Malay conductors, who assumed over them an air of
superiority and command which is never witnessed in
Malays when in the presence of Europeans alone, and
which at once afforded a convenient standard for
judging of the place which the Orang Sletar should
hold in the ranks of civilisation. The families con-
sisted of two men, three women, and several children
of both sexes. They were at first exceedingly shy,
and could with great difficulty be prevailed on to
speak, but by kindness of treatment, and some trifling
presents, the men were induced to throw off a con-
siderable deal of their reserve, so much so that they
daily visited the gunboat, bringing fish and a few
birds for barter, and since a system of fair dealing
with them was strictly maintained by the commander
and his crew, they promised always in future to visit
the gunboat to supply such necessaries, should she
ever enter their neighbourhood again, and to tell the
people of their tribe to do the same. As the result
of the visit of the gunboat they were well supplied
with many necessaries (luxuries to them), such as rice,
tobacco, and cloth, in consequence of which they took
great trouble in procuring what the gunboat's company
were most in want of, viz. fresh fish, and her departure,
it evidently appeared, was attended with considerable
regret on their side. On better acquaintance, when

568 DEAUNGS WITH OTHER RACES part ii

asked why they always used to run away before the
gunboat, their simple reply was, that they were afraid
they would be carried off to Gallang, a place noted
for the fierceness of its pirates, of whom they bore a
great dread/

On likenesses of two of them being taken (those
of a man and a woman), the man sat with great steadi-
ness and composure, and seemed perfectly aware of
the meaning of the process. When the sketch was
completed and shown to him it elicited a slight smile.
With the other subject, however, considerable difficulty
was encountered. She at first hid her face beneath
her shaggy matted locks that strayed in wild abund-
ance over her shoulders, and would only now and
then venture a glance at the operations of the pencil.
No persuasions would induce her to show her face,
till at last her young child was given her, when she
took up a position natural to a mother, and the sketch
was accordingly soon completed.^

Orang Laut Sabimba. — Thomson describes theOrang
Sabimba as forest nomads, possessing no boats or
canoes, even of the simplest construction, and as re-
garding the water ** with a degree of terror." * To
this he adds that they show a great detestation of
the Chinese, removing always from their vicinity.

Elsewhere we are informed that their personal
appearance is, to say the least, pleasing; the well-
formed features of the young and the contented
placidity of countenance of the old seem at once to
show them to be an improvable race. Unshackled with
the dogmas of Islam, and child-like in their perception

' /, /. A. vol. i. pp. 341* 342* * Ibid, p. 342*.

^ Ibid, p. 347^. This statement, however, is evidently due to some mis-
apprehension.

CHAP. XI MALA YAN SEA-G YPSIES 569

of the things of this world, they stood as it were on
the threshold of such a faith as Christianity presents
in its most humble, primitive, and purest form. Their
address was open and simple, their demeanour re-
spectful. Yet the Malays spoke of them as being
little better than baboons, and treated them as a class
much inferior to themselves. The Malay women of
the house in which Logan was sheltered ordered about
their less fortunate sisters in a manner not to be mis-
taken, and this was allowed as a matter of course. It
afforded considerable amusement to see how the
Malay women disposed the limbs, straightened the
face, and directed the eyes of a female that was per-
suaded to allow herself to be sketched, and when she
had been placed in a position pleasing to themselves,
they seated themselves where they could best gratify
their curiosity.^

Orang Laut Akik. — Of the Orang Akik it is stated
that they were expert divers and fishermen, and fre-
quently made long voyages in their fragile vessels.
They built houses, erecting temporary sheds (or
" bagans ") along the coast whenever they had occasion
to go ashore to build boats, mend nets, or collect dam-
mar, wood-oil, etc. Otherwise they resided along with
their families in their boats for months together, em-
ployed in fishing, collecting Agar-agar (the Zostera
of Linnaeus), b6che-de-mer (trepang), etc. When the
season or state of the weather did not permit this,
they employed themselves in collecting wood and pork-
oil;^ in making boat -awnings (*' kajangs "), nets, sails,
cordage, and so forth. ^

The Orang Akik were excessively proud, looking

* /. /. A, vol. i. pp. 349*, 350*. * Probably hog*s-grease. See p. 241, «. 2, a$Ue,
' Newbold, ii. 413, 414.

570 DEALINGS WITH OTHER RACES part ii

down upon the Malays as an inferior race, and disliked
theterm " Rayat" (or ''subject") usually applied to them.
Like the (Land) Jakun, they were of a restless turn of
mind, and impatient of all control, but passionately
fond of music, especially that of the violin. In handi-
crafts they were remarkably ingenious, particularly in
boat-building. They considered the (Land) Jakun as
their superiors, and showed them great respect. It
was said that though a Jakun could take an Akik
woman to wife, the Akik were not permitted to marry
with the Jakun females.^

The Charge of Piracy against the Orang Laut.

It has often been questioned whether the Orang
Laut of the Johor coast have been rightly charged
with the crime of piracy, and it certainly is very
highly probable that some part of the burden of the
charge is due to their being confused (as Orang Laut
or ** sea-gypsies,") with the lUanum and other more
powerful and formidable tribes of the Archipelago.
Yet it must be noted that Begbie in his table of the
Maritime Tribes of the Empire of Johor (pp. 271-273
of his Malay Peninsula^ published in 1833), specially
distinguishes for their piratical propensities the tribes
of Sekana, Gonwn (?), Booroo, Kondoor, Tumboosoo,
Laboo, Temiang, and Gallang, of which all but three
were ruled by a Batin of their own. The fact is that
the Johor "sea-gypsies*' formed but a limited and
somewhat insignificant section of the Orang Laut, and
were probably only piratical in a very small way.

^ Newbold, ii. 413, 414.

APPENDIX

APPENDIX.

PART I.— RACE. Pa«e28.

Suggested Negrito Group.

Physical
Characters.

Andamanese.^

Philippine
Negnto.2

Semang
(or Pangan).*

African Pigmy.4

Height of

1493 mm.

1480 mm. (Mon-

1491 mm. (5)

men

(1365-1631)

tano, H.and H.),

(Skeat and Laid-

i473(Guillemard,

law). 1525(23)

1452 mm.
among the

T^amhute

quoted by Keane)

N.A.

Height of

1393 mm.

1430 mm. (Mon-

1549 (Martin)

(Shrubsall).

women

(1320-1511)

tano, H. and H.)

1408 mm. (3)

(Skeat and Laid-

Uw). 1445(3)

N.A.

1387 (Martin)

SkuU-

Decidedly

Decidedly brachy-

Mesaticephalic

Brachycephalic

index

brachycephalic^

cephalic •

(Skeat, T^id-
law, Martin),
brachycephalic
in skull men-
tioned by Vir-
chow,^ and in
Gnibauer's.'
Mesaticephalic,
N.A.

among the Bam-
bote, Baamba,
and Ba9ai)de
(Shrubsall)

Hair-

Woolly and

Classed with that

Woolly (in the

Woolly — de-

character

black, amount-

of the Anda-

purest type) clas-

scribed as<*ord-

ing to " sooty "

numese.^

sed with that of

inary negro

(E. H. Man)

and Philippine
N^to8.w
Ditto, N.A

hair" (Shrub-
sail).

Skin.

Extremely black,

Dark copper (Mon-

Dark-brown

...

colour

"resembling the

tano, quoted by

passing into a

hue of a black-

H. and H.)

glossy black

leaded stove"

(Martin, Skeat,

(E. H. Man)

and Laidlaw).
Never black,

N.A.

1 All the Andamanese statistics are
taken from Man, The Andaman Islands^
p. 5 ^ seqq,<» except the skull-char-
acter, which is given by Virchow in
V,B, G,E. xxviiL 153.

* Montano, quoted by Hovelacque
and Herv^, Pricis d Anthropologies p.
38 1 ; Keane*s Ethnology ^ pp. 259 et $eq,

' N. Annandale and H.C. Robinson,
Fasciculi Malayonses^ Longmans,
Green, and Co., for University Press,
Liverpool (1903).

* From Sir H. Johnston's The
Uganda Protectorate^ vol. ii. pp. 478
et seq,

* K B, G. A, xxviii. 153.

• Ibid, f Ibid,

• /»/9-.p.58o. A brachycephalic skull
collected by Dr. Grubauer, and pur-
chased by the Royal Collie of Surgeons.
It was described by Mr. W. L. H. Duck-
worth in Man (March 1903, No. 18).

» V, B. G, A. xxviii. 152.
w Ibid,

573

574

APPENDIX

Page 31.

Suggested Dravido-Australian Group.

Physical
Chancten.

Vedda.1

TamiLS

Australian.^

SakaL

Height of
men

1533 mm.
[1460-1600]

1649 mm. (64)
? sex (Deniker)

Varies between
1 7 10 mm. (West
Coast, Dawson,
H. and H.),
and 1550 mm.
S. and G. give
(J 1663 J 1568

1495-1548 nam.

(Martin)

(1422.1596.

V.-St.]

1535(62 cf)

N.A.

Height of
women

1433
[1355-1500]

...

1568 (1630-
1515)8. and G.

1437 (Martin)

[1314-1469, '
V.-St]
I397(4?)N.A..

Skull,
index

Dolichocephalic

1
Dolidiocephalic.
Mesaticephalic, i
N.A. I

Hair-
character

Long, black, and
wavy

Long, black, and t

wavy 1

Variable, N.A. ;

Skin-
colour

Very variable

Very dark brown,
passing into
black (?)«

Dark chocolate
brown

Very vanabie '
(very light to
dark yellowish>
brown)
Ditto, N.A. j

1 The Brothers Sarasin, RHsc auf
Ceylon,

* Deniker, Races of Man, p. 579.

' Hovelacque and Herve, op, cit, ;
Spencer and Gillen, Native Tribes of

Central Australia, App. C.

* Cp. Virchow in K B, G. A, xxviii.
152 ^ seqq. "Many Sinhalese, al-
though of Aryan origin, are so dark that
they have been called quite black."

RACIAL AFFINITIES

575

Malayan Group. Page 83.

Physical Chancten.

JakunType.1

Malay Type*

Height of men . .

About 1527 mm.
(V.-St.); 1473-1657
(Logan) ; 1439-
1608 (Martin).

1583 mm. (Martin).
iS94(36(f S. Perak,
Mai.), N.A.

Height of women

About 1378 mm.
(V.-St); 1504.5
(Logan).

1499 (Martin).

Skull-index . . .

Brachycephalic

Brachycephalic.
Ditto, N.A.

Hair-character . .

Straight or lank,
somewhat coarse,
often with bluish-
black tint of Mon-
goloid hair.

Lank, somewhat
coarse, and often
of a bluish-black
type.
Ditto, N.A.

Skin-colour . . .

Dark reddish or cop-
pery brown, of a
darker shade than
the Malays.

A coppery brown.
Light olive, N.A.

Comparison of the Three Main Types. Page 84 et seqq

Feature.

Semang (NegritoX

Sakai (unidentifiedX

Jakun (Sa%'age MalayX \

I. Height of

1 49 1 mm.

1 495- 1 548 mm.

About 1527 mm.

Man

(Skeat and Laid-

(Martin).

(V.-St.); 1657

law.) 1525, N. A.

1535 (62 (J), N.A.

(Logan) ; 1439-
1608 (Martin).

2. Height of

1408 mm.

1437 mm. (Martin).

1378 mm. [1258

Woman

(Skeat and Laid-

(V.-St.); 1504

law.)

(Logan)].

3. Cephalic

Brachycephalic

Dolichocephalic.

Brachycephalic.

index

Mesaticephalic, N.A.

4. Skin-colour

Chocolate-brown to

Varying from dark

Dark olive-brown to

very dark sepia^

brown up to very

dark copper (a

passing into a

light brown (much

shade darker than

** shiny black. »

lighter than the
Malays).

the Malays).

* Logan, J. /. A, vol. i. p. 305, see Table, infra,
^ Annandale and Robinson, op, cit.

576

APPENDIX

Comparison of the Three Main Types — continued.

Feature.

Senumg (Negrito).

Sabu (unidenti6ed).

\
Jakiw (Savage Malay).

5. Hair . .

Woolly (short, crisp

Wavy, very dark

Straight or lank and

curls close to

brown to black.

bluish-black (like

scalp), and black

mostly the latter

thatoftheChinoe

in colour.

sometimes with

or Malays).

Ditto, N.A,

a slight reddish
tinge in reflected
light Variable,
N.A.

6. Forehead.

Low and rounded.

Flat, and projecting
greatly over the
root of the nose.

Inclined to be square.

7. Nose . .

Short, very wide, and

Small and often

"Stumpy" (thick

flat or spreading.

slightly tilted, with

and short, bat

alse set deeper than

with wide-open

the septum, and

nostrils).

very deep nasal

notch (Martin).

8. Cheeks .

Cheek - bones not

Cheek-bones much

Cheek-bones high

very broad or pro-

the broadest part

and well mark^

jecting, and full

of the fiice, both

like those of

cheeks.

forehead and chin

Chinese. Face as

being very nar-

a whole inclined

row in proportion.

tcbe/UUtisk.

9. Eyes . .

Round, wide-open,

Very dark brown.

Dark brown, of

and straight (not

small, semi-dosed,

moderate size,and

oblique). Iris a

horizontal Black

rarely with some

very rich dark

to reddish-brown

slight tendency to

brown. Black to

(as in Semang),

the oblique.

reddish - brown,

N.A.

ID. Chin . .

"Feebly developed"

Long and pointed.

Strong and inclined

(rounded off and

to be square.

often almost un-

marked).

II. Mouth .

Mouth rather large,

Mouth of small size,

Mouth often large

and lips some-

with lower lip

and broad, but

times " everted. "

full, loose, and
often conspicu-
ously projecting.

lips well-formed.

12. Beard . .

None to speak of.

As a rule, a few

As a rule extremely

When found, thin

straggling frizzly

scanty.

and straggling.

chin hairs, like

or occasionally

that of the

woolly.

Vedda's, but oc-
casionally, in a
few individuals
who otherwise
appear of pure
race, well devel-
oped and almost
bushy.

RACIAL AFFINITIES

S77

Pages 38, S9.

Return showing the Distribution op the Aborigines according to
Age and Sex in each District op the Federated Malay
States in 1901.

Sute.

District.

Aborigines.

Total

Grand
Total.

Males

Females

under
IS*

over
IS-

under
15-

over
15.

567

«3

597

Perak . .

Saangor .

SSmbilan
Pahang .

^Larut.

Matane.

KnalalCangsar

Upper PcraUc
. Klnta ....

Lower Perak

Batang Padang .

Krian ....

Selama.
^New Territory .

Total . . .

' Kuala Lumpur .

Ulu Saangor

Klang ....

Kuala Langat

Kuala SSlangor .
.Ulu Langat.

Total . .

Coast ....
- Jelebu ....
KuaU Pilah .
.Tampin

Total . . .

fUlu /Kuala Lipb
1 Pahang \Raub.

Ipacan"^.
iKoantan

Total . . .

Grand Toul

X39 40a
73 198

257 628
41 47

502 1024

230 776

229

47
393

XS26

21
1006 1

480
244
796

lOX

1282

16
725

X,02K
515

x,68i

2,8o§

37
1.731

1246 1 309a

9«5

2659

4338 1

3644

7,982

66
34
157

82
170

59
290

62
136

41
27X

122 '
236
93
447

97
834

79
45«

219
470
X72
899

311 1 648

366

550

959

916

1,875

122

243

26
22
SO
XIX

48
51
39

83
?^8

74
73

157
174
125
700

22X

944

498

208

427

742

635

1.377

37a

95
257
1x0

256
578
242
99

23X

183

850
232
532

X274

763

8,467

1,598.
8,39'

815

86x

2077

803

1920

3079

2864

7.340

2662

6315

2362

5556

91x8

8059

X8.574*

* Includes X3Q7 sex not given.
From the Census of the Popula^on, Fedeiated Malay States, X90X.

Measurements op £. Semang op Kelantan. Page 43.

I . Residence, Sangei Bumit in Aring. Fonnerly tpp teeth were filed down with
sandstone in Malay fashion. Skin much scarred. Lips thick ; slight straggly
beard. Feet curved inwards and much splayed, little toe of left foot missing.

VOL. I 2 P

578 APPENDIX

Non • Mohammedan, stated his age to be 2 years. Formerly married, no
children.

2. Residence, Sungei Bumit Slightly deaf. lips thick. Feet contours
normal. Head shaved with a razor given him by Penghulu of Kampong Buntal.
Unmarried. Pandak's brother-in-law. Very restless.

3. Slave living near Kampong Buntal. Parents lived in jungle of UIu
Lebih. Middle finger of right hand deformed. Age stated by himself to be 70
years. Married, with two children. Colour, 3 Topinard's scale. Eyes dark
rich brown. Hair short, woolly, very dark dull brown.

4. Brother of No. 3. Slave captured when very young. Religion,
Mohammedan. Colour, 3 Topinard's scale. Colour vision, normal or nearly
so, tendency not to distinguish between dark shades, dark purples being com-
pared with dark reds, but rejected. The boy is very nervous and tadtum.
Residence, Kuala Aring.

5. Residence, Sungei Sam. Son of No. 7. Skin a little lighter than
Topinard*s No. 3. Hair wiry, very closely curled. Teeth not filed, much worn,
but white and undecayed. Non- Mohammedan. A slave. Parents, Pangans of
Sungei Lebih. Has a moustache.

6. Petai or Pdlima. Residence, Sungei Sam. Skin a shade lighter than
No. 5, covered with skin disease of a mild tjrpe. Eyes dark brown ; strongly
marked superorbital ridges. Eyes very restless. Has a moustache and beard
of woolly hair. Six front teeth of upper jaw filed, slightly decayed. Has a
humorous expression about the mouth. Parents from Sungei Galas.

7. Slave at Sungei Sam. Skin darker than 3 (Topinard's). Feet much
splayed, as in No. i. Eyes dark brown. Skin diseased.

8. Slave at Sungei Sam.

9. Slave girl at Kampong Buntal. Unmarried, but sexually mature. Feet
and hands small and delicately shaped. Hair short, thick, and wooUy. Parents
lived in Ulu Aring. Inclined to steatopygia.

10. Wife of No. 3. Skin rather redder than No. 3 Topinard. Hair
black and lanky like a Malay's. Eyes very dark brown. Parents and grand-
parents Pahang Sakai living on Sungei Tahan ; tribe now moved down-
stream. No Malay admixture admitted. Mother of No. 11. Breasts very
pendulous.

11. Daughter of No. 3 and No. 10. Skin colour. No. 3 Topinard, but
rather redder. Eyes dark brown, darker than in parents. Teeth, milk teeth,
perfectly regular, the upper front pair of incisors very large, two next smaller,
much as in English children.

Note on Messrs. Skeat and Laidlaw's Measurements of Pangans
OF Jarum by Dr. W. L. H. Duckworth.

In addition to the recorded measurements of Pangan Semai^ (cp. Duck-
worth, J, A, /., Jan. -June 1902), Messrs. Skeat and Laidlaw have provided
measurements of three Pangans of Jarum, and have appended the following
notes : —

A. Pi'-Gdlugor: a grandfather ; name = father of G^lugor ; age about 45-50;

slightly bent owing to an injury. The skin tint is rather darker than
No. 2 (Anth. Notes and Queries). Eyes dark brown ; hair black and
closely curled. Five teeth are filed, one broken.

B. Kechong : wife of Pfidending ; with three children ; enceinte. Skin tint is

similar to that of A ; eyes dark brown ; hair black, and closely cut all
round head, except at die back, on which a tuft or "jambul" is worn.
Teeth white and good ; six are filed.

RACIAL AFFINITIES

579

•pwH JO aooajajuraano

»n »o

» S ft

S ? 8

•(H|8pq.pwH) «|qO JO »waA

0« M M

•«■ r^ •«

•■reg JO «n8«4x ox x9;j»a

r g s

•»«OKJOi|ip«aia

S! * ft

•woKJoipauyi

R ¥ R

•qipvaja rmio3|a

2 §• S

•qipewa pnuoiji itnaitnj^

? 2 t

•q?p«aaa jBirot-ia

2 & ?

*qip«»jg jnqnooid^ai

•8 S, S'

•inpw«apwH 1 J & 3-

tpSoyipwH

■^ « ?

•snuvjoireds | f |

•8ap4|Siq8pH | ?, R ?!

1 -punoao

1 uiojj tantuajs Jo wmsjsiQ

I i f

•punojo 1 t. - 5*
uioij 9i3niv JO 93innn(j j *o oo >6

«^

•punoio i ^ S- 2

mOJ| MU^ JO d3UV)S1(J 1 ^ ^ ^

•punojQ
rawjdiHJOwmnna

S f 5

tf>

•punoJO UIOJJ jdSm J
»IPP!W JO dp JO aDWKisia

« S &

•♦

•punoJO
"oijjsuAVJoaoainna

1 * i

•punojQ
UIOJJ Moqia JO aoinnsia

1 8. 8

•jappioqs jq8!H ve iq^PH

1 1 i

•(wnjBjs pnoi) iqSpH

i I 1

•<

1
1

1 » -

III

lO 00

♦ VO >0

i 4 5

♦o

ss 1 1

> >

58o APPENDIX

C. B^rapit : a female ; skin tint closely corresponding to No. 2 (Anth. Notes
and Queries). Eyes dark brown ; hair black and closely curled, with
frizzled <* jambuL" Teeth blackened : six are slightly filed. Subject
does not know any Malay words.

The foregoing notes afford no means of distinguishing these Pangans of
Jarum from the Pangans of Kelantan already described {J, A. I, loc, a/.) to whom
they are closely allied in respect of skin colour, eye colour, colour and characters
of the hair, and in the custom of filing the firont teeth. The skin colour only is
very slightly different, approaching No. 2 in place of No. 3 of the types. Nor
do the measurements (which are appended) justify any distinction, as they in no
case remove any individual of the three to any considerable distance from the
range known to obtain among the other Pangans, and in many instances they
fall within the range of variation in the several characters.

To complete this account a few notes on the measurements are now given.
Averages have not been computed for the Jarum Pangans, as in view of the very
small number (3) it is quite possible to treat of each individual separately, llie
most striking feature is the very simian nature of the proportions of the upper
limb in the man P&*-G£lugor.

A. With regard to the measurements of Pi'-G^lugor, the stature (No. i ) is small

and results from an accident (cp. descriptive notes); the following five
measurements are all small and indicate great length of the arms, which is
fully brought out by the relaUvely high figure which represents the span.
Nos. 6, 7, and 8 (the dimensions of the lower limb) are not far removed
from the average for Pangans (seey. A, I, loc. at, : average for men), but No.
9 is very small and is modified in association with the stature. Similarly
the sitting height is small (No. 10). The breadth index (74.4) shows a
value which is low for Pangans, but is exceeded in this respect by one of
the Kelantan men (Pandak 73*8). The nasal index (i 12. i) is very large,
but is approached by the Kelantan Pandak with 107. 1. Finally the
radio-humeral index has a large value, indicating that the upper limb has
very simian characters, but here again the figure, 88.6, is approached by
the same Kelantan Pandak with an index of 84.4.

B. Kechong : the stature is distinctly above the average, but the proportions of

the upper limb as deduced from measurements 2-5 inclusive are well
within the range of variation for Kelantan women (Pangans). Further,
while the heights at hip and knee are greater, that at the ankle is within the
range again. The next four dimensions are all greater than the Kelantan
average, but not very strikingly so, and the breadth index is not without
the limits of variation referred to. The proportions expressed by the
radio-humeral index are within the same range. Lastly, the nasal
index must be referred to. This yields a very small figure, which points to
a very narrow or proportionately long nose. On the whole, this feature,
taken with the number of instances in which the measurements prove
greater than the average, suggest that some admixture with another
stock, most probably Malay, has produced the observed differences.
At the same time it must be remembered that in other external
features and in the cephalic index there is nothing remarkable about this
woman.

C. B^rapit : in this instance we again find the occurrence of several dimensions

greater than those of the four Kelantan women previously described ; but
the increase is in most cases very smalL On the other hand, the head
proportions (Bi : 81.6) are well within the range of variation, though
the bi- malar breadth is below the average. The nose is shown by the
nasal index (i 12. 1) to be distinctly broader than the average of the four

RACIAL AFFINITIES

581

women mentioned (97.4)1 but in this respect B^rapit, whose age is not
given, is surpassed by a young Kelantan girl of 15 or 17 (Kutum).
Lastly, the radio-humeral index being much greater (80.1) than the
average (70.8) is nevertheless surpassed by that of the same Kelantan
girl Kutum (8.51).

It is believed that with regard to the foregoing notes the remarks made as
to^the close similarity of the Pangan from Kelantan and Jarum will be seen to
be justified, especially in view of the scanty material for comparison. With
regsird to the pai>eT published in the journal of the Anthropological Institute
(July-Dec 1902), giving averages for twenty Semangs (six not indicated) of
Upper Perak, it is to be noticed that the figures for the Jarum Pangans come
within the range of variation provided by the larger number of observations.

Page 44.

Measurements of a Semang Skull collected by Grubauer, and now
IN THE Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons — described
BY W. L. H. Duckworth in Man, No. 18 (March 1903).

Measurements of Skull*

Cranial Portion;

mm.

Facial Portign: mm.

Indices :

mm.

Maximum length .

167

Basi-nasal length . 96
Basi-alveolar length . 96+

Cephalic . .

. 85

Maximum breadth

X32

Alutudinal .

. 8a.6

Basi-bregmadc height .

Nasi-alveolar length . 69+

Alveolar . .

. 100

Horizonul circumfer-

Bi>zygomatic breadth 131

Facial (KoUmann's)

• 47«a

ence ....

48a

Orbital height . . 34
Orbital width . . 41

Orbital . .

. 44.8

Nasall . .

Nasal height . . 48
Nasal width . . 2i-5

tions gave X345 cc and

X250 cc respectively ;

1345 cc. is the more correct

figure.

The person to whom it had belonged was a member of the tribe of Penghulu
Dahabo (?), of Goyal {ue, " Mount ") Sapi» eight hours' walk ( Wegestunden) from
Kuala K^n^ring in Upper Perak. The skull was that of an old man who had
been buried between three and four years.

^-It presents some remarkable resemblances to a cranium in the Cambridge
Ethnological Museum, which I described in Man (1902, No. 28) : the shortness
of the cranium and the general rotundity are alike in each, as is also the small
figure of the cranial capacity. Where the Semang skull differs from the
Andamanese skull just mentioned, it resembles a skull described by Turner as
that of a Sakai, and figured in a communication to the Royal Society of
Edinburgh.^ The Sakai skull agrees with the subject of the present account
in the possession of prominent brow-ridges, and consequently flattened
orbits, the nasal bones and aperture have similar characters in each. But
Turner's " Sakai " is dolichocephsdic, so that the correspondence of type is
not fieur-reaching. No very close resemblance can be traced between the Semang
here described and the skull from Pahang described by Turner, or the E. Semang
(*' Pangghan ") described by Virchow.'

* Falsified by great development of
the nasal spine.

« Vol. xl. Part i. No. 6.

' See comparisons in "Some

Anthropological Results of the Skeat
Expedition to the Malay Peninsula,"
Joum, Anthr, Inst, vol. xxxii* 1 902,
p. 142.

582

APPENDIX

Page 45.

List of Measurements op Skull and other Parts of Skeleton
OF Semang.

Measurements of Skull.

Description : Pangan from Malay

mm.

Peninsula, collected by

W. W.

Bi-zygomatic breadth .

134

Skeat, M.A.

Orbital height .

Orbital width .

mm.

Nasal height

Maximum length .

. 179

Nasal width

Maximum breadth .

. 141

Jugo-nasal arc .

107

Basi-bregmatic height .

. 129

Jugo-nasal width

Horizontal circumference

. 5"

Indices —

Cranial capacity. Each observation

Cephalic .

■ 7S.7

(2) gave 1,425 cc = mesocephalic

Allitudinal

Alveolar .

102

Facial portion —

Facial (Kollmann's) .

46.2

Basi-nasal length .

Orbital .

82.2

Basi-alveolar length

. lOI

Nasal

• 55-3

Nasi-alveolar length

. 62

Naso-malar

1 10.3

Measurements of Bones of the Skeleton,

Bones, etc. —

Humerus

308

305

Radius .

239

Femur .

426

425

Tibia .

374

372

UUia .

253

Fibula .

365

361

Radio-humeral index .

78.3

Tibio-femoral index

87.7

87.S

Inter-membral index

68.2

Femero-humeral index 72.3

71.8

Length.

Breadth.

Sacrum

lOI

Scapula-height

117

125

„ breadth

102

103

Sacral index .

108.6

Scapular index

87.1

82.4

Clavicle

119

129

Claviculo-humeral in

dex .

. 38.6

42.3

Posterior

height of

centrum.

Lumbar vertebra —

First .

. 23

Second
Third .
Fourth.
Fifth .

23
24
25
27

25
25
23
21

Index given by com
bined figures .

97.5

Femur, special measu

rements foi

'—

Platymeria —

Transv. diameter .

R.
27

L.
27

Anterior - posterior
diameter .

Platymeric index .

74.7

Platycnemia —
Transv. diameter .

Antero - posterior

diameter .
Platycnemic index

33
63.6

29
65.5

Popliteal region —
Transv. diameter .

*'M. N." .

" M. P." .
Popliteal index .

23
69-6

23
67.6

RACIAL AFFINITIES 583

ViRCHOw's Description op £. Semang (Pangan) Skull. Page 46.

The skull is that of an elderly person, apparently that of a man, and shows
traces of burning. The capacity is 1370 ccm., the horizontal circumference
489, the sagittal 364 mm. ; in other words, the measurements on the whole are
small. The skull is remarkably short, broad, and high, its type hypsibrachy-
cephalic (L. Br. Ind. 81.5 ; L. H. I. 76.9) ; in this connection it may be
remarked that the figure of the ear-height index (68.2) is unusually high. The
occipital index (31.2) is likewise large. On the other hand, the basilar index
(55.4) proves to be relatively small. In analysing the sagittal circumference
it is seen that 35.1 per cent belong to the frontal bone, 35.7 per cent to the
parietal bone, and only 29. i per cent to the occipital bone.

The sutures on the vertex are simple, but behind, and at the side, much
serrated. The temporal surfaces are not very h^h, each being bounded by
a double linea semicircularis, of which the upper component passes above the
parietal eminence as far as the lambdoid suture, whilst the lower runs straight over
the parietal eminence.

The brow is tolerably broad (minimal frontal breadth 91 mm.), low, and
somewhat sloping. The brow ridges are prominent, the glabella b less prominent.
The frontal eminences are ill-defined. The transition from the brow to the
vertex of the skull is gradual, the latter being flattened. The parietal eminences
are la^e and prominent. Descent to the occiput is sudden. The upper part of
the occipital bone is rounded without a distinct protuberance or superior semi-
circular line. The lower part of the bone is obliquely placed but nearly
horizontal, and is comparatively smooth. The mastoid processes are small.
The external auditory meatus is compressed in the sagittal direction. The
temporal sutures are normal. The squameous portions of the temporal bones are
broad and prolonged backwards. As regards the measurements of breadth, the
maximum breadth is 133, the bi-auricular 107, the occipital 104, the temix>ral
99 mm., the intermastoid diameter is 119 mm. At the base of the skull the
foramen magnum is asymmetrical, the right half being fuller than the left ; its
form is almost round, 31 by 29 mm., index, 93.5, and very large. The
jugular fossae are extremely large. The basilar process is broad and flat.

The face is low and broad; index (73.8?) chamsprosopic ; the zygomatic
arches but little displayed; the ** tuberositas ossis inferior'* reinforced by the
tuberosity of the upper maxilla. The orbits are moderately large, the upper
margin inclined downwards and outwards, the lower margin deeply excavated,
the index 80 (chamaekonchic). The nose is short, with the bridge flat and
rounded, broad, the aperture asymmetrical and narrow. The index is 50,
mesorrhine. The canine fossae are shallow. The upper jaw b strongly pro-
gnathic, and at the same time asymmetrical, and somewhat deflected to the right ;
the intermaxillary suture synostotic. The teeth are absent except the first
prsemolar on the right, which is worn down and brownish ; at the same time the
edges of the jaw are somewhat weather-worn. In the region of the front molars
there are traces of old alveolar caries. The gums are short and broad, but the
index is leptostaphyline (68.6). The palate bone is wide.

The mandible is toothless, the dental alveoli being obliterated behind on
the right and in the middle. The alveolar curve is broad in front. The chin
not prominent, in consequence of which all the lower part of the mandible forms
a continuous broad curve. The angles are somewhat splayed, the bigonial
diameter is nevertheless small, only 89 mm. The rami are broad, 35 mm., set
on almost at a right angle. The condylar processes are very low, 50 mm. long ;
the joint surfaces flattened, the right presenting clear evidence of arthritis
deformans. The coronoid processes are 58 mm. high.

So much for the formation of the skull. For many decades the Semang
tribes have been regarded as the chief representatives of the lowest form of

584 APPENDIX

bodily structure. When all other ** lower " races had been successively stripped
of their conjectured resemblance to apes, all our hopes of discovering at least
some kind of a Proanthropos were directed to the obscurity of the forests of
Malacca. Even these hopes, however, now appear to be futile. At least this
first specimen of a Semang skull possesses (beyond its prognathy and the simple
formation of its lower jaw) nothing specially pithekoid. There is present
neither platy- nor katarhiny, nor a processus frontalis squamae temporalis, nor a
processus lemurianus. With its capacity of 1370 ccm., its minimal frontal
width of 91 mm., its well-developed temporal region, it may be ranked with the
skulls of civilised peoples, than many of which it is certainly less pithekoid.

Now it is indeed not improbable that, if Vaughan-Stevens should fulfil
his promise and my hopes and send us more skulls of £. Semang (Pangan)
people, a few less well-formed and perhaps much smaller specimens may be
found among them. But to this kind of variation we have been long accustomed.
In discussing the skulls of the Philippine Negritos {cf, F. Jagor, Reisen in
d. Philip, p. 374, plate II. figs. 4-6 : Berlin, 1873) I ^^i^^ already demon-
strated this by figures. The capacity of four specially selected Negrito skulls
varied between 1 150 and 13 10 ccm., on the other hand they were all hysibrachy-
cephalic, like the £. Semang (Pangan) skulls.

Hie similarity of the two races, which has so often been conjectured,
can now be looked ujx>n as established. The most important factor which
Vaughan-Stevens has brought forward as bearing on this point is the hair. Un-
fortunately in this respect the fates have not been auspicious to us. In the box
of which he speaks there are only a few quite small remnants of single hairs
left. But they are bltukyfine^ and spiral. Moreover, all doubt must disappear
on examining the top-knot (** Bag-i ") which he took from the head of a man and
sent here. It shows the same tendency to the formation of entangled spirals
that is known to us in the Negrito hair, and it is diametrically opposite in character
to the Sakai (** Blandas**) hair which I also received from Vaughan-Stevens,
and which I described in detail at an earlier meeting {Verh. 1891, p. 844).

This top-knot consists of an extremely elegant combination of a great number
of black spirals, which when slightly relaxed and held against the light form a loose
web of " screw-like" {i.e. spiral) hairs isolated throughout their entire length. The
diameter of the spirals reaches to as much as 2 mm. [sic, ? 2 cm.]. Under the
microscope each separate hair appears thin and of a blackish-brown colour ; the
pigment, however, lies so thick that the interior cannot be very clearly seen from
the outside. From cross-sections it is apparent that this pigment is chiefly accumu-
lated in the outer layers of the hair (*< Haarschaft'*), and is almost entirely
wanting from the inner part, which sometimes occupies almost half the cross-sectioiL
The cuticle is very delicate and pale. In almost every case there is no medulla ;
when it appears it is discontinuous, weak, and but slightly coloured. The pigment,
in thin layers, appears of a pure brown colour, one might almost say light
brown. It consists of very fine brown grains, which, when not quite sharply
focussed, almost give the impression of a diffused ** infiltration." In reality,
however, they form narrow spindle-shaped figures. The form of the cross-section
is mostly an elongated oval, which is frequently flattened or laterally compressed.*

Page 46.

Note on Specimen of E. Semang (Pangan) Hair, by
W. L. H. Duckworth.
Provenance, JCelantan Prcmnce, Malay Pemnstda,
Native described by the collector (Mr. F. Laidlaw) as a Pangan, " fother of
Kepar.'* See Laidlaw's notes, Skeat Expedition, 1899.

The hair is in the form of a ringlet which forms curls of a diameter from 9
mm. to about 20 mm.

1 V, B, G, A, xxiv. (V.-St.) 442-444.

RACIAL AFFINITIES

585

Colour black — under microscope densely pigmented — surface rough.

Sections, — Pigment seen to be uniformly distributed along length of longitudinal
sections. In transverse sections it is seen in the form of fine granules aggregated
chiefly about the periphery of the section and just within . the well-marked
cuticular border. There is also a core formed of an aggregation of the granules
in the centre of the section. This core is about y^ mm. in diameter.

Inform^ the sections vary from an oval or ellipse at the thicker or basal end,
to almost a circle near the tip of the hair. The indices of four sections work out
at 55.2, 58.9 (these are oval), 86.7, 86.9 (the latter are sections near the tip of
the hair). The hair has thus negroid characters in respect of section.

Page 53.

Points of Comparison between Semang, Andamanese (from Temple's
Census Report)* and Philippine Negritos.

Semang.

Philippine Negritos.^

Height

i. Men, 1491 mm.
(W.S.); 1549 (R.M.);
1525 (N.A.).

i. 1447-1472 mm.
p. 67.

1485 mm. (18) (Mon-
tano, p. 84) ; 1489
(Semper, Phil. 1869,
p. 49); ca, 1400 (7)
(Sawyer, p. 201).

ii Women, 1408 mm.
(W.S.); 1387 (R.M.);
1445 (N.A.)

ii. 1 360- 1 385 mm.
p. 67.

1432 mm. (12) (Mon-
tano, do.); 1408 (Sem-
per, do.); ca, 1350
(Sawyer, do.).^

Shape of head

i. Mesaticephalic.
ii. Brachycephalic.

i. Ditto, p. 67.
ii. Ditto, p. 67.

Marked brachycephaly
(Meyer, Negr, p. 25).

Hair .

i. Black and woolly.

i. Ditto, p. 56.

Black -brown, Broca 41
(Meyer, p. 27). "Spir-
alig, verfilzt. z. T. zu

iL Complete shaving of
the head.

iii. Closely cropped hair.

ii. Ditto, p. 56.
Bojigngiji com-
pletely shaved
heads, p. 50.

iii. Ditto, p. 50.
C)nge Jarawa
closely cropped.

kleinen Quasten auf-

geroUt."
Head shaved in Luzon

{Globus, xliu. 378).
Hair cut short (Meyer,

p. 28).

Eyes .

i. Rich liquid brown,
ii. Round and bright.

i. Ditto, p. 56.
ii. Ditto, p. 56.

Skin .

i. Colour (black to rich
dark chocolate brown).

L Ditto, p. 56.

Brown like Malays
(Meyer, p. 34).

Food .

i. Roots, fruit, and game.

i. Ditto, p. 50.

Fruits, roots, honey,
and game (Meyer, p.
32).

[Continuation of table and notes on pp. 586, 587*

586

APPENDIX

Points of Comparison — continued.

Semang.

Andamanese.

Philippine Negritos.

ii. Elaborate preparation.

ii. Ditto, p. 50.

iii. Heads of animals

iii. Ditto, p. 66.

killed in hunting, hung

up partly as trophies

and partly as ornaments.

Huts .

i. Leaf-shelters (especially

i. Ditto, p. 50.

Leaf-shelters {Z,f, aUg,

beehive-shaped huts).

(cp. also Martin,
p. 668).

Erdk. X. 253).

ii. Communal huts.

ii. Ditto, p. 50.

Hutfumiiure

I Bamboo sleeping plat-

i. Ditto, p. 51

forms.

(Onge Jarawa
only).

ii. Hammer and anvil of

ii. Ditto, p. 66.

natural stones.

Implements —

Stone

i. {a) Chips and flakes
only.

i. (a) Ditto, p. 66.

1
1

{b) No axe, arrow, or

(b) Ditto, p. 66.

spear heads.

Bows

ii. Ordinary long bow of

ii. CJnge Jarawa

Bow of bamboo, 93 to

palm-wood or bamboo.

only, pp. 66. 67.

219 cm. long (Meyer,
pp. 13-24).

Harpoons ,

iii. (a) Fish harpoons.

iii. {a) Used by

Fish spear (Meyer, p.

Bojigngiji and

17).

Yerewas, p. 50.

{b) Some Semang tribes

{b) Not used by
Onge-Jarawas.

have no harpoons.

Tattooing .

Never applied to face;

Not among Onge-

Keloids (?) at any rate

practically unknown to

Jarawas, p. 50.

cuts. Tatooing (?)

Semang.

(Meyer, p. 26).

Ormwtenta-

i. Delicate and elaborate.

i. dnge Jarawa, p.

tion of

50.

Utensils

ii. Rough.

ii. Ditto, p. 50.

Dancing

i. Standing in a ring and

i. Onge Jarawa, p.

alternately bending and

64.

straightening the knees.

ii. The practice called

ii. Ditto, p. 64.

'* rentak Balei " or

Bojigngiji and

" drumming on the floor

Jarawas use a

of the tribal hall,"

special kind of

practised by Jakun

sounding board

tribes mixed with Se-

for drumming on

mang, and may be a

with the feet

survival of former Se-

rhythmically, with

song and clap-
ping of hands in

unison.

RACIAL AFFINITIES

587

Points of Comparison — continued.

Semang.

Andamanese.

Philippine Negritos.

Burial

i. Corpse buried with

i. Ditto, p. 65.

In hollowed trunks a

knees drawn up in sitting

foot below the surface

posture.

(Meyer, p. i).

ii. Platform burial (in

ii. Ditto, p. 65.

trees) of chiefs.

iii. Former disinterment

iii. Ditto, p. 65.

of bones probable in

view of traditions of

past customs.

* The following instructive list of
points of difference between Semang
and Andamanese has been drawn up
by Sir Richard Temple, and is given
in the above-mentioned (Census)
Report : —

Face: In the variation of the
Andamanese fiace. Implements: In
the blow-gun and {x>isoned arrows and
spears. Hunting: In trapping game.
Feeding: Men before women. Quivers:
In having reed quivers : Andamanese
stick their arrows in their waist-belt.
Ornamentation : In quality and artistic
merit Ornaments: In personal orna-
ments and piercing the nose. Huts:
In rock-shelters, cave-dwellings, tree-
huts, barricaded huts. Clothing: Of
hammered barks; loin-cloth for men,
petticoat for women. Magic: In its
practice and in use of magical designs.
Music: In nose -pipe and castanets.
Songs: In their nature. Marriage:
Based on purchase and ceremonies.
Beliefs: In Shamanism, metamorph-
ism into tigers of living men, in ideas
as to "God." Language: In its
mixture with Malay and Mon ; basis
can be proved perhaps to be (? Onge
Jarawa) Andamanese, though the
specimens I have seen afford very little
hope of this. Also a portion of the
Semangs have fixed habitations and a
rude agricultiure, this latter capacity
being entirely absent in the Andaman-
ese.

On the foregoing list I would
remark that allowance must be made
in many cases for the fact that the
Semang in the Malay Peninsula have

long been subjected to the predominant
influence of Indo-Chinese and Mala]ran
culture, which is quite sufficient to
account for the Semang use of the
blowpipe and poisoned arrows ; for
some, at least, of their methods of
trapping game ; for the feeding of men
before women ; for the Semang use of
bamboo quivers ; for their cloth of
hammered tree -bark, and to some
extent for their magical practices ; for
their use of the nose -flute or nose-
pipe, which is a well-known Indo-
Chinese instrument ; for their basing
of marriage on purchase and its
attendant ceremonies ; for the Semang
Shamanistic and Were-tiger practices ;
and for the Mon-Khmer affinities of
their language, as well as for their
fixed habitations and rude agriculture.
On the other hand, the Semang shelters
and tree-huts are undoubtedly due to
the presence of the larger fauna, which
do not occur in the Andaman Islands,
where such shelters are therefore super-
fluous. As to the variation of the
Andamanese face, I cannot agree that
it is a point of difference, as the
variation in Semang features is strongly
marked.— W.S.

2 I have to thank Mr. N. W.
Thomas for the facts in this column.
In Folkmar's Album of Philippine
TypeSy the following measurements (of
three Northern and Southern Philippine
Negritos) are given : height standing,
1475 ■n™* > cephalic index, 80.45.

3 Many profiles show a marked
resemblance to portraits in J, A, I,
(v. Meyer, PI. ix.).

588 APPENDIX

Page 58.

Vaughan-Stevens' Sakai Measurements (ed. Virchow).

Height of the men from 1422 to 1596 mm. (1594 in K B, G, A, xxviiL
152).

Height of the women from 1341 to 1469 mm.

The variation between the men is 172 mm., among the women 128 mm.

Between the tallest man and shortest woman, 253 mm.

Three Sakai men attained a height of between 1500 and 1600 mm.

The shortest man was a 32-jear-old Sakai of 1422 mm., all the men of the
other tribes measuring more than 1470 mm.

The smallest arm-stretch (1370 mm.) was that of a 22-year-old Sakai woman
whose height was 1424 mm., the difference against the arm-stretch being — 54,
and another whose height was 1469 mm. had an arm-stretch of 1463, a difference
of —6. On the other hand, a 42-year-old woman (1341 mm. in height) had an
arm-stretch of 1375, giving a difference in favour of the arm-stretch of +34.*

Page 58. Sakai Skull described by Virchow.

Let us now consider the Skull of the Cenlral Sakai {'* SenoV) WomoHj the first
of its tribe which has reached Europe. Without doubt it is the skull of an old
woman, as the description will soon show. In capacity (1350 ccm.) it &lls only
20 ccm. short of the £. Semang (Pangan) skull ; for a woman it may be
considered well -developed. Its horizontal circumference (495 mm.) is even
greater than that of the £. Semang (Pangan) skull, and its vertical dream-
ference (362 mm.) is almost equal to the latter.

Its form is orthodolichocepkalic (L. B. I. 72.6 ; L. H. I. 73.2 ; O. H, I.
61.5). In the norma verticalis, as well as in the norma temporalis, it appears
correspondingly compressed and comparatively narrow. The lack of prominence
of the tubera, and the marked curvature of the upper occipital bone largidy
contribute. The occipital index is calculated at 31.2, the basilar index at 50.2 ;
to the occiput belong accordingly more than one-third of the total length. The
percentage components of the sagittal arc are : —

Frontal component, 34.8.
Parietal component, 35.9.
Occipital component, 29.2.

The parietal development is therefore the most marked, and in consequence
the occiput has the appearance of having been driven backwards.

In spite of the age of the individual, the condition of the sutures is very good.
Syntosis is entirely absent. Most of the sutures are simple, the lambdoid alone
being strongly indented in its upper part. Here, however, an exception must
be mentioned, inasmuch as the limbs of the suture on each side are interrupted
in their upper third ; here the suture runs inward almost horizontally, sub-
sequently rising fairly steeply and forming a triangular projection at the
lambda.^

^ N,B, These measurements (of the across the breast in the usual way
arm -stretch) were taken by Vaughan- (Virchow, V,B.G.A, xxiii. 842, 843).
Stevens behind the back, instead of ' V. B. G, A, xxvi. (Virchow) 356.

RACIAL AFFINITIES 589

The surface of the bones is unifonnly smooth and yellowish in colour, on the
right lighter, on the left with a strong inclination to brown ; their entire aspect
shows that the person had not been long buried. All muscle and sinew attach-
ments are weak, some not developed at alL Moreover, the ''plana tempor-
alia " are but little developed ; their upper edge does not reach the parietal
eminences.

The brow-ridges are practically non-existent, the glabella not sunken, the
tubera but feebly indicated. The middle portion of the brow, which is otherwise
moderately straight and somewhat narrow, is symmetrically arched. At the
glabella there b a small horizontal scar. The sagittal arc has a sharp return
curve, is on the whole long, in front somewhat flattened, descending from the
line of the parietal protuberance in a strongly -marked curve; the occiput, as
already remarked, projects. There is no occipital protuberance, but in its place
a slightly irregular rectangular depression marked by large emissary veins. The
foramen magnum is roundly oval, 32 to 27 mm. in diameter, with an index

of 84.3-

The temporal region is somewhat irregular ; stenokrotaphy is marked on both
sides, especially on the left ; a shallow, slightly funnel-shaped groove traverses
the angulus |>arietalis. The temporal alae are large, with strong foramina.
The sphenoparietal suture is short, 7 mm. The temporal squamae are somewhat
outwi^ly arched. The external auditory meatus is large and round.

The face is small and noticeably narrow. The index is chamaprosopic (77.7).
The zygomatic arches are delicate, almost depressed. The bi-jugal diameter is
only 117 mm. The orbits are very deep and high, arched inwards and above
(diagonal). The index is kypsikonchic (86.1). The nose is broad and much
flattened. The transverse diameter measures at the root 12, in the middle 11,
below 18 mm. The nasal bones are quite uninjured and large. The naso-frontal
suture projects upwards. The bridge is broad, flattened in the middle, and
towards the middle on each side a large emissary foramen is seen. The aperture
is large, but at the same time somewhat broad and low. The nasal spine is
moderately developed. The index is platyrrhine (54.3). The upper jaw is
delicate, short, slightly prognathic, but at the same time very atrophied ; the
incisors and the canine are absent on the left, and their alveoli are filled up.
Only a few molars and prsemolars remain, and these are thickly incrusted with
lime, and are blackened with betel-nut juice. The palate is Uptostaphyline.

The under jaw is very small and atrophied, all the teeth are lost and the
alveoli are filled up, but in the region of the second molars there are large, open
cavities, and in the region of the incisors there is a projection of the alveolar
margin. The chin is small, but prominent ; the rami are delicate, and the pro-
cessus lemuriani feeble.^

With exception of the facial and palatal index, strong differences every-
where present themselves, but the face and the maxilla cannot be determined
exactly on account of the great alteration which they have undergone. Mean-
while, however, I wish to submit that the calculated indices for these two
p>arts probably give the correct relation. Some differences may be referable to
the sex. Thus the difference of the orbits which, in the case of the male Semang
(Pangan), are chamsekonchic, in the female Sakai (Blandas) are hypsikonchic.
But the contrast between the cephalic and the nasal indices is so strongly marked
that a strongly marked distinction of the two races must be assumed if the two
skulls now lying before us represent real tribal types. On this point little can be
said. At the meeting of 21st November 1891, at which I communicated the
indices of living subjects calculated from the measurements of H. Vaughan-Stevens
among the ten Sakai (Senoi) measured, I could only produce one dolichocephalic
and two mesaticephalic ; on the other hand, seven were brachycephalic But

1 V, B, G, A, xxvi. (Virchow) 356.

590

APPENDIX

at that time {ibid, p. 838) Vaughan-Stevens was still of the opinion that the
Sakai (Blandas) were half-breeds, and that all, although in variable proportions,
had Malay blood. But as he maintains the purity of the blood of the Sakai
(Senoi) woman whose skull he obtained in Perak, it may well be that this skull,
though female, exhibits the really pure Sakai (Senoi) type. We shall have to
await further material.^

The characteristic which removes the skull of the Sakai (Senoi) woman
farthest from that of the Semang (Pangan) is \\itfomtcUion of the nose. This latter
is platyrrhine to such an extent that one might be inclined to call it pithekoid.
In my academic treatise on some characteristics of the skull of the lower human
races (Berlin, 1875, p. 115), I have given a detailed comparison between the
Malay nose and that of the Orang Utan, and have thus clearly demonstrated that
the form called katarrhine is essentially dependent on the small size of the nasal
bones. There can be no question of such katarrhiny in the case of this Sakai
(Senoi) woman, because in her case the nasal bones are comparatively large.
If, in spite of this, the structure of the nose, and especially the contour in profile,
reminds us of the nose of the Malay, and perhaps still more of that of the N^ro,
this is attributable to the strongly- marked impression, or rather depression, oi
the bridge of the nose, which of course must be connected with a weaker de-
velopment of the nasal septum. With this is connected the higher p>osition of the
fronto-nasal suture. That such a formation of the nose is usual among the Sakai
(Blandas) appears to follow from the description, unfortunately not a very detailed
one, which H. Vaughan-Stevens formerly transmitted to us {Verh, 1 891, p. 840,
Figs. I and 3). Hie nose of the Semang (Pangan) skull, on the other hand, is
mesorrhine, and although short and broad, slightly rounded at the bridge ( Verk,
1892, p. 442, illustr.).'

The chief points in which this Sakai skull differs from the former E. Semang
(Pangan) skull {Verk, 1892, p. 438) may be conveniently seen by placing the
index numbers side by side : ^ —

Indices.

£. Semang (Pangan).

.Sakai (Blandas).

Length-breadth . .
Length-height . .
Ear-height . . .
Occipital. . . .
Facial ....
Orbital ....

Nasal

PalaUl ....

Brachycephalic 81.5
Hypsicephalic 7 6. 9
68.2
30. 1
Chamaeprosopic 73.8?
Chamsekonchic 80.0
Mesorrhine 50.0
Leptostaphyline 68.6

Dolichocephalic 72.6

Orthocephalic 73.2

61.5

31.2

Chamaeprosopic 77.7
Hypsikonchic 86. 1
Platyrrhine 54.3
Leptostaphyline 68.0?

Finally, the fact should be mentioned that this Sakai skull exhibits in addition
several structural anomalies, as, for instance, bi-lateral stenokrotaphy, an unusual
form of the occipital squama and the processus lemuriani. I waive the point
whether these are rather individual variations or racial characteristics.

1 V, B, G, A, xxvi. (Virchow) 358.

lb. p. 358.

^^' P- 357.

RACIAL AFFINITIES 591

ViRCHOw's Description of Sakai Hair-charactbr. Page 58.

All the specimens are of considerable length. The hair of the 3 5 -year-old
woman measures 59, that of the 37-year-old man 32, that of the 75-year-old
man 26 cm. in length, and from all the evidence we may, I think, say that the
hair of the head of the Sakai (Blandas) is at once distinguished by its extra-
ordinary length. This is partly explained by the Sakai custom of refraining from
cutting the hair of the head. Again, the pointed ends of the hairs appear very
fine even to the naked eye, and the tips when seen under the microscope appear
pointed, but are worn and broken or indented at the sides, presenting a jagged
appearance. Again, throughout each strand of hair the cuticle is extremely thin,
a fact which explains the somewhat dull [matt) appearance of the hair.

The colour of the hair is very dark in the coarser specimens. To the naked
eye it resembles ebony, and only in reflected light is there a slightly brownish
shimmer to be perceived. But in most of the specimens there is a very unequal
thickness of the separate strands, and even with the naked eye the thinner
specimens can be seen to possess that lighter tinge from which the "Water-
hair " mentioned by Vaughan-Stevens arises. When, however, Vaughan-Stevens
speaks precisely of a reddish tinge, this is a somewhat exaggerated statement to
make in the case of adults, though the hair of the 2-year-old girl does, in fact,
show a light reddish-brown tinge.

Seen under the microscope, the pure black hair of the Sakai looks altogether
opaque and uniformly black ; its tint, however, is not the black of the Negro's
hair, which so often shows a bluish tinge, but a tint which distinctly shades off
into brownish black in the thinner places. In the finer specimens a thin and
black but frequently interrupted medulla may be distinguished. The thinnest
specimens mostly show, when viewed from the side, a faint yellowish-brown
colour, in which no grains are distinguishable ; the colour appearing rather to be
uniformly diffused through the whole of the matter. Here and there, moreover,
there appear single hairs, the matter of which is uniformly dark brown with a
tendency to yellow. This implies, therefore, a certain approach to blonde hair.
Many of these thin specimens have no trace of a medulla, in others a weak
central medulla is visible, which is frequently continuous, but more often inter-
rupted in character. In the most marked case of interruption the appearance is
that of long spindle-shaped depressions, with more or less grain-like contents
which appear at certain intervals. In these the medulla matter is quite colourless.
These characteristics appear to a special degree in the hair of the 2 -year-old
girl (No. 43), some few of the thinnest specimens being absolutely colourless.^

In cross section the formation of the finer hairs appears to be circular (dreh-
runde), the coarser sometimes approaching an oval formation. I have not seen
deeper flattenings or impressions. In the coarser black hairs the pigment always
has a dark brown appearance when strongly magnified, and appears to consist
of grains of varying size, which frequently exhibit a somewhat '* spindle-shaped,"
or at all events *♦ stripy" formation. Where the smaller grains predominate
there arises a somewhat yellowish tinge. The granular pigment is distributed
throughout the medulla matter most densely in the outer portions, and the least
so towards the centre.

The hair of the 75-year-old man (No. 40) is specially interesting. Even to
the naked eye it appears of a mixed character ; thin reddish-yellow hairs, and in
some places numerous grey or even white ones are to be seen blended with coarse
and absolutely black ones. The microscope shows, moreover, that the latter
possess no medulla or air-cells at all, so that the cause of their turning grey can
only be ascribed to the failure of the colouring matter, in other words to a kind

1 r. B. G, A, xxiii. (Virchow) 845, 846.

592 APPENDIX

of Leukopathy (Albinism). The yellowish hairs again are quite unifonn in colour,
and contain a narrow medulla, which is sometimes interrupted, but as a rule
colourless. In a few cases only in the course of such medullas were shorter,
black-looking interruptions {Absdtze) to be noticed.

In no case whatever, even in the case of the comparatively short hair of the
children, did there appear any tendency to curl or even to the fonnation of
spirals. On the contrary, all the specimens sent in show lanky ("gestrecktes")
hair. But in all the specimens the tendency to waviness is noticeable, and in
some it amounts to ** twisting. " The ends especially, as Vaughan-Stevens remarks,
curl upwards in the form of a semicircle. For the most part this formation is
carried some way up the lock, which thus acquires a curly appearance. In this
respect it shows a marked divergence from the Mongolian and also from the
pure Malay hair. This is apparently to a great extent owing to the much finer
and thinner structure of the hair, which, moreover, as a rule is very irregularly
formed.

The designation of "tufts" so repeatedly used, refers, it appears, to the
peculiar tendency often shown by a large number of hairs to grow together into
a species of tuft or lock, which is separated by small intervals from the adjoining
hairs. This occurs mostly in the great*" hair-tuft " {Schopf) > of the Benua man
(No. 46), which perhaps does not represent the entire hair of the man, but only
the largest part of it. Vaughan-Stevens has in this case specially emphasised the
presence of "tufts." But these tufts have not the least resemblance to the
** BUscheln " of the Melanesians and true Negroes which have been so long
denoted by this name. Probably, too, they do not owe their existence to the
growth of the hair as it were in separate groups, but to the natural tendency of
long hairs to entwine themselves together or twist into strands.

Page 63-64.

For information concerning the sexual relations of the Sakai, see Z. ^ E.
xxviii. 181, 182. The most interesting part of the information there given is
contained In Vaughan-Stevens' remarks as to the emplo3rment of an apparatus
resembling the " ampallang " of the Sunda Islands. Vaughan-Stevens describes
it as a small cylinder of wood, horn, or tortoise-shell which had a knob at each
end, and which was thrust through "a square aperture in the glans penis.'' As,
however, Vaughan-Stevens as usual gives no localities or any other sort of
information by which his statements could be checked, and as he himself adds
that the custom was only prevalent among the Tembeh, and is now extinct,
I am afraid it is only too probable that the whole story will prove to be one of
the mare's - nests which Vaughan - Stevens has so frequently discovered. It is
significant that Vaughan-Stevens obtained, on his own admission, his specimens of
this apparatus from the " Senoi " (1.^. Central Sakai) who, as he is careful to
inform us, never employ this apparatus themselves. And it also appears that
he was only enabled to "establish the fact" by the aid of a Dayak, who knew
that Vaughan-Stevens was anxious to discover this apparatus among the Sakai,
and had been talking on the subject to the very Sakai man from whom Vaughan-
Stevens derived his information !

Page 70. Vaughan-Stevens' Kenaboi Measurements.

The height of a Kenaboi man was between 1500 and 1600 mm.
Height of a 28-year-old woman 1352 mm.

1 It is a top-knot, not a tuft (as the term is applied to the woolly tufts of
Negro hair).

RACIAL AFFINITIES

593

Head-Index.

Men.

Women.

Total.

Dolichocephalic

Mesaticephalic

Biachycephalic

I
I

The children are omitted.

Vaughan-Stevens' Besisi Measurements.

Page 73.

Five Besisi men attained a height of between 1500 and 1600 mm.
The arm-span^ of a 45-year old Besisi woman, whose height was 1440 mm.,
amounted to 1423, giving a difference of — 17 against the arm-stretch.

Head-Index,

Men.

Women.

Total.

Dolichocephalic

Mesaticephalic

Brachycephalic

2
2

The children are omitted.'

Vaughan-Stevens* Mantra Measurements.
Height,

Page 74.

Height (of men) firom 147 1 to 1638 mm.' Logan gives them a height
of between 1484 and 1781 mm.* The average is put by Virchow at 1553 mm.*

Height (of women) from 1405 [sic^ 1409 in V. B, G, E. xxviii. 152) to 1488
mm.* ^

The variation among the men amounts to 83 mm. ; among the women to
167 mm.

Between the tallest man and shortest woman the variation is about 233 mm.

Two men measured 1608 and 1638 respectively, and a third man measured
between 1500 and 1600 mm. The greatest arm-stretch (1755 mm.) was that of
a 35-year-old Mantra man, whose height was 1538, the difference in favour of
the arm-stretch being -I- 217 mm.® [Cont. on p, 595.

* Measured (by V.-St.) behind the
back instead of across the breast in the
usual way, vide V, B, G. A, xxiiL 842.

* Virchow in V, B, G, A, xxiii. 842-

844.

» lb, p. 842.

VOL. I

* lb, xxviiL p. 152.

* lb. xxiiL p. 842.

* Measured by Vaughan-Stevens
behind the back instead of across the
breast in the usual way ( V, B, G, A,
xxiii. 842).

594

APPENDIX

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•iunn»q«lS o) unp uiojj UMup
aaif pu« M«f iSMO] Xq*p»uuoj unp jo afSay

•g^a : : Y%\ 58

•aiSav ivpBj

i>S*?: • : 's'^ •

•i«» JO aoyuo 01 uiqQ

w,-^-^ : "iw? : t?

•MOiqjo
jiwd isaqStq 01 oiqo moij asvj jo qiSnaq

TiTT?! : oT : «

7Wjojq8i9H

f-.Tir : : ■? « « *?

•awq j« MOjq jo qipwjg

.^..^.t? : : 1?? : *?

•;w 8ap3»aoo3 auji jqSiwis

'X^r^^f^ '• Tw ^ •«

•wwj i9AO pwnswm saqw» op««io8Xi aqi jo
wuiod JuiKwfojd isom aqj cwaMjaq qjpwajg

000000 : 'Soo : 00

•aowuaqmojd pjjidpDO jo imod
j»q«iq puw (unp) M«f jsmoi aqi punoi 7>/

Is'Sffff "Jjf : ^

•socnuaqmojd imidiooo pu« pvdquoj aqj
punoj pajnsTwui pwaq aqj jo aDowajuiiuuio

*? O«0*SIq mm. m

•sauoq i«)au«d jo aippttu ssoj3«
XipoiWA paansTOUi WBa jo saoguo uaaMjag

»<^'»'tl.. m-*; ♦

jaAO pwnCTatu oro jo saaguo aa^^iag

M M M . • M « . M

•J«9JOd3t)UOO)

;J'«»o : soT '• ^

•«a JO aaijuo 01 iinjjs
JO aipa«)aoj iouaiuv jo \x»i )saq8tq ukm j

:S>oT ' oT ' ^

Height,
ft. in.

5 i^^il Si 8*80 5 s

RACIAL AFFINITIES

595

Head-Index.

Men.

Women.

Total.

Dolichocephalic

Mesaticephalic

Brachycephalic

I
3
3

3
6

4
6

3
13

The children are omitted.^

I may add that Montano describes the eye-colour of the Mantra as almost
alwajTS No. I ; that of their skin as No. 37, though occasionally Nos. 21, 22,
and 30 occur ; and that of their hair as Nos. 34, 41.^

Vaughan-Stevens* Jakun Measurements.

Page 82.

Out of 35 adult Jakuns, 20 (6 men and 14, i.e, all the women) were under
1560 mm. in height.'

The average for 21 men was a height of 1527 mm.^

Three Jakun men attained a height of between 1500 and 1600 mm.^

The average for the 14 women was 1378 mm.^

The shortest man (No. I) was 1439; the next (No. 10) was 1476, two
others (Nos. 12 and 17) were 1488 mm.

The shortest woman (No. 9) was 1253 ; the next (No. 8) was 131 1 ; a third
(No. 14) 1322 ; a fourth (No. 4) 1342 ; a fifth (No. 3) 1365 mm.

The arm-stretch^ of a 21 -year-old Jakun woman, whose height was 1523,
amounted to 1545 mm., giving a difference in favour of the arm-stretch of -h 22
mm. This was the greatest arm-stretch found among the women. '

Head-Index,

Men.

Women.

Total

Dolichocephalic

Mesaticephalic

Brachycephalic

I
I

I
2

The children are omitted.*

1 Virchow in V, B, G. A. xxiii. 843,

844.

^ Arch, des Miss, 3rd s. xi. 322.
On Plate 21 is given a Mantra
skull, front view and profile. On
Plate 31 hair - sections of Mantra,
Kenaboi, Udai, Jakun. On pp. 354,
360, skeletal and skull indices of ditto.

3 Virchow in Z. / E, xxiii. 144.

* V.B. (7. >/. xxviii. 151.
^ lb. xxiii. 842.

® lb, xxviii. 151.

7 Measured by Vaughan-Stevens be-
hind the back, instead of across the
breast. Vid K B, G, A. xxiii. 842,
843.

* Virchow in F. B, G, A. xxiii. 842.
» lb, pp. 843, 844.

596 APPENDIX

Let us now consider the three skulls,^ which arrived from Vaughan-Stevens
at the same time (as the extremity-bones of the woman).

No, I. — The skull of the young woman is very light (452 grm.), and unquestion-
ably nannocephalic ; its capacity is 1032 ccm. The horizontal circumference
measures 465, the sagittal circumference 342 mm. Of the latter 33.3 fiadl to the
front of head, 35.9 to the middle, and 30.6 per cent to the back of the head.^

(Figs. I and 2. ) The form is hypsi-mescUicephalic, or rather hypsi-briukycepfudic
(L. Br. I. 79.8; L. H. I. 76.7).

Though the skull is metopic, on the other hand the basilar suture is closed.
The third molars in the upper jaw have not quite erupted; in the lower jaw
they are still quite enclosed. On each side is an epipteric ossicle. The minimal
frontal breadth is 92 mm., the bistephanic diameter is loi mm., figures, that is,
of considerable magnitude. On the other hand, the bi-asterionic diameter
measures only 93 mm., and the entire back part of the head appears laterally
compressed.

(Fig. 3.) Face index mesoprosopic (76.7) ; middle facial index chcmueprosopU
(47.4). Further, the orbital index is hypsikonchic (94.1), and the nasal index
platyrrhine (57.5), a new proof that orbital and nasal indices need not necessarily
be concordant. Nose very broad, bridge deeply incurved and short, nasal bones
cut off below almost straight With this position of the nose the extreme prognath-
ism agrees very well, no less than with that of the teeth, which, together with
the alveolar processes, project strongly, the palatal index being leptostapkyliiu
(71.1). The teeth are encrusted with some black material {Sirih^ or betel-leaO-

Lower jaw weak. Middle part low, chin flat and rounded, front teeth strongly
projecting, covered at the roots with tartar, molar teeth but little worn ; the
second left molar and the right canine are carious. Ascending rami of mandible
low, set on very obliquely, and the angle very large.

No. 2. — A heavy (750 grm.) skull of an oldish man, likewise nannccepkalic
(capacity 11 90 ccm.). The horizontal circumference is greater (485 mm.), the
sagittal circumference (345 mm.) but little different from that of No. i. The
several sections of the latter dimension are distributed just as in No. I : Front
of head 31.8 ; middle 37.3 ; back of head 30.7 per cent ; only that the middle
of the head dominates still more. The form is ortho-mesatuephalic (L. Br. I. 77.2 ;
L. H. I. 74.3)-»

The skull is that of an elderly individual ; the molars are deeply worn away.
Teeth strongly coloured with betel. On the right an incomplete separate
epipteric ossicle ; alisphenoids broad. At the asteria, especially on the left,
numerous small Wormian bones. Minimal frontal breadth small (88 mm.),
temporal (106), and occipital transverse diameters larger. All sutures open.

Face large and heavy. Index mesoprosopic (83. 3) ; the middle iskOaX index
(47.6) chamaprosopic \ the orbital index is likewise hypsikonchic (89.4), and the
nasal index platyrrhine (52.0). Orbits very large. Moderate prognathism ;
alveolar processes short. Palatal index hyperUptostaphylint (55.7). In the
upper jaw a low, but strongly projecting, somewhat injured alveolar process.
Front teeth are wanting, on the r^ht three molars only, on the left only the
second molar retained, and rather worn down. Very heavy but powerful
mandible with low body (22 mm.), and very broad ascending rami (35 mm.) ;
small and slightly projecting chin. The median teeth are wanting, the lateral
ones la^e and pretty complete, strongly coloured with betel, moderately
worn.

No, 3. — According to statement, male ; according to appearance, female skull
without lower jaw, eurycephalic (1230 cm.). The horizontal circumference

^ Either of Hill Jakuns or Orang V, B, G, A. xxviiL 142.
Laut (in either case of the same * Virchow in V, B, G. A. xxviii.

Malayan stock). Vide Virchow in 146. * lb, pp. 146, 147.

RACIAL AFFINITIES 597

measures 480, the sagittal drcumference, however, only 363 mm. Of the latter
33.0 per cent fall to the front, 35.8 to the middle, and 31. i to the back of the
head; the relations therefore resemble in a high degree those of No. i. On
the other hand the breadth of brow (87 mm.) as well as the temporal diameter
(99 mm. ) is smaller. Strong parietal stenokrotaphy. Very broad basilar process.
The form is hypsi-brachycephalic (L. Br. I. 80.3 ; L. H. I. 76.3) Smooth,
small brow, without supra-orbital ridges, and without subglabellar depression.
Flattened curve of the vault Projecting occiput.

Middle fisunal index chamaprosopu (47.4). Cheek-bones as a whole depressed,
marked tuberositas temporalis, zygomatic arches moderately prominent. Orbital
index mesokonchic (84.2) ; nasal index platyrrhine (52.2) ; palatal index lepto-
staphyline (77.7). Strong prognathism ; short alveolar processes, which are formed
quite like a shovel. Teeth are wanting, /except the much worn and tartar-
covered first molar of the left side. Nose broad at root, bridge rather flattened
and deeply indented, nasal bones tolerably broad, aperture wide. Fronto-nasal
suture placed very deeply. External auditory meatus much constricted. Palate
large. Curve of teeth almost horse-shoe-shaped ; slight torus palatinus.

A comparison of these results shows us that the cerebral portion of the skull
undergoes greater variations than the facial. As regards the former, of the three
skulls, two indeed are nannocephalic, and the third reaches only the modest
capacity of 1230 ccm., but this latter is in fact hypsi-brachycephalic, resembling,
to speak more accurately. No. i, whereas No. 2, on the other hand, is hypsi-
mesaticephalic, on account of its smaller breadth. The proportions of the &ce
are much more constant. The predominant character is platyrrhiny, combined
with leptostaphyly, which is present in all the skulls. In co-relationship with
this should be mentioned the lowness of the £su:e, as expressed by the middle
£aicial index, and the lowness of the &ce in general, as expressed by the total
facial index, the latter being shown at least in two out of three skulls. On the
other hand, the orbits show, as they frequently do, greater individual variations,
since No. i and No. 2 have a hypsikonchic index, whereas No. 3, on the other
hand, is mesokonchic In spite of this, the racial unity of the tribe cannot be
doubted ; the similarities are greater and more numerous than the differences. ^

Jakun Skulls dbscribbd by Virchow. Page 82,

I. Measurements,^

Capacity ....
Greatest horizontal length

,, breadth
Vertical height
Auricular height
Horizontal circumference
Sagittal circumference, frontal arc

„ ,, parietal arc

„ „ occipital arc .

Entire sagittal circumference .
Minimal frontal breadth
Temporal breadth
Occipital breadth
Auricular breadth

Height of Face (a) (Nasion to ** Brow ")»
,, {b) { „ Prosthion)

1 V. B. G. A, xxviii. (Virchow) 147, 148.
* lb. p. 156. » ? Bregma.

ccm.

1032

1190

1230

mm.

163

171

173

130 (pt)

132 (pt)

139 (T)

125

127

132

104

115

465

485

480

114

100

T20

123

129

130

105

106

342

345

363

lOI

106

107

102

III

104

105

55 (Z 59)

598 APPENDIX

1
9

3
6

Breadth of Face (a)

mm.

116

126

118

Kc)

Orbital height .

„ breadth .

Nasal height

„ breadth .

Palatal length

„ breadth .

• • »f

II.

Calculated Indues

I
9

3
6

Length-breadth index

mm. 79.8

77.2

80.3

Length-height index

. 76.7

74.3

76.3

Ear-height index

. 63.3

67.3

65.3

Facial index {a)

76.7

83.3

Lower facial index {b)

47.4

47.6

47.4

Orbital index

94.1

89.4

84.2

Nasal index

57.5

52.0

52.2

Palatal index

71. 1

55-7

77.7

Virchow proceeds to describe the limb-bones of the female skeleton (collected
by Vaughan-Stevens).

Of the arm-boms of this woman the following measurements may here be
added : —

1. Os humeri, left, 228 mm. long ; circumference of the diaphysis, 45 ;
diameter of the head, 29.35 ; transverse diameter at the condyles, 46 mm.

2. Radius, left, 185 mm. long ; transverse diameter of the head, 15 ; of the
lower end 23 mm.

3. Ulnse, each 204 mm. long; transverse diameter of the little head,
II mtn.^

The extremity-bones of the woman No. i sent by Vaughan-Stevens include
both the ossa femoris, an os humeri, both ulnae, and a radius.

Apparently all these bones belong to the same skeleton. They agree as to
appearance, stage of development, and size. None of them shows traces of a
recent injury or of a disease got over during life. They are throughout of firm com-
position, have smooth surfaces, sharp outlines, and are of a brownish-yellow colour,
here and there somewhat spotted. They are small and delicate like children's
bones. Nevertheless they come without doubt from an adult individual ; the
blending of the epiphyses with the diaphyses is complete in all. Only in a few
places, e^. at the head of the femur and at the upper end of the ulna, is there
still to be seen a shallow furrow in place of the earlier intermediary' cartilage. ^

If with Mr. Humphrey we take the average proportion of the femur-length
to the stature as being iViAr* ^^ should obtain for our Jakun woman a stature of
1229 mm. ; that is to say, 24 mm. less than that of the girl (1253 mm.) measured
by Vaughan-Stevens, and estimated as being from 18 to 20 years old. In any
case we can congratulate ourselves on seeing before us the most unmistakable
dwatf'bmes offered by ethnology. '

Before I go into further comparisons with neighbouring tribes, I should like
to make a few remarks on the colour of the skin and hair and eyes among the
Jakuns. I take these from the registers of Vaughan-Stevens of the year 1895.^

1 V. B, G, A, xxviii. (Virchow) 144.
3 lb. p. 145.

* lb. p. 144.
* lb, p. 148.

RACIAL AFFINITIES 599

Hair,

In my opinion the hair of all Jakuns examined belongs to the same type, and
the contrast with the Sakais and Semangs is as sharp as can be imagined. This
is the more important as the question of the relation of the Jakuns to the other
tribes has always been a matter of dispute.^

The colour of the hair is usually not stated ; only in a few cases (two men,
one woman) is it expressly described as ** black," yet it is doubtless to be
assumed that if the hair of any of these people had not been black, the £Bu:t
would have been expressly mentioned. Only once, in the case of a man forty
years old, is it described as grey. It is called *' straight " in the case of four men
and thirteen women ; in the case of one man it is stated to be ** slightly wavy."
One man, of twenty to twenty-Bve years (No. 12), is expressly singled out as an
exception ; his hair was curly and much matted, most of it being cut short to a
length of 70 to 80 mm., but longer on the crown. Vaughan-Stevens reports that
the genealogy of this man was known for five generations, and was free from
crossing ; it was said that he came from a stock which had never intermarried
with other than Jakun families ; moreover, he was the only member of his family
who possessed curly hair. In the case of a larger number of other men no exact
statement could be made, probably because the hair was either shaved or cut
short ; nevertheless it is true that in spite of cutting it still had a length of
10, perhaps 20, 80, 120, 200 mm. Often it is described as thick, sometimes at
the same time matted. In the case of the women, the same expression is used
throughout, viz. "long and straight."*

The Colour of the Eyes.
(The following table, compiled by Vaughan-Stevens, is given by Virchow.) *

Nos.

Men.

Women.

1-2

...

2-3

2(29)

As regards the colour of the iris, this was comparatively dark, usually dark
brown. The deepest shade (No. 1-2) is only recorded in the case of one
woman ; shades Nos. 2 and 3 were the most frequent, of which No. 3 denotes a
lighter shade of brown.

In the eyes of the Jakun the conjunctiva is generally more or less bloodshot,
a fact which they attribute to the trying nature of their many changes between a
jungle and a sea-life ! *

The teeth of the Jakuns, not the alveolar continuation, often project 12- id

^ V, B, G. A. xxviiL (Virchow) 1 50, as well as the colour of it to a more

151. advanced age than the neighbouring

^ Z. f E. xxix. 178. As regards tribes (V.-St. in Z,fE, xxix. 178).

the Jakuns, and especially the older The Jakuns have only a little hair

women among them, grizzled hair is on the face ; the beard is scanty, and

frequent ; the total loss of colour is not whiskers are scarcely ever seen among

usual, and the hair merely becomes thin them, even if they are not intentionally

more often than it totally disappears. pulled out {Z, f E. xxix. 179).

This, however, is only comparative as ^ V, B, G, A, xxviii. (Virchow) 148,,

between the aborigines (Orang Hutan) 149.

themselves, since they retain their hair * Z. f E. xxix. 180.

6oo APPENDIX

mm. in front of the incisors of the under-jaw, which are almost vertical. Caries
rarely occurs among the forest-dwellers ; but, on the other hand, frequently among
those who live among the Malajrs. The lips are well-formed, thin, and the
upper one well curved.

The nose is never perforated, but the ear-lobes of the women are always per-
forated and distended till the hole attains a diameter of 5 nmi. to 5 cm.

The fore part of the head b always full and prominent (Fig. 3).

[Here is given (in the original) Fig. 3. — Profile of Chamai, a 45 -year-old"!
Besisi woman. J

The outline in Fig. 4 shows the typical form of the breast of a young 1 2-year-
old Mantra girl named Awi immediately before her marriage. The two breasts
are often unsymmetrical.^

r Here is given (in the original) Fig. 4. — Outline of the breast of Awi"!
L(" Owee "), a 12-year-old Mantra girl. J

Skin-Colour,

The colour of the skin was determined (by V.-St) in accordance with the
Parisian colour-plate. The following numbers were determined : —

Nos. Men. Women.

...

21.30

21-37

...

22-29

...

29.30

^9-34

29-37

Zo-27

30-37

37-44

^-43

is noted

that the individual com

:erned

was afflicted with a skin disease called Kurap [Korab). In one case (No. 6) light
patches are mentioned.*

In reviewing these statements, it appears in the first place that the sHn-colcur
in general corresponds to a yellowish or greyish tint of brown. The darkest
shades are the Nos. 27, 34, and 42, which, however, were only found in one
individual in each case ; No. 27 in a woman, Nos. 34 and 42 in men ; these
presented a dusky brown, approximating in Nos. 27 and 34 to the n^ro colour.
All other individuals showed lighter shades, especially Nos. 21, 30, 44, whereas
Nos. 22, 29, 37 displayed a medium brown tint.' In this connection we must
notice that No. 37 is noted most frequently, namely, in the case of fifteen men
and ten women = 68.1 per cent of the men, and 66.6 per cent of the women, or,

[Continued on p, 602.

^ V. B, G. A. xxiii. (Virchow) 840. G, A. xxviii. 150. It is described as

' lb, xxviii. (Virchow) 148. a fine '* glossy black" lock, and was

' For a specimen (sent by V.-St.) 24 cm. in length,
of a Jakun woman's hair, vide V, B,

RACIAL AFFINITIES

6oi

IvOO

h«ao

w A O iC^

■§•1

-? -s

•t *•

^ S. *•

•§.1

2 -5 ?: 2

c. ^ 4? ».

10 «o

1 ^

is.>ooo 2"

is 3

>0 m

sSbo

ill

i 1

II .11?

•s

S'S

•II

.a o s««

rtCO

3 3 S-f " ^y

1 !§£.!' ^-s

^ u-i «tfi S*c

^^ 7^. * --PS

- " - - tfl E 3 a

i! 5, - — WJ S d 111

5 £ -^ 3 c « V-V e

6o2

APPENDIX

in all, in 67. 5 per cent of the individuals examined. There can therefore be no
question of their being a black race.^

The skin-colour of the darkest of the Jakuns corresponded to No. 28 of
Broca's table. The degree of admixture of Malay blood determines the colour,
making it lighter where the sun does not affect it.

[This remark, however, is doubtless based upon Vaughan - Stevens*s Pan-
Negrito theory, the real interpretation of the &cts being, no doubt, that the
lighter (and more nearly Malay) colour is due to the purer (aboriginal) Malayan
element.]^

When the skin, as is especially the case among the Jakuns, is much affected
by cutaneous disorders (<< Kurap"), the persons of both sexes emit an unpleasant
rank odour, which is still noticeable after washing.'

PART II.— MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.

Pang AN Dart Poison.* Page 295.

Ingredients of
Poison.

Scientific Name.

Description
of Plant.

Part tiseU.

1
Remarks.

I. "Taloon"

Strychnosy sp.

Strong-

Bark and

Str, pubescens.

(Mai. *«Blay

smelling

sap

Clarke {Logani-

Besar")

plant

acea), Ridley (?)

2. «* Kannet '»

Gnetum scan-

Bark

Gfutum eduU^

(Mai. "B.

densy Roxb.

Bl. {GnetcLcta),

Kechil")

Ridley

3. "Greear"

StrychnoSy sp.

»»

Bark and

Sir. tinUey BL

(?)(Mal. "R

aava)

sap

{Lcganiacea),

Itam ")

Ridley [MaL
*«Ipohakar"]

4. «*T61"

Cosciniumfenes-

»i

= Koopur(V..St.

("Tole")

tratuniy
Colebr.

p. 124)

5. **Pergu"

Unknown

»»

Bark

("Perghoo")

6. •* Bhoi "

? Rouchcriay

»♦

Bark and

Ridley says P(m-

(-Boi")

Griffithii

sap

cheria Griffithi- 1
cuuij Planch 1
{Lima)f [also I
" ipoh akar
putih"]

7. ••Choi-choi"

Unknown

Tree?

Bark

8. "Kri"

(«*Kree")

9. ** Lendau '*

»i

("Lcndow")

10. "Garsung"

»»

„

II. "Chow"

i»

Fruit

12. "Piyung"

Pangium edule^

»>

P. tduU, Mig.

(MaL "Kapa-

?sp.

{Bixin€a\ RidL '

yang")

1 V, B, G. A, xxviii. (Virchow) 149. 3 z. f. E, xxix. 174, 175-

* lb, p. 840. * Vaughan-Stevens, ii. 109 seq.

NEGRITO DART POISONS

603

Pangan Dart Poison — continued.

Ingredients of
Toison.

Scientific Name.

Deacripdon
of Plant.

Part used.

Remarks.

13. «*Slowung"

Miquelia can-

SmaU

Seed-

data, King

climber

capsules

{Olacinea),

Ridley

14. "Rengut"

Epiprcmnum

«* Large

Fruit

(«*ringhut")

giganieum,
Schott, V,
Ridley

creeping
aroidwith
leathery
leaves"

15. "Ipoh"

Antiaris toxi'
cariay BL
{ Urticacea)^
Ridley

Tree

Sap from
bark

16. "Rotan

Unknown

Rattan or

Sap

riong"

climbing
cane

17. "Rotan

?=B€tong, a

»»

V. -St. describes it

butong "

kind of bam-
boo {sic)

as a rattan, but
no such rattan
is known

18. "Rumpi"

Bahmeria
Nivea,
Gandich ;
Laportea,
gen. identi-
fied with
Bahmeria
tenacissimaf
Urtica asH-
vans

Nettle

Leaves

According to
Ridley, Laportea
crenulata^ Forst.
{Urticacece)
= "rami"(?)

19. "Jdlatang"

Cnesmone
Javanica

(JeL Badak) Cnes-
menu Javanica^
Bl. {Euphor-
biacea), Ridley

20. "Bal"

21. "Sidudok"

' Piper ^ sp.

Pepper,
vine

Roots

22. '*Begimg"

AmorphophalluSy
sp. {Aroidea)y
Ridley

Aroid

»»

23. "Gadong"

Dioscorea, sp.

Yam

Diosc. Damcnum^
"Roxh^iDioscore-
acea, Ridley

24. Other sub-

Scorpion, snake,

Any poison-snake

stances

and centipede
poison

does

6o4

APPENDIX

Page 311.

Besisi Dart Poison.

Ingredienu of Poison.

Identification.

Description of
Plant

Part used.

I. *«Ipohakar"

Strychnos tuute, Bl.

Creeper

Scrapings

{Loganiacete)t Ridl.

from root 1

2. »*Tuba"

Derris dlipiua^ Benth.
{Leguminosa)^ Ridl.

»i

?Root

3. Pepper

4. '*Rengas"

Mdanorrhoea Wallachii^
Hook, fil., or

Fruit

ExccEcaria agallocha, or

...

Sap

Gluta rengas^ Migs.

5. Non-vegetable sub-

Arsenic

stances

B.2

I. "Ipoh akar"

(As above)

or " batang "

Antiaris toxicaria^ Bl.
{Urtuacea), Ridley

Tree

Bark

2. " Malai "

Thevetia neritfoHa^
Juss. {Cerbgra The-
vetia, L.); } Strych-
nos puhescensy Clarke
{Loganiacea)^ Ridl.

Creeper (?)

3. *«T6n6t"

? Gnetum eduU^ Bl.
{Gnetace<s\ Ridley

♦»

4. '*Jdnu" (Mai.

Z><frrw elliptica, Benth.

»»

"tuba")

{Leguminosa)y Ridl.

5. **Kroi"

LopkofxtcUum pallidum^
Laws, Ridley

6. Non-vegetable sub-

Arsenic; also snake,

stances

scorpion, and centi-
pede poison when

available

* Collected by m3rself, but largely
agreeing with a list by Bellamy (p. 229),
who, however, omits ** rengas '* and

adds **chandu" (prepared opium), which
may be a mistake for " j$nu" = "tuba."
2 B. Collected by self.— W. S.*

MALA VAN DART POISONS

605

Mantra Dart Poison.*

Page 319

Ingredients of Poison.

Identification.

Part used.

Remarks.

I. "Rotankdmant-

(Also "R. kerai")

Sap

ing"

Damonorops gent-
culatuSf Mart
{Paima), Ridl.

2. ** Chantong

Unknown

Bark or

badak "

roots

3. "Berarkeejang"

Ahcasia Singapori-

Sap

("Birahkijang")

ancL^ or Singapor-
ensiSf Lindl.

4. "Umpas padi"

Strychnos^ sp.

Bark (?)

In his list of the full-

(or any other

strength poison, V. -

Strychnos)

St. says " umpas **
= " Blay hitam "
of Pangans, /. e, Str,
Heute Qava)

5. "Umpas pite"

Strychnos^ sp.

Bark (?)

>»

(?Mal. "Upas

pahit")

6. "Mundcss"

Unknown

Roots and
bark

7. "Prachek"

Tabemctmontana
malaccensis^ Hook.
fiL {Apocynacea),
Ridl.

>»

8. "Koopur"

Carapa tnalaccensisy

Bark

= Newbold's

Lam.

"kopah"

9. "Kroie"

Lophopetalum pal-

= Newbold's

lidumy Laws.

"krohi"

{Celastrinea)

10. "Ladaapi"

? Chiilies

Fruit

rBlandas, "temek"

II. "Ipoh" (tree)

Antiaris toxicaria

Sap

" Kenaboi, "kayas"
l("kyass")

12. "Gadong"

Dicscoreay sp.

Knobs

13. Lemon (or lime ?)

Ciirusy sp.

Seeds

14. "Tuba"

Randia dumetoruniy

Root

Derris elliptica^

Lam. (J.R.A.S. xvl

Benth. {Legumi-

1886, 414), V.-St.

ncsa), Ridl.

ii. 124, note; or

Denis elliptica

15. Non- vegetable

Centipedes, snakes,

poisons

scorpions, arsenic

Note, — Ridley also identifies "grow," the name of a firuit which when eaten
by an animal makes its flesh poisonous for men to eat. " It (* grow *) looks like
a Xanthophyllum " (Ridley). " Berar keejang " {although here included by V,.St.
in the poison ingredients) " is the aroid plant used if the man eats acid fruit after
killing anything with the blowpipe" (V.-St.). "Chapaneng," the leaf used for
straining the Ipoh, is Clerodendron velutinum. "Chooping" or "chupeng,"
mentioned as an antidote to " tuba," is, as Mr. Ridley personally remarked to me,
"a Menispermacious plant, which I know well" (it is not, however, given in
Ridley's List). "Chapaneng" (in Ridle3r's List) is given as Clerodendron
villosum, Bl. {Verbenacea), ^ V.-St. ii. 124.

6o6

APPENDIX

Page 826.

The following description of the Peruvian blowpipe referred to is taken from
the second volume of Reiss and Stubers monumental work, KuUur und
Industrie Sud'Amerikanischer Volker,

It was brought from the Huallaga River (Peru), and consists of two grooved
and hollowed-out halves of a palm-stem, carefully fitted together, and wound
round with *< 9ipo," which is covered besides with a layer of black vnx. A short
bone mouthpiece is fitted into it.

The quiver consists of a bamboo arrow-receptacle with a gourd-shell bottom,
and a lining of dried palm-leaves in which the small blowpipe arrows are firmly
stuck.

It has a cap-shaped covering, a gourd-like receptacle containing cotton- wool,
and the half-jaw of a fish called *< pana,*' set with sharp teeth.

The arrows measure 24. 5 cm. in length, and are made out of palm-leaf ribs.

Page 332.

Benua Dart Poison. ^

Ingredients of Poison.

Identification.

Part used.

I. "Ipoh''

AnHaris toxicaria

Bark

2. •*Babuta"

Excacaria agallocha^ L.,
or Cerbera odollam^ 1«
and C. Lactaria^ Ham.

Sap

3. **Gurah"

{Apocynacea;\ Ridl.
Sapium imiicum^ L., or
Eranthemum mahfa-
cense^ Clarke

Sap

4. Non - vegetable
substances

( I ) Centipede heads ; (2)
millipedes ; (3) the
stings of scorpions ; (4)
spines offish, e.g.^ the
'*s^mbilang,""kitang,"
*Mdpu," ''siong,"
** pari," ** te-tuka,"
"kni"; (5) liver of the
**buntal" fish*

Page 420 et seqg.

Semang Comb Patterns.

[Note by Editor, — The following list was compiled from Vaughan-Stevens'
manuscripts and printed in Z./. E xxv. 86 et seq.

In the present version the original list has been condensed as far as possible ;
Vaughan-Stevens' faulty system of nomenclature has been eliminated, and the
actual numbers of the panels themselves substituted ; the result being that the
description of the patterns is now much easier to follow.

The numbering is that of the original, but obvious corrections have been
made in a few places ; and all less important details omitted to save space. —
W. S.]

* v.- St. ii. 107 et seq,
^ Various kinds of snake-poison are
added by the W. Benua, e,g, that of the

black cobra, and a small brown snake
called ** Ali." The E. Benua add thai
of the ** ular berang " and ** gala."

NEGRITO COMB PATTERNS 607

For sketches of the central panel patterns (No. 5) of Nos. I A to 11 A, see
Plate I.; Nos. iiB to 19N, Plate II.; 19O to 38, Plate III.; 39 to end,
Plate IV.

1 A. Disease, *• Pong " or " Kingkong " = *• Fever »*—

Panel: (i) " Pen-ying," cp. 21B, 4A, 12C, 3A, 20G ; (2) " Knel-Up,»
cp. 21B, iG; (4) "Pawer "-pattern ** Lig-teg," cp. 11 A, 18E; (6) the
same ; (8) the same.

iB. Disease, same as lA —

Panel : (i) " T5-hong** = "empty," in conjunction with (2) " Tink-
tonk," which is carried over the top border; (2) "Tink-tonk"; (4)
"Was "-pattern " Pasir" (" Passeer") = "sand," cp. 12A, 19N, 20J,
19A, 19H, 19B, A7, 19J, 18C (variations of the ** Pasir " pattern) ; (6)
the same ; (8) the same.
iC. Disease, same as lA —

Panel: (i) "Jfinasik" (" Jennassik "), cp. 14B, 9A, 18E, 2A, iD,
1 1 A, 57, 41, 19F, loB ; (2) " • Kitteng,' 42 variations " I (4) " Pawer "-
pattern " Lig-boig," cp. 19F, 16A (a different pattern but with the same
name); (6) " t*awer "• pattern "umung" ("Oomoong"), cp. loA, 9B,
55, 20H, and (I) of iD, 57 ; (8) identical with (4).
iD. Disease, same as lA —

Panel : (i) the same as iC, but differing in design ; (2) " Bong," cp.
2A and (?) loB ; (4) " umung," cp. (6) of iC ; with (6) cp. (4) of iC ;
with (8) cp. (4).
i£. Disease, same as I A —

Panel: (i) "iim" ("Oom"), cp. 21A, 21F, and (2) of 21A ; (2)
"is" ("Ees"); (4) " Pawer "-pattern, the same; (6) the same; (8)
" Rlwer "-pattern" ; " Knel-lap," cp. iG, 21B, and (?) lA.
iF. Disease, same as lA —

Panel: (i) " iim," cp. lE; (2) "PShom" ("Paherm"), cp. 21A
and (I) of 21 A ; (4) the same, with some variation ; (6) same as (i) ; (8)
same as (4).
iG. Disease, same as lA —

Panel : (i) " Mant^ng," with upper border; (2) "Knel-lap," cp. (8)
of lE ; (4) cp. lE ; (6) cp. lE ; (8) same as (2).

2 A. Disease, " Kadong," unidentified —

Panel: (i) "Jfinasik" (" Jenassik"), cp. iC, iD; (2) "Bong," cp.
iD; (4) as in iD; (6) " Chis-kes," " Pawer "-pattern, cp. 4B, 4C ;
(8) as in (4).
2B. Disease, same as 2A —

Panel: (i) " Led-wod," cp. 54, 4B, 49, 17B, 16A, 8A, 4C, 18F;
(2) "Sad-an-yet" ("Sad-un-yet"), identical with 19K, 45, 19J; (4)
like (2) of I A ; (6) cp. (4) ; (8) identical with (2).
3 A. Disease, " Kimbu " ? (" Kimbur "), unexplained —

Panel: (i) "Pen-ying," cp. lA, 4A, 21B, 12C, 20G ; (2) " Angis,"
cp. 20G ; (6) Uke (2) ; (8) like (i).
3B. Disease, same as 3 A —

Panel: (i) "Chig-lag," cp. 3C, 20F; (2) " Kil-kel," cp. 19H and
C8 (?). Panels (6) and (8) like ( i ).
3C. Disease, same as 3A —

Panel : (i) " Chig-lag," cp. 3B ; (2) " Bakol," cp. 20F, 20J ; (6) like
(2); (8) Uke (I).
4A. Disease, "Klasau" ("Klassow"), unidentified —

Panel: (i) " Pen-ying," cp. lA, 21B, 3A, 12C, 20G ; (2) "Ki-but"
("Kee-boot"), cp. 37; (4) " Was "-pattern "Tebal-i"? ("Tebal-i"),
cp. (I) of 6A, 18A, 20H, 55 ; (6) and (8) like (2).

6o8 APPENDIX

4B. Disease, same as 4A —

Panel: (i) " Led-wod," cp. 54, 49. 2B, 16A, 8A, 4C, 17B, 18F :
(2) " Chis-kes," cp. 4C ; (4) and (6) like (i) ; (8) Uke (2).
4C. Disease, same as 4A —

Panel: (i) " Led-wod," cp. 4B (half-size) ; (2) «* Chis-kes,*' vety
different from that of 4B ; (4) and (6) '* Penalong," cp. 15A and (?) 18H ;
(8) like (I).
5A. Disease, •* Pasar chinbcg" (" Passar-chin-beg"), unexplained, cp. •• Li-
chin-beg " (" Lee-chin-beg ")= " disease of the upper jaw " —

Panel: (i) "Let-seig" (•* Let-saig"), cp. 35, 6C, 24, 6G, 27, 20B,
61, 59, 18H; (2) "Sil"; (4) "Was "-pattern ** Tdbal-i," cp. 4A ; (6)
" Was "-pattern " Penalong," cp. 18H and (?) 15A; (8) like (4).
5B. Disease, same as 5 A —

Panel : (i) " Pen-hil," cp. 25 A, 50, 20A, 19L, 44, 25B, 22A, 19C ;
(2) "Batchai," cp. 18G ; (i) "Was"-pattem ** Tebal-i," cp. 6A, 18A,
etc; (6) "Was**.pattem **^n-let" ("N*let"), cp. 28B; (6) "Was"-
pattem •♦ $n-let," varied in 28 A,
6 A. Disease, " Ka3ran challag," undefined —

Panel: (i) " Tdbal-i," variation of 18A, 55, 20H ; (2) "Makuin"
("Mukoin"), varied in 15B; (4) *♦ Pawer "-pattern " Sll," cp. 5A; (6)
and (8) like (i).
6B. Disease, same as 6A —

Panel: (i) " Let-seig," cp. 6D, 15A, 18H, 59, 61, 20B, 5A, 27, 6G,
24, 6C, 35, which show every possible variation of " Let-seig " (2)
" ennyangil " (** N*nyangil "), varied in 6D, 38 ; (4) like (2) ; (6) and
(8) ** Was "-pattern " Pen-hil," cp. 5B, etc
6C Disease, same as 6A —

Panel: (i) ** Let-seig," cp. 6B; (2) " Tabal" (** Tebal"), cp. I9A(?)
and 61 (?) ; (4), (6), (8) like (2).
6D. Disease, same as 6A —

Panel: (i) "Let-seig"; (2) ♦* ennyangil" (" N'nyangil"), varied in
6B, 38 ; (4) like (i) ; (6) Uke (i) ; (8) like (2).
6E. Disease, same as 6 A —

Panel: (i) " P^n-hll," cp. 5B ; (2) "entei," variation of 6G ; (4),
(6), " Pawer "-pattern " A-et"? (" Aet") ; (8) like (2).
6F. Disease, same as 6 A —

Panel: (i) " P^n-hil," cp. 5B, 6E ; (2) " Al-tong," cp. 40, 19B ;
(4) "Was "-pattern " Chig-lag," cp. 3B, 3C, 20F ; (6) " Pawer "-
pattern " Kil-kel," cp. 19H, 3B, 8C ; (6) as (2).
60. Disease, same as 6A —

Panel: (i) "Let-seig," cp. 6B, etc; (2) "Entei," cp. 6E ; (4) and
(6) " Pawer "-pattern "Si-d-yong" (" See-i-yong") ; (8) Keiyong, cp.
33, 58, 17C.
6H. Disease, same as 6A —

Panel : (i) " Pen-hil " (half-sire), cp. 5B ; (2) " Langut " (" Langhut ") ;
(4) and (6) " Pawer "-pattern " Angis," cp. 3A, 20G ; (8) like (2).
7A. Disease " Tan-eg," unexplained —

Panel: (i) " Pasir" (" Passer ") = " sand," cp. 19T, 18C, 19B, 19H,
19A, 20J, 19N, 12 A; (2) "Kayap" ("Kiap"); (3) " Pawer "-pattern
"Sad-an-yet" (" Sad-un-yet"), cp. 19J ; (4) like (2); (6) and (7)
"Was ".pattern " Kasom," cp. 20C, 58, 19E, 31, 17C, 19G, 32B,
22C, 23, 22E, 36, 22D, 17A, 51, 19M, 52, 7B; (8) "Pdnalong," cp.
18H.
7B. Disease, same as 7A —

Panel: (i) "Kasom," cp. 7A ; (2) "Kahib"; (3), (4), (6), (7) like
(2); (8) like (I); (5) see p. 90, Fig. 7.

-4: i\/-iy> 1

/3>? /

v/ w ^^

V/ s/ ^^

V w ^/

V ^/ ^/

i3B

/9S

/S4 f^B

///^

t6A

i6B ^A ,^B

//C MA

/iB

/iC

*tD //£ /$P /sq- fiH

ioB

2/B

zoC

yaMghan-Sicoens.

Central Panels of Comb Patterns, Fig. 7 (/./. E xxv. 90).

Vol. I. /. 608.

COs<00 „, n ^:^ a

HA 3Jt3

7**

j^l^^^W/^/i

'to

,.vw

i%A

^^ «

/^rrfr^

I 'aMj^Atut'SttT! "

Central Panels of Comb Patterns, Kig. 8 {Z.f.E. xxv. 91).

^'<>/. /. /. 609.

NEGRITO COMB PATTERNS 609

7C. Disease, same as 7A —

Panel: (i) " Lct-tod," q?. 8C, 32A, 18B, but "Was picheg"; (2)
"Kemit" ("Kem-mect"), cp. 26; (4) "Kwer "-pattern "P6nalong,"
q). 18H ; (6) Uke (2); (8) " Pawer "-pattern "Boing," cp. 18F, 17B.
8A. Disease ** Ber," unidentified-
Panel : (I) "Led-wod," cp. 2B ; (2) defective, should resemble (2) of
8 A, but is not quite the same ; (4), (6), and (8) ** Kwer "-pattern" Ki-but. "
8B. Disease, same as 8A —

Panel : (i) ••L^giyap," with upper border; (2) "Ni-en-ka"("Ne-an-
kar"); (6), (7), (8) like (2).
8C Disease, same as 8A —

Panel : (i) " Let-tod," cp. 18B, 32A, 7C ; (2) «* Kil-kel," cp. 19H and
(?) 3B; (4) "Pawer "-pattern "Ki-but," cp. 37; (6) like (2); (8)
"Pawer "-pattern "Boing,"cp. i8F(?)and 17B.
9 A. Disease, "Kang-keng"? ("Kung-keng"), unidentified — ■

Panel: (i) "J^nasik," cp. 2A, etc; (2) "Chab-lab," reverse of
"Gau," cp. 57 ; (4), (6) like (i); (8) Uke (2).
9B. Disease, same as 9A —

Panel: (i) "H6r-saydd" ("Hersaige"), cp. 26, 43, loA, 37, 14A ;
(2) "umung," cp. 10; (4) "Was ".pattern "T«bal-i," cp. 6A ; (6) Uke
(2) ; (8) like (4).
loA. Disease, "Tak-ui" ("Tak-oye"), unidentified-
Panel : (I) "H^r-sei," cp. 9B ; (2) "umung," cp. 9B ; (4) and (8)
"Was ".pattern "T«bal-i"; (6) " Pawer "-pattern " Chab-lab," cp. 9A.
loB. Disease, same as loA —

Panel : (i) " J^nasik," diminishing from left to right, cp. 2A ; (2) and
(6) "Bong," cp. 2A and iD(?); (4) and (8) "Was "-pattern "T5bal-i."
iiA. Disease, "Pellg" ("Pele^") = " Head-ache"—

Panel: (i) "Jdnasik" (^ size), in conjunction with (2); (2) and (8)
"Lik-tek," 18E; (4) and (6) "Was "-pattern "Chig-lag," cp. 3B, 3C,
20F.

[End of patterns given on Plate I.]

iiB. Disease, same as iiA —

Panel : (i) " Pto-hn," cp. 5B, 6E ; (2) Pfi.n$l-t{l ; (4) and (6) " Was "-
pattern «T6bal-i," cp. 6A, 18A, 55, 20H ; (6) "Was "-pattern "Let-
seig," cp. 5A
12A Disease, " Chas-ai ** (" Chas-eye "), unidentified —

Panel: (i) " Pasir," cp. 7A, 19J, 18C, 19H, 19A, 20J, 19N, 12A;
(2), (4), (6), and(8)"Tabag."
12B. Disease, same as 12A —

Panel: (i) "Manau"; (2), (6), and (8) "Lid-da," cp. 14A; (2)
"Lid-da."
12C. Disease, same as 12A —

Panel: (i) "Tfipi" ("Border"), with "Pen-ying"; (2) "Na-pek"
("Na-pek") ; (6) and (8) Uke (i) ; (4) like (2). ["Napek" means "pig"
in Semang.]
13A Disease, " Ung-ag-buig," unidentified —

Panel: (i) "Kan-beng," cp. 13B ; (2) "Seg-kit"; (4), (6), and (8)
"Pawer "-pattern "Seg-klt"
13B. Disease, same as 13A —

Panel: (i) "Kan-beng"; (2), (4), (6), (8) "Kan-beng," different
from (I).
1 4 A. Disease, " It-al-ig," unidentified —

Panel: (i) "Hfir-sayd," cp. 9B ; (2) "Lid-da"; (4)1 (6), (8) "Pawer "-
pattern " Lid-da," cp. 12B.

VOL. I 2 R

610 APPENDIX

14B. Disease, same as 14A —

Panel: (i) «*J$nasik," q). 2A; (2) and (6) " Pawer »*-pattem "Bui''
(" Bool ") ; (4) and (8) " Rawer "-pattern " Chab-lab," qx 6A.
15A. Disease, <* M&kaa kSlon" (" Mackow-Kallon ")—

Panel: (i) and (6) *<Let-se^"; (2) and (4) " Pdnalong '* ; (8)
'* P^nalong " (varying from preceding).
15B. Disease, same as 15A —

Panel: (i) " Pen-hil," cp. 6A, 6H ; (2) and (8) "Makuin" (" Ma-
koin") 5 (4) and (6) " Chig-lag."
16A. Disease, ** Kdlak-sog »? (" Klik-sog ")—

Panel : (i) "Led-wod," cp. 2B; (2) and (8) "Lig-boig"; (4) and (6)
" Chig-lag."
16B. Disease, same as 16A —

Panel: (i) and (8) "tog-ah"; (2) "A-U"; (4) and (6) "Ki-but."
17A. Disease, "Tin-w^ Lan-ka" ("Tinwag-lankar"), unidentified —

Panel: (i) "Kasom," cp. a2D, 51 5 (2), (4), (6), and (8) "Da-da,**
cp. 23, 22D ; (4) " Chig-lag," cp. 3C ; (7) " Sl-ei-yong."
17B. Disease, same as 17A —

Panel: (i) "Led-wod," cp. 4B; (2) and (8) "Boing"; (4) and (6)
" Chig-lag," cp. 3B.
17C. Disease, same as 17A —

Panel: (i) "Kasom,"cp. 31, 19E; (2) and (6) "Kei-yoog'*; (4) and
(8) " Chig-lag," cp. 3B.
18A. Disease, " Bakau Timun " (" Bakow-Timoon "). unidentified —

Panel : (i) "T^al-ei"; (a) and (6) "Jenul," cp. 43 and (?)48 ; (4)
and (6) "Was "-pattern Tfibal-d.^
18B. Disease, same as 18A —

Panel: (i) and (6) "Let-tod"; (2) and (8) "B«le" or "Bilo"
("Bier"), cp. 18C, 22A.
18C. Disease, same as 18A —

Panel: (i) "Pasir" (" Passeer " = " Sand "), cp. 19H ; (2) and (8)
" B6le " or " B6I0 " (" Bier "), cp. 22A and (?) 18B ; (4) and (6) " Bong,"
cp. ioB(?), 2 A, iD.
18D. Disease, same as 18A —

Panel: (i) " Pen-hfl," cp. 19D, 47, 46, 19C etc ; (a), (4), (6), (8)
" Iju^" (" Ejooaig"), cp. 47 ; (3), (7) " Chig-lag."
i8£. Disease, same as 18A —

Panel: (i) "Jfinasik," cp. 9A;. (2) and (8) "Lik-teg," cp. iiA (?) ;
(4) and (6) " covered with « Goh * patterns."
18F. Disease, same as 18A —

Panel: (i) " Led-wod," cp. 8A; (2) and (8) "Boing"; (4) and (6)
like (I).
18G. Disease, same as 18 A —

Panel : ( i ) " Pen-hil " ; (2) and (6) " Bat-teschai " ? cp. sB (?) ; (4) and
(6)"Iju%,"cp. 47.
18H. Disease, same as 18A —

Panel: (i) " Let-seig," cp. 15A, 6B, etc; (2) and (4) "P^nalong,"
cp. 15A (?) ; (6) and (8) " Kasom," cp. 32B, 7B.
19A. Disease, "Bakau timun," unidentified (but see 18A) —

Panel : (i) " Pasir," cp. 7 A ; (2) and (8) "Tebal," cp. 61 and 6C (?) ;
(4) and (6) "Chig-lag," cp. 3C.

* N,B, — The name of this disease, disease, which covers the person with

"Bakau Timun," means literally (in small spots. " Cucumber seed " is the

Semang) "cucumber blossom," and name given to a common Semang

probably refers to some form of skin- comb pattern ; cp. 19 A.

NEGRITO COMB PATTERNS 6ii

19B. Disease, same as 19A —

Panel: (i) "Pasir" (smaU site); (2), (4), (6) "Altong," cp. 6F, 40;

(3) and (7) " Chig-lag" ; (8) •* Biling," cp. 19N.
19C Disease, same as 19A —

Panel : (i) " Pen-hil," q). 5B ; (2) and (8) " Yang-knil " ; (4) " Chig-
lag"; (6) «*Sad.an-3rit,"q). 19K, 19T.
19D. Disease, same as 19A —

Panel: (i) ** Pen-hH," cp. 5B; (2) "Yat-Qt"; (4) «• Pawer "-pattern
** Kll-kel," cp. 8C ; (6) " Pawer '^-pattern •* Chau-ei " (•« Chow-ai ").
19E. Disease, same as 19A —

Panel : (i) "Kasom,** cp. 20C, 58, 31, 17C, 19G, 32B; (2), (4), (6),
(8) **Si-ei.yong.'»
19F. Disease, same as 19A —

Panel: (i) and (6) «*Jfina8ik"; (2) ««Lig-boig"; (4) and (6)
"Hersaydd" (''Her-s^i"), cp. 9B, loA.
19G. Disease, same as 19A —

Panel: (i) "Kasom," cp. 19E; (2) and (8) ««K61apei," cp. 19M,
19L, 19C ; (4) and (6) <* Goh ** patterns.
19H. Disease, same as 19A —

Panel: (i) " Pasir," cp. 12A; (2), (4), (6), (8) "Kil-kel"; (3) and
(7) "Was ''-pattern «*Chijg-lag," cp. 3B.
19J. Disease, same as 19A —

Panel: (i) "Pasir," cp. 12A; (2), (4), (6) ««Sad.an-yit"; (3) and (7)
"Pawer "-pattern "K^lapei," cp. 19L.
19K. Disease, same as 19A —

Panel : (i) " Pen-hH," cp. 6E, 6H, iiH, etc. The remainder consitU
of two variants of ** Sad-an-yit."
19L. Disease, same as 19A —

Panel : (i) " Pen-hil," cp. 19K ; (2) and (4) " K«lapei," cp. 19C ; (6)
and (8) " PSwer "-pattern " Ki-but " ; (3) and (7) " Goh " pattern.
19M. Disease, same as 19A —

Panel: (l) "Kasom"; (2), (4), (6), (8) "Kfilapei"; (3) and (7)
" Chig-lag," cp. 3C.
19N. Disease, same as 19 A —

Panel : (i) " Pasir " ; (2) and (8) " Biling " ; (4) and (6) " Chig-lag."
[End of patterns given on Plate II.]
19O. Disease, same as 19A —

Panel: (i) "Pen-hil"; (2) " Pfi-nel-tu," cp. iiB (?) ; (8) "Biling";

(4) "Goh "pattern.

20A. Disease, "Met an-tau" (" Met-rai-tow"), probably a skin disease, like 18A —

Panel : (i) " Pen-h!l " ; (4) and (i) Uke (2) ; (6) a " fency " pattern.
20B. Disease, same as 20A —

Panel : (i) " Let-seig," cp. 27 ; (2) " Ta'at " ; (4) and (8) " Halei," cp.
39, 50; (6) "Tink-tonk," cp. iB.
20C. Disease, same as 20A —

Panel : (i) " Kasom " ; (2) and (4) " Keig " ; (6) and (8) " Chog."
20D. Disease, same as 20A —

Panel: (i) "Boin"; (2), (4). (6), (8) "dr-gap."
20F.1 Disease, same as 20 A —

Panel: (i) "Chig-lag" (the "under stripes" = "picheg"); (2), (4),
(6), (8)"Bakol,"cp. 3C(?).
20G. Disease, same as 20A —

Panel : (i), (6), (8) " Pen-ying," with border ; (2) " Angis," cp. 3 A ;
(4) "Pawer "-pattern " Pen-hn."

1 20E omitted in the original.

6i2 APPENDIX

2oH. Disease, same as 20A —

Panel: (i) "Tebal-ei"; (2), (6), (8) "Sob"; (4), (7) "Gau,"
cp. 57.
20J. Disease, same as 20A —

Panel: (i) "Pasir"; (2) "Bakel"; (3), (4), (6) " Pawer "-pattern
" Gau " ; (8) " Pawer "-pattern ** Tink-tonk."
2 1 A. JMsease, "Au-in" ("Ow-in"), unidentified —

Panel: (i) "urn"; (2), (4), (6), (8) "Pahom" ("Paherm"),
q). iF.
21B. Disease, same as 21A —

Panel : (i) "Pen-ying"; (2), (4), (6), (8) "Knel-lap."
22 A,* Disease, *• Man- wok kekil," unidentified —

Panel : (i) " Pen-hil " ; (2) and (4) " Bdle " or " B616 " ; (3) " Sad-
an-yit"; (6) and (8) "Boing"; q). 17B; (7) "Chig-lag."
22C. Disease, same as 22A —

Panel : (i) "Kasom" ; (2), (4), (6), (7), (8) " Chin-eng."
22D. Disease, same as 22A —

Panel : (i) " Kasom," cp. 17A ; (2) and (4) " Da-da," cp. 23, 17A
(6), (8) " Chin-eng"; (3), (7) "Chig-lag."
22E. Disease, same as 22A —

Panel: (i) "Kasom"; (2), (4) " Chin-eng " ; (4), (6) "Chig-lag";
(7), (8) " Let-seig " (two variants).

23. Disease, ** Cheb," unidentified —

Panel: (i) "Kasom"; (2) "Da-da"; (6), (7), (8) two variants of
"Kasom."

24. Disease, " Tu-eg," unidentified —

Panel: (i) "Let-seig"; (2), (8) "Langut" ("Langut"); (4) and (6)
" covered with * Goh '-pattern."
25A. Disease, " Ka-Um » (" Kattam ")—

Panel: (i) "Pen-hil"; (2) "Ing." The remaining designs are very
peculiar : they represent forest-paths. The disease, a kind of fever, which
is found in all parts of the Peninsula, attacks all parts of the body in such
a way that the patient is unable to walk for some time. This design may
be borrowed firom the Sakai, since it is found among all four of the
S^mang groups.

Tribe : Semang of Kinta (" Kintar," Ulu Kinta being a Sakai locality),
who stated that this fever (" Katam ") is less fatal to them than 25C ; aiiid
hence (i) and (2) are used.
25B. Disease, same as 25A —

Panel : (i) " Pen-hn " {\ size) ; (2) " Yat-ut."

Tribe : S^mang of B^lum (" Bloom "), who made a similar statement
to that attributed to the Kinta Semang in 25A [Plate IV.].
25C. Disease, same as 25A —

Panel: (i) " Pen-hO."

Tribe : Semang of Bong, who stated that they only used (i) for reasons
similar to those just given (25 A, B).
25D. Disease, same as 25 A —

Tribe: Sdmang of Ken-siu ("Ken-siew") and E. Semang ("Orang
Panggang "), who made similar statements to the preceding.

26. Disease, " Yan-tui hi-li" (" Yan-toe hillie"), unidentified-

Panel: (I) "Hersaydd" ("Hdr-sei"), same as (4), (6), (8); (2)
"Kem-mit."

27. Disease, " Wing-jang," unidentified —

^ 22B is wanting in the original, 22C, 22D, 22E are described as having
errors in their respective patterns.

NEGRITO COMB PATTERNS 613

Panel: (i) "Let-seig"; (2), (4), (8) "Langut" (**Langut"); (3)

" Goh » pattern " ; (6) " P^nalong," cp. 18H ; (7) "BSle" or "Belo."

The iUness is said to commence in the region of the nipples and

spread downwards. [A, B, C, reckoning from the left side, are said to

be inaccurately drawn.]

28A. Disease, "Ke-sum" (" Kay-some "), unidentified —

Panel (i) "En-let"; (2), (4), (6), (8) "Biling"; (3) " Si-ai-yong " ;
(7)"Chig.lag.»
28B. Disease, same as 28A —

Panel: (i) "En-let"; (2) "Min-len"; (4) "Tebal-ei"; (6) and (8)
"Jinasik."
29. Disease, <* Yan-tul man-ka" <** Yan-tool-mankar"), unidentified, cp. 26—
Panel: (i) "Pen-hil"; (2) " Yang-knil " ; (6) «*Kasom"; (8)
"Langut»* ("Langut").
3a Disease, ** P€n-al-dung" (** Pen-ul-doong "), unidentified —

Panel : (i), (6), and (8) " Boin," cp. 60 ; (2) " Chog" ; (4) a pattern
invented by the maker of the comb.
31. Disease, <* Chab-ok," unidentified —

Panel: (i) "Kasom"; (2) " Keiap," cp. 51 ; (4) "Was"-pattem
«*Tebal-ei," cp. 6A ; (6) ** Pawer "-pattern "Ijueg," cp. 47; (8)
" Pawer "-pattern "Chis-kis," cp. 4B.
32 A. Disease, ««Tebn" ("Tebeel"), unidentified-
Panel : (I) "Hch^," "Let-tod"; (2) "Ka-wS" ("Kawar"); (8)
♦* Pawer "-pattern ♦* Boing."
32 B. Disease, same as 32A —

Panel: (i) "Kasom"; (2), (4), (7) "Chin-eng"; (3) "Chig-lag";
(6) «* Kasom " (variant) ; (8) " Ijudg."

33. Disease, ** Kau-i," unidentified —

Panel: (i) " Pen-hfl," with wide border; (2), (8) "Kei-yong"; (4),
(6) "Pawer "-pattern " Si-ei-yong."

34. Disease, ** Lui," unidentified —

Panel: (i) "Pen-hil"; (2) and (8) "Min-len"; (4), (6) ««Wa8"
pattern " Clug-lag."

35. Disease, "Chig-lak" (="Chig.lag"?), unidentified-

Panel: (I) "Let-seig"; (2), (6) "Mud-beg" (Mood-bag") j (4), (8)
" Was ".pattern " Cheg-lag " ( = " Chig-lag " ?).

36. Disease, " Kong," unidentified —

Panel: (i) "Kasom"; (2), (8) "Silang dui"; (4), (6) "Pawer"-
pattern "Kl-but"

37. Disease, " Kamalij " (" Kamalege "), unidentified —

Panel: (i) "Hersaydd" ("Her-sei") ; (2), (8) "Ki-but"; (4), (6)
"Was "-pattern "Chig-lag."

38. Disease, "P^napit" ("Penappit"), unidentified-

Panel : (I) " Ken-beng" ; (2), (8) " EnjiyangU " ; (4), (6) " Pen-hfl."
[End of patterns given on Plate III.]

39. Disease, " Han-be " or " Han-bo " ? (" Hun-ber "), unidentified-

Panel : (I), (4), (6) "Kin-sei"; (2) "Ha-lei."

40. Disease, " Heit," unidentified —

Panel: (i) "Pen-hU"; (2), (4), (6), (8) "Al-tong"; (3), (7)
" Chig-lag."

41. Disease, "Sfilang-dui" (" Salangdoy "), unidentified —

Panel: (i) "J6nasik"; (2) "Chog"; (4), (8) "W5s "-pattern
"Tebol-ei"; (6) " Paw€r "-pattern "K!-but."

42. Disease, " Kang-wom," unidentified —

Panel : (i), (4), (6), (8) " Ye-Up-e " (" Yeh-lap-eh )" ; (2) " Kit-teng."

43. Disease, "Tang-tong" ("tung-tong"), unidentified —

6i4 APPENDIX

Panel: (i) "Hcrsaydd" ("H€r-sei"); (2) "Jenul"; (4), (8)
«« Was "-pattern "Tebal-d"; (6) ** Kl-but."

44. Disease, <* Sad -or," unidentified —

Panel: (i) "Pen-hil"; (2), (4), (6), (8) "U-kap."

45. Disease, " Ser-sayi " or " Si-sayi " ? (** Ser-sayee "), unidentified-

Panel : (i) "Pen-hfl"; (2) " Sad-an-yit " ; (3), (7) "Chig-lag"; (4),
(6),(8)"Boing,»cp. 17B.

46. Disease, " Eg-to," unidentified —

Panel: (i) and (6) "Pen-lul"; (2) "A-bat"; (3), (7) "Sad-an-
yit" 5 (4), (8) «• was "-pattern «* Ki-som."

47. Disease, " Kam," unidentified —

Panel : (i) " Pen-hfl " ; (2) «« Ijueg " ; (3) and (4) *• Let-seig."

48. Disease, **Ga.sun" ("Gassoon"), unidentified-

Panel: (I) "Ta-song"; (2) "Jenul"; (4), (6), (8) "Ken-beng,"
q). 38.

49. Disease, "Yan-tui hi-log" («* Yan-toe hillog"), unidentified-

Panel: (I) "Led-wod"; (2), (4), (6), (8) "Al-teg."

50. Disease, ** Ka-hib," unidentified —

Panel: (i) "Pen-hU"; (2) "Ha-lei"; (6) "Klsom," Mark
"G^hab"; (8) like (i).

51. Disease, ** Lang-e " or ** Lang-o " (" Lang-er "), unidentified —

Panel ; (i) and (7) " Kasom " (two forms) ; (2) " Keiap " ; (3) " Let-
tod"; (4), (6) "Ijueg"; (8) "Da-da."

52. Disease, "Chig-la" (" Chig-lar "), unidentified-

Panel : (I) " Kasom " ; (2), (8) " BiUng " ; (3), (7) " Let-tod " ; (4), (6)
"Chig-lag."

53. Disease, " Ye-eng," unidentified —

Panel : (i) " He-ka " or " H6-kar " (" Her-kar "), with " W. pidieg " ;
(2), (6), (8) "Chau-ei."

54. Disease, " Tag-an," unidentified —

Panel : (i) " Led-wod" ; (2), (6), (8) "Bel-ung" (" Bel-oong").

55. Disease, "Tan-kwoi** (" Tun-kwoy "), unidenti6ed—

Panel: (I) "Tebal-ei"; (2), (4), (6), (8) "Sob."

56. Disease, "Ye-lar-i" (" Yel-lar-e "), unidentified-

Panel : (I) and (2) lacking, the illness being a fiital one.

57. Disease, "Geltalung" or "Jeltalung" (" Geltaloong" ) unidentified—

. Panel : (i), (4), (6) " Jenasik" (2), (8) " Gau."

58. Disease, " Pinad-yod," unidentified-

Panel : (I) "Kasom"; (2) (4), (6), (8) "Kei-yong."

59. Disease, " Eng," unidentified —

Panel: (i) "Let-seig"; (2) "Ta-at"; (4), (8) "Chig-lag"; (6)
"Yat-ut."

60. Disease, "Ta-kor" or "Tak-or" ("Tukkor,") a kind of large tumour,

carbuncle, etc. (cp. " Goh " patterns).
Panel : (i) " Boin," cp. 30; (2), (6), (8) "Tabag," cp. 12A.

61. Disease, " Mer-oh," unidentified —

Panel: (i) "Let-seig"; (2) "Tebal"; (3), (7) "Chig-lag"; (4)
" Kl-but " ; (6) " Goh " pattern ; (8) not designated.

62. Disease, "Kll-cha" (" Klee-char "), unidentified-

Panel : (I) and (6) "Wah"; (2) "Jung-ei" ("Joong-ei"; (8),
" Goh " pattern. [PUte XII.

63. Disease, "HeU" ("H'lee"), unidentified-

Panel : (I), (4), (6) " Hcka" ; (2), (8) "Tabag."

64. Disease, "Chig-bdnk" ("Chig-bnk"). ^ For protection against fiatal

65. Disease, " Kelau-wong " (" Klow-wong "). \ diseases, and therefore without

66. Disease, "Hajaing." ^ J (i) and (2).

NEGRITO COMB PATTERNS

615

67. Disease, "Teneng".

68. Disease, " Haing."

69. Disease, «* Awis" («* Awecs").

70. Disease, " K^lang-in " (" Klmig-een ")•

I For protection against iaXtX
V diseases, and therefore without
I (I) and (I).

The numbers in the following list refer to the numbers given above,
repetitions of the same pattern are not given, but only the variations.

A-bat (" Abbat") (2),U6.
A.tt("Aet")(2), 16B,
Al-teg (2), 49.

The

Al-tong (2), 40, 6F, 19B.

Angis (2), 3A, 20G.

Ba-chai ("Batchai") (2), Gio, B5.

Bakol (2), 20F, 3C, 20T.

Bae or "Bad" ("B'ler") (2), 18B,

22 A, 18C.
BM-ung ("Bel-oong") (2), 2B, 54.
Biling ("Bil-ling")(2), 52, 28A, 19N.
Boin (I), 60, 30.
Boing (2), 18F, 17B.
Bong (2), 2 A, loB, iD.

Bra (** Boor») (2), 14B,

Chab-lab or Chab-leb ("Chub-lab")

(2), 9A.
Chau-ai ("Cbow-ai") (2), 53.
Chig-lag or Chig-leg («« Chig-lag") (i),

3B, 3C, 20F.
Ching-eng (2), 32B, 22C, 22£.
Chb-kis (" Chis-kes") (2), 4B, 4C.
Chog (2), 41, 30.
Da-da (" Da-dar ") (2), 17A, 23, 22D

[? breast].
Eng-a ("Eng-ah") (i), 16B.
En-let (** N»let" (i), 28B, 28A.
En-nyangil («* N'nyangil ") (2), 6B,

6D, 38.
En-tei ("En-tai'*) (2), 6E, 6G.
Er-gap ("ei^ap" (2), 20D.
GaurGow»)(2), 57.
Ha-lei (" Hallai") (2), 50, 89.
He-ka or " Ho-kar " ? (" Herkar ") ( i ),

14.
Hersaydd, Hersayj, or " H£r-sei "

("Hersige ")(!), 26, 43, 9B, loA,

37, 14A ; cp. " Ser-sayce," injr,
Ijueg ("Ejooaig") (2), 47, 18D.
Ing (2), 2SA.
Injeng (2), 20A.
Is("ees")(2), lE.
J^nasik (** Jennassik") (i), 14B, iC,

9A, 18E, 2A, iD, 1 1 A, 57, 41,

19F, 19B.
Jdnul (2), 48, 43, 1 8 A.

Jung-ei (**Joong-ai**) (2), 62.

Ka-hib (2), 7B.

Kan-beng (i), 13A, 13B. Ct Ken-
beng.

Ka-som or Kesom (" Kassom,** " Kay-
some") (I), 20C, 58, 19E, 31, 17C,
19G, 32B, 22C, 23, 22E, 36, 22D,
17A, 51, 19M, 52, 7B.

Ka-wa ("Ka-war") (2), 32A.

Kei-ap or Kayap? ("Kiap") (2), 31,
51, 7A.

Keig, Keg ("Kaig") (2), 20C.

Kei-yong or Kayong? (" Klyong") (2),

58, 33, 17C.

Kdapei or Kfilepe ("Klappay") (2),

19M, 19L, 19C.
K6m.it ("Kemmcet") (2), 26, 7C.
Ken-beng (i), 38. Cp. Kanbeng.
Kl-but ("Kee-boot") (2), 37, 4A.
Kilkel (2), 19H, 3B, 8C.
Kinsei or Kinse (" Kinsey '*), 39.
Kiteng ("Kit-teng") (2), iC, 42.
Knel-lap (2), lA, 21B, iG.
Langut ("Langhut**) (2), 24, 27,

6H.
Led-wod (i), 54, 4B, 49, 2B, 1 6 A,

8 A, 4C, 17B, 18F.
Legiyap ("Legeeyap") (i), 8B.
Leik-teg or Likteg ("Likteg") (2),

1 1 A, 18E.
Let-seig or Let-seg ("Let-saig") (i),

35, 6C, 24, 6G, 27, 5A, 20B, 61,

59, 18H, 1 5 A, 6B, 6D.
Let-tod (I), 18B, 32A, 7C, 8C.
Lid-dah?(«*Lid.dar")(2), 14A, 12B.
Lig-boig (2), 19F, 1 6 A.

Makuin ("Mukoin") (2), 6A, 156.

Manau (" Manow") (i), 12B.

Man-teng (i), iG.

Min-len (2), 28B, 34.

Mud-beg (" Mood-bag") (2), 35.

Napek(2), i2C[=pig].

Ni-en-ka ("Ne-an-kar» (2), 8B, cp.

8A.
Pa-hem or Pa-hom («* Pa-herm ") (2),

21F, 21A.

* In original W. = Was,i.*. first panel,
here represented by (i) ; P. =Pawer,

ue, second panel, here represented by

(2).

6i6

APPENDIX

Pa-sir ('•Passeer") (i), laA, 19N,
20J, 19A, 19H, 19B, 7A, 19J,
18C

P^nalong or Penaldung (<* Penalong")
(2) 1 5 A, 18H.

P^.nel-tu («*Peneltoo*') (2), 190, iiB.

Pen-hil ("Pen-hcel") (i), 25A, 50,
20A, 19L, 44, 25B, 22A, 5B, 19C,
19O, 6H, 29, iiB, 6F, 19K, 19D,
18D, 40, 34, 18G, 6E, 25C, 33>
46, 47, 45, 15B.

Pen-ying (i), lA, 21B, 4A, 12C, 3 A,
20G.

Sad-an-yit (" Sad-un-yet ") (2), 19K,

45. 19J.
Scg(i), 20D.

Seg-kit («*Seg-kect") (2), 13B, 13A.
Selang-dui ("Slangdoy") (2), 36.
Si-ai-yong or Si-ayong ? ( * * See-i-yong ")
,. (2), 17E.

Sil("Seer*)(2), 5A.

Sob (2), 55, 50H.

Ta-at (2), 20B, 59.

Ta-bag (2), 63, 12A, 60.

Ta-song ("Tassong") (i), 48.

Tebal or T^bal ("Tebal") (2), 19A,

6C, 61.
Tdbal-ai or "Tdbali'"? ("Tebal-i")

(I), 6A, 18A, 55, 20H.
Tink-tonk {sic) (2), iB.
TShong ("Tohong»*), (i), iB.
0-kap or u-kep ("00-kap") (2), 44.
Om (" Oom") (I), lE, 21A, il.
tJmung ("Oomoong") (2), loA, 9B.
Wah (I), 62.
Yang-knil (2), 29, 19C.
Yat-ut or Yet-ut ("Yat-oot") (2),

19D, 25B.
Ye-lap-e or Yl-Up-I (•' Yeh-lap^")

(I), 42.

To complete this list should be added the following, which includes all
names not yet mentioned from the preceding list of comb patterns : —

Ang-ag-boig? ("Ung-ag-buig"), 13A.

Awin("Ow.In"), 21 A.

Awis (" Awees"), 69.

Bakau Timun (i), 18A ( = cucumber

Bakel (2), 20J.

Ba-teschai (?) (2) and (6), 18G. Cp.

SB (?).
Bcr, 8A.
Chab-ok» 31.

Chas-ai ("Chas-eye"), 12A.
Cheb, 23.

Chig-bfink ("Chig-bnk"), 64.
Eg-to, 46.

Eng, 59. Cp. 25 A?
Ga-sun (**gassoon"), 48.
Gel-talung or Jel-talung? ("Gel-

taloong "), 57.
Haingy 68.
Hajaing, 66.

Hanbe or Hanbo? ("Hun-ber"), 39.
Hdli("Hnee"), 63.
It-al-ig, 14A.
Kadong, 2A.
Kam, 47.

Kamalij (" Kamalege "), 37.
Kang-keng ? (** Kung-keng "), 9 A.
Kang-wom, 42.
Katam, 25 A.
Kau-i or Kawi, 33.

Kayan chalag ('* Kayan challag *'), 6 A.
K«lik sog ("Klik-sog"), 16A.

Kelangin ("Klung-een"), 70 [? mis-
print for **Kelanges" = heart, or
cp. *'Kling-in," Quiver Yi.

Kdlau-wong or "Kdluwang" ? ("Klow-
wong"), 65 [? = bat].

Kimbu or Kimbo ? (" Kimbur "), 3A.

Kinsei or Kinse ? 39 («= tapioca ?).

Klasau ("Klasow"), 4A.

Kli-cha (" Klee-char "), 62 (name of a
flower).

Kong, 36

Lang-e or Lang-^ (" Lang-er"), 51.

Li chinbeg (" Lee chinbeg"), 5A.

Lig-teg, I A.

Lik-teg ( = " Lig-teg » ?), i lA.

Ma-kau ka-lon (''Mackow kallon"),
15A.

Manwok kekil, 22A.

Mer-oh, 61.

Met antau, 20A.

Pasar chinbeg ('*P&ssar chin-beg"),
5A.

Pel-ig("Pel-eeg"), 11 A.

P«napit ("Penappit"), 38

Picheg, 32A.

Pin-ad-yod, 58,

Pong or Kingkong= fever, lA.

Sad-or, 44

Sersayi (" Ser-sayee "), 45

Tag-an, 54.

Ta-kor or Tak-or (" Tukkor "), 60.

Takui (** Tak-oye")» loA.

NEGRITO QUIVER PATTERNS 617

Tan-eg, 7 A. Wing-jang, 27.

Tang-tong ("Tung-tong"), 43. Cp. Yan-tui hili (" Yantoe hillie "), 26

iB? Yan-tui hilog (*«Yan-toe hillog"),

Tan-kwoi ("Tun-kwoy"), 55. 49.

Teneng, 67. Yan-tul man-ka (**yan-tool-mankar"),

Tebil ("Tebeel"), 32 A. 29. Cp. 26.

Tinweg langkah ("Tinwag lankar,") Ye-eng, 53 ("ye"? = the personal

1 7 A, prefix).

Tu-eg, 24. Ye-lar-i (" Yel-lar-e "), 56.

Sbmang Quiver and Charm-tube Patterns. Page 486.

Quiver A I "keng-uin" (" k*ng-oin ") ; charm against lightning. Incom-
plete.^ For illustration, see p. 142.

Quiver B : <* beb '' (" bab **) ; a charm against pains in the region of the base
of the spine. It appeared to Vaughan-Stevens to be a sort of liver -disease.
Incomplete, p. 142.

Quiver C : same name as Quiver B ; charm against pains in the vertebrae.
Incomplete, p. 142.

Quiver D : ** lasai " (" lassai ") ; charm against ** nyus-en " (** neuss-en ") or
toothache. The name "lasai" refers to the black bands (stripes). Every
Quiver and Charm-tube that shows them is called "lasai." Incomplete,
p. 142.

Quiver E : same name as Quiver D ; charm against " pelig" (" p*leeg") or
headache. Incomplete, p. 142.

Quiver F: "hu-ju-weg" ("hoojoowag") ; charm against cyclones, which
" often tear a passage 10-58 m. broad through the forest This charm is specially
designed for protection against falling trees. Another Quiver with slightly
different pattern is assigned to the women." Incomplete, p. 142.

Quiver G : same name as Quiver F ; charm against falling trees, such as
are thrown down in an ordinary storm. A companion Quiver is assigned to the
women, as in the case of Quiver F. Incomplete, p. 142.

Quiver H : same name as Quiver F ; charm against weak, decayed and dead
branches of trees, which might during a storm be blown down upon those
walking below ; also against heavy fruits, like the durian fruit. For Uie women
there is in this case no companion Quiver, since they have a comb-pattern for it.
Incomplete, p. 142.

Quiver I : " ket-chau " (" kfchow ") ; charm against the violent rains of the
North-east Monsoon, which cause sickness in those who are exposed to them.
Incomplete, p. 142.

Quiver K : same name as Quiver I ; charm against the rains of the South-
west Monsoon. Incomplete, p. 142.

Quiver 1,1 "met-ches"? ("metchas"); charm against "bi-cha" ("bee-
char"), the itch. Complete, p. 142.

Charm-tube M: "tin-lai"; charm against "tin-lig" ("tingleeg")= injury
in consequence of lifting or carrying a heavy burden. Complete, p. 142.

Charm-tube N : " pi-as chan ** (" pee-ass-chan ")=s " disease ^foot " ; charm
against soreness of the foot (through walking, etc). Complete, p. 142.

^ In order to save room, only so is constantly repeated in the band,

much of the unrolled patterns is drawn only the beginning of the drawing is

as is actually necessary for the reader given, in order to facilitate its exam-

to follow. Hence the words " com- ination, although the whole (unrolled)

plete " or " incomplete " are always circumference of the bamboo is repre-

added. Again, where the same motive sented.

6i8 APPENDIX

Quiver O : " bung-kong" (** boon-kong**) ; charm against poisoDous fruit or
food. The upper half is the same as the lower reversed. Complete, p. 142.

Quiver P : same name as Quiver O ; charm against poisonous or injurious
drinking-water. Complete, p. 143.

Quiver Q : « ling- wen ^ ; charm against eruptions of the skin and pustules,
e,g, the pustules of small-pox. Complete, p. 143.

Quiver R : ** pi-as kyun " (" pee-as-kyung ") ; charm against ** tek-kor," Le,
large swellings, e,g, carbuncles. Complete, p. 143.

Charm-tube S : ** pi-as kuin " (** pee-ass-kooin ") ; charm against influenza or
catarrh. Incomplete, p. 143.

Charm-tube T : " klar-chus-an " (" klar-choos-un ") ; charm againt " ka-beb "
or " cramp " (?) ; stiffness of the Iiml» through exposure to the atmosphere. In-
complete, p. 143.

Quiver U : " pi-as kyap " (** pee-ass-keop ") ; charm against constipation and
suppression of urine. Complete, p. 143.

Chartn-tube V : " ham-mar " ; charm against " chit-tor " or coughing. In-
complete, p. 143.

Charm-tube W: "kla-duid" (" kla-dooid") ; charm against "klin-chang
kyok " (" klin-chang keok '*) or paralysis. Complete, p. 143.

Charm-tube X. Complete, p. 144.

Charm-tube Y. Complete, p. 144.

Charm-tube Z : ** hil-lai " ('* hilliee ") ; charm against injury to the foot firom
a thorn, sharp stone, or the like. Wounds of this kind are called ** te-pi-yas "
("tepee-yass"). Incomplete, p. 144.

Quiver Ai : " ba-lu " or ** ba-ler " (" baUoo " or " bailer ") ; charm against
many diseases or injuries of like character. Complete, p. 144.

Quiver A2 : same name and charm as Quiver Ai. Complete, p. 144.

Quiver A3 : same name and charm as Quiver Ai. Complete, p. 144.

Quiver A4 : same name and charm as Ai. Complete, p. 144.

Quiver Bi : "chi-chll" (** chee-cheel ") ; charm against inability to walk.
Incomplete, p. 145.

Quiver B2 : same name as Quiver Bi. Charm against another form of the
preceeding. Incomplete, p. 145.

Quiver Ci: "tis" ("tees"); charm against "til-buig" (*«telboig"), an
internal disease. Incomplete, p. 145.

Quiver C2 : " sob " ; charm against an internal disease. Incomplete, p. 145.

Quiver Di : " li-chin-beg" (" lee chin beg") ; charm against disease of the
upper jaw. Incomplete, p. 145.

Quiver D2 : same name as Quiver Di ; charm against disease of the lower
jaw. Incomplete, p. 145.

Ei : "pSnules" (" penooless ") ; charm against disease of the knee. In-
complete, p. 145.1

£2 : same name and charm as £1. Complete, p. 145.

Fi : **chin-kob" ("chin-kob") ; charm against stone, "it appears." In-
complete, p. 145.

F2 : same name as Fi ; charm against redness of the urine. Incomplete,
p. 145.

Quiver Gi : "chis bos"(**chees bos"); charm against stiff neck. Com-
plete, p. 145.

Quiver G2 : same name as Quiver Gi ; charm against scrofula, " it appears."
Incomplete, p. 145.

* From this point V.- Stevens fre- ever (according to his editor),
quently ceases to designate the tubes is alwa)^ meant,
as "go'" or "ga'"; probably, how-

NEGRITO QUIVER PATTERNS 619

Quiver Hi \ "tig-gib kyong" ("tig-gceb kyong"); charm against "bent
arm " (?) Incomplete, p. 145.

Quiver H2 : same name as Quiver Hi ; charm against a disease of the arm,
which is often dangerous when it spreads to the rest of the body. Complete,
p. 145.

Quiver Ii : "hli-suin" ("h*lee-soin") ; charm against a disease of the
acromion. Incomplete, p. 145.

I2 : same name as Quiver Ii ; charm against disease of the shoulder. In-
complete, p. 148.

Ki : " lil-lei " ; charm against disease of the loins. Incomplete, p. 148.

K2 : "lil-lel taul-yu" ("lil-lel towl-yoo"); charm against elephantiasis.
Incomplete, p. 148.

Li : "sa-kinwad " ; charm against disease of the back. Incomplete, p. 148.

L2 : same name and disease as Li. Incomplete, p. 148.

Ml : **pob-bi-ob" ("pob-bee-ob") ; charm against disease of the ear. In-
complete, p. 148.

M2 : same name and disease as Mi. Incomplete, p. 148.

M3 : same name and disease as Mi. Incomplete, p. 148.

Ni : " tuig keling " (" toig k*eling ") ; charm against " pan-gis" or " pan-jis " ?
("pan-giss"), an internal disease under the breast-bone. Incomplete, p. 148.

N2: same name as Ni ; charm against "Kwi-klip" ("quee-klip"), on the
upper part of the breast-bone. Incomplete, p. 148.

N3 : same name as Ni ; charm against an internal disease. Incomplete,
p. 148.

Quiver Oi : "lib-ob" ("leeb-ob"); charm against sickness of the head.
Incomplete, p. 148.

O2 to O4 : same name as Quiver Oi ; charm probably against disease of the
head. Incomplete, p. 148.

Pi : " lit-tud " (" let-tod ") ; charm against " empo ka-to " (" um-po kater ")
or "sqaly skin." "Appears to be a kind of leprosy." Complete, p. 148.

P2 ; same name as Pi ; chann against skin disease. Complete, p. 148.

Qi : "chil chinin" ("chel chineng") ; charm against "say-i kluid" ("si-ee
kluid ") or swollen ankle. Incomplete, p. 149.

Q2 : same name as Qi ; apparently a charm against dislocaticAi or spraining
of the ankle. Incomplete, p. 149.

Quiver Ri : "senai yong" or "sfinayong"? ("seni yong"); charm against
a disease in the region of the os sacrum. Complete, p. 149.

R2 : same name as Ri ; charm against a disease in the posterior region. In-
complete, p. 149.

Si : "ke-de heb-deb" ("kayday heb-deb") ; charm against disease of the
testicles. Complete, p. 149.

Ti : " chis-wes" ("chiss-wess") ; charm against disease in the region of the
navel. Incomplete, p. 149.

T2 : same name and disease as Ti. Incomplete, p. 149.

Ui : "hej-kel li-keng beng" ("hedgkel lee-keng-beng ") ; charm against
inflammation of the eyes. Incomplete, p. 149.

Vi : " pias kui " (" peeass kooey ") ; charm against " huig " (" hoig "), a kind
of ear-ache. This specimen is said to show one of the special marks which are
made by the Sakai on their quivers " when the * lampoi *- fruit is ripe " ; and by
the Semang during the durian -harvest. Incomplete, p. 149.

Quiver Wi : " chiling pat " (" chilling part **) ; charm against a disease in the
region of the nipples ; for men and women. Incomplete (part i. complete),
p. 149.

Xi : "li-kain" (" lee-kine ") ; charm against "chim-p!d mu" ("chim-peed
mor"), which appears to be a polypus in the nose ("mu"). It was, however,
said that in bad cases it caused death, if it spread upwards. Complete, p. 149.

620 APPENDIX

Yi : <<kling-in'' (*< kling-een ") ; charm against disease of the eyebrows.
Incomplete, p. 149.

Pac^e 461 86<1<1. Sbmang Blowpipe Paiterns.

1. ** Malai " (" mallay "). Incomplete, p. 150.

2. "ChingTl" (**ching-eel"). Incomplete, p. 150.

3. **Nu"?("n'or"). Complete, p. 150.

4. ** Yuig " (** yoig "). Incomplete, p. 1 5a

5. "Cheg la pon" (**chag lar pon**). Incomplete, p. 150.

6. "Til us kus" (" tel oos koos"). Incomplete, p. 150.

7. "Ka-chel." Incomplete, p. 150.

8. **Bi-sut kan-ling" ("besoot kan-ling"). Incomplete, p. 150.

9. ** Kejel " or " Kajal." Incomplete, p. 150.

10. "Klata." Incomplete, p. 150.

11. **Suwen" ("soowen"). Incomplete, p. 150.

12. "Pasir" ("paser"). Incomplete, p. 150.

13. "Chib-ber"or "chlb-bo^C^chib-bur"). Complete, p. 150.

14. **Cha.chi" ("cha-chee"). Complete, p. 150.

15. "Yes" ("yess"). Incomplete, p. 150.

16. "Baim boweig" ("bime bowaig"). Incomplete, p. 150.

17. "Abeg"?("abag"). Incomplete, p. 150.

18. *« Ko-kog " or " ko-koj " ? (" ker-kerg "). Complete, p. 150.

19. ** Ag-eg" (**ug-egg"). Incomplete, p. 150.

20. **Yal-wig." Incomplete, p. 150.

21. "Kak-ku" ("kak-koo"). Complete, p. 150.

22. **Lig-jeg"? ("lig-jag"). Incomplete, p. 150.

23. "Sebog." Complete, p. 150.

24. **Ti-ui" ("tee oowee"). Incomplete, p. 15a

25. "Ong." Incomplete, p. 150.

26. "Pu wai** ("poo-whai"). Incomplete, p. 150.

27. " Cheg-neg " ? (" chag nag"). Incomplete, p. 15a

28. "Chi^-eg." Incomplete, p. 150.

29. "Wong." Incomplete, p. 150.

30. "J^labo'" or "jdabi" ("jClabor"). Incomplete, p. 150.

31. " A-chan " ? ( " atchan "). Incomplete, p. 1 50.

32. "Al-teg." Incomplete, p. 151.

33. " Ta-la " ( " tallar "). Incomplete, p. 1 5 1 .

34. "Baling" ("balling"). Incomplete, p. 1 5 1.

35. "Tis" ("tees"). Incomplete, p. 151.

36. "Kawe(r)" or "kawo" ("kower"). Incomplete, p. 150.

37. "Hu.hau"("h'oohow"). Incomplete, p. 151.

38. "Engjang." Complete, p. 151.

39. "Pelig" ("peleeg"). Incomplete, p. 151.

40. "Bem-chem.** Incomplete, p. 151.

41. "Kam-aij" ("kamaije"). Incomplete, p. 151.

42. "Mel-lo" ("mellow"). Incomplete, p. 151.

43. "Lip-kap." Incomplete, p. 151.

44. "Ting. tang." Incomplete, p. 151.

45. "Kawil" ("kowil"). Complete, p. 151.

46. " Kam-tul " (" kum-tool "). Incomplete, p. 151.

47. "Kad-di-ap" ("kad-dee-ap"). Incomplete, p. 151.

48. "Yang-im." Incomplete, p. 151.

49. "Beng-kem**?("benkam"). Incomplete, p. 151.

50. "Te-seng"?("tay.sang"). Incomplete, p. 151.

51. "Em-pai"?("empi"). Incomplete, p. 151.

NEGRITO BLOWPIPE PATTERNS

621

52.
53.
54.
55.
56.

57.
58.

59.
60.
61.
62.

63.
64.

65.
66.
66a.

67.
68.
69.
70.
71.
72.

73.
74.
75.
76.

77.
78.
79.
80.
81.
82.

83.
84.
85.
86.
87.
88.
89.
90.

91.
92.

93.
94.
95.
96.

97.
98.

99.
100.

lOI.

102.
103.
104.
105.

*Pung-bun" (" poong-boon "). Incomplete, p. 151.

* Li-hui " ( " Ic-hoy "). Incomplete, p. 151.
'Jil-hel." Incomplete, p. 151.

* Ye-wun " ? ( " yeh-von "). Almost complete, p. 151.

* Pa-ham " or ** pahom " (" pahum "). Incomplete, p. 151.
*Chos pi-o" ("choss peo"). Incomplete, p. 151.

* Chili tui "'? (" chillee tooey "). Incomplete, p. 151.

* lis-nus " (** lis-noos **). Almost complete, p. 151.

* Chin-lai " (" chinli "). Incomplete, p. 151.
'Kabug** ("kaboog"). Incomplete, p. 154.

* Tal-ong " ? (" tallong "). Incomplete, p. 1 54.

* Chailed (or " chil-ed " ?) bit "? (** chilled beet "). Complete, p. 154.
*Tong." Incomplete, p. 154,

* Hi^-weg " ? (" hoog-wag "). Incomplete, p. 154.
•Yang-un" (**yang oon"). Incomplete, p. 154.

" Gem-ap " (" gemaap "). Incomplete, p. 1 54.
*Sin^t" ("singart"). Incomplete, p. 154.
*Pajet." Complete, p. 154.
Buap" ("booarp"). Complete, p. 154.
*Klang-yu" ("klang-yoo"). Incomplete, p. 154.

* Pang-6t " ? (** pang-ert **). Incomplete, p. 154.
*Tilkil." Complete, p. 154.

* Ing-yes ** (** ing yess "). Incomplete, p. 1 54.

* Bu-ing " (" bo-ing "). Complete, p. 1 54.
Ug-bui " (" lig-boi "). Complete, p. 151.

* Tej " (" ta*je "). Complete, p. 151.
*Chimaking" ("chimarking"). Complete, p. 154.

* Bil-uing" (" bil-ooing"). Incomplete, p. 154.

* Pu-lo "? (" poo-low "). Incomplete, p. 154.
'Sabai yau" (**sabi yow"). Incomplete, p. 154.

* Is " (" ees "). Incomplete, p. 1 54.

* Maing-cha " ? (" maing char "). Complete, p. 154.
*Hong." Incomplete, p. 154.

* As " (" ass "). Complete, p. 1 54.
*Sing-bep." Incomplete, p. 155.

' Em bos " (" em boss "). Incomplete, p. 155.

* Hi-u " (" hee-00 "). Incomplete, p. 155.

* Sa-kop " ? (" sar-kop "). Incomplete, p. 155.
*Lig-boid." Incomplete, p. 155.

*KejiI." Complete, p. 155.
Sudip" ("sudeep"). Complete, p. 155.
Tak-kor " ? (" tuk-kor "). Incomplete, p. 155.

* Tut-nap " ? (" toot knap "). Complete, p. 1 55.
'H'na-pih." Incomplete, p. 155.

* Gla-wa " ? (" grr war "). Incomplete, p. 155.

* Pong." Fever. A severe form of fever which appears at a definite

time of the year. Incomplete, p. 155.

*Pung-pang." Incomplete, p. 155.

*Kang-kmig" ("kung-koong"). Incomplete, p. 155.

«Sir-i" ("ser-ee"). Complete, p. 155.

" Chil-dul " (" chil dool "). Incomplete, p. 155.

" Tai-yor " (" ti yor "). Complete, p. 155.

"Tig-toig." Complete, p. 155.

" Ni-poi " (** nee-poy "). Incomplete, p. 155.

" Yamo popi yu " ? (** yamo purpee-yoo "). Complete, p.

" Chi-chau " (" chee-chow "). Complete, p. 1 55.

155.

622 APPENDIX

io6. **Hak-kar**("hukkAr"). Incomplete, p. 155.

107. "K^nabiL" Complete, p. 155.

108. **Kaltu"("kaltoo"). Complete, p. 155.

109. "Pig-pau'* ("pig pow"). Complete, p. 156.
no. "Tig-ja." Complete, p. 156.

111. "Puk-pug" ("poo^ poog")» Incomplete, p. 156.

112. "Ong." Sideways complete, p. 156.

113. ** Yap," or ** yop " ? (** earp "). Complete, except for the middle part,
p. 156.

1 14. " Gihar " ? (** ge har "). Complete up to space 2. P. 156.

115. " Wor," or " wA " (" wor "). Complete, p. 1 56.

116. **Ham-mIng" (**hum meeng"). Complete, p. 156.

117. "Senai tipis" ("seni tepees"). Comfiete, p. 156.

118. "Pap-lif." Complete, p. 156.

119. " Las," or *« les " ? (" las "). Incomplete, p. 156.

1 20. ** Nes-os " ( " ness os "). Complete, p. 1 56.

121. **Ta-8ai" ("tassai"). Complete, p. 156.

122 "Ni-chip-pip" (** nee-chip peep"). Complete, p. 156.

123. "Chu-hut" ("choo hoot"). Sideways complete, p. 1 56.

124. "Piches" ("pichess"). Incomplete, p. 156.

125. "Betungking" ("betoonking"). Complete, p. 156.

126. **Iyor"? ("eeor"). Charm against disease of the ear. Complete,

p. 156.

127. "Tet-per" ("tet-pur"). Charm against disease of the nose (cf. No.
126). Complete, p. 156.

128. "Ing-heng"? ("ing hang"). Sideways complete, p. 1 56.

\N,B, — In Globm Ixxv., Nos. 22, 23, and also iaZ.f, E, xxxi. etc, will be
found papers commenting on the foregoing lists of patterns, but as to a great
extent they are written under the influence of the untenable flower-theory, their
most valuable part consists in their frank criticism of the weak spots in that
theory itself. Another point is that the classification of the patterns is greatly
over-elaborated, and that the essential irregularity of the patterns themselves is
frequently disregarded. The first and most important task is to find out the
meaning of the Semang names, and it is to this alone that we may look to get
results of permanent value. — ^W.S.]

Critical Summary of Paper by Dr. Predss in Z,/,E. xxxL 180.

This paper of Dr. Preuss commences with a discussion of the emblems said
by Vaughim-Stevens to be employed for representing various parts of the body,
as to which we have to remark that very few indeed of them appear to be
actually used in patterns from the names of which the seat of the disease can be
localised, and further that, as is indeed quite rightly pointed out by Dr. Preuss
himself, many of these special emblems do not occur in any form in any of the
patterns at all ; and that, in addition to these difficulties, many of the variations
in the patterns are absolutely and entirely without significance.

A glaring instance of an entirely unacceptable explanation given by Vaughan-
Stevens is that the cross-lines of the ** tin-weg '* (comb pattern) represent forest-
paths, '* probably because it is from these paths that a particular disease is spread
over the Peninsula" — a statement which, apart from its own grotesquely far-
fetched character, directly conflicts with Vaughan-Stevens* own explanation of
similar cross-lines in another place, viz. that they represent a "larger swelling"
or "hill." We are further asked by Vaughan-Stevens to believe (i) that many
flowers and other objects though bearing quite different names, are nevertheless,
as a rule, identical ; (2) that the very same (or quite similar) flowers are — also as
a rule — not identical. Whence it follows, as the result of (i), and (2) that special
signs or marks had to be introduced to distinguish the latter.

THEORIES OF VAUGHAN-STEVENS 623

These patterns, then (according to Vaughan-Stevens), represent ideographs
drawn direct from nature (in the first instance at all events), but complicated by
the addition of distinguishing marks, which cannot be separated from the patterns
themselves. The Semang £eory of the evolution of these patterns, which they
are declared to illustrate by a number of series proceeding from the simplest
to the most complicated forms, may or may not have been [in Dr. Preuss's
opinion ; in ours most certainly must have been] due to injudicious <* leading *'
questions put by Vaughan-Stevens — at all events it is described very properly by
Dr. Preuss as a perfectly valueless exercise, such as might occupy an ethnologist
at his study -table. The same general remarks apply to the <* somewhat in-
comprehensible*' grouping of the patterns on the quivers and charm-bamboos,
for which we are similarly given a number of sets, in this case too proceeding
from the simplest (representing the mildest diseases) to the most complicated
(representing the worst), although [as Vaughan-Stevens here quite rightly objects]
it is certain that the patterns for the most serious diseases would naturally have
been developed before those for the milder ones.

The classification of the comb patterns is next discussed by Dr. Preuss, and
certain conclusions drawn therefrom, but as both classification and conclusions
are based on the untenable ** flower "-theory, which we have elsewhere exposed,
no more need be said on the subject here.

Finally, the markings on the pandanus leaves (*<buyu")are considered as
possibly taken from nature, though the alleged connection between the triple
ring-lines and the three kinds of lightning is somewhat mildly described as
obscure. [We may add that in our own view there is no proof whatever of the
former, and that the latter statement is utterly absurd.]

The comparative rarity, if not the complete absence, of any identity of
pattern as between the various panels of the 140 different comb-designs is then
touched on, and the possible cause of those divergences considered, the use of
the alleged special signs or marks (*< gehab," '* edziat," <* ob," and " kos ") being
considered in this connection, and the superfluous character of the <'t^pi"-line
[for the real explanation of which see our text] is pointed out

The classification of the so-called "was"- and ** pawer "-patterns is then
discussed, as to which the same comments may be made as have been above
applied to the theory of the comb patterns. Dr. Preuss himself very justly
points out many inconsistencies and difficulties. We ourselves have explained
in the text the real signification of many of the terms, notably ** kabu salag,"
"kabu padi," "neing," "behai,"and (as mentioned above) **tdpi,"and it is
therefore unnecessary to recur to the question here. Turning to the patterns on
the charm-tubes, quivers, and blowpipes. Dr. Preuss observes that *' on account
of their greater lack of system they appear to be older than the combs," although,
of course, according to the Vaughan-Stevens' theory, it was the comb patterns
that were developed first. Nevertheless the combs are treated first in order, and
the legend of their introduction is related in detail The comb patterns are then
analysed and shown to consist, generally speaking, of a broad band in the centre
called "tin-w^," with two narrow bands at the top, which (according to
Vaughan-Stevens) are called " was" and " pawer," and two lower bands allied
to be of no special importance. [We have in the text already exposed the
baseless character of this imaginary system.]

We are next asked to believe that the different parts of the same comb
pattern are supposed to act independently of and successively to each other ; if the
"was" does not act, the "pawer" will, and if that fails, the "tin-weg." No
reasons are given for this remarkable hypothesis, the accuracy of which must be
challenged when we find that certain of the combs, whose patterns are designed
to protect the wearer against deadly illnesses, have nothing but a " tin-weg," and
that the "was" and "pawer" are in themselves of no utility whatever. Dr.
Preuss himself " receives the impression" that the flower-patterns ("was" and

624 APPENDIX

<<pawer") are <' in part borrowed" from the disease-patterns, even though thqr
are seldom combined in one comb. Yet it is absolutely essential to suppose that
the flower-patterns {if they really represent flowers) were taken direct from nature
and not in any case borrowed from the *< tin-weg." The simplest and, so far as
the writer can see, the only way out of the whole coil, is to suppose that
Vaughan-Stevens was ignorant of the fact that the word ** bunga," as used not
only by the Malays but among these tribes, signifies a decorative emblem, border,
or pattern, as well as a flower, without any necessary correlation between its usual
signification and the object (or objects) represented. It can hardly be doubted
that in the (rare) cases in which the flower- and disease-patterns in the same
comb resemble each other, it is the disease part of the pattern that takes after
the flower part of the pattern, and not vice versa, whilst in other cases the disease
part of the pattern may be taken from other objects besides flowers. At all
events it is tenable to suppose, as is here done by Vaughan-Stevens' editor, that
** the object of healing has always been the chief thing," and the working of a
charm an accretion of secondary importance, as among these tribes at all events
the two ideas are indistinguishable. A yet further difficulty (in the way of the
acceptance of the comb-dieory) lies in the existence of an alternative theory,
also promulgated by Vaughan-Stevens, to the efiiect that all patterns originated
from the charcoal marks on wood which were employed by the Puttos for the
prevention, expulsion, and conjuration of diseases.

Other narrow bands or panels on the combs are supposed by Vaughan-
Stevens to represent such flowers as are next best in point of efficacy (!), and these
are said to imitate the '* was " and " pawer *' pattern of other coml», or their
special signs ! Of these all one can say is that an explanation of this kind (as to
the employment of ** second-best "(!) patterns) is totally at variance with the
practical character of the race to which the practice is attributed ; and that it is
quite inacceptable ! Dr. Preuss himself sees that these bands are too narrow to
represent anything effectively, and that their *• purport" [if any!] "would be
exceedingly insignificant " 1

Here follows a statement in detail of the flower-theory, which we have shown
in the text to be utterly untenable — a mere house of cards that £Edls with a crash
when the lowest card has been removed. The conclusive arguments against it
are too numerous to be repeated here, but we may perhaps be permitted to ask
a few pertinent questions. Why should a **t6pi"-line represent both pistil
and* stamens of a flower, especially when the word is nothing more than the Malay
word " tepi" sedge or border, and neither pistil nor stamens can by any flight
of imagination be nominally regarded as the edge of a flower ? To what race,
either of savages or civilised men, would it occur to represent the sTnell as part of
a flower, and as requiring visible illustration ? What race of savages on an
equally low plane of culture is able to distinguish between the pistil, stamens, and
sepals at all, terms which have simply been invented for the purposes of botanical
anuEdysis ? Why again are the petals, which we might fairly expect to rank as
the most important part of a flower in the eyes of a native, and the only part of
a flower, in fact, that is recognised by the Malays (a race immeasurably in advance
of the Semang as regards culture), entirely omitted and disregarded ?

The Charm-hieroglyphics {sic) of the Negritos in Malacca.

In vol. Ixxv. (No. 23) of Globus there is given an account of Vaughan-Stevens*
combs, with especial reference to the signs said to be used for various parts of the
body (see vol. i. pp. 434, 435 of text). The " one hundred and forty combs are
divided into seventy pairs, each of which is directed against a disease whose
name is usually given, but not explained," nor is there, as a rule, the smallest
clue to any of the sicknesses given. As regards the signs for parts of the body,
only one or two of these could (as Dr. Preuss points out) be identified without

SAKAI HEADBAND PATTERNS 625

assistance. Many of these alleged <* hieroglyphs **( !) are composed of the
very simplest geometrical signs, crosses, circles, and ovals, chevrons (with the
points arranged either verticfdly or horizontally), parallel straight lines, and the
the like ; for instance, Nos. 16, 17, and 19 are merely subdivisions of the same
<* hieroglyph" as No. 2, with which, in a sense, they have absolutely nothing
to do; No. 19 being vertical instead of horizontal. So too Nos. 4, 5, 11, 12,
13, 14, 18, and 21 are all reducible to the chevron, which in one or two cases
has been drawn at the side of a straight line. Considering this and considering
also the extraordinarily over-elaborate and unnatural character of these so-called
body-signs — those for the foot, for instance, the arms, and the side are quite
incredibly complicated — I can only say that to me they fail to carry any sort of
conviction, and that they suggest, as in the case of the flower-theory, the presence
of the European invest^tor, with his (in this case anthropologioal) text-book
and his stupefying succession of injudidous leading questions, fired off with the
rapidity and persistence of a machine-gun ! Even Dr. Preuss himself, who has
certainly shown a considerable amount of penetration and acumen in detecting
flaws in the material he was given to work upon, has doubts as to whether the
emblem allied to signify '* breast " — a mere cross — is to be interpreted as such
wherever it occurs. Moreover, many of the alleged body-symbols do not occur
at all in Vaughan-Stevens' collection, either on combs or blowpipes. The state-
ment that follows, to the effect that the cross-hatching of certain combs represents
forest-paths, ''probably because one catches on them the disease, a kind of
fever," is so ludicrous as to require no comment whatever. The *<w§s" and
« pawer " patterns are next described. They are collected into groups, under
unexplained (disease)-names, and their grouping which here follows: (i) as
panels with single design, (2) as panels with repeated (regular) designs, (3) as
repeated designs showing certain irregularities or special signs, does not appear
to be of any particular value, as no conclusions of any weight are drawn
therefrom.

It is a sufficient and significant comment on the general wrong-headedness of
Vaughan-Stevens* ntodus operandi^ that his editor should have to point out that
Vaugfaan-Stevens has introduced ''parallel lines*' into some of the ''corrected"
{sic) drawings which do not exist in the originals, and that he has done thift
without drawing any sort of attention to the fact. Finally, Vaughan-Stevens'
own statement as to the use of the special signs (to distinguish similar patterns
in certain circumstances) cannot, in the opinion of his editor, be in any way
substantiated. Similar signs are used for different things and vice versa,

Sakai Head-band Patterns. Page 472.

The head-bands of the men are on the average 57 cm. long and 6 cm. broad.
Patterns i, 3, 7 runs through the length of the band, 2 is repeated eight times,
4, seven times ; 5, six times ; 6, eight times ; 8, five times.

The patterns of the head-bands of the women, which are called "Rib"
(" Reeb") are given on Plate X. Figs. 9-20.

The Batin and his substitutes, the petty chiefs, are said to have had each a
special head-band with patterns, which are now forgotten.

On ordinary occasions the Sakai (" Blandas ") are said to have formerly worn
the usual unpainted head-band instead of that painted with the " Dream-name,"
but it only served to bind their hair.

At Fig. 5 is given a name-design which represents the Argus pheasant
("Kuang.") The name is said to be derived from the fact that the child's
motions appeared in the dream to recall those of the bird at pairing-time. The
illustration represents the breast plumage of the bird. The length of the original
is 18 cm.

This specimen is rare, since it was not formerly the custom to incise names»

VOL. I 2 S

626 APPENDIX

but only to paint them on the head-bands. Now, however, names of members
of the Kenaboi tribe are incised on the mouth-piece of the blowpipe.

The patterns (of head-bands) represented are collected on Plate X. Nos. i -8

1. Clearing with felled trees lying cross-wise, shortly before a ** bum."

2. Roots of trees and creepers with fibres and side-roots.

3. Creepers, vines, and the like, which creep undulating over the earth.
The triangular figures are said to represent the creepers as seen from above,

according to the old Sakai (^^Blandas**) method, the teeth represent roots and
root -fibres penetrating the earth.

4. Star-shaped forest flower.

5. Interlaced "rattan-tendrils."

6. Under -side of a large tree -leaf; the side -strokes represent the veins
branching out firom the mid-rib.

7. Liana, with rattan wound round it. Only used by magicians. A black
line replaces the usual dots.

8. Young, budding palm-leaves (deeply fiirrowed on the open side).

Fig, 9. The pattern of the midwife's head-band. It arose not from a dream,
but firom the patterns of the children's face-paint ; it is in fact a combination of the
pattern of the boy | (lower half) and that of the girl f^ (upper half), see Plate IX.
Figs. 10- 1 1. As already mentioned, not only the magicians but the midwivesof
the Senoi, Besisi, and Kenaboi tribes only wore a pattern on their head-bands
on festival occasions. Yet the midwife had the right to wear the pattern of her
dream-name, though the magician might never do this.

Length of the band 99 cm. Breadth 5 cm.

Fig, 10. This pattern shews the convenrional form of the padi-knife, with
which the women reap the padi.

Length of the band 66 cm. Breadth 4 cm.

Fig. 1 1. Tracks of wild pig in soft ground. The vertical figure at A and
B is only intended to complete the design.

Length of band 64 cm. Breadth 3 cm.

In the reproduction the pattern is abridged.

Fig, 12. This pattern, called "Sfimut" ("Smut"), or the " Ant "pattern,
represents the section of a nest of white ants or " termites."

Length of band 114 cm. Breadth 5 cm.

Fig, 13. Side-walls of a house.

Length of band 91 cm. Breadth 7 cm.

Fig. 14. Upright posts or pillars of the house.

Length of the band 120 cm. Breadth ^\ cm.

Fig, 1 5. Extremities of a frog.

Length of the band 120 cm. Breadth 5 cm. Like Figs. 13, 14.

Fig, 16. Tracks of a tiger on soft soil.

Length of the band 137 cm. Breadth 6 cm.

Fig. 17. Drawing on a tiger's skin.

Length of the band 96 cm. Breadth 7 cm.

Fig, 18. Six kinds of butterflies.

Length of the band 93 cm. Breadth 5 J cm.

Fig. 19. One half of a house-roof or gable : the slope of the timbers from the
roof-ridge to the eaves.

Length of the band 94 cm. Breadth 6 cm.

Fig, 20. The forked posts which at each corner of the house are driven into
the earth in order to support the horizontal roof-beams.

Length of the band 94 cm. Breadth 4 cm.

TEXT OF NEGRITO SONGS

627

PART IV.

TEXT OF SEMANG SONGS COLLECTED IN KEDAH AND
PATANI BY W. W. SKEAT.»

Fruit Song.

The fruit -cluster turns * in the wind.
The fruit -cluster at the end' of the

spray.
The fruit-cluster turns in the wind.
The fruit-cluster we climb for (?).
The fruit - cluster at the end of the

spray.
The fruit-cluster turns in the wind.
The fruit cluster waves to and fro.
The fruit-duster whose fruit is add.
The fruit-cluster sways to and fro (?).
The fruit-duster turns in the wind.
The fruit - cluster spins round and
round.
Fruit Song,

Our fruit grows plump at the end of

the spray.
We dimb along and cut it from the

end of the spray.
Plump, too, is the bird (?) at the end

of the spray.
And plump the young squirrel at the
end of the spray.
Fruit Song,

They swell and swell, the fruit-buds.
To and fro wave the fruit-buds.
Blown-about arc the fruit-buds.
In the wind, the fruit-buds.
In the light wind, the fruit-buds.
They turn round and round, the fruit-
buds.
And rock to and fro, the fruit-buds.
Song of the Tipus ( Wild Ginger),
Telent6r b^tang t^m^nyiisdn. The stem bends as the leaves shoot up.

Tipag telentor-giyor. The leaf-stems sway to and fro.

Telent6r mdsing-gdyor. To and fro they sway in divers ways.

0-gers6ydd telem6yn. We rub them and they lose their

stiffiiess.
G6yal Hfnas 6 tepos. On Mount Inas they are blown about.

Tempat ye g6yal Hinas. On Mount Inas which is our home.

tepos ^ngin m^rgel. Blown about by the light breeze.

Tingke bih si-ajo{.
Tingke b4h englang rengdl.

Tdngke bih si-ajof.
Tdngke bih 6 chinb6nn.
Tdngke bih engUng rengdl

Tdngke bih sf-ajof.
Tangke bih 6-iyof.
T^ke bih s^ masim.
Tingke bih 6 kenyim.
Tingkc bih s{-ajof.
Tingke bih t<^ldwfl.

BikSmbong kebok y^ 'Wng rengil.
O tingleng 6 tangkos 'ling rengal.
B^^mbong chtnat6l 'ling rengdl.
Blk*mb<5ng kejoh chereh 'Idng rengdl.

T^ldpiil w6ng Mkau.
(i-iyol wong bakau.
0-t€p6s w6ng b^kau.
Ki-angfn w6ng b&kati. .
Angin m^rgel * w6ng b^kau.
P^rels^l w6ng b^kau.

Sf-ajof w6ng bSlkati.

* These are the texts of the songs
given in vol. ii. of this work (chap. v. ),
under the heading of Music, Songs, and
Feasts, and referred to in Part iv.
( Language). They are inserted here for
the greater convenience of those who
may wish to compare the two. These

songs were recorded on a phonograph,
and the accents here given represent
the verse-rhythm as recorded by the
instrument.

* Or dangles ?

' Lit. along the branch.

< Or "melgel" {v.i.).

628

APPENDIX

Tepos ng^, t^pos y^myem.

6 t^pos chiangiiL

6 t^pos y^yem j61moI.

6 tepos dngin m^rgel.

6 Dgeg-ng<% ka-jelmoL

6 ngeg-ng6g ka-j^lmol Hinas.

J^lmol Beching, Jelmol Sfong.
J^lmol Mdlau, Jelmol Kiiwi.
Jelmol Mintan, Jelmol Lumu'.
Tempat ye sd-g^nap giinong.

Lagu Kra.

6 ting- tuDg Kra.
6 iy6i Kra.
6 chip-chop Kra.
B^o*ng ngtiku Kra.
Bilo'ng tangoi Kra.
Ped^rr seme Kra.
Ped^rr ham^liog Kra.
Hau-i!irr Kra.
6 jinjon Kra.
6 dngtung Kra.
Tingtung t^chiwog Kra.

6 yob-y6b Kra.
W6ng-wong tingoi Kra.
T^^lachoyn Kra.
Si-geDap p^ngwong Kra.
O yob-y6b Kra.
T^ladhud Kra,
(T^)kelad^ng Kra.

Blown about is the fog (?). BIowd

about is the haze.
Blown about are the young shoots.
Blown about is the haze of the hills.
Blown about by the light breeze.
It multiplies (or nods ?) upon the hills.
It multiplies (or nods ?) upon the Hills

of Inas.
Hills of Beching, Hills of Siong,
HUU of Malau, Hills of Kuwi.
Hills of Mantan, Hills of Lumu'.
Upon every mountain is our home.

Monkey Song,

He runs along the branches, Kra.

Carries (fruit) with him, Kra.

He goes to and fro, Kra.

Over the knotted "sfiraya," Kra.

Over the knotted « nunbutan," Kra.

Over the live bamboos, Kra.

Over the dead bamboos, Kra.

Over the big bamboos, Kra.

He hangs downwards, Kra.

He runs along the branches, Kra.

Running along the branches he hoots,

Kra.
He peers forward, Kra.
Among the young Rambutans, Kra.
And shows his grinning teeth, Kra.
From every sapling, Kra.
He peers forward, Kra.
Dressed for the dance, Kra.
With the porcupine's quill through his

nose, Kra.

The phonetic transcription made by Mr. R. J. Lloyd from the phonograph
records, and expressed in Uie symbols of the Association Phon^tique Internationale,
is subjoined, as it contains a few variants from the above spelling and perhaps
helps to define the nature of the sounds used more accurately in some respects.
For the value of the vowel and consonant symbols used here see the remarks on
the phonology of these dialects in the chapter on Language in vol. ii. of this work.
The double dot (:) after a sound has the effect of maJcing the sound long. The
single dot (') has the same effect as in music : it makes the sound half as long
again. Accent is marked with the usual sign, but it is placed in its logical
position, before the syllable to be accented.

'tAiyke :
'tAi;ke :
'tAiyke :
'tAiyke :
'tAi;ke :
'tAi;ke :
'tAi;ke :
'tAi;ke :
'tAi;ke :
'tAi;ke :
'tAiykc :

'bo-h
'bD-h
'bo-h
ajDh
'bD-h
'bo-h
'bo-h
'boh
'boh
^o-h
'boh

'si* a'd53i
&il'\Kri re'i;Al :
'si- a'd50i
'o-tjin 'bon :
e-n'lKiii re'iyAl :
'si- a'dpi
'o- ij'u-i
'seg niA'sAm :
'o- kei7'ja:m
'si a'd5oi
'telel'wirl

PHONOGRAPH RECORDS OF NEGRITO SONGS 629

'bAkAm'b0i; kA'b0k 'jf 'lAij rA'ijAl '
'o- ti'Vle'i? 'o- Uijlcffc 'Xhti rA'ijAl :
'bAkAm'b^iy 't/iiia:'t3l Iat; rA'iyAl:
'bAkAmTjirfiy 'kAd3ffli 't/Areh lAiy rA'iyAl :

'telel'pn:! : 'wogi; bA^kaa
'o: i'ju-i' 'w3g>y bAlcau
'o: te'p06 'wopy bA'kau
IcA • A'lpin 'wogi; bAlcau
'a • i;i • n 'mergel 'wogi; bA'kau
'perel'sel 'wagij bAluiii
'd : A'd3oi 'wogiy bAlcau

'telen'tor 'bAtAiy 'temeijju'su'n

'tA'pAg 'telcn'tor 'gajor

'tden'ior 'mA'sii; 'gajor

'o* ger'sojd : 'tele'mojn

'gojAl TiinAs 'o* tc'p0s

'tABipAt 'jf 'goJAl 'hinAs

'o' te'p0s 'Aijin 'merigel :

'tep0s 'i;3:s 't€p0s 'jemjem

'o- t€'p0s 'tJiA'ijiil:

'o' te'p0s 'jemjem 'd3clin9l :

'o* te'p0s 'Ai;in 'mer:gd :

'o* lyeg'i/og 'kA' d3erm3l

'o* ijeg'iT^g kA Mselmol liinAs

'd3elm3l 'bet/ii; 'dselmol 'sjoiy

'd3elrool 'mAlau 'dselmol 'ku'wi

'd3elm3l 'mAnUn 'd3elin3l 'lu'inu

'tAmpAt 'jf 'sAgAnAp 'gurnDiy

'o* tiVtuiy kra:
'o' ilu'i kra:
'o* tjip*tj0p kra:
'bAlogiy 'ifuku kra:
'bA*loiy '\KyfA kra:
pA'de:r: sA'me: kra:
pA'de:r: hA'mA'liiy kra:
'hau'uT: kra:
'o* d5m'd30n kra :
'o* tiiy'tuij kra:
'tii^uiy tA'tJa:wog kra :
'o* job'job kra :
'wDgiywDgiy 'tAipi kra:
'tekela'tpjn kra:
'sAgcnAp 'pciywoij kra :
'o • job'job kra :
'telAd'hud kra:
'tAkAlA'dciy kra :

Jambs Low's "Sakai Song.">

Pirdu salen kinnang ingat sampei
Yari mola asal nyite gyijen

^ It is stated that no satis£Eu:tory trans- is made by Low to supply this want
lation could be obtained; and no attempt I can make no sense of this sped-

630 APPENDIX

Ayer ambim umbun moli
Kiri baju layaDg mayep singi.

. . . remember until

Day first-b^inning . . .

Water ^dew yhww -stone (?) begin,

Send (?) jacket ;/27r-flying /^-soar <7ff-high.

* Kiri " = " kirim " (Mai. ), and ** singi " is probably a misprint for " lingL**

Fragment of a Sakai Song (in the Korbu Dialect) recorded by
Brau de St. Pol Lias.*

M4no Fowl !

B^i-mado Come here !

Ago-tchip Don't go away !

Tcha-djaroi Eat rice,

Ka itou Do not fear.

Chouo Dog !

Tchip matoui Go ayray \

Or in our spelling : —

Mano, bei mado, ago chip, cha jaroi, ka itu, chuo, chip matui.

Each line is first sung as a solo by the leader and then repeated by the other
singers in chorus, without a break between the solo and the response.

Hale's Specimen of a Sakai Song (from the Ulu Kinta Region).*

jerlemoi [=jelmol]

mountain

jerreboo

hill

tra-ap

to descend

cherook

road

alour

stream

moug-alas [? m^ngalas]

hiUock

Yung-b6lah [Yong bdlah]

Mount Riam

Gass-ahr [? Gasa]

Mount Ungus [? Angus or Hangus]

Yer-rail [Y^rel]

Mount Chabbong [Chabang]

Mah-wah [? Mawah]

mountain in Ulu Burong

Youg-yup [Yong Yup]

do.

Guss-aal [? G^sal]

mountain in Ulu Kerlon [sic^ qu, Ulu

Korbu]

Cheu-goat [? Chegot]

mountain^in Ulu Burong

Laut-urrh p Litoh]

mountain ** two months' journey from

Kinta"

Jel-li [Jelai]

Yeu-yeel [? Ytyil]

Ber-iok [? Bdrok] mountain at Sungd Perrang[2.tf. P^iang]

Lan-noh mountain at Ulu Sungd Riah \ue^

Raya]

Bdrrap-pit [B^rapit] do.

men, the words of which are apparently —J, /. A, (1850), voL iv. p. 431.

for the most part Malay, but quite un- * Pirak et Us Orcmgs - Saieys, pp.

connected with one another. If there 270, 271.

is any Sakai in it, it escapes my notice. ^ /, A. I. (1886), voL xv. p. 296.

TEXT OF SAKAI SONGS 63 1

£d-joah [? Ejo] mountain at Kinta

Jah-goo [? Jagu] do.

Be-nah mountain near Tambou [? Tambun]

Bakah mountain near Kinta

Tad-dah do.

Cheb-b^arih do.

Tam-boon [? Tambun] Tambou [? Tambun]

Bet-eham name of a Malay village

Chab-barh River Chdh ^

DE MORGAN'S SPECIMENS.

Sakai Song (De Morgan's Spelling).

Djelmoul, baton, topass^, allour, trab, loghop, hoil, sld dj^honp, tchanteign,
dj^hoak, tr^abaft, t^A^xnpOk, raflkeinz, sU, i&blK>ak, kerop, tch^p-tchtp,
tchimmar^, tchimote, tchimatoolf, tchimatro, mordjak-pao, b6k, kokoudh-16,
mafiintchol, dtk, toughnoon, rended-pagho, nisch, bara, b6k, tch^r&k, knarool,

His translation is : —

Montagne, pierre, village, , colline, race, eau, feuille, branche,

liane, bdton, fourche, branche de broussaille, branche d*arbre, feuille, graine,

atape, chemin, , en haut du pays, par-ci, par-Iii, montagne

^lev^, attacher, , '• — , , grande poutre de fatte,

palissade, plancher, murs des maisons, attacher, , , .

The above is apparently in the Kdrbu (or Korbu) dialect of Sakai, and is a
mere string of names of natural objects, with a few verbs interspersed.
In our spelling it would be as follows : —

Jelmul batu t^pase alur trab l^gop hong

mountain stone village river-bed to descend (?) valley (?) water

sla jehup chanteSng jehiik chabdng chemp6k rangk^ng (?)

leaf (oQ tree root (?) (of) tree branch

sla kdbdk ker6p chapchip chim-ma-re chi(p)-mo-t6

leaf seed (fruit) thatch to-go to-go-downstream to-go-upstream

chi(p)-ma-tui chi(p)-ma-tro mojak (?)-pao bok k^kuih-lo (?)

to-go-over there (?) to-go- (?) peak-of-hill to bind

manginch61 (?) dik tugnun(g) rended-pagi (?) nish bari

house (?) beam fence mat wall

bok cherak knarul Sdn6i

to bind men (?).

Specimens op Dialects as translated from a Page of De
Morgan's Diary.2

The French original is as follows : —

Le soir nous arrivons au sommet du Gounong Riam que je croyais le plus
elev^ de tout le pays, mais je reconnais mon erreur ; nous avons devant nous une

1 Hale states that the proper names << English" spelling evidently, and as

of which the greater part of this the names are proi>er nsunes and can

"song" consists are all (except the only be conjecturally transliterated, I

mountain Laut-urrh) of places between have not meddled with it except by

lats. 4° 30' and 5°, and in the Kinta giving the suggested interpretations in

watershed. square brackets.

The spelling is the old-fashioned ^ Of these specimens the Sakai of

632 APPENDIX

montagne immense doot la pointe coaverte de nuages nous est invisible. Voyant
quUl £Eillait encore monter longtemps, je donne Tordre de toat preparer poor la
nuit. Nos hommes ont apport^ de Teau, les feux sont allum^ et bient6t le riz
cuit dans les marmites. SaJcayes et Malais se pressent autour des feux car Us ont
froid, ils sont peu converts. L'obscurit^ se l^ve un pen, j'interroge le panghoulon
d'Oulou Sougni Kinta sur le nom des montagnes qui nous environnent " Le
grand pic que vous voyez U-bas," me dit-il, "est le Gounong Kerbou, c'est de
ses flancs que part le Sougni Kerbou ; nous ne serons pas au sommet demain
avant le milieu du jour ; plus loin d droite est le Gounong Djelignam, un peu
plus ^lev^ que le Gounong Kerbou ; sur ces montagnes il n'y a pas d'eau."

The Malay version, in De Morgan's spelling, is : —

PotaA kit& tib& poutchou Gounoil Riam, ^aJurjk pikir lobi tinghi dalam n^gri
ini, tetapi sai^zyi siUlp lain satou gounofi lobi bessar poutchou dalfim aou&n bantiiS
depan kitS, laghi djao na sampd Sa^<zy& baghi oukoum brenti siap fa9el hari
malim. Ada ora£i baouil ay6r, api soudft passafi laghi sikit nassi soudd massi
dalam blafiiSa, orafl darat sami orafi malayou brimpoun dekat api, dii ora2 adi
soudjou ; sikit kain katop did poufii bad&n ; tchora sikit sa^oyi tafia dokat pang-
houlon Soufii Kinti ap& nam& gounofi kouliilifi kiUL <* Itou gounofi bessltf,
nimpa s&mi,^ gounofi Kerbou, d^ di& pouBi rouss6 touroun Soufii Kerbou,
kita ta sampi^ did poufii poutch6 es6 doulou st^fift hfirt ; lobi djao sobli kanin,
Gounofi Dj^lifiim lobi sikit tinght deri Gounofi Kerbou ; atiU somou& ini gounofi
tada ay6r."

**S6maR" Version in Original Spelling.

Ay^ top tib& dep&, ghi^ djelmol Riam, isch nano ghi^ p&, &, tompad no
konlep, \ p& tich-kei fiofi hoT domod 3ris, ponsmak doda d& y^ mad yts ; laghi
dj^ migh hoi ischk hogh biadou ni k^t simpak mad yis. hoKgh ^ol djelmol ;
sdmafi oui oue! hofi tdiom 6ch, lagi esen nassi hoigh in tch^ klouk6m blafiiia
soma bji yob gop tch&ton begh 6c]l tokat dia rfslk essen ouegh ta /^^»koap risi
mad yisamig p^ beifi pafighoulou you kon\k la kdnm& p& klilik ik. <' Hoch p&
tchikelC edak yorno djelmol kouT kerbou, eh yikn yok p& kerbou, to eh-hol labok
tchiamo steifia ayi ttbA lio yo houel djelmol Dj^lifiam, lobtdi^yok p4 kouT kerbou,
no p4 to bo hofi."

S5MAfJ Version (Revised Spelling with Tentative Interlinear
Equivalents).

Aye top tiba d^p& gie jelmol Riam ish nano gie

We in-the evening arrived Mt Riam

p& & tempad no konlep 4 p& chikei (?) ngong (?) hoi

hill TcxAf-mistaken hill big

d^mod yis pdnanak d^da da ye mad yu lagi je mig

before (?) us more far I

hoi ish (?) hog biadu ni kali simpak mad yis, hoig

to halt (?)
dugol (?) jelmol ; s^mang wi-wei hong chom osh, lagi

mountain ; the men brought water kindled fire, more

esen nasi hoig inchen klukom blanga s^ma (?) byi ( ? ? )
a little ' rice was-cooking in /^-pot men ? of the forest (?)

S. Rayais the best, and the **S6mafi" spoken by a race of partly Negrito

{i,e, dialect of mixed tribes of the origin, it is in the main a Sakai dia-

Sungei Piah neighbourhood called lect.

Semang by their neighbours of the ^ Misprint for s&ni, as the literal

Plus and Kfirbu valleys) is the most version shows.

corrupt. Thou^ called Semang, and ^ I.e, presently.

TEXT OF SAKAJ SONGS

633

yob gop chatii beg osh t^kat dia isik esen

strangers together near the-fnt cold they bodies little

mg ta chiikdp esi mad yis amig pefi (?) beng ^

clothes not cover bodies At san-rise (?) I inquire of

pangholu yu kenta la k£nmi pk klilik ik hosh

/A^-chief Kinta what name hills aronnd us this (?)

p& chikei (dak (?) y£m6 jelmol kui Kdrbu eh yikng

mountain Kdrbu

to eh-hoi labok chiano (?) ^tenga ayi

before (?) half a day

jelmol Jelingam (?) l^bl je (?) yok
left is the Ut,
no pi
hills

hill

big

yok

Kerbu
Kfirbu

tiba

yo huel

arrive

iar

left

kui

Kdrbu

Kfirbu

Jelingam (?) l^bl je (?)
Jelingam (?) more high

to bo hong

not is (?) water.

Sakai of Sungei « Kerbou " (KgRBu OR KoRBU) IN Original Spelling.

^/&p y^ ickfioX tchauok djelmol Riam Ay^ htmvx bi^ di€\o ih odd iVAonol
y^ ouO\j s<mo\ moi djelmOl bigat manoJi tchaou&k ^k^loK tsion^A dad& y6 tl
^ dj^6 tib& ay^ oundjo oukoum ^ siap mensekX. Ia3r^k mou seShoi en hok' go!
hddi ti meiiheft tshan^ soud& tchhcYA^ mfK\oi blafiSa seBholi djelmol ramei
ghop hemy^6 beg h6ch rl seflhoi mi dekat me&hefl ab&t mmOJlYi rl sefiholt
y^ ik61 niahi& mefiheft. Ay^ som&Sl b^ /a/lgh^wlou ga^^chdl Gonti lomo 16
djelmol rend^k y^. " N£ djelmol monOTXil touh nah-touh' djelrool Kerbou dM
yd poufSa tcA&iOXLB rik t^h* Kerbou y^ dotk lot yi pouSa djdldk iak41 meii-
mefl djouti his, lobi djM mipd till moun djelmol I^elili&m dj^rd ti bahli d'^rik
djelmol Kerbou emp^k kemhoueh ana djelrool hoil ^ hoSL"

Sakai of S. KftRBU in Revised Spelling with Interlinear Translation.

Atap ye ishuol chawok jelm61 Riam. Aye himit

In the evening we arrived on the top of Mt. Riam. I thought (?)
biga jel6 ta ado ishuol ye wol sCnoi moi je1m61 bigat

more high ^country this arriving I turned (?) other (?) mountain more

m5nii chawik ek^loi tsiueh dada ye tl jgro tiba aye unjo ukum eya
big point in the clouds before us more (?) far to- reach I give order
siap m^ns^t layak mu s^nghoi en hokh goi bosh ti
ready because (?) night there were men brought water kindled fire more (?)
mengh^ng dmnl sudi chechap dngkdoi blanga s^nghoi jelm61

a-little rice was cooking in the-^l the men of the mountains
ramei gop htoyayo beg hosh ri sftighoi

all-together-fVfM /^-strangers assembled near the-fat M^-bodies (?) of the men
mi dekit mengh^ng al^t m^nuh ri sdnghoi ye

were cold little was the clothing big were the bodies (?) of men our(?)
ik51 mahia mengh^ng aye sfimaS bak' panghuld gtoch^l

next-morning when it was daylight a-Uttle I inquired of /A^-chief

G^nta l£mo Id jelm61 rendak ye na jelm61 m5ndh tub nah-tuh
of Kinta name what mountains around us that mountain big there that is
jelm61 K^rbd derl ye-punya chCnis rik t^uh Kdrbti ye b^ti

Mt. K$rbu from its flank descends the water of Kdrbu we cannot (?)

1 Lit, near? Cf. "b^," supra,
and the " dokat " of the Malay version,
from which these translations were
• evidently made.

' See the corresponding passage in
the ** Somali" version, and the note
thereon.

634 APPENDIX

loi ye-pao3ra jal6k iakal mengmeng jung(?) his, Idbl jero roa* pa'
ascend its summit to-morrow before (?) mid(?) day, more far towards
ting mun jelm61 Jelingam (?) jero ta bahlf dherik jelm61 Kdrbu empak
hand right is Mt Jelingam high more (?) again (?) than Mt K^rbu on.
k£mbd£h ana jelmol hong he hong.

all (?) these mountains there-is (?) no (?) water.

Sakai of Sungei Raya in Original Spelling.^

Don tib& loun Riam, an p^k^r ' lobi ' tchoroil kato nogrt * ado, kotapi an
silap gh^ lain nsmo loun lob^ ntoui poutchd kato aou&n, bandiil * nto kit& laghl
fla ifi ^ an ock oukoum pon siap idjl sofioui ; maii loomom an toueh oscK
tolish passafi, laght gh&gh^^ tchian&> tchi^hdm katou likomofi setihoi sama gop
bosaton ron osch,^ ada loum&m m&a so&^t,^^ gh^ ab&n katop ^^ isL Tchori
ghi eataila nanou " poulou »* t5 " Gonti ayo »* imd loun klilift *« kiti. " Adji
loun ntdl ^^ bakon ^^ sana loun Kerbon ; derl beil tchold to Kerboa ; ^ kita ti**
l&I dia poufta^ poutchd houpoul^ tchino kolighi,* lobi Ba Ion kontam loun
Dj^lifi&m,^ lobi ^ gh^ tsoraft derl loun Kerboa ; ^ atas somoni ini loun t^ U ^
tou^h."*

Sakai of Sungei Raya in Revised Spelling with Interlinear
Translation.

Du * tibi lun Riam an pek^r I6bi ch^rong ** kato

In the evening we arrive on Mt. Riam I thought it was more high in
n^gri ado kotapi an silap '^ g^^ lain nano lun l£b^ 'ntui

country this but I was-mistaken a-little another one mountain more big
pucho kato awan banding 'nto kit^ lag! nya lai an ok ukum
ii^j-peak in the clouds rears-up(?) before us still far to-reach I gave order
pon'* siap ij!^ sdngui mang liimom

to-halt and make- ready because day was-tuming-into night there- were men(?)
an^ tueh osh tdlash ^ pasang lagi gag^ chana chkh^ katu lik^mong
brought water fire was kindled more a-little rice was-cooking in the pot
s^nghoi sama gop b^satu ni osh ada^ lumim mang s^ngit
men, with strangers assembled near /^-fire they- were men(?) were cold
^ aban katop isi. ChSra ^ ga eng tanya

little clothing covered their bodies. When it was daylight (?) a-little I asked
nanu ^ pulu to G^nta ayo imo lun kliling ^ kita.

one chief 4^ country ^Kinta what is the name of the mountains around us.
**Aj& lun ntoi bakii** sana lun Kfirbu derl beng** child**

That mountain big that you see there is Mt. Kdrbu ; from near it descends(?)

1 In the original this version is given ^ (koligh-hts) kolighL ^ DjeliS&OL

twice, the second time with French ^ lobL * Kerbou. "^ ti ti (t^-to,

equivalents, word for word. When t^h-ta). ^ tOQ^^.
the second version differs from the first, ^ De Morgan gives "we" as the

the variant is given in these notes. equivalent, which is clearly wrong.
The French equivalents, except where ^ Le. "the highest."

they seem to require correction, are *' De Morgan, "to see, to dis-

not noticed here. tinguish." ^ Ibid, "lofty, high."

« p^kir. » lobt. * nogri. ^ bandifi. » Ibid, " for, in order to."

• lil. T ghSgW. « tchiani. » 6sch. ^ Ibid, "for." » Ibid, "I."

i<> siilet, soa^t. " kfttop. " manou. » Ibid, "to carry." » Qu. "these"?

" p6houlon. " to. 1* ayo. w klilifi. ^ De Morgan, "again." » j^nd, "oH"

»' ntOU^^. i« bakou. i>> Kerbou. « Ibid, "to see." « "lofty."

» (to) t4. « pouRa « houpoul. *« Ibid, "its " « Ibid, "flank."

TEXT OF BESISI SONGS 635

to Kdrbii kita t& l&t dia-punyi puch5 hupul chano

the water (?) of K^rbu wc can not reach its summit to-morrow before
kCrlig-i, l£bi nya Ion k€ntim lun Jelingam(?), I6b! ga^ chdrang'
midday, more fiir towards the right is Mt. Jelingam (?), more a-Iittle high
deri ' lun K€rbu ; atas somua ini lun ta ta tueh.

than Mt. K^rbu ; on all these mountains there is no water.

BESISI SONGS COLLECTED IN THE KUALA LANGAT
DISTRICT OF SELANGOR BY W. W. SKEAT.*

Gajah (Merat). The Elephant,^

Chong P^ralong bunyi* gajah,

At the Hill 0/ Peralong trumpets (lit. is noise of) the Elephant,

Gajah kawan gajah tungal.

Elephant of the herd to the Elephant solitary.

Gajah tuhah jet-leh kawan.

The Elephant old that follow^-indeed the herd.

Gajah kramat gajah tengkis.

The Elephant sacred, the Elephant shrunk-foot.^

Gajah puaka' dari Johor.

The Elephant ^ magic that comes from Johor.

Gajah nakeh chelui ha-bawau.

Elephant that descends to-M^-sea.

Gajah mayin di-pante pasir.

The Elephant that play^ on-/^-shore ^-sand.

Gajah ma3rin di-tanah pasir.

7*^r-Elephant that-^^ys in-gpround ^-sand.

Gajah ]rut-leh ka-hulu Langat,

The Elephant retunw to-/^-Upper (lit. to-head-^ Langat,

Yal-leh ha-chong di-tanah kramat.

And climbf-then to-M^-hill in-/^-land sacred.

Atam chong, chong dah b^dok.

Tramplej-on the hill, and the hill has fallw.

Atam d'long dUong dah t^got.

Tramplef-on a tree, and the tree has snappdi/.

Kara' ti*il kara' tapang.

7'>4^(f-remain ^w-trackr, M^^-remain ^tr-footstepj.

1 De Morgan, "lofty.** * The common Malay elephan is a

* Ibid. " than.** variety of Elephas indicus,

5 Ibid, **of.'* « A shrunken foot is regarded as the

^ For translations of these songs see sign of a sacred animal, whether

vol. ii. p. 147 et seq, I may add that elephant or tiger. The former is also

in setting them a full stop has inad- indicated by stunted tusks. * An

vertently been placed at the end of elephant with these marks was killed

each line, and it has not been thought at Klang in Selangor a few years aga

worth while to correct this throughout. Its death (at the hands of a European)

Note : that all Besisi final vowels are was regarded as the cause of the fidlure

pronounced long, and are followed by of the coffee-land boom then at its

the Malay click (*) ; final "a** (which height. It used to range through the

in Malay is short) is marked long to Langat District, and was probably the

help the reader. one mentioned in this song.

636 APPENDIX

Doyt-dah teh Inchar-luchar.^
Donc-for-is the land, it is muddy-muddy.

Kom-dah chok ka-uabian.

Got-has by y/dWiing Xo-thc Prophet*s-shrinc.

Odo kapong gajah kramat.
Do-not kill M^-Elephant sacred.

Kalau kapong he mati tulah.

liyou kill him^ you will die presumptuous.

Gul miyan tuht-leh kaul-he.

Take incense (benzoin) and bum Towj-your.

Kramat hayang ha-kinchu-hi,'

The sacred-one is fond of-grandchildren-his.

Kagar ngot nachar leba'.

And desir&r not to-eaX their plantations.

Kagar ngot nnchar niyu.

Desire; not /^-feed-on their coconutr.

Chok-leh gajah ka-bukit bukau.

Roam^-then has /^-Elephant to-hill and foot-hill.

Chok-leh gajah ka-gaung guntong.

RoamA/-then htu /i^-Elephant to-M^-carem and tarn.

Chok-leh dah ka-hulu Langat
RoaroA/-then has he to-/^- Upper Langat.

Gajah trek-leh mah henom.

The Elephant i>-draw»-then ^j^-people many.

Gajah trek ha-teh lop-lop.

Tiiff- Elephant is draw// to-«-country far-far.

Chok-leh gajah ka-laut Uwar.

Roam/^-then has /^-Elephant to-/^-sea ^-fresh-water.^

Gajah kebus ka-laut tawar.

TMkT- Elephant diex at-/^-sea ^-fresh-water.

Badak (Agap), The Rhinoceros,^

Impit-impit bun]^* badak.

* Impit-impit,' is the cry ^-/^-rhinoceros.

Badak kawan, badak timggal.

Rhinoceros of-the-hetdiy rhinoceros that is solitary.

T^mong kawan telong nachar.

It calLr iis comrade to seek-for food.

> Cp. "luchar" (of fruit) in the song * It is not yet certainly known

about the " Kledang " fruit. whether the two - homed rhinoceros

• •* Hi" seems to be the form which exists in the Peninsula, though more

corresponds to Mai. **dia** (=he, than one kind is suspected to exist,

she, it), whilst ** he " seems to mean Malays describe a special kind of

"you.** In case of inadvertence in rhinoceros which they call "Badak

italicising it may be noted that the Api,** the ** Fiery Rhhioceros," whidi

difference between singular and plural is is supposed to be redder and more

not expressed in the original text of these fiery than the ordmary kind. Nothing

songs. ' Probably a placename. certain is known about it.

TEXT OF BESISI SONGS 637

Badak chok yal ha-chong.

7%^-Rhinoceros that walkj and ascendr to tbe-hilb.

Badak chok di-ampa* j^mu. ^

The Rhinoceros that walkj at ** out-crop dry."

Nama akal lawan badak ?

What device have I to resist M^- Rhinoceros ?

Temong kawan, kawan hap.

/ call my comrades, my comradex are lacking.

Mah gli, yal ha-long»

A man ^ frightened, / climb-up a tree,

Badak dudui di-t^kih d'long.

But /i^- Rhinoceros waitj at -the base of -the tree.

T^ot rh&k kawin ha-teh.

/ break a branch and throw it to-ground.

Kageng badak, badak br&^t.

Bitej it /^-rhinoceros, and /^-rhinoceros pass^j.

Oyn ch^lui klo, duh-leb ha-dong,

I descend too, and run then homewards,

Yal ha-dong jet-leh badak.

And climb into the house, but followx-then /^^-rhinoceros.

Gul snapang tembak badak.

/ take mr^-gun and shoot /^^-rhinoceros.

Kom puru dah, badak dah bedok.

Hit him //^-bullet done, M^-rhinoceros done &11.

Dah layu bante-leh badak.

Done scorch him quarter then the Rhinoceros.

Jon nachar muntet mulih.
Give /((7-eat o-little to each one.

Chumbu jual ' jeb&h China'.
Tli^-horn sell /^-foreigners ^-China.

A'a, The Tiger.

A'a' ru' di-chen tanjong.

The Tiger roaw at the end of the point.

Nama kagar ? kagar nachar.

What does he want ? he wants to eat.

Nachar d^na' nachar ketur.
To eat wild-fowl, eat wild-pig.

Nachar rusa' nachar kanchel.
To eat sambhur-deer, eat kanchiL

A'a' blang sebrang bawau.

The Tiger striped that crosses the sea.

Odo yong dalam bilang.
Do-not forget this in the telling.

Koi-leh teh nakeh teh a'a\

The headr-indeed of the land they are the land cfthe Tiger.

* = Mai. [batu] ampar j€mor ? v, p. 642, n, 2, infra.
* Le. I am. » Better "juwal."

638 APPENDIX

A*a* dab humpah hangke.

Tlu tiger has sworn-an-oath against — Somebody.^

A*a' hamur lima* depa*.
The Tiger leapj five fathom.

Clak a*a' lompat kanan.

Dodge the Tiger ; leap to the right.

A*a* chok batang jelong.

The Tiger walks aJong a trunk lengthy.

A'a' kayi' chong dah tingi.
Thi Tiger sees the hill is lofty.

A*a* jetek p6dF are*.

The Tiger sleeps at noonday.

Lek-leh a'a' chok meri.

Rise up, O Tiger, to walk the forest.

A*a' t^long b^natang rls.

The Tiger looks for beasts that are living.

A*a* chok ha-gunong Ledang.
The Tiger walkj to Mount Ophir.

Nakeh t^mpat asal a'a*.

That is the place ^j/'-origin of -the Tiger.

Takeh Jinang, takeh Datoh.

There is his Jinang, there is his Dato*.

Takeh Jukrah, Ukeh Batin.

There is his Jukrah, there is his Badn.

Takeh kara* Batin a*a\

There dwellx M^-great-chief ^-Tigers.

(Di)dong Batin kdbus-leh a'a'.

At the house of his Great-chief dies-then />4^-Tiger.

Bmang. The Bear,

Wah wah wah bunyl' bruang.

* Wah-wah-wah,* is the-cxy of the bear.

Bruang pangong, bruang hijak.^
7i4^-bear "panggong," the bear "hijak."

Bruang nachar maroyt shuht.*

The Bear that feeds by tearing-out wild-bees.

Yal sialang' * gul ha-t6b61.

Thai climbs the bee-tree, and seizes bees.

Chok de*-gunong cheiui hS-bawau.

That walks from the crags and descends to-M«-sea.

Kagar nachar doyt hH-tebol.
That wants to-itcd. utterly on-bees.

^ Lit, against "him," or **that it at Pekan. It lives in sandy open

man." country."

* Ridley says the presence of a ' " Shuht" = **kaulut." •* Maroyt"

second kind of bear (probably the =**di-tebok" or "tdr-kopak.**

Indian) is reported. ** Butler heard of * ** Sialang " = Bes. ** long salang."

TEXT OF BESISI SONGS 639

Yal bakau, bakau maroyt.

That climbs the maDgrove-/r(0», and the mangrove-trees tear-open.

Yal k^mpas, kdmpas maro3rt.

That climbs M^-k^mpas-Zrvi^x, and the kdmpas trees tear open.

Ch5bh neneh l^moyn bruang.
Sharp indeed is-the tooth of the bear.

Chohh bagai biong baja*.
Sharp as a-hatcbet of-steel.

Mamat Solong , gul hau-parang.

Mamat the Firstborn take your chopping-knife.

Chdlui-leh bmang, ch^Iui mdnginte.

Descends-then the Bear, descends looking-around-^im.

Dah ming b&-teh, bedok-leh ^ bruang.

He near to-ground tr, he drops then, the Bear.

Chinchang-Ieh, Mamat Solong.
Chop-at-^i>/-then, Mamat the Firstborn.

Bruang lek, t(^kam pula*.

The Bear rises, andzXXss^you in- turn.

Elak bruang Mamat Solong.

Dodge /^-bear, Mamat-/^ Firstborn.

Dah chinchang' Mamat Solong.

You have chopped-at-him, Mamat the Firstborn.

K£bus-leh, ai, bruang 'dah k^bus.

Dead then is he. Oho ! the Bear is dead.

Gul 'pedu' ubat mah b^ok.

Take you his spleen to cure men who fall.

Rusd\ The Sambhur,

Keng bdrdengkeng bunyi* rusa'.

* Keng bdrdengkeng,' is the ciyofthe Sambhur-deer.

Nama* puoi di-t£ngah pdmatang.

What are you doing in the middle o/the rise ?

Kita' kaye' ka-ieba*-mah.

We are \oo\iing at the plantation ^somebody.

Doyt-dah 15ba* nachar rusa*.

Done-with-is the plantation, eat^«-up-^^ the deer.

Kara' ti'il bdkas rusa*.

There remains the slot that is mark of the stag.

Jong rusa* tujah-tujah.

The hooves of the stag are pointed-pointed.

Kampong-kampong iku rusa*.
Tufted-tufted is the tail of the stag.

Tong rusa* triang-triang.

The ears of the stag are pricked-up-pricked-up.

> = *• Groyn," to fall. * " K€t6ng** or " chaong.**

640 APPENDIX

Tandok nisa' jiroka'-j^rokih.

The horns of the stag branch-branch.

Lenga*-lenga' leher nisa*.

And slender-slender tht neck of ths stag.

Rusa' nakeh, rusa' puaka'.

A stag like that, is a stag of magic.

Mah pikong doyt dah tuhah.

A man with an ulcer, who done is aged.

Nakeh jadi rusa* kramat.

That IX what became a stag sacred.

Rusa' rangas, nm' mdnuang.^
A stag of many tines, a stag bull.

Rusa* hijok, rusa* sabut.

A stag <^gomuto-twigs, a stag of coconut husk.

Rusa* umbut, rusa* ubi*.

A stag of palm-shoots, a stag of tubers.

Rusa* nachar lembong klora*.

A stag that eatr the ^oots of the kilorak.

Rusa' nachar lembong kachang.'

A stag that eatr the shoots of the cow-itch.

Nachar kachang koi dah gatal.'

That eats the cow-itch, till his head is irritable.

Koi gatal asah tandok!

His head is irritable and he iwhs ^ his horns.

Asah tandok, tandok b^dok.

He vihs his horns, and his horns fall.

Rusa' amas, rusa' puaka*.

7i4^ stag <2/* gold, /^ stag i^* magic.

Chok-dah doyt paming jaring.
Wandered-done he, quite near the toils.

Bongkar halau bdr-dengkeng rusa'-hS.
Rouse and driye him bellowing stag this.

Rusa' chok dalam sersap.

A stag wanders among the fallen-leaves.

Rusa' jdtek dalam sersap.

A stag that sleepr among the fallen-leaves.

Rusa* t^rkejut ch^rut ha* jaring.

The stag starts up, and is strangled in the toils.

Oi mah pawang ch5hh-leh rusa*.

Ho ! Mr. Deer-wizaid, spear the stag.

1 sMal. <<b€nuang,*' used of big had been eating it) might also arise

old bull animals — e.^. of the buf&lo, from his being seen in the act of

stag, and I thinh others. rubbing his head when he loses his

' His eating of ** kachang babi ** horns annually. — Ridley.
(? cow-itch) might cause actual irrita- ' ** Gatal " = Bes. ** kakaht " or

tion ; it grows commonly near planta- *' kaka7t."
tions, but even then the idea (that he ^ Or sharpens.

TEXT OF BESISI SONGS 641

Dah cbohh boang badi\

JVhtnyou have stabbed him^ cast-out the mischief.

Oi, mah pawang bante xyxA\

Ho 1 Mr. Deer-yniSii^y quarter this stag.

Etc, etc

JCijang, The Roe-deer,

Empep, dmpep bunyf' kijang.

* fimpep, 6mpcp,' is the zrf of thi roe-deer.

Kijang chok di-ujong p^matang.^

The Roe-deer that wanderx at the end of the rising.

Kijang yut ka-pangkal p£matang«

The lloe-deer that returns to the land ward-end of the rising.

Diam di-gunong Ulu Langat

That dwells on the crags of the upper Langat.

Kijang nachar lembong p^renchun.^

The Roe-deer that feeds-on the shoots of wild cinnamon.

Yek, ai,' Mamat Solong.

O brother, Mamat the Fintbom.

Yek, ai,8 gul-leh tohok.

O brother, take then your spear.

Gul tohok tikam kijang.

Take your spear and stab the roe-deer.

Chdfliau lem-Iem, dnh-dah kijang-ht.

Look very-carefully, running is Roe-deer this.

Klek-leh, ai ! kijang dah b^ok.

Ho ! then, carry him^ the Roe-deer has fallen.

Ka'an ha-dong machin-leh kijang.

Carry him homewards and cook then the Roe-deer.

Dah machin bente kijang.

When yoi^ve done cooking, quarter then the Roe-deer.

Jon nachar muntSt mulih.
Give to eat a-little to each-one.

Mai ohok adik kakak.

Come ye hither, sisters-young and sisters-old.

Nachar daging kijang nahl.

To eat the flesh ^Roe-deer this.

Bihih dah u*ut he.

When gorged is belly your.

Lek-leh ai ! Mamat Solong.

Rise then, ho ! Mamat the Firstborn.

Main jo^oh * dalam bale.

For the feast ^drinking within the tribal-halL

> ** Pgmatang " (MaL ) = Bes. " um- (" lada") ? wild cinnamon.— Ridley,
bai." 8 V,L " Lek, oi," " rise up, ho."

« "Pdrenchun" = "kayu pMas" < Or"jA'&h"?

VOL. I 2 T

642 APPENDIX

Bale panjang, bale b^sar.

The Hall that is long, the Hall thmt u broad.

'Nari kijang hadat mab n3rom.

To-dance the Roe-deer is the custom ^people young.

Hukab lemol hukah k6dol.

To please the men and to please the women.^

Mab nyom b^nom di-bale.

People that are young are many in the Hall.

Eso' jcmab tabun jadi.

To-morrow and for ever (?) be years of-plenty.

Jadi pleb, jadi padi.

Plenteous be fruit, plenteous be rice.

Pleb . . . Pleb, Pleb, Pleb, oi.
Fruit . . . Fruit, Fruit, Fruit, obo.

Kanchel. The Chevrotain,

Nyau-gan3rau bunyi' kancfael.

* Nyau-ganyau,' is the-cty i^-Z^-kancbil.

Kancbel tdlong pleb d'long-m^ri.

7:i^-kancbil that seeks /^-fruit-trees —-/^-forest.

Pleb k^pau t£long kancbel.

Fruit of the kepau seeks /^-kancbil.

Kancbel nachar di-ampSL^ jdmu.'
T'^-kancbil that feeds at bed-rock dry.

Kancbel nacbar daun ludai.

r^^-kancbil that eats M^leaves of-the-hx^tx,

Kancbel nacbar daun bila*.

7*i^-kancbil that eats Mz-leaves — -/^-sweet-potato.

Kancbel nacbar daun yet.

rA^-kancbil that eaU the-XeeS of-the-yzm,

Kancbel gli g^ntab ^ bMok.

The kancbil that fears /Atf-tbunderboltr fall.

Kancbel gli binatang tC-kam.

T^i^^-kanchil that fears wild-beasts Tvill attack him.

Kancbel gli katop ^ tijau.

7)^-kancbil that fears the-h\it of-the-soBke,

Kancbel cbok-leh cboboi doi.

T^i^-kancbil that walks-tben by-day and night

^ Lit, " be-pleased male, be-pleased (** when the bul&loes go down to the

female." water," i,e, about 5 p.m.), etc Still,

* ="Ampar j6mur"(?) I do not the best translation seems, "when the

feel sure about the interpretation of bed-rock (or outcrop) dries (in the sun),"

"ampa*," but **jfimu" is surely cp. Mai. *<kring ambun"=r"at dew-

"jimor," and the whole phrase cer- dry."

teinly means, as I was told, **in the « "Gentah." JV,B, "Are* aler"

early morning." Possibly ** ampa'" = (**ra'") = to lighten [**ra'" = "sihaja"]

"civet-cat," i.e. "when the civet-cat " are* garong," thunder,

basks (in tfie sun)," a phrase analogous * " Katop" or " kathop" = Mai.

to the Malay "kCrbau b^rfndam" "pagut" ("ular").

TEXT OF BESISI SONGS 645

KaDchel j^tek pMT are*.

The-Xoju^baX thai sleeps at-nooo of-day.

Kanchel j^tek dalam l^mAt.^

7*ii^-kanchil that sleeps among //(^-broshwood.

Kanchel j^tek ha-bangko' mole

7)i«-kanchil that sleeps among4eaf*casex </nibong-/a/mx.

Kanchel jetek di-lumbun rampnt.'
7'i^-kanchil that sleeps m-the-XaxigXt of grass.

Mai-leh he telong kanchel.
Hither then you, seek the kanchil.

Ningket '-leh jdrat kanchel.

Set then the noosn/cr the kanchil.

Pies ^-dah, ai ! kom dah jdrat.

Released b fV, hurrah ! got him has M^-noose.

Dah higap ka'an ha-dong.

7^ noose has caught him ; carry him homewards,

Dah hadong he layu.^

** Done " homewards do you scorch him,

Dah layu he bente.

Done scorch him; do you quarter him,

Dah bente he gule.

Done quarter him ; do you make cooked*meat.

Jon nachar muntet mulih.
Give to eat o-little to each-one.

Pilandok {Pandok), The Mouse-deer,

Krusau-krusau ^ ru* pandok.

' Krusau-krausau,' is the cry of the mouse-deer.

Pandok nachar lembong ludai.®

The mouse-deer that eatx the shoots oj the ludai.

Pandok nachar pleh kledang.

The mouse-deer that eatr the-iryxii of the-VXe^Bsag.

Pandok nachar pleh k^pau.^

The mouse-deer that eatr the-fvnt of the kepau.

Pandok nachar pleh mangis.

The mouse-deer that eatr the-ivaix. <//^-mangostin.

Pandok nachar pleh diyan.

The mouse-deer that eatx the-fruit of the durian.

Kom bau pandok jol-leh chau.

When he getr />4^-scent of-the mouse-deer, barks-then the dog.

Kom bau pandok putih.

He-has got /^-scent <7/'-a-mouse-deer white. ^

1 Bes."l^mAt" = secondary growth. » Mai. " ludai " = Bes. " long

* K./. « Rambun rumput." maya'."

3 Pies =5 Mai. «« tftrbhigkas," to be- ^ ''K(i^9M''^Pholidocarpus macro-

come released (of the catch); carpus, V,l, ** S<itdBLng** ^ Livistona

* • ningket " ss «« pasang. '* cochinchtnensis,

* Or "smge"? "Layu" a Bes. » White U the mark of a " sacred **
•• holoi." » V.l. •« kuh, kuh ! " animal.

644 APPENDIX

Jet-ldi ban pandok padh.

Follow-then tJu^weoX of the moose-deer white.

Paodok pntih chflui ha-dooh.
T^l^-mouse-deer white descend/ to-/^-water.

Dalam do5h kom-leh dah.
In /i^- water got-then has.^

Dah k^Fbus pandok potih.
Is dead M/-mouse-deer white.

Klek-leh ha-dong pandok pntih-liL

Carry-then homewards the moose-deer white this.

Bente-leh pandok potih.
Qnarter-then the moose-deer white.

Jon nachar montSt molih.
Give to eat a-little to each-one.

Kftur, The Wild Boar,

Dret, dret, dret, bonyf kdtor.

* Dret, dret, dret/ is the cry of the wild-pig.

K^non k^tor nachar ha-bois.

The yoong of the wild-pig that feed -on sogarcane.

Nachar yet, nachar hil&*.

Feed-on yams, feed-on sweet-potatoes.

Dd3rt dah nachar l^b&'-he.

Utterly is eaten-op this clearing ^yoors.

Jong k^or tojah-tojah.

The feet of the Boar are pointed-pointed.

Tih kStor soroi-soroi.'

The fore-legs of the Boar are sloping-sloping.

Bulii' k^tor g^rchas-gdrchas,

The bristles of the Boar are stobbom-stobbom (? bristling).

Met kStor peiat-p«Ut.«

The eyes of the Boar are sqointing-sqointing.

Tong kitor chanchang-chanchang.

The ears of the Boar are pricked-op pricked-op.

S^ok-leh pipi k^tur.

Fat indeed are the chaps of the Boar.

Iko kftor gewet-gewet.

And the l^ of the Boar is crisp and corly (?).*

Ch^loi k^tor nachar ha-be.

There descends the Boar to feed opon your rice.

Gol ding blau klao bung&\

Take your bamboo blowpipe scored with patterns.

1 /,e, the dog has got it. explanation given me its'^corl-corl,'^

' VJ, ** choroi-choroi." i,e, *< inclined to be corly," bat is not the

' *• P«rlat-p«rlat," or " p6lat-p6lat " wild pig's tail sopposed to bestraight (?).

= cross eyed or squinting (?) (Mai. Ridley soggests *<goe8 flip*6ap, from

'* t^rbliak ''). the way it flaps when he is running.^

^ Exact sense doubtfol : from the I prefer, however, the fidrmer sense.

TEXT OF BESISI SONGS 645

Huat-p^hit begum-b^m.^

Whiz and it sticks ! the Boar goes grant-grant.

ChSiau bSr-lem-lem k^tur kSdim duh.
Look carefully, the Boar is now ranning.

Etc., etc.

ICok (/ K&k),^ The Coconut-monkey,

Kok, kok, kok gantang,

* Kok, kok,* is the cry of the monkey "gantang,"

Kok gantang, kok rangkE',^

Of the monkey "gantang," and the monkey " rangkS*,

Kok buku s^rling-s^rling. ^

And the monkey " buku " that peers -peers.

Muh kok-keh rimai-rimai.

The muzzle of monkey yon is dimpled-dimpled.

Tih kok-keh rimpang-rimpang.^

The fingers </ monkey yon are crooked -crooked.

Paho kok pako'-pako*.^

The haunches of the monkey are bowed -bowed.

Iku kok-keh d*long prau-prau.^

The tail 0/* monkey-yon is a tree waTing.

Nachar pleh pleh diyan.
Eating fruit, fruit of the durian.

Hindik^koklek-lehklo.'

Shakes (?) the monkey, rise-then again.

Yek, ai ! ^^ Mamat Solong.

Ho, brother ! Mamat the Firstborn.

Yek, ai ! gul-leh ding blau.

Ho, brother ! take-then bamboo-tube.

Benchop s^loloyn, ch€liau b€r-lem-lem.
Stalk it craftily, look very carefully.

HuSt lechlp,!^ kom domok Mah.

Whiz and it stickr, hit him the dart has.

Duh-dah kok tengong-prengong.
Ron-off-has the monkey, helter-skelter.

Kuak-kuak kok kMim b^dok.
Vomiting the monkey now ^Lr.

Denting-denting b^ok kok-keh.
IVith thud-thud falls monkey yon.

* " Begum - begam " = " bunjri am- kujap "or " kangkang koyak. "

boi," explained as meaning "he cries • " Pak6*-i»k6' " = Mai "changko*-

* Oh f ' when he is struck " 1 changko'."

« =Mal. "Bio'." 7 =Mal. "gunchang."

8 The "kok gantang," "rangkak," » =Mal. "g*gar" (?).

and " buku " appear to be three kinds » = Mai. " pula."

of "Bro'," or coconut monkey. ^ VJ, " lek, ai " = " rise up,.

< =MaI. "kfirling." ho!"

* Explained as = Mai. "kangkang- " =Mal. "Iflcat."

646 APPENDIX

Klek-leh, ai ! Mamat Solong.
Pick-it-up, ho ! Mamat the Firstborn,

Ka'an ha-dong rongko'-royon.

And bear it bomei^uds though bent and bowed.

Ka'an ha-dong champak p^il.

Bear it homewards and throw it downwards.

Inak Solong, layu-leh kok-keh.

Aunt Eldest-bom, scorch monkey-yon.

Mamat Solong, bente-leh kok-keh.

And you, Mamat the Elder-bom, quarter-then monkey-yon.

Jon nachar munt^t mulih.
Give tO'taX a-little to each-one.

U^ut he dah bihi-leh,

When that belly ^ yours is gorge</-then,

Lek-leh, ai, Mamat Solong.

Rise then, ho ! Mamat the Firstbom,

Lek jo'oh dalam bale.

Rise up and drink wiihin the Hall.

Bale panjang bale b^sar.

The Hall that is long, the Hall that is broad.

Esok j^mah tahun jadi.

To-morrow <md afterwards shall be a year plenteous.

Bilang kok, pleh jadi.

Tell of the monkey, atui fruits shall be plenteous.

Pleh . . . pleh, pleh, pleh, pleh.
Frait . . . fruit, frait, fmit, fruit.

The Siamang, The Gibbon,

Mong, mong, mong,^ bunjri' Siamang.

' Mong, mong, mong,' is the cry ^-/^-Siamang.

Siamang b^rtembong * di-amp&' j^u.'
The Siamang that hoots at-outcrop dry.

Siamang m^enteng di-sendoh * Kalih,^

The Siamang that chatters on-the upper Kalih.

Nimul-leh Siamang di-sendoh Luar.
Appears-then the Siamang on-the upper Luar.

LomfMlt prau ^ di-lembong b'ranti.

Leaps and rostles in the branches of the mdranti.

Champak prau di-lembong ludan.

Hurtles and rustles in-the branches of the ludan.

B^rdak-b^rdong ^ nachar Siamang.
Fallen-fruit -husks eatx the Siamang.

^ Onomat. v, next line. = ** upper end of water." =r Mai.

' Onomat. word, connected with **ulu."

" mong." * V. " Bangkong*' song and others.

* When (the dew on) the outcrop « sMal. "b&drau."

<granite) dries. V. p. 642 ante (n.). ^ = Mai. " Iftpokldpak "s= «* BeOlen

* From "sen (or "chen") d66h" frait-husks."

TEXT OF BESISI SONGS 647

Benchop ' seloloyn * chdliau ^ ber-lem-lem.
Stalk him warily, look very carefully.

Mamat Solong, Mamat Alang.
Mamat Solong and Mamat Alang.

Yek,* ai ! Siamang kedim duh.
Elder-brother, oho ! the Siamang now runj.

Yek, ai 1 guMeh ding blau.

Elder-brother, oho ! take-then the bamboo blowpipe.

Gul blau ding klau bunga'.^

Take the blowpipe of the bamboo scored with patterns.

He subai cheh * kakom.

Do you try upas-poison /^-implant.

He subai ^ cheh benam.

Do yon try upas-poison to insert.

Lo l€kuis, kom domok dah.

Shoot and ii sticlcj, got him tJu dart has.

Yek, ai, ch^liau Siamang-nong.
Elder*brother, oho ! watch Siamang-just.

Kft-ku2',^ kuh-dah Siamang.
Cough-cough vomited-has the Siamang.

Ch^liau Siamang prom^ perteng.^^
Watch the Siamang fall with a clatter.

Yek, ai ! Siamang dah b^ok.
Elder-brother, oho 1 the Siamang has &llen.

Klek-leh, ai ! rongko-royon.^'

Carry ^m-then, oho ? bent-oW-bowed.

Klek^ -leh, ai ! Siamang hl-o.
Carry-then, oho ! Siamang this-indeed.

Tdlong-t^long rangas ludan.
Seek, seek branches o/the ludan.

T^ong-t^long rangas changan.
Seek, seek branches o/the changgan.

T^long angeng he layu ^ Siamang.
Seek firelogs you to scorch the Siamang.

T^long-t^ong pedas chanchang. 1
Seek-seek/^ seasoning ^chanchang.

1 **Benchop"=**endap," to stalk. • "Cheh," or "ches" (Bes. for

* s *• P'lahan - plahan," probably Mai. " ipoh ").
reduplicated from " s&-loyn-Ioyn." ^ =MaL "choba."

5 "Cheliau," not "chelui," appears « =MaL "bato' luak."

to be the correct reading. ' =Mal. "rebah."

4 ««Yek" is a variant reading for ^^ =MaL "b^rdebum"; or to fling

" iek," here and elsewhere. oneself with a crashing noise through

^ This passage depends on the branches,
meaning of the phrases "ding klau ^^ =Mal. "terbongko'-bongko'."

bunga',** and " ding klampSnai," which i> = Mai. " dokong."

maybe kindsof bamboo, or "decorated" ^^ <«Soloi" (or "holoi") = Mai.

and the reverse. V, p. 648, n- 10. "layu," to singe (?) or scorch.

648 APPENDIX

T^long-tSlong pMas jintan.
Seek-seek, for seasoning </ jintan.

Kri5'-krift%i haro-galo.'
Crackle-crackle, mix and mingle it,

Dah layu,' bente-leh * Siamang.

When it is scorched, cut-up the Siamang.

He jon munt^t mulih.

Do you give a-Httle to everybody.

Biar chukop dageng Siamang,

I.et it suffice, yon flesh of the Siamang,

Chukop-leh nachar kadui ^ hedSt.
Sufficient for-eating both great and small.

Ungk$ • ( Tembo' or Tehmok), A Kind of Ape,

Wong wong wong bunjrT ungka*.

•Wong, wong, wong,* is the cry of the wawa.

Ungka' b^rmain di lembong k5pong.

The wa'wa' that playx among the sprays of the k^pong.

Ungldl' b^rmain di lembong s^rayi.*.

The wa'wa* that playx among the sprays of the s^rajra'.

Ungka' bermain di lembong jelotong.

The wa'wa' that playx among the sprays of the jelotong.

Bdrdak-b^rdong nachar ungk&\
Crunching and crunching feeds the wa'wa*.

Pleh angong nachar ungki'.

The fruit of the angong is the food of the wa*wa*.

Pleh lambai nachar ungka'.

The fruit of the rambai is the food of the wa*wa'.

Bulu* ungldl' putih kapas.

754^ fur of the wa'wa* is white as cotton.

Bulu' ungka' sutrft' hitam.

The fur of the wa'wa' is silk that is black.^

K^ning ungka' bagei andam.

The brow of the wa'wa* is as-it-were trimmed.

Iku 8 ungka* tombat-tombat.

The stem of the wa'wa' is flat-and-hard {Jit, solid-solid).*

Gul ding blau klampenai.^<>

Take your bamboo blowpipe ** klampcnai."

^ Onomat. prob. from the crack- ^ These lines may refer either to

ling of the flrel(^s, or rather the noise two different varieties of " wa'wa'," or

of the tubers frying in the pot — ^* bunyi else to the fact that the fru% and hands

goreng ubi di-kuali." are white, whilst the body is black

* =Mal. ''kachau-kachau-kan." (and silky).

5 "Soloi" (or «*holoi"). See note « Here = stem or rump, the "wa'wa*"

13 to preceding page. having no tail.

* =Mal. *«topah"(or "bantei"?) » -Mai. "tumpat"(?).

* Or " kadoi." »<> " BI. klampinai " ; explained to me

* "Ungka** is thejav. (Malayan?) as = " ding Bronei " or "Borneo bam-
for " wa'wa*," ace to Ridley. boo," possibly referring to the wooden

TEXT OF BESISI SONGS 649

Benchop seloloyn ch^au b^r-lem-lem.
Stalk it warily, look very careiiilly.

Tih iingka' kantao-kantau.

The arms of the wa*wa* are long and slender (?).

Jong ungkH' buai-b^r-boai.
The legs of the wa'wa' are swsyif^ together.

Yek, ai ! ch^liau ber-lem-lem.
Ho, brother ! look very carefully.

{/^est same as Siaman^.)

Bayff, The Crocodile,

Wa*-wa'-wa' nakeh bayS'.
Wa'-wa*-wa*, that is the crocodile.

Bays' telok baya' rantau.

The crocodile of the bay, the crocodile of the reachex.

Koi baya' tungku-tungku.

7^ hold of the crocodile is covered with lumps.

Iku baya' bage pedang.

The Xs^ofthe crocodile is like a sword.

L^moyn baya' kanching-kanching. '

The teeth of the crocodile are clenched together.

Man!' lubok ka^' baya'.

Wherever is a river-pool dwelli the crocodile.

BapL' garang bayi' ganas.

The crocodile that is fierce, the crocodile that is savage.

Yal jemor atas t^ing.

That climbs up to bask upon the river bank,

Chelui ha-d65h telong nachar.

And descends to-the river to look for food.

Bayang mah kayi'-leh baya'.

The reflection of a man sees-then the crocodile.

Koi hap, kom-leh nachar.

If the head is laduii^, he gets-then food.

Koi dah, kom nachar ngot.

If the head is there^ he gets food not.

Nakeh kra' atas d'long.

That fx a monkey upon the timber.

Kapet baya', b^ok ha-dooh.

// is strode by the crocodile, and fiEilLr into the water.

Baya' b^nam dalam lubok.

And the crocodile smotherx it in the mud.

(Kuantan) type of blowpipe, which is Mai. "kelar"cp. "s«lar,"etc.] If this

(necessarily) undeoorated, as distinct is right, <<ding" (bamboo) is applied

from " ding klau bungS'," or the to the rare wooden type in spite of its

"blowpipe scored with patterns" (the material, otherwise it must be a special

indigenous variety). [" Klau " prob. = kind of bamboo.

650 APPENDIX

Dah k^us ka'an ha-teh.
Done dead he bears U ashore.

Lempeh ha-d*long biar k^bus nene*.

And batters it on-timber to let U die thoroughly.

Kdbus nene' nachar buUlt

When it is dead thoroughly Ju devours it whole.

Jcttoaky The Monitor Li%atxL

Koi jawak tungku-tungku.

The head of the great-Lizard is knobby and knotty.

Met jawak met perting.

The eyes of the great- Lizard are eyes narrow (?).

Munchong jawak munchong ranching.

The snout of the great-Lixard is a snout sharp-pointed.

U'ut jawak biang-biut.

The belly of the great- Lizard sways oim/ swaggers.

Ti'il jawak jarang-jarang.

The foot-prints rfthe great-Lisard are spread arnd splayed.

Sisek chdlofS bage parr.

The scales of its back are like those of the sting-ray.

Iku jawak bage p^dang.

The tail of the great- Lizard is like a sword.

L^moyn jawak dun' pandan.

The teeth of the great- Lizard are thorns of the screw-piDe.

Lidah Jawak lidah chabang.

The tongue of the great-IJzard is a tongue thafs forked.

Nakeh mah chakap bohong.

That is the man who telLr fiilsehoods.

Jawak nakeh Tuhah * bayil*.
(^-/^•great-Lizard that is Chief the crocodile.

Adik baya' t£mai-t£mai.

// is the younger brother of the crocodile sin^e days-of-old.

Baya' teh Baya' bawau.

The crocodile of the land ; a$id the crocodile of the sea.

Mui di-teh, mui di-bawau.

One upon land, and one in the sea.

Cheliau bSrlem-lem tSuk jawak.
Look very- warily and chop-at the great-Lizard,
etc., etc

Ular Sawa* ( Tijau Tilon), The Python ( i ).

Seng, seng, seng, tijau t^on.
Hiss, hiss, hiss, goes the Python.

Telon klewen ' di-atas kayu.

The Python coiled in the top of a tree.

1 Or " giang " = «• g^riyang " (?). « = Mai. " baengkar " (coiled, of i

2 ** Tuhah » v,L " horoh." snake). " Tflon-Mal. " tflan" (?)•

TEXT OF BESISJ SONGS 651

T6l6n klewen di-atas * rambun.'

The Python coiled in the top of the brush wood«

Tclon klewCn di-dalam lumbun.'
The Python coiled among the grass.

Tdlon lep lobang batang.

The Python that enters the hole in the tree-trunk.

Tilon lochoyn ^ bilang sandl'.

The Python spotted thai is called <sawa\"

Iku tdlon bage gasing.^

The XaoXofthe Python is like a peg-top.

Lidah tilon bawang putib.

The tongue of the Python is like garlic.*^

Limoyn tdlon duri pandan.

The teeth of the Python are thorns of the screw-pine.'

T^Ion l^mak dalam gobuk.*

The Python that isinXm its cheeks.

Koi tdlon bage s^^ndok.

The head of the Python is like a spoon.

Sisek ^ koi bage amas»

The scales of its head are like-unto gold,

J are' mni ratus amfiat puloh.^®

And its feet ^* are one hundred and forty.

Kret kadui bage niyu.

Its body fj big as a coconvX-palm,

Tijau tfilon tfilan kfitur,

The Pjrthon that swallowx the wild-pig,

T^lan kdtur higap pandok.^^

Swallowx wild-pig and captures the mouse-deer.

Tdlan pandok, higap rusa'.

Swallows the mouse-deer and captures the sambhur-deer.

T^lan rusa', higap 5*5'.

Swallows the deer, and captures the tiger.

* =Bes. "kulong." « White onions, i.e. garlic, a very
« = •« Ujong kayu." apt description. MaL " bawang " =

* =Mal. "rumput" Bes. "bantut."

* " Lochoyn " = Mai. " rintek. " ' Bes, " Hakek hSbll " ; Mai.
^ This seems to be the right mean- " duri " = Bes. "jongreng."

ing. It refers, of course, to the tip of « "Lemak"a:Bes. «Ment6yt"; **go-

the Python's tail. A vj, is " gaweng," buk " = Mai. ** pipi."

which was said to mean the tip (of ^ sBes. '*k2tong."

a tail), but this is obviously wrong, >® The ribs on which it walks, oorre-

as there is no sense in saying that its sponding to the feet of a centipede,

"tail" was "like its tip." I am " /.*. ribs. Z»/. fingers or toes,

convinced " gasing " =r " peg - top " is " "T^lan^ss^geloyt" (?) or "gC-

right loyn" v.s.

652 APPENDIX

Ular Sawd'. Th* Python (2).

Sawa* sinde, sawi* b^rante.'

The Python of the snake-doth, the Python m/A-/^-chain.

SawS' sinde' jadi' kriun&t.

The Python of the snake-cloth become sacred.

Sawa' datang de* mata* ayu

The Python come from the springs ^ water.

Kadui kret (bage) batang niyu.

Big-^-body (like) the stem if the coconut-/a//».

Nakeh gdlar sawa' (b£r)-chula'.

That is the name of the Python with-M/-hom.

Sawa* sinde chilui bawau.

The Python of the snake-cloth that descendA//^ M/-sea,

KUhe simH' kramat bawau,

^M^f fought with the sacred Python of the Sea,

Laut bdsar laut kdchil sudah.

Till the sea that was big sea small became.^

Kramat asal muUL' jadi'.

77te sacred Python that ^beginning first became.

Kramat nakeh 'dah mah karah.^

Sacred Python yonder have people defeated.

Lawan ngot Sawa' darat.

Resist cannot the Python of the land.

Salah s^mbah Sawa' darat.

Wrong admits the Python of the land.

Alah mah ch^lui de' teh.

Defeated was the-one that descended from the land.

M^nang mah chdlui de' bawau.

Victorious the-one that descend^tf from the sea.

Nakeh dah puaka' aid.
That-one has spirit more.^

Sawa' kdbus yal ha-plangi'.

The Python dead ascend«/ to-M^ rainbow.^

Jadi bage uis plangi'.

Became like the fire of the rainbow.

1 Probably, according to Ridley, the little sea.

from the diamond pattern on its back, * " Karah " must be a mistake of

or perhaps firom some analogous belief mine for " kalah." I can make no

to that ofthe wild -boards chain (**rantei sense of "karah." The sense given

babi ") the animal's charm or talisman. seems to suit.

* " Sinde " = Mai. «*(kain)chindai," * ? exact meaning = "magic -force

supposed to be an extremely valuable still."

magic cloth of silk, with python- ^ "Plangi*" explained as = "sumbu

patterns woven into it, which latter buta' yal langit " (?). The one whose

came to life when fiimigated. horn was blunted {lit. blinded) ascended

' Or in the big sea, after fighting in to the heavens.

TEXT OF BESISI SONGS 653

Chula' gul sawa' bawau.

Th$ horn was taken hy the P3rthon of the sea.

Ch£lui b£rlem-lem, odd langkah.

Look very-carefully, do-not step-over ity

Kalau langkah timpa' d£rh2ka'.

\iyou step-over it you will be-crushedyfer a rebel.

Lilit kret p£nyakit Saw&*.

7b- wind-round ^mr body is the sickness of the Python.

6do yong dalam gres.
Do-not forget myour heart.

Esok j&nah.^
To-morrow and always.

Battings The Tortoise.

Baning, Baning, Baning.
Tortoise, Tortoise, Tortoise !

Tih baning juntul-juntul,

T'ii^-fore-paws {lit, hands) ^j^-Z^-Tortoise are bent-out-sideways,

Jong baning patul-patul.^

^ff^/-/^-hind-paws (lit feet) of-the Tortoise are shaped like adzes.

Koi baning kdlang-k£lup.

The head of th4 Tortoise shoots-in-and-out (?).

Blakang baning bage batu.

TA^-back ^-/A^-Tortoise is like a rock,

Hitam-leh gres baning,

And black is M^-heart * ^-M^-Tortoise,

Hijau-leh 'p^du* ^ baning.
^«</-green-loo is /A^-bile ofihe-loxKoyst,

Yek, ai, Mamat Solong,

O brother, Mamat /^-Firstborn,

Gul hau, gul ding blau.

Take^^ttr knife, take^^fir bamboo blowpipe.

Gul tohok chok-leh (ha)-mdri.

Take your spear af%d walk through M#-forest.

T^long baning, nakeh ti'il.

Search-for /^-Tortoise, those are its footprints.

Nakeh teh nachar baning.

Here is /^-ground where feeds M^-Tortoise,

Lembong bengkong (?) nachar baning.
C?«-shoots of-the-** chdmeh " feeds />4tf-Tortoise.

^ The rainbow's foot. turned sidei^ys, unlike the " labi-

2 **£sok jtaiah" explained a8= labi." According to Ridley, the paws

<<nis&m jaman" or *<ni^^ alo,'* lit. of the "labi-labi" {Trionyx) are

to-morrow (" besok *') and further. straight, whilst those of the <* baning "

^ The ''baning" or land - tortoise ( 7I^/W<o ^m^x) are turned sideways.

was described to me as running on the ^ Liver.

joints of its paws, with its flappers ^ Mai. «h£mp£du" = bile.

6S4 APPENDIX

Dah kayi' Mamat Solong.

You have seen U^ Mamat the Firstborn.

Dah kayi* dalam trcng [d'long].*

You have seen ii^ among the buttrentfx.

Dab bongkar Mamat Solong.

Now you have driven-f]f-out, Mamat the Firstborn.

Klekleh ha-dong Mamat Solong.

Carry it then homewards, Mamat the Firstborn.

Mamat Solong bente-leh baning.

Mamat the Eldest-bom, cut-up the Tortoise.

Chinchang ' halus biar machin.
Chop-i]^-up small and let it be-cooked.

Dah machin hidang jambar.

When it is cooled serve it on ieaf-plaXes,

Jon nachar muntet mulih.
Give to-eax a little to each-one.

Oi Mamat Solong, oi Mamat Alang.

Ho, Mamat Firstborn ; ho Mamat Third-bom,

Bihi a*0t, rentak bale.

fVhen gorged ts your belly, drum-upon the Hall^^opr.

Katak.

Kok, kok, kok, bunyf rengkong.

* Croak, croak, croak ' is the cry of the Toad.

Ch^mrap-leh bunyi' rengkong tai.

Loud was Mtf-cr<Mdcing of-the-xxxiA just-now.

Rengkong kadi* di-pangkal dMong.
7>i^-Toad that dwells at-/^^-foot ^-trees.

Rengkong kara' di-hulu Langat,
The-Toad that dwelLr on-/^-upper Langat,

Jangkar hulu jangkar hilir.

Jumping upstream aik/ jumping downstream.

U*ut ramping' nakeh rengkong. ^

With the waist so slender, that is th^-Toad.

Bidang-leh dada' rengkong.
Broad-indeed is the (£est of-the-TiMd,

Ch^lap^-leh met rengkong.
GoggUng-indeed are the-eye& o/'the-Tozd,

Katok-leh ^ koi rengkong.

And sharp/y-tA^Tiog is the-head of'the-Toad,

Cherpc-leh jare' rengkong.
Crumpled-indeed are M^-Bngers of-the-To/kd,

1 »*Treng" = Mal. "jangkar kayu," ' V.L ''u'ut hit" = Mat ««ping-

or "trengd'long" (also = **Triang"(?), gang ramping," ue, small or wasp-

whence "Triang" in S. Ujong). waisted, like the fish-trap, q,v.

« Mai. " chinchang " = Bes. **k«. * »Mal. •* tembil," protruding,

tong " or * ' ch*tong. " * « Mai. * * renchong pdlurot "

TEXT OF BESISI SONGS 655

Lidun-leh jong rengkong.

And splayA/'indeed are the feet o/'tAe-Tosid.

Klochot ^'leh chSloil rengkong.
Roogb-indeed is /^-back ^-/A/-Toad.

Kret rengkong getah bul-dah.

And the body ^the Toad exudes poison.^

Katak rengkong nacbar lipan.

For the Toad rengkong feeds-upon centipedes.

Katak rengkong nacbar kala'.

7>i^-Toad rengkong feeds-upon scorpions.

Katak rengkong g^loyn batu'.
7*^-Toad rengkong swallows gravel.

Odo nacbar Katak rengkong.
Do-not thtn eat M^-Toad rengkong.

BuMeb nacbar Katak rengkong.
Poisonous /0-eat is the-tooA rengkong.

Gul bau-be, kabong* rengkong.

Take then your knife, and chop-at the- Toad.

Hi ^ cbok be odo gli.

^be walks-off you do-not ^^-firightened.

T^tkala* jaman esok j^mab,

From the time of-old, to-morrow and after,

Tinggal gaya' tingal jaman,

May there remain this function, may there remain this memorial,

Tingal pleb jadi.

May it remain that fruits-^^ plentiful.

Lang, The KUe^

Sek sek leau • bunyf lang.

* Sek sek leau,* is the cry of the kite.

Lang bdrb!g&* atas gunong.

The kite tiuU soars above the crags.

Lang b^rklambau atas awan.

The kite that swoops above the clouds.

Sarang lang di-lembong j^lotong.

TTu nest of the kite is in the brancb^x of the j^lotong.

Sarang lang di-lembong k^mpas.

The nest of the kite is in the brancb^x of the k^mpas.

'Nak b^ranak ^ di-lembong kempas.

For-generations it has been in M«-branches of the kempas.

Sudab sampei sakit anak,

And when bas arrive^/ the sickness of its children,

1 «* Klocbot " = Mai. «' b«rkrutu." = Mai. ♦ ♦ dia " (tbe toad).

* Has slime tbat is poisonous. * =Kite, probably a^5^i>^-kite,z^.j.
» VJ, "kapong,"but v. next line, « F./. " kesek-kleau " = /jV. **mew-

tbe toad is not kilted, mew."

* Here distinctly explained to me as ^ =sMal. ** Anak-bdranak. "

656 APPENDIX

Tinggi r^dah layak lang,
High and low soari the kite,

Higap siakap jon k^non-keh,

And catcb^j the siakap-fish to give its-yoong-ones,

Higap tijau jon kenon-keh.

And catchy snakes to give to its yonng-ones.

Lalu lang ka-Batu Lalau.
Pass^j the kite to Batu Lalan.

Lalu lang ka-Bukit Tingi.
Vzsus the kite to Bukit Tingi.

Lain lang ka-Batu Putih.
Pas&fj the kite to Batu Putih.

Lalu lang ka-Batu Perhambang.
Pass^j the kite to Batu Perhambang.

Sampei Perhambang chSlui ha*teh

On reach/yi^ Perhambang it descend! to earth

Teiong chinduai atas gunong.

To seek-for the love-plant upon the mountains.

Kagar b^rubat k^non-keh.

// wants to cure t^j-young-ones-yonder.

Kom chinduai di-atas gunong,

When one getr the love-plant upon the mountains,

Rindu bayang ' dalam badan.

Yearning and longing are within the body.

Chinduai lang ka'an ha-dong.

The love-plant of the kite \xax it homewards,

Biar lem dalam gres.

Let // make one well at heart.

Lek lem-lem [cheiiau] > kdnon lang-keh.
Rise-up warily, watch the young of the kite.

Gres oyn hukah nene\

This heart ^mine is pleasured greatly.

Oyn sro teiong ubat.

I know hcrw to search-for simples.

6do bayang odd lengah.

Do-not then yearn cmd do-not dally.

Odd lengah di-kampong bunga',
Do-not dally in /^-Garden ^-Flowers,

Chokleh ka-kampong ' buah,

But proceed to-Z^-Garden ^-Fruits,

Tingalkan tetkala* * jaman.

And let there remain, from-the-time of-old.

^ For ^* bayang" in this sense, cp. seems most probable ; some word seems

**sayang" (?). Or does it = **of to have dropped out.
spirit " ? ' Usually " pulau " = ** island.**

2 Sense not quite clear, but above * Better **ta*kala.*'

TEXT OF BESISI SONGS 657

Utang kasih kenon lang-keh,

A debt i/ affection * to the young of the kite,

Nakeh tanda' mah bSranak.

That ii Mtf-sign ^-women child-bearing.

Hayam {or •« D/hd* ") mM\ The Jungte-frnvl,

Nang chenangkas bunyi* den&\

* Nang chenangkas ^^ is the cry of the jungle-fowl.

Dena' m^ri di-sematang.^

Fowl of the jungle upon the rising-ground.

Nakeh g^lar den&' putih,

That is the name ij?"'^ jungle-fowl white,"*

Nakeh g^lar d^nft* pikat,

That is the name of the fowl " decoy,"

JSb&h Malayu kabeh rachek.

fVherewith foreigners Malay set their snares.

J^b&h Malayu bawa' pikat.
Foreigners Malay carry it for decoying,

Thin-leh mai d^nft* putih.

Fly-then hither, jungle-fowl white.

Lawan ngot den&' hdnom.

Resist him cannot jungle-fowl so many.

Dah tuhah dena' putih.

Ife is their chief, the jungle-cock white.

Den&* putih thiJt * ha-dong-keh.

7^/4^ jungle-fowl white flier homeward-yonder.

Nang chdnangkis-leh d^ni* tai.

* Nang ch^nangkis ' was the cry of the jungle-fowl just-now.

Dengar chakap temai-temai.
Listen-to the talk ^days-gone-by.

Esok jSmah.

To-morrow and after, etc.

Kluang {Hampet),^ The Flying-fox,

Pe . . . lompe,' lompe, thiJt hampet.
Flip-flap, flip-flap, flies the flying-fox.

Nakeh bunjri* tbiJt hampet.

That is the sound of the ^ying of the flying-fox.

* Le, a debt of gratitude. ated " t." The usual sounds of " th,''

* = Cackle, cackle. as in "this" and "thick," do not occur

* Variant for **p$matang." at all in Besisi.

* I,e, sacred. « Also "hapet"and "sapet." The

* Or " tohJt " I think that * * thin " fullest form would perhaps be * « sampet. **
is nearer the actual pronunciation, as ^ =Mal. ** berkdpah-kdpah," to use
given in the Flying-fox song. The the wings (or rather the noise made in
** th " in this case is simply the aspir- doing so).

VOL. I 2 U

658 APPENDIX

Hampet thAn dari sj^brang.

The flying-fox that fliex from over-^AU.

Hampet th&7t m^ banglang.^

The fl3dDg-fox that ^<ts from the jungle side.

Hampet th&n dari pulau.'

The flying-fox thiU flie^ from the islets.

Hampet thft7t dari s^lat.

The flying-fox that fliex from the straits.

Hampet mai nachar bunga*J

The flying.fox thai comes to eat the fruit-buds.

T^long pleh chok hi.

To seek-for fruit goes he.

Hampet th&7t dah ka-hulu'.

The flying-fox that flown has to the VLppcr-toaters.

Hampet ihhJt dah ka-hilir.^

The flying-fox that flown has downstream.^

Sieng-mayeng * bangsa* hampet.

Sundry and divers are the tribes ij^ flying-foxes.

Hampet nachar pleh buan.

The flying-fox that eats the fruit of the rambutan.

Hampet nachar pleh duku*.

The flying-fox that eats the fruit of the duku.

Hampet nachar pleh diyan.

The flying-fox that eats the fruit of the durian.

Sibang-sibut ^ sayap hampet.
Flap-flap^ the wings of the flying- fox.

Kilat-kilau sayap hampet.

Flash-flash ^o the wings of the flying-fox.

Nakeh gelar bilang hampet.

That is-called 8 /Aip tale e/"M^-flying-fox.

Gul ding blau klau bunga*.'^

Take your bamboo blowpipe, scored with patterns.

Gul blau naloh hampet.

Take your blowpipe and shoot the flying-fox.

*L6 lekuis,*® kom domok dah.
Shoot, and it sticks, hit the dart has.

Yek ai ! ch^lui " hampet.

Brother, oho ! descends /^-flying-fox.

* =Mal. "dgri seblah utan." * Lit. name.

« *«Pulau"=Bes. "po'hong" (?= » I take "klau" to be =MaL

Mai. "tokong"). "kdlar," ue, *• scored" or "indsed,**

' Bats (and flying -foxes) are very as distinguishing the indigenous (usoal)

fond of eating the flower-buds of fruit- type of decorated blow-gun from " dmg

trees. — Ridley. klamp^nai," the undecorated Kuantan

* /.^. tothe"kuala" (Mai. "kuala" or Borneo type. But v, the Wa*wa*
= Bes. ** temba* "). song {supra).

^ Lit. to the estuary. i® Or "l^kuJs."

« =Mal. "masing-masing." " ?«*Cheliau" =see.

^ =Mal. **angkap-angkap."

TEXT OF BESISI SONGS ^59

Jibang-jibuk * bMok dah hampet.
Plimp-plump fallen has /A^-flying-fox.

Kuak-kuak kuh dah hampet.
Retch-retch, vomited has the flying-fox.

Klek-leh ha-dong, layu hampet.

Carry-then him homewards, and scorch the flying-fox.

Dah layu bente hampet 'nong,

When you have scorch^ him^ quarter the flying-fox yonder,

T^mong mah dalam bale.

And call the people within the HalL

Jon nachar adik kakak.

Give food to our sisters-young sisters-old.

Jon nachar kadui hedSt.

Give food to both great and small.

Jon nachar muntSt mulih.
Give food a little to each-one.

Bihi u*ut lek-leh jung,

When gorged is your beUy, rise-up-then on your feet,

Mamat Solong, Solong Sidai,
Mamat the Firstborn, Firstborn Sidai,

Chokbehjo'ohheo'oi!«

Go-forth and brew drink, you there^ hullo !

Rentak bale, bale panjang.

Drum-upon the Hiil-Jtoor^ the Hall that is long.

Rentak bale, bale b^sar.

Drum-upon the Hall^/^r, the Hall that is broad.

Biar hukah dalam bale.

And make merry within the Hall.

Pleh jadi bage pleh.

Fruit is-plentiful as fruit (can be ?).

Pleh jadi tihap are*.

Fruit is-plentiful every day.

Pleh jadi tihap bulan.

Fruit is-plentifiil every month.

Pleh jadi tihap tahun.
Fruit is-plentiful every year.

Tahun nakeh tahun reja*,'

A year /the that is a year 0/ plenty (?).

Pleh . . . Pleh, Pleh, Pleh.
Fruit . . . Fruit, Fruit, Fruit

1 =Mal. " chdbak-ch^bak." ' The meaning of "rfija*" was ex-

* The proper reading here may be plained to me as = "kabeh lebeh," tt>

** he se-oi {st'oi)" = ** do you chant" ** make more." It may stand for Mai.

or "sing," especially as chanting always •* kreja '* = ** work."

accompanied the drinking.

66o APPENDIX

KUdang. * The Kledang Fruit.

Gul hau Mamat Solong.

Take your knife, Mamat the Firstborn.

Ta'oyn * cna* * Solong.
Orders you^ Aunt Solong.

Ta*oyn ena* T^ngah.
Orders you^ Aunt Tengah.

Kagar nachar pleh kledang.

Who want to-eat /A^-fruit ^M^-Kledang.

Yal-leh Mamat Solong.
Climb-up-then, Mamat /i^-Firstbom.

Glu-glai ^ pleh kledang.

Swa]ring and waving art the fruits of the Kledang.

But ^-leh k^oD, muntSt mulih.
Pick-/A/xv-up-then, children, a-little each of you.

Dah emboyn ^ pleh kledang.

They are full-ripe, the fruits of the Kledang.

'An ha-dong pleh kledang-hL

Bear homewards the fruits of the Kledang-yon.

Kawin ha-dong pleh kledang.

Throw-down at-home the fruits of the Kledang.

Mai-leh yek, ibah, wo, ninik.

Hither-then, grandfathers,^ brothers-in-law, fathers, great-grand£EUhers.

Mai gahu' kdnon kakak adik.

Hither aunts,^ children, elder-sisters and younger.

He nachar pleh kledang.

Do you feed-upon the fruits of the Kledang.

Kledang luchar^ odo punan.

When the Kledang ^^f/ is soft, go not a-craving.

Kledang ddndang ^^ odo punan.

Even for the Kledang crow-black go not a-craving.

Yek ai I " Mamat Solong,

Brother, oho I Mamat the Firstborn,

Tdmong mah nyom mai ha-dong-ki.
Summon the people young to come to-hut-that.

Mah nyom jo'oh dalam bale.

Let the people young drink in the Hall.

Nakeh tanda' pleh hSnom.

That is the sign that fruit is plentiful.

* Artocarpus lanciafolius^ Ridley. ^ Brothers (?).
« =Mal. "suroh." » Paternal (?).

' =MaU " Mak sudara." • =Mal. •* Ranum," over-ripc ; cpL

* Explained as = waving about when ** luchar-luchar " in EHephant song,
poked with the fruit-pole ("mdlimpei- *® The crow -black Kledang b an
limpei dengan kayu di-jolok "). inferior variety. Also = •* Kl. babL"

5 J^/. "mut" = Mal. "pungut." " V.l. " Lek ai!** Rise up,.

* =Mal. «*Penoh." ho!

TEXT OF BESISI SONGS 66i

H^nom di3ran, h^nom buan.

Plenteous are the Durians, plenteous the Rambutans.

H^nom rambai, henom pdlasan.

Plenteous the Rambai, plenteous the Pulasan.

Hdnom tampoi, h$nom kundang.

Plenteous the Tampoi, plenteous the Kundang.

Hdnom-leh pleh nadoyt.
Plenteous-indeed fruits all.

Odo mungkir sambilan tahun.
Let-not them faJXfor nine years.

Pleh RedanA The Redan Fruit.

Gul ban Mamat Solong.

Take your knife, Mamat the Firstborn.

Yal long pleh, pleh redan.

Climb the tree ^ fruit, the fruit of the Redan.

Daban tutor broyt ha-teh.

The branches lop and pass to-M^-ground.

Gul-leh nadoyt pleh redan-ki.

Take-then evcry-one of the fruits ^j/" Redan-yon.

But-leh pleh redan-ki.
Pick-up-then the fruit of Redan-yon.

Dah mut * *an ha-dong-he.

IVhen you have picked them up, bear them to-hut-your.

Jambar kachar mah h^nom.

Serve them up as food for people many.

Kadui hedSt nachar pleh redan.

For big and little to-eat the fruits of the Redan.

Hadat mah nyom nachar redan.

// is the custom of people young to-eat the Redan.

Odo punan dalam bale.
Do-not go a-craving in the Hall.

U'ut he dah bihi,

IVhen belly your is gorged,

Lek menari Mamat Solong.

Rise and dance, Mamat the Firstborn.

Lek jo'oh dalam bale.
Rise and drink in the Hall.

Biar hukah mah ht-nom.
Make merry people many.

K€non-k$non odo gli.
Children-children, do-not be-startled.

^ A very sour, wild, hairless rambutan. — Ridley.
8 «« Mut," v.l. " ka-but."

662 APPENDIX

Kabau, The Kabau Fruit,

Yam kabau lang-yam.^

Bends the Kabau, and htn^s-ahout,

Keau-plakeau ' batang kabau.
Waves-to-and-fro ' the stem of the Kabau.

Pudh panau antok * kabau.

White and mottled is the bark of the Kabau.

Antok kabau (jadi) hau-chandong.^

Bark of the Kabau (becomes) chopping-knife (?).

Tdgot rh&k jadi kumbang.^

Break its branch/j become borer-bee (?).

B6dok daun jadi layang.^

Fall its leaves become swallow (?).

Bddok bunga' tabor mdlukut.®

FalU its blossom like scatter^^ rice-meal.

Bddok bunga' g^mar panas.^

Fallr its blossom like rain //wr/'/it^-sunshine.^**

6d6 nachar pleh kabau.

Do-not eat the fruit of the Kabau.

Nachar pleh kabau buMeh.

If you eat the fruit of the Kabau you will be poisoned-indeed.'^

ddo yong kapada' bilang.
Do-not forget this in-the telling."

Bilang kabau esok j^mah.

Telling of the Kabau to-morrow and for-ever.

Lalu ka-bale jo'oh bale.

Pass to Mtf-Hall and drink ^ in the Hall.

Gerdah-gerdah jo*oh bale.
Creak-creak 1 we drink in the Hall.

Bale panjang, bale b^sar

The Hall that is long, the Hall that is broad.

* ** Yam " was explained as = Mai. broken (or brittle ?) the borer - bee
**mdlentur" (**to sway") and *Mang- develops or multiplies ("jadi"). Or can
yam" as = Mai. ** mfilempei." Prob- it mean when the branches are broken,
ably they are the same word. it swells up (**kembang") round the

' ** Keau - plakeau " was also ex- break, as many trees do ?
plained as = ** m€lentur," but it is ob- ^ Possibly in allusion to some belief

viously onomatopoeic and hence should connecting swallows with the leaves,

perhaps rather be rendered *' creak- But "layang" may also = "mela-

creak" (the noise made by the swaying). yang," to flutter (Bes. " tohyt ").

» = Creaks (?). 8 - «< Wen punai " in BesisL"

* = " Lantok " (Mai. " kulit "). » K/. ** hayu " = Mai. ** hangat,"

* I can make no sense of this, unless which is "bhasa halus,"or "polite,"
it is the handle of the chopper that is for "hayong" in the "bhasa kasar"
referred to, as made from the bark. (i,e, the " vulgar speech ").

* I can make nothing of this. "Kum- *<> Z;V. heat, or hot. " ZiV. Vomit-
bang" is the borer -bee. If right, it ^^ Qr "what is told you."

may mean that where its branches are *' Make merry.

TEXT OF BESISI SONGS 665

Mah nyom krc^ja' bale.

Pec^le young work in the Hall.

L^hnol k£dol krdji* bale.

Men and women work in the HalL

Nakeh hukah mah h^nom.
That like people many.

Tahun jadi, jadi pleh.

May it be a year plenteous, when plenteous are fruits.

Nachar pleh, pleh buan.

Eat we fruits, the fr\iit o/the Rambutan.

Pleh manggis, pleh diyan.

Fruit of the Mangostin, fruit o/the Durian.

Nachar pleh kadui hedet.
Eat we fruit great and small.

Nachar pleh adik kakak.

Eat we fruit, younger-sisters and elder.

Hukah-leh Mamat Solong.

Make- merry-then, Mamat the Firstborn.

Pleh jadi tihap tahun.

May fruit be plenteous every year.

Gabaftg. The Gahang Fruit

He ^ gul hau Mamat Solong.

Do you take knife Mamat the Firstborn.

Gul hau, katoyt pleh gabang.

Take knife, ctnd lop-off /^-fruit of -the gabang.

Pleh gabang proh ha-teh.

Fruit ^-Mr-gabang that falls to-ground.

Katoyt raweh,* raweh b^rjihai.

Lop-off the twigs, the twigs that wave-round-and-round.

Katoyt he dahan tengah.
Lop-off you the brandies midmost.

Kato3rt he broyt ha-teh.

Lop-off you and slip-down ' to-ground.

Kita' pungut pleh gabang.

We collect /A^-fruit ^-M«-gabang.

*Oa-leh jaras ambong.

Bear-then ^ the basket, and the back-basket.

Ka'an ha-dong pleh gabang-hS.

Bear them homewards, the fruits ^-gabang-this.

Temong-leh mah henom,
Call-then people many,

Jon nachar muntet mulih.

And give to-eat a-little /(^-everyone.

» VA, **hi.» «* ranting"). *« Bfirjihai" = «*b€rkireL*'

* " Raweh " (Bes.) = twigs (Mai. » Lit, pass. * ? Put them (into).

664 APPENDIX

Dah nachar pleh gabang-nong,

When you have eaten the fruits of the gabang-tbere,

Lek-leh he Mamat Solong,

Rise-up then, you, Mamat /^-Firstborn,

Jo*oh-leh dalam bale.

And make-merry- with-drinking within />i^-HaIl.

Nakeh hadat datoh-he,

That vHis the custom ^grand^&thers-your,

Mah nyom kabeh bale.

For people little to-work-in /^-Hall.

Hukah-leb mah lemol,
7<>-please the men-folk,*

Mah kMol dalam bale.

And the women-folk within M^-Hall.

Mai-leh 'an tsuk jelong.
Come-hither-then bring your hair long.

'An hikat l^soi tsuk -he.

Take comb smoothen hair-your.

Biar lem-lem tsuk-he.

Let it be good-good ^ hair your.

Biar ch(^liau mah 15mol.
Let see it the men-folk.

Gul piok gul pren.
Take rtr^-pot take rice.

Machin pren nachar mah henom.
Cook rice as food /or people many.

Gul bang&' beh jumak.

Take pan and make cooked-meats.

Nakeh kabeh mah k^ol.

That is done dy the women-folk.

Nachar-leh he ha-pren.
Eat-then you of the rice.

Nachar hi odo lewar.*

Eat you'ther^ do-not ^^-slow.

U'ut bihi jetek-kl'.

IVhen your belly is full, sleep also.

JUrtam t/hun/^. The Solitary Bertam-pcUm,

Bertam tenung di-Langkap Berjunte.*
y/i^-Bertam solitary at Langkap Beijuntei.

Bertam tenung di-hulu Langat.
TJi^-Bertam solitary in Ulu Langat.

^ Lit, like-t^-indeed folk-men. palm, the name of a place on the upper

' Le, beautiful. Langat, which was described to me by

5 •* Lewar " = Mai. ** lengah," = theBesisiasanoldburying-placeofthdr

"loiter "or "dally." "HJ" = **this." ancestors. "Tdnung" was explained

* L.B. sthe overhanging Langkap- as = Mai. "tunggal," "solitary."

TEXT OF BESISI SONGS 665

Hang menungkap ^ pleh b^rtam.

? Bend-over-outwards /^-fruits ^-M^-Bertani.

Kita' gul ka'an ha-dong.

We take and bear homewards.

Blah jon nachar muntet mulih.

When split, give /^-eat a little to everyone.

Pleh bertam esok jemah.

Fruit ^-/ift/-B€rtam to-morrow and alwa3rs.

Bertam tenung atas gunong.

7>^- Bertam solitary upon M^-crags.

Nakeh tanda' pleh jadi.

That is the sign that Fruit will be plentiful.

Nakeh tanda* tahun reja'.

That is Mtf-sign of-a-ytax of plenty.

Hukah nadoyt kenon h^nom-keh.
Make-merry all children many-that.

Hukah doyt mah di-bale.
Make-merry all people in-/^-Hall.

Nachar doyt bihi u*ut-leh.

Eat them up utterly till gorged is your belly -indeed.

Lek ai ! ' Mamat Alang,

Rise up, ho ! Mamat /ii?-Second-bom,

Mayin jo'oh dalam bale.
Make-^<w-merry-with drinking within /A^-Hall.

Bale panjang, bale b^sar.

7:4^-Hall that is long, the-UaXl that is broad.

T^ong mah ma3nn tari.

Call the people to-make-merry with dancing.

Biar sro mayin jo*oh.

Let them know we are making-merry-with drinking.

Nakeh tahun henom-leh pleh.

That is a year ^abundant-indeed fruit.

MMau.^ The Merbau Tree.

Plak-plau tebang merbau.
Crash-crash we fell the merbau.

Merbau gadeng, merbau humbut.

The merbau ivory-white, the merbau of the palm-cabbage.

Merbau kunyet kita* 'nak bahan.

The merbau of turmeric we are-going-to split-up.

Oi tukang ch^ntong ^ tebang merbau.

Ho, Maker of Back -baskets, fell the merbau.

^ The exact meaning of **hang Afzelia coriacea — a sea - shore

menungkap *' is not clear. variety. The second is unidentified

2 K/. " Yek ai "? O brother. at present. —Ridley. The " mer-

5 Three kinds of ** merbau " are bau," in Besisi, is called ** apel," or

here mentioned. The first is probably ** a-pell."

Afzelia Palembanica^ and the third * '* Chcntong " may either be

666 APPENDIX

Tingi j^^pak tambang in<N-baa.
Loftily rocks (?) and fedls the m^rbau.

Bafi^' pahat, bawa' rimbas.
Bring chisel, bring planing-adze.

Dah bahan siap lante.

Now you have split it^ make-ready the grating.

Siap dandan siap kurong.

Make-ready a gallery, make-ready a deckhouse.

Siap dayong siap kajang.
Make-ready oars, make-ready awning.

Muat gbaru muat lilin.
Load eaglewood, load wax.

Ka'oil k5mi3ran, muat damar.
Load benzoin, load resin.

Muat gdtah g^tah taban.
Load gutta, gutta taban.

T^k ^ tihang blayar ha-bawau.
Set up your mast and sail \o-tht sea.

Blayar menuju bawau Mambang.^

Sail pointing-towards the sea of the Mambang.

Labo' sauh, yal ha-teh.

Drop your anchor, and climb to-land.

Tukar baiang di-dong-nahl.
Barter goods at the houses here.

Pahu' menuju ndgri Malaka'.

Our boat points to the land of Malacca.

Laboh sauh di-negri Malaka',

We let-fall our anchor off the landr^ Malacca,

Tukar lilin tukar damar.

And barter our wax, barter our resin.

Tukar getah ' tukar kemiyan.

Barter our gutta, barter our benzoin.

Ka'ofl ^ bras ka'ofi garam.

And load up with husked-rice, XodA-up-with salt.

Pahu menuju ka-n^ri kita'.^

Our boat points to-land ^ours.

Laboh sauh di-negri kita*,

Let-fall our anchor at-land ^ours,

T^mong kawan kadui hedSt,

And call our comrades great and small,

the man's name, or taken with ' There are many kinds of "g^tah"-

** tukang " it may = Basket - maker — producing trees in the country,

probably the latter. "Chentong" or "Getah taban," for instance = gutta-

"sentong" is the back -basket used for percha, and "g^tah susu" or ** getah

carrying jungle - produce among these grip " = caoutchouc,

tribes. * " Ka'oa " = Mai. " muat."

1 =Be8. "lek tihang." *"Ka-n*gri kita'" = Bes. "ha-

* Doubtless a place - name of this dung he-papc *."
region. Mai. ** Mambang" = "Deity."

TEXT OF BESISI SONGS 667

Ka'an barang ka-rumah kiti*,

And carry our goods to bouse ^ours,

Jon barang muntSt mulih.

And give cf the goods a-little to eveiyone.

Pukd,"^ The Cork-tree,

Pulai^alaikik-kik-kik.

The Pulai waves (?) * creak-creak -creak ' (?).

Pangkal sengit tiup ' angin.

Its base rocks tviyA-Z^-blowing wind.

Rendang rampak berjurei ^

Spreading and thick-leaved and dangling

Daun pulai akar pulai.

Are the leaves of the Pulai, the roots of the Pulai (?).

Jangkar rentang jangkar purus,^

Roots that penetrate, roots on-the-surface,

Jangkar purus naga mengunjam.

Its roots ^«-M^-surface that are like Dragons contending.

Buku* pulai susu dara'.^

The buds of the pulai are like the nipples of a virgin.

Daun pulai getah susu.

The leaves of the pulai have sap like milk.

Batang pulai putih panau.'^

The stem of the Pulai is gray a»</ mottled.

Lembong ^ simpulan lembong pulai.

Like the peak of a head-cloth are the shoots of the Pulai.

Sanggul (di) hujong^ lembong pulai.

Ukt scroll-work finial are the shoots of the Pulai.

Tingi chakih ^^ poko* pulai.

High are the buttresses of the tree Pulai.

Bedok bunga' tabor 'lukut.

Falls Us blossom like scattered rice-ends.

Bedok bunga' hujan rinyei.^^
Falls its blossom like rain drizzling.

* Alstonia scholarisy Ridley. dragons," and which form the Mai. sub-

* = Bes. " tingkur.'* stitute for cork, being used largely for
» =Bes. **ka*ihbua'." fishing-floats.

* " Berjurei," perhaps from its long « "Susu dara'" = Bes. "tub mah
pendulous fruit, or from its aerial roots nyom."

or streamers. ** Sengit " = Bes. "send- 7 *« Panau " = Bes. " bechang " ; its

ing." " Rampak " = Bes. "jelakah " bark is gray (Ridley.) In Besisi prose
X, "j^akah rhfik tengko*-keh.*' this sentence would run " b^chang-leh

* Prob. = penetrate (the ground) as lantok long tengko'-ke.'
distinct from its streamers. Cp. Mai. ^ = Mai. " puchok sapu - tan-
* * ta'rentang p^luru di* lalang. " * * Purus " gan, " i. e. * * shoot " or " peak. ' *
was explained as = Mai. "mSmpulor," • I,e. like a piece of terminal scroll-
referring to the light- wood root-clumps work such as is used in Malay carvings,
that project above the surface of the ^^ =Mal. "banir."
soil under the tree "like struggling ^^ =Bes. " g^mar banchi. "

668 APPENDIX

Nakeh g^lar hadat pulai.

That is called th€ custom of the Pulai -tree.

Gul biong kag&b pulai.

Take your hatchet and fell thi Pulai -tree.

Beh pabu' kayuh Malaka'.

Make a canoe and paddle to-Malacca.

Jual nijru dagang barang.
Sell coconuts, barter goods.

Bawa' pulang sanipan pulai.

Take home your canoe of-YxAai-wood,

Tarek ka-darat odo lek.

Pull-«y-up on-to-/^-shore, do-not let it get'0\A.

Jual ka-China* mui ratus ringit.^

Sell it to-M^-Chinese^r one hundred dollars.

Lukah. The Fish-trap

Ting ting hSt * lukah ginting,

" Ting ting hit " is /^-fish-trap small-waisted,

Lukah ginting kabeh Mamat Alang.

Fish-trap small-waisted, made-by Mamat M^-Second-bom.

' Tahan-leh dooh-gendeh-ki.
Set-//-then i«-/>4^-river-there.

Ka-lep kab, kah berisi ketong.'
Enter it fish, fish covered-with scales.

Kah henom kah bage.
Fish many, fish various.

Kah sdbarau,^ kah tapah.
The-ivSa Sebarau, /A^-fish Tapah.

Kah 'man, kah bujor.
Tli^-fish Aruan, M^-fish Bujor.

Kah lembat, kah puyu'.

ZJi^-fish Lembat, //if-fish Pepuyuh.

Nakeh lep lukah ginting.

Those enter /^-fish-trap small-waisted.

Ka'an ha-dong kawin ha-dong.

Bear them homeward and throw them down-in-/Atf-hut.

Siang-leh kah h^nom.
Slice-up-then fish many.

^ "Ringgit." In Besisi the word ' «* Kgt6ng" = scales (of fish).

** ting " is sometimes used for " dollar." * Mai. "ikan aruan" = **kah bakap**

Probably it is onomatopoeic for silver (Besisi),

coins in general. Cp. our own "chink." " ikan bujor " = ** kah bun-

N.B. The small dug-out used by the tok " {i.e, round fish),

Besisi is called by them *'pahu jong- "ikan lembat " = ** kah da-

kong." gon,"

8 " H5t " = small-waisted like a " ikan pgpuyuh " == " kah

wasp, hour-glass-shaped. chdret"

TEXT OF BESISI SONGS 669

Beh jumah machin lem-lem.^
Make gravy and cook very-carefully.

Dah machin t^mong kawan.

When you have cooked them call y(mr comrades.

Jon nachar muntSt mulih.
Give to-eat a-little /^everyone.

Bihi u'ut nachar kah-nong.'

When gorged is your belly with eating fish-those.

Lek-leh ai, Mamat Solong.
Rise-up-then, ho ! Mamat /^-Firstborn.

Rentak bale, bale panjang.

Drum-upon the-HiXX-floor^ the-YlaW that is long.

Rentak bale bale b^sar.

Drum-on /A^-Hall^/fwv, M^-Hall that is broad.

Hukah ch^liau adik kakak.

They like to look-on, little-sisters attd elder-sisters.

Nakeh bangsa* lukah ginting,

That is the-way-of /^-fish-trap small-waisted.

Hum, Children's Bathing Song,

Hum mah hddet, hum 'gi.
Bathe people little, bathe-go.

Biar s^juk,^ odo panas.
Let be cool do-not ^^-hot.

Biar chuchl' kret-he.
Let be clean body-your.

Gosok * lem-lem kret-he.
Rub very-carefully body-your.

Odo dakr kret-he.

Do-not leave impurities on body-your.

Yut ha-dong gul hikat.

Return homewards and take your comb.

Gul hikat, hikat tsuk-he.

Take your comb and comb hair-your.

Biar lichau, biar linyang.

Let it-be smooth, let it be glossy.

Hadat hum mah h^et.

Such is /^-custom to-hathe people little.

Mah nyom chok ha-bale.

People young proceed to-/^-Hall.

G(^rdak-gerdak bunyi* bale,

* Creak-creak ' is the-noise of the Hall,

» Lit. well-well. Mai. " panas " = Bes. " rayong "

* Bes. " nong »» = «« hinong " = (of the body, as well as of the sun,

Mai. "tadi." etc.).
» Mai. «' s^juk " = Bes. " tSket " ; * Mai. " Gosok " = Bes. " gosoyt."

670 APPENDIX

Bale paDJang bale b^sar.

The-Yi?X\ that is long, /^-Hall thai it broad.

Mah k^dol hukah kayi*.

Women-folk like to-see.

Mah nyom dalam bale.

People little within /^-Hall.

Jadi pleh, tahun jadL

Plentiful de fruits, year 6e plentiful.

Jadi pleh pleh bage.

Plentiful de fruits, fruits various.

Jadi pleh tihap are*.*

Plentiful Ife fruit every day.

Jadi pleh tihap bulan.

Plentiful de fruit every month.

Jadi pleh tihap tahun.

Plentiful de fruit every year.

6d6 mungkir pada janji.

Do-not go-back upon wAat is promised.

Hadat surat dalam buku',

y^^^-customs /Aat are written within tke-hocAi,

Pleh . . . Pleh, pleh, pleh, pleh.

Fruit . . . Fruit, fruit, fruit, fruit.

Hadat orang ber-utan,

This is M^-custom of people a-jungUng,

Hadat orang main jo*oh.

Zi^-custom ^people that make-merry with drinking.

Bangkong, The Bangkimg Fruit. *

Hong kau barah hong !

Hong m^rimpa* bangkong.

Hong — we pluck M^-bangkong.

Kong kau Bapai Tunang.

Kong — reach (?)-out. Father Tunang.

Nang kau Bapai Sayang.

Nang — reach-out. Father Sayang.

Yang kau Bapai Odong.

Yang — reach-out, Father Odong.

Dong merimpa* bangkong.

Dong — we pluck M^-bangkong.

Kong bangkong kudes.^

Kong — /^-bangkong kudes.

Kong, bangkong katel.^

Kong — the bangkong katel.

* Mai. ** tiap '* (or ** tihap " ) = Bes. is usually repeated at beginning of the

**ha'in*' — ex, **ha*-in are*, ha-in next,

bulan,** etc ' A small variety of ** bangkong "

2 A wild **ch^mpedak.** It will be or wild **chempedak.**

seen that the last syllable of each line ^ Smaller than the *' b. kudes.*'

TEXT OF BESISI SONGS 671

Kong bangkong mengoh.^
Kong — the bangkong mengoh.

Kong bangkong palas.^
Kong — tlu bangkong palas.

Chok Bapai Odong,
Go, O Father Odong,

Chok Bapai Tunang,
Go, O Father Tunang,

Chok-leh Wak Solong,»
Go, O Father Solong,

Chok m^rimpa' bangkong.
Go, and pluck the bangkong.

Kom bangkong dah.

Got the bangkong you have.

He ka'an ha-dong.

Do-you bear them homewards.

T^mong Mak Tunang,
And call to Mother Tunang,

Kom midas ^ bangkong,

To get quarter^^ the bangkong,

Gul piok gompong,^

And tO'iske the-^t thats chipped,

Nakeh mo*oh bangkong.

That is for-boiling the bangkong.

Ring subang hiring.

Follow-w/M /i4^-leaf-rings,* O follow.

Iring ha-dong iring.
Follow home, O follow.

Iring kawan Gentoi.
Follow, friend Gentoi.

Rai subang birai.

Wave your leaf-rings, wave them.

Rai 'ku mfingirai.
/ wave, I wave them.

'Ku kirai mayang muntSt.
I wave palm-blossom a-Iittle.

Sih kakom tulasih.
Basil, plant holy- Basil.

I "Mengoh" or " mengih," the (cp. **sumbing") = chipped, of a pot.

large variety. ® This refers to the leaf- rings or

* About same size as (3), but long- artificial nooses of palm-leaf which are
shaped. made up into bunches or tassels and

^ Sic\ no doubt "Sajrang" should fastened to the girdle (** kabok ha-

be read here, as above. u'ut ") and headbands, or merely in-

* V.l. " tongki," which = Mai. serted in them, in which case they are
** tdtak, kluarkan biji-nya." called (in Bes.) "mayang sikih" or

* **Gompong" = Mal. "sompong" "sikis" = Mai. "sisip."

672 APPENDIX

Kakom di-niang batang.
Plant it in-M^-cranny of-a-Xx^t,

Badan tidak kas&'i

If the Body £r-not capable,

Sft' kari* mulih.^
Able, it remains alone.

Lib nam&' alo,
Lone, what else,

L6 had&t Datoh,

Else ? '7t> the custom of our grand&thers,

Toh mah nyom,

Grandfathers, for people young,

Nyom kreja* bale.

Young, /^-work in the Hall.

Lai l^mol k^dol,

Hall, both men and women,

Dol had&t Datoh.

Women, '/«■ the custom of our grandfathers.

Toh mak Kalih.

Grandfathers, and Mother Kalis.

Mak kalih pande.
Mother Kalis is clever.

De mak kalih.

Clever is Mother Kalis,

Lib pande ngot,
Kalis, and clever not,

Ngot mak Geboi,

Not (clever) is Mother Geboi,

Boi kr^j&* bale.

Geboi, <x/- working in-/>^-HaIl.

Le nam&' alo.
Hall, what else,

Lo mah hukah,
Else? People like,

Hukah pleh jadi.
Like fruits plentiful.

Di tahun reja*.*

Plentiful, a year ^abundance.

R^ja' mah h^nom.

Abundance, (since ?) people are many.

H^nom jadi be.
Many, plenteous-^ rice.

Be jadi pleh.

Rice, 3<:-plenteous fruit.

* Or"g€nar* (Bes.)= alone. jadi*'; so that this interpretation is

* Here again ** rejak " was explained doubtless right ; and perhaps ** r^jak **
as a good or fruitful year = Mai. ** tahun in Besisi = MaL *' jadi ** in all senses.

TEXT OF BESISI SONGS 673

Pleh tijak-gerdak,

Fruit, we tread-a/f<^tramp,

Dak rentak bale.

Tramp, a/u/-dnim-on the Hall^/f^^r.

Le lante b^rtam,
Hall, floor of b6rtam,

Tam b^rtam beh,
B^rtam, of bdrtam. Do,

Beh nama' alo,

Do what shall we else ?

Esok j^mah jadi,

To-morrow and always be-plenteous,

Di jadi pleh.

Plenteous, be plenteous fruit

He-c-e !
He-e-e I

Song op the Sick Boy

A BisiH Song (" Seoi'' or " keoi'')

Cherabong bunga' £mpai,

Swells the blossom of the Baru^-/r^,

B^tasap bunga' mdso'.

And thick the blossom of the T^mbusu.

Odo kdnang aid, gadeh, ai !
Do-not care further granny, oh I

Kawen-leh, kawen dah.

Throw // down — thrown-down it b.

Odo nodor > ^o, gadeh, ai I

Do-not mention it further, granny, oh !

Kara' tempok oyn, gadeh, ai !
Remains CEdyx mine, granny, oh !

Kara* tH jare* oyn, gadeh, ai !

Remain prints of fingers mine, granny, oh !

Kara' til jong oyn, gadeh, ai !

Remain prints of feet mine, granny, oh !

Kar&' bllang seoi 63^1, gadeh, ai I
Remains to-tell song mine, granny, oh !

Chong k^nang gres 03m, gadeh, ai !

For the hills yearns heart mine, granny, oh

Miong seoi oyn di-dong,' gadeh, ai !
Hear song mine in-M^-house, granny, oh !

Lck chok, gadeh, bungkus ha-pren,

/ arise and go, granny, wrap up-//l^-rice,

Oyn chok m€ri, *gar nfchit chim.
I go to the forest, will snare birds.

1 Or «*Bharu" = "new." « "Nodor" = Mal. "menutor."

» Or ** hru-dong."

VOL. I 2 X

674 APPENDIX

Ndchit chim b^kom ngot, gadeh, ai !
Snaring birds / get not, granny, oh !

6d6 barap-leh, gadeb, ai !
Do-not bope-indeed, granny, oh !

K^non bun ngot yal kulong.

Your child is strong not to climb up-aloft.

Klet sentong chong k$tok-h&, gadeh, ai !

/ bear a back -basket, but its lashings are broken-these, granny, oh !

*An chIm tates, ayut ha-dong.

/ pick-up a bird hombill, and return towards-hut.

Kajoh neneh chIm tates, gadeh, ai !

Heavy indeed is the bird hombill, granny, oh !

'Dah yut, machin-leh chlm tates, gadeh, ai 1

/ have return^*/, cook-then the bird hombill, granny, oh !

Kachar-leh chim tates, gadeh, ai !
Eat-then the bird hombill, granny, oh !

Jon kachar muntet mulih.
Give to-eat a-little to everybody.

Odo punan chlm tates-h&, gadeh, ai !

Do-not go-craving-for the bird hornbill-this, granny, oh !

Kachar-leh chlm tates, gadeh, ai !

But eat-then the bird hornbill, granny, oh !

Adik, kakak, ipar, duai.

Little-sisters, elder-sisters, brothers-in-law, and sisters-in-law (?)

Improvised Besisi Song of the Hunting of the Coconut Monkey.

Chok-leh m€ri hinong.
Go-then to the forest now.

An blau mui tdk&h,^
Take blowpipe one stem,

'Lok' mui, d&m&k'tujuh tek&h,
Quiver one, darts seven stem,

Ha-n^o k^non ki*. •

To-shoot the young of the coconut-monkey.

Kaloh dab, kom ha-gres,
Shot is-*/, got to-/Atf-heart,

Bedok hS-teh dah ;
Fallow to-/A^-earth is «/,

ToyX. chong, bok k£non k&',

Cut a creeper, bind the young of the monkey,

Bok klet ha-ch^loS, an yut ha-dong.

Bind and carry on-ZA^-back, bear it retum to-/^-house.

Nimul ha-dong, kokos^-leh .
Reach home, remove-//j-fur-then.

' Numeral coefficient = Mai. ** ba- ** buangbulu " to remove the fiir, prob-

tang.'* ably in part at least by singeing, aad

* =:Bes. "jelok." then nibbing the skin with ashes (MaL

"» Explained as = Mai, "abu.i"or '^abu"). Ki* = **kok" (MaL b'ro*).

TEXT OF BESISI SONGS 675

Dah kokos, chok lantok'-kiah chiang,
Done remove-»Vj-fur, poke-off skin-i^j first,

Kontok Meh, kajon ha-mah muntet malih..
Quarter-then and give to-people a-little to each.

Bo punan gulei-hi.

Do-not go-craving-for cooked-meat-this.

Bo tenglep ' k&p&ys kubi, bul he,

Do-not insert fruit-^ 'asam kdlubi or poisoned you will be,

Tenglep plong kulim, tenglep kunyit, tenglep lia',
Insert leaves ^j^kulim, insert turmeric, insert ginger,

Tenglep plong karong, tenglep lempar, tenglep kesom,^

Insert leaves of the ** kelat ** tree, insert spices, insert " kesom."

Gul chongkhe' nasi', chongkoh jumah ha- bangku.^

Take a spoon for boiled -rice, scoop Ik^ gravy into a palm-sheath vessel.

Nachar ramai muntet mulih.
Eat all-together, a-little each-one.

ddo punan kret ki'-nong.

Do-not go-craving-for iAe body ^monkey-yonder.

Bru dah nachar, lek gul mudut.
Finished have eating, rise get cigarettes,

Bru mudut, k&m-leh nong,
Finished cigarettes, repose-then now,

Bru kkm, j5tek-leh.
Finished repose, sleep-then.

Besisi Description of a Storm.

Luhh-hft,® dub lep-lep ^ doo-gendeh

The storm is here, run and enter-upon lAe river ;

Mudik sen-do5, tahan ngot buah-h&.

Ascend lo the headwaters, endure not gale-this ;

Kedek ^ luhh, are' garong^-hi.

Rages the storm, the day thunders-here,

Lindong t£lok-h&.
Shelter we in cove this.

Besisi Description of Padi (Rice) Planting '<*

Chok mSri oi \ m(^n$bas iSba* hinong.

Go to the jungle, ho ! to-clear your plantation now,

* Mai. ** tikamkan kulit" palm).

» Mai. "bantai." « Also " sSluhh " = Mai. "ribut."

» Mai "masokkam" or **buboh." ^ Reduplication of **lep" = "to

The injunction refers to the Bfesisi enter," Mai. "masok." By fleeing

superstitious prejudice against eating upstream they escape the worst of the

acid fruits with animals killed by storm, which is imagined as taking

poisoned darts. place near the river-mouth.

* Prob. =Mal. "kasom," for which ® Qu. meaning of "k^flc.**
see Ridley's List, » " Garong " = " thunder.'

*» MaL " upih" (of nibong or other ^^ See pp. 361, 362, supra.

676 APPENDIX

Be' * di* jos, be* ^ df gomo' ;

Rice work early, rice make fruitful ;

Jojos j£mu,' dah 'chin tuht IdLh.

Quick-quick dry the-felled-trees^ done cooked bum also.

Tabu « be', p€t6m yet, pitom b&ys.
Sow rice, plant yams, plant sugarcane,

P^tom hdntok, kachek dung, t€duh m^ngubah.

Plant bananas, fix the piles of a hut, y&r shelter when planting-out.

H^ndum be', be* ^ tok hinong,

When ripe the rice, the rice reap immediately,

Nis&m payah nachar, be' l^p&t

Else to-morrow hard to-feed ; the rice will rot.

Odo biar be'-hA, tok be* doyt-doyt.

Do-not neglect rice-this, reap the rice finished-finished.

Besisi Courtship : an Imaginary Dialogue.*

M, He kagar ha-6yn, ai?
Do you long for-me, eh ?
F, Nama' 'to' ? oyn jet klo, mani emboh-ho ?

What is that ? I follow also, how should I be unwilling.
M, Oyn kagar klo.

I Xovag'for you too.
F, Mani ^mboh-ho? lemol kabeh, oyn jet klo; nama'

How should I be unwilling ? the man acts I follow also ; because
oyn k^dol, oyn jet k&h.

I am a woman, I follow too.
M. 'Dah neneh, neneh-leh ; oyn ikun gendek-ah, laheh

Is that true? True-be-it ; I will be your father and mother, clear it
'dah.
is.
F, Nama' 'to' ? oyn jet klo, mui hare'-d, lek ngot dah.

What is that ? I will follow you too, one day indeed long(er) not it is.
M. Nakeh lek 6yn-hl.
That long I too.
F, He garang chongkak langah bage' hong 'dah nis&m

If you are rude fierce and coarse like hornet, wh^n-it-is to-morrow /
tahan ngot lek-o ; beh dah oyn, nis&m tahan ngot

endure not long indeed ; done with it have I, to-morrow / endure not

[Here the betel-box (an evidence of contract with Malays ?) is pushed across,,
and the man makes his speech.]^

M. Hak he, oyn kagar t£long t^mpat chambai, oyn tdlong kdnon-kud&\

Thing ^you(?), I desire to-find a betel-box, I seek a filly,
'gar kom ; oyn tflong pahu, hap tihang, oyn ganti

/ wish to have it ; I seek a boat, if it has-no mast, I wiH provide

^ Note that the object be* (** rice," riage formula which follows it, see

Mai. **padi,") precedes the verb, an vol. iL p. 6g et seq.
unusual construction. ^ It would seem from the next ver-

* Or " jemur." ' Or " tabur." sion that what follows is addressed to-

* As to this dialogue and the mar- the girl's parents.

BESISI BETROTHAL RITES 677

tihang, hap Ia3rar 63m ganti layar, oyn

a mast, if it has-no sail ^ I will provide a sail, I

t^long salaroa* bawau-h4, kom ngot, nahl nimul ka-dol

have sought it the-length of sea this, and got it not, here / arrive at country

he, dah piong bungft', piong salama' bawau-hlL. Jail Mah,

your, having smelt the flower, smelt it the-length of sea this. Tired /am

chok-o salami' hl-ah, nahlL dah bunga'-ah, an pleh

Agoing indeed so-far as this, this is /A^ flower, / take /A« fruit of the

timun ; dah tiba' bau* bunga' ha-63m, oyn jet klo, klet-

cucumber; has reached /A^ scent ^/A« flower to me, I follow too, /pick*/
ah ; agar hap oyn p^piong p^piong ; hap p^piong agar

up ; if desire not I to-smell it I should have smelt it ; not ^ smelling / desire

sabulih-kih, kagar pakom ha-oyn atas he-o ; agar

as-much-as-possible-that, desiring to-get it for myself from you-indeed ; desiring
kom mui bulan kom ngot, yut w&; hak kagar

to get if in one month / get it not, / return not-yet ; this thing / desire
atas he.
from you.

The following is a variant of the latter part of the foregoing dialogue which is
supposed to be made by a man to parents of his beloved.
[After pushing the betel -stand towards them, say] : —

Hak ^ he*, oyn handak tdlong, t^mpat sirih.
Property of yon, I desire to-seek, a-stand-for betel.

Oyn tdlong kdnon kuda*, 'gar sabulih kom-nya.

I am -seeking the young of a horse, /desire very-much to-get it.

6)m telong [^u\
I am -seeking a boat,

Hap tihang, oyn gantI tihang.

If it have-no mast, I wi/l provide a mast.

Hap layar, oyn gant! layar.

If it have no sail, I toil/ provide a sail

Oyn t^long sa-lama* laut-hl, kom ngot.
I seek it as-far-as sea-this, dut got-it not

Nahi tiba* dol-he', dah piong bunga' mui jong.'

Now (?) / reach country-your, have smelt blossom one foot

Piong sa-lama' bawau-hi.
/ smelt it as-far-as sea-this.

Ja!i dah, chok salama* hl-ah.

Weary am / with-roaming as-far-as this-indeed.

Nahl dah bunga'-ah.
This is blossom-indeed.

Dah tiba' bau bunga' ha-o3m, oyn turut

Has reached scent ^blossom to-me, I follow it.

Klek-ah, klek dah-leh.

Pick-/V-up, /-picked -iV-up have-then.

* /,e, ** Though I had desired not to explained to me as referring to the girl

smell it, I should have smelt it, and ('^kSnon").

not smelling it, I desire to smell it as ^ ** Mui jong (one foot) " is a

much as possible." numeral coefficient.

2 " Hak " = Mai. " hak " (property).

678

APPENDIX

Agar ^ hap oyn p6piong, dah p^piong.

i^ wanted not-at-all I to-smell it^ I should have smelt it.

Hap pgpiong agar sabulih-ki ; minta* pa-kom * ha-oyn, atas he-6.
Not smelling / want as-much-as-possible ; / ask to-possess it for-myself, from
you-indeed.

Agar sabuUh, sabulan b^lum bulih, yut wA.

/ want it very -much, in one-month not-yet got, / return not-yet

*Nak bdr-hajab atas he.

/ want to-get-my-desire from you.

Bbsisi Marriage Ceremony.

The following catechising of the Batin (acting on behalf of the bridegroom)
was carried on by the P^nghuiu Balei (acting on behalf of the bride).

/*. Tdrbli pingan mangko ?

Have-you-bought (/*/. Bought?) plates

on^cups?

B. TCrblT.

I have {lit. Bought).

P, Tfirbll piok banga* ?

Have you bought pots and pans ?

B. Terbli.

I have.

P. TCrbllhgndi?

Have you bought clothing ?

B, TdrblT.

I have.

P. Terbllhau?

Have you bought chopper ?

B. T^rbli.

I have.

P, T^rbllbiong?

Have you bought hatchet ?

B. Tfirbll.

I have.

P, Kabehdung?

Have you built {Jit, Built ?) house ?

B, Kabeh.

I have.

P, Kabeh tanga*?

Have you made {Hi, Made ?) steps ?

B, Kabeh.

I have.

P. Kabeh Idba'?

Have you made clearing {i,e, for a planta-

tion) ?

B, Kabeh.

I have.

P. Kabeh sdndoh?

Have you made spoon (of wood) ?

B, Kabeh.

I have.

P. Kabeh timba'?

Have you made ttra/«--bucket ?

B, Kabeh.

I have.

P, P^tom yet ?

Have you planted {lit. Planted ?) yams ?

B, Petom.

I have.

P, Petombftys?

Have you planted sugar-cane ?

B. Pdtom.

I have.

P, Pfitombe'?

Have you planted rice ?

B, Pdtom.

I have.

P, Petom hdntok ?

Have you planted bananas ?

B, P€t6m.

I have.

P, Kahungih?

Can fell (trees)?

B, Kahun.

I can.

P, Kahun yal pleh ?

Can climb-for firuit ?

B, Kahun.

I can.

^ "Agar" appears to be here a
shorter form of **kagar,*' which is
frequently abbreviated to **gar," the
** ka " being merely the verbal prefix.

« "Pakom" or «* pa-kom " = Mai.

**men-dapat." I should have ex-
pected *'ka-kom," but "pakom" is
what was given me. The exact mean-
ing of these last sentences is difficult,
but I believe it to be as given above.

BESISI MARRIAGE RITES

679

P. Kahun nalo ?

B, Kahun.

P. Kabeh mudut ?

B. Kabeh.

P. Teiong kepoh yohh ? 1

B, Telong.

P. H61?

B. Nahol.

Can shoot (with the blowpipe) ?

I can.

Do you smoke? {lii, "Make cigarette?**)

I do.

Find eggs ^-turtle ?

I find.

True?

True.

Chong Singapura* Malaki.',

A hill in Singapore or Malacca,

Pulau Pinang oyn bli.

Or in the Isle of Penang would I buy.

Chong Sdlangor Perak oyn bli.

A hill in Selangor or Perak would I buy.

Nah&-k&h k^non mah.
This-the-more the child of a man.

P. Nahol tempa' krep ?

True, fall-upon your body ? *

B, 6do k^non mah.

Speak not of the child of a man.

Sikah lotong alo oyn t^long,

Chikah and lotong-monkeys even I seek,

Aid oyn kakom.
Even I capture.

Nah&-k&h k^non mah.
This-the-more the child of a man.

P. Pun kledek pun.

? sweet-potatoes ?

Tela* tanaman Jakun.

Sweet-potatoes <?r(tf-planted by-the-Jtikxm.

Hoi kat&' Batin, Jinang, Jukrah.

*< True,** saLjs the Batin, Jinang oiu/ Jukrah.

Mah horoh mah nyom.

By men old and men young.

Kliling busut kliling.

Around the mound and round again,

Besisi Proverbs.

(i) Dah jon ; hap tdlong.

If you have, give ; if you have not, seek.

(2) Bujam *mpai an m^ri,

A wallet new take to the jungle,

Bujam li' kara' ha-dung.
A wallet old leave at-home.

1 Or "y&hh.**

* Or ** kret ** ; the expression really
means, ** So may a tree fall upon you.**

This is the most binding oath known
to the Besisi.

68o

APPENDIX

(3) Seh t£long, badok bit,

If a thing is lost, seek it ; ^fallen, pick it up,

Chidut kachim, kdtok bok,^

^ spilt, dig fV up (?) ; t/ snapped, bind it.

Besisi Propitiatory Address to the Enemies of the Padi (Ricb>,

BEFORE THE PaDI-FEAST.*

Santap jong lintar,'
Santap-Ieh kine',
Santap-leh jlsek,^
Santap-leh royt,*
Santap-leh kapinding,
Santap-leh hulat,
Santap-leh jangau,"
Santap-Ieh rusaS
Simtap-Ieh k^tur,
Santap he solong ^ tahun,
6yn kachar w&,
Nahi'8nichararc'.

Partake, O Round-Foot,

Partake, O rats.

Partake, O Blight,

Partake, O Finches,

Partake, O Stink-bugs,

Partake, O Caterpillars,

Partake, O Green-fly,

Partake, Deer,

Partake, O Wild-Boars,

Partake ye ^eldest-bom of-the-ytMi.

I eat not-yet.

This eat immediately.

Fragment of Besisi Invocation.^

H61 *• mui *mbar dmpe *mpat.
True, one, two, three, four.

Hoi lima* anam tuj5h.
True, five, six, seven.

Mdldlap sama* subang gading.^^
Surround with nooses of ivory {colour),

M^ldlap sam&* subang tinjong.
Surround with nooses ring-shaped.

Ldgeng beh j^long chong dendan.

Stretch make long tfu creeper ^decoration.

L^gang beh jdlong chong ki*ip.**
Stretch make long feet ^t/" centipedes.

Bilang limau lilang.
Tell-of the limes wax-like.

1 V, infra, p. 685, where some of
these phrases reappear in a different
order.

* As to this charm, see p. 363,
supra.

* I.e. the elephant

* A kind of insect, explained as =
Mai. "benah."

* =MaL "pipit"

* =MaL "pianggang."
' I,e, the food-offerings.

® Lit, this. This line should mean,
" I am just about to eat."
' This invocation is used at the

** bersawei " ceremony for the relief of
sick persons, at which the medicine-
man invokes and is posseted by spirits.
See vol. ii. p. 306 et seq,

»o "Hoi" = "true," "approved,"
" sanctioned."

" "Subang" is explained as de-
scriptive of the decoration of the walls
with objects made from strips of
"serdang"or "k^pau" palm-leaf; "tin-
jong" is said to refer to the ring form
of decoration especially.

" These lines refer to the palm-leaf
fringes stretched round the walls.

BESrSI MAGIC 68i

Bilang limau purut
Tell-of the limes rough-coat

Rentak ^ bale bumbun.
Drum in the hall ^-leaves.

Rentak-leh bale salong.

Drum in (he hall ^-palm -leaves.

Besisi Charm against Devils. 2

Mui, 'mbar, mpe', 'pat, lima', nam, tojoh.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

Tu' kla' jok* siyau,^ jok bingin.®

May that indeed be cool which was feverish, be cool and cold.

Dalam dageng, dalam ja*ang, dalam unit, dalam s€nT.^
In flesh, in bones, in sinews, in joints.

Chabut buang Jin Shetan !

Pluck-forth and cast-out both Jins and Devils !

Tdrbuka', urei Jin SheUn !

Be-opened, be-un fastened, both Jins and Devils !

Minta' sunteng,^ minta' chabut Jin Shetan !

Ih^you to expel, / beg you to pluck-forth both Jins and Devils I

Bawa' Busu ^ tepong p^ngalin ;

Bring, O Busu, fioxxr /or the sucking-charm ;

Bawa' Busu t£pong pdnawar,^®

Bring, O Busu, the flour thai is a neutraliser,

Tawar sak^lian bisa' dalam dageng, dalam urat !
To neutralise all venom in flesh and in sinews !

Siyau biar bingin !

That which is feverish let-be cool !

Chabut Jin Shetan dalam nyawa' dalam gres !

Pluck -forth Jins and Devils /hw« within the spirit and from within the
heart !

Bawa' Busu bunga' tenglang ! ^^

Bring, O Busu, the blossom of the tenglang I

Biar b^rbilang dalam salong, dalam bumbun.

Let-fV be- chanted within /^? /a/w-leaf-cell, within the leaf-chamber.^*

Bawa' Busu s^kalian Shetan !
Bring, O Busu, all the Devils !

I «* Rentak" is to drum on the ^ =Mal. «*sindL"

floor with the foot 8 =Mal. "buang" (? cf "sun-

* For this and the next two charms toh ").

see vol. ii. pp. 309, 310. * Explained as = " Baba' Bungsu"

8 =Mal. "itu pula." or "Busu."

* =Mal. "s^juk." w =MaL "tCpong tawar."

* = Fever-heat ** Explained as the name of a rare

* =Mal. "dingin," explained as flower growing upon the moun-
•*pini (or *pirei') di tulang," "pain tains.

in the bones." " I.e, that of the medicine -man.

682 APPENDIX

Sinta' pisau rcwang,* ngilir* Batu P^rimun.'

\yxvfi your knife ^pearl-shell (?) and remove to Batu P^rimbun.

Rimun kla' Shetan, Rimun kla' n^jis !

At Perimbun then be the Devik, Pirimbun then be foul !

Another Besisi Charm against Devils.

Hong hang jadi bueh.
Hong hang become Foam.

Bueh, jadi batu.
Foam, become Rock.

Batu jadi bueh.
Rock, become Foam.

P^rempan * kiri, p^rempan kanan.

Dash ihem-to the \tit'hanJ, dash them to the right hand,

Pdrempan 'kan ku, shetan bage.

Dash them down for me, these devils divers.

Hong plese* * mula* plese'.

Hong Pelesit, that from-the-first wert Pfil^sit

Piyok lendok, banga' lendok.

The pot is boiling, the copper is boiling.

Kiri p^risi, kanan {>$risi.

On the left hand I fill ity on the right hand I fill it,

Pisi-kan ® aku shetan bage*.

Do ye fill it for me, O devils divers.

Besisi Charm used for exorcising the Spectre Huntsman

("HANTU PfiMBURU").

Chongkang-changkeng "^ gul ha-paut ® dul ® buluh.

I go helter-skelter to-seize w^-peeling-knife with the handle ^bamboo.

Hang kupes *• pinang bulu' ;
For peeling the betelnut hairy ;

Hentak *^ p6dang atam ** batang jSlang,

/ draw my sword, and walk -along a tree-trunk lengthy,

* ? = Mal. "gewang," pearl shell. ^ "Paut" appears to be a contrac-
« ? = Mai. " gilir." tion of Mai. " pfiraut " = " peeler " (the
3 Locality unidentified. (Possibly usual name in Malay being ** pisau

Gunong B^rembun, N6gri Sfim- raut " or ** knife for peeling ").
bilan?) » " Dul " = handle or hilt (? = Mal.

* =Mal. "hempan," **to dash "ulu."

down." 10 " Hang-kupes " = Mai. " akan

6 =Mal. "Pdesit"; also called kupas." **Ha" is the commonest
" Pemprit " by the Besisi, who describe form used for " to " (Mai. " akan ")
it as a kind of vampire which *' sucks in Besisi, but before a *' k " the form
dry our blood" ("mSngisap habis used is ** hang-" (not "ha-"),
mahamkita"). " " Hentak " = Mai. "sentak," the

® =Mal. ** pCrisikan." proper Besisi word being **jok"

7 "Chongkang-changkeng," «/./. ( = Mal. "sentak" or "chabut," "to
" chongkah - changkeh," explained as pull or draw ").

= Mal. " lentang-pukang." " Bis. " atam " = Mai. "menitl"

BE SI SI MAGIC 683

Manchap ^ ding tujoh Wkih,*

And shiupen ^bamboo seven stakes,

Mdrojoh • gengop * Hantu Buru.

To transfix the chin ^M^-Spectre Huntsman.

Shiah kiri, shiah kanan,

Avaunt to-the-Xtfit avaunt /^-/^-right,

Shiah Hantu Buru !

Avaunt, O Spectre Huntsman !

Besisi Charm for expelling the Demon of Pain ("Tawar Bisa").*

Chdrai tsuk ^ hantu nahL

Dishevelled is the hair of the demon yonder.

L^mah-ldm&ht tohuk ajes ! ^

Soft and weak is your spear, my father !

T^kam ^ lembong, chabut tawar.*

If you attack the shoot, / pull-out the neutralises

Tekam daun, chabut tawar.

If you attack the leaf, / pull-out the neutraliser.

Chok b^lenchong *^ hantu, chabut tawar.

H^hen go-brush-past the demons, / pull-out the neutraliser.

Tunjok hantu, chabut tawar.

When point-o/ me [or the-patient'\ the demons, / pull-out the neutraliser.

Kalep hantu, chabut tawar.

When enter me the demons, / pull-out the neutraliser.

Kenen '^ hantu, chabut tawir.

When oppress me the demons, / pull-out the neutraliser.

Kapet hantu, chabut tawar.

When strike me the demons, / pull-out the neutraliser.

T6kam hantu, chabut tawar.

When attack me the demons, / pull-out the neutraliser.

Hentap ^^ pdnawar, t^kam hantu.

/ draw forth the neutraliser, when attack me the demons.

Ch^lui bisa*, jral tawar !

Descend, O Venom ! ascend, O Neutraliser !

Bukan oyn pande mfnawar :

// is not I that is clever at neutralising :

I "Manchap" = Mai. •* mdran- « F./. "shuk."

chap." ' "Ajes" or •* ajeh," explained as

« " Tekih " = Mai. " poko' "or = " tepa* " (cf. Mai. " aji ").

"baUng." « =MaL "t^rkam," Bes. ♦* kfi-

3 "M€rojoh" = Mal. "m€rojok"(?) tong."

or "menikam," "to transfix." » Mai. "tawar, pdnawar," Bes.

* "Gengop" (or "dengop," v,L) "hendek"(?).

explained as =Mal. "dagu," "chin," ^ F./. "belensong," = Mal. "mfi-

and as being a word of the " Bhasa lintas," cf Mai. " langsong."

Hantu," " spirit language." "Explained as "t^kenyit" or

* For this and the next charm see " tdpenyit" = " to oppress."
vol. ii. pp. 308, 309. *2 —Mai. "sentak."

684 APPENDIX

Guru tuhah pande m^nawar.

The Teachers aged were clever at neutralising.

Datang chinchili' bawa' pdnawar.

Come, O chinchili* bird, bring a neutraliser.

Penawar tdkam hantu.

A neutraliser when attack me the demons.

Datang guru pande bawa' tdpong tawar.

Come, O Teacher clever, bring the flour neutralising.

Mdnawar dalam urat.

To- neutralise /a/n in the sinews.

Besisi Inwalling Charm (*'P£ndinding").

Ta' Krusau, Batu Putih, Batu Ladun tinggi,

Ta' Krusau, on Batu Putih, on Batu Ladun lofty,

Tijak ha-rumpun sdrai,^ tijak Alu Bfisi.*

/ tread upon the grass citronella, / tread-upon the Pestle ^-Iron.

Pendinding Shetan bage kla* ^ tekim,*

As an inwalling against devils divers and foul,

Chabut gunong tujuh, m^ndinding Ida* Shetan.

/ uproot the hill-crags seven, to inwall me against the devils.

Blah rotan sa-labu,^ sa-blah jalan hantu\

/split rattan one-length, on-one-side proceed ^^, O demons,

Sa-blah jalan-ku.^

On-the-other proceed-I.

Lengkong kawan lengkong trang.

Be your rampart, friends, a rampart ^ light. ^

Lengkong 'ku lengkong g'lap.

Be this rampart ^mine a rampart ^ darkness.^

Description of the House of a Besisi Chief. *»

Plung *® lantok kdpong,

Its roof was bark of the kdpong tree^

Dinding daun b^rtam,

Its walls ^leaves of the h^rtAm J>a/m,

Lantei batang bdrtam,

Its floor the stems of h^rtam palms,

^ Doubtless in allusion to the legend goats, pestle and mortar, and how a

oftheseven clumps of magic lemon-grass similar fate befell one Dato' Antan

(citronella), which are believed by the B&i (Chief of the Iron Pestle), and how

Malays to grow on the peaks of some ** the Iron Pestle and Stone Mortar

of the highest mountains in the Penin- are still to be seen, it is said, at Gunong

sula. The exact sense of **Ta' Kru- Angsi," between Rembau and S-

sau " is not clear, but it may be con- Ujong.
nected with "krusau," the cry of the 3 =«<Pula'."

mouse-deer, v. p. 643 ante, * = ** Nejis.

* "Alu b^si" ("Iron Pestle") clearly * =Bes. "chong mui pontong"

refers to some special geological feature (" pontong," however, is also Malay),
on this hill, similar to, if not identical ^ =Bes. "dnglang chok hantii%

with, the Antan Besi (also=**Iron £nglang chok oyn."
Pestle") of Malacca tradition, cp. ^ Lit, visible.

Hervey in Man, 1904, 14, where we * Lit, dark,

are told how Dato Saiyld Itam's ship ^ See p. 188 supra,

was turned into stone, with his fowls, ^^ Lit, leaves, thatch.

BESISJ MAXIMS 685

Tihang long loyi*.

Its posts of the trunk of the loya*.

Nakeh dung Batin Suntai.

Such was the house of Batin Suntai.

Dooh-gendeh s^milan, di sen-dooh Kalih.
At the rivers nine, on the upper Kalb.

Bantal-nya banir diyan.

Pillow-his was a buttress of the durian tree.

Soi daun lemba'.

And his mat the leaves of the lemba*.

Hdndi lantok tfrap.

His clothes were ^bark of the t6rap tree,

Nakeh unang silah-silah.

Such are the laws of the genealogy.

Tali tdmbaga' di-atas batang.

Like a wire <?/* copper stretched over a tree-trunk.

Silah di-bawah batang.

iVhilst the genealogy is below the tree-trunk.

Diyan tembi' * ; kenen k^tok ^ •

If it is a durian it will rot ; if it is too slender it will snap ;

K£t6k bok ' ; chidut kach&m ^ ;

If it snaps you can bind it ; if it spills you can dig it up.

Sih teiong*; bfidok bit.«

If you lose t^, look-for i/y if it drops, pick j/ up c^ain.

Besisi Specimen, believed to be an Improvisation.

T^long pleh s*ari tanam.^
Look-for fruit in one-day planted.

T^long pleh s'ari buah.
Look-for fruit in one-day fruiting.

Nakeh te' To' Klana\

That is the land ^To* Klana.

Dooh-gendeh met s^milan ;
The rivers of the springs nine ;

Nakeh p^chah-pichlt

Thence we broke and scattered

Ka-laut ka-darat.
To-///^-sea and to-M^-land.

Ulu Kalis ^ t^mpat p^muka*.

Ulu Kalis is the place which was first cleared.^

1 Mai. ** kalau durian, timbus." ® One of the nine streams: it is

* MaL "ginting putus." mentioned in the Siamang song.

* Mai. ** putus berubong.** *• Ulu '* means the headwaters or upper

* MaL " tumpah gali." part of the course of a river.

* Mai. "hilangchhari." » /.^. for habitation. Mai. "buka,"

* MaL " chichir pungut." is so used of establishing new settle-
7 Bes. " p€tom." ments, sc, by clearing the jungle.

686 APPENDIX

Nakeh-leh pdchah-pichit
Thence we broke and scattered

Mdnjadi rayat bawau.

To become the subjects of the sea.

Mdnchari hal-hldup tibu-tibar.

To seek a livelihood in scattered parties.

Jet hal chim, nakeh b^dok ha-bawau.

Those who followed matters </birds,^ they fell to the sea.

M^nchari hal ka*-untong.
And sought matters y5v profit

M^njadikan kinchu kinchet.

And begat grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

'Lor ha-bawau susor ngot

They moved-out to the sea cmd skirted it not

Mdnjadi kaidah * suku waris.'

But became by division tribes and Yitvc^-o/'the-soil,

M^njadi kftok.*

And became broken-up.

Bftsisi "Trumba.'**

Tribal Song of Origin,

'Gobang Gubin Buluh BohaJ.
Gobang Gubin Buluh Bohal.

Tanah Jati, tanah Hendau.

The coimtry ^Jati, the country of the Endau.

Tdrjatoh • ka-tanah Johor Lama*.
IVe come to-/i4^-land of ]ohox old.

Tengki-tengkel J^ram Lama*.
Tcngki-tengkel Jtram old.

Naning Naneng ^ Batin Baruis.

At Naning Naneng was Batin Baruis.

Batin Banggai-punya* asal.
Batin Banggai-his origin-tvAr.

Bukit Nuang, Bukit Galah.
,Bukit Nuang, Bukit Galah.

* Because birds were more plentiful lines except where indicated by the
on the coast than inland. brackets. Each line is, however,

2 Or assigned to. nevertheless complete in itself; that

5 In the Negri Sembilan the Malay is to say, where there are two or

Waris, or "heirs of the soil," claim more place-names occur in a line, they

descent in the female line from always come together and in the order

aborigines. given, it being only the order <rf the

4 I.e. divided. lines that varies (except as indi-

* As to these genealogical and tradi- cated). * Lit. fell upon,
tional songs and sayings, see vol. ii. p. ^ Qu, the Malay form of the name
164 seqq. and notes thereupon. There is + the B6sisi form : cp. " tunm chdlui "
no settled order in singing these on p. 687.

BESISI SONGS OF ORIGIN 687

Bukit Gentel Batin Mar&.

At Bukit Gentel was Batin Mar&.

Punya' asal [kdna] Batin Mar&.

Its origin was [because of] Batin Mar&.

Batin Barai [k€na] Batin Barai.

And Batin Barai [because of] Batin Barai.

Batin Suntai [k^na] Batin Suntai.

And Batin Suntai [because of] Batin Suntai.

Turun chdlui Batin Galang.

Went-down and descended Batin Galang.

Tolak ka-laut, jadi rayat laut.

And pushed seawards, and became Subjects of the Sea.

Rayat laut jadi Bajau.
Mnd the Subjects of the Sea became Pirates.

(Sdlayan Batang Niyu,
At Sfilayan was [Batin] Stem of the Coconut-palm.
Sdlayan Batang Pinang.
At Sdlayan was [Batin] Stem of the Areca-palm.^

Cherteng Perteng Tagun Br^go.'*

H^ith Cherteng, Perteng, Tarun, Bergul.

Tunggul-si-Jagi* di-hulu Langat.

And the ** Stump-of-the- Watcher " on-the-upper Langat.

Ching B^ranang Pfijam Gebok.^

fVith Ching, Beranang, P^jam, Gebok.

Langkap B^ijuntei, Bangkong Menggoh.

The Langkap-palm overhanging attd Bangkong Menggoh.

Bangkong Gadeng, Kfichau, Langlang.
Bangkong Gadeng, Kechau, and Langlang.

1 Unexplained. But in the Kenaboi first three were explained as being

dialect **s6nayan" or **sdnoyon*'= near Ulu Klang (S^langor), Gebok,

coconut palm, and also banana. See, and the next two as near Ulu Sungei

however, vol. iL p. 166, n, i, and ib, Ujong. (It appears from the map

p. 167, n, 9. that Beranang and Gebok (or Geboh

^ Tarun and Bfrgul, on the border as the map spells it) are places quite

of the Ulu Langat district of S^langor close to the present frontier of Sungei

and Sungei Ujong. Ujong and Selangor). **Bt. Tunggoh

' Compare this with the following S. Jaga" also marked on the map in

string of place-names, which according that region. Bukit Putus is close

to my Malay informant, one Mamat to Tfibong, a Malacca border village 5

of Jus in Malacca territory, constituted Paya Luas near Mantai ; Bangkong

the old boundaries of the countries of Chondong just under Mt. Ophir.

Naning and Muar (round Malacca M^r^bau Saratus lies between Mt.

territory) : — Chang, Beranang, Pajam, Ophir and Kuala Kdsang (which is at

Gebok, L^bah B5rgoyang, Tunggu present the boundary on the sea

B^rs^jaga, Bukit Putus, Paya Luas, between the territories of Malacca and

Bangkong Chondong, M«JrCbau Saratus, Muar). Tanjong Gading is in Muar

Kuala Kesang, Tanjong Gading. The territory. — C. O. B.

688 APPENDIX

Batujamun, Batu Lalau.

The Rock ^ Jamun, and the Rock of Lalau.

Pra' Charek, Batu Bdrgentel.

Pra' Charek, and Batu BergenteL

M^rbau Karawang, tdijatoh Ayer Tawar.

Merbau Karawang, till you come to Ayer Tawar.

L^bah Bdrgoyang, B^rtam T^nung.

The Bees'-nest that-sways, and the B^rtam-palm solitary.

"Ginting Pauh, Lantei Nibong.

The Divide of the Wild-Mango, the Flooring of the Nibong Palm-wood
Lalu ka-bukit P^rentian Rim pun.
And pass to the hills of the Halting-place umbrageous.
Lalu ka-bukit P^rentian Tingi.
And pass to the hills of the Halting-place lofty.
Lalu ka-tanjong Batu Bdrdaun.
And pass to the cape of the Rock leafy.

Sumah muka* Tanah S^mujong ? *

Who opened-up theAasid ^S^mujong?

Adik Nyai Techap Penghulu Klambu.

Little-Sister Nyai Techap and the chieftain Mosquito-curtain.

Samah muka' Tanah Semujong.

Together opened-up the land of Semujong.

Lep baju jala' juanda'.*

They who donned ^ the coat casting-net-j^/n/ became Men-of-the- Bodyguard.

M^njadi Jeb4h* Rdmbau,

Became the Foreigners of Rdmbau.

Lep baju blah chakap sisi\

Those who donned the coat divided speak B^sisi.

BfiLANDAS OR B'LANDAS SPECIMENS.'^

The B'landas Trumba.

Among the Blandas of Selangor I only succeeded in unearthing a few scraps
of their <* trumba" or genealogical songs, in spite of the ^t that the old Bcsisi
man who gave me the B^sisi version declared that the latter was borrowed from
the BHandas. Hence the only version which has any sort of completeness about it
remains that obtained from the Bdsisi. What scraps I could collect, however,
among the B'landas had the merit of agreeing pretty well with the B^sisi version.
As a genera] rule, however, the B'landas appear to have embodied the facts they
wanted to remember in maxims and proverbial sayings rather than songs, and
these latter will be found to corroborate the '* trumba."

* I.e, Sungei Ujong, a state of the of a non-Malayan element I may add
Negri S^mbilan. that there is little appreciable differ-

5* I.e, B^duanda or Biduanda, now ence in pronunciation between " B€lan-

a tribal name common to Malays and das," '* B'landas," and even "Blandas,"

aborigines, but here applied to Malays. beyond a slight dwelling on the "Bl,"

* Lit, entered. * I.e, MaJays. which disappears when the word is

* It will be noticed that all the spoken quickly. The word, therefore,
specimens that follow are almost purely may be pronounced " Blandas," the
Malayan: even B^sisi is largely so, technically correct spelling "Belandas"
but Belandas shows hardly any traces being misleading to an Englishman.

BLANDAS MAXIMS 689

One of the scraps obtained from the BMandas consisted of the usual string of
place-names, which ran as follows : —

J^ram M^rensing di-ulu Langat,
Kichau, Langlang, Gubang, Gobeng,
Mdrbau B£rkrawang, Bangkong Gadeng,
Pdjam, Rebok, Ranching, Bdranang,
Lfiba' Bfirgoyang, Bdrtam Tfinung.

The first of these lines is not in the B^sisi version. The rest arc identical.

B'LANDAS Traditional Sayings and Legal Maxims.

1. 'Adat tingal de* Batin Tangong Gagah.

The custom bequeath^/ by Batin Tanggong Gagah.

Di-bukit bukau, gaung, gxmtong.

Over hill and foot-hill, cavern, and tarn

Latih-kan jalan, lorong-kan 'adat,

Yoic^your path, make-a-channel^^ ^^^t/r customs,

Sdkoi yang b^releh, wans yang k^dim.

For tke millet that wastes-away, for the Waris [Heirs] that are now.

2. Singah Batin Jinang

Tarries the Batin and the Jinang

S^ngan pasang j^na'.
As-fer-as the flood-tide full (?).

Batin bukit makan atas gunong.

The chief of the WHW-men feeds upon th. crags.

Ulu Langat p^rentah dia.

The Upper Langat is domain his,

Gharu dia p^gang,
Eaglewood he holds,

Gadong los chdrok bijeh lumbong.

As well as wild-yams, los (?), ch^rok (?), ana tin-sand of mines.

Birah makan dia,
Wild-aroids eats he,

Gdtah taban, rotan dia pegang.
Gutta-percha taban, and rattan he holds.

3. Batin Laut yang ampunya

// is the Batin of the sea /<)-whom-belonging

Layer nang mdng^lembong,
The sail that bellies,

Dayong nang kirap,
TTie oar that swirls,

Laboh sauh, bentang kajang,

To drop the anchor, to spread the awning,

Tfibas t^bang, m^nchhari ikan,
To clear and fell, to hunt-for fish,

Buat b^lat, m^nikam paru
To make fishing-stakes, to stab the sting-ray.
VOL. I 2 Y

690 APPENDIX

4. Unang di-atas baUng,

The laws are on'the-Ko^^of the tree-trunk.

Silah di-bawah batang,

The genealogy underneath the tree-trunk,

Unang Pelima Raja yang pdgang.

The laws of the P€lima it is the Raja who holds.

5. L^ba* bdrgoyang onak yang mfruntai.

Where the boes'-nest sways, afid the Wait-a-bit-creepers that have fkllen-down.

Ayer yang meleleh, kasai yang bdrtaup,

Among the streams which trickle, and the Vzssl-trees that grow-t<^ther.

Kang sUddngkang bunyi katak,

y/«flf croak-croak-croak is the cxy of the frog,

Ginting di-turut angin,

Where the Divide is ioWo^ed-through by the wind,

Lorah di-turut ayer.

And the valleys are ioWovtt^-through by the streams,

T(impat rinchah-rinchahan Batin Jinang.

Is the place of the splash-splashing of the Batin andymsjig,

Gobang Gubin Buloh Bohal,
Gobang Gubin Buloh Bohal,
Mdlengkong Pulau P^rcha,'
Encircling the Island of P^rcha,
Lilit Pulau Mdngkabau,'
Surrounding the Island of Mdnangkabau,
Jatoh ' ka-tanah Pagar-Ruyong,*
We happened on-/^-land of Pagar-Ruyong,
Jatoh ka-tanah Jati,
We happened on-/Atf-land ^Jati,
Jatoh ka-Tanjong Pagar,
We happened on-Tanjong Pagar,^

Jatoh ka-tanah Johor Lama.

We happened on-/^-land ^ Johor Lama.

To' Bombong* muk&' aye Sdmilan.

To' Bombong opened-up the Nine Streams.

Batin Chap, Batin Maruis,

With Batin Chap, and Batin Maruis.

Batin Lengges, Batin B^reh,
Batin Lengges, a»^ Batin B^reh,

Batin Kantun, Batin Galang,
Batin Kantun attd Batin Galang,

To* Klambu, Gendeh Beoi,

The Chiti of the Mosquito-net, o/f^ Granny Beoi,

Batin Minah, Batin Wat.
Batin Minah and Batin Wat.«

1 Sumatra. before his installation ('*b£lum di-

2 Districts in the upland country of lantik **). " Galang " = ** M€nk
Central Sumatra. Galang."

• Lit. fell. * At Singapore. ^ Altogether there were said to be

^ This was the name of To* Klana twelve (jf these Batins.

BLANDAS SONGS OF ORIGIN 691

Kata andang : —
Says the Law : —

Bdtasap batang pinang,

Where thick grow the stems of the betel-palms,

B^tasap batang niyu,

Where thick grow the stems of the coco-palms,

M^lempei daun pinang,

Where wave the leaves of the betel-palms,

Mflempei daun ni)ni,

Where wave the leaves of the coco-palms,

Mfimuka' tanah S^hnujong,

There was opened the land of Sungei Ujong,

Kan wakil mata Sdmilan Suku,

For authority over the springs of the Nine Clans,

M^mangku n^gri ampat

// is maintained by the countries four,

Nating yang ampat suku.

And sustained by the Four Clans.

Mdnempoh ka-Ginting Bidai,
77uy struck Ginting Bidai,

M^nempoh ka-Ginting Naning,
They struck Ginting Naning,

Mdnempoh ka-Batang Labu,
They struck Batang Labu,

M^nempoh ka-Gendeh Beoi,
They struck Gendeh Beoi,

Pulang ka-nt^ To' Bombong,

And returned to the country of To' Bombong,

Lantik To' Bombong To' Klana,
Was-installed To' Bombong as To' Klana,

M^muka' tanah Sdmujong,

And opened-up the land of Sungei Ujong,

Batin Galang turun ka-laut,
Batin Galang descended to the sea,

Turun ka-laut jadi Bajau,

Descended to the sea and became a Pirate,

Gendeh Beoi d^ngan Batak G^rodok,
And Granny Beoi with Batak G^rodok,

Turun ka-Rawang naik darat.

Descended at-Rawang astd there went ashore,

Kawang kCchU Rawang b£sar.

At Rawang the little, and Rawang the big,

J^ngku kechU jengku b£sar.
Ancestors little and ancestors \Ag.

692 APPENDIX

Proverbial Sayings, etc.

Rimau m^ngaum di-ujong tanjong,
The tiger roars at-the-end of the cape,

Gajah mdraung di-atas gunong,

The elephant trumpets upon the crags,

Gajah b^rentak sfmatang panjang,

The elephant drums-upon the knoll that is long,

Gajah t£r-dorong tiga' ddpa',

The elephant whose stride is three fathoms,

B^rapa' kuat gajah [dan rimau], kuat lagi ungka'.

No matter how fast the elephant [and the tiger], fast^ yet is the ape.

2. Chinchang-kan, bdlandas,

If you chop-at anything, you want -something to-strike-upon»

Lompat-kan, tumpu,

If you leap, you-must-have a taking-off- place,

Buat sfkat lean pdndapat

If you make a comb you shall get (plenty ?).

Usui asal jangan di-tinggal,

Your b^^innings and origin do-not-let be-desert«</,

Jangan lupa' kapada' bilang.
Do-not forget this in the telling.

Charm ("KftMAx") for catching Monkeys.'

Gogul k*ra gogul.

Enchant (?) the Monkey, enchant him,

Gogul-ku, ai ! semangat lotong, k'ra', wa'wa*.
£nchant-I, oho ! the souls ^lotongs [kra, etc.].

Kalau ta* turun, makan benturun,

liyou do-not descend, you shall be e&ten by the bear-cat»

Ta' datang, makan binatang.

If you not come, you shall be devoured by beasts.

Jangkit kayu l^mperai.

As tips-up the tree "lemp^rai,"

Duduk sama* lemp^raL
Settles-down even-so the "Icmperai."

Jangkit kayu kumbang.

As tips-up the tree " kumbang,'*

Jalan kau menumpang.

Proceed you by means of lodging,

Berjalan juga' mui dayang tada' guna'.

For proceeding moreover one handmaid is-not sufficient.

Kalau gogul turun juga*, munyit, semangat kau.
If enchanted descend then, O monkeys, soul your,

= K6mat {Mai. " hik'mat **) lotong. As to this charm see p. 215 supncu

BLANDAS MAGIC 693

S€mangat-kau munyit.
Soul your, O monkeys.

Bukan ayer £mbun tunin,

It-is-not water ofd^y/ that descends,

Aydr mata siamang, k'ra, lotong, yang turun.

// is water of the eyes ^siamang, kra, lotong, that descends,

Sdmangat-mu dayang yang turun.
Soul-your, O handmaiden, that descends.

Jalan-ku sep^rti tunggul,
Walk-my like a stump,

Jalan-ku sSp€rti batang,
Walk-my like a tree-trunk,

Jalan-ku s^perti mayang-mayang kilat.
Walk-my like shadows ^lightning.

Mata'-kau mdmandang aku gdlap sSp^rti rabun,
Eyes-your looking-at me be darkened as-if with fumigation,

Aku lalu jangan kau m^mandang aku.
As I pass, do-not you look-at me.

HONEY-COLLECTOR*S CHARM TO QUIET THE BeES (CALLED "JeRMAL
TfiBUL," OR THE TRAP (?) OF THE WiLD BEES).^

Mung, mung, mung, siamang bulan,

' Mung, mung, mung,' ay the apes moon-white,

Tdlasih, tdlaga', batu.

The apes ^ Basil, Well, and Rock.

Mari-lah mSndntang bulan,
Come-^'tf-hither to confront the moon,

Tundok sayang ka-pada' aku.
Obey and show iou^^ness unto me.

Tundok kasih, tundok sayang,

Obey and show affection, obey and show (onAness^

Sayang, gendui, kapada' chuchu.

Show fondness, grannies, unto your grandchild.

Anak chuchu 'nak b^lajar

Your grandchild desires to learn [how to make ?]

Tikar purun d^ngan * gendui.

A mat ^rushes with^<7«, grannies.

Datang gendui d^ri sdbrang laut,
Come-hither, grannies, from beyond the sea,

Datang gendui d5ri s^blah gunong,

Come-hither, grannies, from beyond the hill-crags,

Datang gendui buai-bdrbuai.
Come-hither, grannies, swaying-to-and-fro,

Anak chuchu 'nak bdlajar

Your grandchild desires to learn [how to make ?]

* As to this charm see p. 230 et seg,, supra, ' I.e» from.

694 APPENDIX

Tikar sambang d^ngan ^ gendui

A mat of-deserted-^^«*-i£«Jp with you^ grannies.

Tundok gendui kapada' chuchu'.
Obey, grannies, unto your grandchild.

Rice Ceremonies (" MfiNfiTAU ").'

Daun duk, daun s^limbar,'

Leaves of the krCduk (?) palm, leaves of the s^limbar,

Puchok kayu jurei-b^rjurei,

Shoots of trees dangling-and-dangling,

Jurei sampei ka-tanah,

Dangling so as to reach to-the-ground,

Aku m^ngundorkan jdmbalang tanah.
I drive-back the spirits of the soiL

Shiah kiri, shiah kanan,

Avaunt to the left, avaunt to the right,

Aku nak mdnumpang sini.
I desire-to lodge here.

Nak tanam padi kladi pisang.

/ desire to plant rice, yams, bananas.

Datang de' gaung, datang de' guntong.

Ye who came from the hills, ye who came from the tarns,

Minta* undorkan j^mbalang tanah.

/ request you to-retire, ye spirits of the soil.

Charm for invoking the Rice-soul at Harvest ("Panggil

SfiMANGAT padi").

Puan-puan * 'tina', puan-puan jantan.
Rice-boats female, rice-boats male,

Kur sdmangat 'kau.
Cluck, souls of you,

Anak muda', anak jantan,

Child {i.e, girl) young, child male,

'Nak bawa' ttrkendongkan ka-rumah.

We wish to bring you slung-at-our-waist homewards.

Sdmangat Padi S'lotan, Borak, Jambi,

Souls <^Padi {of the kind called) S'lotan, Borak, Jambi,

S^mangat Pulut, Jagong, Pisang,

Souls ^glutinous- Rice, Maize, Bananas,

Kita bawa* naik ka-rumah.

We bear you and climb-up to-/^-house.

Jangan tidor dalam tanah.
Do-not sleep within the soil,

' I.e. from. embah" ("akar") Uncaria scltro-

* For this and the next charm see phylla, Roxb. {Huhtacea:), a large wild

PP- 358, 359 supra, gambier.

^ According to Klinkert, a big * A rice receptacle used at weddings,

climbing parasite. Ridley has **s£l- etc

BLAND AS MAGIC 695

Man tidor dalam klambu*.

Come-bither and sleep within the mosquito-curtain.

On reaching the house say "Datang" ("We are coming"), to which the
people in the house should answer " Datang-lah " (" Come hither then \ ").

Charm for Exorcism ("Bft rs aw ai*'=-5«. "BfiRSALONo" or **Tisi*").*

SatG', dua*, tiga'/i^Lt, lima\ nam, tujuh !
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven !

L£pas k^pala' tujuh !
Let-go heads seven !

S^mangat di-bayang-bayang jangan l^pas.
But the soul coming-a/f£/-going do-not let-go.

Hantu shetan biar l£pas.

The Demons and Devils let go.

De' dalam urat, dalam dageng

From within the sinews and within the flesh

Tijuk * siyau, tijuk dingin.

Be cold what was hot, be cold and cool.

Turun segala' bisa', naik tawar.
Descend all Venoms, ascend Neutralisers.

Aku m^nawar sdgala' bisa*.
I neutralise all Venoms,

Naik tawar.
Ascend Neutralisers.

Charm used by the B'landas of Kuala Langat in the B£rjin
Ceremony.

O Guru sdkdlian Guru,

spiritual-guides, all spiritual-guides,

B^sar kdchi* tuhah muda*.
Big and little, old and yoxxvig.

Sah3ra' minta' tolong ubat,

1 ask-for assistance m-medidne,

Sakit dalam urat.

For sickness in the veins,

[Dalam tulang, sdndi, nyawa*].

In the bones, joints, or spirit [as the case may be"].

Charm for the Cramp (called " SfiMUT Buta* "). ^

G^r^mbak g€r£mbai,
G$r$mbak gerCmbai,

1 For this and the next charm see **s£mut-an Buta"= giant's or ogre's

voL ii. p. 296. ^ =Mal. **s£juk." cramp, i,e. cramp caused by an ogre

' For this charm see vol. ii. p. 297. or giant which is believed to feed upon

There seems to be some play on, the victim. The charm opens as if

or confusion between the expression referring to ants, but ** lahang Buta* "

" ataiut buta' " = *• blind ants,'* and can only refer to the giant (" Bota ").

696 APPENDIX

Juntei kayu ari^

Hangs-down the tree "ficus."

Panjang janggut, merah mata'.

Long too is your beard, ^ scarlet ^'^wr eyes.

Labuh ' unta'-unti'.

Hanging-downwards in tatters.

Buat-apa' budak bawi', patah manau,'

Wherefore do you children bring t as I snap this rattan,

Mdrosoh mdlasah lahang * Hantu,

{Eifen so) broken and damaged be your jaw-bone, O Demon.

Lahang buta' k^tutS' k€tuti',

Your jaw-bone, O Giant ,

B«si k^tok, bdsi kling,

Like iron that is hammered (?), iihe iron of the Klings,

M^rosoh m£lasah lahang Hantu, lahang Buta'.

Broken and damaged de your jaws, O Demon, your jaws, O Giant.

Tawar aku m<inawar lahang Buta'.

Neutraliser my neutralises your jaw, O Giant.

Bukan aku-punya' pSnawar,

// is not my-own Neutraliser,

Malim Putih-punya' p^nawar,

// is Malim Putih*s-own Neutraliser,

Lahang Buta\

For the jaws 0/ Giants.

Charm against the ««Hantu Uri" (Caul Demon).^

Puchok salak, puchok ranggam,

Shoots o/the salak, shoots of the ranggam,

Uri jala*, uri lagam,

Caul lihe a casting-net, caul iihe a horses bit (?),

Uri berikat, tJrbuka* uri.

Caul that art bound, be unloosened, caul.

Uri t£rtambat, tirbuka' uri.

Caul that art lied-up, be unloosened, O caul.

Uri bdr-simpei, tl-rbuka' uri.

Caul that art noosed, be unloosened, caul.

Uri b^r-sauh, tdrbuka' uri.

Caul that art anchored, be unloosened, O caul.

Oi Jin mdnumpang, t^rbuka' uri.

Ho Jin that lodgest here^ be unloosed this caul.

Oi Jin Shetan, t^rbuka* uri.

Ho Jin and Devils, be unloosed this caul.

Oi Jin Rimlxl*, t rbuka' uri.

Ho Jin from the Deep-forest, be unloosened this caul.

^ I.e. feelers (if applied to ants). beard, hanging downwards in tatters

^ The expression (1. u.) was ex- (i,e. * elf-knots').'*
plained as = like cobwebs ("sarang ' =Mal. "rotan manau."

laba-laba"). Probably the right read- ♦ =Mal. "rahang."

ing is ** Scarlet your eyes, long too your ^ For this charm see voL ii. p. 15.

BLANDAS MAGIC 697

Oi Jin Batu Pdr'pat, tdrbuka' url

Ho Jin Jrom the Rock ^ Pfir'pat-trees, be unloosened this caul.

Oi Jin Bukit Ari', tdrbuka' uri.

Ho ymfrom the Hill ^ficus-trees, be unloosened this caul.

Oi Jin K<5mpas, t^rbuka' uri.

Ho Jin from the Kempas-tree, be unloosened this caul.

Uri ' Hantu Laut,
CsLul'spirit, Demon o/the Sea,

Uri p^tir kilat, ujan banchi, ujan rinye.

Ctiul'Spirit that earnest from thunder, lightning, rain that drizzles, rain that
mizzles.

Uri pulang ka-Malim Putih, Malim Sidi.

O Cknl'Sfirit, return to- Malim Putih, Malim Sidi.

Bukan aku m^mbukft' uri,

// is not I who unloosen this caul,

Malim Putih Malim Sidi yang bukS,' uri.

// is Malim Putih and Malim Sidi who unloosen this caul.

Blandas Charm against the Bajang.'

Hum Bajang^ langhwi,^
OM, O Bajang Langsuir,

Mati-anak asal jadi.

A Stillborn-Child is the origin j'^tm sprang-from.

Bajang langhwi,
O Bajang Langsuir,

S^pah pinang Baginft^ Ali.^
Quid ^betel-nut <yBaginda AIL

Blandas Charm against the Langsuir (**SfiRAPAH Langsuir ").<^

Langhwi,^ Langhwa.
Langhwi, Langhwa.

Paroh sapdngctop.*
Your beak is stumpy.

Bulu kain chindai.

Your feathers are cloth ^silk.

* Explained as =<' Hantu Uri, yang these tribes. Cp. Bes. **sapet" =
makan darah ibu di-jilat" The caul " hapet," the flying-fox ; Bes. ** soroh "
has different names according to its =<<horoh," old or aged; and many
shape. other examples.

' For this charm see vol. ii. p. 14. ^ This last line is obviously due to

' ** Bajang '*=« Mai. "bajang** (a Mohammedan influence, doubtless

demon, as to which see Skeat's Malay derived at second hand through the

Magicy p. 321 seq,), Malay.

* "Langhwi" is the Blandas and * For this charm see vol. ii. p. 13.
Besisi form of Mai. <* Langsuir* {ibid, ^ Mai. " Langsuir.**

p. 325 seq,). The initial **s'* of a * Explained as = "pandak*

syllable is often turned into " h '* among (stumpy).

698 APPENDIX

Mata' mata' saga'.

Your eyes are eyes of the crab's-cye-bean.

Tungkul pinang muda*.

Your heart is an areca-nut young.

Darah bdnang chayar.

Your blood is thread watery.

Urat bdnang bulang.

Your veins art thread for-tying-on-<:<?r<4/-j/«rj.

Tulang ranting aur.

Your bones are twigs of the giant-bamboo.

Ekor kipas China*.

Your tail is a fim ^ China.

Turun bisa',* naik tawar.

Descend venom, ascend Neutraliser.

Tawar dalam tulang, tawar dalam urat

Neutralise venom in the bones, neutralise it in the veins.

Tawar dalam s6ndi.
Neutralise it in the joints.

Tawar dalam rumah, tawar dalam utan.

Neutralise it within the house, neutralise it in the jungle.

Turun bisa', naik tawar.

Descend venom, ascend Neutraliser.

Kunchi Langhwi.
Lock-up-M^ Lang-suir.

Turun bisa', naik tawar.

Descend venom, ascend Neutraliser.

Charm for expelling the Pontianak (a Demon).*

Pontianak mati b^ranak.
Pontianak that didst die in-birth.

Mati di-timp&* tambun tambak.

Die and be-crushed beneath the embankment of the roadway.

Kalau damak panjang pandak.
Whether the dart be long or short.

Akan mdl^mang-kan Pontianak, Jin Langsuir.

Let it serve for cooking the Pontianak, and the Demon Langsuir.

Diam Pontianak di-puchok kayu.

Dwell, O Pontianak, xH'the shoots ^ trees.

Diam Jin di-sakat.

Dwell, O Jin, in the epiphytes.

Jangan m^numpang Langsuir
Do-not lodge here^ O Langsuir.

Jangan mdnumpang Jin.
Do-not lodge here, O Jin.

* Le, pain. 15. As to the Pontianak in Malay super-

' For this charm see vol. iL pp. 14, stition, see Skeat's il/a/a^ J/<]^V, p. 327.

BLAND AS MAGIC 699

Jangan m^numpang Pontianak.
Do-not lodge hert^ O Pontianak.

Jangan m^numpang Hantu Rimb&\

Do-not lodge hercy O Demon of the Deep-Forest.

Jangan mdnumpang Hantu Utan.

Do-not lodge here^ O Demon of the Jungle.

Hantu utan pulang ka-utan.

Demons of the Jungle, return to the Jungle.

Hantu Rimba* pulang ka-rimlMl'.

Demons of the Deep-Forest, return to the Deep-Forest.

Blood-throwing Charm.*

Oi Hantu P^mburu,
Ho, Demon Hunter,

Ambil darah sa-chupa*,
Accept ^ blood one chupa',

Gnlei d^ngan ch^ndawan.

And cook it with your mushrooms.

Jangan-kau bum sini.
Do-not you hunt here.

Buru-kau panchu wali.*

Hunt you in the marsh ^ All (?).

Buru-kau panchu mahang.^

Hunt you in the marsh of the mahang trees,

Anjing-kau Tampoi.
Dog-your is Tampoi.

Anjing-kau Koing.
Dog-your is Koing.

Anjing-kau Sukum.
Dog-your is Sukum.

Anjing-kau Langsat.
Dog-your is Langsat.

Sentak pisau katok,

/ draw-forth my knife for-chopping,

Nak m^ng'rat akar tawar.

In-order-to sever the Creeper Neutralising.

Nak m^ng'rat akar kadam.
In-order-to sever the Creeper Big.

Nak m^madam Hantu Bum.

In-order-to extinguish the Demon Hunter.

Jangan b^rbum sini,
Do-not hunt here,

* For this charm see vol. ii. p. 297. is told to go and hunt in the forest of

» Sic, ? " panchur Ali." Ranchak Mahang ; see /. R, A, S.,

' In a charm i^inst the Spectre S, B., No. 7, p. 17 (reprinted in

Huntsman used by Malays in Perak he Skeat's Malay Magic, p. 1 1 7).

700 APPENDIX

Pdrgi balik ka-t!mpat asal-kau,

But go back Xxi-the place of origin-your,

Di panchu Ali.

In the swamps ^ All

B*LANDAS Charm for exorcising the Polong.^

Fatah pahat, patah p^dah.

Broken is the chisel, broken the adze-helve.

Patah m^mahat batang t^lentang.
Broken in chiselling a tree-trunk supine.

Patah ra'ang,' patah lidah.

Broken be your jaw-bones, broken your tongues.

Aku mulang orang ^ datang.

As I go-back, so do you come-forward.

Datang de* laut, pulang ka-laut.

Ye who come from the-sea., return to-/^-sea.

Datang de' gunong, pulang ka-gunong.

Ye who come from the crags, return to-/^-crags.

Datang de* tanah, pulang ka-tanah.

Ye who come from the-eaxth, return to-/^-earth.

Asal m3njadi hantu polong.

Such your-ongin, O demon " polong."

Charm for exorcising the Pawul (a Kind of Grave-Demon).^

Puchok ulan daun ulan.

Shoots ^convolvulus, leaves i^ convolvulus.

Gintas ^ sa-panjang lantei
Brush-past at-length-^ the-fioor,

Sa-bulan dua bulan

One month and two months

Shiah^ kiri, shiah kanan.

Avaunt to the-Xtii-hand, avaunt to-the-nght-hand.

Sial aku, Pawul bangkei.
Fatal be I, Pawul de carrion.

B*LANDAs Charm for Protection against Tigers.

Trong wet, trong wau.'
Trong wet, trong wau.

Sangkut tunggul mulang-mulang.

Be stuck <zm^fi^-/^-stumps going-to-cmd-fro.

» For this charm see vol. ii. p. « " Shiah '»=Mal. "Siah."

14. ^ ** Trong wet, trong wau." I could

^ ** Ra*ang" = MaV "rahang." get no proper explanation of this, but

' Lit, people. the words appear to be onomatopoetic,

* As to this charm see vol. ii. p. probably intended to represent a tiger's

105. growling. The rest of the charm is

^ •* Gintas "= Mai. **m*lintas." clear enough. See vol. iL p. 294.

BLAND AS MAGIC 701

*M«rati aku sudah dliulu.
Weight-giver of-me has-been-ftf/*£/ first.

Rimau punan kdpala' orang.

O tiger, go-craving-for the head of Somebody,

B£rat-lah kaki gantong bumi.

Heavy-^^wr hind-feet hung-about-with /A^-earth.

B^rat tangan, gantong batu.

Heavy-^ ^<7Mr-forepaws hung-about-with rock.

Tujoh lapis di-hadap aku.
Seven folds be in-front of-me.

'M6rat aku sudah d*hulu.
Weight-giver of-me has-been-jaw/ first.

A Second B*landas Tiger-charm (apparently consisting of a
Couple of Stanzas of the Malay "Pantun" Type)."

Tambakau g03rang-go3rang.

The tobacco-plant waves and waves.

Aku tanam di-ruang batu.

I planted it in-a hole of the rocks.

Tepok, tarek tali.

Clap, and pull the string.

Bage bulan dinding de' mata-hari.'
As-when the moon is fenced-off from the sun.

[Aku] minta ayer sa-gayong.
[I] ask-for water a-ladlefiil.

Sa-gayong t^pi p'rigL

A-ladlefiil from the side of the well.

Aku b^diri sap^rti payong.^

May I stand-here zs-xi protected by a»-umbrella.

Bagei anak bidadari.

Or like a-child of-the- Fairies.

1 "M€rat," contracted from Malay ^ xhe allusion is, of course, to the

" P^mb^rat," as was explained to me belief that the sun is desirous of de-

at the time. It means^ literally " weight- vouring the moon, which, on the

giver " ; and hence, technically, a occasion of an eclipse, he is believed to

«• weight - giving charm," which it is be actually attempting to do.
the oQect of the threatened person to * ** Sap^rti payong," I take to be

repeat before the tiger can get at elliptical for " sap^rti orang di-payong-

him. kan." The object of this part of the

* As to this charm see vol. il p. charms appears to be to secure the

295. invisibility of the speaker.

702 APPENDIX

Si Nibong.

A B*Umdas Story,^

Tihang nibong, atap nibong,

Its posts were ^nibong, its thatch <^ nibong,

Lantd nibong, ting^ kampong.

Its floor ^nibong, deserted is the village.

Tinggal kawas Busu Baba*,
Deserted the holding of Busu Baba'

Bujang Sfmangan tinggal kachip

And Bujong S^mangan, deserted the betelnut-scissors

Tujoh biji, tinggal pinang

Seven in-number, deserted the betelnut-trees

Tujoh batang, tinggal sirih

Seven in-number, deserted the betel-vines

Tujoh junjong, dalam kachip

Seven in-number, in the matter ^betelnut-scissors

Tujoh kachip, dalam pinang

Seven betehiut-scissors, in the matter ^betelnuts

Tujoh biji, pinang sSluang,

Seven seeds, ^betelnut {of the kind called) siluang^

Dalam sirih tujoh lei ;

In the matter of the betel-leaves, seven leaves ;

Buat kachip taring p^landok.

Made were the betelnut-scissors of the eye-teeth of a mouse-deer.

Kata' adik Bujang S^hnangan.

Spake the younger-brother Bujang Shnangan.

Buka* kfetika* lima* * abang.

Open the Times Five elder-brother.

Kita jalan ka-kampong orang.

We wiU go to-M«-village of certain people.

Baju di-masok kain b!lum.
Coat he had put-on, skirt not-yet.

Sapu-tangan b^lum saluar b.^lum.
Headcloth not-yet, trousers not-yet.

Kata' Bujang S^mangan simpolan
Said Bujang S£mangan a headcloth

Sutra' muri sa-ratus sambilan puloh
Cysilk the finest one-hundred and rimtXy
Lima' ringgit hdrga-nya.^

And five dollars the price of it.

^ This fragmentary tale was collected ^ I.e, the Malayan diagram of divina-

firom an old Bisisi man called B^doh tion (or magic squares), to ascertain

at Sepang K^chil. He said that it was the auspicious hour for starting on the

in reality a Blandas story, and that no journey. See Skeat, Mai. Magtc^ pp.

doubt accounts for its being almost 555 seg,

purely Malayan in language. For a ^ K /.adds" regi-nya" (the Blandas

summary of it see vol. ii. p. 312 ^/ seq, form) following the Malay "herga-nya."

BLAND AS STORY OF SI NIBONG 703

Abang b^langak ka-n^gri orang.

Do you brother go to-/^-country of certain people.

Bawa' p!dang sapu-laman.

Take^^r sword the ** sweeper of the courtyard."

Bawa' k*ris sapu-rantau.

Take^^wr kris the "sweeper ^river-reaches."

Biar baik, jangan bSri loroyt.^
Let all be v/tW, do-not give trouble.

Antarkan kami, tukang Jinang,
Guide us, O craftsman Jinang,

Jalan ka-rumah Jukrah tuhah.

To go to-/^-house ^/A/ Jukrah aged.

T^ngah jalan Petri Adah.

Half way {they met) Princess Adah.

P^tri T^pong kakak-nya adik-n3ra,

And Princess T^pong elder sister and younger sister,

M^ntri ad&' antar Petri

A Minister there-was escorting the Princesses

Jalan ka-rumah Jukrah tuhah.

To go to-M^-house of the Jukrah aged.

Simpang limft* ka-kampong bunga'.

By the cross-roads five to-/A^- village of flowers,

Simpang lima ka-pulau buah.

By the cross-roads five to-/A/-isle ^ fruit.

M£n:^pat rumah Jukrah tuhah
Opposite the house of the Jukrah aged

Limau abong limau pagar.

Grew the limes called abong, the limes called pagar.

Sampei ka-rumah Jukrah tuhah,

IVhen they reached to-M^-house of the Jukrah aged,

Di-habu hangat anjing bangkang.'
By-/^-ashes hot was a dog savage.

Mintd' ubat padi m^ntri.

They asked-for medicine from the minister.

Ad&* ubat ambun batu,^

He had medicine the dew of the rock,

Nak m^nyampak habu hangat
In-order-to cast-on the ashes hot.

Nak mdnempoh anjing bangkang.
In-order-to strike the dog savage.

Sampei ka-rumah Jukrah tuhah.

So they reached to-ZA^-house of the Jukrah aged,

^ Explained as = Mai. **lorat"(from according to the B^sisi it also means

Arab. **tharurat"?) used in the sense "lying down" or "crouching" (Mai.

given above, sed qucere, " baring ").

« Perhaps = Mai. "bengkeng." But ^ Or "dew-like stone" {i.e, hail?).

704 APPENDIX

Tidor di-rumah Jukrah tiihah.

^iwf slept at-/A«-house of the Jukrah aged.

T€ngah malam Patri T^pong

Half through the night the Princess Tipong

Tidor samft' abang Nibong.
Slept with brother Nibong.

Besok pagi abang Nibong
Next-morning early brother Nibong

Ada' tingal Petri Tdpong.

Has deserted the Princess Tdpong.

Tahi mat&* sa-k£dang tungku,

The droppings of her eyes were as-big-as fire-stones,

Tahi gigi sa-kedang dapor.

The scourings of her teeth as-big-as the hearth.

B^layar laut pulau Bdrapi,

They * sailed to the sca^ of the Island Fiery,

Kanchang jong di-sakat pulau Kddong,

And swift was their vessel till it grounded on the Island ^Kedong,

Itu-lah sa-b£lah Uut Pahang.
That-is beside thestBiof Pahang.

B'LANDAs Charms according to Vaughan-Stevens.^

First Birth- Charm,

Oong ooree moolah ooree-atas bukit rumput labas dee-chabut bloong-tuk
bloong-penowar menowar beeser ooree nike towar toorun beeser ooree.

Ung uri mula uri atas bukit rumput l^pas (?) di-chabut

Om ! placenta original placenta upon the hill grass loose is-pulled out

bilang terbilang' penawar menawar bisa uri naik

saying and saying the neutraliser neutralises the venom of the placenta rise

tawar turun bisa uru

neutraliser descend venom ^placenta.

Second Birth-Charm.

Galoogal pasal lintang patar loong-soo laloo kattak trcejun larbie mtmkar
teejak manow leechin booloot poolang kar lumpoo penang poolang kar-ragung
seeree poolang kar-ragung chaboot beeloontok beeloon towar menowar beeser
ploosoo.

Gelugor pasal ^ lintang patah bungsu lalu

G^ugor and pasal be crossed and broken wh^n youngest-bom (?) passes

^ I.e, Si Nibong and his brother. first Vaughan-Stevens' spelling, and then

* These are given on pp. 143-152 mine, with suggested emendations,

of the first part of the " Materialen * This very doubtful phrase recurs

zur Kenntniss der Wilden Stiimme auf elsewhere, v, infra^ pp. 714, 715.

der Halbinsel Malika" {Veroffenti. *** Gelugor" is a kind of sour wild

/i^nigl. Mus.f. Volherh., Band n, He[t mango. "Pasal," Ardisia odonto-

3-4 = **Vaughan-Stevens,ii."). I give /^^//fl, Wall. (A^jiWat).

INVOCATIONS 70s

kacak t^rjiin labi mungkir tijak manau lichin bdlut pulang ka-

frog jump-down tortoise refuse to step-on rattan slippery eel back to

lumpor pinang pulang ka-ragong chabut bilang t^rbilang tawar

mud areca-nut bock to calyx(?) extract t/ saying and saying neutralise!

mdnawar bisa pdlusoh.
neutralises venom ^loosener.

Farewell to the Dying.

O matee matee-lar jangghan ingart lagee bapi moiee soodara nenek moyang
nn'ang matee assing pergee nn'ung heedup mencharee makun.

O mati mati-lah jangan ingat lagi bapai

O dying -one, die indeed ! Do not remember more your fether

moi sudara nenek moyang nang mati asing

mother brothers grand&thers great-grandfisLthers iei thetn who are dead apart

p^rgi nang hidup mdnchari makan.
go who are living seek food.

Charm of the Necklace.^

Oong matee matee-anak, matee timpah tannah tamoon tamok apa asal kow
minyaydy hantoo darrar orang matee brannok eetoo asal kow minjraydy matee-
anak dee tebing, poolang kar tebing matee-anak batoo ampah, poolang kar batoo
ampah. Chaboot boolong took-towar nenowar hantoo matee-anak toorun beeser
matee-anak nike penowar akoo.

Ung mati mati-anak.
Om ! Die O Matianak !

Mati timpah tanah tamun tamak.

Die, crushed by the earth heaped on the roadway.

Apa asal kau mdnjadi ?

What is the origin of thy being ?

Hantu darah orang mati b^ranak,

Demon of the blood of a person dead in-childbirth^

Itu asal kau mtojadi !

That is the or^^n ^thy being.

Mati-anak di-t£bing, pulang ka-t£bing.

Matianak oi the river-bank, return to the river-bank.

Mati-anak batu-ampa*, pulang ka-batu-ampa'.
Matianak of the rock-bed, return to the rock-bed.

Chabut bilang t£r [bilang 7\ tawar mdnawar hantu mati-anak.

Pluck -out saying and saying neutralise and neutralise the demon Matianak.

Turun bisa mati-anak !
Descend venom of the Matianak !

Naik p^nawar aku !
Rise neutraliser mine I

^ This is evidently an invocation vocation is supposed to give the neck-

against the Pontianak demon, against lace the power of an amulet : see

whom the necklace is presumably in- p. 153 supra^ and Vaughan-Stevens,

tended to protect the wearer. The in- ii. 145.

VOL. I 2 Z

7o6 APPENDIX

Charm used when clearing Jungle for Planting

O hantoo teeap goontong teeap poolang chaharoo hantoo sebooroo akoo
nn'ok-natow nin tannah. O eetoe powang naing brimpat akoo mintar padar
powang naing brimpat akoo nn'ok-natow nin tannar ; bree seejok dallam badan
iangghan rosak, jangghan benassar dallam badan bree seejok dingin dee dallam
badan akoo inee.

O hanta tiap guntong tiap,

demon every ^tam every.

Pulang chahari (?) bantu s^buru.
Return seek the demon huntsman.

Aku 'n&k natau nin tanah.

1 want to clear this land.

O itu pawang neng b^rdmpat.

those magicians the four.

Aku minta* pada pawang neng bdrimpat.

1 ask ^magicians the four.

Aku 'n&k natau nin tanah.
I want to clear this land.

B£ri sijok dalam badan.
Give coolness within body.

Jangan rosak jangan binasa dalam badan.
Do-not ruin do-not destroy within body.

B$ri sijok dingin didalam badan aku ini.
Give coolness cold within body mine this.

Charm used before burning the Felled Clearing.

Ah keelat dee langit dee boohoomey akoo nn*ok lepas brangsong apee nn'ok
bakkar oomar akoo mow mangil powang naing brimpat akoo mow mangil angin
toojoe penyuroe toojoe sepangkat mangil angin pooting bleeong.

Ah kilat di-langit di-buhnmi,

lightning in the sky on the earth,

Aku 'n&k Idpas b^rangsang api,

1 want completely to-kindle fire,

'N&k bakar huma.

Wishing to bum the clearing.

Aku mau mangil pawang neng b^rSmpat.
I wish to call magicians the four.

Aku mau mangil angin tujoh pinyuru tujoh sapangkaL
I wish to call wind seven comers seven in-a-row.

Mangil angin puting bdliong.
Call the whirlwind.

Charm used at the Rice-sowing.

O partree dong heetam bertapar dee lowt annam boolan inee sayar mow
mangil tannam padee sar-gringam sar-jumpoot nike-lar be-iatus be*rebus be-
koyan.

MANTRA MAGIC 707

O Patri Dang Hitam bdrtapa di-laut I

O Princess Dang Hitam that dwellest-as-a-recluse in the sea !

Anam bulan ini saya mau mangil.

Six months these I wish to call thee.

Tanam padi sa-gdr^nggam sa-j^mput.

/ ani planting rice a-handfiil a-pinch.

Naik-lah b^ratus b^ribu b^koyan.

Let-it-arise a hundredfold a thousandfold by-/^-ton.

Charm used before reaping the Rice.

Yang minyooling meelakkong yang bootar mee-addap akoo lak-nowi, padee
toojoe tanki meeambee smunghut padee bawar poolang kar roomah. . . . Akoo
nn*ok mesar hantoo tar keesar.

Yang mSnyuling milak&ng yang buta mi-adap.

Thou that squintest turn -thy -back to me, thou that art blind turn -thy -face

towards me.
Aku nak (?) nuai padi tujoh tangkai.
I wish to reap rice seven stems.
Mi-ambil s^mangat padi bawa pulang ka-rumah. ...
To take the soul 0/ rice and bring U home to-zA^-house. . . .
Aku 'n&k misar ' hantu takisar.
I want to turn-off demons haunting.

LOGAN'S MANTRA OR MENTERA^ CHARMS.
Pendinding.3
[The Pendinding or In- walling charm is to protect us from various dangers.]
Hong ^ kachula katumbo bis! ^ kanduri iang limu kahutSn katungalan * aku

^ Probably = Mai. **m6ngisar.*' own scheme quite consistently, mixing

* In the original, "Mintira." These up the long and short vowels pretty

magic formulae, the translation of which frequently. He also constantly puts t

will be found in vol. ii. of this work, on for y (as in Iang), and n for ng (as in

pp. 329-333, are here given in Logan's ankau).

original spelUng, with the slight modi- In view, however, of the fact that

fication noticed below. The key to it, these charms are not in standard Malay,

as given on p. 39 of vol. i. of the but in the patois or dialect spoken by

Journal of the Indian Archipelago, is the Ment^ra (with the phonology of

as follows : a (as in iiEir) ; <z (as </ in which we have but an imperfect

tub) ; e {fi& ey'm. they, or a in dare) ; acquaintance), it has been thought best

/ (as ee in see) ; i (as in pin) ; ei (as i to adhere to the original spelling,

in pine) ; J (as in no) \ H {zs 00 in merely pointing out dialectic peculi-

room) ; t/ (as in bull) \ eu {2& u m arities and giving an approximate

user or eu in eulogy). Malay version, and equivalents where it

Logan's (') accents have for con- seemed desirable. Some passages are

venience been turned into (~) in the unfortunately corrupt or untntel%ible.

present reprint. So that his scheme, ^ J. I. A. i. 309.

theoretically, is much the same as the ^ Logan's note on this word will be

one used elsewhere in this work. As found on p. 329 of vol. iL

a matter of fact, however, Logan, be- * The meaning of the next five words

sides confusing d and /, printing both is very doubtful, and the text may be

/, habitually puts i for /, while his ei corrupt,

is really at, and he does not use his ^ From **tungal"( = Mai. "tunggal").

7o8 APPENDIX

ti'dinding ^ bitu ^u bluring dedinding bum! tl^p bertarip tutop angm salagoci
lean lawiUiku sanUl sabut didalam gantong klam kabut ind,ta orang miniDgo aku
dating klam kabut pllmun aku mallmun siklian muso sitruku lawanku guru sidik
turun berdoa Sku mlDginakan doa pllmun siklian mata muso sitrukan lawanku.

Suggested Malay Version.

Hong, kachula katumbo' b^si kanduri (?) yang'elmu ka-hutan ka-tunggalan, aku
t£r-dinding batu, aku boring di-dinding bhumi, tiarap-bir-tiarap, tutop angin sela-
guri 'lean lawan-ku, sentak sabut didalam gantong klam kabut mata orang mte-
dngo' aku datang klam kabut p^limun aku m^limun sikSliaa musoh s^tru lawan-ku
guru sidik turun b^rdua aku meng^nakan do^ p^limun sdkftlian mata musoh s£tni
lean lawan-ku.

Pbndinding.

Heh pisamin namanla bis! aku diam dalam kindang maleikat sablas diklriku
aku diam dalim kandong kandang maleikat sablas dikanan ko aku diam dalam
kandang maleikat sablas diblakang aku, aku diam didalam kandang m^eikat
sablas diadapan ko temiaia Mahamad mangklU^ aku temiaia bulan bintang
matahirljikalau tida timiaii aku pun tida temiaii dan temiaia bomi dan linglt
mengkal ^ aku pun temiaia jikalu tida temiaia bomi dan langit aku pun tida
temiaia temiaia mayat didalam kubor mengkal * aku pun temiaia birkat dekabul
kan doa guruku kafKlda Iku kabulkan Mahamad kabulkan baginda rasul Allah
maka kabul Sku memakei doa saribu niawa tidala aku temiiia saada^ lang
bemlawa diatas dunia ini.^

Malay Version,

Hei, Pisamin nama-nya b^si, aku diam dalam kandang malaikat siblas di-
kiri-ku, aku diam dalam kandong kandang malaikat s2.blas di-kanan-ku, aku diam
dalam kandang malaikat siblas di-blakang-ku, aku diam didalam kandang malai-
kat sablas di-hadapan-ku ; t£r-an3raya Muhamad maka aku tdr-anyaya, bulan
bintang matahari jikalau tidak t£r-anyaya, aku-pun tidak t^r-anyajra, dan t^-
anyaya bhumi dan langit, maka aku-pun t£r-anyaya, jikalau tidak t$r-anyaya
bhumi dan langit, aku-pun tidak t^r-anyaya, birkat di-qabul-kan do^ guru-ku
kapada aku ; qabul-kan Muhamad, qabul-kan Baginda rasul Allah, maka qabul
aku m^makai do& sa-ribu n3rawa, tidak-lah aku tdr-anyaya sa'-ada yang b^r-nyawa
di-atas dunia ini.

Pengaseh.

[The Pfogasih is a charm to make others love us.]

Minia 3.ku sidayong - dayong, aku tuang depanchur, aku tiga aku sepirt!
p§yong, aku beijalln lebeh der! ana segal^ manusia, berkat aku memkkei
pengaseh, habis kaseh seg^a manusia iang kaki dua beijari lima, usakan antara
manusia selangkan rumput ranting kayu kayan bom! dan langit tundo kaseh sa'-
ada tundo sdyang tundo gimar pada aku juga.*

** solitary.^ These dialects often have must be recollected, is spoken in the
a nasal for the nasal -f- sonant of the villages of the inland district of Mai-
Malay equivalent. See charm called acca, of which the M^ntdra frequent
"Chucha," iw/^a, x.z/. "engang." the jungles). * Mai. "maka."
* Logan translates wrongly, ** I am * Apparently = ** sd -h ada " = ** all
not walled " : it should be, "I am there are " ; cf. the next charm,
walled in" : ** ta'." = Mal. ** ter-" here ♦ / /. A. i. 309, 310.
(as in Mftnangkabau Malay, which, it ^ Ibid, 310, 311.

MANTRA MAGIC 709

Malay Version,

Minyak aku si-dayong-dayong, aku tuang, di-panchur, aku t^gak, aku sip^rti
payong, aku bdr-jalan Idbeh d£ri anak s^^sda manusia, bdrkat aku m^makai
pengasih, habis kasih s^gala manusia yang kaki dua ber-jari lima, usah-kan
antara manusia selang-kan rumpnt ranting kayu-ka3ni-an bhumi dan langit tun-
dok kasih sa-ada tundok sayang tundok gemar pada aku juga.

PiMANIS (PfiMANIS).

The Pem&nls (from m£n!s, sweet) renders the person using it universally
agreeable.

Pucho piminls diun pim&nls, aku titas sambll berl&r!, dudu pun aku terlalu
minis, berdlri pun aku terlalu mSnIs, mfinis dipfind&ng segalS m&nusi& berkftk!
duft berj&rl lima sepirti bulan dangan mltahari, terlalu minis memandang chl]al
muki aku, birkat aku make! doa plmanls nil chayia manls d! muka Iku.^

Malc^ Version,

Puchok pemanis, daun pemanis, aku t^tas sambil ber-lari, dudok-pun aku
tSr-lalu manis, ber-diri-pun aku t^r-lalu manis, manis di-pandang s^la manusia,
bir-kaki dua, ber-jari lima, seperti bulan dangan matahari, ter-lalu manis mdman-
dang chahia muka aku, birkat aku m^makai do'a pemanis, naik chahia manis di-
muka aku.

PaNUNDO (PfeNUNDOK).

The Penundo* secures submission from others.

Piku ' rondo, paku rindl, Iku littl didalam sib!,' Iku dudu dlllm orang fing
b&nia, aku jugl mintlra^ ling libbeh rlsul Allah, mellkukan Iku simbileh
minimi ^ mimu, Iku dudu seglll minusll ling bemllwa Ibes ^ tundo, tundokan
Alllh, tundokan Mohamad, ditundokan biglnda rusul Alllh, birkit aku memlkel
doa pinundo Iku nundo^ segala minusll, berkaki dul beijlr! Uml, kibulkan
Allah, kibulkan Mahamad, kibulkan biglndl rasul Alllh, kabulkan Iku memlkel
dol pinundo Iku memldip tuntong ^ beijiwa seglll manusia berkaki dul berjirl

Malay Version,

Paku rondo', paku rendah, aku l^tak di-dalam sibai, aku dudok dalam orang
yang banyak, aku juga mentara yang l^bih rasul Allah m^laku-kan aku semb'leh
m^nama (?) mamu (?) aku dudok, segala manusia yang b^r-n3rawa habis tundok,
[di-]tundok-kan Allah, [di-]tundok-kan Muhamad, di-tundok-kan Baginda rasul
Allah, berkat aku memakai do*a pinundo', aku nundok[-kan] segala manusia
ber-kaki dua, ber-jari lima, [di-]qabul-kan Allah, [di-]qabul-kan Muhamad, [di-]
qabul-kan Baginda rasul Allah, qabul-kan aku memakai do'a penundo* aku m^ng-
adap t^tang [yang] b^r-jiwa s^da manusia, [yang] b^r-kaki dua, b^r-jari lima.

1 /. 7. ^. i. 31 1. » Mai. " habis."

« "Paku" = "nair' (as Logan in- ^ From tundo (MaL «*tundolc"), ap-

terprets it), or perhaps more probably parently by nasalisation of the initial ;

'• fern." the form, being seemingly passive,

8 Mai. **sibai." can hardly be for "mcnundo" (Mai.

* Mai. "s^mentara" ; cf. next charm. "menundok").

* Interpreted by Logan as = Mai. ^ Mai. "tentang."

** yang bcrnama," sed qtutre, ^ J. I. A. i. 311, 312.

710 APPENDIX

Chucha.
The Chucha causes enemies to lose their strength and be humiliated.

Siluso p&d&ng sil&sS

Sillglb&t&ngsul&seh^

Mints tutop h&ti lang gusSr

Mints buk& hati ling kisih

Aje eje eche echS *

AnS iSl&ng tumbo delimba,'

Aku jehet * aku depuji

Aku s&lSh Sku disumbSh ^

UsSkan samantSra manusU

Berk&k! dufi berjSri limS

Sidangkan g&jS putlh

Gija bling s&br&ng liut

Songs&ng bulu songs&ng gading

SongsSng bulel ^ songsSng kaki

SongsSng tangan songs&ng urat

Songs&ng d&ging songsing dar&

Tundo minlumba killngking kSki kirlku,

Minis Sku terkilang turun dipanjuru l&wing *

AnS ngang ® diujong bulo

Aku jolo dangan timlSng

MatShari terkilek diklning aku

Simut periring diblbir aku

Chucha Allah chuchS Mahamad

ChuchS baginda rasul Allah."

Malay Version,

Selusoh padang strlasa, Seligi batang s^lasih, Minta* tutop hati yang gusar,
Minta' buka hati yang kasih. Aje eje eche echa ! Anak lalang tumboh di-
lembah, Aku jahat, aku di-puji, Aku salah, aku di-s^mbah. Usah-kan saman-
tara manusia, Berkaki dua berjari lima, Sedang*kan gajah putih, Gajah blang
sebrang laut, Songsang bulu, songsang gading, Songsang bdlalei, songsang kaki,
Songsang tangan, songsang urat, Songsang daging, songsang darah, Tundok
m€ny£mbah[-kan] kelingking kaki kiri-ku, Minya' aku ter-kilang (?), turun di-
pCnjuru lawang, Anak enggang di-ujong buluh, Aku [mcn-]jolo' ddngan temiang,
Matahari ter-kilek di-k^ning aku, S^mut ber-iring di-bibir aku. Chucha Allah !
chucha Muhamad ! Chucha Baginda rasul Allah.

* Mai. <*selusoh,''meansa specific for * Probably misprint for '^disimbah **
alleviating the pains of labour. Mai =Mal. **di-sembah" ; so too infra^
"selasih" is the plant called "Holy ** minlumba. '*

Basil." « Mai. "bulaUi," or ''belalei."

2 This line is unintelligible and 7 xhe word "ISwSng" («*door ") is
probably not intended to convey any given in Malay dictionaries as being
meaning : perhaps the words are mere from the Javanese ; it is not com-
variations on the word ** chucha." monly used in the Peninsula, I believe.

3 Mai. "dilcmbah." ^ For **engang," Mai. "^i^ang."

* Mai. "jahat": the vowels are These dialects pretty frequently have a
characteristic of Mentfira and the other nasal only, where Malay, etc., have
Jakun dialects. I believe the e has nasal + sonant : e,g, •*henSk" = Mal.
the "open" sound, ue, a (in such "h^ndaV"; and in the first charm,
cases where Malay has a), at any rate supra^ " Katungalan."

in the first syllable of the word. ^ J. I. A, i. 312, 313.

MANTRA MAGIC 711

Pencata Lida (P£matah Lidah).

The Pemata Lida is a prayer for rendering enemies speechless.

Pinang kring pinang kotei

Dibilft ^ dikaki gaja

Dara jantong aku konchi tulIngnU aku pata-pata

Heh Allah Heh Mahamad Heh Baginda rasul Allah

Minta kabulkan d(^ pemata lida

Aku matikan ^ lida muso sitru lawanku

Limah ^ ankau krasla aku

La illaha ilallah berkat aku memakel doa pematil lida.^

Malay Version,

Pinang kring, pinang kotei, Di-blah di-kaki gajah, Darah jantong aku
kunchi[-kan], tulang-nya aku patah-patah[-kan]. Hei Allah ! Hei Muhamad !
Hei Baginda rasul Allidi ! Minta' qabulkan do'a pdmatah lidah, Aku m^matah-
kan lidah mnsoh sitru lawan-ku. Limah angkau, kras-lah aku. La illaha
ilallah, birkat aku mimakai do*a pimatah lidah.

Pebinchi

The Pebinchi (from binchi, hatred) is used to excite hatred in the object of
affection towards a rivaL

Pucho pebinchi daun pebanchi ^ aku rintas tujo tankeh tujo le ® aku gunting
tujo kali aku mounting "^ hati ana sidang siano Itu, ankau ^ memandSng siano itu
bagimana angkau memandang habu,' bagimana ankau memanding {Miya, dudu
ankau binchi, tidor ankau binchi, berjalan ankau binchi, makan ankau binchi,
mandi angkau binchi, minum ankau binchi, kormeimei ^^ ba3rang siding siino itu,
sampei ti^ hari putus binchi ankau melihat pada siano itu, memandang aku
sa'orang terlampau manis b&gi angkau memanding Ung berchiiS. muka aku dua
bias hari turun matahari sama turun smangat ankau nal matShari sama nEi
smangat siano Itu. '^

Malay Version,

Puchok pimbenchi, daun pimbenchi, aku rintas tujoh tangkai, tujoh *lai, aku
gunting[-kan] tujoh kali, aku minggunting hati anak sidang sianu itu, angkau
mimandang sianu itu bageimana angkau memandang abu, bageimana angkau
memandang paya ; dudok, angkau binchi ; tidor, angkau binchi ; bir-jalan,
angkau binchi ; makan, angkau binchi : mandi, angkau binchi ; minum, angkau
binchi. Kur, mari-mari, bayang sidang sianu itu, sampai tiga hari putus binchi,

1 MaL "di-bilah." 8 Wrong spelling for *♦ angkau,"

* Mai. **patahkan": Mintera, like Mai. "ingkau."

some other Malayan languages, appar- ^ It is characteristic of these dialects

ently sometimes forms verbs by nasal- to pronounce an initial k- in words

ising an initial tenuis ; but this form where Malay no longer pronounces it

may be an abbreviation of **mimatah- even though preserving it in writing,
kan." w=Mal. "kur," the word used in

' Mai. ** limah," weak or feeble. calling poultry and in addressing the

^ y. /. A. i. 314. soul (as a bird) in charms, and Mai.

* Misprint for " pebinchi," ?1^. ** pi- **mari," the Mintira equivalent for
binchi," Mai. "pimbinchl" which is "mai" (in our spelling; =

« Mai. " hilai, lai " ; or «« lei." « mei " in Logan's).

7 Mai. " minggunting." ^^ /. /. A, i. 315.

712 APPENDIX

angkau melihat pada sianu itu ; m^andang aku sa'-orang t^r-lampau numis
bagei angkau m^mandang 3rang ber-chahia muka aku duablas hari ; turun
matahari, sama turun sdmangat angkau ; naik matabaii, sama naik semangat
sianu itu.

Pbbinchi.

Pucho beruwang ruwang disilang daun pebinchl Iman pujo bawa pulang had
didalam terlalu binchi ankau berdiri binchikan siano Itu, ankau bexjal&n
binchikan siino Itu, ftnkau tldor binchikan siano itu, usakan samantara man-
usia ddangkan rumput ranting ka}ni kayan lagi h^bis binchikan manding siano
Itu, turun ch&hi& p&d& muk& iku jik&l&u berch&hi3. m&Iam berchihit mnki
si&no Itu jek&lau tikdS berch§hi§. malam tiida berch&hi& muka siano Itu aku
tuninkan minl& pem§nis aku naikan doll pebinchl binchikan segala um&t s^ala
manusiS turunlft pemanis si&no Itu n&i doH pebinchl dimukft si&no itu babes binchi
sikili^ I&ng bemi&w§, memanding muki si&no Itu mening&r sw2ra siano itu.^

Malay Version,

Puchock biruang-ruang di-selang daun pdmbenchi iman pujo' bawa' pulang
hati didalam terlalu binchi angkau b^rdiri b^nchi-kan si-anu itu, angkau b^r-jalan
benchi-kan, si-anu itu, angkau tidor benchi-kan si-anu itu, usah-kan sem^ntara
manusia, s£dang-kan rumput ranting kayu-ka3ni-an lagi habis benchi-kan m&nan -
dang si-anu itu, turun chahia pada muka aku, jikalau berchahia malam berchahia
muka si-anu itu, jikalau tiada berchahia malam, tiada berchahia muka si-anu itu, aku
turun-kan minjra' pdmanis, aku naik-kan do'a p^mbenchi, benchi-kan s^la umroat
segala manusia, turun-lah pemanis sianu itu, naik do'a p&nbdnchi di-muka sianu
itu, habis binchi sek^Iian yang b^r-nyawa, m^mandang muka sianu itu, m^nengar
suara sianu itu.

Tankal* Tikam Gaja.

(A spell used when about to attack an elephant.)

Hong ! gampah badi, gamp3h dah chimfirong,' dah chimukar,* sib§ kiri,
sib& kan§n, aku membuang b^di gampah ^j& mengugnot* gaj§ mengubang,
mengub&ng dis&br^g d&nau, prio mendide blanga mendide sabrang tanjong, sibi
kiri, siba kanan, sib3. kumbang ^ badi nene, aku melepask&n jari tangan.^ ^

Malay Version.

Hong, gdmpar badi, gempar 'dah chimarong, 'dah chimukar ; sibar [ka-]
kiri, sihar pca-]kanan, aku membuang badi, gdmpar gajah, mdngangut gajah
mengubang, m^ngubang di-scbrang danau; prio' mendideh, blanga mendideh
sabrang tanjong ; sibar [ka-]kiri, sibar [ka-]kanan, sibar pca-]kubang (?) badi
nene' ; aku melepaskan jari tangan.

Tankal Tikam Gaja.*

I&ng nene kapada aku, iang aku kapada nene, bau aku b&u ayer, bau aku bdu
daun, bau aku bau tana, bSu aku bSu nene, bau aku bSu kubang, santap simpolan

* /. /. w4. i. 315, 316. s Logan translates " go 10 the water-

* Wrong spelling for **Tangkal vtsstX^'' sed quare. Perhaps it is for
Tikani Gajah." Mai. "kubang," the "wallowing hole "

s These words are obscure. of big beasts such as elephants and

* Misprint for " mengungot " s= Mai. buffaloes.

" mengangut " (?). « /. /. A, i. 316.

MANTRA MAGIC 7i3

pinang ku, mintong hidong nene, k&ki ta'&nket ^ kftki brfit, tingan ditating tfingan
br&t, bSgi digantong bfitu b&l&, bSgi digantong tamp&yun,^ bergrg b&tu, skmk
bergr& tang&n nene, bergrS. s&m& bergri t&li prut niimbut jiri tang^ chuchu
nene.'

Malay Version,

YaDg nenek k&pada aku, yang aku k^pada nenek ! Bau aku, bau ayer ;
bau aku, bau daun ; bau aku, bau tanah ; bau aku, bau nenek, bau aku, bau
kubang. S£ntak simpolan pinang ku, mantong hidong nenek ; kaki t€r-angkit,
kaki brat ; tangan di-tating, tangan brat, bagei di-gantong batu b'lah, bagei di-
gantong tempayan : bergrak batu, sama bergrak tangan nenek ; b^grak, sama ber-
grak tsdi prut, [m^-nyambut jari tangan chuchu nenek.

Tankal Ribut.

The following is a tdnkdl or charm to allay storms : —

Rambong per-rango'on batong g&j& men&ut gdji mangobang mengobing
sabrang Uut sii kiri si& kanan, aku kamb^g ribut. ^

Malay Version,

Rambong p^ranggo'an batang, gajah mdnaut (xiV, ? melaut or m^gangut),
gajah m^ngubang, mengubang sebrang laut, siah [ka-]kiri, siah [ka-]kanan, aku
kembang (?) ribut.

On entering the forest the following tdnkdl is repeated : —

Sib§ kiri, siba kan&n, seg&lll muso sitru l&wUnku minta bu^ng pandangan padft
aku, aku berj&lto sa'orang juS..^

Malay Version,

Sibar [ka-]kiri, sibar [ka-]kanan segala musoh s^tru lawan-ku, minta' buang
pandangan pada aku, aku ber-jalan sa'orang jua.

Charm against the Hantu Saburu.

Apa nama ankau anjing Sokom nama ankau anjing it§m n&ma tuhanko ^ ayer
nama tu^ko riddang nama tu&nko ut&n pos pigi Siikau pulang bawei ^ finjingku ^
pulang, apd diburu sini tada babi tadi rusfi ditutup lobang idong kftbau idong
suda ku doi bau ku bawa angin lalu.^

Malay Version,

Apa nama angkau ? Anjing Sokom nama angkau, anjing Itam nama [ang-]-
kau, Ayer nama tuan-kau ! R^dang nama tuan-kau, utan pos (?) p^rgi angkau

1 Logan here again wrongly translates ^ Mai. ** tuan-kau."

«* ta' " (which = Mai. ** tdr-") as a nega- ^ Mai. " bawa." The form is char-

tive, and (what is worse) as a prohibi- acteristic : cf. «* bapai " for Mai.

tive : cf. the first charm. **bapa." But (conceivably) "bawei"

The vowel in the final syllable is (i.<r. **bawai")is for **bawa-i," with

characteristic : cf. "jehet," supra, the transitive affix, sed quare,

2 Probably a misprint for **tempa- * Mai. **anjiBg-kau." The dog's
yan." name, Sokom, is that of one of the

^ /, I, A, 316, 317. Wild Huntsman's dogs, as known to

* Ibid, 317. the Malays — v, Malay Magic ^ p. 593.

^ Ibid, ^ /. /, A, i, siS,

714

APPENDIX

pulang bawa anjing-kau pulang. Apa di-buru sini? Tada babi, tada rasa,
di-tutop lobang hidong-kau, bau hidoDg sudah-ku do'a, bau-ku bawa angin
lalu.

Tankal Kapielu.

Hong pielu ^ inula pielu terbang jabnt biluntok bilum ^ tawar, aka membuang
tawar pillu dikapala aku membuang di^tas kapala ilang pi^lu ^ mtnta buang diatas
kapala.*

Malay Version.

Hong [ka-]pialu, mula pialu, terbang chabut biluntok bilang {or ? bilang
tirbilang) tawar; aku membuang tawar [ka-]pialu di-kapala aku, membuang
di-atas kapala, bilang [ka-]pialu, minta buang di-atas kapala.

Tankal Kambong.*

Hong^ jiwa mula jiwa ji^ sheitan suda aku tawar jiwa tompang suda
iku tawSr jiwa tftkina^ suda aku tawar aku membuang jiwa kras smangat
ankaula smangat jiwa bangket bunkar segala jiwa dalam prut dalam badan
terbit lanchang aku memalang segala jiwa.^

Malay Version,

Hong dewa, mula dewa-dewa, setan sudah aku tawar, dewa tumpang sudah
aku tawar, dewa tir-kena sudah aku tawar, aku mdmbuang dewa k'ras sdmangat
angkau-lah simangat dewa bangkit-bongkar segala dewa dalam p'rut, dalam
badan tdrbit lanchang (?), aku m£mbalang sdgala dewa.

Charms used by Mentera in Rice-cultivation.

(L)9

Uma pemuka mulut pemuka aku buka-la blia di-ilir dibila ole blia aku
membuang seitan jato bliinto bulum ko taw^ &ku membuang bisa seitSn mintil
bu&ngkan mints. jSukan seg§li seitan. ^^

* These two mysterious words occur
in Vaughan-Stevens' charms, p. 704 «.,
supra ; and also in a slightly different
form in the first of the Mentera charms
used in connection with rice-cultivation,
infra, Logan here translates **b. b.
tawar" **uncharmed biluntok,'* what-
ever that may be, and the version in vol.
"• P* 333» assumes "biluntok" to be
the name of a shrub, and ** bilum" to
represent MaL " bilang " ; sed quare,

3 [Sic,-] ^J.I.A. i. 318.

s Mai. "kembong."

* See note on p. 329 of
vol. ii.

7 Mai. "terkena."

^ J. I, A. i. 318. Logan's trans-
lation, on which the version given in
vol. ii. p. 333, is founded, assumes
that "jiwa " = Mai. "jiwa," "life."
But this b at least questionable, as is

also the translation of "memalang"
( = replace), which is probably MaL
" m^mbalang," " to throw away," and
"jiwa" may be for ".dewa," in the sense
of "spirits," in this case maleficent
ones. If so, the meaning would be :
" Om ! ye spirits primeval, spirits and
devils ! I have counteracted the spirits
that lodge, the spirits that are incurred ;
I cast out the spirits that are hard of
heart. Ye souls of the spirits, arise
and come forth ! all ye spirits within
the belly, within the body, come out
forthwith ! I cast out all spirits ! "

^ Used to charm the uncleared spot
selected for clearing with a view to
planting rice there. A translation is
given on p. 366 of this volume, differ-
ing somewhat from Logan's. Both are
doubtful.

10 /. /. A. i. 320. For " bliinto " v,
n. 2 ante.

MANTRA MAGIC

715

Malay Versicn,

Kama (?) pimbuka mulut, pdmboka aku, buka-lah blia (jfV), di-hllir, di-bU
ulih blia {sic). Aku m^mbiiang setan jatoh {sic, ? chabat) b^luntok bilang
(? bilang t^bilang) ku tawar, aku mdmbuang bisa setan, minta' buang-kan, rointa'
jauh-kan s^[ala setan.

(II.) >

Smill&hl mujor bri slju bri dingin ko melittHkan bude.^

McUay Version,
Bismillahi mujor b'ri s£jok, b'ri dingin, ku mSl^tak-kan budak.

(III.) 3

Smillahi* aku mengftmbil sm&ngat p&ddi jangan dibri sijo bri dingin aku
mengambil bude bude^ pulUng ka ruma ^u.^

Malay Version,

Bismillahi ! aku mengambil semangat padi, jangan di-b*ri sejok, b*ri dingin,
aku mengambil budak-budak ka-rumah aku.

Mentera Prayer said when the Juice of the Daun Pamanto
AND Daun Pamadam is given to the Child [at Birth].^

Kurmeimei® tapfindang * seitSn binto^^ rSnggam^^ ankau sam&padSm^^ pfidam
kau suda tr&ng nan suda ditingo pandangan ku ada mengikut tuhan pamanto ^^
mint^ padamkan &ku sek^li suda tabali^^ minta padamkan sek&li nan sudft.^^

Malay Version,

= Kur ! mari-mari, terpandang setan bintoh ranggam (?) angkau ; sama padam,
padam-kau ; sudah t^rang yang sudah di-tengo' pandangan-ku ada mengikut tuan
pamanto (?) ; minta' padam-kan aku s^ali sudah t^r-balik, minta' padam-kan
sekali yang sudah.

^ Used before sowing the rice seed.
Translated on p. 367 of this volume.

^J,I.A, i. 321. The vowel (of
*• bude ") is characteristic : Mai.
"budalj."

8 Used before beginning the reaping
of the rice. The translation will be
found on pp. 367, 368 of this volume.

* Ar. "bismi'Uahi," "in the name
of God."

5 "The infants" are the first reap-
ing! of the rice, conceived as embodying
the soul or souls of the rice, in accord-
ance with the animistic theory which
pervades Malayan folklore. See Malay
Magic, p. 243.

^ /. /. A, i. 322.

^ Logan offers no translation of this
charm, and its meaning is doubtful.

though most of the words are intelli-
gible by themselves.

8 Mai. "kur." and Mai. "mari";
V, supra,

» Mai. "terpandang," "looked
upon."

i<> Apparently="sick."

*' Perhaps cf. Mai. "renggang" "far
apart " ; or (as Mr. Skeat suggests) in
spirit-language = "body," Trans. ''^Ifye
look, O demons, sick j^flsZT^ your body. **

" Mai. "padam," " dim (of light),"
"to extinguish."

13 There is a word Mai. " manto\^,"
"to return home," but it is doubtful
whether this is connected with "pa-
manto."

" Mai. " terbalik."

16 /. /. A, i. 323.

7i6

APPENDIX

Jakun Charm for Protection against the Tiger. ^

Kilau chutek, k&lau chatei
Sangkut d&han pauh
Matabftri j^ntei harfmau tuba
Jauh jangan dekat
Aku tahu asal engkau *■
Mula menjadi/ Fatimah n&ma
Mak, nabi Musa nama b&pa.
Segriching s^gricbang pfitab
Ranting digonggong angsa
Taroh kuncbi terkancbing **
Maka kuncbi nabi tidak ter&wa "*"
Tidak temafsu terkancbing *
Brat buangkan hiwa nafsu
Aku tabui turon temuron ** engkau
Mula m^njadi.

[Tbis charm being already in Malay form, no Malay version is given.]

Herveys Translation of the above Charm,

Even tbougb tbey be withered, though they snap, may you be entangled in
the boughs of the pauh ^ tree till the sun falls, old tiger, keep for away and
approach not ; I know the origin of your first being, Fatimah was your mother's
name, and the prophet Moses ^ your father's. Snap, snap go the twigs in the
bill of the goose. Put on the lock and you are fastened up, once the lock of the
prophet has been placed on you, no longer can you indulge your desires, you are
fastened up ; heavy is the restraint placed on your desires. I know your original
descent.

^ Communicated to D. F. A. Hervey
by the Dato' of the Jakuns of the neigh-
bourhood of Mt Belumut (Johor), and
. printed in Straits Asiatic Journal^ No.
3, p. III. The spelling of the original
has been preserved, but the long accent
(— ) substituted for the circumflex (A).
In the words marked * the accent on
the e should, however, be (v^), not (— ).
The language of tbis charm does not
differ apparently from that of Malay
charms, and the references to Fatimah
and Moses are of course indications of
Malay influence. It may well be that
the whole charm is borrowed from a
Malay source.

A legend communicated at the same
time, and printed (in Malay) on p. no
of the same number, differs from the
charm in ascribing the origin of the
tiger (and also the crocodile) to the frog
and " Baginda Ali " ; another indica-

tion of Mohammedan influence, so far
as the name is concerned, though the
core of the legend is probably native,
and perhaps really a Jakun idea.

2 '* Pauh " is a wild mango tree.

' Hervey observes that as Fatimah
lived long after Moses, probably Ali*s
name should be substituted for that of
Moses. But historical correctness is not
to be expected in a composition of this
sort, and the names themselves are really
non-essential. The root idea in^charms
of this type is to " bluff" the'objects
aimed at by a declaration on the part
of the exorcist that he knows the origin
or descent of the individuals or species
in question : this idea runs through num-
bers of Malay charms, and as the versions
often differ inter se, it apparently
does not much matter whether the
exorcist's knowledge of his adversary's
origin is real or merely assumed.

PLACE AND PERSONAL NAMES.

PLACE NAMES.

SfiMANG OF K£DAH.

B^hing or Berching, a hill. Malau, a hill.

Chassi', a place (? near Baling, in Mantan, a hill.

K^dah). Palok, a stream (? near Bdlum).

Danjok, a place near Bdlum. Pendrok, a stream (? near Baling).

Gadung, a stream (? near Baling). [Kendrong, supra],

Gapeh, a place near Ulu Siong, Kedah. S^lamar {pr, S^lamarr = ^o/. Selama),

Gend'rA, a place near Tomo'. the S^lama river in Perak.

Hinas {pr, Hinass), Mai, Gunong Inas, Siong, a river and hills in the Ulu

a mountain in Perak. Kedah.

Kempor {pr, K^mporr), an islet near Sitong, a place near Belum.

Bdlum. Sungke, a place in the Ulu Kedah

Kendrong (? = Pendrok, infra), a stream. (? near Baling).

Kuwi, a hill. T^liang, the name of a tribe of Pangans.

Lekob, a stream (?near B^lum). T^mengor, the name of a tribe of Pan-

Lumu', a hill. gans.

SfiMANG OF Kuala K£n£ring.

Kd^SII!^^^ ""^^ 1 Names of three of their settlements visited by
Ongbil ^ ) ^t^^c^U^tO'-

PERSONAL NAMES.

SftMANG AND PANGAN (SkEAT).

N,B, — The sign =, when preceded or followed by the serial numbers, stands
for "married," cal, means "unmarried," and ob, cosl. means "died unmarried."
The meaning of some of the names has been given where certain ; in other cases
it may be compared with words in the Vocabulary.

Male,

1. Bayok, i,e, "Crocodile" {Mai, 3. Chabang [ror/.], /.^. "Fork" (il/a/.

Buaya)[^(r/.] Chabang).

2. Bungi' [Blossom]. 4- Chakup.

* This list is intended to be representative but not exhaustive.
717

7i8

APPENDIX

Chentok [son of 34] =
Cherwok [<:ar/.]

= 99.

Debok = 77 [d. 109].

Denim {or Jarum) [for/.] ; see 44.

9. Echak.

10. Gclugor, ue, *'G,'fruii'' [see 37].

11. Graluyd [another name for 15]

= 101.

12. Gureng or Guring : (i) see 26;

(2) see 47.

13. He'; see 38.

14. Hibor [? brother of 63] = 86 ; ch.

106, 49, 67, 29, and 83.

1 5. Ipong [another name for 1 1] s loi.

16. Jadam [Bitter Aloe] : ( i ) son of 39 ;

(2) son of 36, = 1 10 [divorced,
no children].

17. Jarum [ro;/.], [another name for

8] ; see 44.

18. Jelok = 85 [son, 47],

19. King= 78 [child, 113].

20. Kapas [Cotton] or Siren, son

of 41.

21. Kasok=i07 [children, 32, 115].

22. K5nanting=72 [no children].
2^. Kok [or/.]; see 43.

24. Kroh [cceL'\

25. Kui [ccsL]

26. Lembek [Soft, Pliant]: (i)[ = 64,

ch. 12 (2), and 26 (2)]; (2)

see 47.

27. Liwadd=i03.

2S. Lundor [far/.] ; see 44.

29. Marem [ccei,'\

30.
32.

Merlcl [ccel.\
Mirah [Red].
Munteng [see 21].

33. Nangom.

34. Pi' B^tong [brother of 40] =90.

35. Pi' £>eau, brother of 36; see 114.
Pi' Gamer =93 [father of 39, 46,

16 (I), and 117].
Pi' Gelugor [called Dntu (?) before

birth of eldest son Gelugor] :

came from S. Buluh, on borders

of Ligeh and Kelantan ; =91 ;

children 10 and 45.
Pi' Halus [called He* before birth

of Halus] : =92,
Pi' Mani = eldest son of 36 : was

** poisoned by Mekong Jamal " ;

= (i) 77; ch. Mani (116);

= (2) 61 ; ch. Jadam (16).
Pi' Rating [brother of 34] = 94 ;

ch. 14 ; see 118.
Padang [Flat-land or Plain] = 106 ;

ch. 20.
Pandan or Penden [killed Halus,

at the instigation of a Malay

named Kadir, who himself slew

the slayer in turn].
Pawih=76; ch. 95 and 23.
Pddendeng or Pindeng = 79 ;

ch. 28, III, and 17.
Pendri' or Pendra' ; see 37.
Penleg.
Pisang, ue, "Banana" [of S.

Jarum]=70; ch. 12 (i), 26 (i).

36.
37

38.
39.

40.

42.

43.
44.

45.
46.

47.

48. Rembe [Pangan from Tomo%

Ligeh] =89; ch, 66.

49. Remeng=:i05; ch. 87.

50. R€peneh or Remp^ning (Pangan

of Kelantan) = 84 or 96.1

51. Rengi' [dead, son of 5).

1 At Siong (Kedah) Skeat was given the table as follows : —

R^pdneh ( w. ) = P^nangi' (/. )

I I I

Tumbi(w.) Penlos (/.) Bungi' (w.)

and at Jarum (Raman), two or three days' distant (by elephant), the same family
was given as follows : —

Remp^ning = Kenanga'

Penlos (/.) Bungft' (»«.) Tumbi (w.)

PLACE AND PERSONAL NAMES

719

52. Sangi' = 7i ; ch. 56, 73, 108.

53. SenurS' [ra/.]

54. Seren [another name for 20] ; q,v,

55. Sireng.

56. Suni' : son of 52, q.v.

57. Tadoyn [rar/.]

58. Teku = 69.

59. Tukang (of Ulu Plus) : betrothed

to 67.

60. Tumbi : son of 50, q,v.

Female,

6 1 . Bengang = 39 [second wife].

62. B€r&pet [another name for M&'

Gelugor, q,v,\

63. Bermang [? younger sister of 14].

64. Bewa'[Wind]=26(i).

65. Chibol [had two or three husbands,

but was barren; eaten by tiger
while still young].

66. Chdkol [small child ; d. of 48].

67. Chflagi' ; betrothed to 59.

68. Chen^h [eaten by tiger when quite

small].

69. Chuyeng=58.

70. Dulang [Tray] = 47.

71. Dumke=52.

72. Gadung [ Wild-\zm\ = 22 [no chil-

dren].

73. Gagak [Crow] : d. of 52.

74. Gundang [^j^-Snail] [died young

of dysentery (" sakit prut ")].

75. Halus [Fine, Thin]: killed by a

Semang named Penden (? Pandan)
at instigation of a Malay named
Kadir, who then killed Penden
also.

76. Han^or [ WtA/- Vine] = 43, q,v,

Tl. Jinjong or Jong = 39 [first wife].
This same Jinjong, or another
woman of the same name, also

= 7.

78. Junu= 19 [child, 113].

79. Kanchong or Kechong [Water-

Vessel] =44.

80. K3arah = 9 [no children].

81. K^wer[rar/.]

82. Kfleweng [dead].

83. Kembis [died of "sakit peruf

(? dysentery)].

84. Kenangi', also called P^hiang&*,

= 50, q,v,

85. Kenb6k=i8.

86. Keneh=i4.

87. Kensau [small child, d. of 49].

88. Kesing [dead, eaten by tiger].

89. Lansat [L./r/«V] = 48.

90. M&* B^tong=34.

91. M&' GSugor [called Berapet, be-
fore birth of eldest son Gflugor]

92. Mi' Halus [also called «*P6n"
or **Ponn"]=38.

93. Mi'Keme' = 36.

94. Mi' Rating =40.

95. Panjang, i.e. "Long" [for/.];

see 43.

96. Penang&' = 50, q.v,

97. Penlos : d. of 50.

98. Pertad [^<r/.]

99. Pisang [Banana] = 5.

100. Pon or Ponn ; see 92.

10 1 . Rebong [Bamboo-Sprout] = 1 1 or

15 [Rebong was eaten by tiger].

102. Sarok \cal,'\

103. Sensonn [d.]=27.

104. Sermoi [d.]

105. Silom=49.

106. Sungsang [Feet-foremost] = 41.

107. T&'ong=2i [children 32, 115].

108. Tape.

109. Tekah: daughter of 7, q,v,

no. T^lasih [Basil -/iizw/] = 16 (2)
[parents, Semang of Kedah ; was
" seized by a Malay named Drah-
man, and divorced by Jadam "].

III. Tdlembi' or T^embok [cctiy,
see 44.

Sex unrecorded,

112. Betong [probably eldest son of
34; ob, ca/.]

113. Chengkim [see 19, 78].

1 14. Deau [probably eldest son of 35,
q.v.

115. L&nas[dead]; see 21, 107.

720

APPENDIX

1 1 6. Mani [sex not recorded, but un-
doubtedly eldest son of 39 (Pii'
Mani), q,v.

117. Nged [^or/., youngest child of 36,
q,v,'\

1 18. Rating, i.e. "Branch" or "Twig"
[probably eldest son of 40].

SftMANG OF Kuala KfiNfiRiNG (Grubaubr).
Sex not stated.

1. Betong.

2. Buch6 (Butj6).

3. Bungi [Blossom].

4. Dahab6.

5. Daun [Leaf].

6. Dumhei (xu*, ? Ehimkei).

7. Pag( [Morning].

SfiMANG (Martin).*

Male.

I. jimu. 2. Katim. 3. Labang. 4. Pah.

Female,
5. Guri. 6. Mandong. 7. Tot.

Sakai of Perak (J. Low).»

1. Ba-himpun (Ba-himpoon).

2. Bassuwait (Ba-suwait).

3. Panggil [Call],

4. Si Bunga [Blossom].

5. Si Busut [Anthill].

6. Si Jaman (Sijamman).

7. Si Kumbal.

8. Si Lanchap (?).

9. Si Limun (Silimoon).

19. Bage.

20. Itam Kandul (Etam Kundool).

21. Moirse (?).

22. Nus (Noose).

23. Si Bfite ? (Si Barte).

24. Si Kechi (Si-Kiche) \U\x\^'One\

10. Si Miyan.

11. Si Rangis.

12. Si Timor [East].

13. Si Tong (Sittong).

14. Si Tupai [Squirrel].

15. Si Yadap.

16. SiYassen(?).

17. SiYute(?).

18. Yuman.

Female,

25-
26.
27.
28.
29,

Si Putih (Si-Pootih) [White],

Singap.

Sirtus.

Sungoh.

Tangam.

1. Baka.

2. Barsep.

3. Bejam.

Sakai (SfiNOi) Martin.
Male,

4. Belah&m.

5. Beprop.

6. Besingloi.

7. Betru^L

8. Bulan [Moon].

9. Changkoal.

* In these and the subsequent names,
extracted by permission from Martin's
Iftlandstdmme, the spelling of the
original has been modified.

2 /. A. I, vol, iv. pp. 431, 432. The
spelling of the original has been slightly
modified where shown.

PLACE AND PERSONAL NAMES

721

10. Chfloh.

20.

Koin.

30. Ranga.

II. Chimpang.

21.

Kulob.

31. Rihui.

12. Chdwa.

22.

Lamai.

32. Ringit [Dollar].

13. Dilbul.

23.

Lutkuya.

33. Salim.

14. D6la.

24.

M&ngot.

34. Seleb^n-

15. Gundot.

25-

Megit.

35. Sudin.

16. Ikan[Fish].

26.

Menion [? Incense]. 36. Tona.

17. Kaput.

27.

Mentori.

37. Turong.

18. Kadb.

28.

Pie.

19. Kelubhit

29.

Randam.
Female.

38. Belhoi.

43.

l\iL

48. Mapun.

39. Bcndon.

44.

Kamin.

49. Mona.

40. Bia.

45-

Kal6.

50. Sel6.

41. Dima.

46.

T^dud.

51. Singun.

42. Elong.

47-

Lo6g.

52. Tenoko.

Bfisisi (Martin).

Male,

I. Agip.

Kepok [-^«V^-Bin]. 1 1. Selemba.

2. Aman.

Mahat.

12. Set6.

3. Bentang [Spread].

Saipong.

13. Sinam.

4. Genong.

Samasa.

14. Yep.

5. Kaledang [K.. 79^14

10.

Sauko[?Sangko]

Female,

15. Darnel

16.

Seridiot.

Bfisisi.i
Male.

17. Tiram [Oyster].

Bobol.

. Kunong.

22. Sambilai.

Bangsu [Youngest].

\. Linak.

23. Sijah.

Gadong[fra<^Yam].

14. Mot.

24. Slat \StX9XX&-o/'the'

Glawa.

. Mundo.

Seal

Janii.

. Nodo [?"Nodoh»

25. Soui [?Sawi, i,e.

Joui.

or "Nodor," t,e.

*« Lettuce"].

Katung.

Talker].

26. Sulong [Eldest].

Kiche [Little].

17.

Pangoh.

27. Tannah [?Tanah,

Kol.

18.

Raj

ue, « Earth »].

10.

Kulit Jawa[?name

19.

Rien.

28. To KussaL

of a tree].

20.

Rumpet.

29. Ulan [Convolvulus].

IX.

Kulou.

21.

Saleh.

30. Wah.

Female,

31.

Allnn [?Alun, ue»

38.

Jampan.

46. Nonia [? Nonya],

''S^t\\'0f-the-S6a''\

39.

Jukut.

47. Nokalou.

32.

Bodo [Stupid].

40.

Kewe.

48. Nuka.

33.

Bonglong.

41.

Kintot.

49. Panchong [P^ or

34.

Chak.

42.

Klosoi.

Stake].

35.

Chianti

43.

Kolot.

50. Pram.

36.

Gohom.

44.

Limong.

51. Takoh.

37.

Iloi.

45.

Nabongkok.

1 /. /. A. vol. i. p. 325*.

VOL. I

3 A

722

APPENDIX

Skeat adds : —
Pft* Nanti (w.) [Father of " Wait "], Ma* Nanti (/), Lempar (»».)» Bcdoh (»i.).

and Sauma (/.).

BfiLANDAS (Martin).

Male.

1. Amat. 5. Jewang.

2. Bertam [B.-ZWm]. 6. Kobal.

3. Damang. 7. Lepang.

4. Deia. 8. Mengong.

12. Dapat [Get or

Find].

13. Kampik.

14. Kaseb.

Female,

15. Laigu.

16. Lemeh [ ? Soft].

17. Pipeh [Flat].

18. Posoi.

9. Pikat [Horsefly].

10. Prisak.

1 1. Sampnl [Wrap].

19. Rabot [Tom].

20. Treng.

21. Wang.

Skeat adds :—
Pa* Pikat (»f.), Ma' Pikat (/.), Pft* Bijan (w.), M&* Bijan (/.), and Kaseb (/.).

MftNTRA (Martin).

Male,

I. Baja.

3. Itam [Black].

5. Mannon.

2. Budang.

4. Kolob.
7. Sulong [Eldest].

Female,

6. Manu [PBird].

8. Mani.

9. Mori.

10. Muna.

II. Panan

12. Semilan [Nine].

M*NTRA.»

Male.

Bosojulot.

14. Hang [Disappear or

25. Piniunga.

Bunga [Blossom].

Lose].

26. Powoh.

Chagak.

15. Inat.

27. Pring.

Chichar.

16. Jangkang.

Chimah.

17. Minai.

29. Rumpong.

Chiriau.

18. Padan.

3a Sagat [Scrape-Sagoj.

Dayong [Oar],

19. Pa Daun [Father of

31. Sawaneng.

Gallap^<w/.Pole].

Leaf].

32. Sia.

GigaL

20. PaLokot.

33. Sika.

10.

Gimgam [? Fistful].

21. Palsai [? Pa* Usai].

34. Singaja pntentioDa],

II.

Ginya.

22. Pa Singan.

On-Purpose],

12.

23. Peera

35. Sinya.

13.

Ikan [Fish].

24. Pines.

37. Sungei [Rirer].

36. SmaroL

> J, L A, vol. i. p. 324*.

PLACE AND PERSONAL NAMES

723

Female,

38. Assan.

39. Bakat.

40. Bungkas.

41. Cha'ap.

42. Che'en.

43. Chimas.

44. DapoL

45. Dau.

46. Goam.

47. Hulat [Grub].

48. Ingas.

49. Jungeh.

50. Kacho.

51. Kochen.

52.

Lijoh.

63.

Ranyak.

53.

Lontang.

64.

Ringit [Dollar].

54.

Mabangkeng [Ma* Bang-

65.

Ruguan.

keng].

66.

Sa [One].

55.

Mabayo [Ma' Bayo].

67.

Siba.

56.

Magoyang [Ma' Goyang,

68.

Simonye.

t.e, «*Mother-of.Rocker"'

1.69.

Simun.

57.

Maklang [Ma' Klang],

70.

Sinaron.

58.

Marumput [Ma* Rumput,

71.

Singom.

t,e. "Mother-of-Grass"].

72.

Tanah [Earth].

59.

Melem.

73.

Tannang.

60.

Mino.

74.

Tingal [Remaining,

61.

NapoiL

Leh'dehind],

62.

Platap.

75.

Umal.

Orang Hutan of Johor (Miklucho-Maclay). 1
Male, Female,

I. Losso. 2. Lingin-la.

Orang Muka Kuning.*
Male,

1. Antas. 5. Jalan [Path]. 9. Majah.

2. Awa. 6. Jawak [Monitor- Lizard]. 10. Nibor.

3. Voo\\l,'Paim\, 7. Kelut. 11. Oko.

4. Iras. 8. Leka. 12. Sare.

13. Te [?Teh, i,e, "White"].

14. Bina.

15. Dras [Quick].

16. Jodo [Pair, Affinity].

17. Kassah.

18. Kate.

Female,

19. Lima [Five]. 23.

20. Limpat. 24.

21. Mina. 25.

22. Pangel [?Call 26.

or Summon]. 27.

Rabo [Tmder].

Rina.

Sijo.

Tama.

Ulu [Head- Waters].

Orang Sletar (Thomson).^
MaU,

2.
3.

Awin.
Desan.
Dosan.
Kadang.

13. Singal

5.
6.

7.
8.

Kassap [Rough].
Kissah.
Kosan.
Masei.

14. Soning.

Female,

9.
10.
11.
12.

Nassap.
Nosan.
Penis.
Sadang.

15
16

. Bunteh (Boon teh).
. Impang.

17
18

. Neckang.
. Nongei.

19.
20.

Sangkang.
Sookang.

1 Journal of Eastern Asia, vol. i.
No. I, pp. 99-100.

2 /. /. A, vol i. p. 339*.
* /did, p. 346*.

724

APPENDIX

Sabimba (Thomson). 1

MaU,

1. Angin [Wind].

2. Ayin.

3. Bangas.

4. Bintang [Star].

5. Butun (Bootoon).

6. Deman.

7. Jali Galee).

9.
10.
II.
12.

13-

Kassar [Coarse].

Kassaw.

Lodang.

Luyut (Looioot).

Mulut ( Mooloot)

[Mouth].
Nipis [Thin, Flat].

Female,

14. Pang.

15. Rama [ButterHy].

16. Rinnah [Low, Short].

17. Serong [Athwart, Askew].

18. Solai.

19. Talei.

20. Umbu (Oomboo).

21. Asia [Age].

22. Bukit (Bookit) [HiU].

23. Dayang (Dyang) [Hand-

maid].

24. Minah (Meenah). 28. TaweL

25. Mangi ? (Mungee). 29. Tengah [Half].

26. Narimah (Nareemah). 30. Timah (Teemah)

27. Rini (Reenee). [Tin].

^ /, L A. vol. L p. 349*

END OF VOL. I.

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