2. BEASTS AND BEAST CHARMS

All wild animals, more especially the larger and more dangerous species, are credited in Malay folklore with human or (occasionally) superhuman powers. In the pages which now follow I shall deal with the folklore which refers to the more important animals, first pointing out their anthropomorphic traits, then detailing some of the more important traditions about them, and finally, where possible, describing the methods of hunting them. The Elephant Of the Elephant we read:-- "The superstitious dread entertained by Malays for the larger animals is the result of ideas regarding them which have been inherited from the primitive tribes of Eastern Asia. Muhammadanism has not been able to stamp out the deep-rooted feelings which prompted the savage to invest the wild beasts which he dreaded with the character of malignant deities. The tiger, elephant, and rhinoceros [278] were not mere brutes to be attacked and destroyed. The immense advantages which their strength and bulk gave them over the feebly-armed savage of the most primitive tribes naturally suggested the possession of supernatural powers; and propitiation, not force, was the system by which it was hoped to repel them. The Malay addresses the tiger as Datoh (grandfather), and believes that many tigers are inhabited by human souls. Though he reduces the elephant to subjection, and uses him as a beast of burden, it is universally believed that the observance of particular ceremonies, and the repetition of prescribed formulas, are necessary before wild elephants can be entrapped and tamed. Some of these spells and charms (mantra) are supposed to have extraordinary potency, and I have in my possession a curious collection of them, regarding which, it was told me seriously by a Malay, that in consequence of their being read aloud in his house three times all the hens stopped laying! The spells in this collection are nearly all in the Siamese language, and there is reason to believe that the modern Malays owe most of their ideas on the subject of taming and driving elephants to the Siamese. Those, however, who had no idea of making use of the elephant, but who feared him as an enemy, were doubtless the first to devise the idea of influencing him by invocations. This idea is inherited, both by Malays and Siamese, from common ancestry." [279] To the above evidence (which was collected by Sir W. E. Maxwell no doubt mainly in Perak) I would add that at Labu, in Selangor, I heard on more than one occasion a story in which the elephant-folk were described as possessing, on the borders of Siam, a city of their own, where they live in houses like human beings, and wear their natural human shape. This story, which was first told me by Ungku Said Kechil of Jelebu, was taken down by me at the time, and ran as follows:-- "A Malay named Laboh went out one day to his rice-field and found that elephants had been destroying his rice. "He therefore planted caltrops of a cubit and a half in length in the tracks of the offenders. That night an elephant was wounded in the foot by one of the caltrops, and went off bellowing with pain. "Day broke and Laboh set off on the track of the wounded elephant, but lost his way, and after three days and nights journeying, found himself on the borders of a new and strange country. Presently he encountered an old man, to whom he remarked 'Hullo, grandfather, your country is extraordinarily quiet!' The old man replied, 'Yes, for all noise is forbidden, because the king's daughter is ill.' 'What is the matter with her?' asked Si Laboh. The old man replied that she had trodden upon a caltrop. Si Laboh then asked, 'May I see if I can do anything to help her?' "The old man then went and reported the matter to the king, who ordered Si Laboh to be brought into his presence. "[Now the country which Si Laboh had reached was a fine open country on the borders of Siam. It is called 'Pak Henang,' and its only inhabitants are the elephant-people who live there in human guise. And whoever trespasses over the boundaries of that country turns into an elephant.] "Then Si Laboh saw that the king's daughter, whose name was Princess Rimbut, was suffering from one of the caltrops which he himself had planted. He therefore extracted it from her foot, so that she recovered, and the king, in order to reward Si Laboh, gave him the Princess in marriage. "Now when they had been married a long time, and had got two children, Si Laboh endeavoured to persuade his wife to accompany him on a visit to his own country. To this the Princess replied 'Yes; but if I go you must promise never to add to the dish any young tree-shoots at meal-time.' [280] "On this they started, and at the end of the first day's journey they halted and sat down to eat. But Si Laboh had forgotten the injunctions of his wife, and put young tree-shoots into the dish with his rice. Then his wife protested and said, 'Did I not tell you not to put young tree-shoots into your food?' But Si Laboh was obstinate, and merely replied, 'What do I care?' so that his wife was turned back into an elephant and ran off into the jungle. Then Si Laboh wept and followed her, but she refused to return as she had now become an elephant. Yet he followed her for a whole day, but she would not return to him, and he then returned homewards with his children. "This is all that is known about the origin of elephants who are human beings." A Malay charm which was given me (at Labu) to serve as a protection against elephants (pendinding gajah) gives the actual name of the Elephant King-- "O Grandfather Moyang Kaban, Destroy not your own grandchildren." Ghost elephants (gajah kramat) are not uncommon. They are popularly believed to be harmless, but invulnerable, and are generally supposed to exhibit some outward and visible sign of their sanctity, such as a stunted tusk or a shrunken foot. They are the tutelary genii of certain localities, and when they are killed the good fortune of the neighbourhood is supposed to depart too. Certain it is, that when one of these ghost elephants was shot at Klang a year or two ago, it did not succumb until some fifty or sixty rifle-bullets had been poured into it, and its death was followed by a fall in the local value of coffee and coffee land, from which the district took long to recover. [281] A ghost elephant is very often thought to be the guardian spirit of some particular shrine--an idea that is common throughout the Peninsula. Other general ideas about the elephant are as follows:-- "Elephants are said to be very frightened if they see a tree stump that has been felled at a great height from the ground, as some trees which have high spreading buttresses are cut, because they think that giants must have felled it, and as ordinary-sized men are more than a match for them they are in great dread of being caught by creatures many times more powerful than their masters. Some of the larger insects of the grasshopper kind are supposed to be objects of terror to elephants, while the particularly harmless little pangolin (Manis pentadactyla) is thought to be able to kill one of these huge beasts by biting its foot. The pangolin, by the bye, is quite toothless. Another method in which the pangolin attacks and kills elephants is by coiling itself tightly around the end of the elephant's trunk, and so suffocating it. This idea is also believed in by the Singhalese, according to Mr. W. T. Hornaday's Two Years in the Jungle." [282] The foregoing passage refers to Perak, but similar ideas are common in Selangor, and they occur no doubt, with local variations, in every one of the Malay States. Selangor Malays tell of the scaring of elephants by the process of drawing the slender stem of the bamboo down to the ground and cutting off the top of it, when it springs back to its place. The story of the "pangolin" is also told in Selangor with additional details. Thus it is said that the "Jawi-jawi" tree (a kind of banyan) is always avoided by elephants because it was once licked by the armadillo. The latter, after licking it, went his way, and "the elephant coming up was greatly taken aback by the offensive odour, and swore that he would never go near the tree again. He kept his oath, and his example has been followed by his descendants, so that to this day the 'Jawi-jawi' is the one tree in the forest which the elephant is afraid to approach." [283] The following directions for hunting the elephant were given me by Lebai Jamal, a famous elephant hunter of Lingging, near the Sungei Ujong border:-- "When you first meet with the spoor of elephant or rhinoceros, observe whether the foot-hole contains any dead wood, (then) take the twig of dead wood, together with a ball of earth as big as a maize-cob taken from the same foot-hole (if there is only one of you, one ball will do, if there are three of you, three balls will be wanted, if seven, seven balls, but not more). Then roll up your ball of earth and the twig together in a tree-leaf, breathe upon it, and recite the charm (for blinding the elephant's eyes), the purport of which is that if the quarry sees, its eyesight shall be destroyed, and if it looks, its eyesight shall be dimmed, by the help of God, the prophet, and the medicine-man, who taught the charm. "Now slip your ball of earth into your waistband just over the navel, and destroy the scent of your body and your gun. To do this, take a bunch of certain leaves [284] (daun sa-cherek), together with stem-leaves of the betel-vine (kerapak sirih), leaves of the wild camphor (chapa), and leaves of the club-gourd (labu ayer puteh), break their midribs with your left hand, shut your eyes, and say 'As these tree leaves smell, so may my body (and gun) be scented.' "When the animal is dead, beat it with an end of black cloth, repeating the charm for driving away the 'mischief' (badi) from the carcase, which charm runs as follows:-- "Badiyu, Mother of Mischief, Badi Panji, Blind Mother, I know the origin from which you sprang, [285] Three drops of Adam's blood were the origin from which you sprang, Mischief of Earth, return to Earth, Mischief of Ant-heap, return to Ant-heap, Mischief of Elephant, return to Elephant, [286] Mischief of Wood, return to Wood, Mischief of Water, return to Water, Mischief of Stone, return to Stone And injure not my person. By the virtue of my Teacher, You may not injure the children of the race of Man." The perquisites of the Pawang (magician) are to be "a little black cloth and a little white cloth," and the only special taboo mentioned by Lebai Jamal was "on no account to let the naked skin rub against the skin of the slain animal." Before leaving the subject of elephants, I may add that Raja Ja`far (of Beranang in Selangor) told me that Lebai Jamal, when charged by an elephant or rhinoceros, would draw upon the ground with his finger a line which the infuriated animal was never able to cross. This line, he said, was called the Baris Laksamana, or the "Admiral's Line," and the knowledge of how to draw it was naturally looked upon as a great acquisition. The Tiger "The Tiger is sometimes believed to be a man or demon in the form of a wild beast, and to the numerous aboriginal superstitions which attach to this dreaded animal Muhammadanism has added the notion which connects the Tiger with the Khalif Ali. One of Ali's titles throughout the Moslem world is 'the Victorious Lion of the Lord,' and in Asiatic countries, where the lion is unknown, the tiger generally takes the place of the 'king of beasts.'" [287] But the anthropomorphic ideas of the Malays about the Tiger go yet farther than this. Far away in the jungle (as I have several times been told in Selangor) the tiger-folk (no less than the elephants) have a town of their own, where they live in houses, and act in every respect like human beings. In the town referred to their house-posts are made of the heart of the Tree-nettle (t'ras jelatang), and their roofs thatched with human hair--one informant added that men's bones were their only rafters, and men's skins their house walls--and there they live quietly enough until one of their periodical attacks of fierceness (mengganas) comes on and causes them to break bounds and range the forest for their chosen prey. There are several of these tiger-villages or "enclosures" in the Peninsula, the chief of them being Gunong Ledang (the Mount Ophir of Malacca), just as Pasummah is the chief of such localities in Sumatra. [288] So too, from Perak, Sir W. E. Maxwell writes in 1881:-- "A mischievous tiger is said sometimes to have broken loose from its pen or fold (pechah kandang). This is in allusion to an extraordinary belief that, in parts of the Peninsula, there are regular enclosures where tigers possessed by human souls live in association. During the day they roam where they please, but return to the kandang at night." [289] Various fables ascribe to the tiger a human origin. One of these, taken down by me word for word from a Selangor Malay, is intended to account for the tiger's stripes. The gist of it ran as follows:-- "An old man picked up a boy in the jungle with a white skin, green eyes, and very long nails. Taking the boy home his rescuer named him Muhammad Yatim (i.e. 'Muhammad the fatherless'), and when he grew up sent him to school, where he behaved with great cruelty to his schoolfellows, and was therefore soundly beaten by his master ('Toh Saih Panjang Janggut, i.e. 'Toh Saih Long-beard), who used a stick made of a kind of wood called los [290] to effect the chastisement. At the first cut the boy leapt as far as the doorway; at the second he leapt to the ground, at the third he bounded into the grass, at the fourth he uttered a growl, and at the fifth his tail fell down behind him and he went upon all fours, whereat his master (improvising a name to curse him by), exclaimed, 'This is of a truth God's tiger! (Harimau Allah). Go you,' he added, addressing the tiger, 'to the place where you will catch your prey--the borderland between the primeval forest and the secondary forest-growth, and that between the secondary forest-growth and the plain--catch there whomsoever you will, but see that you catch only the headless. Alter no jot of what I say, or you shall be consumed by the Iron of the Regalia, and crushed by the sanctity of the thirty divisions of the Koran.'" Hence the tiger is to this day compelled to "ask for" his prey, and uses divination (bertenung), as all men know, for the purpose of discovering whether his petition has yet been granted. Hence, too, he carries on his hide to this very day the mark of the stripes with which he was beaten at school. The method of divination said to be practised by the tiger is as follows: The tiger lies down and gazes (bertenung) at leaves which he takes between his paws, and whenever he sees the outline of a leaf take the shape of one of his intended victims, without the head, he knows it to be the sign that that victim has been "granted" to him, in accordance with the very terms of his master's curse. I once asked (at Labu) how it was known that the tiger used divination, and was told this story of a man who had seen it:-- "A certain Malay had been working, together with his newly-married wife, in the rice-fields at Labu, and on his stepping aside at noon into the cool of the forest, he saw a tiger lying down among the underwood apparently gazing at something between its paws. By creeping stealthily nearer he was able at length to discern the object at which the tiger was gazing, and it proved to be, to his intense horror, a leaf which presented the lineaments of his wife, lacking only the head. Hurrying back to the rice-field he at once warned the neighbours of what he had seen, and implored them to set his wife in their midst and escort her homeward. To this they consented, but yet, in spite of every precaution, the tiger broke through the midst of them and killed the woman before it could be driven off. The bereaved husband thereupon requested them to leave him alone with the body and depart, and when they had done so, he took the body in his arms, and so lay down embracing it, with a dagger in either hand. Before sunset the tiger returned to its kill, and leapt upon the corpse, whereupon the husband stabbed it to the heart, so that the points of the daggers met, and killed it on the spot." The power of becoming a man- or were-tiger (as it has sometimes been called), is supposed to be confined to one tribe of Sumatrans, the Korinchi Malays, many of whom are to be met with in the Malay Native States. This belief is very strongly held, and on one occasion, when I asked some Malays at Jugra how it could be proved that the man really became a tiger, they told me the case of a man some of whose teeth were plated with gold, and who had been accidentally killed in the tiger stage, when the same gold plating was discovered in the tiger's mouth. [291] Of the strength of the Malay belief in were-tigers Mr. Clifford writes:-- "The existence of the Malayan Loup Garou to the native mind is a fact, and not a mere belief. The Malay knows that it is true. Evidence, if it be needed, may be had in plenty; the evidence, too, of sober-minded men, whose words in a Court of Justice would bring conviction to the mind of the most obstinate jurymen, and be more than sufficient to hang the most innocent of prisoners. The Malays know well how Haji `Abdallah, the native of the little state of Korinchi in Sumatra, was caught naked in a tiger trap, and thereafter purchased his liberty at the price of the buffaloes he had slain while he marauded in the likeness of a beast. They know of the countless Korinchi men who have vomited feathers, after feasting upon fowls, when for the nonce they had assumed the forms of tigers; and of those other men of the same race who have left their garments and their trading packs in thickets whence presently a tiger has emerged. All these things the Malays know have happened, and are happening to-day, in the land in which they live, and with these plain evidences before their eyes, the empty assurances of the enlightened European that Were-Tigers do not, and never did exist, excite derision not unmingled with contempt." [292] Writing on the same theme, Sir Frank Swettenham says:-- "Another article of almost universal belief is that the people of a small State in Sumatra called Korinchi have the power of assuming at will the form of a tiger, and in that disguise they wreak vengeance on those they wish to injure. Not every Korinchi man can do this, but still the gift of this strange power of metamorphosis is pretty well confined to the people of the small Sumatran State. At night when respectable members of society should be in bed, the Korinchi man slips down from his hut, and, assuming the form of a tiger, goes about 'seeking whom he may devour.' "I have heard of four Korinchi men arriving in a district of Perak, and that night a number of fowls were taken by a tiger. The strangers left and went farther up country, and shortly after only three of them returned and stated that a tiger had just been killed, and they begged the local headman to bury it. "On another occasion some Korinchi men appeared and sought hospitality in a Malay house, and there also the fowls disappeared in the night, and there were unmistakable traces of the visit of a tiger, but the next day one of the visitors fell sick, and shortly after vomited chicken-feathers. "It is only fair to say that the Korinchi people strenuously deny the tendencies and the power ascribed to them, but aver that they properly belong to the inhabitants of a district called Chenâku in the interior of the Korinchi country. Even there, however, it is only those who are practised in the elemu sehir, the occult arts, who are thus capable of transforming themselves into tigers, and the Korinchi people profess themselves afraid to enter the Chenâku district." [293] There are many stories about ghost tigers (rimau kramat), which are generally supposed to have one foot a little smaller than the others (kaki tengkis). During my stay in the Langat district I was shown on more than one occasion the spoor of a ghost tiger. This happened once near Sepang village, on a wet and clayey bridle-track, where the unnatural smallness of one of the feet was very conspicuous. Such tigers are considered invulnerable, but harmless to man, and are looked upon generally as the guardian spirits of some sacred spot. One of these sacred spots was the shrine (kramat) of 'Toh Kamarong, about two miles north of Sepang village. This shrine, it was alleged, was guarded by a white ghost elephant and ghost tiger, who ranged the country round but never harmed anybody. One day, however, a Chinaman from the neighbouring pepper plantations offered at this shrine a piece of pork, which, however acceptable it might have been to a Chinese saint, so incensed the orthodox guardians of this Muhammadan shrine that one of them (the ghost tiger) fell upon the Chinaman and slew him before he could return to his house. By far the most celebrated of these ghost tigers, however, were the guardians of the shrine at the foot of Jugra Hill, which were formerly the pets of the Princess of Malacca (Tuan Putri Gunong Ledang). Local report says that this princess left her country when it was taken by the Portuguese, and established herself on Jugra Hill, a solitary hill on the southern portion of the Selangor coast, which is marked on old charts as the "False Parcelar" hill. The legend which connects the name of this princess with Jugra Hill was thus told [294] by Mr. G. C. Bellamy (formerly of the Selangor Civil Service). "Bukit Jugra (Jugra Hill) in its isolated position, and conspicuous as it is from the sea, could scarcely escape being an object of veneration to the uneducated Malay mind. The jungle which clothes its summit and sides is supposed to be full of hantus (demons or ghosts), and often when talking to Malays in my bungalow in the evening have our discussions been interrupted by the cries of the langswayer (a female birth-demon) in the neighbouring jungle, or the mutterings of the bajang (a familiar spirit) as he sat on the roof-tree. But the 'Putri' (Princess) of Gunong Ledang holds the premier position amongst the fabulous denizens of the jungle on the hill, and it is strange that places so far apart as Mount Ophir and Bukit Jugra should be associated with one another in traditionary lore. The story runs that this estimable lady, having disposed of her husband by pricking him to death with needles, [295] decided thenceforth to live free from the restrictions of married life. She was thus able to visit distant lands, taking with her a cat [296] of fabulous dimensions as her sole attendant. This cat appears to have been a most amiable and accommodating creature, for on arriving at Jugra he carried the Princess on his back to the top of the hill. Here the lady remained for some time, and during her stay constructed a bathing-place for herself. Even to this day she pays periodical visits to Jugra Hill, and although she herself is invisible to mortal eye, her faithful attendant, in the shape of a handsome tiger, is often to be met with as he prowls about the place at night. He has never been known to injure any one, and is reverently spoken of as a rimau kramat (ghost tiger)." To the above story Mr. C. H. A. Turney (then Senior District Officer and stationed at Jugra) added the following:-- "The Princess and the stories about her and the tiger are well known, and the latter are related from mother to daughter in Langat. "There are, however, they say, one or two omissions; instead of one tiger there were two, the real harimau kramat and an ambitious young tiger who would also follow the Princess in her round of visits. This brute came to an untimely and ignominious end (as he deserved to) at the hands of one Innes, who was disturbed whilst reading a newspaper, and this can be verified by Captain Syers. "The other tiger jogged along gaily with his phantom mistress, and made night hideous with his howlings and prowlings all about the Jugra Hill. He was really kramat, and was said to have been shot at by several Malays, and the present Sergeant-Major Allie, now stationed at Kuala Lumpur, can vouch for this." [297] I myself collected at the time the following extra details:-- "The local version of the legend about the kramat at the foot of Jugra Hill runs somewhat as follows:--Once upon a time one Nakhoda Ragam was travelling with his wife (who is apparently to be identified with the Princess of Malacca, Tuan Putri Gunong Ledang) in a boat (sampan), when the latter pricked him to death with a needle (mati di-chuchok jarum). His blood flooded the boat (darah-nya hanyut dalam sampan), and presently the woman in the boat was hailed by a vessel sailing past her. 'What have you got in that boat?' said the master of the vessel, and the Princess replied: 'It is only spinach-juice' (kuah bayam). She was therefore allowed to proceed, and landed at the foot of Jugra Hill, where she buried all that yet remained of her husband, which consisted of only one thigh (paha). [298] She also took ashore her two cats, which were in the boat with her, and which, turning into ghost tigers, became the guardians of this now famous shrine." [299] Tigers are naturally too fierce to be tracked by the Malays, and are usually caught in specially constructed traps (penjara rimau), or killed by a self-acting gun or spear-trap (b'lantek s'napang, b'lantek terbang, b'lantek parap, etc.); but even in this case the Pawang explains to the tiger that it was not he but Muhammad who set the trap. There are, however, as might be expected, a great number of charms intended to protect the devotee in various ways from the tiger's claws and teeth. Of these I will give one or two typical specimens. Sometimes a charm is used to keep the tiger at a distance (penjauh rimau):-- "Ho, Bersenu! Ho, Berkaih! I know the origin from which you sprang; (It was) Sheikh Abuniah Lahah Abu Kasap. Your navel originated from the centre of your crown, Your breasts are [to be seen] in [the spoor of] your fore-feet. [300] May you go wide (of me) as the Seven Tiers of Heaven, May you go wide (of me) as the Seven Tiers of Earth; If you do not go wide, You shall be a rebel unto God," etc. Sometimes the desired effect is expected to be obtained by a charm for locking the tiger's jaws:-- "Ho, Sir Cruncher! Ho, Sir Muncher! Let the twig break under the weight of the wild goose. Fast shut and locked be (your jaws), by virtue of `Ali Mustapah, OM. Thus I break (the tusks of) all beasts that are tusked, By virtue of this Prayer from the Land of Siam." [301] The next specimen is described as a "charm for fascinating" (striking fear into) a "tiger and hardening one's own heart":-- "O Earth-Shaker, rumble and quake! Let iron needles be my body-hairs, Let copper needles be my body-hairs! Let poisonous snakes be my beard, A crocodile my tongue, And a roaring tiger in the dimple of my chin. Be my voice the trumpet of an elephant, Yea, like unto the roar of the thunderbolt. May your lips be fast closed and your teeth clenched; And not till the Heavens and the Earth are moved May your heart be moved To be wroth with or to seek to destroy me. By the virtue of 'There is no god but God,'" etc. To which may be added-- "Kun! Payah Kun! Let (celestial) splendour reside in my person. Whosoever talks of encountering me, A cunning Lion shall be his opponent. O all ye Things that have life Endure not to confront my gaze! It is I who shall confront the gaze of you, By the virtue of 'There is no god but God.'" When tigers were wounded, it was said (in Selangor) that they would doctor themselves with ubat tasak, which is the name generally given to a sort of poultice used by those who have just undergone circumcision. And when a tiger was killed a sort of public reception was formerly always accorded to him on his return to the village. Though I have not seen the actual reception (generally miscalled a "wake"), I once saw near Kajang in Selangor a tiger which had been prepared for the ceremony. The animal was propped up on all fours as if alive, and his mouth kept open by propping the roof with a stick. It was unfortunately impossible for me to wait for the ceremony, but from a description which I received afterwards, it was evidently regarded as a sort of "reception" given by the people of the village to a live and powerful war-chief or champion (hulubalang) who had come to pay them a visit, the dancing and fencing which takes place on such occasions being intended for his entertainment. One of these ceremonies, which took place in Jugra in Selangor, was thus described:-- A Tiger's Wake "At 10 A.M. a great noise of rejoicing, with drums and gongs, approaching Jugra by the river, was heard, and on my questioning the people, I was told Raja Yakob had managed to shoot a tiger with a spring gun behind Jugra Hill, and was bringing it in state to the Sultan. I went over to the Sultan's at Raja Yakob's request to see the attendants on the slaughter of a tiger. The animal was supported by posts and fastened in an attitude as nearly as possible approaching the living. Its mouth was forced open, its tongue allowed to drop on one side, and a small rattan attached to its upper jaw was passed over a pole held by a man behind. This finished, two swords were produced and placed crosswise, and a couple of Panglimas [302] selected for the dance; the gongs and drums were beaten at a quick time, the man holding the rattan attached to the tiger's head pulled it, moving the head up and down, and the two Panglimas, after making their obeisance to the Sultan, rushed at their swords, and holding them in their hands commenced a most wild and exciting dance. They spun around on one leg, waving their swords, then bounded forward and made a thrust at the tiger, moving back quickly with the point of the weapon facing the animal; they crawled along the ground and sprung over it uttering defiant yells, they cut and parried at supposed attacks, finally throwing down their weapons and taunting the dead beast by dancing before it unarmed. This done, Inas told me the carcase was at my disposal. "The death of the tiger now establishes the fact of the existence of tigers here, for asserting which I have been pretty frequently laughed at. However this is not the Jugra pest, a brute whose death would be matter for general rejoicing, the one now destroyed being a tigress 8 feet long and 2 feet 8 inches high." [303] I may add that both the claws and whiskers of tigers are greatly sought after as charms, and are almost invariably stolen from a tiger when one is killed by a European. I have also seen at Klang a charm written on tiger's skin. The Deer [304] Anthropomorphic ideas are held by the Malays almost as strongly in the case of the Deer as of any other animal. The Deer is, by all Malays, believed to have sprung from a man who suffered from a severe ulcer or abscess (chabuk) on the leg, (which is supposed to have left its trace on the deer's legs to this day). Of the Perak form of this legend Sir William Maxwell writes as follows:-- "The deer (rusa) is sometimes believed to be the metamorphosed body of a man who has died of an abscess in the leg (chabuk), because it has marks on the legs which are supposed to resemble those caused by the disease mentioned. Of course there are not wanting men ready to declare that the body of a man who has died of chabuk has been seen to rise from the grave and to go away into the forest in the shape of a deer." [305] The Selangor legend is practically identical with that current in Perak. The deer are frequently addressed, in the charms used by the hunters, exactly as if they were human beings, e.g.-- "If you wish to wear bracelets and rings Stretch out your two fore-feet." These rings and bracelets are of course the nooses which depend from the toils. In a charm of similar import we find:-- "Ho, Crown Prince (Raja Muda) with your Speckled Princess (Putri Dandi), Rouse you quickly (from your slumbers) And clasp (round your neck) King Solomon's necklace." I may add that in some places the Pawang (magician) will himself first enter the toils, probably with the object of deceiving the stag as to their nature and purpose. The ceremonies for hunting deer are somewhat intricate, and it will perhaps be best to commence by giving a general description of deer-catching as practised by the Malays. "This pastime" [306] (deer-catching) "is one the Malay delights in. After a rainy night, deer may be easily traced to their lair by their footprints, and as they remain stationary by day the hunters have ample time to arrange their apparatus. When the hiding-place is discovered all the young men of the kampong [307] assemble, and the following ceremony is performed before they sally out on the expedition: Six or eight coils of rattan rope, about an inch in diameter, are placed on a triangle formed with three rice-pounders, and the oldest of the company, usually an experienced sportsman, places a cocoa-nut shell filled with burning incense in the centre, and taking sprigs of three bushes, viz. the jellatang, sapunie, and sambon [308] plants (these, it is supposed, possess extraordinary virtues), he walks mysteriously round the coils, beating them with the sprigs, and erewhile muttering some gibberish, which, if possessing any meaning, the sage keeps wisely to himself. During the ceremony the youths of the village look on with becoming gravity and admiration. It is believed that the absence of this ceremony would render the expedition unsuccessful, the deer would prove too strong for the ropes, and the wood demons frustrate their sport by placing insurmountable obstacles in their way. Much faith appears to be placed in the ceremony. Each coil referred to above is sixty to seventy fathoms long, and to the rope running nooses, made also of rattan rope, are attached about three feet apart from each other. On reaching the thicket wherein the deer are concealed, stakes are driven into the ground a few feet apart in a straight line, the coils are then opened out, and the rope attached to the stakes, two or three feet above the ground, with the nooses hanging down, and two of the party conceal themselves near the stakes armed with knives for the purpose of despatching the deer when entangled in the nooses. The remainder of the hunters arrange themselves on the opposite side of the thicket and advance towards it, shouting and yelling at the top of their voices. The deer, startled from their rest, spring to their feet and naturally flee from the noise towards the nooses, and in a short time are entangled in them. As they struggle to escape, the concealed hunters rush out and despatch them. Occasionally the flight is prolonged till the major party arrives, and then the noble creatures soon fall beneath the spears and knives of their assailants. The animal is divided between the sportsmen." [309] The "gibberish" employed by the deer Pawangs when the latter enter the jungle is intended to induce the wood demons and earth demons to recede, or at least to dissuade them from active interference with the proceedings. Charms are also employed by the Pawang, as he proceeds, from time to time, to "ask for" a tree (to which the toils may be fastened); to "ask for" a deer; to unroll and suspend the toils; to call upon the spirits (who are the herdsmen of the deer) to drive the latter down to meet the dogs; to turn back the deer when they have got away; to "prick" or urge on the dogs, or make them bark; to stop wild dogs from barking in the jungle, or those of the pack from barking at the wrong moment; to deceive the deer as to the reality of the toils used by the hunters; to deceive the spirits as to the identity of the hunting-party; and, finally, to drive out the "mischief" (badi) from the carcase of the slain animal; examples of all of which will be found in the course of the next few pages. The first charm which I give is one used in "asking for deer":-- "Ho! master of me your slave, Sidi the Dim-eyed, Si Lailanang and Si Laigan his brother, Si Deripan, Si Baung, Si Bakar, Si Songsang (Sir Topsy Turvy), Si Berhanyut (Sir Floater), Si Pongking, Si Temungking! I demand Deer, a male and a female, Blunt-hoofed, hard-browed, Long-eared, tight-waisted, Shut-eyed, shaggy-maned, spotted; If not the shut-eyed, the shaggy-maned and the spotted, The "rascal," the starveling, the mere skeleton. Most fervently we beg this boon, by the light of this very same day, By virtue of the 'kiraman katibin.' [310] And here is the token of my petition." [311] The directions proceed:-- "On first entering the jungle, say-- "Ho, Hantu Bakar, Jembalang Bakar, Turn a little aside, That I may let loose my body-guard." (By which the "pack" is no doubt intended.) "When you meet the slot, examine the slot. If it is a little shortened on one side, the quarry is in some danger; if it has gone lame of one hoof, it is a sign that it will be killed within seven days. "After entering the jungle, and finding the dogs, wait for the dogs to bark, and then give out this 'cooee'-- "Ho! Si Lanang, Si Lambaun, Si Ketor, Si Becheh! Ye Four Herdsmen of the Deer, Come ye down to meet the dogs. And refuse not to come down Or ye shall be rebels unto God, etc. It is not I who am huntsman, It is Pawang Sidi (wizard Sidi) that is huntsman; It is not I whose dogs these are, It is Pawang Sakti (the 'magic wizard') whose dogs these are; Let Dang Durai cross the water, It is only a civet-cat that is left for me. Grant this by virtue of my teacher, 'Toh Raja-- May his art be yet more powerful in my hands. [312] By virtue of 'There is no god but God,'" etc. A deer Pawang ('Che Indut) also gave me this charm for recital when the support (lit. "shoulder") of the noose is being cut (for which purpose it would appear that a young tree of the kind called "Delik" is usually taken). "The Delik's branches spread out horizontally (at the top), [313] Chop at it, and it will produce roots. Though its bark is destroyed, a cudgel is still left for people's bones, Even though it be worked on by the charm Kalinting Bakar." [314] From the same source I obtained this charm, addressed to the Deer, but intended for fixing the scent (menetapkan bau), and for suspending the toils (memasang jerat):-- "Teng [315] [stands for] the satengteng flower, Ascend ye the twin stream. If you delight in bracelets and rings Push forward your two fore-feet. "When setting the nooses (bubohkan perindu jerat) say, addressing the deer as before:-- "Be filled with yearning, be filled with longing, As the Holy Basil grows even to a rock, Be filled with yearning as you sit, be filled with yearning as you go, Fast-bound by love of this noose of mine." The directions given me by another Pawang commenced with a charm for emboldening the dogs, after which the account proceeds:-- "When you have finished (the charm referred to), take seven steps forward, leaving the toils behind you, and standing erect, look forward and call as follows:-- "O all ye Saids (lawful descendants of the Prophet), Unto you, my Lords, belong the Deer, Si Lambaun was the origin of the Deer, Si Lanang is their Herdsman, Drive ye the Deer into our toils. This causeway of rock (titian batu) is your high road and market-square, The resort of innumerable people. Follow, follow in long procession, And let the "Assembly"-Flower unfold its petals. Come in procession, come in succession, Our toils have come to summon you to the spot. Ho, Deer that are unfortunate, Deer that are curst, Enter this path of mine which is empty of men. On the left stand spearmen, On the right stand spearmen, And whichever of (those two) ways you go, By that self-same way will you be turned back. "Now proceed till you meet the stag, and as he rouses himself from slumber, say:-- "Ho, Crown Prince with your Speckled Princess, Rouse you in haste and slip on King Solomon's royal breast ornament. Receive it, receive it in your turn, And do ye (huntsmen) shout 'Bi' again and again. "[Here the spearmen right and left shout in concert.] "So, too, when spearing the deer, say-- "It is not I who spear you, It is Pawang Sidi who spears you. "When you have secured a deer, flick (kebaskan) the carcase thrice in a downward direction with a black cloth or with a leafy spray (if you will), such as the deer feed upon, for instance with the sendayan (or sendereian, a kind of sedge), or with fern-shoots, and call out:-- "O Si Lanang, Si Lambaun, Si Ketor, Si Becheh, who are Four Persons, Take back your own share (of the carcase). [316] "Here 'take the representative parts, pierce them with a rattan line, and suspend them from a tree.'" But the fullest account of this ceremony (of driving out the mischief from the carcase) runs as follows:-- "When you have caught the deer, cast out the mischief from it (buang dia-punya badi). To effect this, take a black jacket such as can cast out this mischief (if no black jacket is obtainable, take the branch of any tree), and stroke (the carcase) from the head downwards to the feet and the rump, saying as you do so:-- "Ho Badi Serang, Badi Mak Buta, Si Panchor Mak Tuli, It is not I who cast out these mischiefs, It is the Junior Dogboy who casts them out. It is not I who cast out these mischiefs, It is the Dogboy Rukiah who casts them out. It is not I who cast out these mischiefs, It is Mukaël [317] (Michael) who casts them out. It is not I who cast out these mischiefs, It is Israfel who casts them out. It is not I who cast out these mischiefs, It is Azrael who casts them out. It is not I who cast out these mischiefs, It is Mukarael (?) who casts them out. I know the origin of these mischiefs, They are the offspring of the Jin Ibni Ujan, [318] Who dwell in the open spaces and hill-locked basins. Return ye to your open spaces and hill-locked basins, And do me no harm or scathe. I know the origin from which you spring, From the offspring of the Jin Ibni Ujan do ye spring. "Here take small portions of his eyes, ears, mouth, nose, hind-feet, fore-feet, hair (of his coat), liver, heart, spleen and horns (if it be a stag), wrap them up in a leaf, and deposit them in the slot of his approaching tracks, saying: 'O Mentala (Batara) Guru, one a month, two a month, three a month, four a month, five a month, six a month, seven a month (be the deer which fall) by night to you, by day to me. One deer I take with me, and one I leave behind.'" A deer Pawang named 'Che Indut gave me a charm for turning the deer back upon their tracks, "though their flesh was torn to rags and their bones well-becudgelled." It concluded with the following appeal to the spirits:-- "Ho (ye Spirits) turn back my Deer! If you do not turn them back, At sea ye shall get no drink, Ashore ye shall find no food. By virtue of the word of God," etc. I will conclude with the following charm, believed to be a means of bringing the stag low:-- "Measure off three sticks (probably dead wood taken from the slot of the deer, as in the case of the elephant), their length being measured by the distance from the roof of your mouth to the teeth of the lower jaw. Lay these sticks in a triangular form inside the slot of the stag, press the left thumb downwards in the centre of the triangle, and humble your heart. This will humble the deer's heart too." The Mouse-deer or chevrotin is the "Brer Rabbit" of the Malays. It figures in many proverbial sayings and romances, in which it is credited with extraordinary sagacity, and is honoured by the title of "Mentri B'lukar," the "Vizier of the (secondary) Forest-Growth." [319] It is generally taken by means of a snare called tapah pelandok, but sometimes by tapping on the ground with sticks (mengetok pelandok), the sound of which is supposed to imitate the drumming of the buck's fore-feet upon the ground in rutting-time, by which the attention of the doe is attracted. Whatever the reason may be, there is no doubt that the method is often successful. When this "tapping" method is adopted, the charms used are similar to those used for calling the big deer, e.g.-- "Arak-arak iring-iring Kembang bunga si Panggil-Panggil, Datang berarak, datang beriring, Raja Suleiman datang memanggil. Follow in procession, follow in succession, The Assembly-flower has opened its petals. Come in procession, come in succession, King Solomon comes to summon you." But at the end of the charm is added, "Ini-lah gong-nya," i.e. "This is his (King Solomon's) gong." The stick which is used may be of any kind of wood except a creeper, and the best place for the operation is where the ground sounds hollow when tapped. Either three, five, or seven leaves must, however, be laid on the spot before the tapping is commenced. The directions for setting the snare (jerat or tapah pelandok) were taken down by me as follows:-- First look for a tree whose sap is viscid, and chop at it thrice (with a cutlass). If the splinters fall, one the right and the other the wrong way up (lit. one prone and the other supine), it is a bad sign (though it is a good sign when one is setting a trap); for in the case of a snare they must fall the wrong way up (supine). When this is done, commence to set the snare near the foot of a tree, at about a fathom's distance, and say:-- "As a cocoa-nut shell rocks to and fro When filled with clay, Avaunt ye, Jembalang and Badi, That I may set this snare." Next you say:-- "Ho, Sir 'Pointed-Hoof,' Sir 'Sharp-Muzzle,' Do you step upon this snare that I have spread Within two days or three. If you do not step upon this snare that I have spread Within two days or three, You shall be choked to death with blood in your throat, You shall be in sore straits within the limits of your own Big Jungle. At sea you shall get no drink, Ashore you shall get no food, By virtue of," etc. Hunting-Dogs Hunting-dogs are spoken to continually as if they were human beings. Several examples of this occur in the deer charms. Thus we find the following passage addressed to the dogs:-- "Let not go the scent, Formidable were you from the first; Hot-foot, hot-foot, do you pursue, If you do not pursue hot-foot, I will minimise my benediction (lit. my 'Peace be with you'). If it (the deer) be a buck, you shall have him for a brother; If it be a doe, you shall have her for a wife." So too, again, after calling several dogs by name, the Pawang gets together the accessories (leaves of the tukas and lenjuang, a brush of leaves (sa-cherek) and a black cloth), and exclaims:-- "Bark, Sir Slender-foot; bark, Sir Brush-tail." The Pawang generally tries to deceive the deer as to his ownership of the hunting-dogs. Thus he will say:-- "It is not I whose dogs these are, It is the magical deer Pawang whose dogs these are." So, too, they are called by certain specific names (according to their breed and colour), which are in several cases identical with the names of the dogs with which the wild Spectre Huntsman (the most terrible of all personified diseases in the Malay category) hunts down his prey. [320] Ugliness is by no means looked upon as a disadvantage, but rather the opposite. An ugly dog is apparently formidable. Thus we find a dog addressed as follows:-- "Let not go the scent (of the quarry) As you were formidable (lit. ugly) [321] from the first." Again, the description of the "good points" of some of these dogs which is given in the Appendix would, if ugliness and formidability are convertible terms, satisfy the most exacting whipper-in, the so-called good points being for the most part a mere list of deformities. These points, however, are merely the external sign of the Luck to which dogs, as well as human beings, are believed to be born. In a fine passage we are told:-- "From the seven Hills and the seven Valleys Comes the intense barking of my Dogs. My Dogs are Dogs of Luck, Not Luck that is adventitious, But Luck incarnate with their bodies. Go tread upon the heaped and rotting leaves, And never desert the scent." Speaking of dog-lore generally, it may be remarked that though dogs are very frequently kept by the Malays, it is considered unlucky to keep them. "The dog ... is unlucky. He longs for the death of his master, an event which will involve the slaying of animals at the funeral feast, when the bones will fall to the dogs. When a dog is heard howling at night, he is supposed to be thinking of the broken bones (niat handak mengutib tulang patah)." [322] Even the wild dogs in the jungle [323] are warned not to bark, and are addressed as if they were human:-- "If you bark your windpipe shall burst, If you smack your lips your tongue shall be docked. If you come nearer, you shall break your leg; Return to the big virgin jungle, Return to your caverns and hill-locked basins, To the stream which has no head-waters, To the pond which was never dug, To the waters which bear no passengers, To the fountain-head which is [never] dry. If you do not return, you shall die, Cursed by the First Pen (i.e. the Human Tongue), Pierced by the twig of a gomuti-palm, [324] Impaled by a palm thatch-needle, Transfixed by a porcupine's quill." Bears and Monkeys "The Bear [325] is believed to be the mortal foe of the Tiger, which he sometimes defeats in single combat. (Bruang, the Malay word for 'bear,' has a curious resemblance to our word 'Bruin.' [326]) A story is told of a tame bear which a Malay left in charge of his house and of his sleeping child while he was absent from home. On his return he missed his child, the house was in disorder, as if some struggle had taken place, and the bear was covered with blood. Hastily drawing the conclusion that the bear had killed and devoured the child, the enraged father slew the animal with his spear, but almost immediately afterwards he found the carcase of a tiger, which the faithful bear had defeated and killed, and the child emerged unharmed from the jungle, where she had taken refuge. It is unnecessary to point out the similarity of this story to the legend of Beth-Gelert. It is evidently a local version of the story of the Ichneumon and the Snake in the Pancha-tantra." [327] Monkeys and men have always been associated in native tradition, and Malay folklore is no exception to the rule. Thus we get the tradition of the great man-like ape, the Mawas (a reminiscence of the orang-outang or mias of Borneo), which is said to make shelters for itself in the forks of trees, and to be born with the blade of a cutlass (woodknife) in place of the bone of the forearm, so that it is able to cut down the undergrowth as it walks through the jungle. It is believed, moreover, occasionally to carry off and mate with human kind. [328] The Siamang (Hylobates lar), [329] which walks on its hind-legs, is, however, the species which is most commonly associated in legend with the human race; in fact, it is not impossible that there may sometimes have been a confusion between its name (siamang) and Semang, which is the name of one of the aboriginal (Negrito) races of the interior. The following Malay legend, which I took down at Labu in Selangor is believed to explain its origin, and also that of the Bear: [330]-- Once upon a time her Highness the Princess Telan became the affianced bride of Si Malim Bongsu. After the betrothal Si Malim Bongsu sailed away and did not return when the period of the engagement, which was fixed at from three to four months, came to an end. Then Si Malim Panjang, elder brother of Si Malim Bongsu, decided to take the place of his younger brother, and be married to the Princess Telan. The latter, however, repelled his advances, and he therefore attacked her savagely; but she turned herself into an ape (siamang) and escaped to the jungle, so that Si Malim Panjang desisted from pursuit. Then the ape climbed up into a pagar-anak tree which grew on the sea-shore, and leaned over the sea, and there she chanted these words:-- "O my dear Malim Bongsu, You have broken your solemn promise and engagement, And I have to take upon myself the form of an ape." Now Si Malim Bongsu was passing at the time, and on recognising the voice of the Princess Telan he took a blow-gun and shot her so that she fell into the sea. Then he took rose-water and sprinkled it over her, so that she resumed her natural shape, and they started to go home together. Still, however, Si Malim Bongsu would not wed her, but promised that he would do so when he came back from his next voyage, whereupon the Princess chanted these words:-- "If you do not return within three months You will find me turned into an ape." The same course of events, however, happened as before. Malim Bongsu did not return at the time appointed; his elder brother, Malim Panjang once more attacked her, and, leaping towards an areca palm, she once more became an ape, whereupon she chanted as before:-- "O my dear Malim Bongsu, You have broken your solemn promise and engagement, And I am forced to become an ape." Again Malim Bongsu, as he passed by, heard and recognised her voice; but upon learning that he had been for the second time the cause of his Princess's troubles, he exclaimed, "Better were it for me were I nothing but a big fish"; and leaping into the water he disappeared, and was changed into a big fish as he desired. Now the Princess's nurse (who was called "The Daughter of Sakembang China") was at the same time transformed into a bear, and as they were bathing at the time when they were surprised, and had not time to wash off all the soap (rice-cosmetic), the white marks on the breast and brows of the bear and on the breast and brows of the ape (siamang) have remained unto this day. Occasionally the opposite transformation is believed to take place, some species of the monkey tribe being supposed to turn into fish. Thus the k'ra (Macacus cynomolgus) is believed to develop into a species of fish called senunggang, and of the fish called kalul (kalui or kalue), Sir W. E. Maxwell writes: "The ikan kalul (is believed) to be a monkey transformed. Some specially favoured observers have seen monkeys half through the process of metamorphosis--half-monkey and half-fish." [331] The species of monkey which is believed to turn into the ikan kalul is, as I was told in Selangor, the b'rok or "cocoa-nut monkey." "Berhakim kapada brok" is a Malay proverbial expression which means, "'To make the monkey judge,' or, 'to go to the monkey for justice.' A fable is told by the Malays of two men, one of whom planted bananas on the land of the other. When the fruit was ripe each claimed it, but not being able to come to any settlement they referred the matter to the arbitration of a monkey (of the large kind called brok). The judge decided that the fruit must be divided; but no sooner was this done than one of the suitors complained that the other's share was too large. To satisfy him the monkey reduced the share of the other by the requisite amount, which he ate himself. Then the second suitor cried out that the share of the first was now too large. It had to be reduced to satisfy him, the subtracted portion going to the monkey as before. Thus they went on wrangling until the whole of the fruit was gone, and there was nothing left to wrangle about. Malay judges, if they are not calumniated, have been known to protract proceedings until both sides have exhausted their means in bribes. In such cases the unfortunate suitors are said to berhakim kapada brok." [332] The Wild Pig and Other Animals There are several superstitions about the Wild Boar which prove that it was not always regarded as an unclean animal. Of these the following recipe, which was given me by a Jugra (Selangor) Malay, for turning brass into gold is the most remarkable:-- "Kill a wild pig and rip open its paunch. Sew up in this a quantity of old 'scrap' brass, pile timber over it, burn it, and then leave it alone until the grass has grown right over it. Then dig up the gold." Again, certain wild boars are believed to carry on their tushes a talisman of extraordinary power, which is called rantei babi, or "Wild Boar's Chain." This chain consists, it is asserted, of three links of various metals (gold, silver, and amalgam), and is hung up on a shrub by the wild boar when he is enjoying his wallow, so that it is occasionally stolen by Malays who know his habits. I may add that, according to a Malay at Langat, the "were-tiger" (rimau jadi-jadian) occasionally appears in the shape of a wild boar escaping from a grave, in the centre of which may be afterwards seen the hole by which the animal has escaped. "Among the modern Malays avoidance of the flesh of swine and of contact with anything connected with the unclean animal is, of course, universal. No tenet of El-Islam is more rigidly enforced than this. It is singular to notice, among a people governed by the ordinances of the Prophet, traces of the observance of another form of abstinence enjoined by a different religion. The universal preference of the flesh of the Buffalo to that of the Ox in Malay countries is evidently a prejudice bequeathed to modern times by a period when cow-beef was as much an abomination to Malays as it is to the Hindus of India at the present day. This is not admitted or suspected by ordinary Malays, who would probably have some reason, based on the relative wholesomeness of buffalo and cow-beef, to allege in defence of their preference of the latter to the former." [333] To the above I may add that it is invariably the flesh of the Buffalo, and not that of the Ox, which is eaten sacrificially on the occasion of festivities. [334] But the flesh of the so-called White (albino) Buffalo (kerbau balar) is generally avoided as food, though I have known it to be prescribed medicinally (as in the case of Raja Kahar, a son of H.H. the Sultan of Selangor, the circumstances of whose illness will be detailed elsewhere). [335] As might be expected, a story is told by the Malays to account for this distinction. The general outline of the tale is to the effect that a Malay boy (a mere child) fell into the big rice-bin (kepok) in his parents' absence and was suffocated by the rice. After some days the body began to decompose, and the ooze emanating from the rice-bin was licked up by a buffalo belonging to the boy's parents. The attention of these latter being thus attracted to the rice-bin, they found therein the remains of their child, and thereupon cursed the buffalo, which (we are led to infer) became "white," and has remained so ever since. According to one version, a ground-dove (tekukur) was implicated both in the offence and the punishment which followed it. Wherefore to this day no man eats of the flesh of either of the offenders. Perhaps the most extraordinary transformation in which the Malays implicitly believe is that of the Squirrel, which is supposed to be developed from a large caterpillar called ulat sentadu. [336] About the Cat there are many superstitions which show that it is believed to possess supernatural powers. Thus it is supposed to be lucky to keep cats because they long for a soft cushion to lie upon, and so (indirectly) wish for the prosperity of their master. [337] On the other hand, cats must be very carefully prevented from rubbing up against a corpse, for it is said that on one occasion when this was neglected, the badi or Evil Principle which resides in the cat's body entered into the corpse, which thus became endowed with unnatural life and stood up upon its feet. So too the soaking of the cat in a pan of water until it is half-drowned is believed to produce an abundance of rain. [338] It is, besides, believed to be extremely unlucky to kill cats. Of this superstition Mr. Clifford says:-- "It is a common belief among Malays that if a cat is killed he who takes its life will in the next world be called upon to carry and pile logs of wood, as big as cocoa-nut trees, to the number of the hairs on the beast's body. Therefore cats are not killed; but if they become too daring in their raids on the hen-coop or the food rack, they are tied to a raft and sent floating down stream, to perish miserably of hunger. The people of the villages by which they pass make haste to push the raft out again into mid-stream, should it in its passage adhere to bank or bathing-hut, and on no account is the animal suffered to land. To any one who thinks about it, this long and lingering death is infinitely more cruel than one caused by a blow from an axe; but the Malays do not trouble to consider such a detail, and would care little if they did." [339] Before leaving the subject of cats, I must mention the belief that the "fresh-water fish called ikan belidah" was "originally a cat." Sir W. E. Maxwell says that many Malays refuse to eat it for this reason, and adds, "They declare that it squalls like a cat when harpooned, and that its bones are very white and fine like a cat's hairs." [340] A story is also sometimes told to account both for the general similarity of habits of the cat and the tiger and for the fact that the latter, unlike most of the Felidæ, is not a tree-climber. It is to the effect that the cat agreed to teach the tiger its tricks, which it did, with the exception of the art of climbing trees. The tiger, thinking it had learnt all the cat's tricks, proceeded to attack its teacher, when the cat escaped by climbing up a tree; so the tiger never learnt how to climb and cannot climb trees to this day. Even the smallest and commonest of mammals, such as Rats and Mice, are the objects of many strange beliefs. Thus "clothes which have been nibbled by rats or mice must not be worn again. They are sure to bring misfortune, and are generally given away in charity." [341] So too on the Selangor coast a mollusc called siput tantarang or mentarang is believed to have sprung from a mouse; and many kinds of charms, generally addressed to the "Prophet Joseph" (Nabi Yusuf), are resorted to in order to drive away rats and mice from the rice-fields. The following passage describes the general ideas about animal superstitions which prevail on the east coast of the Peninsula:-- "The beliefs and superstitions of the Fisher Folk would fill many volumes. They believe in all manner of devils and local sprites. They fear greatly the demons that preside over animals, and will not willingly mention the names of birds or beasts while at sea. Instead, they call them all chêweh [342]--which, to them, signifies an animal, though to others it is meaningless, and is supposed not to be understanded of the beasts. To this word they tack on the sound which each beast makes in order to indicate what animal is referred to; thus the pig is the grunting chêweh, the buffalo the chêweh that says 'uak,' and the snipe the chêweh that cries 'kek-kek.' Each boat that puts to sea has been medicined with care, many incantations and other magic observances having been had recourse to, in obedience to the rules which the superstitious people have followed for ages. After each take the boat is 'swept' by the medicine man with a tuft of leaves prepared with mystic ceremonies, which is carried at the bow for the purpose. The omens are watched with exact care, and if they be adverse no fishing-boat puts to sea that day. Every act in their lives is regulated by some regard for the demons of the sea and air, and yet these folk are nominally Muhammadans, and, according to that faith, magic and sorcery, incantations to the spirits, and prayers to demons, are all unclean things forbidden to the people. But the Fisher Folk, like other inhabitants of the Peninsula, are Malays first and Muhammadans afterwards. Their religious creed goes no more than skin deep, and affects but little the manner of their daily life." [343]