4. MINERALS AND MINING CHARMS

In the Western States of the Peninsula by far the most important branch of industry has for many years been that of Tin-mining. Though something like 90 per cent of the labourers employed in the mines are Chinese, the ceremonies used at the opening of tin-mines are purely Malay in character. The post of mining wizard, once a highly lucrative one, was in past days almost always filled by a Malay, though occasionally the services of a Jungle-man (Sakai) would be preferred. These mining wizards enjoyed in their palmy days an extraordinary reputation, some of them being credited with the power of bringing ore to a place where it was known that no ore existed; some, too, were believed to possess the power of sterilising such ore as existed, and of turning it into mere grains of sand. The ore itself is regarded as endued not only with vitality, but also with the power of growth, ore of indifferent quality being regarded as too young (muda), but as likely to improve with age. Sometimes, again, it is described as resembling a buffalo, in which shape it is believed to make its way from place to place underground. This idea, however, is probably based upon traditions of a lode, though it is quite in keeping with Malay ideas about the spirits residing in other minerals, the Gold spirit being supposed to take the shape of a kijang or roe-deer (whence the tradition of a golden roe-deer being found at Raub in Pahang). In connection with the subject of tin-mining the account contributed [433] in 1885 by Mr. Abraham Hale (then Inspector of Mines in the Kinta district of Perak) to the Journal of the Straits Asiatic Society is of such value as to necessitate its being quoted in extenso. It will be followed by such notes upon mining invocations as I was able to collect in Selangor, after which a few remarks upon the Malay theory of animism in minerals generally will bring the subject to a conclusion. To commence with Mr. Hale's account:--"The valley of the Kinta is, and has been for a very long time, essentially a mining country. There are in the district nearly five hundred registered mines, of which three are worked by European Companies, the rest being either private mines, i.e. mines claimed by Malays, which have been worked by them and their ancestors for an indefinite period, or new mines, in other words new concessions given indifferently on application to Malays and Chinese. There are about three hundred and fifty private Malay mines, and it is with these principally that the following paper will deal. "So far, no lodes have been discovered in Kinta; it is, however, probable that, as the country is opened up and prospectors get up amongst the spurs of the main range, the sources of the stream tin will come to light. "Mining in Kinta, like mining in Lârut, is for stream tin, and this is found literally everywhere in Kinta; it is washed out of the sand in the river-beds--a very favourite employment with Mandheling women; Kinta natives do not affect it much, although there is more than one stream where a good worker can earn a dollar per day; it is mined for in the valley, and sluiced for on the sides of hills; and, lastly, a very suggestive fact to a geologist, it has been found on the tops of isolated limestone bluffs and in the caves [434] which some of them contain. "This stream tin has probably been worked for several centuries in Kinta; local tradition says that a very long time ago Siamese were the principal miners, and there is evidence that very extensive work has been done here by somebody at a time when the method was different from that which is commonly adopted by Kinta Malays at the present day. There are at least fifty deep well-like pits on the Lahat hill, averaging about eight feet in diameter and perhaps twenty feet deep. "Further up country I have seen a large pit which the natives called a Siamese mine; this is about fifty feet in diameter and over twenty feet deep, and its age may be conjectured from the virgin forest in which it is situated. Besides these, at many places extensive workings are continually brought to light as the country is opened up, and these appear to have been left undisturbed for at least a hundred years. Further evidence of old work is furnished by slabs of tin of a shape unlike that which has been used in Perak in the memory of living persons; and only a few weeks ago two very perfect 'curry stones' of an unusual shape and particularly sharp grit were found at a depth of eight feet in natural drift. These may, perhaps, have been used to grind grain. "So peculiarly is Kinta a mining district, that even the Sakais of the hills do a little mining to get some tin sand wherewith to buy the choppers and sarongs which the Malays sell to them at an exorbitant price. "The Malay pawang, or medicine-man, is probably the inheritor of various remnants and traditions of the religion which preceded Muhammadanism, and in the olden time this class of persons derived a very fair revenue from the exercise of their profession, in propitiating and scaring those spirits who have to do with mines and miners; even now, although the Malay pawang may squeeze a hundred or perhaps two hundred dollars out of the Chinese towkay [435] who comes to mine for tin in Malaya, the money is not perhaps badly invested, for the Chinaman is no prospector, whereas a good Malay pawang has a wonderful 'nose' for tin, and it may be assumed that the Chinese towkay and, before his time, the Malay miner, would not pay a tax to the pawang unless they had some ground for believing that, by employing him and working under his advice, there would be more chance of success than if they worked only on their own responsibility. "The pawang being a person who claims to have powers of divination and other imperfectly understood attributes, endeavours to shroud his whole profession in more or less of mystery. In his vocabulary, as in that of the gutta-hunters, special terms are used to signify particular objects, the use of the ordinary words being dropped; this is called 'bahâsa pantang.' [436] "The following are some of the special terms alluded to:-- "Ber-olak tinggi, [437] instead of gajah--elephant. The elephant is not allowed on the mine, or must not be brought on to the actual works, for fear of damage to the numerous races and dams; to name him, therefore, would displease the spirits (hantu). "Ber-olak dâpor, instead of kuching--cat. Cats are not allowed on mines, nor may the name be mentioned. "A tiger of enormous size called Ber-olak is said to haunt Kinta. The legend about him is as follows:-- A long time ago, in the pre-Muhammadan days, a man caught a tiger kitten and took it home; it grew up quite tame and lived with the man until he died, when it returned to the jungle and grew to an enormous size, nine cubits (hasta) long; it is still there, though nobody ever sees it; it does no harm, but sometimes very large tracks are seen, and men hear its roar, which is so loud that it can be heard from Chemor to Bâtu Gajah; when heard in the dry season, it is a sure prognostication of rain in fifteen days' time. "Sial, [438] instead of kerbau--water-buffalo. The buffalo is not allowed on the mine for the same reason as the elephant. "Salah nama, [439] instead of limau nipis--lime (fruit). If limes are brought on to a mine, the hantu (spirits) are said to be offended; the particular feature of the fruit, which is distasteful, appears to be its acidity. It is peculiar that Chinese have this superstition concerning limes as well as Malays; not very long ago a Chinese towkay of a mine complained that the men of a rival kongsi [440] had brought limes and squeezed the juice into his head race, and, furthermore, had rubbed their bodies with the juice mixed with water out of his head race, and he said they had committed a very grave offence, and asked that they might be punished for it. "With Malays this appears to be one of the most important pantang [441] rules, and to such a length is it carried that belachan (shrimp-paste) is not allowed to be brought on to a mine for fear it should induce people to bring limes as well, lime-juice being a necessary adjunct to belachan when prepared for eating. "Buah rumput, [442] or bunga rumput, instead of biji--tin sand. "Akar, or akar hidop, [443] instead of ular--snake. "Kunyit, [444] instead of lipan--centipede. "Batu puteh, [445] instead of timah--metallic tin. "It was important that the Pawang should be a marked man as to personal appearance; for this reason there are certain positions of the body which may be assumed by him only when on the mine. These attitudes are--first, standing with the hands clasped behind the back; and, secondly, with the hands resting on the hips. This second position is assumed when he is engaged in 'invocating' the 'spirits' of a mine; the pawang takes his station in front of the genggulang, [446] having a long piece of white cloth in his right hand, which he waves backwards and forwards over his shoulder three times, each time calling the special hantu whom he wishes to propitiate, by name; whilst engaged in this invocation his left hand rests on his hip. During the performance of any professional duty he is also invariably dressed in a black coat; this nobody but the pawang is allowed to wear on a mine. These attitudes and the black coat comprise what is technically termed the pakei pawang. "The professional duty of the pawang of a mine consists in carrying out certain ceremonies, for which he is entitled to collect the customary fees, and in enforcing certain rules for the breach of which he levies the customary fines. [447] "At the time of the opening of a mine he has to erect a genggulang, [448] and to call upon the tutelary hantu of the locality to assist in the enterprise. The fee for this is one bag (karong) of tin sand. "At the request of the miners, instead of a genggulang a kapala nasi [449] may be erected, as cheaper and more expeditious. The fee is one gantang [450] of tin sand. "He also assists in the ceremony of hanging the ancha [451] in the smelting-house; his principal associate in this is the Panglima Klian, who draws the ancha up to its proper position close under the attaps. "1. Raw cotton must not be brought on to a mine in any shape, either in its native state or as stuffing of bolsters or mattresses. The fine (hukum pawang) is $12.50; the ordinary pillow used by a miner is made of some soft wood. "2. Black coats and the attitudes designated pakei pawang [452] may not be assumed by any one on the mine, with the exception of the pawang. (Hukum pawang, $12.50.) "3. The gourd used as a water vessel by Malays, all descriptions of earthenware, glass, and all sorts of limes and lemons, and the outer husk of the cocoa-nut, are prohibited articles on mines. (Hukum pawang, $12.50.) "Note.--All eating- and drinking-vessels should be made of cocoa-nut shell or of wood: the noise made by earthenware and glass is said to be offensive to the hantu. But in the case of a breach of this regulation the pawang would warn the offenders two or three times before he claimed the fine. "4. Gambling and quarrelling are strictly forbidden on mines; the fine is claimed for the first offence. (Hukum pawang, $12.50.) "5. Wooden aqueducts (palong) must be prepared in the jungle a long way from the mine. (Hukum pawang, $12.50.) "The noise of the chopping is said to be offensive to the hantu. "6. Any breach of the bahasa pantang is an offence. (Hukum pawang, $12.50.) "7. Charcoal must not be allowed to fall into the races. (Hukum pawang, $12.50.) "8. A miner must not wear and go to work on the mine in another man's trousers. (Hukum pawang, one karong of tin sand.) "Note.--This applies only to the senar seluar basah, or working dress. It is also an offence to work in the garment called sarong. "9. If the chupak (measure) of the mine is broken, it must be renewed within three days. (Hukum pawang, one bhara of tin.) "10. No weapon may be brought within the four posts of the smelting-house which immediately surround the furnace. (Hukum pawang, $1.25.) "11. Coats may not be worn within this space. (Hukum pawang, $1.25.) "12. These posts may not be cut or hacked. (Hukum pawang, one slab of tin.) "13. If a miner returns from work, bringing back with him some tin sand, and discovers that somebody has eaten the cold rice which he had left at home, he may claim from the delinquent one karong of tin sand. The pawang adjudicates in the matter. "14. An earthenware pot (priok) which is broken must be replaced within three days. (Hukum pawang, one karong of tin sand.) "15. No one may cross a race in which a miner is sluicing without going some distance above him, up stream; if he does he incurs a penalty of as much tin sand as the race contains at the moment, payable to the owner of the race. The pawang adjudicates. "16. A kris, or spear, at a mine, if without a sheath, must be carefully wrapped in leaves, even the metal setting (simpei) must be hidden. Spears may only be carried at the "trail." (Hukum pawang, uncertain.) "17. On the death of any miner, each of his comrades on that mine pays to the pawang one chupak (penjuru) of tin sand. "It will be noticed that the amount of the majority of these fines is $12.50; this is half of the amount of the fine which, under the Malay customary law, a chief could impose on a ra`iyat [453] for minor offences. It is also the amount of the customary dowry in the case of a marriage with a slave or with the widow or divorced wife of a ra`iyat. "The Malay miner has peculiar ideas about tin and its properties; in the first instance, he believes that it is under the protection and command of certain spirits whom he considers it necessary to propitiate; next he considers that the tin itself is alive and has many of the properties of living matter, that of its own volition it can move from place to place, that it can reproduce itself, and that it has special likes--or perhaps affinities--for certain people and things, and vice versa. Hence it is advisable to treat tin-ore with a certain amount of respect, to consult its convenience, and what is, perhaps, more curious, to conduct the business of mining in such a way that the tin-ore may, as it were, be obtained without its own knowledge!" Mr. Hale adds an interesting vocabulary of Malay mining terms from which the following words are extracted as being specially connected with the superstitions of the miners:-- Ancha.--A square frame 1' 6'' × 1' 6'', composed of strips of split bamboo for the floor and four pieces of peeled wood for the sides. The proper wood is kayu sungkei, [454] because it has flat even twigs and leaves which lie flat and symmetrically; these must be bound together with a creeper: rattan may not be used; it is hung to the tulang bumbong [455] just under the attaps [456] of the smelting-shed; it is used as an altar, the offerings made by the miners to the spirits being placed on it. Genggulang.--The platform or altar erected by the pawang at the opening of a mine. It should be built entirely of kayu sungkei. The wood is peeled, except the four branches which serve as posts; these are only peeled up to the twigs and leaves, which are left on, about 4 feet 6 inches from the ground. At 3 feet 3 inches from the ground a square platform of round peeled sticks, about 1 foot 3 inches each way, is arranged; one foot above the level of the platform a sort of railing is fixed round three sides of the square, and from the open side a ladder with four steps reaches down to the ground; the railing is carried down to the ground on each side of the ladder, and supports a fringe of cocoa-nut leaves (jari-lipan). The whole erection must be tied together with creepers; rattan must not be used. Jari lipan.--A fringe made of the young white leaflets of the cocoa-nut palm plaited together. [457] Jampi.--The incantation of the pawang. Kapala nasi.--A stake of peeled wood (kayu sungkei) stuck in the ground; the top of this is split into four so as to support a platform similar to that of the genggulang. Offerings are made upon it. [458] Pantang burok mata.--The period of mourning observed when a death occurs at a mine. Mourning consists in abstention from work (in the case of a neighbour or comrade) for three days, or, in the case of the death of the pawang, penghulu kelian, or the feudal chief, for seven days. The expression is derived from the supposition that in three days the eyes of a corpse have quite disappeared. Chinese miners have a similar custom; whoever goes to assist in the burial of a corpse must not only abstain from work, but must not go near the mine or smelting furnace for three days. [459] Perasap.--Half a cocoa-nut shell, a cup, or any other vessel, in which votive offerings of sweet-smelling woods and gums are burnt. Sangka.--A receptacle in which to burn offerings of sweet woods and gums; it is made of a stick of bamboo about three feet long, one end being split and opened out to receive the charcoal; it is stuck in the ground near races and heaps of tin sand. [460] Tatin gulang.--The pawang's fee for the ceremony of erecting a genggulang. [461] The following notes on tin-mining in Selangor were contributed to the Selangor Journal by Mr. J. C. Pasqual, a well-known local miner:-- "The Malay mining pawang will soon be a thing of the past, and many a pawang has returned to tilling the soil in place of his less legitimate occupation of imposing upon the credulity of the miners. The reason for this is not far to seek, as the Malay miner, as well as the Chinese miner, of the old school, with their thousand-and-one superstitions, has given place to a more modern and matter-of-fact race, who place more reliance for prospecting purposes on boring tools than on the divination and jampi of the pawang. But the profession of the pawang has not altogether died out, as he is sometimes called into requisition for the purpose of casting out evil spirits from the mines; of converting amang [462] (pyrites) into tin-ore, and of invoking the spirits of a mine previous to the breaking of the first sod in a new venture. These ceremonies generally involve the slaying of a buffalo, a goat, or fowls, and the offering of betel-leaf, incense, and rice, according to the means of the towkay lombong. "The term pawang is now used by the Chinese to indicate the 'smelter' (Chinese) of a mine (probably from the fact that this office was formerly the monopoly of the Malay pawang). "To the pawangs are attributed extraordinary powers, for besides inducing tin-ore to continue or become plentiful in a mine, he can cause its disappearance from a rich 'claim' by the inevitable jampi, this latter resource being resorted to by way of revenge in cases where the towkay lombong (or labor) fails to carry out his pecuniary obligation towards the pawang whose aid he had invoked in less prosperous times. Some of the stories told of the prowess of pawangs are very ridiculous; for instance, a native lady in Ulu Langat (for women are also credited with the pawang attributes), who was the pawang of Sungei Jelok in Kajang, could command a grain of tin-ore to crawl on the palm of her hand like a live worm. [463] The failure of the Sungei Jelok mines was attributed to her displeasure on account of an alleged breach of contract on the part of the towkay lombong. "The term pawang is sometimes used as a verb in the sense of 'to prospect' a sungei or stream; thus in alluding to certain streams or mines, it is not uncommon to hear a Malay say that they have been prospected (sudah di-pawangkan) by 'Inche' So-and-so--meaning that the stream had been discovered and proved by a pawang prior to the opening of the mines." [464] In a later article Mr. Pasqual says: "It is believed that tin will even on rare occasions announce its presence by a peculiar noise heard in the stillness of night, and that some birds and insects by their chirrupings and whirrings will proclaim its whereabouts." [465] In a still later article, after briefly referring to the use of the bhasa pantang, or "Taboo Language," by tin-miners in Selangor, Mr. Pasqual proceeds:-- "There are, again, certain acts which are forbidden. In the mine, especially if the karang [466] has not yet been removed, it is forbidden to wear shoes or carry an umbrella. This rule, it seems, originated with the coolies themselves, who in olden times insisted that the Towkay Labur should take off his shoes and close his umbrella whenever he visited the mine, so that, as they alleged, the spirits might not be offended. But their real object was not to allow him to pry too much into the mine, in case it might not bear scrutiny; and thus, by depriving him of the protection from the sun and from the rough mining quartz which would have been afforded by the umbrella and shoes, they prevented him from going about here, there, and everywhere, and making unpleasant inquiries, as he would otherwise have liked to do. "Quarrelling and fighting in the mine is strictly forbidden, as it has a tendency to drive away the ore. "Bathing in the mine is not allowed. "A man must not work in the mine with only his bathing-cloth around his body. He must wear trousers. "If a man takes off his sun hat and puts it on the ground, he must turn it over and let it rest upon its crown. "Limes cannot be brought into the mine. This superstition is peculiar to the Malay miner, who has a special dread of this fruit, which, in pantang language, he calls salah nama (lit. 'wrong name') instead of limau nipis. "In looking at the check-roll it is forbidden to point at the names with the finger. No one may examine the check-roll at night with an open light, owing more probably to the fear of setting it on fire than to superstitious prejudices. "It is considered unlucky for a man to fall off the mining ladder, for, whether he is hurt or not, he is likely to die within the year. "An outbreak of fire in the mine is considered an omen of prosperity. Several mines have been known to double or treble their output of tin after the occurrence of a fire. "It is unlucky for a coolie to die in the kongsi house. When, therefore, a man is very sick and past all hopes of recovery, it is customary to put him out of the house in an extempore hut erected in the scrub, so that death may not take place in the kongsi amongst the living. His chuleis [467] attend him during his last hours and bury him when dead. These and other superstitious ideas and observances are, however, fast dying out, though it would still be an unsafe experiment to enter a mine with shoes on and an umbrella over your head." [468] The remaining notes on mining ceremonies and charms were collected by me in Selangor. On reaching the tin-bearing stratum, the tin-ore is addressed by name:-- "Peace be with you, O Tin-Ore, At the first it was dew that turned into water, And water that turned into foam, And foam that turned into rock, And rock that turned into tin-ore; Do you, O Tin-Ore, lying in a matrix of solid rock, Come forth from this matrix of solid rock; If you do not come forth You shall be a rebel in the sight of God. Ho, Tin-Ore, Sir 'Floating Islet,' 'Flotsam-at-sea,' and 'Flotsam-on-land,' Do you float up to the surface of this my tank, [469] Or you shall be a rebel to God," etc. Sometimes each grain of ore appears to be considered as endowed with a separate entity or individuality. Thus we find in another invocation the following passage, where the wizard is addressing the grains of ore:-- "Do You (Grains of Ore) that are on the Hills descend to the Plains, You that are at the Head-waters descend to Mid-stream, You that are at the Estuary ascend to Mid-stream. And assemble yourselves together in this spot. Assemble yourselves together, 'Rice-grains' and 'Spinach-seed,' 'Tobacco-seed,' 'Millet,' and 'Wild Ginger-Seed,' Assemble ye together in this spot. I am desirous of excavating this spot, And of making a mine here; If ye do not assemble yourselves together I shall curse you; You shall be turned into dust, and turned into air, And you shall also be turned into water." The separate personality of each individual grain is remarkably clear in the above passage. The names of the different kinds of seed are in allusion to the various shapes and sizes of the grains of ore. Yet in the very same charm various kinds of lizards and centipedes are begged to "bring the tin-ore with them, some of them a grain or two, some of them a fistful or two, some of them a gallon or two, some of them a load or two," and so on. No doubt the wizard was determined to allow the grains no loophole for escape. The objects of the charms employed by the mining wizards are the following:-- (1) To clear the jungle of evil spirits (and propitiate the good ones?) before starting to fell, as is shown by the following passage:-- "O Grandfather King Solomon, Black King Solomon, I desire to fell these woods, But it is not I who am in charge of these woods, It is Yellow King Solomon who is in charge of them, And Red King Solomon who is in charge of them. It is I who fell the jungle, But only with the permission of those two persons. Rise, rise, O Ye who watch it (the tin?), [Here are] three 'chews' of betel for you, and three cigarettes, O Maimurup, O Maimerah, O Gadek Hitam, Si Gadek Hitam (Black Grannie) from Down-stream, Si Gadek Kuning (Yellow Grannie) from Up-stream, And Si Maimerah from Mid-stream."] (Here some lines follow which are as yet untranslatable.) "Retire ye and avaunt from hence, If ye retire not from hence, As you stride, your leg shall break, As you stretch your hand out, your hand shall be crippled, As you open your eye (to look), your eyeball shall burst, Your eye stabbed through with a thorn of the T'rong Asam, [470] And your hand pierced with the Sega jantan, [471] And your finger-nails with Heart of Brazilwood. Moreover, your tongue shall be slit with a bamboo splinter, For thus was it sworn by 'Grandfather Sakernanaininaini' [472] Into the leaf (of the) Putajaya, Upon the summit of the mountain of Ceylon. I know the origin from which you spring, From the Black Blood and the Red, That was your origin. We are two sons of one father, but with different inheritances; In my charge is Gold and Tin-ore, In yours are Rocks and Sand, With chaff and bran." (2) To clear evil spirits away from the ground before commencing the work of excavation. The charm for this is given in the Appendix, but is little more than a list of names. (3) To propitiate the local spirits and induce the tin-ore to show itself, when the tin-bearing stratum is reached, by means of the charm quoted above. (4) To induce the spirits to partake of a banquet which is spread for them in a receptacle intended to be the model of a royal audience-chamber. This, the "spirits' audience-chamber" (as it is called), is usually from two to three feet square, and is filled with offerings similar in character to those usually deposited on the sacrificial tray (anchak), with the addition, however, of certain articles which are considered to be specially representative of the miners' food. These articles are sugar-cane, plantains, yams, sweet potatoes, and fish, etc.; all of which should be placed together with the customary offerings in the "spirits' audience-chamber." Outside the "audience-hall," at each of the two front corners, should be placed a red and a white flag and a wax taper; and at each of the two back corners should be placed a taper, making in all four flags and seven tapers. A standard censer (perasapan) must be erected in front of the "audience-chamber," and a second small censer must also be obtained, so that burning incense may be "waved" to and fro underneath the floor of the audience-chamber in order to fumigate it before the offerings are deposited inside it. During the fumigation a charm is recited, in which the assistance of the spirits of certain canonized Muhammadan worthies is invoked, concluding thus:-- "Peace be with you, O White Sheikh, wizard of the virgin jungle, Wizards old, and wizards young, Come hither and share the banquet I have prepared for you. I crave pardon for all mistakes, For all shortcomings I beg pardon in every particular." Then when the tapers are all lighted and the offerings ready, a further charm is recited, which begins as follows:-- "Ho, White Sheikh, king of the virgin jungle, It is you to whom belong all people of the jungle and virgin forest, Do you, whose back is turned towards heaven, Give your orders to all the Elders of the earth and Princes who are here, You who here hold the position of Indra, Come hither and partake of my banquet. I wish to ask for your assistance, I wish to open (excavate) this mine." [473] The chief taboos are the killing of any sort of living creature within the mine; to wear a sarong (Malay skirt); to bring into the mine the skin of any beast; and to wear shoes or use an umbrella within the mine. These are some of the perpetual taboos, but no doubt there are many others. In the case of a sacrifice, however, the white buffalo may of course be killed, not within the mine itself, but still upon its brink; and when this is done, the head is buried, and small portions (which must be "representative" of every part of the carcase) should be taken and deposited in the "audience-chamber." Among the seven days' taboos are mentioned the killing of any living timber (within the precincts of the mine?), lewdness, and the praising or admiring of the "grass seed" (puji buah rumput), which is the name by which the tin-ore must invariably be called within the precincts of the mine. This last taboo is due to the use of a special mining vocabulary to which the greatest attention was formerly paid, and which did not differ very greatly from that used in Perak. Another account of the ceremony runs as follows; I give it word for word as I took it down from my Malay informant:-- "Take five portions of cooked and five portions of uncooked fowls, both white and black, together with black pulut rice, [474] millet-seed (sekoi), seeds of the chebak China, etc. etc. When all is ready, burn incense, scatter the black rice with the right hand over the bottom of a tray, i.e. an anchak (such as is used for offerings to the spirits), fumigate and deposit the offerings in five portions upon this layer of rice (one portion going to each corner and one to the middle of the tray). Take black cloth, five cubits long, fumigate it, and wave it thrice round the head with the right hand from left to right, repeating the following invocation (serapah):-- "O Grandfather 'Batin' [475] the Elder, In whose charge are caverns and hill-locked basins, O Grandfather 'Batin' the Younger, In whose charge are all these your civil and military companies, May the Ore which is on the Hills descend to the Plain, May that which is Up-stream descend to Mid-stream, And that which is Down-stream ascend to Mid-stream, Assemble you together, O Ores, in this spot; It is not I who call you, It is Grandfather Batin the Elder who calls you, It is Batin the Younger who calls you, It is the Elder Wizard who calls you, It is the Younger Wizard who calls you, Assemble yourselves together, Rubbish and Trash, House-lizards, 'Kalerik,' Centipedes, and Millipedes, And partake of my banquet. Let whosoever comes bring me ore, A ketong [476] or two, A fistful or two, An arai [477] or two, A gallon or two, A basket or two, Assemble yourselves together, Boiled Rice-seed, Spinach-seed, Tobacco-seed, Millet-seed, Wild Ginger-seed, Assemble yourselves together in this spot. I wish to excavate this spot, I wish to open a mine: If you do not come, if you do not gather yourselves together, I shall curse you; You shall turn into dust, into air, and into water. By virtue of the magic arts of my teacher be my petition granted. It is not I who petition, It is the Elder Wizard who petitions, It is the Younger Wizard who petitions. By the grace of 'There is no god but God,'" etc. The foregoing descriptions of mining ceremonies and charms refer to tin only, but in so far as general animistic ideas go, they might be equally well applied to other metals, such as silver and gold. It has already been remarked that as the Tin spirit is believed to take the form of a buffalo, so the Gold spirit is said to take the form of a golden roe-deer (kijang). Of the ceremonies which the Malays believe to be essential for successful gold-mining, not much information has yet been published. In Denys' Descriptive Dictionary, however, we read the following:-- "Gold is believed to be under the care and in the gift of a dewa, or god, and its search is therefore unhallowed, for the miners must conciliate the dewa by prayers and offerings, and carefully abstain from pronouncing the name of God or performing any act of worship. Any acknowledgment of the sovereignty of Allah offends the dewa, who immediately 'hides the gold,' or renders it invisible. At some of the great limbongan [478] mas or gold-pits in the Malay States of the interior, any allusion to the Deity subjects the unwitting miner to a penalty which is imposed by the Penghûlu. The qualities of the gold vary greatly in the same country. The finest gold brought to market is that of the principality of Pahang, on the eastern side of the Malay Peninsula, which brings a higher price than even that of Australia by better than three per cent. The gold is all obtained by washing, and the metal has never been worked, and scarcely even traced to the original veins. It is mostly in the form of powder or dust--the mas-urai of the Malays, literally 'loose or disintegrated gold.'" [479] Gold, silver, and an amalgam formed of the two, are regarded as the three most precious metals, and of these gold is, to a very uncertain and partial extent, still sometimes regarded as a royal prerogative. [480] Of Silver still less information has been collected than of gold. This, however, is but natural, as silver has not yet been found in payable quantities, whereas many gold mines exist. It is just possible, however, that silver may be worked by the Malays on a small scale in the Siamese-Malay States, as it would be difficult on any other hypothesis to account for the following invocation, which was given me by a Malay of Kelantan ('Che `Abas):-- "Peace be with you, O Child of the Solitary Jin Salaka (Silver), I know your origin. Your dwelling-place is the Yellow Cloud Rock; The Place of your Penance the Sea of Balongan Darah; The Place of your Penance is a Pond in every stream; The Place of your Birth was the Bay where the Wind Dies; Ho, Child of the Solitary Jin Salaka, Come hither at this time, this very moment, I wish to make you a propitiatory offering, to banquet you on arrack and toddy. If you do not come hither at this very moment You shall be a rebel unto God, And a rebel unto God's Prophet Solomon, For I am God's Prophet Solomon." No other metals, so far as I am aware, are worked to any extent in the Peninsula, yet there is the clearest possible evidence of animistic ideas about Iron. Thus for the Sacred Lump of Iron which forms part of the regalia of more than one of the petty Sultans in the Peninsula, the Malays entertain the most extraordinary reverence, not unmingled with superstitious terror. [481] It is upon this "Lump of Iron," when placed in water, that the most solemn and binding oath known to those who make use of it is sworn; and it is to this "Lump of Iron" that the Malay wizard refers when he recites his category of the most terrible denunciations that Malay magic has been able to invent. [482] It is possible that there may be, in the Malay mind at all events, some connection between the supernatural powers ascribed to this portion of the regalia and the more general use of iron as a charm against evil spirits. For the various forms of iron which play so conspicuous a part in Malay magic, from the long iron nail which equally protects the new-born infant and the Rice-Soul from the powers of evil, to the betel-nut scissors which are believed to scare the evil spirits from the dead, are alike called the representatives (symbols or emblems) of Iron (tanda besi). So, too, is the blade of the wood-knife, or cutlass, which a jungle Malay will sometimes plant in the bed of a stream (with its edge towards the source) before he will venture to drink of the water. So, too, is the blade of the same knife, upon the side of which he will occasionally seat himself when he is eating alone in the forest; both of these precautions being taken, however, as I have more than once been told, not only to drive away evil spirits, but to "confirm" the speaker's own soul (menetapkan semangat). Even Stone appears to be regarded as distinctly connected with ideas of animism. Thus the stone deposited in the basket with the Rice-soul, the stone deposited in the child's swinging cot by way of a substitute when the child is temporarily taken out of it, and above all the various concretions to be found from time to time both in the bodies of animals ("Bezoar" stones) and in the stems or fruit of trees (as tabasheer), are examples of this. Examples of tabasheer have already been quoted (under Vegetation Charms), but a few remarks about Bezoar stones may be of interest. The Bezoar stones known to the Peninsular Malays are usually obtained either from monkeys or porcupines. Extraordinary magical virtues are attached to these stones, the gratings of which are mixed with water and administered to the sick. [483] I was once asked $200 for a small stone which its owner kept in cotton-wool in a small tin box, where it lay surrounded by grains of rice, upon which he declared that it fed. [484] I asked him how it could be proved that it was a true Bezoar stone (which it undoubtedly was not), and he declared that if it were placed upon an inverted tumbler and touched with the point of a k'ris (dagger) or a lime-fruit it would commence to move about. Both tests were therefore applied in my presence, but the motion of the Bezoar stone in each case proved to be due to the most overt trickery on the part of the owner, who by pressing on one side of the stone (which was spherical in shape) naturally caused it to move; in fact I was easily able to produce the same effect in the same way, as I presently showed him, though of course he could not be brought to admit the deception. [485] Before I leave this portion of the subject, I may mention that magic powers are very generally ascribed to the "celts" or "stone-age" implements which are frequently found in the Peninsula, and are called thunderbolts (batu halilintar). They are not unfrequently grated and mixed with water and drunk like the Bezoar stones, but usually they are kept merely as a touch-stone for gold. (c) Water