"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 Penghulu. 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
1. PURIFICATION BY WATER
The following description (by Sir W. E. Maxwell) of the bathing
ceremony, as practised by the Perak Malays, may be taken as typical
of this subject:--
"Limes are used in Perak, as we use soap, when a Malay has resolved on
having a really good "scrub." They are cut in two and squeezed (ramas)
in the hand. In Penang a root called sintok is usually preferred to
limes. When the body is deemed sufficiently cleansed the performer,
taking his stand facing the East, spits seven times, and then counts
up seven aloud. After the word tujoh (seven) he throws away the
remains of the limes or sintok to the West, saying aloud, Pergi-lah
samua sial jambalang deripada badan aku ka pusat tasek Paujangi,
'Misfortune and spirits of evil begone from my body to the whirlpool
of the lake Paujangi!' Then he throws (jurus) a few buckets of water
over himself, and the operation is complete.
"The lake Paujangi is situated in mid-ocean, and its whirlpool most
likely causes the tides. All the waters of the sea and rivers are
finally received there. It is probably as eligible an abode for
exorcised spirits as the Red Sea was once considered to be by our
forefathers." [486]
The ceremony just described is evidently a form of purification
by water. Similar purificatory ceremonies form an integral part of
Malay customs at birth, adolescence, marriage, sickness, death, and
in fact at every critical period of the life of a Malay; but will be
most conveniently discussed in detail under each of the particular
headings referred to. The tepong tawar ceremony (for the details of
which see Chapter III., and which is perhaps the commonest of all
Malay magic rites) would also seem to have originated from ideas of
ceremonial purification.
2. THE SEA, RIVERS, AND STREAMS
The Malays have been from time immemorial a sea-faring race, and are
quite as superstitious in their ideas of the sea as sailors in other
parts of the world.
As has been already indicated, [487] their animistic notions
include a belief in Water Spirits, both of the sea and of rivers,
and occasionally this belief finds expression in ritual observances.
Thus, for instance, it was formerly the custom to insert a number of
sugar-palm twigs (segar kabong) into the top of the ship's mast, making
the end of it look not unlike a small birch of black twigs. [488]
This was intended to prevent the Water Spirit (Hantu Ayer) from
settling on the mast. His appearance when he does settle is described
as resembling the glow of fire flies or of phosphorescence in the
sea--evidently a form of St. Elmo's fire.
The ship being a living organism, one must, of course, when all is
ready, persuade it to make a proper start. To effect this you go on
board, and sitting down beside the well (petak ruang), burn incense
and strew the sacrificial rice, and then tapping the inside of the
keelson (jintekkan serempu) and the next plank above it (apit lempong),
beg them to adhere to each other during the voyage, e.g.:--
"Peace be with you, O 'big Medang' and 'low-growing Medang!'
Be ye not parted brother from brother,
I desire you to speed me, to the utmost of your power,
To such and such a place;
If ye will not, ye shall be rebels against God," etc.
I need hardly explain, perhaps, that "big medang" and "low-growing
medang" are the names of two varieties of the same tree, which are
supposed in the present instance to have furnished the timber from
which these different parts were made.
Then you stand up in the bows and call upon the Sea Spirits for their
assistance in pointing out shoals, snags, and rocky islets. [489]
Sometimes a talisman is manufactured by writing an Arabic text on a
leaf which is then thrown into the sea.
So, too, it is not unusual to see rocks in mid-stream near the mouths
of rivers adorned with a white cloth hanging from a long stick or pole,
which marks them out as "sacred places," and sometimes in rapids
where navigation is difficult or dangerous, offerings are made to
the River Spirits, as the following quotation will show:--
"We commenced at last to slide down a long reach of troubled water
perceptibly out of the horizontal. The raft buried itself under the
surface, leaving dry only our little stage, and the whole fabric shook
and trembled as if it were about to break up. Yelling 'Sambut, sambut'
('Receive, receive') to the spirits of the stream, whom Kulup Mohamed
was propitiating with small offerings of rice and leaves, the panting
boatmen continued their struggles until we shot out once more into
smooth deep water, and all danger was over." [490]
The importance of rivers in the Malay Peninsula, and for that matter,
in Malayan countries generally, can hardly be overrated. It was
by the rivers that Malay immigration, coming for the most part, if
not entirely, from Sumatra, entered the interior of the Peninsula,
and before the influx of Europeans had superseded them by roads and
railways the rivers were the sole means of inland communication. All
old Malay settlements are situated on the banks of rivers or streams,
both on this account and because of the necessity of having a plentiful
supply of water for the purpose of irrigating the rice-fields, which
constitute the main source of livelihood for the inhabitants.
Accordingly the backbone, so to speak, of a Malay district is the river
that runs through it, and from which in most cases the district takes
its name; for here, as elsewhere, the river-names are generally older
than the names of territorial divisions. They are often unintelligible
and probably of pre-Malayan origin, but are sometimes derived from
the Malay names of forest trees. As a rule every reach and point has a
name known to the local Malays, even though the river may run through
forest and swamp with only a few villages scattered at intervals of
several miles along its banks.
Of river legends there are not a few. The following extract relates
to one of the largest rivers of the Peninsula, the river Perak,
which gives its name to the largest and most important of the Malay
States of the West Coast. Perak means silver, though none is mined
in the country; and the legend is a fair specimen of the sort of
story which grows up round an attempt to account for an otherwise
inexplicable name:--
"On their return down-stream, the Raja and his followers halted at
Chigar Galah, where a small stream runs into the river Perak. They were
struck with astonishment at finding the water of this stream as white
as santan (the grated pulp of the cocoa-nut mixed with water). Magat
Terawis, who was despatched to the source of the stream to discover
the cause of this phenomenon, found there a large fish of the kind
called haruan engaged in suckling her young one. She had large white
breasts from which milk issued. [491]
"He returned and told the Raja, who called the river 'Perak'
('silver'), in allusion to its exceeding whiteness. Then he returned
to Kota Lama." [492]
3. REPTILES AND REPTILE CHARMS
The Crocodile
Of the origin of the Crocodile two conflicting stories, at least,
are told. One of these was collected by Sir William Maxwell in Perak;
the other was taken down by me from a Labu Malay in Selangor, but
I have not met with it elsewhere; a parallel version of the story
quoted by Maxwell being the commonest form of the legend in Selangor
as well as Perak.
Sir William Maxwell's account runs as follows:--
"In the case of the crocodile, we find an instance of a dangerous
animal being regarded by Malays as possessed of mysterious powers,
which distinguish him from most of the brute creation, and class him
with the tiger and elephant. Just as in some parts of India sacred
crocodiles are protected and fed in tanks set apart for them by
Hindus, so in Malay rivers here and there particular crocodiles are
considered kramat (sacred), and are safe from molestation. On a river
in the interior of Malacca I have had my gun-barrels knocked up when
taking aim at a crocodile, the Malay who did it immediately falling
on his knees in the bottom of the boat and entreating forgiveness,
on the ground that the individual reptile aimed at was kramat, and
that the speaker's family would not be safe if it were injured. The
source of ideas like this lies far deeper in the Malay mind than his
Muhammadanism; but the new creed has, in many instances, appropriated
and accounted for them. The connection of the tiger with Ali, the
uncle of the prophet, has already been explained. A grosser Muhammadan
fable has been invented regarding the crocodile.
"This reptile, say the Perak Malays, was first created in the
following manner:--
"There was once upon a time a woman called Putri Padang Gerinsing,
whose petitions found great favour and acceptance with the Almighty.
"She it was who had the care of Siti Fatima, the daughter of the
Prophet. One day she took some clay and fashioned it into the likeness
of what is now the crocodile. The material on which she moulded the
clay was a sheet of upih (the sheath of the betel-nut palm). This
became the covering of the crocodile's under-surface. When she
attempted to make the mass breathe it broke in pieces. This happened
twice. Now it chanced that the Tuan Putri had just been eating
sugar-cane, so she arranged a number of sugar-cane joints to serve
as a backbone, and the peelings of the rind she utilised as ribs. On
its head she placed a sharp stone, and she made eyes out of bits of
saffron (kuniet); the tail was made of the mid-rib and leaves of a
betel-nut frond. She prayed to God Almighty that the creature might
have life, and it at once commenced to breathe and move. For a long
time it was a plaything of the Prophet's daughter, Siti Fatima; but
it at length became treacherous and faithless to Tuan Putri Padang
Gerinsing, who had grown old and feeble. Then Fatima cursed it, saying,
'Thou shalt be the crocodile of the sea, no enjoyment shall be thine,
and thou shalt not know lust or desire.' She then deprived it of its
teeth and tongue, and drove nails into its jaws to close them. It is
these nails which serve the crocodile as teeth to this day. Malay
Pawangs in Perak observe the following methods of proceeding when
it is desired to hook a crocodile:--To commence with, a white fowl
must be slain in the orthodox way, by cutting its throat, and some
of its blood must be rubbed on the line (usually formed of rattan)
to which the fowl itself is attached as bait. The dying struggles
of the fowl in the water are closely watched, and conclusions are
drawn from them as to the probable behaviour of the crocodile when
hooked. If the fowl goes to a considerable distance the crocodile
will most likely endeavour to make off; but it will be otherwise if
the fowl moves a little way only up and down or across the stream.
"When the line is set the following spell must be repeated: 'Aur
Dangsari kamala sari, sambut kirim Tuan Putri Padang Gerinsing;
tidak di-sambut mata angkau chabut' ('O Dangsari, lotus-flower,
receive what is sent thee by the Lady Princess Padang Gerinsing;
if thou receivest it not, may thy eyes be torn out'). As the bait
is thrown into the water the operator must blow on it three times,
stroke it three times, and thrice repeat the following sentence, with
his teeth closed and without drawing breath: 'Kun kata Allah sapaya
kun kata Muhammad tab paku,' ('Kun saith God, so kun saith Muhammad;
nail be fixed.') Other formulas are used during other stages of the
proceedings." [493]
The rarer story, to which allusion has been made, was the following:--
"There was a woman who had a child which had just learnt to sit up
(tahu dudok), and to which she gave the name of 'Sarilang.' One day
she took the child to the river-side in order to bathe it, but during
the latter operation it slipped from her grasp and fell into the
river. The mother shrieked and wept, but as she did not know how to
dive she had to return home without her child. That night she dreamed
a dream, in which her child appeared and said, 'Weep no more, mother,
I have turned into a crocodile, and am now called 'Grandsire Sarilang'
('Toh Sarilang): if you would meet me, come to-morrow to the spot
where you lost me.' Next morning, therefore, the mother repaired to
the river and called upon the name of her child, whereupon her child
rose to the surface, and she saw that from the waist downwards he had
already turned into a crocodile, though he was still human down to the
waist. Now the child said, 'Come back again after fourteen days, and
remember to bring an egg and a plantain (banana).' She therefore went
again at the time appointed, and having called upon him by his new name
('Toh Sarilang), he again came to the surface, when she saw that from
the waist upwards he had also now turned into a crocodile. So she gave
him the egg and the plantain, and he devoured them, and when he had
done so he said, 'Whenever the crocodiles get ferocious (ganas), and
commence to attack human beings, take a plantain, an egg, and a handful
of parched rice, and after scattering the rice on the river, leave the
egg and the plantain on the bank, calling upon my name ('Toh Sarilang)
[494] as you do so, and their ferocity will immediately cease.'"
The notes on crocodile folklore which will now be given were reprinted
in the Selangor Journal from the "Perak Museum Notes" of Mr. Wray.
"When the eggs of a crocodile are hatching out, the mother watches;
the little ones that take to their native element she does not molest,
but she eats up all those which run away from the water, but should
any escape her and get away on to the land they will change into
tigers. Some of these reptiles are said to have tongues, and when
possessed of that organ they are very much more vicious and dangerous
than the ordinarily formed ones. When a crocodile enters a river it
swallows a pebble, so that on opening the stomach of one it is only
necessary to count the stones in it to tell how many rivers it has been
into during its life. The Malays call these stones kira-kira dia,
[495] on this account. The Indians on the banks of the Orinoco,
on the other hand, assert that the alligator swallows stones to
add weight to its body to aid it in diving and dragging its prey
under water. Crocodiles inhabiting a river are said to resent the
intrusion of strangers from other waters, and fights often take place
in consequence. According to the Malays they are gifted with two pairs
of eyes. The upper ones they use when above water, and the under pair
when beneath the surface. This latter pair is situated half-way between
the muzzle and the angle of the mouth, on the under surface of the
lower jaw. These are in reality not eyes, but inward folds of skin
connected by a duct with a scent gland, which secretes an unctuous
substance of a dark gray colour, with a strong musky odour. Medicinal
properties are attributed to the flesh of the males, which are
believed to be of very rare occurrence, and to be quite unable to
leave the water by reason of their peculiar conformation. The fact
is that the sexes are almost undistinguishable, except on dissection,
and therefore the natives class all that are caught as females. While
on this subject, it may be worth mentioning that at Port Weld there
used to be a tame crocodile which would come when called. The Malays
fed it regularly, and said it was not vicious, and would not do any
harm. It was repeatedly seen by the yearly visitants to Port Weld,
or Sapetang, as the place was then called, and was a fine big animal,
with a bunch of seaweed growing on its head. Some one had it called,
and then fired at the poor thing; whether it was wounded or only
frightened is uncertain, but it never came again." [496]
The following notes upon the same subject were collected by me in
Selangor:--
The female crocodile commonly builds her nest, with or without the
aid of the male, among the thorny clumps of lempiei (or dempiei) trees
just above high-water mark, using the fallen leaves to form the nest,
and breaking up the twigs with her mouth. The season for laying is
said, in the north of the Peninsula, to coincide with the time "when
the rice-stalks swell with the grain," i.e. the end of the wet season.
The most prolific species of crocodile is reputed to be the buaya
lubok, or Bight crocodile (also called buaya rawang, or Marsh
crocodile), which lays as many as fifty or sixty eggs in a single
nest. Other varieties, I may add, are the buaya tembaga (Copper
crocodile), the buaya katak (Dwarf crocodile), which is, as its name
implies, "short and stout," and the buaya hitam or besi (Black or
Iron crocodile), which is reported to attain a larger size than any
other variety. This latter kind is often moss-grown, and is hence
called buaya berlumut (Mossy crocodile). The largest specimen of this
variety of which I have had any reliable account is one which measured
"four fathoms, less one hasta" (about 23 feet), and which was caught
in the time of Sultan Mahmat at Sungei Sembilang, near Kuala Selangor,
by one Nakhoda Kutib.
The buaya jolong-jolong, which has attracted attention owing to its
reputed identification with the gavial of Indian waters, and which
is therefore no true crocodile, is pointedly described by Malays as
separating itself from the other species.
Finally, there is the buaya gulong tenun (the "Crocodile that Rolls
up the Weft"?), which is not, however, the name of a separate variety,
but is the name applied to the Young Person or New Woman of the world
of crocodile-folk--the aggressive female who "snaps" at everything
and everybody for the mere glory of the snap!
"After hatching," says Mr. Wray, "the mother watches, and ... eats up
all those which run away from the water, but should any escape her and
get away on to the land they will turn into tigers." There is perhaps
more point in the Selangor tradition, according to which the little
runaways turn, not into tigers, but into "iguanas" (Monitor lizards).
As regards the want of a tongue, which is supposed to be common
to all crocodiles, it is said they were so created by design, in
order that they might not acquire too pronounced a "taste" for human
flesh. Hence the proverb which declares that no carrion is too bad
for them to welcome: "Buaya mana tahu menolak bangkei?" ("When will
crocodiles refuse corpses?") [497]
After the outbreak of ferocity (ganas) among the crocodiles in the
Klang River last year, some account of the way in which the crocodile
is here said to capture and destroy his human victims may prove
of interest.
Every crocodile has, according to the Selangor Malay, three sets of
fangs, which are named as follows: (1) si hampa daya [498] (two above
and two below), at the tip of the jaws; (2) entah-entah (two in the
upper and two in the lower jaw), half-way up; (3) charik kapan (two
in the upper and two in the lower jaw), near the socket of the jaws.
The first may be translated by "Exhaust your devices"; the second by
"Yes or no"; and the third by "Tear the shroud," the latter being
a reference to the selvage which, among the Malays, is torn off the
shroud and afterwards used for tying it up when the corpse has been
wrapped in it.
If a man is caught by the "Exhausters of all Resources," he has
a fair chance of escape; if caught by the "Debateable" teeth his
escape is decidedly problematical; but if caught by the "Tearers of
the Shroud," he is to all intents and purposes a dead man. Whenever
it effects a capture the crocodile carries its victim at once below
the surface, and either tries to smother him in the soft, thick mud
of the mangrove swamp, or pushes him under a snag or projecting root,
with the object of letting him drown, while it retires to watch him
from a short distance. After what it considers a sufficient interval
to effect its purpose, the crocodile seizes the body of the drowned
man and rises to the surface, when it "calls upon the Sun, Moon,
and Stars to bear witness" that it was not guilty of the homicide--
"Bukan aku membunoh angkau,
Ayer yang membunoh angkau."
Which, being translated, means--
"It was not I who killed you,
It was water which killed you." [499]
After thrice repeating this strange performance, the crocodile
again dives and proceeds to prepare the corpse for its prospective
banquet. Embracing the corpse with its "arms," and curving the tip of
its powerful tail under its own belly (until the tail is nearly bent
double), it contrives to break the backbone of the victim, and then
picking up the body once more with its teeth, dashes it violently
against a trunk or root in order to break the long bones of the
limbs. When the bones are thus so broken as to offer no obstruction,
it swallows the body whole--thus affording a remarkable parallel to
the boa in its method of devouring its prey, and recalling Darwinian
ideas of their cousin-hood. Miraculous escapes have, however,
occasionally occurred. Thus Lebai `Ali was caught by a crocodile
at Batu Burok (Kuala Selangor), one evening as the tide was ebbing,
and the crocodile, after smothering him effectually (as it thought)
in the thick mud, retired to await the end. Insensibly, however, it
floated farther and farther off with the falling tide, and Lebai `Ali,
seeing his opportunity, made a bold and successful dash for freedom.
A similar case was that of Si Ka', who was pushed under a bamboo
root on the river bank by the crocodile which caught him, and who,
after waiting till his formidable enemy had floated a little farther
off than usual, drew himself up by an overhanging stem and swarmed up
it. At the same moment the crocodile made a rush, and actually caught
him by the great toe, which latter, however, he willingly surrendered
to his enemy as the price of his liberty.
A yet more marvellous escape, was that of the youth belonging to
the Government launch at Klang, who escaped, it is related, by the
time-honoured expedient of putting his thumbs into the crocodile's
eyes. In connection with this latter exploit, by the way, Malay
authorities assert that the crocodile's eyes protrude from their
sockets on stalks (like those of a crab) so long as he stays under
water, the stalks being "as long as the forefinger," so that it is
quite an easy matter to catch hold of these living "pegs."
For the rest, crocodiles are said by the Malays to have a sort of
false stomach divided into several pouches or sacs, one sac being
for the stones which they swallow, and another for the clothes and
accoutrements of their human victims, these pouches being in addition
to their real stomach (in which the remains of monkeys, wild pig,
mouse-deer, and other small animals are found), and, in the case
of female specimens, the ovary. The second pair of eyes in the neck
which, Mr. Wray says, they are supposed to use when below the surface,
are in Selangor supposed to be used at night, whence they are called
mata malam, or night-eyes, as opposed to their real eyes which they
are supposed to use only by day.
As regards the stones, which crocodiles undoubtedly swallow, they are
sometimes supposed to enable each male crocodile to keep an account
of the number of rivers which it has entered, of the number of bights
it has lived in, or even of the number of its human victims. The
noise which crocodiles make when fighting resembles a loud roar or
bellow, and the Malays apply the same word menguak to the bellow of
the crocodile as well as to that of the buffalo.
The wrath of the crocodile-folk is provoked by those who wish to
shoot them, in various ways, of which, perhaps, the commonest is
to dabble a sarong, or (as is said to be more effectual) a woman's
mosquito-curtain, in the water of the river where they live. So also
to keep two sets of weights and measures (one for buying and another
for selling, as is sometimes done by the Chinese), is said to be a
certain means of provoking their indignation.
The crocodile-wizard is sometimes credited with the power of calling
the crocodile-folk together, and of discovering a man-eater among
them, and an eye-witness lately described to me the scene on one such
occasion. A Malay had been carried off and devoured by a crocodile
at Larut, and a Batu Bara man, who went by the sobriquet of Nakhoda
Hassan, undertook to discover the culprit. Sprinkling some of the
usual sacrificial rice-paste (tepong tawar) and "saffron" rice upon
the surface of the river, he called out in loud tones to the various
tribes of crocodiles in the river, and summoned them to appear on
the surface. My informant declares that not less than eight or ten
crocodiles actually appeared, whereupon the Pawang commanded them
all to return to the bottom with the exception of the one which was
guilty. In a few moments only one crocodile remained on the surface,
and this one, on being forthwith killed and cut open, was found to
contain the garments of the unfortunate man who had been captured by
it. Similar stories of the prowess of crocodile charmers are told by
the Javanese. [500]
I shall now proceed to describe the methods and ceremonies used
for the catching of crocodiles. The following is a description by
Mr. J. H. M. Robson, of Selangor, of the most usual method, at all
events in Selangor, but it would appear from remarks upon the subject
in Dr. Denys' work, that live as well as dead bait is commonly used:--
"A small piece of hard wood, about 6 in. or 8 in. long, and about
three-quarters of an inch thick, is sharpened at both ends, and to
the middle of this the end of a yard of twine is firmly fastened,
the twine having about a dozen strands just held together by say a
couple of knots, so as to prevent the crocodile from biting it through,
as the strands simply get between his teeth; to the other end of this
twine is fastened a single uncut rattan, at least 20 feet long, which
can be only a quarter of an inch in diameter, but may with advantage
be a little bigger; a small stick affixed to the end of the line, to
act as a visible float, completes this part of the gear. Probably a
crocodile will eat anything, but he is certainly partial to chicken--at
least that bait is always successful in the Sepang river--so, having
killed some sort of fowl, the body is cut right through the breast
lengthways from head to tail, and the small piece of pointed hard
wood inserted, and the bird bound up again with string. Next, two
pieces of light wood are nailed together, forming a small floating
platform about a foot square, and on this the fowl is placed, raised
on miniature trestles. The small platform thus furnished is placed in a
likely spot near the bank, and the rattan line is hitched over a small
branch or a stake, so that the bait platform may not be carried away
by the tide. By the next morning the rattan line, bait and platform
may all have disappeared, which probably means that the crocodile,
having swallowed the fowl, has gone off with the rattan in tow, a tug
being sufficient to set it free, whilst the platform, thus released,
has drifted away. A crocodile will try the aggressive sometimes, so,
when going in pursuit, it is better to have a boat than a sampan, [501]
but Malay paddles are the most convenient in either case. It is also
advisable to have a second man with a rifle. The crocodile has probably
a favourite place up-stream, so the boatmen paddle up on the look-out
for the rattan (which always floats), finding it at length close to
the mangrove roots bordering on the river, perhaps. The boat-hook
picks up the floating-stick end of the line, and, with a couple of
boatmen on to this and a crocodile at the other end, with the small
pointed hard wood stick across his throat, the excitement begins. The
crocodile plunges about amidst the mangrove roots under the water,
and then makes a rush; the rattan is paid out again and the boat
follows; then he rushes under the boat, perhaps at the boat, whilst
the line is steadily pulled in. This sort of thing may last some time,
but the only thing to be afraid of is the rattan's getting twisted
round a bakau [502] root under water, which might prevent a capture;
otherwise, after a good deal of playing of a rather violent nature,
the continual pulling of the rattan-holders in the boat, or his own
aggressiveness, induces him to show his head above the surface, whereat
the rifles crack, and the crocodile dies, though often not till four
or five bullets have been put into different parts of his body." [503]
I will now proceed to describe the religious ceremonies which accompany
this performance.
The following outline of the ceremonies used in catching a crocodile
who is known to be a man-eater, was taken down by me from the mouth of
a noted crocodile-wizard on the Langat river. First, you take strips of
bark of a river-side bush or tree called baru-baru (which must be cut
down at a single stroke), and fasten them together at each end only, so
that they form a rope with divided (unravelled) strands. This will form
that part of your tackle which corresponds to the gut (perambut) of a
fishing line, (i.e. the part just above the hook), and the advantage
of it is that the loose strands get between the crocodile's teeth,
and prevent it from being bitten through as a rope would certainly be.
Next, you take a piece of the bottommost rung of a house-ladder
(anak tangga bongsu), and sharpen it to a point at both ends, so
as to form a cross-piece (palang) such as will be likely to stick
in the crocodile's throat. Having fastened one end of the "gut"
round the middle of the cross-piece, and the other to your rattan
line, the length of which may be from ten to fifteen fathoms or so,
according to the depth of the river at the spot where the crocodile
is supposed to lie, you must next cut down a young tree to serve as
the pole (chanchang) to which the floating platform and bait may be
subsequently attached. This pole may be of any kind of wood except
bamboo; so when you have found a suitable tree, take hold of it with
the left hand and chop at it thrice with the right, saying a charm
as you do so--
"Peace be with you, O Prophet Tetap, in whose charge is the earth,
Peace be with you, O Prophet Noah, Planter of Trees,
I petition for this tree to serve as a mooring-post for my
crocodile-trap;
If it is to kill him (the crocodile), do you fall supine,
If it is not to kill him, do you fall prone." [504]
These last two lines refer to the omens which are taken from the way
the tree falls; the "supine" position being that of a crocodile which
has "turned turtle," whereas the prone position would be its natural
attitude as it swims.
Then start making the floating platform or raft (rakit) by chopping
a plantain stem (any kind will do) into three lengths (di-k'ratkan
tiga), and then skewering these lengths together at their ends so as
to form a triangle.
Into the apex of this triangle firmly plant the lower end of a strong
and springy rod, making the upper end curve over slightly in a forward
direction (di-pasang-nya kayu melentor ka-atas) and securing it in
its position by two lashings, which are carried down from its tip and
fastened to the two front corners of the triangle. Then utter the charm
and plant the pole by the river-side in the spot you have selected,
holding your breath and making believe that you are King Solomon
(di-sifatkan kita Raja Suleiman) as it sinks into the ground. The
charm consists of these lines:--
"Peace be with you, O Prophet Khailir,
In whose charge is the water;
Peace be with you, O Prophet Tetap,
In whose charge is the earth;
Pardon, King of the Sea, Deity of Mid-currents,
I ask only for the 'guilty' (crocodiles),
The innocent do you assist me to let go,
And drive out only the guilty which devoured So-and-so.
If you do not do so, you shall die," etc.
Now prepare the bait. To do this you must kill a fowl (in the orthodox
way), cut it partly open and insert the ladder-rung into its body,
wrapping the flesh and feathers round it, and binding the whole bird
seven times round and seven times across with a piece of rattan,
not forgetting, however, to observe silence and hold your breath as
you pass the first rattan lashing round the fowl's carcase. When you
have finished binding it up as directed, chew some betel-leaf and
eject (semborkan) the chewed leaf upon the fowl's head, repeating
the appropriate charm. [505] Then hook the bait (sangkutkan umpan)
on to the tip of the bent rod (on no account tie it on, as it must
be left free for the crocodile to swallow), and having prepared the
wonted accessories--including three chews of betel-leaf, a richek of
ginger (halia bara sa-richek), and seven white pepper-corns (lada
sulah tujoh biji)--breathe (jampikan) upon the betel-leaf, and at
the end of the invocation eject the chewed betel-leaf upon the head
of the cock intended for the bait.
The charm to be recited (which makes allusion to the fable concerning
the supposed origin of the crocodile) runs as follows:--
"Follow in procession, follow in succession,
The 'Assembly-flower' begins to unfold its petals;
Come in procession, come in succession,
King Solomon's self comes to summon you.
Ho, Si Jambu Rakai, I know your origin;
Sugar-cane knots forty-four were your bones,
Of clay was formed your body;
Rootlets of the areca-palm were your arteries,
Liquid sugar made your blood,
A rotten mat your skin,
And a mid-rib of the thatch-palm your tail,
Prickles of the pandanus made your dorsal ridge,
And pointed berembang suckers your teeth. [506]
If you splash with your tail it shall break in two,
If you strike downwards with your snout it shall break in two,
If you crunch with your teeth they shall all be broken.
Lo, Si Jambu Rakai, I bind (this fowl) with the sevenfold binding,
And enwrap it with the sevenfold wrapping
Which you shall never loosen or undo.
Turn it over in your mouth before you swallow it.
O, Si Jambu Rakai, accept this present from Her Highness Princess
Rundok, from Java: [507]
If you refuse to accept it,
Within two days or three
You shall be ... choked to death with blood,
Choked to death by Her Highness Princess Rundok, from Java.
But if you accept it,
A reach up-stream or a reach down-stream, there do you await me;
It is not my Word, it is King Solomon's Word;
If you are carried down-stream see that you incline up-stream,
If you are carried up-stream see that you incline down-stream,
By virtue of the Saying of King Solomon, 'There is no god but
God,'" etc.
Then take a canoe paddle (to symbolise the crocodile's tail) and
some strong thread, fasten one end of the thread to the front of
the floating platform, and the other end to the bow of your boat,
back water till it grows taut, and strike the surface of the water
thrice with the aforesaid "mock" crocodile's tail. If the first time
you strike it the sound is clearest (terek bunyi) it is an omen that
the crocodile will swallow the bait the first day; if the second time,
it will be the second day when he does so; if the third time, it will
be the third day. But every time you strike the water you must say
to yourself, "From Fatimah was your origin" (Mani Fatimah asal'kau
jadi), in order to make the crocodile bold. After striking the water
you may go home and rest; but you must get up again in any case at
about two in the afternoon (dlohor), and whatever happens you must
remember never to pass underneath a low overhanging bough (because
such a bough would resemble the bent rod of the floating platform),
and never (for the time being) to eat your curry without starting
by swallowing three lumps of rice successively. If you do this it
will help the bait to slide more easily down the crocodile's throat,
and in the same way you must never, until the brute is safely landed,
take any bones out of the meat in your curry--if you do, the wooden
cross-piece is sure to get loose and work out of the fowl--so it
is just as well to get somebody to take the bones out of your meat
before you begin, otherwise you may at any moment be compelled to
choose between swallowing a bone and losing all your labour.
I will pass on to the final capture. The crocodile has taken the
bait, we will say, and with the last of the ebb, not unfrequently in
a perilously rickety boat, you go out to look for the tell-tale end
of the line that floats up among the forked roots of the mangrove
trees. First you must go to the place where you left the floating
platform; take hold of the pole to which it is moored and press it
downwards into the river-bottom, saying (to the hooked crocodile)
as you do so:--
"Do not run away,
Our agreement was a cape (further) up-stream,
A cape (further) down-stream." [508]
(Here hold your breath and press upon the pole.) Then wait for the
tide to turn, search for the end of the line (which, being of rattan,
is sure to float) up and down the river banks, and when you find it
take hold of the end and give it three tugs, repeating as you do so
this "crippling charm":--
"I know the origin from which you sprang,
From Fatimah did you take your origin.
Your bones (she made from) sugar-cane knots,
Your head from the cabbage of a cocoa-nut palm,
The skin of your breast from the leaf-case of a palm,
Your blood from saffron,
Your eyes from the star of the east,
Your teeth from the pointed suckers of the berembang tree,
Your tail from the sprouting of a thatch-palm." |
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