THE WILD TRIBES OF THE MALAY PENINSULA. 4< ( 



conclusion of which t\v,<) of the men of the tril)i> wiso :is,sisted him hurled 

 away into the jungle tliQ. stCms of two saplings which had ])een l^^ing 

 near the spot, in order, they said, to get rid of the (h^non's presence. 

 By this time the woman had ceased hen* lamentations, and in a1)out ten 

 minutes' time was })ron()iniced cured, after which she (piietly returned 

 to the encam])ment as if nothing had happened. 



The wlioh^ performance was an excellent exanipl(> of sympatla^tic 

 magic or make-h(die\e. 



The most remarkal)le de\ elopment, however, of the wild magician's 

 alleged powers is connected w'ith the ** tiger man'' beliefs, which are 

 analogous to former European ideas about werewolves. One of the 

 Semang men wiiomMr. Laidlaw and I met at Ulu Aring, in Keiantan, 

 had the i-e})utation of being a notorious tiger man, or IVlian, and gave 

 me some interesting information al)out the performance. "You go," he 

 said, "a long way into the jungle" (usually, he added, into the lu^xt val- 

 ley), '"and there, when you are <pnte alone, you scpiat dowai upon your 

 haunches. Ixirn incense, and, makmg a trumpet of your hand, blow 

 some of th(^ smoke of the incense through it, at the level of 3'our face, 

 in three directions. You then repeat this process, holding your hand 

 close to the ground; all you now have to say is, 'Ye chtip" ('I am going 

 abroad'), and presently your skin will change, the sti'ipes will appear, 

 your tail will fall down, and you will become a tiger. AVIkmi you wish 

 to return say, 'Ye wet' ('I am going home'), and you will })resently 

 return to your natural form." It sounds easy enough, and th(^ oidy 

 wonder was that one so s(ddom heard in that i)art of the world of the 

 disappearance of an obnoxious rival or a scolding wife. 



The most interesting point about this ceremony, however, is its 

 apparent universality, for it is found, nmtatis mutandis, in all parts of 

 the globe. In passing, it may be noted that a small \'ariety of ripping 

 knife {helfulo/), shaped like a tiger's claw, and fitted with a hole in the 

 haft to pass the finger through, is well known and used to this day 

 both in the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra, in both of which coiuitries 

 the were-tiger belief is still held strongly. 



KEIJCJION. 



The religion of the Avild tril)es is a form of shamanism such as 

 prevails in other parts of southeast Aasia. They l>elie\ e in certain 

 greater spirits, who ma}' perhaps, when Ave have found out all about 

 them, })ro\'e to be a sort of gods in the making. But they have, of 

 cours(% nothing which (^xactly corresponds to our own idea of God, 

 and the cAidenc*^ on tiiis sul)ject is more than usually conflicting, owing 

 to the extriMuc^ reticence and timidity of thes(^ wild men tliemselves, of 

 whom it would be ])ut litth^ exaggeration to say that they w<M'e as wild 

 as deer. Most of them believe that th(> soul shoi-tly aftei- dcalli pro- 

 ceeds to a place called the Island of Fruits (the jungle man's id(\'i of 



