THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND 



From " Le Tour du Monde:' 1 



A NEGRITO MAN, WITH SPEAR. 



which he pronounced after 

 having blown the fumes 

 [of aromatic gum and 

 wood] of his censer from 

 his hand, most probably to 

 the four winds, as he faced 

 to the four points of the 

 compass, pronouncing the 

 word and blowing the fumes 

 to each. He told me that 

 the word Sum'bat meant 

 the same as Salamat means 

 in Malay i.e. either ' Hail ' 

 him to whom he 



or 

 prayed; 



be unto you. 

 he said to the 



I asked 



Hantus. Now, Hantu in Malay may be taken to mean 

 either Ghost or Spirit only not God; the spirit may 

 also be either benignant or malignant. I then asked 

 him to tell me what Hantu, and he said the Hantus 

 of the forest, of the mountains, of the rivers, of the 

 winds; also the Hantus of Malay and Sakai chiefs who 

 had died; also the Hantus of headache, of stomach-ache 

 the Hantus that caused his people to gamble, to smoke 

 opium, and who sent all sorts of disputes, and who sent 

 mosquitoes. He prayed to these Hantus to be kind to 

 him and to his people to send plenty of food to eat, and 

 not to send any evil things. He further said that the 

 Sakais do not pray to Allah that is, to God. The 

 question, undecided in my mind as yet, is whether this 

 worship was learned from the Sakais by the Malay Pawangs 

 of the present day who practise it, or vice versd." 



the women come forward, and 

 go through certain evolutions, 

 clapping their hands frequently 

 and making curtseys. The 

 other musical instruments are 

 bamboo flutes and whistles, a 

 Jew's harp, and a simple guitar. 

 " My friend who accom- 

 panied me," says Mr. Hale, 

 "and I, both considered that 

 the effect was perfectly har- 

 monious. The music of the 

 Sakais is in fact very pretty, 

 much more so than the Malay 

 music as a rule. I took the 

 opportunity to question the 

 chief concerning his prayer, 

 which he delivered in a queer 

 mixture of Malay and Sakai, 

 preceding each string of peti- 

 tions by the expression Sum'bat, 



" Le Tour du Monde." 



TWO NEGRITO WOMEN. 



