182 



PANTANGS OR TABUS. 



Of the two pantangs obtained one related to the dislike of having 

 anything to do with a mother-in-law or father-in-law, and the other 

 to imparting the secrets of magic. Tabus enjoining avoidance of the 

 mother-in-law are in force in many regions of the globe ; to give two 

 examples, they are very rigidly applied by the Zulu-KaflB.rs of South 

 Africa and by the Dusuns of British N^orth Boi'neo. The tabus 

 concerning instruction in magical rites have probably been adopted 

 by the aborigines from the local Malays, who have the same 

 custom. 



* TABUS RELATING TO THE MOTHER-IN-LAW 

 AND FATHER-IN-LAW. 



A man may not speak to his m.other-in-law nor a woman to her 

 father-in-law and they must both avoid these relations as far as 

 possible. If communication is necessary, an intermediary must be 

 employed. The man may, however, speak to his father-in-law and 

 the woman to her mothei'-in-law, but they must do so very 

 respectfully. 



A man may not mention the name of his mother-in-law nor a 

 woman that of her father-in-law. 



TABU CONCERNING IMPARTING THE SECRETS OF MAGIC. 

 Secrets of magic may not be imparted to a pupil except on 

 Tuesday and the night preceding it. This belief, as has been stated 

 above, has probably been adopted from the local Malays. Our 

 Monday night, according to Malay methods of computing, becomes 

 the night of Tuesday (malam selasa) and our Tuesday night the 

 night of Wednesday, etc. 



PANTANG LANGUAGE. 

 It is tabu to use the ordinary names of certain wild animals 

 when in the jungle, the idea being that a name is closely connected 

 with the object to which it is given. Thus to mention the name of 

 dangerous animal is, according to aboriginal ideas, almost equivalent 

 to making it appear. A few examples of tabu words are given below 

 in both the Ijok and Lenggong dialects. 



P ,. , Ordinary word Tabu word Ordinary word Tabu word ■ 

 ^S^si. (Lenggong.) (Lenggong.) (IJok.) (I.iok.) 



Tiger baling kemun teiok kamoit 



(evil beast ?) 



Elephant gajah Intek chekeh gajah adon 



(said to mean 

 big animal) 



* Possibly adopted from the Malays. An Ijok Malay will not mention the 

 name of his mother. 



