igi5.] I. H. N. Evans: Various Aboriginal Tribes. 103 



node, separating the two internodes of bamboo of which the 

 outer case is formed. The quivers seen, with one exception, 

 were without covers of any kind, the Jakuns saying that they 

 were too la^y to make them. In the one complete specimen, 

 the sides of the cover werernade of plaited rattan and the top 

 of a piece of wood, flat above, but with a conical projection on 

 the under surface, which fitted into a space in the centre of the 

 quiver, inside the dart holders. The darts were short, as is 

 generally the case in Negri Sembilan. The poison for the dart 

 points was said to be made of getah ipoJi obtained from the 

 Kayas tree (Antiaris toxicaria) and from akar tengah (?), a kind 

 of liana. 



OBJECTS COLLECTED. 



As remarked above the tribes visited proved to have few 

 objects of interest to a collector and the only specimens 

 obtained at Titi Ramei were a single blow-pipe, a quiver 

 without a cover, two snares of fine cord made from the bark of 

 the Terap tree (Artocarpus Kunstleri), a chapeng (little girls' fig 

 leaf) made from a piece of a tortoise shell and a bamboo flute 

 with three stops. The nose flute is not used. 



FIRE MAKING. 



The only method of making fire which the Pertang people 

 know, other than by cheap matches purchased at the Chinese 

 shops, is by flint and steel. One man said that he had once 

 tried to make fire with a rattan saw and a piece of soft wood, 

 but had been unsuccessful. 



RELIGION AND SUPERSTITIONS. 



The Pertang aborigines seem to have no belief in any 

 supreme Deity of their own, though they know of the Malays' 

 Tulian Allah. They are, however, much afraid of what they 

 call Punan, which seems to be a personification of all the ills 

 which may befall them in the jungle. Before starting on a 

 journey it is necessary to burn incense to Punan and the man 

 who cooks for the rest of the party in the jungle must also 

 burn a little incense each time he prepares food ; while if a 

 stranger passes when cooking is going on he must take a little 

 rice or water from the pot and call Punan to partake of the 

 offering that he is making, at the same time smearing the rice 

 or water on the back of his neck or on his left forearm. If 

 Punan is not appeased, some calamity is sure to happen, the 

 person or persons who have failed to make the customary 

 offerings, will suffer from fever, or swellings in the groin, or 

 will be bitten by snakes or centipedes. It is said that Punan 

 stabs those who have offended him (and thus causes their 

 illness). 



The semangat padi or rice soul is said to be taken where 

 hill padi is planted, an old woman going into the crop before 

 reaping commences and cutting seven ears. Three days after 



September, 1915. 5 



