104 Journal of the F.M.S. Museums. [Vol. VI, 



the taking of the semangat general reaping may be begun. The 

 semangat is hung up in the house in a basket and is finally 

 mixed with the seed padi for the next crop. 



It is tabu for the Pertang people to mention the name of 

 either father or mother. On being questioned as to the reason 

 for* this they replied " kita takut matt, kena danlat ayah,'' — we 

 are afraid of dying through being struck by the indwelling 

 power (daulat) * of our father. 



There is no Pawang or Bomor (magician or doctor) at 

 Titi Ramei and in cases of sickness they call in the Batin of a 

 tribe living at Durian Tawar, who is supposed to be skilled in 

 magic. 



CIRCUMCISION AND TOOTH FILING. 



Circumcision t is customary for males, though not com- 

 pulsory, and many of the women undergo a corresponding 

 operation. Bongsu, one of the four brothers mentioned above 

 had not been circumcised, though he was about twenty years 

 of age. He had a long lock of hair like \he jamhtil oi little 

 Malay boys, which he rolled into a ball on the front of the 

 head, but whether he wore this as a sign that the operation 

 had not been performed, or merely as an ornament, the writer 

 did not find out. Possibly the custom of circumcision has 

 been adopted in imitation of the Malays. 



Tooth filing is general. 



MARRIAGE. 



Apparently the people of Titi Ramei do not marry among 

 themselves, the reason probably being that they are all closely 

 related. They said they took wives either from the Durian 

 Tawar tribe, or from another settlement at Durian Tipus. 



LANGUAGE. 



The only words, other than Malay, obtained from the 

 Pertang Jakun were as follows: — 



Gibbon (ungka) ... ... Timok. 



Kingfisher (pekakak) ... ... Burong changah. 



Millipede (sepak bulan) ... Gelentu. 



Blowpipe (sumpitan) ... ..." Temiang. 



* Daulat is the peculiar sacred power which invests Royalty, and which is 

 also communicated to regalia. Formerly the belief in this divine power of 

 kings or chiefs, which is a very widely spread one, was strong among the 

 Maories of New Zealand, and in most of the Islands of Polynesia, where it was 

 thought that if any commoner were to unwittingly. offend against the royal tabu 

 by using an article which belonged to a king or chief he would be stricken ill 

 and die; there are several well authenticated cases of natives of Polynesia, who 

 had' without knowing it, broken a roval tabu, having actually died of fright 

 when informed of their crime. Deaths said to be due to violation of the 

 sanctity of the regalia of Malay Sultans are not unknown in the Peninsula 

 (vide "Malay Magic" p 41). 



+ The word used for circumcision was sunat which is the usual word for the 

 operation among the Malays, but possibly they may really practice incision 

 which is found among many Jakun tribes. 



