2i6 Journal of the F.M.S. Mtiseums. [Vol. VI, 



The time spent with the " Sakai Bukit " being ver}- short, — 

 one night at Kuala Jinaheng on the way out, a night and parts 

 of two days at the communal house, and another night at 

 Kuala Jinaheng on the return journey, — I naturally could not 

 gather a great deal of information with regard to their inner 

 life ; such details, however, as I was able to obtain are set 

 down below. 



I could get no evidence that there was any belief in a 

 Supreme Being, that they had any legend of the creation of the 

 world, or of an existence after death. One Sakai, when asked 

 what happened to the souls of the dead, replied that he did not 

 know, but anyhow the body just went rotten. 



As among the Sakai of the Batang Padang District of 

 Perak, the shamans of the tribe are termed Halak, and the 

 shaman's familiar spirit is called his Anak Yang. 



Like the Jehehr, and other aboriginal tribes, both Negrito 

 and Sakai, the hill people appear to be very much afraid of 

 thunder and lightning. 



It appears, that, as is also the custom of the Sakai of the 

 Ulu Sungkai, should a child have been teasing, or playing with 

 a cat or a dog, and a thunderstorm come on shortly afterw ards, 

 the child's mother cuts off a piece of its hair and going outside 

 the house places the piece of hair on the ground and beats it 

 with a club or stick. It is tabu to flash any glittering object 

 about in the open since it is thought that this would bring on 

 a thunderstorm, and the house would be liable to be struck by 

 lightning. 



On the night I passed at the communal house at Lanag I 

 asked the Sakai to arrange to have a musical entertainment — 

 I have said something about this elsewhere, — and suggested 

 that the performance might be held in the open near the house. 

 To this suggestion they demurred, and though they could not, 

 or would not, state their objection very precisely, I understood 

 that they thought that if they were to hold the entertainment 

 in the open, their singing would cause mists to gather round 

 them which would engender sickness. 



The Hill Sakai told me that, on a death occurring, they 

 buried the body and did not desert either their clearing or 

 house. On the other hand the Jehehr, in talking about them 

 afterwards, said that the hill people not only deserted the 

 house, but left the corpse unburied in it. As I had no 

 opportunity of investigating the matter further since this 

 occurred after my return to Temengoh from my visit to them, 

 I asked Pak Lebai Ishak who is local Malay Gembala of 

 both the Jehehr and Orang Bukit what he could tell me about 

 the matter. He replied that he had seen graves on hill tops at 

 some distance from the clearing, but he seemed to think that 

 the body might be occasionally deserted as the Jehehr said. 



The avoidance of the mother-in-law is strictly observed 

 and it is forbidden to speak to her, to pass in front of her, or 

 even to hand anything to her. 



