igi6.J I. II. N. Evans: Sakai of the Ulu Kampar. 25 



It is not necessary to saj anything about the blow-pipes 

 or the dart-quivers generally in use among the Kampar Sakai, 

 as they are of the same type as those of the aborigines of the 

 Batang Padang District of Perak, which have been fully 

 described by Skeat and others. One quiver, however, which 

 was hanging from t lie posts supporting the shelves above tne 

 cooking place, immediately attracted my attention, since its 

 cover was of quite a different type from the normal, being a 

 hard and stiff cap of plaited rattan 17.5 cms. high. After a 

 considerable amount of fruitless questioning I elicited the 

 information that it had been bought from a Kinta River Sakai, 

 and this of course explained its resemblance to the quivers 

 used by the aborigines of the Kuala Kangsar and Upper 

 Perak Districts. 



Customs, Religious Beliefs and Superstitions. 



1 gathered from the Sakai living on the clearings around 

 " Kampong Ulu Pipe"' that they haw- some hazy idea of a 

 supreme Being or Deity (the -inn, whom they call Yenong. 

 This statement is supported by the information which 

 Wilkinson obtained from one of the same people, whom he 

 induced to live in Taiping for about three months. As 

 among the Sakai of Sungkai and the Hill Sakai of the 

 Temengoh District of Upper Perak, the shaman or magician 

 is termed Halak and the familiar spirit, by whose aid he 

 works his spells, his Anal; Yung. It is said that formerly the 

 body of a dead Halak was left unburied in the house where he 

 died. I was also told that the Halak's bumbun, or round hut, 

 is built within a dwelling house, and consists of seven bertam 

 palm-leaves plaited together and fastened to form a circle 

 within a rectangular frame of wood, which is attached to the 

 posts of the shelves over the fire-place and to some of the 

 posts of the house. 



The rest of the information under this heading is derived 

 from Si Busu and the people of his house. 



First, I will give some account of various superstitions 

 and tabus which influence the people's daily life. As among 

 so many aboriginal tribes, lightning ichilou) and thunder are 

 held in dread. The following actions are thought to cause 

 thunder storms, and are therefore tabu. 

 (i) To roast an egg in the fire. 

 • 2i To laugh if a snake is met with in the jungle. 

 (3. To pull a jungle-leech off the body and burn it. 



When a bad thunder storm comes on, the Sakai descend 

 down from the house to the ground, strike their parangs into 

 the earth and leave them there. Hot stones from the hearth, 

 the supports for cooking pots, are also thrown out of the door 

 of the house. Both these actions are thought to be helpful in 

 dispersing the storm; and the hot stones, symbolically at any 

 rate, dry up the rain. 



