82 Journal of the F.M.S. Museums. [Vol. VII, 



demonstration, broke off a bit of biscuit for each man, saying 

 as he gave it to him " shalantap" Apart from greediness, I am 

 inclined to believe that some idea of this kind may be the 

 reason why, if one Sakai is given something to eat, all the 

 others expect to receive a little too, even if they see that your 

 stock of that particular article is almost exhausted. 



I could not find out that the Kinta Sakai have any name 

 for fish in general, but the word kak (commonly used for 

 "fish" by other tribes) is applied to the Tcngas, about the only 

 species which is common in the head waters of the Kinta. 

 The Sebarau, the Haruan and others are not recognised as kak. 

 While fishing for Tengas, or while it is being eaten, its name 

 kak must not be mentioned, but the Malay word ikan (fish) 

 used instead. 



While tabu food of any kind is being eaten, lice may not 

 he cracked, nor hair burnt in the fire. The breaking of this 

 prohibition would entail the penalty of the offender being 

 seized by a tiger. 



Other Tabus. 



It is tabu for a man, on leaving a friend's house, to 

 promise to return to sleep there, and then neglect to do so. 

 If he does not keep his promise, his friend will be taken by a 

 tiger. 



It is tabu for a man to stop behind after promising some 

 friends to go on a journey with them. If he does so, his 

 friends will fall ill by the way. 



It is forbidden to a man to mention the names of his 

 father, his mother, or his mother-in-law. A mother-in-law 

 may not be spoken to, touched or even passed by, unless at a 

 distance. Similarly a woman must avoid her father-in-law. 



Marriage Customs. 

 I was given to understand that first cousins might not 

 marry, but that first cousins once removed might do so. Two 

 wives were said to be allowable, but not three. A man usually 

 takes a wife from another settlement. After marriage the 

 man lives with his wife's family for some time. 



Burial Customs. 

 Though I had no opportunity of visiting a Sakai inter- 

 ment, some rather interesting information with regard to 

 burial customs was given me by the headman, Udah. He told 

 me that graves were dug to about a depth of a foot more than 

 the height of a sitting figure (so that the spirit or corpse may 

 be able to sit up) ; and that the body is placed at the bottom 

 of the excavation, lying with the head in the direction in 

 which it was when death occurred, the orientation of the grave 

 being of course such as to render this possible. The hole is 

 covered in with a roofing, which is almost on a level with the 

 surface of the ground, while the earth from the excavation is 

 piled up on this, the mound being topped by a hut of some 



