XV. FURTHER NOTES ON AN ABORIGINAL 

 TRIBE OF PAHANG 



Bj Ivor II. N. Evans, b.a. 



The following notes on customs, religious beliefs, etc. were 



omitted from a former paper of mine in this Journal,* which 

 dealt with several of the aboriginal tribes of Pahang. They 

 refer to a tribe, or section of a tribe, of Jakun whose place of 

 origin is said to be Salang on the Tekam River. Pulau Tawar, 

 but who, when I met them, were settled on the Tekai River. 



Beliefs with Regard to Natural Phenomena. 



(i.) According to the Jakun the sun is held by an anteater. 

 When he rolls his body round it the light is no longer seen and 

 it is night ; but, when he unrolls himself, the sun shines clearly 

 and it is day. 



(2.) The rainbow is a dragon in the sky. 



(3.) An eclipse of the moon portends sickness. 



(4.) Thunder is made by a spirit called Ninek,i who makes 

 a noise in his armpits by banging his arms against his body. 



(5.) Ninik makes the lightning by Hashing a thin board 

 about which is attached to a string (i.e. a bull-roarer). 



The Under-World. 



The Jakun gave me some details with regard to their 

 belief in an under-world. I recount them below, just as they 

 were 1 told to me. — 



There are dragons in the under-world and a single old 

 woman. She makes her house and her belongings from the 

 bones of people who have died upon the earth. Their ribs 

 become the floor of her house, their leg-bones the posts, and 

 their skulls water-vessels. This woman, when she has reached 

 the limits of old age, becomes young again. Her name is Arud. 

 The dragons, who have horns, are her playthings. One of 

 them is her special pet and sits close to her. 



( ustoms and beliefs connected with death and 

 Burial. 



The following details with regard to customs and beliefs 

 connected with death and burial were givi n me by one of the 

 men of the settlement, 



* Vol. V, pp. 209-211 (1915) 



t Nyam as an equivalent for the Malay bantu is a c< mmon word in many 

 Sakai dialects. Ed. 



