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



(vi) Women, while making the yeast tragi) for tapai 

 cakes, must not see a corpse, or, when they are 

 made, fermentation of the flour will not ensue. 

 (From a Malay oi Kampong Linggi. Negri 

 Sembilan). 



(vii) According to Province Welleslej Malays fire-flies 

 are the clippings from peoples' finger nails. 



viiii If you think that you have seen a ghost, you must 

 spit three times, in order that no evil results may 

 follow. (From a Province Wellesley Malay). 



(ix) A couple of nights after the death of the late Sultan 

 Ahmad of Pahang (May, 1914) there was a bad 

 storm of wind in Taiping. This was considered 

 by all the Malays living in the town as a sign 

 of the Sultan's passing. 



(x) If a cock and a hen copulate on the roof of a Malay 

 house, they are caught and killed. Both are 

 then skinned and the skins placed on slender 

 poles planted in the ground, one on each side of 

 a path. A cross piece is often tied to the upright, 

 a little way from the top, in order that the skin 

 of the body may be spread over it, while the head 

 and neck of each bird rest on the end of the 

 upright. The flesh of the birds is eaten by the 

 people of the house. The action is said to be 

 chelaka, i.e. unchancy. (1 saw two or three 

 instances of crucifixion of this kind when in 

 Upper Perak in 1913. 



\x\) If a man washes his hands and in shaking the drops 

 from them (to dry them) splashes a companion, 

 the latter says. " Lcpas kali ?" (i.e. " Do you release 

 me ?"). To this the man who has been washing 

 must reply " Lepas" (i.e. I release you,. If this 

 were not done the sins (dosa^ of the man who 

 washed his hands would cling to the man who 

 was splashed. (I saw a man so splashed, and 

 heard the above question and answer in 1916. 

 The explanation was given to me by a Province 

 Wellesle)' Malay, one of the men concerned). 



(xii) After the boria performances (connected originally 

 with the deaths of Hasan and Husain, but now 

 more or less comic entertainments given by bands 

 of Penang or Province Wellesley Malay youths, 

 who visit the houses of the wealthy in the month 

 Muharram) all those who have taken part in a 

 boria go after the last performance to bathe 

 ceremonially in order to rid themselves of the bad 

 luck [buang-kan sial.) which attaches to them as 

 having part in a dramatic performance. At Taip- 

 ing in Peiak the boria performers bathe at the 



