[918 [.H.N.Evans: Beliefs of the Behrattg-V alley Senoi. 201 



own benefit — he was suffering from a bad cough — told me, 

 however, that he could not claim to be a true Halak, since he 

 did not possess a Gunik (Familiar Spirit), but that he merely 

 followed ancient custom in " playing " a little to try and cure 

 his complaint. The rites had been carried out in a small one- 

 roomed house, pecially built foi the purpose. The walls oi 

 this only reached half way up to the thatch, and a doorway at 

 the back opened on to a small boat-shaped platform (Balm 

 lendut), about eight feet long, and on a level with the floor of 

 the house. This was supported on three trestles, made of six 

 small trees felled at the roots and crossed in pairs below 

 it. Their lower branches had been trimmed away, but 

 their upper parts, still bearing branches, projected above the 

 platform to a height of about seven or eight feet on either 

 side. Two rails had been lashed to the trunks of the trees 

 about three and a half feet above the flooring while a rattan 

 cord girdled the trees near their tops, each extremity of it 

 being attached to the end wall of the house. The branches of 

 the trees, when the -tincture was first erected, had been 

 covered with leaves, but, at the time of my visit the foliage 

 had withered and fallen. A number of long water bamboos of 

 . ornamented with wavy double lines running 

 longitudinally, wen- placed at the far end of the platform, 

 leaning against the rattan cord. Katil pointed out that one of 

 the-'- was longer than the others, having seven internodes, as 

 compared with six. This long bamboo was used by the chief 

 performer for ceremonial bathing; the others by the rest of the 

 people. The bases of these bamboos were slightly ornamented 

 with carving. 



Hanging on the rails of the Balai lendut, and suspended fiom 

 the roof within the house, were various ceremonial ornaments. 

 Some of these were made from palm-leaves plaited into fanci- 

 ful shapes, among them being decorations for which the Sakai 

 gave me the following Malay names, gelang giring, gelang 

 rantai, burong denak, tali dendan, tali Hong, and tali savnit. 

 Other decorations of the same class for which I obtained Sakai 

 names were layang-layang hut 1" ascending swallows "); layang 

 layang chiloh ["descending swallows"); tuk keh-ep (" centi- 

 1 \emrong tumpi (?), and plekjeh-or (" fruit of the 



cocoanut "). Two small pyramidal structures, made of bertam 

 pith, and oi slightly different types were suspended inside the 

 house. These, each of which had a doorway and model steps 

 leading up to it, were railed balai sagi ; and balai krauk (krauk 

 is equivalent to kerawang in Malay). The balai sagi was the 

 most ornamental of the two and was crowned by a figure of a 

 bird (chiap cheralah), model tampoi and rambai fruits (pleh 

 tampoi and pick rami) and decorations called sarak lute (i.e. 

 bees' in- -1 1. Othei ceremonial objects were shaved sticks 

 (chendrok), tin- shavings standing out from the stems in circles 

 at short but regular intervals; hanging decorations called 

 patong salting, made of two small pieces of thin board inter- 

 secting at right-angles: patong gimbar, hanging ornaments 



