APPENDIX. 301 



/ 



Ganesha, Hanuman, and Arjuna. There are memories of 

 heavenly creatures like the dewa, dewata, chandra, and 

 Hdadari ; of demons like the Indian bhuts, which the 

 Malays call Bota ; of ogres (gergasi), and of giants 

 (rakscLsci). There has been a tendency which was very 

 natural perhaps to degrade the Hindu gods to the 

 level of mere forest spirits. 



"When Muhammadanism swept Hinduism away before 

 it, the pawang turned eagerly to the new religion to 

 borrow what he could. The only spirits lower than the 

 angels of which the Koran admits the existence are the 

 Genii (Jin) and Fairies (Peri), some of whom are said 

 to be believers and some unbelievers. They are imagined 

 to be created of pure fire, to be of both sexes, to propagate 

 their species, and to eat and drink. They were at once 

 accepted and introduced into the mantras. So also were 

 the archangels Jibrail (Gabriel), Mikail (Michael), Azrael, 

 and Israfil. One is not surprised to find their names ; but 

 one may own to a feeling of awe at finding in the mouth 

 of a pawang in the Malay Peninsula the name of Azazel, 

 the pre-Mosaic demon of the wilderness, to whom the 

 scapegoats of Leviticus xvi. were sent as an offering. 1 



Actuated, perhaps, by a desire to show that their old 

 beliefs were in no way incompatible with their new 

 religion, the pawangs also freely introduced the Muham- 

 madan Prophets into their mantras. Nabi Noh (Noah, 

 who is supposed to have charge of all the plants and 

 trees), Nabi Sleman (Solomon, who rules over all the 

 animals), Nabi Musa (Moses), and Nabi Muhammad him- 

 self, are frequently invoked ; and the mantras often begin 

 with the words, " In the name of Allah, the All-Com- 

 passionate and All- Merciful," and end with the words, 

 " There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is the 

 Prophet of Allah." 



But this is not the whole of the borrowings of the 

 pawangs. The Siamese, who are the neighbours of the 



1 Tt is only right to say that D'Herbelot gives another account of 

 Azazel in his ' Bibliotheque Orientale.' 



