304 APPENDIX. 



something not to be done rather than something to be 

 done. This is known as pantang, and corresponds to the 

 well known tapu or taboo. 



The Malays believe that the power lies in the mantra 

 itself, not in the man that repeats it. The Hindus have 

 the same idea, but amongst them the use of the mantras 

 is confined to the Brahmins : they have a proverb 



" The earth is subject to the gods : 

 The gods are subject to the mantras : 

 The mantras are subject to the Brahmins : 

 Therefore the earth is subject to the Brahmins." 



The Malays admit of no caste restrictions ; and the pawang 

 from whom I learnt the mantras set forth in the article 

 " Tuba Fishing " assured me that, when I had committed 

 them to memory, they would be as effectual in my mouth 

 as they were in his own. 



The pawangs (like the manangs of Borneo) are not a 

 hereditary class, though, as one would expect, a son often 

 follows in his father's footsteps in the same way that in 

 England a gamekeeper or a sexton succeeds his father. 

 Any man who has shown a little aptitude may learn from 

 a pawang all that he has to teach, if the application for 

 tuition is made with due deference and in proper form. 

 There are certain (often many) observances to be kept, and 

 some services to be rendered ; and there is a recognised fee, 

 so many lengths of cloth, so many measures of rice, and 

 so many pieces of silver. The fact that the pawang's 

 craft does not necessarily descend from father to son is 

 interesting, for among most of the Mongolian tribes the 

 shaman priesthood is strictly hereditary. There, in fact, 

 so much is the profession confined to certain families that 

 the shaman priests pretend to derive their power from 

 the spirits of their deceased ancestors. Such an idea is 

 unknown to the Malay. 



When a man's skill has made him famous, the word 

 pawang is prefixed to his name as a title; and even in 

 official documents, such as the grants issued by the Land 



