18 IN MALAY FORESTS. 



and a few miles by railway to the next station, and 

 a walk of a couple of miles took me to his village, 

 where a house has been set aside for me. After 

 dinner I was invited into the adjoining house, where 

 Pa' Senik had made his preparations. Like all Malay 

 houses it was divided into three parts: the front 

 room or verandah, absolutely public; the middle 

 room, where the men eat and sleep, reserved for 

 intimates: and the kitchen, where the unmarried 

 women sleep, absolutely private. The ceremony was 

 to take place in the centre room, and here I was 

 introduced to Che Mat, a brother pawang, whom Pa' 

 Senik had called in to assist him. After a few 

 minutes' conversation the proceedings began, and 

 while they sat down and faced one another over 

 a brass bowl containing burning charcoal, I made 

 myself as comfortable as I could upon the floor 

 within a few feet of them, and round us such men 

 and women and children as had obtained admission 

 ranged themselves in a semicircle. Various bowls of 

 water, in which floated leaves and flowers, were set 

 about the flour, and twigs and sprays of leaves and 

 blossoms were fixed to the posts and walls. Each 

 bowl and leaf and flower had its definite significance, 

 and to each were spells and charms attached. Pa' 

 Senik then took up an arbab, a three-stringed instru- 

 ment, in shape somewhat like a banjo, but played 

 with a bow. After a tentative essay or two he 

 struck up a monotonous chant to a tune a degree 

 more monotonous. Much of his music was impro- 

 vised to meet the special conditions of the present 

 instance ; but the greater portion of it was part of 



