SOCIETY OP THE UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN. 157 



than two days ahead, not that he is hopelessly forgetful of an engage- 

 ment, but simply that after the first day he quickly loses count " 

 (Journal of Federal Malay States Museum, ii.). It may be that the 

 Sakais realise their inability to count the days, since they are so 

 unwilling to give a definite promise to do anything on a certain day. 

 They have practically no idea of distance ; one man will say that 

 a certain place is about two miles distant, while the next one will say 

 ten miles. Distance beyond a few miles is, as a rule, spoken of as so 

 many days or nights distant, that is, so many days' journey, but 

 there is a curious lack of agreement among them as to how many 

 days' journey there may be between any two given places. 



The Sakais are very superstitious, but have apparently no reli- 

 gion. They believe in ghosts, or, as they are called in Malay, Hantus. 

 All their diseases are attributed to winds, or rather to ghosts in 

 the winds, and their cures for the various diseases are in different 

 kinds of combs worn in the hair. I had a few combs in my possession, 

 but they were evidently misplaced when packing up to come home. 

 They are made from part of a bamboo shoot, and are curiously orna- 

 mented, like the quivers for holding darts. 



Their musical instruments are a kind of drum made from bamboo 

 stem, and played like a kettle-drum, and a peculiar kind of flute, 

 which is played through the nose. A photograph of two Sakais 

 playing flutes in this manner may be seen in vol. i. of the Wide World 

 Magazine, page 159. 



Their principal weapon is the blowpipe or sumpitan. The blow- 

 pipes vary in length from about 5^ feet to 7|- feet and are always 

 ornamented more or less. The darts are from 8 to 11 inches in length, 

 being made from the mid-rib of a palm leaf, and fitted with a hub of 

 pitch. They are poisoned at the tips with upas or ipoh a poison, 

 obtained by boiling down the sap of the upas tree. 



The quivers or cases are made of bamboo, fitted with a close 

 fitting cap and always ornamented, some of them very prettily. 

 The ornamentation takes the form mostly of straight lines running in 

 various directions, and crossing each other at various angles, or in 



