NATURE 



145 



THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 1900. 



MALA Y MAGIC. 

 Malay Magic; being an Introduction to the Folklore and 

 Popular Religion of the Malay Peninsula. By W. W. 

 Skeat. Pp. xiv + 685, and numerous plates and illus- 

 trations. (.Macmiilan and Co., Ltd., 1900.) 

 THE object of this interesting and important work is 

 set forth on the title-page with such clearness that 

 the reviewer and reader are spared some trouble in de- 

 fining it, and it is pleasing to be able to say that the 

 author exhibits the same clearness throughout the 

 hundreds of pages which he has devoted to the discussion 

 of his subject. Speaking broadly, Mr. Skeat's volume is 

 divided into six sections or chapters, which indicate by 

 their length the relative importance of the matters of 

 i which they treat, and the well-chosen illustrations do 

 much to enlighten the reader of the work on many points 

 which do not fall naturally under the heading of facts of 

 folklore. Mr. Skeat's book differs greatly from the works 

 on folklore which appear from time to time, for it con- 

 tains, not only what seems to us to be an exhaustive state- 

 ment of facts which he has collected and arranged with 

 care and discretion, but a series of deductions made after 

 due consideration of the general principles which have, 

 consciously or unconsciously, guided man in all ages and 

 in all countries in working out theories as to the relations 

 which exist between the animate and inanimate in nature. 

 Many travellers and sojourners in foreign lands and 

 remote islands have written books on the folklore of their 

 inhabitants, but the greater number of them have been 

 characterised by haste, and by a lack of knowledge of 

 the fundamental facts of primitive anthropology. More- 

 over, it has frequently happened that, although their 

 writers have given their facts correctly, they have not 

 given all that might have been given had their own 

 knowledge of them at first hand been sufficiently good to 

 ! draw forth from the natives all that might have been ex- 

 I tracted from them. Mr. Skeat has given abundant time 

 ! to his subject, and as he has relied for guidance in diffi- 

 cult matters upon such works as Prof. E. B. Tylor's 

 " Primitive Culture," the non-expert will feel that he is in 

 safe hands. Mr. Skeat's years of residence in the Malay 

 States gave him unwonted facilities for collecting in- 

 formation, and his official position and knowledge of the 

 native dialects enabled him to make the fullest use of his 

 opportunities. Another fact must be remembered. The 

 influence of the West upon the East grows stronger every 

 year, and the systems of the white man and government 

 according to modern Western ideas, which, sooner or 

 later, he invariably succeeds in imposing upon the 

 coloured man, are not favourable to the preservation of 

 native superstitions and beliefs. Little by little they are 

 set aside, and eventually they disappear ; thus frequently 

 it happens that information which the student of com- 

 parative folklore would consider priceless for his studies 

 lost for ever. Mr. Skeat has done well in collecting 

 ich information in the Malay Peninsula whilst it is still 

 ) be obtained, and we can only hope that other officials 

 ho have the time and opportunity for collecting an- 

 NO. 1598, VOL. 62] 



thropological facts may emulate his devotion and 

 industry. 



According to Malay views in general, the earth and 

 the sea were formed, each in seven stages, after the light, 

 which was an emanation from the Deity, , had become 

 the "world-ocean." The earth was surrounded by a 

 ring of mountains which kept it in its place, and served 

 as the abode for legions of spirits. This mountain is, 

 of course, the old Arab mountain of Kaf, from which, as 

 Yakiit says, " all other mountains are derived." Certain 

 sages, however, hold other views, and describe how the 

 Kdbah, or home of the famous Black Stone at Mekka, 

 the navel of the earth, was made immediately after God 

 made himself manifest by his tokens the sun and moon. 

 Next, the angel Gabriel killed the great serpent Sakdti- 

 muna, and the description of the subsequent disposal 

 of her body forcibly recalls the Babylonian account of 

 the fight between Merodach and TiSmat. In fact, it 

 seems pretty clear that Semitic cosmogonies have been 

 drawn upon by the Malay theologians for several of the 

 above theories. In shape, the earth is oval, and it 

 revolves upon its own axis once every three months. 

 Day and night are caused by the sun, which is a circular 

 body moving round the earth. The sky is made of 

 stone or "bedrock," and the stars are merely holes 

 which let light through from the place of light above. 

 An earthquake is caused by the buffalo which supports 

 the earth on its horns, throwing it from the tip of one 

 horn on to the tip of the other ; this buffalo stands on 

 an island in the midst of the nether ocean. The tides 

 are caused by a huge crab moving in and out of his 

 cavern, which is situated at the root of the Pauh Janggi 

 tree. Eclipses are the result of a monster dragon trymg 

 to swallow the sun and moon ; and indeed any untoward 

 movement in nature is attributed to the movements of 

 beasts of enormous size or dragons. 



The appearance of man upon the earth is accounted 

 for in various ways, but it appears that all Malay ex- 

 planations of his origin are based upon Arabic legends 

 of the creation of man by Allah, who is said to have 

 fashioned him out of earth, air, fire and water. The 

 version of one legend, printed by Mr. Skeat on pp. 19-20, 

 with its mention of Michael, Gabriel and Izrafel, pro- 

 claims the source from which it was derived. The body 

 is composed of earth, air, fire and water, and with these 

 elements are connected four essences — the soul or spirit 

 with air, love with fire, concupiscence with earth, and 

 wisdom with water. But the works of Arabic writers on 

 such matters were not the only authorities consulted by 

 the early Malay philosophers, for Greek authors of 

 treatises on the composition of man are often quoted. 

 Passing over the consideration of the sanctity of the 

 body for want of space, we come to the mention of the 

 soul, which is described as a thin, unsubstantial human 

 image or mannikin, which is temporarily absent from the 

 body in sleep, trance and disease ; after the death of 

 the body, the soul departs from it for ever. It is usually 

 invisible, but it is supposed to be as big as the thumb, 

 and to resemble the body in shape, proportion and com- 

 plexion ; it is of an impalpable, filmy, shadowy substance, 

 and causes no displacement in the body into which it 

 enters. It possesses all the attributes of the body to 



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