CANi\IBALISM. 259 



by the spikes or caught in the interstices as the weapon is 

 withdrawn. 



As a natural consequence of their extreme ignorance, the 

 Malays, even the best educated, are inordinately superstitious, 

 and people the invisible world with a host of malignant spirits. 

 The Pamburk roams the forest, like the wild huntsman of the 

 Haruz, with demon dogs, and the storm fiend Hantu Ribut 

 howls in the blast and revels in the whirlwind. Tigers are 

 considered in many instances to be the receptacles of the souls 

 of departed human beings, and they believe that some men 

 have the faculty of transforming themselves at pleasure into 

 tigers, and that others enjoy the privilege of invulnerability. 

 They rely firmly on the efficacy of charms, spells, amulets, 

 talismans, lucky and unlucky moments, magic, and judicial 

 astrology. To pull down or repair a seriously damaged house 

 is considered unlucky, so that whenever a Malay has occasion 

 to build a new house he leaves the old one standing. 



While the coasts of Borneo and Sumatra are occupied by the 

 more civilised Mahometan Malays, the interior of these vast 

 islands is inhabited by nations, probably of the same race, who, 

 secluded from the rest of the world, exhibit in their customs a 

 strange and almost incredible mixture of good and evil, of 

 humane tendencies and diabolical barbarism. 



Thus the Battas, who next to the Malays are the most 

 numerous people of Sumatra, have the same polite and cere- 

 monious manner, they possess an ancient code of law, they write 

 ibooks, and are fond of music, they build commodious houses, 

 which they ornament with tasteful carvings, they wear handsome 

 tissues and know the art of smelting and amalgamating metals ; 

 they are extremely good-natured, and yet theynot only eat human 

 flesh, but eat it under circumstances of unexampled atrocity. 



According to their own traditions, their ancestors knew 

 •nothing of this horrid practice, which was first instigated by 

 the demon of war about the year 1630, and from being 

 originally an act of vengeance or fury, became at length one of 

 •their institutions in times of peace, and is now legally sanc- 

 tioned as a punishment for certain heavy crimes. In some cases 

 the delinquent is iirst killed and then eaten, in others he is 

 [eaten alive, an aggravated punishment which, however, is 

 mly reserved for traitors, spies, and enemies seized arms in 



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