THEIR DEITIES. 249 



strong enough, altogether to abolish the more ancient 

 superstition of these tribes. At the present time, they 

 believe in a number of divinities, or different orders of 

 spirits, the chief of which, though they vary in many 

 villages, is the god called " Tuppa" by most of the 

 tribes ; though amongst some, a deity named Jerroang, 

 has the precedence. 



To a stranger asking them the name of their 

 God, they universally answer " Juwata ;" but on 

 closely questioning them, they call this deity Juwata 

 Laut ; meaning that they have received the knowledge 

 of him from the Malays, and that his divinity has 

 no proper place in their mythology. Few people will 

 hesitate in pronouncing Juwata to be a corruption of the 

 Sanscrit word " Dewata," which has been adopted into 

 the Malayan language, and is a term for an order of 

 celestial beings in the Hindu mythology. In the belief 

 of the Dyaks, Tuppa and Jerroang are supposed to be 

 eminently powerful and beneficent beings, controlling, 

 not only the actions of men, but those of the spirits 

 of an inferior order. They delight in doing good to 

 the human race, and have been the bestowers of all the 

 most sacred gifts to the Dyaks, who say that in ancient 

 times they received the Padi from the former : other, 

 but less powerful spirits, are the Perchaah, the Jim, 

 the Kamang, and the Triu, all of which are generic 

 terms for classes of beings. The Perchaah appear to 

 be the ministers of the two powerful divinities (or 

 classes of divinities), Tuppa and Jerroang. " Jim," 

 is, perhaps, a corruption of the term " Jin," evil spririts 



