38 TEETH BLACKING AMONGST THE MALAYS. 



on before the operation is finished. When complete the teeth 

 shonld be quite black and have a fine glossy surface. It is 

 reported to last for years and to keep the teeth from decaying. 

 It must be very unpleasant as the "baja" is pimgent and dis- 

 agreeable in taste and takes some considerable time to dry, 

 during all of which period the taste continues. The custom in 

 Perak is going out of fashion from some cause or other. 



The "baja" is also used to varnish the caps made of 

 " resam " or fern fibre, and give them a fine, black, polished 

 appearance. 



The primitive character of the above detailed process seems 

 to point to a very remote date for the inception of custom. 

 With the exception of the piece of iron vised to condense the 

 smoke, which could almost as well be replaced by a piece of 

 stone, there is nothing in the process which is incompatable with 

 the appliances of the period before the discovery of the use of 

 metals and earthenware. If the custom had originated when 

 metals or earthenware were in use the whole process of the 

 production of " baja " would almost certainly have been simplified 

 by enclosing the coconut shell or wood in an earthen or 

 metal vessel before subjecting it to the heat of the fire and thus 

 producing the wood -tar in much greater c[uantities with less 

 trouble and expenditure of time and material. The custom 

 having once originated, it is only to be expected, from what 

 is known of other cvistoms, that the method of carrying it 

 out should remain practically unaltered although subsecj^uent 

 advancements in the knowledge of the use of metal and earthen- 

 ware vessels opened a way for a much improved process. 



Teeth filing and blacking is confined to the Malays, neither 

 the Sakais nor the Semangs practise it in Perak. It is 

 performed on both sexes, and though it may be done at any time 

 is most frequent at or about the age of maturity. No special 

 significance seems now to be attached to it, but it is more than 

 probable that it is the remnant of some initiatory ceremony of a 

 pre - Muhammadau period. 



The following are some "baja" j^antuus, which it appears 

 should be recited during the process of preparing the varnish. 



No. 1. 



