NOTES ON MALAYAN FOLK-LORE. 63 
it up with evidently great relish. Probably it isa means of keeping their 
teeth sharp, but they undoubtedly swallow it. 
A Malacca cane with a joint as long as the height of the owner will 
protect him from harm by snakes and animals and will give him luck in 
all things. What is called a samambu bangku, or baku, possesses the 
power of killing any one, even when the person is only slightly hurt by a 
blow dealt with it. These are canes that have died down and have 
begun to shoot again from near the root. They are very rare, one 
of 18 inches in length is valued at six or seven dollars, and one long 
enough to make a walking-stick of, at 30 to 50 dollars. At night the 
rotan samambu plant is said to make a loud noise, and, according to the 
Malays, it says—‘‘ Bulam sampei, bulam sampei,’ meaning that it has 
not yet reached its full growth. They are often to be heard in the 
jungle at night, but the most diligent search will not reveal their where- 
abouts. The rotan manof is also said to give out sounds at night. The 
sounds are loud and musical, but the alleged will-of-the-wisp character of 
the rattans which are supposed to produce them seems to point to some 
night-bird, tree-frog, or lizard as being the real cause of the weird notes, 
though it is just possible that the wind might make the rattan leaves 
vibrate in such a way as to cause the sounds. 
One of the largest and stateliest of the forest trees in Perak is that 
known as Toallong or Toh Allong. It has a very poisonous sap, which 
produces great irritation when it comes in contact with the skin. Two 
Chinamen who had felled one of these trees in ignorance, had their faces so 
swelled and inflamed that they could not see out of their eyes and had to 
be led about for some days before they recovered from the effects of the 
poison. Their arms, breasts and faces were affected, and they presented 
the appearence of having a very bad attack of erysipelas. These trees 
are supposed to be the abiding places of Aantu, or spirits, when they have 
large hollow projections from the trunk, called rumah hantu or spirit 
houses. These projections are formed when a branch gets broken off 
near the trunk, and are quite characteristic of the tree. There are 
sometimes three or four of them on a large tree, and the Malays have a 
great objection to cutting down any that are so disfigured, the belief 
being that if a man fell one he will die within the year. As a rule these 
trees are left standing when clearings are made, and they are a source of 
trouble and expense to planters and others, who object to their being 
left uncut. 
The following series of events actually happened. A Malay named 
Panda Tambong undertook, against the advice of his friends, to fell one 
of these Toh Allong trees, and he almost immediately afterwards was 
taken ill with fever, and died in a few weeks’ time. Shortly after this 
some men were sitting plaiting ataps under the shade of another of 
these ill-omened trees, when, without any warning, a large branch fell 
down, breaking the arm of one man and more or less injuring two others. 
There was not a breath of wind at the time, or anything else likely to 
determine the fall of the branch. After this it was decided to have the 
tree felled, as there were coolie houses nearly under it. There was great 
difficulty in getting any one to fell it. Eventually a Penang Malay 
undertook the job, but stipulated that a pawang, or sorcerer, should be 
