MALAYAN ASOLIAN PIPES. 
By L. Wray, JUN. 
Bamboos, so cut that they emit musical notes when the wind blows, 
are called by the Malays @uloh perrindu, from buloh the bamboo, and 
vindu, plaintive or melancholy. 
The way in which they are made is as follows. A long bamboo 
is taken, which may be of any size from an inch in diameter upwards ; and 
in each of the upper joints a hole is cut somewhere near the centre. 
These holes are of many different shapes and are placed alternately 
on either side of the bamboo, so that whichever way the wind blows the 
pipe will sound. They are also spaced at different parts of the joints to 
give different notes, and the shapes of the holes are varied with the 
intention of altering the timbre of the notes, in the same way as is done 
with organ pipes. The holes are square, round, triangular, elliptical, 
rhombic, rectangular, besides segments and sectors of circles and many 
irregular shapes. 
The duloh perrindu being prepared is stuck upright into the ground, 
large end downwards, or tied on to a tree-top near a house, so that its 
music can be heard. Living bamboos are also sometimes cut and made 
eolian, and they will remain alive for some long time afterwards. A 
clump so treated will produce musical notes whenever the wind rustles 
through it. 
The sounds emitted by these zolian bamboos are, as the Malay name 
indicates, weird and plaintive, rising and falling as the wind rises and 
falls : 
‘* Low at times and loud at times, 
And changing like a poet’s rhymes.” 
A Malay writer, quoted by Marsden, uses the tones produced by 
these bamboos as something particularly melodious with which to com- 
pare the musical voice of a woman. ‘‘ Sweet was the sound of her voice 
as that of the tuneful reed—J/ardu-lah bunyi swara-nia seperti buloh 
perrindu.”’ 
The name buloh perrindu is also applied to a small species of 
bamboo that grows on the tops of some of the taller hills in Perak, 
at from 5,000 to over 6,000 feet elevation. Flowering specimens of this 
pretty little bamboo were collected on the summit of Gunong Berumbun 
in 1888, but have not yet been identified. The word rzzdu also 
means to desire earnestly, long for, and pine after, and apparently this 
is the meaning that the name bears as applied to this species, for 
the Malays say that it has mystic properties and that if a man can get his 
lady-love to accept a piece of it, that it will act like a philter or the 
elixir of love. The lady need not knowingly take it. It is sufficient if 
she is possessed of a small piece, even though she is not aware of it. 
It is reputed to be a very powerful charm, subjugating the coldest and 
most indifferent, and even turning hate to love. On the occasion when 
botanical specimens of it were collected, the Malays of the party cut and 
brought down bundles of the canes for use as love charms. 
