Reminiscences of the Straits Settlements. 161 
detective, he is born not made. Malays call police “ mata mata ; ’’ mata means 
eye, a detective is a mata, mata glap or hidden eye. No detective gave 
evidence in Court except in full uniform which in itself was a complete disguise. 
EXCITABILITY OF THE Mauay. 
The excitability of the Malay results in his running amok for apparently 
slight causes, and, as I have shown in an article to be published in Timehri, 
when he is in that state he is a particularly dangerous individual. Owing to 
this peculiarity the Government prohibited the wearing of weapons, but each 
Malay was the proud possessor of one or more krisses and when taking his walks 
abroad out of the district did not forget to goarmed. The action of the authori- 
ties was not deemed to be logical by the Malays. I was often told that the 
possession of a kriss was really a preventative to quarrels for if any individual 
was desirous of creating a disturbance however anxious he might be he thought 
twice before action if he knew his opponent wag-armed. Of krisses there were 
numerous kinds. Straight, waved, short ones and long ones, each most effective 
when in the hands ofan expert. The waved kriss inflicts ghastly wounds for 
after being driven home it is twisted in the wound before being drawn out, 
the result beings very nasty hole to say the least of it. Poison was also used on 
the weapons so that an attack by a man armed with a kriss was to be avoided 
if possible. When a man ran amok the police used a peculiar instrument for 
his capture. It was a long staff with a semi-circle of steel at the end like the 
horns of a cow. Armed with this a policeman waited the onslaught of the 
demented Malay pointing the horns at the neck. When contact ensued the 
man was pushed against the nearest tree or house and held there till he was 
seized and bound. In some cases the madman was more summarily dealt 
with. The long kriss was used in executions in the native States, the prisoner 
knelt down, the kriss point wrapped in cotton wool was put by the side of 
the left collar-bone and driven through the heart, then drawn out through the 
cotton-wool which was used to plug the wound. Theft in the Malay States 
was punished in some cases by chopping off the right hand with an axe, after 
which the stump was plunged into boilng oil. I have seen men on whom this 
operation was performed. The absence of a scientifically arranged pad of 
flesh over the end of the bone did not conduce to comfort. 
The other weapon of the Malay was a parang like a Burmese “ Dah.” Used 
as a sword it was also very effective. Changes must have taken place, for about 
two years ago 1 wrote asking for a “parang.” The name even was not 
known. After a long search my correspondent sent me a roughly made 
instrument, 2 goloh, used for chopping wood. 
A Prouriir Disease. 
A peculiar disease from which the Malay occasionally suflered—I presume it 
was constitutional-— was what was known as “ Lattz.” Tf a man or woman 
was sv afflicted all you had to Go was to give him or hei a sudden shock after 
which whatever you did was imitated faithfully. As may he supposea not 
infrequently this condition was used as a means for entertaining strangers by 
the unsympathetic. 
