CHAPTER VI 



NATIVE CUSTOMS 



There are many customs practised by the natives of Cocos- 

 Keeling which are of peculiar interest, for, in common with 

 all Malays, they show in their ceremonies a curious mixture 

 of practices that are entirely foreign to their professed creed 

 of Islam. 



At any time the Malay is but a lukewarm adherent to 

 the orthodox religion, and it must be owned that the Cocos 

 Islander does not come any nearer to the Islamic ideal of 

 strict observances than do most of his kin. 



The doctrines of the Koran are taught to them and they 

 are professed Mohammedans, but, like all their race, they show 

 clearly in their customs strong evidence of a pre-Islamic 

 nature-worship. 



They have a densely populated spirit world, the inhabi- 

 tants of which are apt to intrude themselves into ceremonies 

 of purely Islamic origin, and at times almost as much 

 attention is paid to the requirements of the spirits as to the 

 details prescribed by the orthodox religion. The hour of 

 twilight is the one in which the denizens of the spirit world 

 are apt to be abroad ; it is a dangerous time for delicate folk 

 and children, but for the woman who is pregnant it has the 

 most terrors, and she must not be out of doors unless she 

 carries a knife in her hand. It is out of deference to the 

 spirits of animals that neither she nor her husband may kill 

 any animal, for if the blood of any creature is spilled at this 

 time, vengeance will be visited upon the unfortunate offspring. 

 Concerning the reality of the visitation, there are many strange 

 stories current in the atoll, and the doctrine of the potency of 

 maternal impressions is one that always finds a ready credence 



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