1920. ] I. H. N. Evans: Negrito Beliefs. 5 
house was carried up into the air, and rose towards the sky. 
Presently Tanong’s mother looked out of the door to see what 
her son was doing, and becoming dizzy on seeing that the 
house had risen far above the earth, she fell from the doorway, 
screaming like a hawk, and, while in mid-air, became trans- 
formed into a bird of that kind. 
Soon the father also came to the door, and he too fell out, 
and became a crow. ‘Tanong went up to the sky with the 
house. ‘The house became the sun, and Tanong lives with 
Tapern and looks after it. The following information is also 
from Tokeh. The sun, when it sets, falls into a tunnel-like 
cave which extends under the earth and passes out through the 
far end of it each morning to appear again in the east. The 
moon when it sets also goes into this cave. 
The eclipse of the moon is caused by the sun (male) who 
is jealous of the moon (female) because she has many children 
(the stars). He, therefore, sends the Gahayup, a kind of large 
butterfly or moth, to attack her. The butterfly comes from 
the place where the sun goes down (met ketok menlis). The 
lunar eclipse is thus called “butterfly swailow” (Gahayup 
hilud' 
The rainbow is a snake, Hwiak, which comes to drink. 
The Stone which supports the Heavens. 
The stone pillar which is thought to support the sky is 
called the Batu Herem. 'Tokeh told me that this is to be seen 
near Jinerih in Kedah, and from it to the edge of the world, in 
whatever direction, the distances are the same. The Batu 
Herem pierces the sky and supports it, and the portion which 
projects above the sky is loose, and balanced on the lower part 
at an angle. This loose part is above Tapern’s heaven, and 
is in a dark region named Ligoi. Four cords run from the 
top of it to the four quarters of the world, and the ends of 
them, which are weighted with stones called: Tang-al, hang 
below the surface of the earth. The two Tang-al at the ends 
of the eastern and western _ are longer than those attached 
to the northern and souther 
The Abode of the Dead and their Journey to it. 
The souls of the dead, which, according ‘to Tokeh, leave 
their bodies through the big toes, go to the edge of the sea 
where the sun goes down, but for seven days they are able to 
return to their old homes. At the end of that time , those of 
the good are escorted by Mampes to an island which is called 
Beiet. They pass to this over a green switch-backed bridge, 
‘he cab, “ties of Grik told me that a lunar eclipse (bu/an pud) is caused 
by a fee attacking the moon. They said that on such an occasion they 
call out “Bulan chib beh-ek|’’ which seems to mean, ‘‘ Moon go well! 
