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1920. ] I. H. N. Evans: Negrito Beliefs. 3 
got their frizzly heads through their hair being singed while 
able to climb up to heaven because they had not had their 
hair burnt; but the rest of the Negritos could not follow them. 
Tapern mside a ladder up to heaven by shooting a series of 
darts from his blowpipe into the air. The first of these stuck 
into a black cloud, and the others ranged themselves in order 
below, so as to form steps, up which he and his three com- 
panions then climbed. Tapern is white and his father’s name 
is Kukak, while his mother is named Yak Takel. Yak (grand- 
mother) Lepeh is the mother of Jalang, and Jamoi’s mother 
is called Yak Manoid. These three ‘‘Grandmothers”’ live 
under the earth and guard the roots of the Batu Herem, the 
stone which supports the heavens—I shall have occasion to 
refer to this later on—and they can make the waters under 
the earth rise and destroy any of the Negritos who give great 
cause of offence to Tapern. ‘Tapern’s subjects, the beings of 
the heavens, are called Chinoi, and he uses them as messen- 
gers, while a personage named Jatik, who lives in the eastern 
sky, acts as his body-servant, and two others, Chapor and 
Chalog, as constables, who inform him if anyone on earth is 
committing sins. When he is angry, Tapera commands the 
stone which makes the thunder to roll over the four boards 
which meet in the centre of the heavens, one of which extends 
towards the east, one towards the west, and the other two 
towards the north and south respectively.” Tapern’s house 
stands at the angle where the southern and western boards 
meet. As the stone rolls along the boards, making thunder 
(kati), a cord, which is attached to it, winds and unwinds 
itself, and this flashing cord is the lightning. The thunder 
is heard to roll from one end of the heavens to the other as 
the stone rolls over the planks. When a bad thunder-storm 
comes on, and the Negritos are frightened, they draw blood 
from the outer side of the right leg near the shin-bone and 
throw it up towards the sky saying, ”Loim mahum pek kep- 
ing!’ (i.e, “‘ Throw the blood aloft!’’). 
This is as much as I learnt of Tapern and the other celes- 
tials from Tokeh and the people of the Damak River settle- 
ment, but I got a story from the Negritos of Grik which differs 
in some important respects from the legend current among 
the Ulu Selama tribe, for in it, among other peculiarities, 
Tapern becomes the younger brother, instead of the elder. 
The tale of the Grik aborigines, which T extracted from them 
with a good deal of trouble, is as follows:—Kari® makes the 
| Vide a legend in a former paper of mine on the Negritos of Ijok. 
sete® of the F.M.S. Museums, vol. V, pp. 180 and 181. 
of ie Ue pepe Stentltos. Vide Saakucké 2, p. 104 
* 
