1920.] R. O. WinsTEDT: Perak Birth Customs. 87 
infant laid on it. When the navel falls off a poultice is put 
on, mixed with pepper to make the child brave. A little 
feast of sweetmeats is prepared for children. The infant is 
removed from the tray. The rice whereon the infant lay is 
measured and omens taken as to the child’s future. If the 
measure is brimming, the child will be rich; if it is short, 
poor. The balance of the rice is given to the chickens to 
avert evil (tolak bala) After 40 days, the ‘ roasting’ of the 
mother ceases. The midwife is paid in Upper Perak $2 or, if 
the infant has been troubled by ghouls (pelak somgee $2} 
and allowed to remove her earlier presents : in the e of 
-any later child, the midwife’s fee in Upper Perak is "3 Le 
These fees, of course, vary in different places and with differ- 
ent times. 
In Upper Perak names suggested by some local circum- 
stance are given at birth, and girls, for example, are named 
after a butterfly, fish and plants. Later the parents will con- 
sult a L&bat to take the child’s horoscope and select a Muham- 
madan name for the child according to the date of its birth. 
The Muhammadan name selected may be used temporarily or 
permanently. The first pagan name may still be used but 
will be changed for another in the case of illness or mis- 
fortune. In Patani there are many pagan names, Beh 
Séluang, Udang, Panji, Sari and so on. In Kelantan five or 
seven bananas are dubbed with persons’ names: they are 
laid before the infant and he is given the name allotted to 
the particular banana that he first grabs. 
Though it is not connected with birth ceremonies, one 
may note that in Perak and Selangor, if a boy exactly 
resembles his father, it is usual to pierce (tindek) one of his 
ears: otherwise father or son is likely to die. The resem- 
blance of a to her father or of boy or girl to the mother is 
of no import 
There is a rite sutwasa observed by Indian Moslems, 
when a woman arrives at the end of the seventh month of 
pregnancy, though it is simpler and differs from the elaborate 
Malay ceremonial; and Indian (and Arab) Moslems also get 
an elder to open an infant’s mouth with honey, that he may 
learn wisdom and understanding (Herklots’ ‘‘ Qanoon-e- 
Islam ’’). But both these ceremonies are found in Brahmin- 
ism. (Monier Williams’ ‘“Hinduism” (I9II), pP- 59, 60.} 
An account of ‘‘ Birth Ceremonies in Perak” by Sir 
William Maxwell appears in J.R.AS., S.B., ‘‘ Notes and 
w 
