108 Journal of the F.M.S. Museums.  [Vor.. IX, 
**One day sees the burial of our lost chief and the 
springing up and cherishing of his successor. 
Mati bérkérapatan: at the death of a tribal chief, the 
_ electors assemble, the elders, the lesser headmen, the full 
membets of the tribe, both men and women. In the various 
districts of Minangkabau procedure differed slightly ; in 
Sumanik the successor had to be chosen before the body was 
taken to the grave ; in Pagar Ruyong at the graveside; in 
Padang Genting on the day of the death; elsewhere one 
hundred days after the death. If the selected candidate 
were absent from the négtri, his family gave some tanda, a 
creese for example, and the feast was postponed till his 
return. In Negri Sembilan, too, the election was supposed 
to be settled before the burial; but if no decision could be 
reached, then the elder of the dead chief’s own pé&rut acted 
(mémangku) till the ménujoh hari, the funeral feast on the 
seventh day after the death, or even till the dua kali tujoh 
hari, the feast of the fourteenth day, by which time theoreti- 
cally a candidate had to be elected. As a matter of fact, 
fights at the graveside and indecent delay of the burial often 
occurred. The procedure in the case of dispute was similar 
to that for election on the resignation of a tribal chief. And 
similar, too, is the procedure under the British protectorate : 
if there is dispute, the election can be postponed indefinitely. 
At last difficulties are surmounted ; ‘‘the intricate is disen- 
—. the turbid cleared, the rain has ceased and the mist 
disperse 
Kusut bérstlésai ; ~ 
Kéroh bérjérneh, 
Hujan sudah tédoh ; 
Kabus sudah ttrang. 
he newly-elected chief invites his people to a public 
feast called tabor mélukut, the ‘‘sprinkling of the broken 
grain’’ for all the denizens of the courtyard, the ‘‘ cocks that 
lay not eggs, the hens that cackle and the chicks that chirp.” 
He sprinkles the grain as a symbol of gathering them under 
his wing and the bond of tribal unity is acknowledged in 
old-world sentences. 
Hati gajah sama di-lapah 
Hati'kuman sama di-chichah. 
‘* Together we skin the heart of the elephant; together 
dip the heart of the louse.” 
Chichir sama rugt, 
Méndapat sama laba. 
‘* What we drop is common loss; what we gain is com- 
mon profit.” 
