248 Journai of the F.M.S. Museums. [Vou. IX, 
disdewbouthood of Port Dickson. The last division is under 
another Batin, the Batin recognised by the Sungai Dérahka 
people living at Batang Labu. 
he few details that I = obtain about their beliefs 
and customs are given below: 
The punan beliefs, to eich I have alluded in several 
former papers on the aborigines, are found among them, 
anybody who has encountered misfortune through neglecting 
to satisfy some craving is said to have kéna sampok. 
The rice-soul (semangat bek) is cut by an old woman be- 
fore reaping begins. It consists of seven ears, which are 
taken to the house, wrapped in a cloth, and tied to one of 
the central posts. The semangat is taken early i in the morn- 
ing, and immediately after this reaping is begun, and is con- 
tinued for three days, but the fourth day is taba (pantang 
teturk bek), and no work must be done on it. 
The rice of the semangat bek is sown before the rest of the 
seed padi. 
The circular leaf hut, according to an informant of mine, 
is not used by the Poyang (shaman). He is said to hold 
shoots of the palas and of the bertam palms in his hands while 
holding a séance Meg The Poyang’s familiar is termed 
his kenon, t.e. ch 
There seems e be little, if any, ae eae ceremony, and 
divorce takes place at the wish of either part 
or forty-four days before the birth oF a child an ex- 
pectant mother must do no heavy work. 
Circumcision and incision seem not to be practise 
In men-—probably also in women—the six front teeth in 
the top jaw, the two pairs of incisors and the canines, are 
partly filled down. The teeth in the bottom jaw are left un- 
touched. 
The men whom I questioned professed agnosticism to 
me with regard to an existence after death, but, as food is 
placed on graves, I am inclined to think that they must 
have some ideas of the soul’s survival after death. 
With regard to the graves, which were mostly marked by 
wooden posts in the Malay manner, I noticed that the orien- 
tation of some of them appeared ‘to be different from that 
of others, and, on questioning one of the inhabitants of the 
settlement, who was with me, he said that it was customary 
for the graves of the two sexes to be disposed differently. 
An examination of the grave-mounds seemed to show that 
the men’s graves were Pr so that the bodies lay with their 
heads towards the east, and, according to my informant, 
with their faces looking towards the north, while the orien- 
tation of the women’s graves, and the disposal of the bodies, 
was such that the heads pointed to the west with faces to- 
wards the north. 
Bouses are deserted and burnt when a death occurs, and 
