264 Journal of the F.M.S. Museums. [Vor IX, 
and probably they are not very uncommon. Very likely the implements of 
a h are sometim nged in rows” (bévkotak-kotak) and ‘in 
layers’’ (bérlapis lapis) like the cells in a termites’ nest, so, if a hoard was 
found in such a nest, the above-mentioned beliefs would easily arise.— 
ees Ge el 
Some Pahang Beliefs. 
Now these are some of the old time tabus of the Malays 
of the interior of Pahang :— 
Supposing that anyone, on coming down from his house 
to go anywhere, trips over some object, they say the meaning 
is that whatever he wants to do will be delayed ; it will not 
be very successful. 
Again supposing that we encounter a snake crossing 
in front of us while on a journey, whether we are travelling 
on foot or by boat: if the snake comes from the left and 
goes towards the right, they call this ‘‘ the h&rds plucked 
out of its sheath,’’ and the meaning of its going in this 
way is that the result of whatever we wish to do will be 
good and will be attained quickly. Supposing, however, 
the snake comes from the right and goes to the left, they 
call this “‘ the Révis going into the sheath,” and its meaning 
is that we shall be rather late in attaining our object in 
whatever we undertake. 
Another belief is that if we are going either up-stream 
or down-stream, in a ptrahu, and a monitor-lizard crosses 
in front of us, it is a most ‘‘mischancy ”’ animal and brings 
bad luck to the Malays, so, when we meet with one, we 
immediately curse it and spit at it. 
ain if we are going up-stream or down-stream (in 
a boat) or walking and see a jungle fowl flying in front of us. 
that means, they say, that we shall hear of a death some- 
where or other. 
There is also a superstition that if we are walking 
or going up-stream or down-stream, and a gud-gud bird 
(Centropus sinensis) crosses our path, wherever it may be, 
it is, so the old people say, very ill-omened and unlucky, 
and it will not be of any use to search for any kind of 
“‘ daily bread” (r&ztki), so we spit at it and curse it. 
Now the gud-gud, too, if it calls at night near a village 
or house, say the Malays, signifies that somebody in the 
village will die, because the bird’ has foreseen it, and that, 
too, becomes a great cause of anger to people, so they say. 
Also if the owl called “ Grandmother Winnower ”’ (the 
‘* Tear-the Shrowd’’ ! owl) makes a noise near a house 
in a village at night, that also is considered very unlucky, 
and, so they say, somebody in the village will die. 
And if the burong tidor (githina tiphia) calls near 
So-called owing to the noises which it makes respectively with the 
wings and the mouth.—I. H. N. E.] 
