ABOBIGItfAL TBIBES OF PEBAK. 49 



but of their music and singing, I had a fair specimen. JSersempul is 

 the word by which the Perak Malays describe a gathering of Sakeis 

 for music and dancing. (It does not appear to have been known 

 to the compilers of Malay dictionaries). 



Sitting together in a circle and facing inwards, the five men 

 commenced a series of long chants or recitations in quick time. 

 The instruments on which they accompanied themselves were made 

 of pieces of bamboo. One held two short lengths or tubes of 

 bamboo (green and recently cut) in an upright position on a 

 horizontal wooden log, one in each hand. These were raised and 

 then brought down on the log alternately, producing a ringing and 

 not unmusical sound, which had something of the effect of the 

 beating of a tom-tom. Two others beat pieces of bamboo held in 

 the left hands with other pieces held in the right, after the manner 

 of the Malay cherachap. There was no hesitation or difficulty 

 about recollecting words ; the man who led was followed by the 

 other four, who were generally about a note behind him. The 

 general result was monotonous, the performers sometimes chanting 

 rapidly on the same note for nearly a minute together. Their 

 whole range did not exceed three or four notes, I imagine. 



The first song was the Lagu Oias, or song of the Oias tree. 

 This was an enumeration of fruit-bearing trees, and of the favourite 

 mountains and forests of the Sakeis. It is said to be held in great 

 veneration, and may contain the germs of the traditions of this 

 singular people. Next came the Lagu Chenaku, or song of the 

 tiger-spirit. Chenaku or Blian is the SaJcei name for the man who, 

 under the semblance of human form, conceals his identity as a tiger, 

 better known by the Malay word Jadi-jadi-an. Belief in this form 

 of lycanthropy is widespread among the Malays as well as among 

 the aboriginal tribes. The next song was the Lagu Prah, or the 

 song of the Prah tree, sung when the Prah fruit is ripe, no small 

 occasion of festivity among the forest tribes. The fruit (the nature 

 of which I do not know) is sliced up and mixed with other 

 ingredients (rojah) and then cooked in lengths of bamboo (lemang). 



The performance concluded with the Lagu Durian, a song in 

 praise of the Durian fruit. This like the others was unfortunately 

 unintelligibl e to me, but it may be presumed that the Sahei esti- 

 mate of this fruit is a high one. 



