68 A DYAK MEDICINE CHEST. 
of honour. I was then invited to handle and examine them, and 
‘the name and use of each were told me without any fresh 
‘indication of unwillingness. This is a list of them. 
i. Batu bintang, or Star-stone; a small transparent stone 
rounded by the action of water till it was almost spherical, with 
-a rather rough surface. The Manang looked upon it as his 
“badge of authority, and told the following story of the way he 
became possessed of it. Many years ago, in the interval be- 
tween harvest and the next seed-time, he was working as a cooly 
‘in Upper Sarawak. There he had a dream in which he was 
visited by the being whom he looks upon as his guardian-spirit. 
“As in all cases when this spirit has had any communication to 
make to him, it appeared in the form of a tortoise. It told him 
that he must forthwith put himself under instruction in order to 
be qualified for the office of a Manang: and that if he neglected 
this command all the spirits would be anyry, and death or 
madness would be the penalty. When he awoke he found the 
* Batu bintang by his side, and had no doubt it was the gift of 
the spirit. Accordingly he did as he was bidden without loss of 
time. He acquired the professional knowledge and the stock in 
trade which were necessary, and was at last duly initiated with 
all the proper rites and ceremonies. 
ii. Batu krat ikan sembilan, or The petrified section of the 
Sembilan fish. This wasa curious object which I could not 
‘quite make out. It was oblong in shape, about two inches long, 
one inch broad, and half an inch thick in the middle, but getting 
suddenly thinner towards the two edges till it became not more 
than +, of aninch. ‘The thick part was hollow, having a large 
oval-shaped perforation going through it. It resembled a sec- 
tion from the middle of a large winged seed, but heavy for its 
size, and feeling like stone. I could not of course test this by 
cutting or scraping. When used it is soaked for a time in 
water; the water is then given to the sick man to drink, or is 
rubbed gently upon the part of his body which is affected. 
iii. Batu lintar, or Thunder-bolt: a small dark-coloured 
stone, about an inch anda half long, and a quarter of an inch 
thick at the base, tapering to a sixteenth of an inch at the point; 
curved and rather like a very small rhinoceros horn, and highly 
polished. It was probably the same kind of stone as that of 
Jour. Straits Branch 
