PETARA, OK SEA DTAK GODS. 14& 



and feast in his honour, and invoke his presence. Bnt it is un- 

 necessary to enlarge upon this, for some account of the Mars of 

 Sea Dyak mythology has already appeared in the Straits Asiatic 

 Journal. (See No. 2.) 



Xow, what with these beings, and with the Petaras, it is no 

 wonder that the Dyak, when brought face to face with his own 

 confessions, acknowledges himself in utter confusion on the whole 

 subject of the powers above him ; that he owns to worshipping' 

 anything which is supposed to have power to help him or hurt him— 

 God or spirit, ghost of man or beast — all are to be reverenced and 

 propitiated. When inconsistencies in his belief are pointed out, 

 all he says is, that he does not understand it, that he simply 

 believes and practices what his forefathers have handed down to 

 him. 



But it is to be observed, as significant, that in sickness, or the 

 near prospect of death, it is not Slngalang Buroug, or Pulang Crane, 

 or Salampandai (which by the way are not commonly called 

 Pefara) ; it is not KUng, or JBiatgai, Nuiyinq, or any other mytho- 

 logical hero that is thought of as the life-giver, but simply Petara, 

 whatever may be the precise idea they attach to the term. The 

 ante (spirit) indeed causes the sickness, and wants to kill, and so 

 has to be scared away ; but Petara is regarded as the saving 

 power. If an invalid is apparently beyond all human skill, it is 

 Petara alone who can help him. If he dies, it is Petara who has 

 allowed the life to pass away by not coming to the rescue. The 

 Dyak may have groped about in a life-long polytheism, but some- 

 thing like a feeling after the One True Unknown seems to return at 

 the close of the mortal pilgrimage. The only thing which implies 

 the contrary, as far as I know, is, that very occasionally a function 

 in honour of Singalang Burong has been held on behalf of a sick 

 person, but it is exceedingly rare. 



Although the whole conception of Petara is far from an exalted 

 one, yet it is good being. Except as far as causing or allowing 

 human creatures to die may be regarded by them as signs of a 

 malevolent disposition, no evil is attributed to Petara. It is a 

 power altogether on the side of justice and right. The ordeal of 

 diving is an appeal to Petara to declare for the innocent and 

 overthrow the guilty. Petara i: cannot be wrong, cannot be un- 



