24 A JOURNEY ON FOOT TO THE PATANI FRONTIER, 
troubled by a portent which has disturbed the slumbers of many 
great nen from the time of Pharaoh downwards. He dreamed a 
dream. And in his dream he was warned by a supernatural visi- 
tant to slay his wife, this being, he was assured, the only means by 
which he could hope to better his miserable condition. 
Sorely disturbed in mind, but never doubting that the proper 
course was to obey, CHE Putzu confided to his wife the commands 
which he had received, and desired her to prepare for death. ‘The 
unhappy lady acquiesced with that conjugal submissiveness which 
in Malay legends as in the “Arabian Nights” is so characteristic of 
the Oriental female when landed in some terrible predicament. 
But she craved and obtained permission to first go down to the 
river and wash herself with lime juice. So taking a handful of 
limes she went forth, and, standing on the rock called Batu Pem- 
bunoh she proceeded to perform her ablutions after the Malay 
fashion.* The prospect of approaching death, we may presume, 
unnerved her, for in dividing the limes with a knife she managed 
to cut her own hand and the blood dripped down on the rocks and 
into the river ; as each drop was borne away by the current, a large 
jar immediately rose to the surface and floated, in defiance of all 
natural laws, up-stream to the spot whence the blood came. As 
each jar floated up, Cuz Puren’s wife tapped it with her knife and 
pulled it in to the edge of the rocks. On opening them she found 
them all full of gold. She then went in search of her husband 
and told him of the treasure of which she had suddenly become 
* Limes are used in Perak, as we use soap, when a Malay has re- 
solved on having a really good “scrub.” They are cut in two and 
squeezed (7amas) in the hand. In Penang a root called szntok is usually 
preferred to limes. When the body is deemed sufficiently cleansed the 
performer, taking his stand facing the East, spits seven times, and then 
counts up seven aloud. After the word twoh (seven) he throws away 
the remains of the limes or sentok to the West saying aloud, Pergz-lah 
samua sial jambalung deripada badan aku ka pusat tasek Pawangi. ‘ Mis- 
“fortune and spirits of evil begone from my body to the whirlpool of 
“the lake Panjangi!’’ Then he throws (jurus) a few buckets of water 
over himself and the operation is complete. 
The lake Panjangi is situated in mid-ocean, and its whirlpool most 
likely causes the tides. All the waters of the sea and rivers are finally 
received there. IJtis probably as eligible an abode for exercised spirits 
as the Red Sea was once considered to be by our forefathers, | 
