356 OCCASIONAL NOTES. 



EVIDENCE OF SIAMESE WORK IN PERAK. 



Some time ago I obtained possession of a Kachit* — i.e., 

 scissors for cutting betel-nut — which was found at a depth of 

 about six feet below the surface in a hill-mine near Ipoh in 

 Kinta. This Kachit is of quite a different pattern from those 

 in use by the Perak Malays, not being fitted with a cutting 

 blade, but having two corrugated surfaces, for the apparent 

 use of crushing the nut instead of cutting it into slices. I 

 have been told that this is a common form of Kachit in Siam. 



But a more positive item of evidence is an ingot of tin 

 weighing about two kati, of semi-elliptical form, which was 

 found near Kwala Dipang in Kampar, in the workings of 

 a mine ; this specimen bears an inscription in what are evident- 

 ly Siamese characters, as several letters may still be deciphered, 

 but I cannot find anybody in Kinta who is a good enough 

 Siamese scholar to put together enough of the letters to make 

 any sense of them. I have sent these two specimens to the 

 Perak Museum at Thaipeng hoping that perhaps somebody 

 may be able to make out the inscription. 



A. H. 



CURRENCY (NEGRI SEMBILAN). 



i liku f 



= 



21 cents. 



2 „ 



= 



22 „ 



3 i> 



i 'ngbharu \ 



i liku 'ngbharu 



= 



23 „ 



52i „ 



2 



S'tdli= s'ngbharu 



= 



55 ,i 



1 z 2 > j 



* Kachip (?) — Ed. 



f.Satu lekor is one way of expressing twenty-one in Malay, dna lekor is 

 twenty-two, tig a lekor twenty-three, and so on. 



% Wang bharu, " new coin " is the name which was given in Malacca to 

 a small Dutch silver coin no longer current. The phrase is still used to 

 signify i\ cents. — Ed. 



