The history of perak from native sources. 309 



eel the two girls in looking after his farm (ladang). One day 

 an old woman came there and questioned them, and they ex- 

 plained how they were in a position of slavery in consequence 

 of a debt of five dollars. The woman asked their names, and 

 one of them replied : (i I am called Upik and my sister's name is 

 Dewi/' Then the old woman said : " Open your mouth ; " she 

 did so and the old woman spat into it * and touched Dewi in the 

 waist. Then she said : " I am Nenek Kemang/'' f and she gave 

 them a tuai (an instrument for plucking padi-ears) and in- 

 structed them in the art of rice-cultivation and that is the 

 origin of the knowledge of the cultivation, of padi as it is 

 practised in Kampar and Teja up to the present day. J (In the 

 name of the God who knoweth ! ) The old woman said more- 

 over: "Do not be unhappy, it is no longer in the power of any 

 one to fasten on your skin and bones ; your debt is at an end 

 and ye are no longer slaves/'' she then vanished. 



When the harvest was over and the padi had been taken to 

 the kampong, Raja Bandahara Peningat Itam came up the 

 little river on the bank of which they lived and the people 

 there told him of the exceptional beauty of Che Upik and Che 

 Dewi. He immediately took both of them and they accom- 

 panied him down the river. He married Toh Upik, and she 

 bore him a son who was called Raja Abdurrahman. 



After the death of Marhum Kahar, Raja Kemas became 

 Raja § ; Bandahara Peningat Itam became Raja Muda and 

 Raja Cholan became Bandahara. After the death of Raja 

 Kemas, he was known as Marhum Muda. Raja Muda Ala- 

 eddin then became Raja under the title of Sultan Ala-eddin 



* This ra ther objectionable incident, or something- like it, occurs in the legend 

 of Badangia the Sajarah Malayu. It is found also in other Perak legends, 

 e g., that of Toh Kuala Bidor. 



f The legend of Nenek Kemang is ignorantly introduced here as an inci- 

 dent which occurred in the last century. It is an ancient legend which belongs 

 to the pre-Muhammadan times of the Malay nation, and in the folk-lore of Perak 

 Malays the benevolent fairy or goddess is often referred to. Pr'mk Neneli 

 K&mang, " the cooking-pot of Nenek Kemang " (the contents of which could 

 never be exhausted), is the " widow's cruise " of the Malay peasant. 



X As to the belief in a Ceres entertained by Indo-Chinese nations, see 

 Col. Low's Dissertation on Penang and Province WeMesley, p, 96. 



§ Under the title of Saltan Malnnud Shah, see No. 2 of the Journal, p. 191. 

 This sovereign reigned for eight years, probably A. D. 1770-1777. 



