Some Ethnological Notes. 



C. Boden Kloss, f.r.a.i. 



In the Journal of the Eoyal Anthropological Institute 

 Vol. XXXVII., Mr. F. W. Knocker in the course of some 

 notes on the aborigines of Sungei Ujong— the Orang Belanas 

 — relates that they tell in respect of the Sakais, how "the 

 parents plant a parang in the fore-arm of the young, both 

 male and female, projecting a few inches beyond the elbow. 

 The flesh grows round it and it eventually become part of the 

 fore-limb. In after life this limb weapon is used to clear the 

 jungle and not for hostile purposes." 



I am able to go one better than this. When living in 

 Johore, it was my practice when travelling in the jungle to 

 endeavour to ascertain whether there were current any tradi- 

 tions of the existence of the orang utan {Simla satyrus) in 

 that part of the peninsula. The native name for this great 

 ape is "mawas." In the swampy country south of Gunong 

 Pulai I found that the name was known and the people of the 

 locality told me tales of its possessor. The information wa3 

 interesting but not quite what I then wanted. The Orang 

 Ma-was were a kind of devil-men who lived in the swamps 

 where their foot-prints might sometimes be seen. Their feet 

 were turned backwards and, with sharp parangs which grew 

 from their elbows like spurs, they killed any human beings 

 they met and afterwards devoured the bodies. 



Nothing discouraged I continued my enquiries elsewhere 

 and learned that the Jakuns of the Endau Sembrong were 

 also acquainted with a strange beast that seemed to be of the 

 kind I was after. This was a huge red hairy man who lived 

 in the trees and was called tvihu. I felt I was on the right 

 track at last, but unfortunately the story went on to the effect 

 that the tuhu spoke Chinese to a Chinaman when it met him 

 in the jungle, Malay to a Malay, and the Jakun dialect to a 

 Jakun ! 



B, A. See,, No. 60, 1003. 



