23 RECORDS OF MALAY~ MAGIC. 
exactly under their respective tapers ; that it was an ominous 
portent, and that his son (meaning the sick man) was very dan- 
gerously ill but that with the spirit’s aid there was yet some 
slizht chance of recovery. Next scattering the rice round all the 
jars, he broke off several flower stalks from the fragrant spike 
of a blossom of the areca palm and the odorous champaka, and 
inserting: these improvised nosegays in each jar, laid at full length 
behind the jars a piece of white cloth (five hasta in length) 
which he had just perfumed with smoke from the censer, 
The more stirring part of the ceremony was now to come. 
Prawing his knife the Pawang plunged its point into each of 
the three nosegays just described, and then seizing a fresh and 
unopened sheath of areca palm blossom, rubbed it all over with 
Bugis oil and extracting the blossom spike perfumed it with 
incense and laid it gently across the the patient’s breast. _Work- 
ing himself up to a state of intense but repressed excitement, 
and with the most determined gestures, he now proceeded to 
stroke the patient with the blossom-spike downwards to the 
feet, on reaching which he dashed the end of the spike on the 
floor and shook it out with great vehemence, the undevoloped 
flower-buds falling lke rain. Turning the patient over on to 
his face he now once mcre stroked him down to the feet and 
finally haying beaten out the blossom on the floor he returned 
exhausted to his seat and lay down once more upon his face, 
covered himself as completely with his sarong as before. A 
long interval of waiting now ensued, until, after several premoni- 
tory convulsions of the body, the tiger spirit took possession of 
the Pawang. Starting up—this time on hands and feet—and 
with a low,but thrilling growl, he began scratching furiously 
with his nails at the mat on which he had been lying and then 
set greedily to work to lick up several handfuls of rice (gan- 
dom, corn, as it is called in the spirit language) which was scat- 
tered on the floor in front of him, and all the while he growled 
and leapt from spot to spot at brief intervals. But a yet more 
remarkable portion of the ceremony was to follow. ‘The 
Pawang leaning over the patient’s all but naked body slowly but 
unflinchingly licked it down from head to foot with his tongue 
exactly as a ligiess might lick down her cub; a performance ox so 
revolting and powerfully nauseous a character that it is difficult 
to conceive that any living human being could persist in it with- 
~ 
