140 THE BOEIA. 



It only remains to marshal the chorus of twenty or so under a 

 leader and to supply them with walking sticks, staves or wooden 

 guns as occasion demands and a large flag or insignia to be carried 

 at their head. 



The preliminaries complete, undress rehearsals take place 

 nightly for an hour or two in some secluded spot, and last for a 

 week, the performers being regaled with light refreshments at the 

 manager's expense. 



All being ready, on or about the 5th of Muharram the troupe 

 will set forth in full war paint soon after dark in search of any 

 householder willing to receive (sambut) and reward them. There 

 is no difficulty attached to this search. It is customary for any 

 well-to-do Malays or Chinese and even for clubs, who wish to see 

 the performances, to light up their compounds, clear an arena and 

 sit clown with their guests invited and uninvited to await the 

 coming of the Boria. 



The troupe is not long in making its appearance, its advent 

 heralded by the blowing of a horn or similar instrument. The 

 whole band defiles into the arena, to the accompaniment of music 

 and shouting combined with the waving of t sticks, and takes up 

 its position facing the principal guests, the chorus forming a 

 background and the band to one side. 



The tulcang harang or composer dressed in resplendent uni- 

 form comes to the fore and sings the chorus of his troupe, so that 

 all may know what they are and which district they hail from. 

 This is followed by the whole troupe singing the same refrain in 

 chorus to the loudest music of the band and accompanied by a 

 rhythmic swaying of bodies and brandishing of sticks. The com- 

 poser then proceeds to sing several verses each punctuated by the 

 chorus of the troupe as before. The o^iality of these verses de- 

 pends on the ability of the composer and varies from the set and 

 stilted phraseology of welcome and thanks to the donor of the en- 

 tertainment, to complimentary and jocose remarks about the vari- 

 ous notabilities present, made in the hope of extracting a small 

 present in return. Occasionally the composer dispenses with this 

 procedure and recites a mirthful tale of the arrest of a nyonyalr's 

 gambling party or the story of a cock-fight or of some notorious 

 local event of the past year. Whatever the narration, as soon as 

 it is finished the musicians strike up another tune and the star 

 performers go through their turn of dances or acts acrobatic or 

 otherwise. 



The performance having lasted about half an hour and other 

 troupes being impatient to enter, the close of the piece is announced 

 in a short verse or two of farewell and the troupe marches out to 

 find fresh fields to conquer. 



So the evening wears on with troupe after troupe until the 

 early hours warn both performers and onlookers that it is time 

 they seek rest. These nightly revels continue until the evening of 



Jour. Straits Branch 



