38 THE TIGER-BREED FAMILIES. 
drove the intruders away, but as repeatedly they returned. It 
happened that she had an old friend named Faseh who had died 
about a year before and was believed to have become a tiger. In 
her impatience, the old lady shouted out: ‘“‘O Faseh, my friend! 
If you really have become a tiger, please do me the favour of driv- 
ing away these nasty buffaloes, and thus save my little garden from 
being destroyed.” A few moments passed. ‘Then all of a sudden, 
the buffaloes bellowed and rushed out of the compound helter- 
skelter for their life; while above the confusion rose the terrible 
roar of an angry tiger. We were panic-striken in the little hovel 
where we lived, and the old lady felt sorry for having called the 
tiger. But for the rest of the night and for many nights after- 
wards the buffaloes never returned. 
Another incident of a different nature illustrates the supers- 
tition. A Malay woman named Ba’idah, belonging to one of these 
tiger-breed families, had a dead brother, believed to have turned 
into a tiger. One night she dreamt that this brother in the shape 
of a man returned home from a long journey, very badly wounded 
in his chest by an accidental shot from a spring-gun (bélantek 
.usa). He came up the verandah (sérambi) and there lay groan- . 
ing with agony and saying he was going to die. When she woke 
up in the morning she told her husband what she had seen in her 
dream. On opening the door leading from the main room to the 
verandah they found that all the verandah was besmeared with 
fresh blood. They suspected this was the blood of the wounded 
brother who had come home in the woman’s dream. It seemed 
that the tiger had left the house only a short while ago. Calling 
their neighbours' who came with guns and spears, they followed the 
track of the blood and foot-prints into the forest. They did not 
go far when they came upon the carcase of a huge tiger. The dis- 
tinctive marks they found on the carcase assured them that it was 
indeed the woman’s brother. The mortal wound was exactly in 
the chest, and appeared to have been inflicted the very same night. 
Many similar incidents are known throughout Jempul. Time and 
again it is related these family-tigers visit their relatives’ houses 
during the nights of holy festivities, such as Hari Raya. Some- 
times they manage to make their way into the kitchen, and feast 
over some rébus kérbau or tkan pindang that may have been left 
on the hearth. ‘Morning comes to tell the tale from the traces 
they leave behind and the clean-licked cooking pots and dishes. 
This would make an interesting counterpart to the well-known 
nursery tale of Santa Claus who comes on Christmas eve to bring 
presents for children. | 
There are many little graveyards throughout Jempul which 
are credited with having produced tigers out of human corpses. 
Two of them deserve special mention, and these are Kubor Nesan 
and Kubor Léban, situated in Kampong Tengah. These two are 
among many which have become highly revered by the ignorant 
masses. They pay their vows (mat) there, and propitiate the 
spirit of the place. 
Jour. Straits Branch 
