A MALAY NAUTCH. 



BY 



Frank A. Swettexham. 



Head at a Meeting of the Society held on the 5//i August 1878. 



It was in the early part of 1875 that, being sent on a Mis 

 sion to the Bandahara of Pahang, I witnessed, what I have 

 never seen elsewhere in the Malay Peninsula or the Strait* 

 Settlements, a Malay Nautch. 



I have of course, like most other people here I suppose, 

 repeatedly witnessed Malays dancing and singing during the 

 Muharam. especially in Penang ; I have several times alsc 

 been present at a Malay iw Mayungy ' a kind of theatrical per- 

 formance, with some dancing and much so-called singing : — ■ 

 the performers, as a rule, being a travelling company of three 

 or four men and perhaps one woman, who make their living 

 by their performances, and play either at the invitation of 

 a Raja in his own house, or before the public on a stage 

 erected in the middle of the Street. 



Had the performance I now describe nearly resembled any 

 of those commonly seen, here, or in the Peninsula, there 

 could be little interest in this description, but in the belief 

 that the sight as I saw it is a rare one, seldom witnessed by 

 Europeans, and so far undescribed, I have ventured to offer 

 it, as it may, to some, be interesting. 



The journey to Pahang and what occurred there I shall 

 not speak of, for they have no bearing on the nautch. It 

 will be sufficient to say that this was not my first visit to 

 that state, that the Bandahara Ahmed and his chiefs were 

 well known to me, and that whilst awaiting the Bandahara's 

 decision in an important matter, for which I had already 

 been delayed several days, we (for I had a companion) were 

 invited to attend a Nautch at the Bandahara's Balei. 



