8 FOLK-LORE AND POPULAR RELIGION OF THE MALAYS. 



Sprinkled with tepong tdwar ( flour mixed with water ) before 

 the reaping is commenced, and the first lot cut is set apart 

 for a ceremonial feast. 



At planting there are also ceremonies : as a rule the begin- 

 ning of the planting season is ushered in by a visit of the 

 whole body of villagers to the most highly revered kramat 

 in the neighbourhood, where the usual offerings are made and 

 prayers are said. Sometimes, however, there is a special ser- 

 vice known as bapud,^ consisting of a sort of mock combat, in 

 which the evil spirits are believed to be expelled from the rice- 

 fields by the villagers : this is not done every year but once in 

 three or four years. 



Another occasional service of a peculiar character which is 

 not of very frequent occurrence is the ceremony which would 

 perhaps be best described as the propitiation of the earth- 

 spirit. Some years ago, I happened by chance to be present at 

 a function of this kind, and as its details may be of some in- 

 terest as illustrating the wide dispersion of certain points of 

 ritual, I will end these notes by giving a full description of it, 

 as noted down at the time. It was in the month of October, 

 and I happened to be out shooting snipe in the padi-fields of 

 the village of Sebatu on a Sunday morning, when I was met 

 by the Penghulu, the headman of the village, who asked me 

 to leave off shooting for an hour or so. As I was having fair 

 sport, I naturally wanted to know the reason why, so he ex- 

 plained that the noise of gunshots would irritate the hantu 

 and render unavailing the propitiatory service which was then 

 about to begin. Further enquiry elicited the statement that 

 the hantu in question was the one who presided over rice-lands 

 and agricultural operations, and as I was told that there would 

 be no objection to my attending the ceremony, I went there 

 and then to the spot to watch the proceedings. The place 

 was a square patch of grass-lawn a few yards wide, which had 

 evidently for years been left untouched by the plough, though 

 surrounded by many acres of rice-fields. On this patch a 



* Menangkabau and Naning pronunciation for berpuar. Puar is the name 

 of a jungle plant, said to be akin to cardannunn, the stem of which is used as a 

 sort of javelin in this mock combat, 



