CHAEMS AND AMULETS 



51 



silver dollar is charged for this " sucking chann " 

 (b^alin). Sometimes the faith-healing cure is con- 

 firmed by picking a red hair or two, or a spicule of bone, 

 out of the dough ball ; the^e will be recognised as the 

 property of some evil }ia7iiu or jiu. An incident relative 

 to this is recorded because it also shows how little 

 attention to orthodoxy is paid when a Malay intends 

 to attain the full sense of complete satisfaction. Sitti 

 Hawa (Eve), a relative of the Mufti, the official 

 expounder of the Muliammadan rehgion in Kota 

 Bharu, came to the out-patient room in 1912 com- 

 plaining that while stitching she had pierced her left 

 hand and the sewing needle had broken off short in the 

 c-entre of the palm. Nothing could be seen or felt, and 

 she, perhaps wisely, declined sm*gical exploration, but 

 she was not satisfied and decided to consult a notonous 

 bomor who had just been sent to prison. This homor 

 had a great reputation for skiU in extracting broken 

 needles by magic and without pain. He was a Muliam- 

 madan Siamese, called Ali Siam, imprisoned a second 

 time for cheating ; but a relative of the Mufti had no 

 difficulty in obtaining from the Inspector of Prisons, 

 who happened at the tinie (1912) to be one of the late 

 Sultan's imcles, permission to enter the Central Gaol 

 for the express purpose of consulting the convict 

 Ah Siam. The homor first bandaged her hand, next 

 drew a rough diagram of a human being on a piece of 

 notepaper, muttered something over it, then burnt the 

 notepaper and thi'ew Ih ? ashes into a plateful of water. 

 He bade her put her hand into the water, and after a 

 short interval removed the bandage; a piece of 

 broken needle was in the plate, and Eve was satisfied, 

 Bezoar Stones.— Bezoar stones are endowed by 

 Malays with magic properties. They are called batu 

 gidiga, and are well differentiated ; a list of those derived 



