METHODS OF POISONING AND CHARMS 1 



father's famous kria in 1921. It is called keris hari, from 

 the name of the steel, hesi hari, from which the blade is 

 made ; the blade is undamascened and rough like the 

 surface of fine emery paper, it is also black ; but thia 

 is only due to the fact that, hke the blades of all Malay 

 weapons, it has been treated with white arsenic and 

 the juice of the Hme fruit to prevent it from rusting. 

 His Highness also showed me another very beautiful 

 gold-mounted kris, which he said was of even higher 

 quality than the keris hari. It was a short, straight 

 ki'is, also undamascened, called Mris mehla^ the usual 

 name for an undamascened blade* The Sultan told 

 me that in the event of a hair being swallowed and 

 sticking in the throat, the resulting irritation will 

 quickly disappear when a httle oil in which the point 

 of this kris has been dipped is administered by the 

 mouth. A Malay dagger {iumhoh lada) with a blade 

 forged fi'om hesi hari is one of the treasured possessions 

 of the To' Bomor Enche* Harun of Kota Bharu. This 

 old " medicine-man " told me that in days gone by 

 his enchanted daggei* would float in water, but owing 

 to repairs to the hilt its magic had been lost. The 

 magic kris is generally of Javanese manufacture ; a 

 rare variety is reputed to have a blade of steel made 

 by finger pressure alone. One of these weapons 

 {keris pichit) is said to be in the possession of the Raja 

 d' Hil ir of Perak. Generally speaking, the value of 

 the weapon does not depend on its costly ornamenta- 

 tion, but upon the accuracy of proportion in its blade ; 

 while a kris that has frequently shed blood is greatly 

 increased in superstitious value. Different forms of 

 damascening produce different effects — " with one kind 

 the owner of such a kris cannot be overcome ; others 

 are generally auspicious ; another gives luck to its 

 wearer when trading or voyaging " (Ref. 4). Arrows 



