92 MALAY POISONS AND CHABM CURES 



bang kuning is used idiomatically when, after a rainy 

 day, the sunset seems to give a yellow tinge to every- 

 thing- This tinge is beheved to be the work of evil 

 spirits and to bring disease in its train. The herjin 

 spirit-raiser also calls uj) the " old man of the sea " 

 {Dato' Semar Laui) and Dato' Gayang, the vacillating 

 dotard," as well as evil spmts connected with blood- 

 poisoning (hant'U hisa) and those of blindness and 

 deafness. 



Main Orang Bunian, — The performance given by 

 the hotnor orang hunian is similar in many respects to 

 mainpeteri; bat the honior dresses in white» he does 

 not shake his head about hke the honior fSteri, and he 

 names his fee before crawling towards the sick man. 



Main B^rbagili, — Permainan herbagih is adapted 

 from a shadow-play. It is a good example of Hindu 

 beliefs which have survived in Malaya. Many of these 

 survivals have been traced by Dr. Winstedt, who has 

 found much evidence to prove that Malay magic came 

 from India, from which he concludes that India left an 

 ineffaceable influence on Malay hfe and thought long 

 before Islam came to Malaya from India (Refs. 9 and 10). 

 In Kelantan main herbagih is performed with the idea 

 of cm-ing the sick, of discovering the spell-bound, and of 

 finding lost or stolen property by means of the Black Art. 

 The homor bSrhagih borrows a few grotesque figures of 

 the Hindu demi-gods that are used in a shadow puppet 

 play called wayang kuliL He chooses seven of them to 

 help him in his witchcraft ; three are yellow figures and 

 the others are painted black. They are cut out of raw 

 cow-hide, with a small chisel, in the shape of hand 

 screens, jointed and supphed with strings to cause 

 movement and represent Hindu deities. In the hands 

 of the homor they are supposed to have a benign 

 uifiuence, but to the ordinary mortal their appeai-ance 



