94 MALAY POISONS AND CHARM CUBES 



of scented water, and a censer of burning benzoin in 

 front of him. 



When every tiling is ready the To' Dalam opens the 

 performance by making a long speech similar to the 

 sacrificial song of the To' Boinor Fiieri^ after which the 

 sacrifice is dealt with in the same way as in main 

 feteri. The Orang lAtpa, sitting in front of the 2V 

 Dalam and facing the east, holds the puppet Senia over 

 the burning incense and waves it about wliile he slowly 

 chants a lengthy magical hymn ; he then shakes liis 

 head about mitil he falls ii^ito a trance. The To' Dalam 

 asks him to cure the sick man : when he has agreed, 

 he crawls towards his patient and waves the Sema 

 puppet several times over the sick man's body, but does 

 not pull the strings. 



Main berbaxjih lasts for two or three nights ; if 

 recovery ensues, a final performance is given, but this 

 is often not performed mi til two or three weeks have 

 elapsed. The stage property is much the same as in 

 main jpeteri, but dift'ers in a few minor details : the 

 model of a wayside resting-place takes the place of the 

 four*post platform, there are two bamboo " cressets '* 

 and two pitchers of " topsy-turvy " water, seven water 

 jars, which contain the blossoms of the coco-nut and 

 areca palms in addition to the croton and dracaena 

 leaves ; and there is a small boat w^hich is made out of 

 the spathe of the areca palm blossom and fitted with a 

 paper sail. One pitcher of *' topsv-tur^Y w^ater is 

 placed in front of the To* Dalam and the other is put at 

 the back of the room. The little boat is launched in the 

 river w^hen the performance is over and the tide serves. 

 A similar miscellaneous collection of food as is used in 

 m-ain peteri is put in the model of the wayside resting- 

 place and is reserved for the exclusive use of the Dewa 

 Befara Kola (Siva the destroyer), while the food in the 



