SHAVINa TOE HEAD OF A TOUKG CHILD. 213 



tliia Supreme Being — f^UiiW dwell far al>ove tlie clouds 

 near the OmBiscient One. Tliey who ha^^e done 

 wickedly shall never rise to the abode of the happy 

 nor remain on earth, but continually, in solitude and 

 sorrow^ wander al>ont on the clouds, longing in vain 

 to join their brothers who are above or beneath them. 

 Kabiata also instituted circumcision, which was per- 

 formed on both sexes when they attained the age of 

 eight or ten years. From the introduction of this 

 rite we may infer that this Nabiata was a Mohamme- 

 dan teacher, probably an Arab, who had found his 

 way to this region on a Javanese or Malay prau^ 

 that had come to piurchase cloves. Finally, according 

 to their legend, Nabiata made men of birth his dis* 

 ciples and teachei's, and ascended to the abode of the 

 good from whence he came. 



One day, while at KayeH, I received a most polite 

 invitation to attend a feast at one of the I'ajah's 

 houses. The occasion was the shaving of a young 

 child's head. An Arab priest began the rite by re- 

 peating a prayer in a monotonous nasal chant, five 

 others joining in fi'om time to time by way of a 

 chorus. After the long prayer was ended^ a servant 

 brought in the child, and another servant followed 

 cai'rying a large plate partly filled with water, in 

 which were two parts of the blossom of a coooa-nut- 

 palm, a razor, and a pair of shears. The child was 

 fii*st carried to the chief priest, who dipped his fingei-s 

 in the water, placed them on the child's Head, and 

 then cut off a lock of hair with the large shears. The 

 lock of liair was then carefully thrown into the water 

 along with a guilder. We all did the same. Tea 



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