30 
PAPERS ON MALAY SUBJECTS. 
TBo Jakun groii]) of lauguages seemed to bo receding 
furtliGi' and furtlier away. 
Ill the meantime certain otlier cvidenee was being 
t>eenred. While the laiiguago had become more remote, 
the blow-j)ipes and graves were coming nearer. A speci- 
men of the wooden blow-pipe was collected from the vicinity 
of lake Bra in the lieart of the ** South-Eastern Sakai " 
country ; and Jakun tomb.s were reported in other jjarts 
of the country occupieti by this sam'e tribe. The general 
conclusions at this tstage seemed to be that the radius of 
Jakun culture wafs more extensive than hnd been suspected 
and also that " Houth-Eastera Sakai " was a more ira- 
l>urtant language than the fragmentary information at 
Blagden's disposal had led him to infer. A little later a 
" Sout]i-Easteru Sakai '* vocabtdary collected by Mr. 
Sturrock of Temerloli contained a very suggestive item — ^ 
the word Jakun itself ( jah'kutt) with the meaning 
man " attaching to it. This may seem a small matter, 
but every ethnologist knows that tribal names {e,g.y 
Clifford's Seuoi, Annandale's Eami, t\m. Mai in Mai 
iJaraf^ and perha]>s the w^ord Sfunaufj itself) are often 
the word for *' man " in the dialect of that tribe. Nor 
could there be any doubt about Mr, StuiTock's accuracy, 
in view of the fact that the two component parts of 
jah'kmi (jcih, person ; hut, male) appeai'ed with their 
correct meanings in Blagden's own vocabulary. Slowly 
the conclusion seemed to be forcing itself upon me that 
the mysterious Jakun language was simply " South- 
Eastern Sakai" and that the existence of a separate 
linguistic group or groups was a myth. But corrobo- 
ration was wanted from centres that were Jakun beyond 
all doubt— from the Romp in and its neighbouring rivers 
and from Kuantan* Unfortunately, I never succeeded in 
