FASCICULI MALATENSES 
21 
be ; if it is born on a heap of leaves, it is frequently called ‘ Leaf ; ’ if in a 
brake of sugar-cane, ‘ Sugar Cane,’ and so on. The rule, however, is not 
universal, as children are sometimes named after their birth-place, for example, 
one of the men measured was called Sapi, because he had been born on a hill 
in Rhaman called Bukit Sapi. The Seman as a rule showed great reluctance 
to give anything but the Malay version of their names. 
Seman medicine-men enjoy great reputation among the Malays, who 
told me that some of them, when in a state of trance, could sit on the leaflet 
of a palm leaf without bending it down. 
At Grit, a party of Seman got up, for my benefit, a song and dance in 
honour of the wild areca palm. At first they refused to perform by daylight, 
but finally consented to do so. They said that they were ashamed to dance 
by daylight. Six men squatted on the ground, two of them having bamboo 
stringed instruments, and the remainder beating on the ground with bamboo 
flutes, which, for some reason, they refused to play. Two other men put on 
their heads peculiar dancing crowns, which were made of alternating bands of 
rhizomorph ( urat batu) and strips cut from a green Pandanus leaf, plaited 
together in such a way that a broad fringe was left that stood up above the 
plaited part. At first these men squatted with the rest, joining in the 
monotonous song, which they proceeded to intone rather than to sing. I 
could distinguish neither rhythm nor time. After the chant had continued for 
some little time, the two men with the crowns got up and commenced to 
dance. The chorus continued the chant, in which it now became possible to 
distinguish time and rhythm. There appeared to be no co-ordination of 
movement between the two dancers, who moved about within a very limited 
space, keeping time to the tune of the stringed instruments with the move- 
ments of their arms and bodies. Their bodies were swayed from side to side, 
and their arms waved in the air ; sometimes one or other of them knelt down 
oil one knee, or even squatted on the ground, but the movements of the 
hands never ceased. At stated intervals they joined in the chant of the 
musicians. They did not have any definite steps in common, but one of them 
usually advanced with two long paces and a short one, which was abruptly 
terminated by drawing the toes of the right foot up to the left heel. 
The Seman have been referred to as a tribe, but it must not be supposed 
that they have in any sense a tribal organization, for they are divided into a 
number of camps, each consisting of about half-a-dozen families, and these 
camps are quite independent of one another. It is true that the headman of 
the camp which has its headquarters near Krunei calls himself ‘ Penglima of 
the Sakais,’ but this is purely a Malay title, bestowed on him by the 
