20 
FASCICULI MALATENSES 
bamboos of a shorter length are bound on to the middle part of the raft to 
form a seat. A long pole is used in punting the raft against the stream, and 
in steering it among the rocks with which the rapids are beset. 
Some of the Seman men are good swimmers, but they do not swim in the 
way common among Europeans, but either paddle through the water like a 
dog, or else use a side stroke similar to that most commonly employed by the 
Malays, frequently, indeed, sometimes between each stroke, changing from 
one side to the other. 
The only Seman grave that I had an opportunity of inspecting had been 
dug in the Malay manner, that is to say, a chamber had been constructed for 
the reception of the body in the side of a fairly deep trench. Though the body 
was that of a woman, a wooden grave-post of the type associated in the Malay 
cemeteries with a male sepulture had been fixed into the ground at the head. 
The corpse had been fully clothed, and lay on one side in a rather cramped 
position, both knees being drawn upwards towards the chin. There was no 
trace of objects of household use having been interred with the body, and the 
Seman denied that they did this, though they volunteered the information that 
‘ rich Sakais ’ buried all a person’s possessions with him. There was also no 
sign of the head having been eaten, as has been said to be done. Indeed, we 
failed to obtain any evidence at all with regard to cannibalism among the 
Semangs, though a Malay, at Mabek in Jalor, told us that the Hami did not 
like to be called Semang , because they said that the true Semangs eat men. 
It has often been stated that the wild tribes of the Malay Peninsula are 
quite devoid of any form of religion ; but this, as has been already shown by 
Mr. W. W. Skeat, and others, is erroneous. Among the Seman both 
ancestor-worship, or rather ancestor-dread, of a very primitive kind and also 
the worship of elemental spirits occur ; but, unfortunately, contact with Malays, 
who, in spite of their own religious tendencies, treat all non-Mohammedan 
beliets other than their own with ridicule, has destroyed the ingenuousness of 
the Seman. It is, therefore, very difficult to learn much about their religious 
ideas. However, if a death occurs, they desert their camp the moment that 
they have buried the corpse, which is interred near the shelter where the 
person died. They told me that they did this because they were afraid of 
the dead man’s spirit (bantu). They also told me that they made offerings 
to the bantu of the jungle, and held feasts in their honour. They have dances 
and songs which celebrate the various fruit trees that they find in the jungle, 
and these are probably of a religious nature. Their method of naming their 
children also points to a reverence for trees and other plants. A child born 
under or near a bamboo, gets the name of ‘ Bamboo,’ whatever its sex may 
