FASCICULI MALATENSES 
65 
in the heavens. They said that there were three such persons in the heavens, 
two males and a maiden, and two in the sea — a husband and wife ; but when 
asked to give the names of their deities, they would only reply ‘ Allah-ta- 
Allah.’ They also stated that twenty days after a person had died the relations 
gave a feast, first placing three platefuls of food upon the grave, and then 
eating what remained. 
The Orang Laut Kappir speak a dialect of Malay differing from that of 
the neighbouring peoples, and showing more resemblance in its pronunciation to 
the dialect of Patani. It includes, however, certain words that are quite un- 
known either in Patani or in Perak, and that do not sound like Malay. 
The original home of this race is said by themselves to have been the 
large island of Langkawi, lying off the coast of Kedah. They told me that 
their people originally possessed the whole of this island, but that when the 
Malays first conquered it, those of the inhabitants who refused to ‘enter Islam’ 
became wanderers on the face of the sea, having no fixed habitation on land, 
but encamping occasionally on the islands off Trang and the more northerly 
states. It is improbable that the Malays themselves were Mahommedans 
when they first occupied Pulau Langkawi ; but it seems to be certain that the 
Orang Laut Kappir of Trang practically lived in their boats until within the 
last decade. A few years ago a number of them settled, more or less per- 
manently, on Pulau Mentia, which the majority have more recently deserted 
in favour of Pulau Lontar, on which they are said to have rice-fields and palm 
trees of their own. Formerly they must have had a point of union in the 
cemeteries at Chau Mai, and at present they appear to be organized into 
definite clans, each under a chief, whom they call Stnin. They claim to be the 
same people as the ‘ Orang Besing,’ who, they say, occupy the small islands off 
the extreme south of Tenasserim, speaking a language of their own which is 
not Malay. These ‘Orang Besing’ are said by the Samsams to be jungle 
folk as well as seamen, gathering rattans, beeswax, and the like in the woods 
of these islands ; but I have not been able to discover whether they are 
regarded locally as identical with the Selungs of the Mergui Archipelago. 
EXPLANATION OF PLATE XIV 
Fig. 1 
A, B, C. Bamboo and Wooden Daggers, placed in the coffins of Orang Laut Kappir men, to enable them to 
fight the pi (spirits). Koh Chau Mai ; Coast of Trang. Scale, rather more than -J-. 
D. Paddle-shaped Rice Stirrer. Samsam ; Pulau Mentia (Kok Muk), off the Coast of Trang. The blade 
is proportionately broader than in the real paddle. Scale, f. 
E. Samsam Dagger and Sheath. Ban Pra Muang ; Coast of Trang. The blade is the bony sting from the 
tail of a ray or skate : the sheath and handle are made of light, spongy wood, bound with brass. Scale, c. 
Fig. 2 
Samsam Pellet Bows. Ban Pra Muang ; Coast of Trang. Thumb guard of C represents a turtle dove and 
D a woodpecker. Figures reproduced from photographs of specimens now in the University Museum, Oxford. 
K 
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