104 
FASCICULI MALATENSES 
Like the elephant and its allies, the tiger, the leopard, and the smaller 
jungle cats, all of which are regarded as tigers by the Malays, do not, 
technically, possess a badi, but have in its place a pegrung or begroh. The word 
is probably onomatopoeic, but may be Semang ; the thing was described to 
me in Jalor as being ‘ that which makes a man shut his eyes when a tiger 
growls.’ The same informant remarked, however, as did others, that it was 
more dangerous when the tiger is silent, and it appears to be that part of the 
brute which makes it advisable for those who suspect his being near to speak 
well of the ‘ grandfather of the woods ’ ( datoh hutan ), as the tiger should be 
named in the jungle, or only to mention him in a whisper . 1 The pegrung— 
this is the usual form — is naturally more feeble in the case of a leopard or 
wild cat than in that of the datoh hutan. 
The badi of animals are sometimes called hamba Hantu Raya , slaves of 
the Great Spirits, who in Jalor are spirits of the jungle, and in Patani of the 
town. Certain large trees are said in Jalor to have a badi, but the peculiarity 
is rather individual than specific, and what is meant is that the peculiar tree so 
endowed is haunted by a spirit, which may take the form of a snake. 
Termite mounds are also occasionally said to have a badi , but the belief is not 
universal and may be Siamese, as this race are said to have a reverence for 
‘white ants’ ; we experienced difficulty, on one occasion, in persuading a Jalor 
Malay to aid us in collecting termites, and he asserted that he was afraid of 
the badi besut or ‘ termite-mound badi .’ 2 
The consideration of ghosts and of spirits unconnected, or connected in 
a less definite manner, with material bodies, must be postponed for the 
present. 
1. Newbold, lac. cit., vol. ii, p. 193 ; McNair, Perak and the Malays , p. 221, London, 1886. I have 
experienced the reluctance of a Malay to speak aloud of the tiger, when one was supposed to be near, in Legeh, and 
have noticed that on the Kelantan River the boatmen, when asked about crocodiles, replied, ‘Our crocodiles are good 
crocodiles, they do not eat men.’ 
2. For Kelantan Malay superstitions regarding the queen termite see Annandale, loc. cit. 
