( 43 ) 
again in favour of the late husband. The objection 
to this proceeding, from the husband’s point of view, 
is that the marriage of convenience must be con- 
summated. 
When the Malay becomes ill the medicine-man 
steps in to attempt his cure by means of spirits, 
the native doctor by drugs and the religious by the 
aid of prayers and water in which texts from the 
Koran have been steeped, but should matters pro- 
ceed to an extremity the dying man is handed over 
to the care of the religious authorities of the village 
who are with him in his last hours. Perhaps only 
at death do animism and Hinduism release their 
hold on him. 
The bodies of the dead are carried to the grave- 
side by numerous bearers accompanied by chanting 
mourners. The corpse is buried in a side-niche 
dug in the grave wall. Two tombstones are finally 
erected over the grave, one at the head, one at the 
middle. This custom is not orthodox, I believe, for 
I remember that on one occasion when I was in 
Negri Sembilan, some of the religious, much to the 
annoyance of the local Malays, had been pulling up 
one gravestone on each grave, leaving only that at 
the head. Stones or posts marking women’s graves 
are flattened, those on men’s cylindrical. 
Various. Before bringing this pamphlet to a 
close there are yet a few matters which 
it may be worth while to mention. My object has 
been to describe succinctly the life of the average 
Malay peasant, not that of the nobility and royalty, 
but a few words concerning these two classes are 
perhaps necessary. 
Malay sultans like to trace their descent, though 
not all can do so, from a legendary prince Sang 
