40 
FASCICULI MALATENSES 
threat or subterfuge, but it is interesting to notice that the only pronoun 
which appears in it, namely, aku, me (or I), is one which would not be used in con¬ 
versation with a superior, and I think 1 am right in saying that in all parts of 
the Malay Peninsula the pronouns used in summoning the spirits are of a 
familiar, and not a ceremonious nature. 
The Great Spirits are not nearly so homogeneous as the Earth Spirits, 
and a few of the species into which they are divided in Jalor may be enume¬ 
rated. They include the Hantu Telok (Cape Spirits), spirits of the river, which, 
like the * Cape Sakai $ * of Upper Perak, live in the pieces of land that are 
half surrounded by the stream, frequently taking on the form of 
elephants ; the Hantu ParaiJ whose name is said to be identical with that of 
the Peris of the Arabian Nights, who are described as being exceedingly beautiful 
women, as small as children, and are regarded as the spirits of the limestone 
cliffs so common in Jalor ; the Will-o’-the-wisp, whose name I could not 
discover, but who was said to be a spirit like the flame of a lamp in form, 
and to feed on frogs, which he transfixed with a beak like that of a stork ; 
and there are many others of diverse forms and peculiarities. Some people 
include the badi of wild beasts among the Great Spirits ; but the majority of 
my informants said that they were the slaves ( hambd ) of the Hantu Raya , 
as the evil spirits of the deer are called as they are being dismissed, 
and certainly the hunter asks leave of the Great Spirits before pursuing his 
quarry in their domain. The Great Spirits, like the Earth Spirits, can assume 
any form they please, but generally appear like men or like elephants, being 
only distinguishable from real men or elephants by the fact that they vanish 
when approached. Their luck is stronger than that of the Earth Spirits, but 
weaker than that of men. 
Familiars 
Familiars are individual spirits which have entered into definite relations 
with individual men or women, whom they serve in return for some definite 
payment. The great difference, in the Patani States, between the cult of such 
spirits and that of all others consists in the belief that they cannot be deceived ; 
every promise made them must be fulfilled to the letter, and no subterfuge is 
possible. They have acquired such intimate sympathy with their human 
1 mothers * or * fathers,’ as the persons who * feed 1 them are called, that they 
have gained something very like the limited reason of a dog or other domestic 
animal and, at the same time, have become imbued with a very human desire 
to be avenged on those who have failed to do their duty towards them. 1 
t These spirits are believed to make the Buddhist tablets found in many of the Jalor caves. They are said 
to feed on rice planted near the base of their cliffs, leaving the chaff intact for the cultivator. 
