Journal of the Federated Malay States museums - Sabrizain.org

1. 11. X. Evans: Beliejsofthe Behrang-V'alley Sen
I
Animals shot with not be < aten w it
turmeric, or acid fruits : otherw ise the poison used on the darts
will prove ineffective when xt go hunting. '
Double banana an not eaten b) young women a il it
thoughl th l1 ti 'I" so would entail their giving birth to twins.
Varioi
-> Beliefs.
i
Diseases are thought to be caused by spirits which come
from the direction oi the sea, and, in the case of epidemic
; mj te, the idea is parti) supported by reason,
since small-pox, one of thi ded disorders, reaches
the Sakai through the Malays.
Spirits, of course, are, according to Sakai ideas, responsible
for most of the misforti ncountered by mankind: it is,
therefore, necessary to avoid places which they are known to
frequent. Thus, travellers in the jungle should not sleep for
the night in p?
en hills, these being spirit-paths.
When a child is horn, the after-birth, with part of the
ird ittachi I, is frequently hung on the branch of a
on a bush. Th< Sakai say that within three days it
becomes a seal)- ant-eater, the navel-cord forming the tail.
The Behrang Sakai b< lieve that the rainbow is the shadowthat
arises fro i, which lives in the
earth. The red of the rainbow is it- body, the green its liver,
mil the yellow its stomach.
They say that tigers set snan s for people in the jungle. II
a man cuts through the spring-sti these (probably
'i he pe ho doi
rill
be taken b)
A spirit is thought to exist, which the Sakai call the
meaning " spirit " and Sn lok promise).
broken.
This
on a journey,
I
I
i
Dana Sirloh Dana
attacks pers' ais to wh n
Thus, if a man has agreed with
and subsequen friend in the lurch, the Dana
Sirloh will accompany the traveller in his companion's place
(being pn umablj t first invisible) and will attack and kill
him in the shape ol an eli phant, a tiger, or a snake.
l
;
i K ible to throw on iderable light on a que; tion
with regard to Sakai beliefs which had been ;.b ing mi trouble
I
i
i
for some time. I
aborigiu;
with the word punan.
ned, in formei papers on the
md custom in onnexion
I knew that there was a belief, common
to both the Sakai, Sakai -Jakuns and many of the Malays, that
going out into the jungle without having satisfied a
desire 1 I, ould meet with some misfortune,
but I had not been able to find out whether evil
Katil, howevei , lold
h