Journal of the Federated Malay States museums - Sabrizain.org

igi6.J I. II. N. Evans: Sakai of the Ulu Kampar. 25
It is not necessary to saj anything about the blow-pipes
or the dart-quivers generally in use among the Kampar Sakai,
as they are of the same type as those of the aborigines of the
Batang Padang District of Perak, which have been fully
described by Skeat and others. One quiver, however, which
was hanging from t lie posts supporting the shelves above tne
cooking place, immediately attracted my attention, since its
cover was of quite a different type from the normal, being a
hard and stiff cap of plaited rattan 17.5 cms. high. After a
considerable amount of fruitless questioning I elicited the
information that it had been bought from a Kinta River Sakai,
and this of course explained its resemblance to the quivers
used by the aborigines of the Kuala Kangsar and Upper
Perak Districts.
Customs, Religious Beliefs and Superstitions.
1 gathered from the Sakai living on the clearings around
" Kampong Ulu Pipe"' that they haw- some hazy idea of a
supreme Being or Deity (the -inn, whom they call Yenong.
This statement is supported by the information which
Wilkinson obtained from one of the same people, whom he
induced to live in Taiping for about three months. As
among the Sakai of Sungkai and the Hill Sakai of the
Temengoh District of Upper Perak, the shaman or magician
is termed Halak and the familiar spirit, by whose aid he
works his spells, his Anal; Yung. It is said that formerly the
body of a dead Halak was left unburied in the house where he
died. I was also told that the Halak's bumbun, or round hut,
is built within a dwelling house, and consists of seven bertam
palm-leaves plaited together and fastened to form a circle
within a rectangular frame of wood, which is attached to the
posts of the shelves over the fire-place and to some of the
posts of the house.
The rest of the information under this heading is derived
from Si Busu and the people of his house.
First, I will give some account of various superstitions
and tabus which influence the people's daily life. As among
so many aboriginal tribes, lightning ichilou) and thunder are
held in dread. The following actions are thought to cause
thunder storms, and are therefore tabu.
(i) To roast an egg in the fire.
• 2i To laugh if a snake is met with in the jungle.
(3. To pull a jungle-leech off the body and burn it.
When a bad thunder storm comes on, the Sakai descend
down from the house to the ground, strike their parangs into
the earth and leave them there. Hot stones from the hearth,
the supports for cooking pots, are also thrown out of the door
of the house. Both these actions are thought to be helpful in
dispersing the storm; and the hot stones, symbolically at any
rate, dry up the rain.