Journal of the Federated Malay States museums - Sabrizain.org

82 Journal of the F.M.S. Museums. [Vol. VII,
demonstration, broke off a bit of biscuit for each man, saying
as he gave it to him " shalantap" Apart from greediness, I am
inclined to believe that some idea of this kind may be the
reason why, if one Sakai is given something to eat, all the
others expect to receive a little too, even if they see that your
stock of that particular article is almost exhausted.
I could not find out that the Kinta Sakai have any name
for fish in general, but the word kak (commonly used for
"fish" by other tribes) is applied to the Tcngas, about the only
species which is common in the head waters of the Kinta.
The Sebarau, the Haruan and others are not recognised as kak.
While fishing for Tengas, or while it is being eaten, its name
kak must not be mentioned, but the Malay word ikan (fish)
used instead.
While tabu food of any kind is being eaten, lice may not
he cracked, nor hair burnt in the fire. The breaking of this
prohibition would entail the penalty of the offender being
seized by a tiger.
Other Tabus.
It is tabu for a man, on leaving a friend's house, to
promise to return to sleep there, and then neglect to do so.
If he does not keep his promise, his friend will be taken by a
tiger.
It is tabu for a man to stop behind after promising some
friends to go on a journey with them. If he does so, his
friends will fall ill by the way.
It is forbidden to a man to mention the names of his
father, his mother, or his mother-in-law. A mother-in-law
may not be spoken to, touched or even passed by, unless at a
distance. Similarly a woman must avoid her father-in-law.
Marriage Customs.
I was given to understand that first cousins might not
marry, but that first cousins once removed might do so. Two
wives were said to be allowable, but not three. A man usually
takes a wife from another settlement. After marriage the
man lives with his wife's family for some time.
Burial Customs.
Though I had no opportunity of visiting a Sakai interment,
some rather interesting information with regard to
burial customs was given me by the headman, Udah. He told
me that graves were dug to about a depth of a foot more than
the height of a sitting figure (so that the spirit or corpse may
be able to sit up) ; and that the body is placed at the bottom
of the excavation, lying with the head in the direction in
which it was when death occurred, the orientation of the grave
being of course such as to render this possible. The hole is
covered in with a roofing, which is almost on a level with the
surface of the ground, while the earth from the excavation is
piled up on this, the mound being topped by a hut of some