The Malay archipelago : the land of the orang-utan ... - Wallace Online

140 THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. [chap.Andthe great spirit had told him on the top of tlie mountain.when they were all assembled, and the betel and sirih hadbeen handed round, he told them what had happened. On thetop of the mountain he had fallen into a trance, and the greatspirit had appeared to him with a face like burnished gold, andhad said— "O Rajah ! much plague and sickness and fevers arecoming upon all the earth, upon men and ujDon horses and uponcattle ; but as you and your people have obeyed me and havecome up to my great mountain, I will teach you how you andall the people of Lombock may escape this plague." And allwaited anxiously, to hear how they were to be saved from sofearful a calamity. And after a short silence the Rajah spokeagain and told them,—that the great spirit had commandedthat twelve sacred krisses should be made, and that to makethem every village and every district must send a bundle ofneedles—a needle for every head in tlie village. And when anygrievous disease appeared in any village, one of the sacredkrisses should be sent there ; and if every house in that villagehad sent the right number of needles, the disease would immediatelycease ; but if the number of needles sent had notbeen exact, the kris would have no virtue.So the princes and chiefs sent to all their villages and communicatedthe wonderful news ;and all made haste to collectthe needles with the greatest accuracy, for they feared that ifbut one were wanting the whole village would suffer. So oneby one the head men of the villages brought in their bundles ofneedles ; those who were near Mataram came first, and thosewho were far off came last ; and the Rajah received them withhis own hands, and put them away carefully in an innerchamber, in a camphor-wood chest wliose hinges and claspswere of silver ; and on every bundle was marked the name ofthe village and the district from wlience it canie, so that itmight be known that all had heard and obeyed the commandsof tlie great spirit.And when it was quite cei'tain that every village had sent inits bundle, the Rajah divided tlie needles into twelve equalparts, and ordered the best steel-worker in Mataram to bringhis forge and his bellows and his hammers to the palace, and tomake the twelve krisses under the Rajah's eye, and in the sightof all men who chose to .see it. And when they were finished,they were wrapped uj} in new silk and put away carefullyuntil they might be wanted.Now the journey to the mountain was in the time of the eastwind wlien no rain falls in Lombock. And soon after thekrisses were made it was tlie time of the rice harvest, and tliechiefs of districts and of villages brought in their tax to theRajah according to the number of heads in their villages. Andto those that wanted but little of the fuH amount, the Rajahsaid notliing ; but when those came who brought only half or afourth part of wliat was strictly due, he said to them mildly,