Indo-China and its primitive people

by Henry Baudesson

I myself had an unpleasant practical illustration of the unshakable belief in animal-poisons and their baneful effect. There was a native member of the mission who believed himself bewitched in this manner. Although he was in a high fever, he stolidly refused all medical assistance and immediately coughed up the mixture which I attempted to force down his throat. Within four days he was dead, a victim to his own superstitious ignorance. The most unfortunate effect of the tragedy, however, was that it only served to confirm his companions in their belief.

It must not be believed that everything pertaining to the tiger is necessarily harmful. On the contrary certain parts of its body are credited with some remarkably beneficial properties. Thus some small bones of the shoulder are frequently carried about as a charm against the attacks of the animal itself, and also to give their owner physical superiority over his foes and preserve him against an unfavourable result of the ordeal, should he be called on to face that trial. It is therefore little surprising that competition for this talisman is often bitter and bloody and that its market value sometimes exceeds that of a buffalo.

Another widespread superstition is that a tiger which, in springing upon its prey, is clumsy enough to damage the ear, will abandon its victim immediately and never return to devour it. Curiously enough we received from the mouths of two members of the mission, M. Millet and Sergeant Valutioni, proof that this belief is not altogether devoid of foundation. The former once spent four days watching over the corpse of a buffalo with a torn ear which had been killed by a tiger. The animal never returned to carry away its prey. Now we know that the habit of this carnivorous beast is to return nightly to devour its victims when their weight is too great to permit of their being carried off immediately to its lair. So was it simple caprice which prompted this strange behaviour or had the tiger perhaps been wounded in the encounter? It is impossible to bring the question out of the realm of surmise.

The Sergeant's experience was somewhat similar. He was riding at nightfall when his horse suddenly swerved and nearly threw him out of the saddle. Picking himself up, he saw a huge tiger leap upon his horse, only to abandon it immediately and disappear into the jungle. He examined his mount for injuries and discovered that the only damage was that a piece of its ear had been torn off. The natives who had witnessed the attack manifested no sign of astonishment and recounted the numerous occasions on which they had observed a similar occurrence.

Whatever the truth may be, it is in virtue of incidents such as these that the Moï attribute to the tiger the faculty of reasoning out all its acts. It is considered the most vindictive of creatures, and rather than expose themselves to its vengeance they will let all its misdeeds go unpunished, contenting themselves with a philosophical resignation to fate. Sometimes the inroads of tigers cause the abandonment of an entire village, the natives preferring exile to gradual decimation. Sometimes, however, they resort to charms to ward off the dread plague. For instance, they will place a box, on one side of which the figure of a tiger is rudely carved, in front of the principal house. This is a favourite device of the Annamites, among whom these ex-votos distinguish a region infested by the pest. Every time a stranger passes the spot it is his duty to leave a stone or a twig in honour of "Duc-Thay" the Noble Master, the Spirit which has jurisdiction over the tigers, perhaps the tiger itself.

A supernatural character is also attributed to the monkey, largely on account of its agility, its imitative ability, and its cunning in escaping from its pursuers. The creature is held in high esteem by many peoples, and it will be remembered that the Hindoos regard it as an incarnation of Vishnu. The white gibbon with black whiskers is regarded with great veneration. One of my colleagues once tamed one of this species and taught it to perform various domestic duties. The creature made his bed, washed up and waited at table. But it was extremely jealous and went into transports of anger if any stranger seemed to monopolize its master. Of course, the natives attributed these accomplishments to the presence of a Spirit, so my colleague was baulked of the credit due to his patience. Among the Phuyen, an orang-outang of about human proportions enjoyed a most unenviable reputation. It was supposed to snatch the unwary traveller in its huge, hairy arms and shake the breath out of him while uttering screams of fiendish glee. To escape such an embarrassing encounter the natives who inhabit the forests in which the creature lives always carry an armful of long bamboo shoots. If they are attacked the shoots prevent the orang-outang from getting a proper grip of its victim, who thus escapes without difficulty.

A widely prevalent superstition in Langbian is that certain monkeys of the species known as semnopithecus never put foot to ground. They are supposed to progress by hanging on to each other and thus forming a living chain, one end of which is attached to a tree overhanging a stream. I can myself bear witness to having frequently seen them bridge the space between two trees in this manner and accomplishing the most astonishing acrobatic feats on a trapeze consisting of their companions.

Hunting rites are numerous and for the most part rest on the same conception which we have noticed before in relation to other rites, namely the belief in the power of imitative or sympathetic magic.

Thus a hunter never eats the flesh of the hare or deer for fear of becoming as timorous as these creatures. This species of food is only permitted to old men, women and children. If a wild-boar hunt is in prospect the hunters taking part must abstain from fat and oil. Without this precaution the animal would undoubtedly slip through the meshes of their nets and escape its pursuers. When the Laotians slaughter elephants for the sake of their ivory the women are absolutely forbidden to cut their hair or nails, otherwise the monsters would infallibly break the stakes of the palisade in which they are entrapped. So long as an elephant-hunt lasts the hunters may only communicate in a special language which has conventional terms for objects of common use. (We shall see later that a special language is also employed by the Cham on their annual expeditions in search of eagle-wood.)

Another regulation concerns the chief of the hunting-party, who may not set foot to ground. If the necessity arises that he must leave his elephant a carpet of leaves is spread beneath his feet.