Captain Wilkes also describes that of the Sultan of Sooloo. “On the left hand of the Sultan sat his two sons, on the right his councillors, while immediately behind him sate the carrier of his betelnut casket. The casket was made of filagree silver, about the size of a small tea-caddy, of oblong shape, and rounded at the top. It had three divisions, one for the nut, another for the leaf, and a third for the lime. Next to this official was the pipe-bearer, who did not appear to be held in equal estimation.”
A circumstance is also narrated in connection with the son of this same Sultan, which exhibits the use of betel in another phase. This son, shortly after taking a few whiffs from the opium-pipe was overcome, and became stupid and listless. When partially recovered, he called for his betel nut to revive him by its exciting effects, and counteract the influence of the opium. The pinang or buyo was carefully chewed by his attendant to a proper consistency, moulded into a ball, and then slipped into his mouth. Hence we may learn two things. First, that chewing the betel counteracts the ill effects of an over-dose of opium. Secondly, that it is extremely convenient to have an attendant with a good set of teeth, since he could not only masticate betel nut for you, and relieve you from a large amount of labour; but in the event of your joint not being so tender as it should be, the amount of milling to be expended at dinner could be divided between you, the attendant masticating the tough dishes, and yourself the tender, and thus, by division of labour, a good dinner could be procured with little expenditure of your own muscular strength.
In Sumatra, when the first salutation is over, which consists in bending the body, and the inferior putting his joined hands between those of the superior, and then lifting them to his forehead, the betel is presented as a token of hospitality and an act of politeness. To omit it on the one hand, or to reject it on the other would be an affront, as it would be, likewise, in a man of subordinate rank to address a great man without the precaution of chewing it before he spoke.
The Tagali maidens, says Meyen, regard it as a proof of the uprightness of the intentions of a lover, and of the strength of his affection, if he takes the buyo from his mouth. In Luçon, a little box or dish is kept in every house, in which are kept the betel rolls prepared for the day’s consumption, and there a buyo, or betel roll, is offered to every one who enters, just as a pinch of snuff or a pipe might be with us. Making the buyo is a part of the occupation of the females, who may be seen in the forenoon stretched on the ground rolling them. Enough for the day’s consumption is generally carried, in a siri box of metal or japanned ware, by those whose occupations call them from home; every one who can afford the expense, puts a fresh roll in his mouth every hour, which he continues to chew and suck for about half an hour or more.
Betel holds an important place in the marriage ceremonies of the Tagals. When once a young man has informed his father and mother that he has a predilection for a young Indian girl, his parents pay a visit to the young girl’s parents upon some fine evening, and after some very ordinary chat, the mamma of the young man offers a piastre to the mamma of the young lady. Should the future mother-in-law accept, the young lover is admitted, and then his future mother-in-law is sure to go and spend the very same piastre in betel and cocoa wine. During the greater portion of the night, the whole company assembled upon the occasion, chews betel, drinks cocoa wine, and discusses upon all other subjects but marriage. The young men never make their appearance till the piastre has been accepted, because in that case they look upon it as being the avant-courrier, that is, the first and most essential step towards their marriage.
During the fast of Ramadan, the Mahometans abstain from the use of the betel while the sun continues above the horizon, but, except at this time, it is the constant luxury of both sexes from an early period of childhood till old age, when, becoming toothless, they are unable to masticate the nut, and are reduced to the alternative of having all the ingredients previously reduced to the form of a paste for them, so that, without effort, they may dissolve in the mouth.
When Lady Raffles had reached Merambung in Sumatra, being much fatigued with walking, and the rest of the party having dispersed in various directions, she lay down under the shade of a tree, when a Malay girl approached, with great grace of manner, and on being asked if she wanted anything, replied, “No! but as you were quite alone, I thought you might like to have a little talk, so I came to offer you some siri (betel), and sit beside you.”
The darker the teeth the more beautiful is a Siamese belle considered; and in order that their gums should be of a brilliant red, to form a pleasant contrast to the black lips and teeth, they resort to the pastime of chewing betel from morning till night. The constituents of the betel being rolled up into something very much like a sailor’s quid, it is then thrust into the lady’s cheek, and is munched, and crunched, and chewed so long as the slightest flavour is to be extracted, and, as they never swallow the juice, the results are very detrimental to the cleanliness of the floors of the houses, and of themselves generally. They commonly make use of two such quids during the day, and this mixture has the effect of dyeing their gums and the whole of the palate and tongue of a blood-red colour. Old crones, and very ancient chronoses (for both men and women use the betel), who have no longer any teeth to masticate the mixture with, are attended by servants, who have a species of small pestle and mortar always about them, wherein they reduce the betel into a proper form for the delicate gums of their aged patrons.[30]
The betel pepper is cultivated at Zanzibar, where the use of betel prevails, as it does at the Comoro Islands and at Bombay. But the custom is not in vogue in Arabia. The betel palm is also grown for the sake of its fruits in the island of Zanzibar.
The habit of masticating betel nut in combination with hemp has of late come into vogue in the United States of America, and doubtless Brother Jonathan will soon eclipse Malaya in his predilection for the “buyo.”