The sun, moon, and stars receive much of their regard; perhaps worship. The two superior spirits of whom they have the most definite conceptions, are named Dewas and Bilun.
A spirit has his abode in the loftiest mountains. The priests, whose power is proportionate to the superstition of the natives, are called Poyangs. The soul of a Poyang after death is believed to enter into the body of a tiger. They are adepts in the magic arts of Besawye, Chinderwye, and Tuju; this last enables them to kill their enemies by the force of spells, however distant. The Besawye consists in burning incense, muttering spells, and invoking, by night, the spirit of the mountains.
Their food is the product of the hunt, not of agriculture.
Udai.—The inhabitants of the forests of the northern part of the peninsula.
Semang.—The same. Complexion dark; hair curly and matted, but not frizzled. This is what Mr. Newbold relates; premising that he had no opportunity of personally judging. Mr. Anderson and Sir S. Raffles describe this darkness of complexion in stronger terms.
The Semang of Quedah has the woolly hair, protuberant belly, thick lips, black skin, flat nose, and receding forehead of the Papuan.
The Semang of Perak is somewhat less rude, and speaks a different dialect.
More than one Malay informed Mr. Newbold that the Semangs were essentially the same as the Jokong; having the same hair, but a somewhat blacker skin.
They live in rude moveable huts, constructed of leaves and branches, scantily clothed, and fed from the produce of the chase, at which they are expert. Their government is that of chiefs or elders. The Malays accuse them of only interring the head, and of eating the rest of the body, in cases of death.