[230] Salah nama means “Wrong name” (Misnomer); limau nipis, lit. means “thin lime.” [↑]
[231] Kongsi, i.e. “company, firm, gang.” [↑]
[232] Pantang, i.e. “taboo.” [↑]
[233] Buah rumput means “Grass-seed;” Bunga rumput, “Grass-flower.” [↑]
[234] Akar hidop, lit. “live creeper.” The allusion is obvious. [↑]
[235] Kunyit means “saffron.” The allusion is not evident. [↑]
[236] Batu puteh means “white stone” or “white rock.” [↑]
[237] Genggulang, explained by Mr. Hale as meaning “altar,” vide p. 260, infra. [↑]
[238] About 1878, the principal pawang of the Lârut district, one Pa’Itam Dam, applied to me as Assistant-Resident to reinstate him in the duties and privileges which he had enjoyed under the Orang Kaya Mantri, and before him, under Che Long Jʿaffar. He describes the customary ceremonies and dues to be as follows:—He had to visit all the mines from time to time, especially those from which tin-ore was being removed; if the daily output of tin suddenly decreased on any mine it was his business at once to repeat certain invocations (puja) to induce the tin-ore to remain (handak di-pulih balik sapaya jangan mengorang biji). Once in every two or three years it was necessary to carry out an important ceremony (puja besar) which involved the slaying of three buffaloes and a great feast, the expense of which had to be borne by the pawang. On the day of the puja besar strict abstinence from work is enjoined on every one in the district, no one might break ground or even pull up weeds or cut wood in the whole province. Further, no stranger whose home was three days’ journey away might enter one of the mines under a penalty of twenty-five dollars.
The pawang was entitled to exact from the owners of mines a customary payment of one slab of tin (or $6.25 in cash) per annum for every sluice-box (palong) in work during the year.