A somewhat longer charm, which is given in the Appendix, commences by making an interesting point—
“Peace be with you! O crew newly come from your shipwrecked barque on the high seas,
Spurned by the billows, blown about by the gale;
Come on board (this lanchang) in turn and get you food.”
. . . . . . . . .
The speaker goes on to say that he recognises their right to levy toll all over the country, and has made this lanchang for them as a substitute (tukar ganti), implying, no doubt, in place of the one which they had lost. In any case, however, there can be little doubt that the “barque wrecked on the high seas” is the wasted body of the sick man, of which the spirits were so recently in possession, and in substitution for which they are offered the spirit-boat in question.
Tiger Spirit
I shall now proceed to describe the ceremony of invoking the Tiger Spirit for the purpose of obtaining his assistance in expelling a rival spirit of less power.
In the autumn of 1896 (in the Kuala Langat District of Selangor) the brother of my Malay collector ʿUmar happening to fall ill of some slight ailment, I asked and obtained permission to be present at the ceremony of doctoring the patient. The time fixed for the commencement of the ceremony (which is usually repeated for three consecutive nights) was seven o’clock on the following evening. On reaching the house at the time appointed I was met by ʿUmar, and ascending the house-ladder, was invited to seat myself upon a mat about two yards from the spot where the medicine-man was expected to take up his position. Having done so, and looking round, I found that there were in all nine persons present (including myself, but exclusive of the Pawang, his wife, or the patient), and I was informed that although it is not necessary for the same persons to be present on each of the three nights, the greatest care must be taken to see that the number of persons present, which should never, in strictness, be an even number, does not vary from night to night, because to allow any such variation would be to court disaster. Hence I myself was only enabled to be present as a substitute for one of the sick man’s relatives who had been there on the preceding night.[142]
