round the earth, and producing the alternations of night and day.”
To this I would add that some Malays, at least, whom I questioned on the subject
(as well as some Sakais^9 under Malay influence), imagined the firmament to
consist of a sort of stone or rock which they called Batu hampar, or “Bed rock,”
the appearance of stars being caused (as they supposed) by the light which
streams through its perforations.
A further development of the Malay theory of the earth declares it to be carried
by a colossal buffalo upon the tip of its horns.^10 When one horn begins to tire
the buffalo tosses it up and catches it upon the tip of the other, thus causing
periodical earthquakes. This world-buffalo, it should be added, stands upon an
island in the midst of the nether ocean.^11 The universe is girt round by an
immense serpent or dragon (Ular Naga), which “feeds upon its own tail.”
The Malay theory of the tides is concisely stated by Newbold:^12 —
“Some Malays ascribe the tides to the influence of the sun; others to some
unknown current of the ocean; but the generality believe confidently the
following, which is a mere skeleton of the original legend. In the middle of the
great ocean grows an immense tree, called Pauh Jangi,^13 at the root of which is a
cavern called Pusat Tassek, or navel of the lake. This is inhabited by a vast crab,
who goes forth at stated periods during the day. When the creature returns to its
abode the displaced water causes the flow of the tide; when he departs, the water
rushing into the cavern causes the ebb.”
Mr. Clifford gives a slightly different explanation:—
“The Pusat tasek, or Navel of the Seas, supposed to be a huge hole in the ocean
bottom. In this hole there sits a gigantic crab which twice a day gets out in order
to search for food. While he is sitting in the hole the waters of the ocean are
unable to pour down into the under world, the whole of the aperture being filled
and blocked by the crab’s bulk. The inflowing of the rivers into the sea during
these periods are supposed to cause the rising of the tide, while the downpouring
of the waters through the great hole when the crab is absent searching for food is
supposed to cause the ebb.”
Concerning the wonderful legendary tree (the Pauh Janggi) the following story