No one may examine the check-roll at night with an open light, owing more
probably to the fear of setting it on fire than to superstitious prejudices.
“It is considered unlucky for a man to fall off the mining ladder, for, whether he
is hurt or not, he is likely to die within the year.
“An outbreak of fire in the mine is considered an omen of prosperity. Several
mines have been known to double or treble their output of tin after the
occurrence of a fire.
“It is unlucky for a coolie to die in the kongsi house. When, therefore, a man is
very sick and past all hopes of recovery, it is customary to put him out of the
house in an extempore hut erected in the scrub, so that death may not take place
in the kongsi amongst the living. His chuleis^258 attend him during his last hours
and bury him when dead. These and other superstitious ideas and observances
are, however, fast dying out, though it would still be an unsafe experiment to
enter a mine with shoes on and an umbrella over your head.”^259
The remaining notes on mining ceremonies and charms were collected by me in
Selangor. On reaching the tin-bearing stratum, the tin-ore is addressed by name:
—
“Peace be with you, O Tin-Ore,
At the first it was dew that turned into water,
And water that turned into foam,
And foam that turned into rock,
And rock that turned into tin-ore;
Do you, O Tin-Ore, lying in a matrix of solid rock,
Come forth from this matrix of solid rock;
If you do not come forth
You shall be a rebel in the sight of God.
Ho, Tin-Ore, Sir ‘Floating Islet,’
‘Flotsam-at-sea,’ and ‘Flotsam-on-land,’
Do you float up to the surface of this my tank,^260
Or you shall be a rebel to God,” etc.Sometimes each grain of ore appears to be considered as endowed with a
separate entity or individuality. Thus we find in another invocation the following