possess. An example is: “Manuk (3), Manumah (5), Sangkesa (6), Desa (1), Dewa (4), Raja
(2),” which has to be repeated as the scales are counted (beginning with the lowest scale). The
numbers after the words indicate the order of the luck which the birds are supposed to bring; a
ground-dove of the first order bringing luck worth a ship’s cargo (tuah mĕrbok tuak sa-kapal).
I have kept these birds myself. ↑
36
Cp. the Malay pantun:—
“Tĕkukur di gulei lĕmak
Sulasi di-bawah batang
Lagi lumpor jalan sĕmak
Sĕbab kasih maka-nya datang.”↑
37
In Sel. Journ. vol. iii. No. 6, pp. 94, 95. ↑
38
Dissemurus platurus, Vieill. ↑
39
Haliætus leucogaster, Gm. ↑
40
An old Malay (in Selangor) once told me that the hornbill was the king of the birds until
dispossessed by the eagle (Rajawali). If, as seems probable, the hornbill was taken as a
substitute for the frigate-bird in places where the latter did not exist, this may be important. ↑
41
Argus giganteus, Temm. ↑
42
Corvus enca, Horsf., the Malay crow. ↑
43
I believe that a similar story exists in Siam, the Siamese, however, making turpentine play the
part of the ink in the Malay story. ↑
44
Besides the hut, the necessary apparatus consists of: (1) Three rods (called ampeian or
pinggiran) laid across the top of short forked sticks at a height of one or two feet from the
ground. The whole space enclosed by these is called King Solomon’s palace-yard (halaman).