A list of the Jĕlĕbu regalia (given me by Ungku Said Kĕchil of Jĕlĕbu) ran as
follows:—
- A single-bladed Sword (pĕdang pĕmanchor).
- The Long K’ris (k’ris panjang, pĕnyalang), used for executions.
- The royal Lances (tombak bĕndrang).
- The royal Umbrella (payong kabĕsaran).
- The royal Standard and Pennants (tunggul ular-ular).
- The royal Ceiling-cloth and Hangings (tabir, langit-langit dewangga).
- The “Moving Mountains” (gunong dua bĕrangkat), perhaps the names of
two peaked pillows. - The royal Drums (gĕndang naubat); said to be “headed” with the skins of
lice (kulit tuma) and to emit a single chord of twelve tones when struck
(dua-b’las bunyi sakali di-pukol).
9. The royal Trumpet
(lĕmpiri or nĕmpiri).
Each of these was also said to emit a single
10. The royal Gong. chord of twelve notes.
11. The royal Guitar
(kĕchapi). - The royal rĕbab or Malay fiddle.
This latter peculiarity (of the multiplication of notes) is quite in accordance with
the traditions of the king’s musical instruments in Malay romances. Thus of Raja
Donan’s magic flute we are told, “The first time (that he sounded it), the flute
gave forth the sounds of twelve instruments, the second time it played as if
twenty-four instruments were being sounded, and the third time it played like
thirty-six different instruments.” No wonder we are told that “the Princesses Che
Ambong and Che Muda dissolved in tears, and the music had to be stopped.”^24
My informant declared that these objects came into existence of themselves
(tĕrjali sĕndiri), at a spot between the two peaks of a burning mountain (gunong
mĕrapi) in the country of Menangkabau in Sumatra. He also averred that “rain
could not rot them nor sun blister them,” and that any one who “brushed past
them” (di-lintas) would fall to the ground;^25 whilst no fewer than seven
buffaloes have to be slaughtered before the “moving mountains” (when worn
out) can be replaced.^26