cat, and so on.
“Just before dawn there was a sudden confusion within the curtains which hid
the Sultan’s couch; they were thrown aside, and there lay the King, to all
appearance in a swoon. The Jin Ka-râja-an had taken possession of the sick
body, and the mind was no longer under its owner’s control.
“For a little while there was great excitement, and then the King recovered
consciousness, was carried to a side verandah, and a quantity of cold water
poured over him.
“So ended the séance.
“Shortly after, the Sultan, clothed and in his right mind, sent to say he would like
to speak to me. He told me he took part in this ceremony to please his people,
and because it was a very old custom, and he added, ‘I did not know you were
there till just now; I could not see you because I was not myself and did not
know what I was doing.’
“The King did not die, after all—on the contrary, I was sent for twice again
because he was not expected to live till the morning, and yet he cheated Death—
for a time.”^143
The ceremony called Mĕngalin, or the “sucking charm” ceremony, is one which
is very curious, and deserves to be described in some detail.
First of all you perform the ceremony called “Driving out the Mischief” (buang
badi) from the sick man (vide supra) in or to drive away all evil spirits (mĕnolak
sakalian chĕkĕdi atau hantu). Then wrap the patient up in a white or black cloth,
and taking a ball of (kneaded) dough (tĕpong pĕngalin), eggs and saffron, repeat
the suitable charm, and roll it all over the skin of the patient’s body in order to
draw out all poisonous influences (mĕnchabut sagala bisa-bisa). Then if you
find inside the ball of dough after opening it an infinitesimally small splinter of
bone, or a few red hairs, you will know that these belong to the evil spirit who
has been plaguing the patient. The charm to be used when rolling the ball of
dough over the skin runs as follows:—
“Peace be unto you, O Shadowy Venom!