I touched the papers, and no one but the Chief ever spoke till the séance was
over. I asked the men who held the bowl why they made it turn round at that
particular moment, but they declared they had nothing to do with it, and that the
vessel twisted itself off their fingers against their inclination.
“The name disclosed by this experiment was certainly that of the person whom
there was most reason to suspect, but beyond that I learnt nothing.
“Another plan for surprising the secret of the suspected person is to get into the
room where that person is sleeping, and after making certain passes to question
the slumberer, when he may truthfully answer all the questions put to him. This
is a favourite device of the suspicious husband.
“Yet another plan is to place in the hand of a pâwang, magician, or medium, a
divining-rod formed of three lengths of rattan, tied together at one end, and when
he gets close to the person ‘wanted,’ or to the place where anything stolen is
concealed, the rod vibrates in a remarkable manner.”^214
A somewhat analogous practice is the ordeal by diving, described by the late Sir
W. E. Maxwell as “a method of deciding a disputed point which was
occasionally resorted to in Perak in former times. I got the following account of
the manner of conducting the ordeal from a Malay chief who saw it carried out
once at Tanjong Sanendang near Pasir Sala, in the reign of Sultan Abdullah
Mohamed Shah, father of the present Raja Muda Yusuf:—
“The ordeal by diving requires the sanction of the Sultan himself, and must be
conducted in the presence of the Orang Besar Ampat, or Four Chiefs of the first
rank. If two disputants in an important question agree to settle their difference in
this way they apply to the Raja, who fixes a day (usually three days off) for the
purpose, and orders that a certain sum of money shall abide the event. This
appointment of time and place is the first stage in the proceedings, and is called
bertepat janji, and the laying of the bet or deposit of stakes is called bertiban
taroh. On the day appointed the parties attend with their friends at the Raja’s
balei,^215 and there, in the presence of the Court, a krani^216 writes down a
solemn declaration for each person, each maintaining the truth of his side of the
question. The first, invoking the name of God, the intercession of the Prophet,
and the tombs of the deceased Sultans of the country, asserts the affirmative
proposition, and his adversary with the same solemnity records his denial. This