purpose of obtaining his assistance in expelling a rival spirit of less power.
In the autumn of 1896 (in the Kuala Langat District of Selangor) the brother of
my Malay collector ʿUmar happening to fall ill of some slight ailment, I asked
and obtained permission to be present at the ceremony of doctoring the patient.
The time fixed for the commencement of the ceremony (which is usually
repeated for three consecutive nights) was seven o’clock on the following
evening. On reaching the house at the time appointed I was met by ʿUmar, and
ascending the house-ladder, was invited to seat myself upon a mat about two
yards from the spot where the medicine-man was expected to take up his
position. Having done so, and looking round, I found that there were in all nine
persons present (including myself, but exclusive of the Pawang, his wife, or the
patient), and I was informed that although it is not necessary for the same
persons to be present on each of the three nights, the greatest care must be taken
to see that the number of persons present, which should never, in strictness, be
an even number, does not vary from night to night, because to allow any such
variation would be to court disaster. Hence I myself was only enabled to be
present as a substitute for one of the sick man’s relatives who had been there on
the preceding night.^142