Venom be at ease no longer!
Venom find shelter no longer!
Venom take your ease no longer!
May you be blown upon, O Venom, by the passing breeze!
May you be blown upon, O Venom, by the yellow sunset-glow,
May the Pounce of this Lanthorn’s lightning kill you;
May the Pounce of this Twilight’s lanthorn kill you,
May the Shaft of the Thunderbolt kill you;
May the Fall of the heavy Rains kill you,
May the Inundation of Flood-waters kill you;
May you be towed till you are swamped by this my head-cloth,
May you be drowned in the swell of this my dough-boat.
By the grace of,” etc.A second charm of great length follows, the object of which is to drive out the
evil spirit in possession of the man.
An example of this form of cure as practised by Malay medicine-men is referred
to by Mr. Clifford, who, in speaking of his punkah-puller, Umat, says:—
“It was soon after his marriage that his trouble fell upon Umat, and swept much
of the sunshine from his life. He contracted a form of ophthalmia, and for a time
was blind. Native Medicine Men doctored him, and drew sheaves of needles and
bunches of thorns from his eyes, which they declared were the cause of his
affliction. These miscellaneous odds and ends used to be brought to me at
breakfast-time, floating, most unappetisingly, in a shallow cup half-full of water;
and Umat went abroad with eye-sockets stained crimson, or black, according to
the fancy of the native physician. The aid of an English doctor was called in, but
Umat was too thoroughly a Malay to trust the more simple remedies prescribed
to him, and though his blindness was relieved, and he became able to walk
without the aid of a staff, his eyesight could never really be given back to
him.”^144
In the above connection I may remark that, whether from the working of their
own imaginations or otherwise, those who were believed to be possessed by
demons certainly suffered, and that severely. H.H. Raja Kahar, the son of H.H.
the late Sultan of Selangor, was attacked by a familiar demon during my
residence in the Langat District, and shortly afterwards commenced to pine