it is believed, are handed down in certain families as heirlooms. The master of the familiar is
said to keep it imprisoned in a tabong, or vessel made from a joint of the bamboo, which is
closed by a stopper made from the leaves of the Cotyledon laciniata, the Daun chĕkar bebek,
or Daun sadingin, as they are variously termed by the Malays. Both the case and the stopper
are prepared by certain magic arts before they can be employed in this way. The familiar is fed
with eggs and milk. When its master wishes to make use of it he sends it forth to possess and
prey upon the vitals of any one whom his malice may select as a victim. The individual thus
persecuted is at once seized by a deadly and unaccountable ailment, which can only be cured
by magic agencies. If the Bajang is neglected by its owner, and if the latter omits to feed it
regularly, it is said that he often falls a victim to his own familiar.”—Clifford and Swett., Mal.
Dic., s.v. Bajang. ↑
5
Swett., Mal. Sketches, p. 194, seqq. ↑
6
Swett., Mal. Sketches, pp. 198, 199. ↑
7
J.R.A.S., S.B., No. 7, p. 28. Cp. “Langsuior, the female familiar, differs hardly at all from the
bâjang, except that she is a little more baneful, and when under the control of a man he
sometimes becomes the victim of her attractions, and she will even bear him elfin children.”—
Swett., Mal. Sketches, p. 198. ↑
8
“Pontianak” appears to be synonymous with “Mati-anak,” which may perhaps be a shorter
form of Mati bĕranak (“stillborn”); indeed, one of the charms against the Pontianak which I
collected, commenced with the words, “Pontianak mati bĕranak.” ↑
9
Mr. Clifford (of Pahang), however, speaks of “that weird little white animal, the Mati-ânak,
that makes beast noises round the graves of children.”—In Court and Kampong, p. 231. ↑
10
Cp., however, “The Pĕnangal, that horrible wraith of a woman who has died in childbirth, and
who comes to torment small children in the guise of a fearful face and bust, with many feet of
bloody, trailing entrails in her wake.”—Clifford, loc. cit.
“He (Mr. M.) said, ‘Very well then, tell me about the penanggalan only, I should like to hear it
and to write it down in English so that Europeans may know how foolish those persons are
who believe in such things.’ I then drew a picture representing a woman’s head and neck only,
with the intestines hanging down. Mr. M. caused this to be engraved on wood by a Chinese,