Page 220 - Malay sketches

MALAY SKETCHES

resources, and, though only an amateur in divina-
tion, he undertook to try by other methods to find
the culprit. For this purpose he asked me to give
him the names of everyone in the house at the time
the robbery was committed. I did so, and the next
day he gave me one of those names as that of the
thief. I asked how he had arrived at this knowledge,
he described the method and consented to
repeat
the experiment in my presence. That afternoon I
went with him to a small house belonging to his sister.
Here I found my friend the Chief, his sister, and
We all sat in a
two men whom I did not recognise.
very small room, the Chief in the centre with a copy
of the Koran on a reading-stand, near to him the
two men, opposite to each other, the sister against
one wall and I in a corner. A clean new unglazed
earthenware bowl with a wide rim was produced.
This was filled with water, and a piece of fair white
cotton cloth tied over the top, making a surface like
that of a drum.
I was asked to write the name of each person
present in the house when the robbery was com-
mitted on a small piece of paper, and to fold each
paper up so that all should be alike, and then to
place one of the names on the cover of the vessel.
I did so, and the proceedings began by the two
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