Page 223 - Malay sketches

MALAY SUPERSTITIONS

certainly that of the person whom there was most
reason to but that I learnt
suspect, beyond nothing.
Another plan for surprising the secret of a
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
pdwang, 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 where anything stolen is concealed, the
place
rod vibrates in a remarkable manner.
A great many Malays and one or two Europeans
may be found who profess to have seen water
drawn from a kris. The modus operandi is simple.
The " pawang " (I dare not call him conjurer)
works with bare arms to show there is no deception.
He takes the kris (yours, if you prefer it) from its
wooden handle, and, holding the steel point down-
wards in his left hand, he recites a short incantation
to the effect that he knows all about iron and where
it comes from, and that it must obey his orders. He
then with the thumb and first two fingers of his
right hand proceeds to gently squeeze the steel,
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