Strange & Curious Quotes

-from- "Miscellaneous papers relating to Indo-China and the Indian archipelago" -by- W P Groeneveldt - vol 1, 1887 -section- Notes on the Malay Archipelago and Malacca -chapter- (Account of) Malacca (by) Ying-Yai Sheng-Lan (in) 1416, p.245

-:: " In the sea along the coast are found turtles and dragons, which attack men (alligators). The dragon is three or four feet high, has four legs and its whole body covered with scales, a crest of points on its back, a head like a dragon and protruding teeth. When it meets with men it devours them.

" In the mountains is a yellow tiger, a little smaller than the yellow' tiger in China ; there is also a black tiger and a yellow one with dark spots.

" Sometimes there is a kind of tiger which assumes a human shape, comes to the town, and goes among the people ; when it is recognized it is caught and killed. ::-

Arjuna in Wayang Kulit [source- TropenMuseum].

-from- "Universal History", ancient and modern -by- W F Mavor - Volume 11, 1802 -chapter- 13. Description of the Countries situated in the farther Peninsula of India, p 274.

-:: "Then appears the peninsula of Malacca : the port of the same name is one of the finest in all India. Next to Goa, and Ormus, the city of Malacca was formerly the handsomest in Asia : it was the emporium of the trade of China and Japan ; and the key to the commerce carried on through the straits of Sunda. At Malacca, a race of men are said to exist, who can only see at night.

Malacca is the capital of the kingdom of Tohor. One of the monarchs of this country having rendered himself very unpopular, was obliged to seek refuge in the woods. He was followed, and despairing of any mercy, slew his wives and children, but wanted courage to give himself the fatal blow. His page, astonished at his cowardice, said to him, "What! Do you prefer dying by the hand of a slave, to meeting death like a prince? I am innocent, and have a right to expect that my life may be spared ; but I will teach you how to die." He instantly plunged a poniard into his bosom, and the king, followed his example.

One of their princes, who had abdicated the throne on account of some misconduct, proposed to resume the government; but his subjects made him this reply : "You are too religious to be a good king : you may retire. We will consider how we shall dispose of the crown." They put him and his family on board a vessel, with abundance of wealth, and sent them to a neighbouring island, where he was received as sovereign.::-

Bima in Wayang Kulit [source- TropenMuseum].

-from- Political and Commercial Considerations relative to the Malayan Peninsula -by- John Anderson, 1824 -in- Appendix (pg) xxxii

-:: There is another savage race, according to the Malays, called Bilian, who are covered with hair and have nails of extraordinary length. Their principal occupation is said to be tending the Tigers, which are their peculiar flock, as the Buffaloes are of the Malays. In rainy nights they are represented by the Malays as sometimes coming to their residence and demanding fire, which those who are acquainted with their savage disposition hand them upon the point of a Sumpit or Arrow Tube, or at the extremity of a sword, as were the person to present it with his hand, he would inevitably be seized and devoured by the savage monster, a fate, which the credulous Malay firmly believes, has befallen many.::-

Group of Wayang Wong Dancers, circa 1920 [source- TropenMuseum].

pg 200-:: Another article of almost universal belief is that the people of a small State in Sumatra called Korinchi have the power of assuming at will the form of a tiger, and in that disguise they wreak vengeance on those they wish to injure. Not every Korinchi man can do this, but still the gift of this strange power of metamorphosis is pretty well confined to the people of the small Sumatran State. At night when respectable members of society should be in bed, the Korinchi man slips down from his hut, and, assuming the form of a tiger, goes about " seeking whom he may devour."

I have heard of four Korinchi men arriving in a district of Perak, and that night a number of fowls were taken by a tiger. The strangers left and went further up country, and shortly after only three of them returned and stated that a tiger had just been killed, and they begged the local headman to bury it !

On another occasion some Korinchi men appeared and sought hospitality in a Malay house, and there also the fowls disappeared in the night, and there were unmistakable traces of the visit of a tiger, but the next day one of the visitors fell sick, and shortly after vomited chicken-feathers!

It is only fair to say that the Korinchi people strenuously deny the tendencies and the power ascribed to them, but aver that they properly belong to the inhabitants of a district called Chenâku in the interior of the Korinchi country. Even there, however, it is only those who are practised in the elĕmu sĕhir, the occult arts who are thus capable of transforming themselves into tigers, and the Korinchi people profess themselves afraid to enter the Chenâku district.::-

Malay or Javan Tiger [source- TropenMuseum].

-from- Curiosities of superstition, and sketches of some unrevealed religions - by William Henry Davenport Adams, 1882 -chapter- 7. Among the Malays, p 151.

-:: “Anything new?” said Osborn; “any prahus in sight?”

“Teda, Touhan—no, sir,” was the reply; and then observing that his officer was looking in the direction of the jungle, he made signs that it was better to look anywhere but there.

Calling Jamboo, his interpreter, Osborn desired him to ask the Malay what he saw in the jungle. Judge his astonishment at the reply:

“He says he saw a spirit, sir.”

“Nonsense. Ask him how or where? It may be some Malay scouts.”

Again came the answer: that the man had distinctly seen an untoo, or spirit, moving about among the trees close to the margin of the water; and that he had been assiduously praying and expectorating, in order to prevent it from approaching the gunboat, as it was evidently a very bad spirit, very dangerous, and clothed in a long dress.

Sherard Osborn reprimanded his interpreter for repeating so ridiculous a fancy, and ordered him to explain to the man that there were no such things as “spirits,” and that if he had seen anything, it must have been an animal or a man. But he was earnestly assured by Jamboo, the interpreter, that Malays frequently saw untoos; that some were dangerous, and some harmless; and that as for the untoo he had just seen, the captain would see it too, if he looked carefully.

Accordingly, the English captain sat down by the side of the Malay sailor, and looked in the same direction. The gunboat lay at anchor about one hundred and fifty yards from the jungle; the water flowed up to its very margin; among the spreading roots of the mangrove trees lay small ridges of white shingle and broken shells, which receded into darkness or shone out into distinct relief as the moonlight fell upon them. When these white gleams became visible, Osborn immediately pointed to them, and hinted that these were the Malay’s “spirit.”

“No, no!” he answered vehemently, and Jamboo added, “He says he will warn you immediately he sees it.”

Suddenly he touched his officer, and pointing earnestly, exclaimed, “Look, look!”

Sherard Osborn did look, and for a moment yielded to the delusion as he caught sight of what appeared to be, and probably was, the figure of a female with drapery thrown around her. Gliding out of the dark forest shadows, it halted at a hillock of white sand not more than three hundred yards distant. Osborn rubbed his eyes; the interpreter called vigorously on a Romish saint, and the Malay spat energetically, as if some unclean animal had crossed his path. Again the captain looked, and again he saw the form, which had passed a dense clump of trees, and was slowly crossing another avenue in the forest.

“Feeling the folly,” says Sherard Osborn, “of yielding to the impression of reality which the illusion was certainly creating in my mind, I walked away, and kept the Malay employed in different ways until midnight; he, however, every now and then spat vehemently, and cursed all evil spirits with true Mohammedan fervour.”::-

Janger dancers of Bali, circa 1930 [source- TropenMuseum].