Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society/Volume 1/The Semang and Sakei tribes of Kedah and Perak

THE SEMANG AND SAKEI TRIBES OF THE DISTRICTS OF KEDAH AND PERAK BORDERING ON PROVINCE WELLESLEY.

The following interesting particulars relating to the Semang and Sakei Tribes of the little known region lying behind Province Wellesley were recently published in the Field Newspaper (April the 23rd 1878.) It is not difficult to indentify the signature as that of a gentleman lately in charge of the Province Police, who spent some time in the neighbouring jungle.

"The Semang and Sakei, as they are termed by themselves, claim by tradition to be the aborigines of the Malay Peninsula, and to have settled down in their present locality after years of travel in an endeavour to reach the end of the land. The inroads of the Malays have driven them from the borders near the sea to the centre of the country, where still exist the primeæval forests in which they can remain unmolested by their fellow men, whom they fear more than the wild beasts with whom they live."

"The features of the Sakei, or "plains" men, are those of the Negro, and it is a matter for students of the dispersion of races to decide how and from whence come the dark skin, wooly hair, flat noses, and thick lips so prevalent amongst the Sakei of the Malay Peninsula.

"The true Semang, on the other hand, has a complexion of a light copper colour, brown straight hair, and a clear skin.

"The two tribes speak different languages, but follow the same mode of life, and are on amicable terms. The Semangs keep almost entirely to their mountain jungle, while the Sakei occasionally issue from their plain retreats to hold communication with the Malays.

The first occasion in which I had a view of these interesting specimens of humanity was in the year 1864 while on a tour of inspection at the head of the Selama river, a branch of the Krian, which latter was the boundary, prior to the Perak war, between that country and the British possessions near its mouth. On arriving at a Malay kampong close to Gunong Inas, a high peak of the centre mountain range I learnt that there were a number of Sakei in the neighbourhood, and of course at once expressed a wish to see them, and accordingly sent a mutual Malay friend to ask the Chief if he would come to see the orang puteh or white man.

"The chief, who gloried in the name of Tŭboo, or sugar-cane, was about 5 ft. 3 in. high, of a dark brown complexion, with very flat features,, and grizzly hair which would vie with a negro's in twist.

"His frame was spare to a degree, but hard; his muscles knotted and visible in every portion of his light figure, which still retained the the elasticity of manhood, notwithstanding his age, which must have been about fifty-five or sixty. His eyes small and piercing, moved about in a restless, suspicious manner, which nothing could prevent, and in this feature the Malays are wont to recognise a wild man.

"I was told that when a man wanted to marry he first of all spoke to the girl, if she agreed, he then went to the father and mother, taking some jungle produce as a gift. The terms of purchase were then arranged—usually a piece of iron, some roots and flowers; and when these were forthcoming a day was fixed for the ceremony, which consisted simply of a feast in the neighbourhood of an ant-hill (where the Malays suppose that spirits reside), after which the couple leave and proceed to some favourable spot for their honey moon, returning at leisure to the tribe. It is a most peculiar feature with these people that the marriage law exists at all; and further, the stringency which attaches to it is astounding. Polygamy is allowed, but is seldom practised; while the punishment for adultery is death—usually carried out by a relative, who invites his victim to a hunting excursion, and, after tiring him out, beats his brains out with a club while he is asleep, and leaves him to rot on the earth denying to his remains the rough sepulture given to those who die in an honourable way, whose remains are laid on a log of wood, in a sitting posture, and buried a foot or two under the ground. ... I made strict enquiries as to their belief, naturally concluding there would exist some idea of a Supreme Being; but, to my surprise these people had no idea of a God; they had no representative caves or sacred spots; nothing was looked upon as supernatural; they did not bother themselves to imagine a cause for thunder or lightning, or sun or moon, or any of the phenomena which one and all give rise in other savages to poetical ideas of dragons, combats, and destroying spirits. The Sakei were born, lived as best they could, died, rotted, and there ended. They build no houses, seldom stop more than two days in one spot, and pursue a thoroughly nomadic life, having no flocks or herds, existing from hand to month, but free and this they prize to a wonderful degree. Nothing will induce a Sakei to become civilized, even so much as the Malay of the interior; he is never happy except while roaming in his native forest, and, although he will eat rice and smoke tobacco, which he can only get from the Malays, he rushes off after satisfying his craving for the weed (of which he is inordinately fond) and does not appear again for months.

"The second occasion of meeting these people was at the head of the Baling river, a branch of the Muda, uear Patani, where I had the good fortune to come across a tribe under the protection of the Raja of Kedah, by whose orders they roamed uumolested through his country. I received a visit from the chief and a party of his people, men, women, and children numbering in all a dozen, and for a week had daily intercourse with them. The members of this tribe differed greatly from those near the Selama river, for they were of the Semang race for the most part. The chief bimself, who had received the title of "datu" or chief from the raja was a man of no common intelligence; besides his own language, which is different from any I have ever read of, he spoke Malay and Siamese. Dressed in the sarong of the Malays, at a distance it was impossible to detect that he was not of that race; but on close inspection be bore all the evidences of his extraction, and especially that restlessness of the eye which, as I said before, is so sure a sign of the denizen of the forest. Amongst his followers were two Brothers, named Gading (or Joory) and Buloo (Bamboo) whose appearance struck me very much. About twenty-three and twenty-five years of age respectively, these men were perfect specimens of manhood. Five feet ten or eleven in height, their limbs were symmetrical to a degree; their features, finely cut and intelligent, were positively good; their bodies, perfectly formed, rendered their movements particularly graceful, and I must admit to being envious of their fine proportions and "general air of robust health. They were a kind of body guard of their Datu, and he was evidently proud of them, and justly so."

Some interesting particulars, though with fewer details, have also been published in the Official Reports of Mr. Swettenham (April 1875), who encountered some tribes of the Sakei in Ulu Slim; Mr. Daly who came across them in the upper part of the Ulu Perak (June 1875); and Captain Speedy who encountered other tribes shortly afterwards in the Bidor district, nearly 100 miles off.