Pagan races of the Malay Peninsula - Sabrizain.org

264
WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS
my house, and one day, not dreaming of the con-
sequences, I ordered my Boyanese sais to cHmb the
tree and lop off a few small branches which obscured
the view. This he did, not knowing the tree, the
result being that both his face and his hands quickly
became inflamed and swollen beyond all recognition,
and I was obliged to send him to hospital for treat-
ment. This fact about the Rengas tree sap is well
known in Malaya, and taking it in conjunction with the
fact that Rengas sap often forms one of the ingredients
of Ipoh poison, I cannot help thinking that here we
have a quite possible source of the Upas-tree fable.'
Ingredients of the Poison.
The proper proportions of the ingredients used in
making the dart-poison of the wild tribes have doubt-
less been ascertained by centuries of trial, and are
now in many cases handed down from father to son.
Although, however, the basis of the poison may be
the same among all the members of a given tribe, the
exact proportions, and even the exact ingredients,
forming the " blend " vary to a very great extent with
the individual and (of course) with the locality and the
season, and hence any conclusions reached must be
necessarily general ones."
* Foranactual legendof the Upas-tree got in exchange from the Malays, were
type, see the Besisi tradition in vol. ii. mixed up together. It thus came to
2 According to M. - Maclay the pass that the dart-poison not only of
chief ingredient of this poison was every tribe, but of every individual of
the juice of the well-known Upas tree each tribe, was made up of different
of the Javanese, the Aniiaris toxicaria. materials, and that in consequence of
With this juice a great many other sub- this the effects were very various. The
stances were mixed, the number and effect on man was certainly very deadly
nature of which depended partly on and very rapid : thoroughly trustwortliy
chance, and partly on the science of Malays in different parts of the Peninthe
preparer. The poison fangs of sula told him that they knew from
diCerent kinds of snakes, the juices of actual observation that a man who had
a number of trees and fruits, even been wounded by it was not able even
arsenic, which the " tame " aborigines to finish his " sirih " (betel-chewing),