"The Malay pawang, or medicine-man, is probably the inheritor of various remnants and traditions of the religion which preceded Muhammadanism, and in the olden time this class of persons derived a very fair revenue from the exercise of their profession, in propitiating and scaring those spirits who have to do with mines and miners; even now, although the Malay pawang may squeeze a hundred or perhaps two hundred dollars out of the Chinese towkay [435] who comes to mine for tin in Malaya, the money is not perhaps badly invested, for the Chinaman is no prospector, whereas a good Malay pawang has a wonderful 'nose' for tin, and it may be assumed that the Chinese towkay and, before his time, the Malay miner, would not pay a tax to the pawang unless they had some ground for believing that, by employing him and working under his advice, there would be more chance of success than if they worked only on their own responsibility. "The pawang being a person who claims to have powers of divination and other imperfectly understood attributes, endeavours to shroud his whole profession in more or less of mystery. In his vocabulary, as in that of the gutta-hunters, special terms are used to signify particular objects, the use of the ordinary words being dropped; this is called 'bahâsa pantang.' [436] "The following are some of the special terms alluded to:-- "Ber-olak tinggi, [437] instead of gajah--elephant. The elephant is not allowed on the mine, or must not be brought on to the actual works, for fear of damage to the numerous races and dams; to name him, therefore, would displease the spirits (hantu). "Ber-olak dâpor, instead of kuching--cat. Cats are not allowed on mines, nor may the name be mentioned. "A tiger of enormous size called Ber-olak is said to haunt Kinta. The legend about him is as follows:-- A long time ago, in the pre-Muhammadan days, a man caught a tiger kitten and took it home; it grew up quite tame and lived with the man until he died, when it returned to the jungle and grew to an enormous size, nine cubits (hasta) long; it is still there, though nobody ever sees it; it does no harm, but sometimes very large tracks are seen, and men hear its roar, which is so loud that it can be heard from Chemor to Bâtu Gajah; when heard in the dry season, it is a sure prognostication of rain in fifteen days' time. "Sial, [438] instead of kerbau--water-buffalo. The buffalo is not allowed on the mine for the same reason as the elephant.