"Limes cannot be brought into the mine. This superstition is peculiar to the Malay miner, who has a special dread of this fruit, which, in pantang language, he calls salah nama (lit. 'wrong name') instead of limau nipis. "In looking at the check-roll it is forbidden to point at the names with the finger. No one may examine the check-roll at night with an open light, owing more probably to the fear of setting it on fire than to superstitious prejudices. "It is considered unlucky for a man to fall off the mining ladder, for, whether he is hurt or not, he is likely to die within the year. "An outbreak of fire in the mine is considered an omen of prosperity. Several mines have been known to double or treble their output of tin after the occurrence of a fire. "It is unlucky for a coolie to die in the kongsi house. When, therefore, a man is very sick and past all hopes of recovery, it is customary to put him out of the house in an extempore hut erected in the scrub, so that death may not take place in the kongsi amongst the living. His chuleis [467] attend him during his last hours and bury him when dead. These and other superstitious ideas and observances are, however, fast dying out, though it would still be an unsafe experiment to enter a mine with shoes on and an umbrella over your head." [468] The remaining notes on mining ceremonies and charms were collected by me in Selangor. On reaching the tin-bearing stratum, the tin-ore is addressed by name:-- "Peace be with you, O Tin-Ore, At the first it was dew that turned into water, And water that turned into foam, And foam that turned into rock, And rock that turned into tin-ore; Do you, O Tin-Ore, lying in a matrix of solid rock, Come forth from this matrix of solid rock; If you do not come forth You shall be a rebel in the sight of God. Ho, Tin-Ore, Sir 'Floating Islet,' 'Flotsam-at-sea,' and 'Flotsam-on-land,' Do you float up to the surface of this my tank, [469] Or you shall be a rebel to God," etc. Sometimes each grain of ore appears to be considered as endowed with a separate entity or individuality. Thus we find in another invocation the following passage, where the wizard is addressing the grains of ore:-- "Do You (Grains of Ore) that are on the Hills descend to the Plains, You that are at the Head-waters descend to Mid-stream, You that are at the Estuary ascend to Mid-stream. And assemble yourselves together in this spot. Assemble yourselves together, 'Rice-grains' and 'Spinach-seed,' 'Tobacco-seed,' 'Millet,' and 'Wild Ginger-Seed,' Assemble ye together in this spot. I am desirous of excavating this spot, And of making a mine here; If ye do not assemble yourselves together I shall curse you; You shall be turned into dust, and turned into air, And you shall also be turned into water."