Journal of the Siam Society; 32

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JSS_032_1a_Front
JSS_032_1b_Campos_EarlyPortugueseAccountsOfThailand
JSS_032_1c_Seidenfaden_LawaOfUmphai
JSS_032_1d_NotesAndQueries
JSS_032_1e_ReviewsOfBooks
JSS_032_1f_PhyaIndraMontri_AddresToCouncil
JSS_032_1g_OtherJournals
JSS_032_1h_AccessionsToLibrary
JSS_032_1i_AnnualReport
JSS_032_1j_ListOfMembers

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VOL. XXXII, PT. I.

SEPTEMBER 1940.

I THE

JOURNAL Of'

THE

THAILAND

, RESEARCH SOCIETY

( J.T.R.S)

BANGKOK MCMXL

•

'

•

•

1,·

i

THAILANI) RESEARCH SOCIETY. (FOUNDED 1904}

•

[•\n• tlw lnv••Hti.;;n.tit~ll :t111l Ent~••nrag•~lllt'JJt. of Arts, Ndt~ltee and m•· ill t••dnt.il•tt I•• 'l'lmil:wt!, and uuig·ltiHnu·ing t~onntrius.

Lito~rat

PATRONS

1

IllS !.L\,JEST\' Kl>\vere built o£ stone and others of brick, in which were kept many images of: men tlmt are now in heaven owing to their good deeds. 'l'here is one enormous irnn,ge made or earth which is about fifty paces long. The gt·eatest metal imn.ge in Siam and regarded as the most ttncicnt was in a 'l'emplc at Snldwthai. It. was eighty p1dmos or about sixty feet. 22 Every king, when be 11scended the throne, began building 11 new temple and endowed it with l11ncls u.nd income. The temples had high towers the uppet· hn.lf of which were gilded with gold leaf fixed on bitumen and the lower lmH decomted with different colours. On the top or the towers they placd a sort of umbrellu. and around it very light bells ·which rttng when swayed by the breeze. 'fhe priests, clad in yellow~ robes, going about shoeless n.nd with shaven heads and large fans in their lw.nclK, were held in high respect. In their apartments no women could enter, nor even female cretttures like hens. 'fhere were mn.ny fasts during the yon.r and the feasts were held at the beginning of the new moon or at full moon. The priests not only preached religion but studied the heavens and the movements of 21

\V hen the Portngnese took ]\blRccn, Sbm consiuered it rts n. b·ibntrtry thougl1 it lmd no control ovel' it anrl did not r·eceive rmy ta·ilmte. On the other· hand Ohin:t cousidered Siam as fl. tl'ibnhtl'Y stl\te though it wielded no authority whfttsoevel'. Such fncts have to be trdcen into account when reconstructing kingdoms desm•ibcd by Ohine~e tm,vellel's like Y -t~ing n.ml Cbn.u J"nknn., such as SJ"ivijr.bVl6 and other kingdoms, which chimed so ma.ny t.1·ibnt!wy stn.tes even on stone inscl'iptions, when rmlly most of these cln.irm: were imaginary or 11t 11ny rate continued to be made to feed the vtLnity of kings long n.fter such claims had ce11sed to lmve any men.ning. 22 According to Thiao J.hanr1 Ph?'Cb R1wng of the late King Vn.jirfLvndh, the tr~llest imn.ge found in old Sukhoth:ti is t;he one c:tllecl Phra Attcwos, It st>tnding Bncldhn., on tlw top of Khao Wat Sn.pnn Hin, or· the mountttin of the temple with the stone 1n•idge. 'rhe height of this itn!Lge i~ Hix wcbh or twelve metres antl is proh:thly the one referred to by Bn.rros. The height of sixty feet mentioned by him is either an exrtggemtecl eRtimftte or perhaps included the length of tlw pedest:tl. The highest ilnfl.ge 11t Aynthin. cnsi; on the order·s of King Rn.ma Tibodi in nbont 1500, and erected in \Vat Srisanphet, was forty eight feet high, n.ncl t.he pedestn.l WitS twenty-four feet. This w:ts destroyed by the Burmese in 1767. In case a highe1• imn.ge t;hn.n Phra Attcwos existed fLt Sukhothai, it might lw.ve l)een destroyed wher1 the Blll'mese King Bureng Naung captured Sukhothai in 1563. ~>tate,

PT. 1]

13

Llw Hl,!tt'H mul Lhe plruwLs. The ymtr wai'J dlich means SO'Lv?'ce of go~cl) and hiR :mccessors would mtt.umlly call themselves Emperors of SuvurJ,ut Land, whence the name ScG?'ncGu. V1Llnn1Jle euutempomry dcRcriptions of life in Ayuthia and of some aspects of Simnese hil:ltory in tho middle of Hixtoentb centmy are found in FeruO:o 1.\:lemles Pinto's Pm·eg?"inaga.m and in his letter written frolll M1Llacca in 1554 to the Society of Jesus in which he had temporarily entered 11s a brotber.'l 3 Pinto visited Siam twice, as he himself mentions in his lettet', and the infonnu.tion dm·i vecl from both these visit.'! is utilized in the Poregri1w9a1n. His style is 111

Such expt·ession as Prechau Bc6leus of i:im'lUHt :Ll'e also found in Sebnstiito Ma.nriqne':,; Itinem1·io H:tk. Soc. Eel. Vol. I., p. lll5, but possibly they may h:we been t;:tken from Pinto himself. M:1mique visited Amlmn in 1628-37, but; not Siam. 32 &wna~• is not really 11 direct corruption of the ~Chai word s~wnn but of its Indi:tn eqniv:tleut su~u~ or so~w, both of which mean gold and are derived from Smu;krit s~~vcw~w. 'rhe Pol'tugne8e like the Arn.bs wet·e more accustomed to the sounds of Indi:tn bngua.ges thn.n to the tomtl Tlmi languages. Hence they tmm;cribed Thai names according to their Sanskrit equivalents. Lugm·, t;he 16th and 17t;h century n:tme for Nrtkhon Sl'i 'rhamnuwat is an interesting ex:tmple. 'l'he Portuguese got the name from ~rhai Nakhon by giving it n Sttnskrit turll1W{]cw, from Sanskrit, nngcwa. The chrmge of initi:tl n into l is common in Portuguese transcriptions, such as Liampo for the Chinese port of Ningpo. Apart from thi:;, Nakhon Sri Th:tmmn.mt was also known a:; Mu 1:tng Lalclton, from which Lctgcw, Lugo1· could arise, 33 Ohristovam Ayres, li'e1·nao Jl[endes Pi1tto, S~tbsiclios etc. Lisbon Aettdemy publication, 1904, Appendix B.

16

DR..JOAQUJJI[

DE 0All!l'OR

[YoL. XXX II

classic and brilliant, and writing some years nfLor Lhn ovnnts lw records !mel taken place, he gi.\'eS from memory vivid pietnreH Silllll as of other countries he visited. M:111y of his dusct·ipLions are lHtsetl on hearstty and hence reflect the popubr errors, feeliugs, beliefs nnd superstitions. His chronology and the transcription of local na11ws have sometimes undergone frightful distortiOJlH andlwtny lll'l'Ol'H in the Pererri?u~9cmn are attributo,ble to his fln;t editoe, li'. do Andem1c, nntl to his printers who could scarcely understand tho unfamiliar IutlllUH nml facts. There is colouring, but no wilful miRrepresentation of facts, iu Ute lurid der;criptions of life that can be felt pulsating under the touch of his pen a,gainst the background 11ncl in the very :1tmosphere of thn plttcuH and countrins in which he movnd and lived. He vvns not, certainly, n scientifin explorer and does not appear to have knpt a dit1ry or any notes, but some years after his peregrinations were over, he trnnsfen·t:cl to his rich Cltnvtts the informo,tion he had received ttncl tlw imprufisions he had absorhncl with the instinctive inRight of an arti::;t iul'uHing life into the pictmes he depicts. Even his mi&takeH very often prove his veracity. He relatns for iuRtance tlmt he found P'~ople in BuddhiRt countries invoking Trinity ttrHl saying, G1xl of truth ,i.s tft;l't!e in one, 11nd he thinks thttt thorn may be tmces of tho gospd iu tim religion of these people. 34 One would immeditttely reject this :-;tory as an invention, but though Pinto's intnrpretation iH wrong the faet he mentions is true for the people were really invoking the 'l.'riple Gems of Buddhism, the triad: the Buddha, Dharma and Stwgha, or tho Bucldlm, the Law, and thn Clergy. Owing to the many strange facts which Pinto relates, he had boon long considerncl a liar. But justice htts been larg 0ly done to him, uot; only by Portugunse writers like Christovam Ayres who exploded many myths, but also by foreign writers who studied the parts of th& Pe?·cg?·ii1WQLW1 in which they were interested.

or

----·------------~~-----·---·--~-

---------· ---------

rema~·ke;l c!u~·ing his vi~it

~------·

to Bnrma that the---~~~lle m their pmyers satd: God ~n .1'1·~mty lceep us 'In kis La'W rmd Sir H. Yule l'enml'lo; tha.t this whieh appeal'S like fiction is renlly an ~vidence of Conti's verncit.y. See EmbcLssy to Am, p. 208 . .Pinto sttys i;1 th~ ·Pereg?·inc~r;c~,m that he noticed this in Lanchang ~Oala­ nunlmm) nud m htH letter of l5fl4 he sn.ys thttt he s~tw rt similn.t fact in Pecrn, !r· G. Schnrhammei· .in his Fe1:nao .Mendes P'into u,nd seine Pereg1·inar:~n, Jnmps to the concluswn that Pmto betrn,ys or contt'!tdicts himself when it is quite 1mtmal tl11tt he should make simih.n· observations in two Buddhist, countries 1md might have even done so in a third one such as Siam. . iH r:ricolo Conti :tiso

P1'. 1)

gARLY POW!'UGUEHI!: ACCOUN1'S 01into's hook. BO

Sorno o£ the facts mentioned by Pinto regarding Siam and emnmented on nnfail'ly by Mr. W. A. R Wood require elucidation. Mr. Wood to.. kes Pinto to t11Hk on account of the exaggerated number of men eomposing tho ILl'mieH, which he callA a perversion of truth. Tho nmnlJcrs t~ru of:ton oxftggomtod it iH tl'llc, but they J'erJresent only popular ostimt1t1~s, whieh wl\re imaginary. l\lilitary authorities themsolve~ could not taku a proper count, for ns bhe al'mies marched or Rltiled along the rivorH, humh·edH of village men were recruited on the wny 11nd swelled bite original numbers. This 11CCuHation of oxaggcmting numbers etm he Cljtmlly levelled agahmt subsequent tmvcllo~·s like Oaesnro ]'edereci and Ralph Fitch and against the PhongBct'l.vculwns themselves. When Bnreng Naung invaded Siam in 1568, Caesare Fedoreci who was in Burma, relates that t.he Burmese army consisted of one million four hundred tlwusand men, The Siamese Phongswwadwn gives one million men. Mendes Pinto is more 35 'l'he Chronology of Luang Prusoet's Phongsc~waclan is in geneml reliable, but it cannot be t1tken a~ n.bsolubely conect. Some of the facts can also be demonstt·1~ted to be wrong. 36 Bc~tc~lhcts da Oompctnh·icb de Jesus, 1894, p. 286.

DR. JOAQUIM DE CAMPOS

18

[VOL . .XXXII

moderate with his eight hundred thous11nd men. Ru,lplt Fitc·:h gin:fl 17 three hundred thousand men and five thousand eleplmutH.' Wu know that all these arc impossible numbers but thiH i1:1 JI(J reaHon why errors of. judgment, be they of Pinto or Fitch or Federeei, Hhonltl lw called "perversions of truth." Mr. Wood remarks tlu1t wlwn .Pinto says that the cannon of the King of Burma in his war with Sit1llt woru dmgged by huffaloes ancl?'hynoce?'OSes we are almost force1l to ngrce 38 who referred to Pinto as the lllost celebmtml liM. with Oono·L·eve 0 Now Pinto uever used the word rhynoce?'os but the term batlu or abctcho which in the sixteenth century had the indefinite meuuing of a wild animal or 11 domesticated animal that goes wild, though smrw sixteenth century authors like Fr. Gaspar de Cruz used it ddinitely to mean rhinoceros. 'fhe sixteenth century authors like Bttrbosa, Barros nnd Onl'l'en, use the word ganda (from Sn,nsk. ganclct) for rhinoCOl'OH. Bluteau, who wrote his dictionary in 1727, followed by the lexicologisLH Vieim and Lacerda, took ctboila to mean a kind of wild nnim:tl !L]l(l in fa,cb contested the meaning of rhinoceros tts applied to u,barlu.. Hence though some derive the word feom the Malay, l!wlr'ilc, IL rhinoceros, others derive it from the Arabic abwlat, (t""ibirl, fem. ilJII:rlu,) which means a u?'ownish animal (Belot) or 11 wild ttninml (Lane) ot' an animal that goes wild and escapes (KaHimirski).B 9 It iR only iu the 17th century that the vvord Ltbadct began definitely to he applied to the rhinocet·os and it was thus tlw,t Pinto's ctbacla, waR tntnslated by Figuier in his French translation and from this by Oogttll into English. Pinto clearly used the word ctbctclct to denote the yaks in 'l\trtary which were used as beasts of burden and for which thel.'O 40 was no term in Portuguese. In the description of othee places he uses the word about a dozen times with tl.n indefinite meaning like that of the Arabic cl.bicla when be has to mention a large animul whether it be wild like the rhinoceros Ol' used as a beast of bmden :for which he could not find an exact Portuguese term. In his llisto1·y of lhmnn, pp. 333-35, Harvey has an excellen~ no~~- ~;~ these exnggemted estiumtes. Bl:l Congrove' 8 Love fa?· Love : '' J1fencles Pinto ·is b1tt c~ type of thee thou licw of the first ·TIW.[Jn·itucle." ' 9 B Dalgntlo, Glossnrio Luso-Asic~tico s. v. Abacht. In Hobson-Jobson the menning and the origin of the word is not HOwell discussed ns in Glosscwio. 40 Yirle :t note on tho Yaks of Tart:wy in Ynle & Cordier, jJfct?·co Polo, Vol. I. p. '277. il 7

P'l'. 1)

•

•

EAHI,\' l'Ult'l'UUUI~Sg ACOOUN'l'S OF 1'HAJLAND

19

'l'lw L:1ku of Ohiwm.ai is not an invention of Pinto for it existed h1 luguml mul in popular bnliuf centuries before Pinto. ' The Portuguese who visited Bnrum ttnd Sinm before Pinto were also told of this lugembry Lttke of Ohiomwi, and Jol:to de Bttrros in 151:2, that is, when Pinto was Htill roaming in the East and some years before he began writing .his Pe?'e[J'I'ina~!(liln, places the Lake of Oh:ia/rnai not in Ohiangl!lai but 30 degrocH north, that iH, in the plateaus of Tibet, where within two degrees five grerLt rivers, the Bralunaputm, the Irrawady, the Salween, the Mekhong tLm1 the YtLngtze-kiang take their odgin. BtWl'UH derives Hix rivers hom the hoke, three of which join to form tho l\1 (.lllUill 11nd the other three discharge in the Bay of Bengal. 41 Pinto was td~:~o told in Chinn and 'J'at'tary that the rivers in Burma, Siam, Chitm nml Indochim~ wm·o derived hom this lake in the north called

by differont lltLmcs in different places. 42 He does not say that he visitud and sttw tho htkc of: Singipamur in or ncar C!liangmai but that tho K.ing of Sittrn after hiA Ohiangmai campaign marched north-east for six dttyH and renchud the lt1lm of Singipamur called Oh-iama:i by rwople.'w 'l'his ifl apptmmtly a misunderstanding on the pu.rt of Pinto who might luwe becu told of n. sumlllagoon by the side of which the king Htayed for twenty six: u11ys u,ml took it to he the lake of Okiamr.~i of which lw had hmml so much. Pinto does say that he saw a lake, with the names of: Fttnstir or Singipamur or Ounebete, but that was in Tttrtctt•y ILltd not in Ohittngmai. 44

41 Decada, I, Bk. IX, eh. i., ftmln.Iso Dec(tcln III, Bk. II, eh. v. 'l'he th1•ee riVfll'fl mnpt;yiHg in Uw Bn.y of Bengal are, of course, tho Brnhmnpntm, the

IrmwrLwt is, howeve1·, thn,t Pinto i~:; quite p1•eciHe about thi~:; Kingdom ttnd that not, only does he mention thnt the title of Calcm~in­ lubm means lord of the w01·lcl (retLlly eount1·y), but th,tt he CfLI!ed himself the lu1·d of the rn'iylbt of tl!e eleplwnts of the wor·ld which COl'l'esponds to the title, Lor·d of the White J!Jlepltc~nt. ·iO Du Halde in English Trans. Description of tlw Ernpir·e of Ghinct, Lomlou, 1738. 4·7 T' wo of tl. 1e recen t pu J·J' ' cons1clel'11ble . J wa t'1ons sIwwmg study and research nre A.J.H. Clmrignon's A propos des Voyages aventtbreux de Fer·ncmcl .1vfende;:, ~'into,. nut! ~~·. s;hmhamrne~s Fe1·;tu? Jifendez .Pint~ ttnd seine Pm·ey1·ina.r;arn tn Asut J1J(I()V1', \ ol. III, 19"'"7, Lerpzrg. Chal'lgnon s book is chiefiy based

P'l'. I]

•

IU HL\' POH'I'lHlUI\Sg ACCOUN'l'S OJ< 'l'IIAIJ,AND

21

With regard to Sinm, Pinto gives graphic accounts ot King Phraclmi':-; expedition ngainst Ohittngumi, the death of the King lJy poison, Uw cm·ow1t.ion of his son who was also mmdered, the i'u.ithlos:moRs of the queen ttllll her intl'igne with Klnm Ohinnarat ( lfqu/1.1/nclwni:ral) whmn she caused to be crowned king, the conHpimcy of the Governor of PhitHanulok and the umrder of the usurper with tho queen at a bttnqnct, the accession of Pluu. 'l'hien to the throne, Lhtl invasion of Siam by 'l'abmi Shweti King of Burma and n detailed ttcctmnt of the siege of Ayuthia. Apart from the Pereg?'inw;am there n. re some oApocin.l details with regard to Simn in a letter of Pinto which deBervtm to he known.'18 He is the :first writer to cA.U Aynthia tlw Venioe of the liJasl on account of the great number of t~mmlH tluLt survecl tts ronclR. It wttB the greatest city he hacl seen in tlH.lBll partH. He. was tnlcl there were 200,000 boats, big and small on tlw l'ivot'H in and n.ronnd Aynthitt. For etwh fair five hundred to tL t.l10mmnd of t.l1eRe boats gEtthored or aAsemb1ecl. 'rhen he gives a \'ivid doBcription of the ](ing when he left the palace twice a year tLuliflHt great; pomp and eorernony, n.ceornpnnied by his comtiers nnd eleplmnts. 'l'ho King t;!l]nmtnd evr.ry religion tmd there were seven mosrttWs of tho Moors or J'IInhtys, whose houses munbored thirty thouHttJHl. '.l'lwre Wltl:l nn ee1ipHo of the moon when Pinto was in Siam and the people, believing tlmt n snake devours the moon, bogan Hhoutiug on Chiuo:-~n HOtll'C!OH nnd lw Hl>tllliOK ]>into's trn.vols iu lndoehiim, Ohintt and 'l'art1Ll'Y1 oxplttiniug the hir;torionl hnsiR of tho faetr; t>ml idmttifying the places HWltt,iomHl in tho Perl![ll'in(ti:arn, sometimes wit;h frtntastic result:;. ITo st11nds ou1; in bold tt·ftte note on lfills-No,•th.Ji:ast of CM,.,[Jmai. ( lf. G. B.)

j j j j j j

)

f'>J

:r;

NOTES AND QUERIES

[ h:L\"t~ lwt'll m;kt!d l" wl"ih.• a 1111b• hy \\"11.\' ,,f (.•}arifyiug f lw pt;!-lj(.ion in n:~~anl to t't'l'tain ltiglt land!' lyi11g f,, flit< :\. K IJf ChiPlll-{tlltd. N•lltt!' ~·lldl 'llHhlllli'IIL i·~ l,•:t:•tlllill:.; iiW!'I'HHillgly lli:I'I'HHill',\' IlK ('llllt•t:LIIl'H of PVt't',\'f,ldttg frn!lt bird:• fo J!lnnl.s Hl'n vi:-dting t.lt1: lll'••tt und HoliH.\

eoufnsi•m HH to l!llllli'H ttwl lnt•nlili'''l lm•• :dl·•·ady :u·i~11·11. 'l'bnm hill:; n1·•· id•mtifinh!H ft·••llt lit•: pnl.diNIII:d llllt)'H ol' Lltt• diH(I'iel;

\' ii\ ;....... .!w;. .11'1'1/ul'!hy, (Hitllnfv,/) tt;tpl'tl.l', 18/I;J :~.-H"11gh lu·nring horn Cldt:ll:..(liHLi :-llllllllll!l'd, I 1-H:lrnt:l.r~:>i. :\orf h hill, dn. , :Wl:! Pni l'tt l)lt:t.w, I K 1H

.d filwi,·, f!Jfl!l f:t!llfl'tl

ltiJl,

llllliiLIIItlcl,

:!:!:!()

"

.t7i,l

!II.

W. M. OiltiWi'r, } !t.!f8it•td .fi•altUI'.'I o.•ilh ,•ltllttU 'IIIII]!. J.V'IIIUI'I.' lltUf Jm/n,o;lry, ff);!t/) :-··· 1

I~)~ j ( lu

(8iam,

Umt!l'n hill, Dui Ptt r lyo, :.!Ol:! Ill. 1ft,'.'lJI!JO, I!J.J l-~lti:'J7 :--..Om:ful fnr t.lw pnt·tnJsu ol' thiH noLt~, lml. umking no 1.duilll to ddi.utHLto hills:8nruey De1J/. ·11!11p1~, I f;'JUO,UOO, .1.9H'J- I !J38 : North hill, Hmuuued, 184,:-J 111. 8n1'Vf!!J Dt~Jd.

IIIII JIII,

"Kno ru. OhtLW, 2012 Ill. South .. Doi Sn.kot, nn 6 m. It will bo soon that. the po1:1itiou amlappruximatc It eights of the three hills agree well, o.ncl diHorop!LlWY only occurH iu tho mtmcs thus:Otmtl'l.l

NOTES AND QUERIES

38

(VOL. XXXII

McCarthy's map shows the South hill as Pa Chaw and subsequent cartographers give thif3 name to the highest and centre hill. One m11y presume, therefore, 11 printer's error in the 1893 map and that the centre hill was intended for Doi Pa Chaw (~'iltl[.l1~'1l). It is this centre hill, the fourth highest in Siam, that forms on that account, an n,ttraction to collectors. It is cn,lled locally, Doi Langka (~'1Hlllu~fll), the name Pa Chaw being quite unknown. It is somewhat difficult of approach from Chiengmai, and though clearly to be seen from the plain, when once among the surrounding hills, there are only a few high points where its summit is visible, and the steep and circuitous route necessary, make a scale of distance of little service. Mr. McCarthy mentions this difficulty of locating summits of Siam hills1 and in this connection it should be noted that the Lao Mieng growers of Ban Me ~rttwn regard the Kin Luang as the top of: Doi Langlm. This is understandable from their view point, and due no doubt to the prominence of that spur, and the way the ridge falls away behind it to the left, making the real summit appear almost like a separate hill. 'rhe Jt!Iieng growers further away at Doi Hua M:ot and elsewhere having the true top of Langlm as their skyline, make no such mistake. At least one collector, unprovided with an aneroid, appears to have fallen into this error. It is usually mther a moot point when collecting on a big hill, as to where one should cornmence using the name of the central massif, in addition to its outlying features; so a misplaced centre is, to say the least, unfortunate. Doi Langka is unattractive in that ascent is more or less restricted to knife-like ridges punctuated by Chick Dois and is without water, the whole well deserving the name Pa Chaw, if only the local people had thought o£ it first. In common with other little known hills of Siam the Langka area will no doubt be found to contain a small quota of as yet unrecorded species of flora. Rhododendron ?n·icrophyton, a small but beautiful and many flowered shrub, is found there, as well as on the Me Tawn -Me Sawi watershed. It is interesting to note here that H. H. Prince Dhani reports it as having been found by H. S. H. Prince Prasobsri on Phu Krading, Loey Province at about the same elevation. Foresters will be interested to know that Buclclamdia pop1~lnea occurs 1

Surveying and ExploTing in Sicbm, pp. 131-2.

Rhododendron microphoton on Phu Krading, Loey. Photos by H. S. H. Prince Prasobsri.

PT. I]

89

N!l'l'ES A:\'ll Q1JEHIES

lti.~h up on IAngkfL, Llwug!t l'nr that l'\'lt~ott Llte cmpply

iH

lilwly to l.m

Jifn l{t~d JLJH} iflll(~I~WlilUiltlf1i'l) ( Wnt Nawng Bua), enr 2~hrH/ ttw.lnp the l\Iu Dank llc\ug; (mllilflfllllil~) to Ran Pong l\um

(lftH1tJJ\ill). Up tho .Me Lrd N11i

(mlmtnf~HJ)

.

to Pang Chnu1 Pi

(~lJtJ);

1

j

11 shol't rltLy, but to gn further in tlw I'ttius enLnilH tuntH fnr

2

I'ILI'l'iet'H,

Chc!J'

iuto tlw Jl[u Wong (mh~)

tl.llll

over into the Me Tawil)

J

(mil'lcm).

Up Llw Mo '!'awn ILJHl

o\·nt· ltigh waf,(H'Hiwll into tho .Mn

3

Ha.wi)

4 (mJ cY1ltJ), Lam pn.ng DiHLI'id. A lung dtty tD top nwl lnwk, nud in tho I'ILillH Lon lung. 5 ViHitm·H :-;honld not 0111itl to H(JO th(! 'l'owadn.H tdi Llw tivor Wat tLt Ban l'ong Knill (1f1ul11J~lJ) madu hy Nttn JVTau of L:wtpnn, a Imlex.

Huao Anou·

46

BmtNA'l'ZIK

(VOL. XXXII

some wild herd, crashing through the undergrowth regardless of thorns, and so rapid that all he could gtcther of them waH that they were pmcticnJly unclad, with unkempt hair. Twelve years later, Mr. '1'. Wergeui, a Swedish officer in the forest service of the East Asiatic Company at Prae, actually met some uncouth hillsmen who, so he learnt, were Ye!Jow-leaf Folk come clown from the deep forest to do barter with squatters near his carnp. 'l'hey were not so shy, however, as Mr. Yates' savages, and Mr. \Vergeni was able to meet them openly; but the reviewer gttthered from his account-subsequently published in this Journal 2-that owing to frequent intercourse with Klmmn squatters they had lost some of the wildness as8ociated with those seen by Mr. Ya,tes. It now appears that those discovered by the author in 1936 in the Nam Wa hills south-east of Nan are also less acquainted with the outside world than were Mr. Wergeni's Yellow-leaf Folic The author is well equipped for ethnological field work, since in addit.ion to his chair of Ethnology at Gratz he possesses two valuable assets for the field-worker :-llrstly, the company o£ a lady, his wife, herself an expert in psychology testR, whose help must be invaluable in apprmwhing the women-folk; secondly, his own medical know ledge, which was instrumental in overcoming the repugnance of his Yellowleaf Folk for the company of a European. In addition, both partners are inured to the hardships of travel in tropical forests by previous experiences in Africa and Melanesia. 'l'o the pluck, perseverance and patience expended upon obtaining the facts and pictmes presented in this book the reviewer desires to offer his tribute of respect. In one particular the author is at a disadvantage owing to the neces~:~ity of recourse to English-a language foreign to both parties-as tlHJ medium between himself and the interpreter through whom he communicates with third parties. For this reason allowance must be mnde for a certain minimum of error and misunderstanding inevitable under the circumstances. Of the four sections into which the book is divided the firAt, comprising one-third of the whole, contains accounts of a visit to the Moken (otherwise Selung) of the lVJergui islands, followed by a visit to the negrito Semang on the rmtinland between 'rrang and Patalung. With the latter, excellent relations were established through the -----2

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JSS .XX, 1. pp. 41-8.

P'l'. I)

ltEVIEWS Qit' BOOKS

47

authol"s success m relieving a Semang headman of ringworm, and interesting pictures (ill11 26,27) were obtained o£ their dances. As however tho Semang hu ve been fully described by Blagden and Skeat, Schebesta, and I vor Evans, 3 this section, as is na,tural, is ma,in1y concerned with the lVIok:cn, a,lthouglt friendly relations were not so easily esta,blished with them, doubtless a,s a result of their age-long distrust of Bm·manR and 1\blays who exploH them and throngh whom the approndt had to be made. In fact, the longer the author, strtyecl with them the less accessible he found them(33). He succeeded, however, in collecting twenty-six of their fables, which compensaJJe to some extent for lack of full anthropologicnJ data such as is given in the second section of the book devoted to the Yellow-lea£ Folk, which occupies the second third-piLl'~ of the whole. Between sections 1. and 2. is n chaptet· on Siam containing pictures of Siamese dancers. The remaining third-part of the work (sections 3. and 4. with appendix) begins with an account of the author's residence in the Meao village in the Nam Wii, hills where contact was first established with the Yellow-let1f Folk. Datt1 collected about the Me110 is reserved for another Yolume. 'l'hen follows a brief account of 11 trip. amoug tho non-'l'hai tribes between Kengtung and the northem frontieL' of Si11m. 'l'lte fourth section deals even !llore briefly with the Moi and Cham tribes in southem Annum whom tho author visited on his way back to Europe in the Hpring of 1987. 'l'he shorL vocabulary of Ymnb1·i in the appendix is a forerunner of a fuller one. EthnologiHts will appreciate this book for its contribution to the task of unravelling the tangle of races in Fmther India within tho framework set up by the skeletoJ discoveries made by the late DL'. van Stein Cttllenfels in the south-west and by French excavators in the north-east, whose findings, as summarised by Winstedt, 4 now constitute a permanent basis for the construction of a demography of Indochina from pre-historic down to historical times. 'l'his basis, briefly stated, is that after tho last glacial period there are indications that N egmids inhabited Indochina, followed later on by N egritos, and later again by two separate waves of Indonesians. 'l'he first 3

0. 0. Blagden & 'vV. W. Skeat., 1'/w Pagan Rcwes of Jl{cblc~ycb, 1906. P. SchebesttL., Die U1·zwergen von Jl{(~l(bya. 1929. I. H. N. Evans., 1'he Neg1·itos of .ivlalaya. 1937.

4

R. 0. Winstedt, Jri,bl(~yc~ in JRAS, lVIttln.yan section, XIII, 1.

I

I

Huao Anor.t1

48

BmtNA'l'ZIK

(YUL. XXXll

wave of Indonesians is assumed, ou the evitleuce of grouvml 1\lungolian axes found with the skeletons, to httve lmd Monguliau nJ!initieH such as marked the Proto-l'dalnyc; of whom there n,t·e llHLllY tJ:aem; in later neolithic sites. 'l'he Hecond Indonesian wave, elated later L!ULn 2000 B. C., comprised the users of the denterl, high-shouldered axe, which is found all the Wl1Y frorn Lhc Philippines n.cross to Bnrma, Assam, Orissa and Chota N11gpur. Lntcr ou, tts nppearR from other sources, there came wttve upon wave of colonists from India, but they never completely absorbed the different Indonesians they encountered. Of the latter, the fi.rst wave comprised a brachycephalous type with strong J\fongolitLn traits. (Holies of it ttre recognised in the Cham, J akun, Hade and other successorR of the Pt·oto-.1\b!ays.) In the second Indonesian wave the Mongolian elemeuts n.re less nmrkecl,meRocephalous skulls with slightly wnvy hair, etc. (H.clics of it are recognised in the so-called Man-Khmer races of whom t!Je two-title races were tbose most affected by the later culture i mportod by Indian colonists within historic times. Khamu, "Wa, Lawa etc. at·e recognised as purel', less Indianised relics of the wave.) The subsequent incursions of Annamite, Malay, 'l'hai and Bm•nmn belong to a later age, >vhile those of the 'l'ibeto-.Burman hill-tribes, Meao and Yao may be of even more receiJt date: that of the Kn.ren is still in dispute. 'l'he extent to which the two Indonesinn elements have intermingled culturally may be inferred from a recent article by 1\!Iis:s Oolani5 describing omaments, toilet articles, krises, paddi-pounders, fire-kindlers, tubular bellov,rs, ritual baskets, musical instruments in common use in different parts of Further India, Borneo, Java and adja,cent islands. Dr. .Bernatzik's Yellow-lea£ Folk, who call themselves Yumb?·i (116) are a fair-skinned race, but more primitive in t.ype than the Semang: they are classified by him us undeveloped 1\iongoloids who have not advanced beyond the stage of bcmnboo-c1.dt1.tre (178): their mesocephalous heads together with other anthropological features point to their connection with the second wave of Indonesian emigration. Furthermore, certain traits appear to connect their language with Lawa and Khamu. As to their habits, bodily adornment js unknown, except for wooden ear-pegs, probal)ly copied from Khamn neighbours ( 148). 1'he older children were found more intelligent than the 5

lVIadeleine Oolani, EssCt'i cl'Etlmologie Gompa?'ee, BEJi'EO XXXVI, 1.

,,,

PT. 1]

REVIEWS OF~HOOKS

49

adults (162-3) whose improvised drawings resemble those of two to three yeu.r old Europeans (17 4-5): in contrast with the latter, Yumbri children show no iuquisit.iveness nor creative mge (163). 'l'hey have no personal names, calling each other by relationship terms (117). They have no notion of weights or measures (154): no means of counting either on fingers, tally-stones, sticks or string-knots (175-6). 'l'hey know no colours other than l·ight and cla?·lc (179). Their meagre rags are worn in imitn.tion of their neighbours, of whom the Meao remember them as once going naked (147). Handicrafts are restricted to plaiting canes and bamboo strips (made with a bamboo knife) into baskets or mats to be bartered for luxuries (152). Their natural diet consists of roots, leaves, bttmboo-sprouts, frogs, crabs and squirrels caught by hn.nd; but birds n.nd eggs are rarely eaten (148). Many pttges are devoted to their ,daily life and outlook It wn.s found that their first reaction to things heard 11>ncl seen was always to shrink from supposed impending danger rather thttn to draw conclusions (168). It may be infened from this, coupled with their slinking, ·weak-kneed gait, that they are oppressed, even more than tho !Vloken, by fears of tho Unseen Powers. They believe that bad men after death are irnmortalif:!ed as tigers : they n.lso believe in mortal fairy spirits, both good and bad (170-1). Here we :find close analogy with other Indonesians. Wilkinson, 6 writing of the Malay Peninsula, observes that even professing Mohammedo,ns, owing to their ingrained belief in the universality of the Lifepower, find themselves surrounded by potential, invisible foes: for which reason they are careful to offer propitiation for u.ny injury they may commit, and make offerings to the spirit of a dead man to divert its vengeance. The Moken, whoso features reveal the influence of Veddids from India upon an Indonesian stock (Ill 11 12, 13, 14, 20), are also oppressed by a superstitious fear of the spirits of nature (33-4); also, their funeral rites, despite their higher level of culture, are analogous to those of the Yumbri. They neither cremate nor even bury the corpse in the ground. The Yumbri lay it where it died upon a bed of twigs, wliich they co\Ter with leaves, placing beside it the few personal possessions of the dead person. They then abandon the corpse (159). The Moken take the corpse to a d_~serted islan~~lCY expose it upon·~ bambo~ 6

R. J. Wilkinson, 1lfalay Beliefs, 1906; pp. 17. seq.

Huoo Am>LI''

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BmmATI.IK

[VOL. XXXII

platform, or, in tho eaHo of t~ bon.t-ownor, tho Htom of his boo,t being severed from the bowH, the eorpAo iH then lrtirl in one segment of the boat and covered with tho other ::;ogmeut, puLH and plates being htid beside it. L11tor, 'the boneH are eolleeted niHl lnu·ied in the ground near-by (39). 'l'hese cnst01us at·u to be eoiupnrecl with the burin,! customs prevalent on t.ho Moi hinterbnil uf ::;outlwrn Annum (228). 'l'here, specittl cemeteries exist, iu '" hich, though buried in the ground, the corpse is accompanicll t;y some of the dearl persL•n's earthly possessions, which have been spoilt for earthly UHe, in onlor to !lluke them of use to its spirit nfter dottth. Ott'uringH ttre plact~rl ou tho grave, and ritual posts, with carved li kenosses of the dead, arc erected hcsicle it .(229). The Moken also erect rit1ml po;;ts, lobony, uut over their dea.d, but in tho phwes where they make otl'et·ing::; to the good a,nd evil spirits of nature, potent in matters uf l:lickJJeSR, shipwreck and death (32). 'L'he pm;ts are designed tts loH neeounts fur their origin in much tho same way nH the ftLble l'llpurkcl l>y tbvina concel'!ling the 7

origin of the Hiao-ao (l>ai-iw) iu the i11lnud of 1::Iaim1n. In both legends a king's (bughtcr, who \\'ttH lmni:-:lwrl 1Jy her fabher in Chin!1 for mal'l'ying a dog, gave birth ton son. Iu the Moken fable she sttiled alone to one of the Mergui islnml:-:, 11ntl the isRue of her union with the clog was bom there; in the 1-liau-ti.o legend she took tile clog with her to Hainan, whew it was killed by tho ROn she bore to it. In both legends she sent her son to the oppoRite siclo of the island and then disguised herself-the Hiao-iw say sho tattooed her fnce; the 1\'Ioken that she changed herself into n girl-iu both caRes, vvith the object of avoiding recognition by her sm1 atHl of being wooed and lllarried by him. In one case the Hiao-ao and in the othm· the Moken, were the ' is~uc of this incestuous union. Many of the twenty-five remaining lVIoken legends sliow sig 1~ 8 ~f extraneous infiuences not yet accounted for, as for instance No. 2_3' 111 ·-·-·--·-~-----

.----

.F. M:. S~vina, llistoiTe des 1lfiao, 2~~1 eel. HliiO, p. 107. . tl '· 11 Major Seidenfaden points out thnt thm·e is n, close ptmtllel ~0 ~ legend in ~eveml Dttnish :B\tiry Tttles, vide Kln.us Berntseu-.Fvllce Event!}! p. 101, and others. 7

PT. I)

HE\'IEWS OF DOOl{S

51

which one of seven sisters is rewn,rded for being the only one of them not too proud to accept a poor suitor; or Nos. 9, 10, 18, 21, 23 and 25, which have a completely happy ending; or the five instanceH of retribution for wrong doing : No. 7, the murderous minded woman changed into an ape; No. 10, the jealous sisters struck den.d; No. 16, the lecherous ski})per pL'icked to death by o, ray Jish; No. 20, the girl killed by the tiger to whom she offered herself; No. 21, the giant'R daughter slain by the mn.n whose wife she h11d killed. More in hnnnony with the Inclonesinn's fear of tho Powers of nature tue Nos. 8, 11, 13, 15,19 and 20, describing suffering caused by the direct or indirect action of cruel spirits or fniries. Ginntfl and fairies and magic are present in a. large number of the tales. In Nos. 1, 4, 5, 9, 10, 16, 20, 22 nnd24, the subject is tho union of tt human being (in 26 of a fn.iry) with an ::tnirrml, fish, bird or cmb (the latter in 22, thereupon turned into 11 girl). ~l'hcre m·e three cases of the metamorphosis of humn.n beings into ttnimals; No. 6, a woman into turtle because she disregarded a presentiment of coming trouble; No. 7, of a woman into an ape for inciting to trouble; No. 19, of seven sons into two-he!tded snakes after their meeting vvith a spirit. 'L'here are two c11ses of the reverse mctmnorphosis: No. 10, a frog into a youth; No. 22, a crab into a, mn.iden. Both co,ses form a happy solution of an otherwise sad adventure. In No. 15, the magical properties of a ring, n.ncl in No. 17, of bones wrapped in a white cloth, bring good luck. No. 12, that of the starving orplmn who found sustenance by following the tlictateH of a dream, it-J the only fo,Lle in which dren.ms are concerned. 'l'ho dream is widely held to register the action o£ the dre!Lmer's spirit when it len.ves the body tempomrily during sleep. No. 14, is the only fo,ble concerned solely with animn.ls, who talk to en.ch other, n.s in other cases they talk to human beings. This fn.ble, telling how a cunning little musk-elect' outwitted a big, strong tiger, is in the Aesop mode. 'l'he author visited tho Shan SttLtefl .and the northern border of Siam in the hope of finding data for fixing the place occupied by Meao and Yumbri in the demography of Indochina (199). Actually, his oqjcct was better served by his iinal trip to the Moi in southern Annn.m. He obtained, however, some interesting photos in the north of the vn.rious 'l'ibcto-Burmans and other.3 whom he found there: also he hon.rd a report conceming an unsuccessful Lahu-Yum bri union (213)-a bre11ch of the strict enclogn.my of the Yumbri. He

Huao

52

Anor,F BErtNA'riiiK

(VOL. XXXII

also assisted at the Lahu's New Year festival which centres round n. decorated conifer and reminded him o£ the Nordic Christmas tree (217). It would be desirable to have fuller details of the Lahu, 8 Akha, and Musso for comparison. Credner wrote: In the hills of fl. vV. Yiinmm rtre scrtc,· cftl ,_c Chuh Cb.o1 lJ. 1\.la..o, l! w.

J~,b::x.uar l·:wrL

0 )'"(lc.l~

C_tc .

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D i.o..m.o n.ds 7

etc.

·

62

)'OUR EXCEllENC)I,

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On the occo..sion.1your Joth.birtltd~ we tJ1.e unders~~ned. rnembers ~fthe Gmndl ancl tb Fonnder rn.em.bcrs 1ihe1) lAm .SOCI G1)' be3 you To c:t.ccept our most IJ.e~t:-­ felt ().ncl sincere con:rcxtuhi:tion.s1 will}_ c~ur best wisl1es [?r rna~. ~-:>ore llafpJ ~ruL o.ctLve ye.:v-5 toj~U-~w. . As one '2f i:he founder lDernbet·s ~four i)octe!>'yoal>ave Imel the orJ)Orfun\~ {~f f~Uo~Lt~Cf the l~f an.d. the develoJ>rne.nt ~ tbis lnsti:luliun_, whose bnour .n_cl wel"f~re lie so much on.the hea.YTh , Gl1 IJJlllU'W-Tihl'llfllJ " l!!!ci

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589.59

Sunury ales. Bank Intm·est Donations

Printing Journal Natural History Supp.

744.04

13.9-2 1.50

Authors' Separates General (& Stationery) Wrapping & A. .ddressing

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