form of “Vetala.” When the Raja encounters the Baital it was hanging “head downwards, from a branch a little above him. Its eyes which were wide open, were of a greenish-brown, and never twinkled; its hair also was brown and brown was its face—these several shades which, notwithstanding, approached one another in an unpleasant way, as in an over-dried cocoa-nut. Its body was thin and ribbed like a skeleton or a bamboo framework, and as it held on to a bough, like a flying-fox, by the toe-tips, its drawn muscles stood out as if they were ropes of coir. Blood it appeared to have none, or there would have been a decided determination of that curious juice to the head; and as the Raja handled its skin, it felt icy cold and clammy as might a snake. The only sign of life was the whisking of a ragged little tail much resembling a goat’s. Judging from these signs the brave king at once determined the creature to be a Baital—a Vampire.”
A belief in Vampires is very firmly established among the Malays of the Peninsula, and there are a number of magic rites which must be performed to protect both women and children.[45] Probably the spirit most resembling a European Vampire is the Pĕnanggalan, which is supposed to resemble a trunkless human head with the sac of the stomach attached thereto, and which flies about seeking an opportunity of sucking the blood of infants. There are, however, other spectres which are dangerous to children. There is the Bajang, which generally takes the form of a polecat[46] and disturbs the household by mewing like a huge cat. The Langsuir is seen as an owl with hideous claws which perches and hoots in a most melancholy way upon the roof. Her daughter, a still-born child, is the Pontianak or Madi-anak, who is also a night-owl. The Polong is a kind of goblin, and the Pĕlĕsit corresponds most closely to the familiar of the English witches.
The Bajang is generally said to be a male demon and the Langsuir is considered as the female species. Both of these spirits are supposed to be a kind of demon-vampire, and are often handed down in certain families as heirlooms, in exactly the same way as in English trials we find that the familiar descended from mother to daughter. Thus at Chelmsford “at an examination and confession of certaine Wytches,” 26 July, 1566,[47] Elizabeth Francis confessed to various
