Part 7 - Sumatra

Of the early accounts of betel-chewing in Sumatra the most interesting and reliable is undoubtedly that given by Thomas Bowrey (1669-1679). In describing Achin he says^[1]:

“The Betelee Areca is here in great plenty and much better then in many Other countries of the East and South Seas. Very few houses here but have Severall trees of it growinge that beare all the yeare longe, and the inhabitants in Generali doe Eat thereof, prepared thus: They cutt the Areca nut into very thin Slices, and put about one halfe of a nut into their mouth, and then one betelee leafe or two (ac-cordinge as they are in bignesse), and Spread a little qualified lime thereon, which by them is called Chenam, which folded up together they eat with the Nut, which after a little Chewing doth produce very much Liquorish moisture in the mouth, which for the most part they Swallow downe, and after a good while chewinge untill it is dry, they spit it out and take more that is fresh, and thus will they almost all day longe chew betelee Areca. They hold it good for the Stomach, and keepinge the breath Sweet, the latter of which I am very well Satisfied in, but if the Nut be green, which here is very much in Use, they onely cutt the nutt in 2 pieces and paringe off a little of the green rine, eat it with betelee as the Other, which doth eat much more pleasant then the Old Ones doe.

“The Leafe is the betelee, a broad leafe not very much Unlike to an Ivie leafe, only Somethinge thinner, and groweth resemblinge the Vine, as followeth [see Plate XVII, facing p. 308].

“Areca, vizt. commonly called betelee Nut, doth grow Upon a very comely Streight and Slender tree, taperinge in joynts, and the nutt groweth out of the body thereof below the branches as followeth [see Plate XVII, as above]. It is a very hard wood, and much Used by many in India to make lances and pikes On.”

In describing the reception by the Queen, Bowrey speaks^[2] of her “Great Gold betelee box as bigge as one of [the] eunuchs can well beare in his arms, brought downe and placed before them, and they must eat thereof, although never Soe little, which is accompted as great an honour here, as knighthood in the Courts of European Kings there.”

It is interesting to compare the above descriptions with those given by William Dampier when discussing the products of Mindanao in the Philippines, and Tonquin. (See later, p. 301 et seq.)

Turning to modern accounts Hurgronje^[3] states that the use of the betel leaf (ranub) with its accessories (pineung, gapu, gambé —areca-nut, lime and gambier—bakōng and sundry odoriferous herbs) is absolutely universal. It figures both in betrothal and marriage ceremonies, while the areca-nut as one of the means of pronouncing a divorce (taleue’, from the Arab, ṭalāq) is for the husband to take three fragments of ripe areca-nut and hand them over one by one with a kind of dignified anger to the wife with the words “one taleuë’, two taleuë’, three taleuë’ thou art to me but as a sister in this world and the next.” Thereupon they give notice of the dissolution of the marriage to the teungku title given to those who hold an office connected with religion].

The idea of divorce is thus intimately connected in the minds of women with these three pieces of areca-nut. When particularly angry with her husband, a woman will ask him to give her “the three bits of areca-nut.”^[4] It sometimes happens that a person who has just paid a visit to a grave is seized with a colic, or sits down and behaves as though doting. He is then said to be seumapa, meaning that a dead person has addressed him or greeted him. In such cases the sufferer is bespewed with charmed sīrīh spittle, a universally recognised remedy for many ailments in Acheh. Should this red spittle turn yellowish in hue on his body, the conjecture that he is seumapa becomes a certainty.^[5]

Areca-nut is used in one way or another for the cure of nearly every illness. In the case of cholera the nut is pounded and the extract drunk in rice-water.

The most recent information on betel-chewing in Sumatra is to be found in Collet’s Terres et Peuples de Sumatra, Amsterdam, 1925. The first general description appears on p. 223 as follows:

“En revanche, la chique de sirih joue un role fondamental. Ce masticatoire se compose d’un fragment de noix d’arec, d’un morceau de gambier, d’un soupçon de chaux vive blanche et d’une pincée de tabac enveloppés dans une feuille fraîche de sirih (piper bettel), pliée selon des règles immuables. Le bétel, dont le principe actif est une sorte de pipérine, agit sur le système nerveux comme un narcotique léger. La salive trop abondante pour ne pas nuire à 1’organisme, communique une couleur pourpre tout à fait répulsive, aux lèvres et à la cavité buccale.”

In another passage on p. 236, in view of what has previously been said about the five fruits, it is interesting to note that the ingredients of a “chew” are, in Sumatra, called the “five brothers,” referring to the betel leaf, the areca-nut, lime, gambier, and tobacco.

Mr Blagden tells me that the above are the five recognised ingredients throughout the whole of Malaya.

The inclusion of tobacco points, of course, to the recent date of at least one of the five ingredients, but I have no reason to doubt that the number still reflects the influence of Hinduism and Buddhism in the Eastern Archipelago:

“Comme dans toute la Malaisie, la présentation du sirih —les ‘cinq frères’ d’après le nombre des ingrédients de la chique de bétel—vient au premier rang des rites de l’hospitalité entre indigènes. Au point de vue de cérémonial, le rôle de ce masticatoire implique l’agrément ou le refus: il reste le commencement, la source sociale, l’amorce rituelle de toute conversation —Kapala Adat, Kapala Bahasa —en même temps que l’offre de la cigarette tronçonique roulée dans une feuille de mais. Jamais non plus on n’oublie de présenter une natte au visiteur pour qu’il s’y accroupisse.”

He gives (p. 311) a full description of betel-boxes and the different implements they contain. He also mentions the use of betel at both marriage and death ceremonies (see pp. 330, 367).

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Countries Round the Bay of Bengal, edited by Sir R. C. Temple, Hakluyt Society, 1905, pp. 304-306.

[2]:

Op. cit., pp. 309-310.

[3]:

The Achehnese, translated by A. W. S. O’Sullivan, Leyden and London, 1906, p. 32.

[4]:

Hurgronje, op. cit., p. 369.

[5]:

Op. cit., p. 413.