Note 25 — Chapter II · Man and his Place in the Universe

My informant declared that these objects came into existence of themselves (tĕrjali sĕndiri), at a spot between the two peaks of a burning mountain (gunong mĕrapi) in the country of Menangkabau in Sumatra. He also averred that “rain could not rot them nor sun blister them,” and that any one who “brushed past them” (di-lintas) would fall to the ground;25 whilst no fewer than seven buffaloes have to be slaughtered before the “moving mountains” (when worn out) can be replaced.26