A "buance" is a ghost that inhabits the uplands of certain islands near Sumatra. It is said to be the spirit of a young girl or woman who died before she had ever eaten cassava and so spends eternity searching for cassava seeds. According to the locals, if you are confronted by a buance you simply have to point in some direction and the buance will go off that way on its eternal cassava search. The buance is not vindictive or nasty, just sort of lost. You can protect yourself against a buance by wearing a "titan arum" flower on your clothing or in your hair.