{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_30233/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_30233","id":"gutenberg_30233","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/30233","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Folklore -- Borneo"],"text":"FOLK-LORE IN BORNEO\n\nA SKETCH\n\nBY\n\nWILLIAM HENRY FURNESS 3D, M.D., F.R.G.S.\n\nMEMBRE DE LA SOCI\u00c9T\u00c9 DE G\u00c9OGRAPHIE \u00c0 PARIS\nMEMBER OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY\nMEMBER OF THE AMERICAN ORIENTAL SOCIETY\n\n[_PRIVATELY PRINTED_]\n\nWALLINGFORD\nDELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA\n1899\n\n\n[Illustration: A KAYAN CHIEF.]\n\n\n\n\nA SKETCH OF THE FOLK-LORE OF BORNEO.\n\n\nIn this short monograph I do not pretend to give anything more than a\nSketch of the Folk-lore to be found among the Borneans. The island is\nlarge, and the people, scattered and isolated by constant inter-tribal\nwarfare, differ one tribe from another, in language, customs and\nappearance almost more than do Germans, French, or English; to say that\nany tradition or custom is common to all the tribes, or even to all of\none tribe, of Borneans, would be far too sweeping. A still greater\ndrawback to any universality, in legend or custom, is that there is no\nwritten language, not even so much as picture-drawings on rocks to give\nus a clue to ancient myths or traditions. The natives of Borneo are in a\ncertain sense savages, but yet they are savages of a high order,\npossessed of a civilization far above what is usually implied by the\nterm; they live together in what almost might be called co\u00f6perative\ncommunities, they practise the art of weaving, they forge rough\nimplements of iron, they cultivate rice and esculent plants, and in all\ntheir work, such as house-building, boat-building, manufacture of cloth\nand weapons of warfare, they show an ambitious desire, and a skilful\nability, to ornament their work and add, to its usefulness, pleasure to\nthe eye. One of their gravest faults, however, is their embarrassing\ntenacity to the _fad_ of head-hunting, and a strict adherence to the\nprinciple of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. This keeps the\ndifferent households, even of the same tribe, at constant war and makes\ninevitable an uncomfortable yet pleasing interchange of heads during the\ntedious months of the rainy season, when time hangs heavy on the\nwarriors' hands, and disused swords might get rusty.\n\nSo little is known of the social and anthropological position of these\npeople, to others than those who make Malaysia and the South Sea islands\ntheir study, that it may not be out of place to give a short description\nof the people themselves before entering on the subject of their\nFolk-lore.\n\nThe remote origin of the Borneans, as well as of the greater part of all\nof the inhabitants of the Polynesian islands, is an ethnological\nproblem; they are not Malay, neither are they Mongolian nor Negrito;\nthey bear resemblances here and there to all of these races, but not\nmarked enough to claim any one as the parent stock. Furthermore, there\nis some evidence in favor of the theory that they are the result of\nsuccessive migrations of tribes from northern India and from Anam.\n\n[Illustration: A KAYAN LONG-HOUSE.]\n\nThe inland tribes of Borneo, by which I include all the natives except\nthe Malays settled along the coast, are without any definite forms of\nreligious worship; they make idols of wood, but I have never seen any\noffering made to them, nor do they regard them apparently as anything\nmore than as scarecrows to frighten off evil spirits. They are the\nchildren of Dame Nature and as such have inherited their mother's\ndisregard for life, and this feature of their temperament has kept them\nin a constant turmoil of warfare, which in turn compels them for mutual\nprotection to band together in communities of several families and build\nfor themselves a common house wherein to live, ever ready to turn out in\nforce and resist the attacks of hostile tribes. In not a few instances\nthese houses are as much as a quarter of a mile in length and shelter as\nmany as four hundred people. Every household is presided over by a\nhead-man known as the elder, or _Orang Tuah_, and he in turn is governed\nin a measure by the chief of the tribe, known as the _Penghulu_. The\ngovernment of the household seems to be conducted in the quietest\nmanner; I have lived on several occasions in these houses for three or\nfour weeks at a time, and have never seen anything that could be called\na violent quarrel between two members of the household, nor have I seen\nthe Orang Tuah or the Penghulu submit any of the members to what might\nbe considered harsh treatment. I have also been with them when they were\nout on the warpath, to use a North-American Indian term, when every\nnerve was at high tension on the look-out for enemies and every thought\nwas turned to slaughter, but I have never seen the counsel of the Chief\ndisregarded. Of course, some Chiefs are weak and fail to give commands\nbecause they are afraid to act, but a command once given is carried out,\nor at least not disregarded, and I could never detect any means which\nwere taken to enforce an authority thus implicitly obeyed.\n\nAs a people, they are not active-minded nor industrious, but yield to\nthe influence of climate, and, following the example offered to them by\nthe vast, dense jungle on every side, accept life as easily as it comes.\nThey are no exception to the rule that all untutored minds, living in\nconstant communion with any awful aspect of Nature, be it gigantic\nmountains, a waste of waters, or an illimitable jungle, are saturated\nwith superstitions; every pool, every tree, every rock is the home of an\nevil spirit, and all mysterious noises in the forest are ghostly\nwhisperings. Everywhere are signs and omens to warn man of danger or\ndirect his course; theirs is a life where no schooling is so vital as\nthe ability to read aright the \"sermons in stones, books in the running\nbrooks.\" For them the world is the patch of jungle covering the few\nsquare miles that they know, and bounded by the hills in the distance;\nseldom do they get an extended view of the surrounding country; trees\nhem them in on all sides and the mountains are so difficult of ascent,\nand furthermore so infested with demons or \"antu,\" that the summits can\nbe gained only at the risk of body, and, still worse, of soul.\n\nMany natives of the interior live and die with never a glimpse of the\nsea, and the tales which the Malay and Chinese traders tell of lands\nbeyond the horizon where white men live, are as incomprehensible to them\nas are to us the conjectural accounts which astronomers give of the\ncanals on the planet Mars.\n\nNaturally enough, of course, creation began on the island of Borneo, or\nKalamantan, as they call it, and the first people were Borneans and\nspoke the language of the tribe that tells the story. Every tribe has a\ndifferent account of creation, and claims that its people sprang from\nthe first created mortals. The following account is the story of Genesis\naccording to the Kayans of Northwestern Borneo:--\n\nIn the old, old days, when there was nothing but water and sky, there\nfell from the heavens an enormous rock; that part of it which protruded\nfrom the water was hard, slippery, and quite bare, with no soil nor\nplants upon it of any kind. After a long time, however, the rains\nproduced slime upon the rock, and little worms, called _halang_, were\nbred in this slime, and they bored into the rock and left fine sand\noutside of their burrows; this sand eventually became soil and covered\nthe rock. Again years passed and the rock remained barren of all other\nlife until suddenly there dropped from the Sun a huge wooden handle of a\n_Parang_ (or sword) known as _Haup Malat_. This parang-handle sank deep\ninto the rock and taking root in the soil it sprouted and grew into a\ngreat tree, named _Batang Utar Tatei_, whose branches stretched out over\nthe new land in every direction. When this tree was fully grown, there\ndropped from the Moon a long rope-like vine known as the _Jikwan Tali_.\nThis vine quickly clung to the tree and took root in the rock. Now the\nvine, Jikwan Tali, from the Moon became the husband of the tree, Batang\nUtar Tatei, from the Sun, and Batang Utar Tatei gave birth to twins, a\nmale and a female, not of the nature of a tree, but more or less like\nhuman beings. The male child was called _Klobeh Angei_, and the female\nwas called _Klubangei_. These two children married and then gave birth\nto two more children, who were named _Pengok N'gai_, and _Katirah\nMurai_. Katirah Murai was married to old man _Ajai Avai_, who comes\nwithout pedigree into the narration. From Katirah Murai and Ajai Avai\nare descended many of the chiefs who were founders of the various tribes\ninhabiting the land of Kalamantan; their names are Sejau Laho, Oding\nLahang, from whom the Kayans spring, Tabalan, Pliban, and, finally,\nTokong, the father of head-hunting.\n\nAs time went on, that which formerly had been merely slime on the rock,\nbecame moss, and little by little small plants were produced. The twigs\nand leaf-like appendages of the tree, evidently the female principle in\nnature, as they fell to the ground, became birds, beasts, and fishes.\n(Let me mention here that the endowment of leaves with life and\nlocomotion is no more than natural; while in the jungle I have\nrepeatedly seen what, in every respect, appeared to be a leaf fall to\nthe ground and then miraculously put out legs and walk away; it was one\nof those remarkable insects of the _Mantis_ family, or \"walking\nleaves.\") The inhabitants of the rock had no need of fire in those days,\nfor the sun beat down on them strongly, and there was no night; it was\nnot until many, many years had elapsed that an old man named _Laki Oi_\ninvented a method of obtaining fire by means of friction produced by\npulling a strip of rattan rapidly back and forth beneath a piece of dry\nwood. This process of making fire he called _Musa_, and it is still the\nonly method used in obtaining fire for ceremonials, such as the naming\nof a child, or when communicating with the omen-birds. Laki Oi also\ntaught them the use of the fire-drill, which he called the _Nalika_.\n\nOn the main trunk of Batang Utar Tatei was a large excrescence, from\nwhich exuded a resinous gum called _Lutong_, which, as it dropped to the\nground beneath, was immediately transformed into chickens and swine; and\nit is because they were thus formed out of the very heart and substance\nof the tree that they are always used in the reading of auguries. From\nthis same cause, there was innate in them an insight into the innermost\nworkings of Nature and a knowledge of the future.\n\nThe first beings with any resemblance to man had neither legs, nor\nbreasts, and consisted merely of a head, chest, arms, and a fragment of\na body which hung down in shreds and rags, having the appearance of\ntwisted snakes. When they moved they dragged themselves along the ground\nby their arms. (From this description and from native carvings, I am\ninclined to believe that a large cuttle-fish or octopus must have\nsuggested this idea to the original narrator of this tradition.) Little\nby little, the body was brought into more compact form, and, in a later\ngeneration, legs appeared, but it was a long time before they became\naccustomed to legs and able to use them in moving about. A survival of\nthis awkwardness, so say the Kayans, is still noticeable in the way in\nwhich children crawl about the floor, and in their clumsy walk when\nfirst they learn to stand upright. The heads of these first people were,\nfurthermore, much larger than the heads of the present generation, and,\nsince it was the first part formed, it is the oldest part of the body,\nand on this account the most important member, and valued accordingly\nwhether dead or alive.\n\nThis account is, as far as I know, purely Bornean, inasmuch as had there\nbeen any admixture from a foreign source (as we shall see further on was\nprobably the case with the Dyaks) there would have been possibly some\nreference to a Supreme Creator rather than to this union of a vine and a\ntree as the original source of life. The Kayans from whom I obtained\nthis account have had exceedingly little communication with the outside\nworld, except through occasional Malay or Chinese traders. There is just\na possibility that the idea of the wooden sword-handle being the\nultimate _fons et origo_ of all life comes from the fact that the word\nfor chief--\"penghulu\"--is derived from \"hulu,\" meaning a sword-handle,\nand the prefix \"peng\" denoting agency, so that the whole word means\nliterally \"the master of the sword,\" and thus the ruler or chief. From\nassociation of ideas, the sword-handle, without which the blade is\nineffective and useless, may have been suggested to them as the chief\nof all beings. The sudden appearance of Ajai Avai on the scene as the\nhusband of Katirah Murai, is not at all at variance with the accounts\nfrom many other sources of the populating of the world. In Laki Oi, we\nrecognize the Kayan \"Prometheus,\" whose memory is revered by sanctifying\nthe fire procured after his manner of teaching, and from this tradition\nit is probable that the procuring of fire by means of the \"fire-saw\" is\nthe aboriginal method. Should all of the fires in a Kayan house become\nextinguished and no spark be left, new fires may be started by this\nmethod, and by this method alone; even the fire-drill, and flint and\nsteel, which are not unknown to them, are tabooed.\n\nThe Dayaks, who are closely akin in every respect to the Malays, and no\ndoubt adopted the traditions which were rife among the Malays both\nbefore and after the latter became converted to Mohammedanism, give an\naccount of the creation of the world differing in every particular from\nthe foregoing Kayan story.\n\nOne of the Dayak versions of the creation which I heard from the people\nof that tribe, living in the Baram district of Sarawak, is that in the\nbeginning there were two large birds,--the _Burong Iri_ and the _Burong\nRinggong_ (Burong meaning _bird_), who made all the rivers, the great\nsea, the earth, and the sky. The first things to have life were plants\nand trees. When trees were first made, the winds blew them down, and\nagain and again the Iri and the Ringgong had to set them up, until in\ntheir great wisdom they realized the necessity of props and stays, so\nthey fashioned the strong vines and creepers. Then these two creators\nsaw what pleasant places the boughs and branches of these trees would\nmake for other beings; whereupon they created birds and all flying\nanimals, like bats and flying squirrels. Then for a long while they\nconsulted together, and, finally, decided that they would make a man who\nshould walk about on the earth; at first, they made him of clay, but\nwhen he was dried he could neither speak nor move, which provoked them,\nand they ran at him angrily; so frightened was he that he fell backward\nand broke all to pieces. The next man that they made was of hard wood,\nbut he, also, was utterly stupid, and absolutely good for nothing. Then\nthe two birds searched carefully for a good material, and eventually\nselected the wood of a tree known as the _Kumpong_, which has a strong\nfibre and exudes a quantity of deep red sap, whenever it is cut. Out of\nthis tree they fashioned a man and a woman, and were so well pleased\nwith this achievement that they rested for a long while and admired\ntheir handiwork. Then they decided to continue creating more men; they\nreturned to the Kumpong tree, but they had entirely forgotten their\noriginal pattern, and how they had executed it, and they were therefore\nable to make only very inferior creatures, which became the ancestors of\nthe _Maias_ (the Orang Utan) and monkeys.\n\nThe man and the woman were very helpless and hardly knew how to obtain\nthe simplest necessities of life, so the Iri and the Ringgong devised\nthe _Ubi_--a wild sweetpotato--the wild Tapioca, the Kaladi, or, as we\nknow it, the Kaladium, and other edible roots, whereof the man and woman\nsoon learned to eat; fire, however, was unknown to these first people\nand they had to eat all of their food raw.\n\nContemporaneously with the Maias and the monkeys many other animals came\ninto being, among them the dog. For a long time all living things were\nfriendly to one another and lived in the land of Kaburau, which lies\nnear a branch of the great Kapuas river, and is, even to this day,\nconsidered by the Dayaks as the garden-spot of the world. The dog,\nhowever, because he cleaned himself with his tongue, soon came to be\ndespised by all other animals, and although a bully he was yet\nsubservient to man. Then the deer and many of the other animals taunted\nthe dog, saying that he was so mean-spirited and servile that although\nman thrashed him, nevertheless he fawned upon him and followed after\nhim; which they would never do, so they went off to the jungle to live.\nBut the dog comforted himself by saying that \"When the man is about to\nstrike me I crouch down and sometimes this keeps his hand off;\nfurthermore, I cannot live on the poor food that these others must eat.\"\nHence, the dog follows and obeys man.\n\nOne day when the man and the dog were in the jungle together, and got\ndrenched by rain, the man noticed that the dog warmed himself by rubbing\nagainst a huge creeper, called the _Aka Rarah_, whereupon the man took a\nstick and rubbed it rapidly against the Aka Rarah, and to his surprise\nobtained fire. This was the origin of the _Sukan_, or fire drill, and\never after the man had fire in his house. Not long after, in\naccidentally dropping an Ubi near the fire, he found that it became much\nmore pleasant to the taste; by this accident cooking was discovered.\n\n[Illustration: MAKING FIRE WITH A FIRE-DRILL.]\n\nIn the course of time, the dog and other animals began to multiply, and\nman imitated their example; the woman brought forth a male child, whose\nname was _Machan Buntu_. After many years, the woman gave birth to a\nfemale child who, when she was well grown, married her brother Machan\nBuntu and gave birth to seventy children at one time. These children\nleft their home and scattered all over the world. Some became wood\nsprites and mountain gnomes, living in the trees, in the rivers, and\nunder ground.\n\nThe tradition of the manufacture of man out of wood instead of clay is\nthoroughly in keeping with an origin purely Dayak. The Dayaks never have\nbeen proficient in pottery, and to this day they carve their bowls and\ndishes out of hard wood, otherwise it seems to me that clay would have\nsuggested itself to them as the most suitable substance whereof to have\nmade man. Another item looks as if part of the story were an\ninterpolation, namely, where it is related that the two birds were so\npleased with their work after making man, that they rested; this looks\nlike a suggestion due to the first chapter of Genesis. Again, in that\nland of Kaburau, where all animals lived in perfect harmony, and which\nwas the garden of the world, we may recognize the garden of Eden. Owing\nto the lack of writing, as I said before, it is impossible to say how\nold this tradition is, or to what extent it is known to Dayaks in other\nparts of the country; I have heard that very much the same story is told\nby the natives in the Rejang district several hundred miles south of the\nBaram; where the chiefest difference in the accounts is that earlier and\nhigher than the birds there was a Supreme Being called _Rajah Gantalla_,\nwho after creating the two birds, committed the rest of the work to\nthem. I think in the _-allah_ of this name (I speak under correction) we\nmay discern a strong indication of Mohammedan influence. The first man,\ninstead of being carved entirely of Kumpong wood, was made, in this\nlatter account, of clay and then filled with the sap of the Kumpong\ntree.\n\nA tradition (I do not say \"legend,\" for this implies writing) which all\nthe Kayans seem to know and to take pleasure in relating, is connected\nwith the origin of their rite of head-hunting, for, although every\npossible means is employed by the European rulers of the island to stop\nthis custom, it is still, nevertheless the one ruling passion of the\npeople. Nay, it is part of their Religion; no house is blest which is\nnot sanctified by a row of human skulls, and no man can hope to attain\nto the happy region of Apo Leggan unless he, or some near relative of\nhis, has added a head to the household collection. Let me correct,\nhowever, with regard to head-hunting, what is probably the prevalent\nidea that the heads are hung up in the houses bleeding and raw, just as\nthey are severed from the body. This is quite wrong; whether or not they\nwould tolerate in their homes such horrid objects I cannot say, but\ncertain it is that the heads are first subjected to fire and smoke until\nthe flesh has dropped away, and what is then hung up is merely a skull;\nunpleasant enough, but not so bad as is generally supposed.\n\n[Illustration: A KAYAN YOUTH.]\n\nThe tradition is that the great chief Tokong, when out on a war\nexpedition, was told by Kop, the frog, that he should always take,\ninstead of only the hair, the whole head of his enemies; Tokong was\nangry, at first, at the frog, but his followers at length persuaded him\nto let them try the experiment on their next attack. After taking the\nwhole heads, the war party retreated quickly to the river down which\nthey had come, and came to the spot where they had left their boats and\nwere surprised to find that everything was exactly as they had left it.\nWhen they embarked, lo, and behold! the current of the stream was, for\ntheir sakes, reversed and like a flash they were carried up-stream and\nreached their home in a miraculously short time. During the fifteen days\nthat they had been absent the crop of rice had not only sprouted, but\nhad grown, had ripened, and was almost ready to be harvested; the\nmembers of their family who had been sick when they left, were now all\nwell, the lame could walk and the blind see. The wise men waggled their\nheads, and one and all declared (and who can blame them?) that ever\nafter they would stick to the custom that Kop had taught them.\n\nIt is not unfair to infer from this tradition that they have a crude,\ngerminal sense of the barbarity of their actions, in so far as they\nthink it necessary to invent an excuse to palliate that savage love of\ntrophy-hunting which seems inborn in mankind. The rite of head-hunting\nis by no means confined to Borneo; the Formosans, and also many of our\nnew fellow-citizens, among the tribes of the Philippines, are\nenthusiastic head-hunters, and our own cherished Indians within our own\nborders have not yet given up their love for a scalp; it would be\nperilous to assert that it is not a United States custom.\n\nThe idea that the taking of a head is necessary in order to obtain\nentrance to the pleasant regions of the land of departed spirits, is a\ndoctrine taught by the chiefs in order to make men brave in battle, and\ndo all in their power to avoid the punishment which awaits the coward.\nThe Kayan Hades is believed to be under ground, and like the Hades of\nthe ancient Greeks there is a guide to the entrance who corresponds to a\ncertain extent to Charon. But their river Styx is not a stream, but a\ndeep and wide ditch, through which flow ooze and slime swarming with\nworms and maggots; the souls of the departed must cross over this ditch\nnot by a ferry, but by means of a fallen tree-trunk, guarded by the\ngreat demon _Maligang_, who challenges all comers, and if they have no\nrecord of bravery, he shakes the tree-trunk until they fall into the\nditch below and are eternally tortured by the devouring worm that dieth\nnot. Over the land of spirits presides the great demon _Laki Tenangan_,\nwho assigns the souls to their proper place, and sees that they get\ntheir deserts, whether good or bad.\n\nIn this shadowy world, APO LEGGAN is one of the principal regions, and\nis the abode of the spirits of those who die from sickness or from old\nage. The souls in _Apo Leggan_ have much the same lot as they had in\nthis world; the poor remain poor, and the rich maintain their rich\nestate, and even the soul that has been harassed in life in the upper\nair must none the less expect to find misfortune and perplexity in the\nworld to come. In the absence of any definite code of morals, this is,\nperhaps, the most suitable belief that a savage tribe could have; it\nstimulates them to a constant endeavor to better their condition in this\nlife and make their mark in some way, so that the life to come, in which\nthey have a firm belief, may not be a continuation of the hardships they\nhave endured here. Their methods of gaining wealth may not conform to\nour ideas of propriety, but then all is fair in love and war, and as\nthey have very little idea of love, their motto has to be \"all is fair\nin war;\" life in the jungle is little else than a ceaseless struggle for\nthe survival of the fittest.\n\nLONG JULAN, a second division, is where live the souls of those who have\ndied a violent or sudden death, either on the battlefield, or in their\nown clearings by the accidental fall of a tree; and there also dwell the\nyoung mothers who have died in childbirth; they become the wives of\nyoung warriors who likewise have been cut off in the bloom of youth and\nare therefore proper mates for unfortunate little mothers. Such beliefs\nnaturally tend to the taking of life; a young man, for instance, who\nloses his wife in childbirth wishes to meet her again in the next world,\nand his ambition to go on the warpath is doubly strong. Is he fortunate\nenough to take a head, he gains high rank among warriors; should he be\nkilled, he has the comfortable assurance that he will again meet his\nwife in _Long Julan_. The souls in _Long Julan_ have an easy time and\nare always fairly well off, whatever their circumstances were in this\nlife.\n\nTAN TEKKAN, a third division, is the place to which Laki Tenangan\nconsigns suicides; wretched and woe begone in appearance, their souls\nwander about in the jungle and in the clearings trying to pick up a\nliving by eating what roots and fruits they can find. This joyless\nHereafter is calculated to make those who contemplate suicide, rather\nperform some self-sacrificing act of bravery whereby they will not only\nbenefit those whom they leave behind, but also gain for themselves a\nmore pleasant position in the world to come; therefore suicide is not at\nall common.\n\nTENYU LALU, a fourth region, is assigned to the spirits of still-born\nchildren. These little souls are said to be exceedingly brave and need\nno other weapon wherewith to defend themselves than a stick of wood;\nthey have never felt pain nor experienced danger in this world, and are\ntherefore totally ignorant of such emotions. Whether or not they\nincrease in size in _Tenyu Lalu_ is not known, but it is generally\nsupposed that they live together in a little world of their own.\n\nFinally, LING YANG is the abode of those who have died by drowning; it\nlies below the beds of rivers, and here the spirits soon become\nexceedingly rich. All the goods lost in rivers by the capsizing of boats\nin the rapids, or when they run foul of a snag in deep water, go into\nthe coffers of the dwellers in _Ling Yang_.\n\nSuch are the main divisions of the _Dali Matei_, or country of the\ndead; there are, however, many sacred hills, rivers, and lakes wherein\ndwell certain powerful demons who govern the spirits. In this nether\nworld, some say that there are trees and plants and animals much the\nsame as in this; this point, however, seemed open to considerable doubt\nin the minds of some whom I questioned, while others had so definite an\nidea of it that they drew maps to show the positions of the different\nregions. They seemed to regard it as a large river, along whose\ntributaries dwelt the various classes of departed spirits. The Dayongs,\nor medicine men, are the only ones who are supposed really to know;\nthese all maintain that, while acquiring their power over sickness, they\nhad visited the land of spirits. In the mythology of all countries there\nis sure to be a hero who has made the descent to Hades and returned to\ntell the tale, and the Kayans are no exceptions; they have their\nOrpheus, only his name is Gamong.\n\nGamong, during an attack of fever, realized that he was at the point of\ndeath, but was loath to resign his spirit, so he called his friends\naround him and begged them to dress him up, after death, in all his\nwar-clothes, and not to bury him for three days, but to place him in a\nsitting posture with his sword and spear in his hands. He comforted them\nby saying that he had an inner assurance that he had a terrible\nencounter before him, but that he would actually return to this world in\nabout three days. Shortly after this, his breath ceased and his friends\nperformed all the rites of burial, just as he had requested. For three\ndays his body remained rigid; at the end of that time, he came back to\nlife and told his open-eyed friends his adventures as follows: \"When my\nspirit left you, I went directly down the path which leads to the great\ntree-trunk, _Bintang Sikopa_, where Maligang stands; according to his\nwont, he hailed me and told me to halt, which I would not do. Then\nMaligang, whose arm is enormous, many times bigger than his body, began\nto shake the tree, calling out 'who are you?' I replied 'I am Gamong, a\nbrave warrior, and you must not shake the tree while I cross.' Maligang\nthen said, consulting the pegs with which he records the deeds of men,\n'What proof have I that you have been brave?' At this I was furious, I\ndrew my parang, uplifted my spear and ran amok, rushing into Maligang's\nhouse, smashing everything and overturning the great jars of rice-toddy,\nof which there is an abundance, but whereof no one ever drinks. Maligang\nwas frightened and bolted from the house, shouting as he fled, 'I have\nnot got you now, but in seven years' time you must return.' Finding that\nMaligang had fled, and that there were other obstacles to prevent me\nfrom going on, I returned to this world and its trials.\" The story goes\nthat Gamong lived seven years after this, and then succumbed body and\nsoul to the great Maligang; and as there is no record of his bravery, he\nwas probably shaken off of the tree-trunk and disappeared in the deep\npit seething with maggots.\n\nAll this veracious history I got by word of mouth from a Kayan of the\nTinjar valley.\n\nAlmost every medicine man has been down among the spirits of the dead,\nand in proof of his assertions, a curiously shaped stone, or a knot of\nwood, is displayed, which has been given by the spirits and is endowed\nwith all sorts of marvellous properties. I have in my possession a\nDayong's whole outfit of charms which I bought from his relatives after\nhis death; they were afraid to touch it, and for another Dayong to use\nit is taboo of the worst kind. Such charms are usually buried with the\npractitioner, but this old fellow evidently did not have a very large\npractice, and, at his death, he was somewhat neglected. One of the\ncharms is a stone in which an active imagination might trace a\nresemblance to the hand or foot of an animal; the sorrowing relatives\ntold me, with awe and bated breath, that it was given to their uncle by\na spirit on the top of a mountain, and that it was the foot of a dragon,\none of the most powerful resources of the Dayong pharmacopoeia.\n\n[Illustration: KAYAN WOMEN.]\n\nCompanions to the stories of visits to the regions below the earth are\nstories of visits to the world above the skies, to which adventurous\nheroes climb either by vines or ropes, which dangle suddenly in front of\nthem, or by means of lofty trees. \"Jack and the Bean Stalk\" is a\nparallel story in our own folklore. Sir Spencer St. John[1] gives a\nDayak account of the introduction of rice among the Orang Iban, as they\ncall themselves, which states that \"when mankind had nothing to eat but\nfruit and a species of fungus which grows round the roots of trees, a\nparty of Ibans, among whom was a man named _Si Jura_ (whose descendants\nlive to this day in the village of Simpok) went forth to sea. They\nsailed on for a long time until they came to a place where they heard\nthe distant roar of a large whirlpool, and, to their amazement, saw\nbefore them a huge fruit tree rooted in the sky and thence hanging down,\nwith its branches touching the waves. At the request of his companions,\nSi Jura climbed among its boughs to collect the fruit, which was in\nabundance; when he got among the boughs, he was tempted to ascend the\ntrunk and find how the tree grew in that position. On looking down he\nsaw his companions making off with the boat loaded with fruit; there\nwas nothing for him to do but go on climbing. At length he reached the\nroots of the tree and found himself in the country of the Pleiades\n[which the Dayaks call 'the seven chained-stars']; when he stood upon\nthe ground he met a man-like being, whose name was Si Kira, and he went\nwith him to his house. For food Si Kira offered to him a mess of soft\nwhite grains, and told him to eat. 'What, eat those little maggots?'\nsaid Si Jura. 'They are not maggots, that is boiled rice,' replied Si\nKira, and he forthwith instructed him in the art of planting, weeding,\nreaping, husking, and boiling rice.\n\n\"While Si Kira's wife was out, getting some water, Si Jura peeped into\none of the tall jars that were standing near by, and looking straight\nthrough the bottom of it, he could see his father's house and all his\nbrothers and sisters sitting around talking. His spirits were much\ndepressed at the remembrance of the home that perhaps he should never\nsee again, and instead of eating he wept. Si Kira at once saw what was\nthe matter, and assured him that he would arrange everything\nsatisfactorily for him; then Si Jura fell to and ate a hearty meal, and\nafterwards he was given three kinds of rice, and Si Kira further\ninstructed him how to fell the jungle, burn it, then take the omens from\nthe birds before planting, and when he harvested to hold a feast. By\nmeans of a long rope Si Jura was lowered down to the earth again, close\nto his father's house. From his visit to the Pleiades the Dayaks learned\nall that they know about farming, and, what is more, to this day the\nPleiades themselves tell them when to begin farming, for, according to\ntheir position in the sky in the morning and evening, they cut down the\njungle, burn, plant, and reap.\"\n\nI think there can be no doubt that Si Kira bestowed a great blessing on\nthe Dayaks when he gave them rice; but I am very sure that he saddled\nthem with a dire affliction when he introduced to them the omen-birds;\nmore procrastination, failure of expeditions, and exasperation of soul\ncan be laid to the score of these birds than to anything else on earth.\nThere is hardly an undertaking, however slight, that can be begun\nwithout first consulting these wretched birds. Yet it is hardly to be\nwondered at, that all tribes should hold the birds to be little prophets\nof the jungle, dashing across man's path, at critical moments, to bless\nor to ban. In the deep jungle, which at high noon is as silent as\n\"sunless retreats of the ocean,\" gay-plumaged birds are not sitting on\nevery bough singing plaintive, melodious notes; such lovely pictures\nexist solely in the mind of the poet or of him who has never visited the\ntropics. In the thick tangle of leaves and branches overhead, the larger\nbirds are seen with difficulty, even after considerable practice, and\nthe smaller birds appear as but a flash of light, as they dart through\nthe interlacing palms and vines; the apparition, with its sudden gleam\nand instant disappearance, starts the impulse to make a wish, as when we\nsee a star shoot across the heavens. This same natural and almost\nirresistible impulse, which we have all experienced, I suggest as one of\nthe explanations of the tendency of the Bornean mind to accept the birds\nas the intelligent forerunners of good or ill. These unsophisticated\nnatives wander forth with some wish in their hearts, and should a bird\nof the right species (for not all birds are omen-birds) cross their\npath, the fulfilment of their wishes is established beyond a doubt by\nits mere appearance, and it is to be feared (for they are mortal) that\nif they do not want to see the bird--well, there are none so blind as\nthose who won't see. When it comes to taking omens for such an important\nevent as the planting of rice, or for going on the warpath, then the\nceremony extends over ten days or two weeks, and the opinion of the\nsmall barking deer also must be consulted; furthermore, the whole\nhousehold is under the ban of a taboo, or _permantang_, as they call it,\nand the people must all stay indoors while the three men who are\nappointed as searchers are abroad on their omen-seeking errand. So firm\nis their trust in the wisdom of the birds that even if they have worked\nfor months at a clearing they will abandon it and never plant it, if the\nomens at the time of sowing be unfavorable. Certain birds must be seen\non the right hand to be favorable, while others are most propitious when\nthey soar overhead, or give a shrill cry on the left; on more than one\noccasion, when traveling in native canoes, a bird which ought to have\nappeared on the right has been seen on the left, and, to my utter\nbewilderment, without a word the boat has been swung round in the stream\nso as to bring to the right what was on the left, thus slyly fabricating\na bad omen into a good one, and for some distance we have gone in the\nopposite direction, but now with highly favorable omens. When they\nconclude that the bird has forgotten his warning or lost sight of us,\nthe boat has been again turned, fate has been deceived, and we journey\non as before. Once our whole party of eight or ten boats had to pull up\nat the bank and walk through the jungle for a quarter of a mile or so to\nmake a bothersome white-headed hawk think that he had mistaken the\nobject of our expedition. When a favorable bird has been seen, a fire of\nchips is at once built on the bank of the river, thereby letting the\nbird know that his kind attention has been appreciated, Fire is always\nthe go-between of man and the birds, or any of the spirits; it forms an\nimportant part in the ceremonies of consecration and absolution, and by\nmeans of fire a man may break through a taboo, or _permantang_. Should\na man have a fruit-tree, for instance, which he wishes to protect, he\nplaces about it several cleft sticks with stones thrust in the clefts,\nand the stones are told to guard the tree and afflict with dire diseases\nany pilferer of the fruit. Now, should a friend of the owner see this\nsign of _permantang_ and yet wish some of the fruit, let him but build a\nfire and commission the fire to tell the stones that he is a friend of\nthe owner, and that it is all right if he takes the fruit; then, when\nthe fire is burnt out, the fruit may be taken with impunity. In the\nceremony of naming a child, the sacrificial pig is touched with a fire\nbrand before it is harangued by the Dayong, or medicine man; and to\ndetermine whether or not the chosen name be propitious, the strip of\nrattan which has been used on the fire-saw to obtain the sacred fire, is\nbent into a loop until its ends just meet; it is then set on fire in the\nmiddle and allowed to burn through. If the two pieces thus made are of\nuneven length the name is good; if they are both the same length another\nname must be selected. The ashes from this burning are made into a paste\nand smeared on the child's forehead just before it is deluged with a\nbowl of cold water, and the name is made public for the first time. It\nis strange what a similarity exists in different races relative to this\nceremony of giving a name. Why water should be used to confirm the rite,\nthey cannot themselves explain, except by saying that it is a custom\nhanded down to them from their grandfathers and their\ngreat-great-grandfathers. It can hardly have suggested itself to the\nminds of the Borneans as an element of purification and cleansing; to\ntheir mind water does not possess these properties. Water is good to\ndrink when you are thirsty, and refreshing to bathe in when you are\nhot, that is all; dirt has no horrors to the Bornean mind, and after a\nplunge in the river has refreshed the body, the Kayan, Dayak, Kenyah,\nSibop, or whatever the tribe, will put on the same dirty waist-cloth or\ncotton jacket that has never known soap, and has seldom if ever been\nnearer the water than when on the back of its owner. Perhaps it is that\nwater is symbolic of life and motion; the river is always moving, it\nmurmurs and talks to itself, a draft of its coolness and a plunge into\nits embrace adds new life to man; why should it not be the giver of\nlife? In almost all the native languages of Borneo the word for water\nand river is the same; even when water is brought up into the house it\nis still the river, and when they drink, they drink the river; when they\nboil their rice they boil in the river, and when they name their\nchildren they pour the river over them. Many subtribes or households\ntake their name from the river on which they live, as, for instance, the\nLong Patas who live, or used to live, at the mouth of the Pata river\n(Long meaning junction of one river with another), the Long Kiputs, the\nLong Lamas, and many others that might be named, including the whole\ntribe of the Kayans, who take their name from the great Kayan river\nwhich empties into the sea on the East coast. If a river that is new to\nthem be visited, the spirits of that stream must be always propitiated\nlest they resent the intrusion and drown the visitor. It is the custom\namong the Bukits, one of the most primitive tribes, for the youths, when\nthey reach the bank of a new river, to divest themselves of every\narticle of clothing, save a chaplet of leaves, which they twist from the\nvines near at hand; then crouching at the edge of the water, they toss\nsome personal ornament, such as a brass ear-ring or a bright bead, far\nout into mid-stream, and at the same instant scoop up a handful of the\nwater; gazing earnestly into the few drops which they hold in their\npalm, they invoke the spirits of the river to protect them, and implore\npermission to enter the new territory. Not until this rite is completed\nwould they dare to bathe in the stream.\n\n[Illustration: A SCENE ON THE DAPOI RIVER.]\n\nTo revert to the subject of names; from all that I have read, and from\npersonal observation, it seems that all Borneans recognize the sanctity\nof names; of this we may find traces among all the primitive people of\nthe earth. Before the formal ceremony of naming a child, for instance,\nhas been performed, the child has no recognized place in the community,\nand a mother in enumerating her children would never think of mentioning\none that had died before it was named, even though it had lived a year.\nBefore the ceremony, the intended name is known to no one except the\nparents, and, for them to mention it, is strictly _permantang_ until the\nriver water has been poured on the child's head. A Kayan will never tell\nyou his name, but when asked he invariably turns to some one sitting\nnear him and asks him to pronounce the name which to the owner is\nineffable. For a man to mention the name of his dead father or mother is\na reckless flying in the face of providence. After a serious illness the\nname should be changed and never uttered again, lest the evil spirits\nrevisit their victim; under a new name they will be likely to pass him\nby. On one occasion, recognizing a man that I had seen on a former\nvisit, but, at the moment forgetting his name, I enquired what it was;\nthe name, however, struck me as entirely unfamiliar. He afterward\nacknowledged that he had been very sick since I last saw him and now\nbore a new name; only the assurance that the spirits could not harm him\nthrough a white man induced him at last to whisper to me his former\nname. This change of name to deceive the fates extends even to inanimate\nobjects, and to animals which are to be caught or trapped. When hunting\nfor camphor, the name of the object of their search must be never\nmentioned; it is always spoken of as \"the thing that smells.\" Even all\nthe instruments, which they use in collecting the valuable drug, have\nfanciful names, while the searchers talk in a language invented solely\nfor those who collect camphor. Unless they conform to all these\nrequirements, the camphor crystals, which in this particular variety are\nfound only in the crevices of the wood, will elude them and their search\nbe fruitless. When the people go _Tuba fishing_, which consists of\npoisoning the stream with the juice of the Tuba root, and thus\nstupefying the fish and making them rise to the surface, where they can\nbe easily caught in nets or speared, they never say that they are going\nafter fish, but after the leaves which float down stream.\n\nThese and many other customs relative to the naming of things are all\nfounded on the same idea of the potency and mysticism inherent in a\nname, which may be found in the legends of the old Egyptians, wherein\nthe power of the great king and god _Ra_ depended on the fact that no\none knew his real name, until Isis by stratagem got it from him; and\nforthwith his power left him. It was this same idea that prevented the\nHebrew from ever speaking the name of the Most High; it is probably the\nsame thought which prompts the Japanese to change a person's name after\ndeath lest by mentioning the one known during life the spirit of the\ndead should be recalled from the other world.\n\nThe downfall of the god _Ra_ brings to mind another superstition of\nwhich I have noticed a remnant among the Borneans also, the power of\nworking charms with the saliva. When the great god Ra became so old that\nhe no longer had control of his lower jaw, Isis collected some of his\nsaliva which dropped upon the ground below his throne, and mixing it\nwith clay, made a snake of it. (I quote from the \"Turin Papyrus,\" of\nwhich Mr. EDWARD CLODD gives a translation in his recent and valuable\nlittle book called \"Tom Tit Tot.\") This snake Isis left in Ra's path; as\nhe passed by, it bit him, and to relieve him of his agony Isis persuaded\nhim that the only thing to be done was to tell her his true name that\nshe might drive out the pain from his bones. This he finally did, and\nwith disastrous results. I instance this to show the antiquity of the\nsuperstition that the saliva is potent as an ingredient of charms; the\nKayans illustrate this, in the manner whereby they elude an evil spirit\nwhich may have been following them on a journey on the river. They build\na small archway of boughs on the bank just before they arrive at their\ndestination. Underneath this arch, they build a fire and, in single\nfile, all pass under, stepping over the fire and spitting into it as\nthey pass; by this act they thoroughly exorcise the evil spirits and\nemerge on the other side free from all baleful influence. Another\ninstance, is where they are throwing aside the signs of mourning for the\ndead; during the period of mourning they may not cut their hair nor\nshave their temples, but as soon as the mourning is ended by the\nceremony of bringing home a newly-taken head, the barber's knife is kept\nbusy enough. As every man leaves the barber's hands, he gathers up the\nhair, and, spitting on it, murmurs a prayer to the evil spirits not to\nharm him. He then blows the hair out of the verandah of the house.\n\nAll these parallelisms, in the modes of thinking, among men in far\nremoved quarters of the earth, do not, I think, necessarily imply that\nthere has been a transmission of thought from one race to the other, but\nthat there is a certain round of thought through which the brain leads\nus, and in development we must all have followed along the same path.\nSome races have made more rapid strides than others, possibly owing to\nnatural surroundings, and in their strides have left the others\ncenturies behind. Almost within the memory of our grandfathers, in this\ncountry, witches were burned, and from this there is only a step back to\nthe Dayong of Borneo. Indeed, whosoever sees these people and lives with\nthem their everyday life, must regard them, after a not very long time,\nmerely as backward pupils in the school of life. Let me say in\nconclusion, that he would have an unresponsive heart that could not feel\nlinked in a bond of fellowship with these people, and that God has made\nof only one blood all nations of the earth, when he hears a Bornean\nmother crooning her child to sleep with words identical in sentiment\nwith \"Rock-a-bye Baby,\"--what though the mother's earlobes are elongated\nmany an inch by heavy copper rings, her arms tattooed to the elbow, and\nher blackened teeth filed to points. Once upon a time I heard a Kayan\nmother soothing her little baby to sleep, and the words of the lullaby\nwhich I learned are as follows:--\n\n\n     From the River's mouth the birds are straying,\n     And the Baiyo's topmost leaves are swaying;\n           The little chicks cheep,\n           Now my little one sleep,\n     For the black house-lizard, with glittering eye,\n     And the gray-haired Laki Laieng are nigh!\n           Sleep, dear little one, sleep!\n\n\nFor those philologically inclined I append the original:--\n\n\n     Lung koh madang Manoh\n     Migieong ujong Baiyo\n     Mensip anak Yap\n     Lamate Telyap, Telyap abing,\n     Lamate Laki Laieng oban!\n                   Ara we we ara!\n\n\nFOOTNOTE:\n\n[1] \"Forests of the Far East,\" vol. i, p. 213.","title":"Folk-lore in Borneo : $b a sketch","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":8925}