changing scene of endless, bloody strife. The same
custom prevails over the greater part of the interior
of Borneo among many tribes known as Dyaks, the
Malay word for “ savage.” There only the heads of
men are valued, and new ones must be obtained to
celebrate every birth and funeral, as well as marriage.
I have seen a necklace of human teeth made
in that island by those people. Small holes had
been drilled in several scores of them, which were
then strung on a wire long enough to pass two or
three times round the neck of the hero who wore it.
When a head is secured, the brains are taken out,
and it is placed over a fire to be smoked and dried.
During this process, the muscles of the face contract
and change the features until they assume a most
ghastly grimace.
The dance being finished, we conversed with
them as well as we could about their customs, for
none of them could speak but a few words in Malay.
On the piece of paper-like bark which hangs down
in front, each warrior makes a circle when he cuts
off a head. Some had one or two of these circles;
but one man had four, and I gave him to understand
that I knew what they meant by drawing my hand
four times across my throat, and then holding up
the fingers of one hand, and instantly he hopped
about as delighted as a child, thinking that of course O / o
I was regarding him as the bravest of the brave,
while I looked at him in mute astonishment, and
tried to realize what a hardened villain he was.
Our North American savages are civilized men compared
to these fiends in human form.
■Ll