sisting of great barn-like houses, accommodating many families,—cultivate com and
roots,—rear the cotton plant, spin and weave it,—manufacture malleable iron and steel,
and breed the hog, common fowl, and dog, but no largo quadruped for labour.
Letters are wholly unknown to the Dyaks, for they have neither invented alphabetic
writing themselves, nor adopted that of any of the other nations of the Archipelago.
In whatever state of society, the Dyaks are all of one and the same race, and this race
is the true Malayan,—brown complexioned men with lank hair, and of short stature.
The most numerous, powerful, and civilised of all the Dyaks, is the tribe of the
Kayan, which extends across the island nearly from sea to sea, between the third
degree of north and the first of south latitude. These have been described by two
English travellers, who penetrated the interior of the island for several hundred miles,
Mr. Dalton in 1828 from the southern coast, and Mr. Burns in 1848 from the northwestern.
Both lived among the Kayans, and had the best opportunities of observing
them. As this people are little known, I shall, therefore, copy some of these gentlemen’s
observations, most of which are equally applicable to the other less powerful
tribes of Dyaks. This is Mr. Dalton’s account of the distribution of the wild tribes
over Borneo generally. “ Borneo,” says he, “ is intersected with rivers of greater or
less magnitude : every river has a distinct people, who will associate with no other,
but wages continual war with all. The entrances of the rivers are the scene of
unceasing warfare, as parties always lie in ambush about these parts, in hopes of surprising
individuals who may be found fishing, or straying too far from their campongs
(villages), where they may be cut off without notice or alarm. Every river has a raja,
and a large one several. In particular parts, many of these chiefs are united under
one great raja, the better to consolidate their strength, and insure protection by
mutual support.”
Mr. Dalton thus describes one of the ravaging expeditions of his host Seiji, one ot
the principal chiefs of the Kayans. “ The ravages of these people are dreadful: in
August, 1828, Seiji returned to Marpao from an excursion. His party had been three
months absent, during which time, besides detached huts, he had destroyed seventeen
campongs, with the whole of the men and old women. The young women and
children were brought prisoners. The former amounted to 118 and the latter to
about 200. He had with him about 40 war boats or large canoes, none less than
95 feet in length. The one set apart for Seiji and his women was 105 feet long. I was
nearly two months in this boat in various directions with him when Seiji was in search
of heads. The Bwiftness of these canoes is incredible : when going down the river with
the stream, they have the appearance of a bird skimming the water. The sensation
is such that I invariably fell asleep. The perseverance of the Dyaks during an
expedition is wonderful; they generally get information of distant campongs from
the women taken prisoners (no man ever escapes to tell the tale), who soon become
attached to the conquerors. In proceeding towards a distant campong the canoes
are never seen on the river during the day-time. They invariably commence their
j o u r n e y about half an hour after dark, when they pull rapidly and silently up the
river close to the bank. One boat keeps immediately behind another, and the
paddles are covered with the soft bark of a tree, so that no noise whatever is made.
In Seiji’s last expedition, it was forty-one days before a campong was surprised,
although several canoes were cut off in the river, owing to the superior sailing of his
boats. ° After paddling all night without intermission, about half an hour before daylight,
they pull the boats up upon the banks, amongst the jungle and thick trees, so
that from the river it is impossible to see them, or discover the least trace of their
route. Here they sleep, and feed upon monkeys, snakes, or any other animals they
can reach with their sumpits (blow-pipes): wild hogs are their favourite food, and
they are in abundance. If these fail them, the young sprouts of certain trees and
wild fruit will answer the purpose. Nothing comes amiss to the stomach of a Dyak.
Should the rajas want flesh and it cannot be procured with the sumpit, one of their
followers is killed, which, not only provides them with a good meal, but a head to
boot. Whilst part of the people are employed in hunting and cooking, others ascend
the highest trees to examine the country, and observe if a campong or hut be near,
which they discover by the smoke. Should it be a solitary hut, they surround it and
take care no one escapes, but should it be a considerable campong, they go much
more warily to work. When the boats have arrived within about a mile of a campong,
they prepare themselves: about a third of the party are sent forward, who
penetrate the thickish part of the jungle, arriving at night near the houses. These are
surrounded, and men are placed in every footpath leading from them, for the purpose
of intercepting all who may attempt to escape into the woods. In the meantime, the
remainder of the party, in their boats, arrive a few hours before day-light, in perfect
silence, within a few hundred yards of the campung, when most of the warriors put
on their fighting dress, and creep slowly forward, leaving a few men in each boat;
likewise, about a dozen men with the women who remain in the jungle. About twenty
minutes before day-break, they commence operations by throwing on the ataps
(thatch) of the huts lighted fire-balls made of the dry bark of trees and damar (resin),
which immediately involves the whole in flames. The war-cry is then raised, and the
work of murder commences. The male inhabitants are speared, or more commonly
cut down with the mandow (cutlass) as they descend the ladders of their dwellings
in attempting to escape the flames, which Seiji remarked to me gave just sufficient
light to distinguish a man from a woman. The women and children endeavouring to
gain the jungle by the well-known paths find them already occupied by an enemy,
from whom there is no escaping. They, of course, surrender themselves, and are
collected together on the appearance of day-light. When the signal is first given
(always by the raja), the people in the boats pull rapidly. Some boats are placed in
the river above the campung, some below it, and the remainder abreast of the huts, so
that should any of the unfortunate beings gain their sampans (canoes), they are
certainly cut off in the water. The principal object is to prevent a single person
escaping to give intelligence to other campungs, and to arrange the time, so that the
day shall dawn about ten or fifteen minutes after the slaughter begins, which enables
them to take their stations and fire the houses in the midst of darkness, and afterwards
affords sufficient light to seize their prey. After the women and children are
collected, the old women are killed, and the heads of the men cut off. The brains
are then taken out and the heads held over a fire, for the purpose of smoking and
preserving them. The women and children are only secondary considerations : the
heads are what they want, and there is no suffering a Dyak will not cheerfully
endure to be recompensed by a single one. From the last excursion, Seiji’s people
brought with them 700, of which 250 fell to the share of himself and his sons. The
women and children all belong to him in the first instance. Many of Seiji’s people
are cannibals. Some, however, will not eat human flesh, while others refuse to do so
except on particular occasions, as a birth, a marriage, or a funeral. All these events
are celebrated with fresh heads. Nothing can be done without them. All kinds of
sickness, particularly the small-pox, are supposed to be under the influence of an
evil spirit, which nothing can so well propitiate as a head. A Dyak who has taken
many heads, may be immediately known from others who have not been so fortunate:
he comes into the presence of the raja and takes his station without hesitation, whilst
an inferior person is glad to creep into a corner to escape notice.”—Moore’s Indian
Archipelago, p. 48.
The same writer describes the arms of the Dyaks and their manner of fighting verv
Srl! ' & “ On going to war they wear defensive armour made of the skins of
wild beasts, generally of the black bear, which is very numerous, but the raja will
have a tigers skin. They are put over the head, and effectually cover the breast
and back, leaving the arms naked. This, with a helmet curiously wrought with
bamboo, is proof against the sumpit, spear, or sword. Each man carries a shield
which is made of light hard wood, covered with skin. I t is adapted to the height of
the wearer, generally about five feet in length and two in breadth, turned inwards
and held with the left hand. When the chiefs engage hand to hand, they, after the
spirit of chivalry, throw these away. After skirmishing with the sumpit, thev
usually come to close quarters. What the chiefs principally aim at is a surprise but
the adverse party, knowing his enemy is in the field, always provides against this
and as one side is as cunning as the other, they usually in the end, come to open
blows. Their personal combats are dreadful : they have no idea of fear, and fight
■T ^ ey are cut to pieces. Indeed, their astonishing strength, agility, and peculiar
method of taking care of themselves, are such that I am firmly of opinion a good
European swordsman would stand little chance with them, man to man, as, except at
consequentlv all on L f - mbabl*ants were surprised, and the fighting,
not observe them atternrit:C+e’ bUt m ^ instances resistance not observe them attempt to parry the blows with their weawpaosn so. ffeTrehde.s e Iw deirde
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