either received on the shield, or met by the bamboo cap. As the men of the
campungs had no time given them to cover themselves, they were easily cut down.
1 he noise is terrific during the massacre, for it can be called nothing else, and joined
in by all the raja’s women, who accompany him in his excursions. I was always
stationed amongst them, far from any danger.,,—-Ibid.
I t is strange enough that with a long and almost daily familiarity with inter-tribal
warfare, conducted in their own ruthless manner, the Dyaks should, down to the
present day, have as great a dread of fire-arms as the Aztec nations on the invasion
ot Cortes. Such, however, is the case, for the fact is attested by several independent
witnesses, of whom Mr. Dalton is the best. “ What these people most dread,” says
ne, is the musket. I t is inconceivable what a sensation of fear comes over the
bravest of the Dyaks when they have an idea that a few muskets may possibly be
brought against them. No inducement will prevail on them, however numerous, to
go lorward. Hence the Bugis, with a handful of men act towards them as they think
proper, making them deliver over, not only the produce of the country for a trifling
exchange, but a certain number of their children yearly, whom they sell as slaves.
Seiji can bring together 12,000 fighting men, and yet the Bugis, with fifty muskets and a
lew boat-swivels will not hesitate to meet them. The fact is, they no sooner hear the
report of a gun, than they run deep into the jungle. If they are in boats, they leap
mto the water, and after gaining the shore, never stop until they are out of hearing
of the report. The most sensible of the Dyaks have a superstitious idea of fire-arms.
Each man, on hearing the report, fancies the ball is making directly towards himself.
He therefore, runs, never thinking himself safe as long as he hears the explosion of
gunpowder. Thus a man, hearing the report of a swivel five miles off, will still
continue at full speed with the same trepidation as at first. They have not the least
conception of the range of gun-barrels. I have been frequently out with Seiji and
other chiefs shooting monkeys, birds, &c., and offended them by refusing to fire at
large birds at the distance of a mile or more. They invariably put such refusal down
^ - t u r e on my part. Again, firing at an object, they cannot credit it is missed,
although they see the bird fly away, but consider that the shot is yet pursuing it, and
it must fall at last The Bugis take great care to confirm them in their great dread
of fire-arms.”
The testimony of Sir James Brooke, who had been often engaged in hostilities
with the boldest of the Dyaks of the north-western side of Borneo, is to the same
effect. ‘‘The Saribas,” says he, “ are by no means sowarlike as the others” (the
Sakarans), “ and from their dread of fire-arms may be kept in subjection by a comparatively
small body of Malays. The sound of musketry or cannon was enough to
put the whole body to flight, and when they did run, fully the half disappeared,
returning to their own homes.”—Journal, vol. i. p. 237. 1848.
I t would appear, however, that the Kayans of the northern coast, who have
advanced as conquerors from the southern, have in some measure conquered their
superstitious fear of fire-arms. These tribes occupy the country situated on the
two great rivers, Baram and Bajang, and have emancipated themselves from the
control of the Malays, and even captured their cannon. “ Knipa Batu,” says Mr.
Burns, “ is a chief of considerable'power and influence: he rules the lower districts of
the river (the Rajang). “ His residence is situated above the great rapids, and is
strongly barricaded with thick planks, in front of which are placed an old iron six-
pounder, two brass Dutch-made two-pounders, and upwards of twenty brass lelahs
of different sizes ” (long swivel guns of small calibre). “At the house of the chief,
Batu Dian, which is about ten miles further up, there are also fifteen guns similar to
the above. The majority of these guns were captured during the wars with the
people of the coast ” (the Malays).
The human heads, so ardently sought after and so carefully preserved by the Kayans
and other Dyaks, it is certain are chiefly esteemed as trophies of victory and
evidences of personal prowess, and this is satisfactorily shown by the fact that no
value is attached to the heads of women and children. The practice, indeed, is
similar to, and has the same origin as, the head-preserving of the New Zealanders, and
of the hairy scalp by the North American Indians. In fact, the Dyaks preserve heads
as we preserve banners, and for the same reason. I t would appear, however, that
the deeds of which they are memorials are apt, in the lapse of time, to be forgotten,
for Mr. Bums tells us that among the Kayan tribes that he visited, he found only
four-and-twenty heads, and that the chiefs informed him that when they were
quitting their former locality for their present, they threw an accumulation of no fewer
than 700 mto the river, not choosing to be encumbered with them on their march.
On the subject of religion, Mr. Dalton observes, “ I cannot ascertain that the
Dyaks have any religion amongst themselves, or entertain an idea of future rewards
and punishments. They have no fear whatever of dying in battle, or otherwise,
provided they are in no danger of losing their heads. They have, however, the
utmost dread of such an event occurring, which they conceive the greatest, and,
indeed, the only misfortune that can befall them ; and this feeling seems to emanate
from the knowledge of the triumph their enemies enjoy from getting possession of
this greatest of all treasures ; for all Dyaks in every part of Borneo, and likewise in
Celebes, have the same predilection for cutting off the heads of their enemies, and
every stranger is regarded as an enemy. It is, however, most certain, they have
some idea of a future state. This not only appears in their burials, but on other
occasions.”
Mr. Burns adds to this, that “ they have no idols, nor any apparent representation
of the Deity,—no priests,—no castes,—nor any ostensible ceremonial system of
religion.” This is, no doubt, all true of the Dyaks, as it is of all people in the same
state of society. But, although without any organised religion, or, as the Malays
express it, “ without book,” they have an abundance of superstitions which take its
place. They believe in malignant spirits, and have names for some of the most
potent of them, as Tanangan, Tâpa, Jaruwang, &c., &c., and they have even adopted
the butas, or goblins of the Malays and Javanese, and through these parties the
dewata, or gods of the Hindus. They believe, moreover, and to a remarkable degree,
in omens and the flight of birds. Their funeral rites attest that they have some
obscure notions of an existence after death. “ The burials of these people,” says Mr.
Dalton, “ are no less singular than their marriages. The old men have every
attention paid to them whilst living, and, indeed, long after they die. On the death
of a chief or raja, they dress him out in his war habiliments, and carry him to the
grave, after keeping him in the house a certain time, according to his rank, seldom
longer than ten days, on a large litter, enveloped in a white cloth. They lay the
body in a place prepared, without a coffin. By his side are deposited his arms,
particularly his shield, spear, and mandow (sword). A quantity of rice and fruit are
likewise interred, with such other articles of food as the deceased was most partial
to. The grave is then closed up, a high mound raised, and this is encircled with
strong bamboo, upon which fresh heads are placed, as the most acceptable offering
to the deceased. No warrior would dare to appear before the family of the chief
without at least one head as a consoling present. These heads are thickly studded
round the grave, and occasionally renewed during the first year or two, the old ones
being considered the property of the succeeding chief”
Mr. Bums’s account is somewhat different, although generally agreeing with that of
Mr. Dalton’s; the difference probably arising from variation in customs between
tribes of the same nation living far apart from each other. “ After death,” says he,
“ the Kayans very stupidly keep the body in the house from four to eight days, and
even sometimes longer. Generally, the first day after death, it is put into a coffin
scooped from the trunk of a tree, and carved according to the importance or means
of the relatives. Day and night during the time the body is kept in the house, lights
are placed at each side of the coffin, and, should they happen to get extinguished it
is considered most unfortunate. Also, during four or five days after the corpse has
been removed, torches are kept at the place where it lay. Previous to its removal a
feast is prepared, and part of the food is placed beside the corpse ; the relatives
devour the remainder. Removal takes place soon after, and although the body
is invariably much decomposed, the nearest relatives, especially women, express their
grief in a most inconsolable manner, and with cries most pitiable,—long and affectionately
hug the coffin, and, with their faces on it, inhale the odour, and continue
doing so until it reaches the place of disposal, which is in the loft of a «mall wooden
house on posts about twelve feet high. The tombs of the chiefs are built of hard
by 111116 massive Poste from twelve to fourteen feet high, and which
with the other parts, are elaborately carved. Several articles, which belonged to thé
OntheeS , ar? C°nVeied1,0 th6 tomb with the corPse> but are not deposited with it.
frctnro person, the relatives directly lay aside all apparel of foreign manu-
S t the W i a T ” Ty " kl^ for a alter the luneral. —Journal of the Indian Archipelago, pagPer 1o49b.e d number ofda^s
sh^dhiTofbCkod t0 f Pp6aSe the form of immolation, or the
n aMrrH ffi t hl ef r ért l^ion f c d°isera saens° tahree rc’ oanms°idDegr etbd et oD ybaek csa’ used mbyu stth ebsee c eovnisl idgeenreüd,
and Mr. Burns gives us an example of the sacrifices performed in a éase of this kind !
K 2