Tatuing is forbidden in the house; it can only be performed on the warpath, and consequently men only are the tatu artists. The covering of the body with designs is a gradual process, and it is only the most seasoned and experienced warriors who exhibit on their persons all the different designs that we have just detailed. The tatu of the legs and feet is the last to be completed, and the lines round the ankles are denied to all but the bravest veterans.
All that has been written above applies equally well to the Ukits, or at least once did apply, for now the Ukits have to a great extent adopted the tatu of the Kayan, and it is only occasionally that an old man tatued in the original, Ukit manner is met. We give a figure of a design on the back of the thigh of such a relic of better days. (Pl. 143, Fig. 5).
The Bakatan and Ukit women tatu very little, only the forearm, on the metacarpals, and on the back of the wrist; characteristic designs for these parts are shown in Fig. 74, and Pl. 143, Figs. 7, 8. The central part of the forearm design is an anthropomorphic derivative, judging by the name TEGULUN; the lines are termed KILANG, and KANAK and GEROWIT are also conspicuous; GEROWIT IS also the name of the design for the metacarpals; the two stars joined by a line on the wrist are termed LUKUT, and it is possible that their significance is the same as that of the Kayan LUKUT tatued in the same place by men, but we have no evidence that this is the case.
Nieuwenhuis figures [9, Pl. 80] a Bakatan tatued on the chest in the typical manner.
The only other designs, apparently of Kalamantan origin, are those figured by Ling Roth [7, p. 87]. Three of these are after drawings by Rev. W. Crossland, and are labelled "tatu marks on arm of Kapuas Kayan captive woman." The designs are certainly not of Kayan origin; the woman had in all probability been brought captive to Sarawak, where Mr. Crossland saw her, and it is unfortunate that exact information concerning the tribe to which she belonged was not obtained. The designs, if accurately copied, are so extremely unlike all that are known to us that we are not able to hazard even a guess at their provenance or meaning. The other design figured on the same page is copied from Carl Bock; it occurred on the shoulder of a Punan, and is said by Mr. Crossland to be commonly used by the Sea Dayaks of the Undup. We met with a similar example of it (Pl. 138, Fig. 7) on an Ukit tatued in the Kayan manner, but could get no information concerning it, and suppose that it is not an Ukit design. Hein [6, Fig. 90] figures the same design, and Nieuwenhuis [8, p. 240] alludes to a similar. We may note here that the designs figured on page 89 of Ling Roth's book [7] as tatu designs are in our opinion very probably not tatu designs. They were collected by Dr. Wienecke in Dutch Borneo, and appear to be nothing but drawings by a native artist of such objects in daily use as hats, seat-mats, baby-slings, and so on. We communicated with Dr. J. D. E. Schmeltz of the Leyden Museum, where these "tatu" marks are deposited, and learnt from him that they are indeed actual drawings on paper; there are ninety-two of them, apparently all are different isolated designs, and they are evidently the work of one artist.[86] There is not a tribe in Borneo which can show such a variety of tatu design, and indeed we doubt if ninety-two distinct isolated tatu designs could be found throughout all the length and breadth of the island. Moreover, as can be seen by reference to the cited work, the designs are of a most complicated nature, not figures with the outlines merely filled in, as in all tatu designs known to us, but with the details drawn in fine lines and cross-hatching, which in tatu would be utterly lost unless executed on a very large scale.
Sea Dayak Tatu.
The Sea Dayaks at the present day are, as far as the men are concerned, the most extensively tatued tribe in Borneo, with the exception of the Bakatans, Ukits, Kahayans, and Biajau; nevertheless, from a long-continued and close study of their tatu, we are forced to the conclusion that the practice and the designs have been entirely borrowed from other tribes, but chiefly from the Kayans. For some time we believed that there were two characteristically Sea Dayak designs, namely, that which is tatued on the throat (Figs. 75 and 76) and that on the wrist (Pl. 143, Fig. 7), but when later we studied Bakatan tatu we met with the former in the GEROWIT pattern on the throat of men, and the latter in the LUKUT design on the wrist of the women. A Sea Dayak youth will simply plaster himself, so to speak, with numerous isolated designs; we have counted as many as five of the ASU design on one thigh alone. The same design appears two or three times on the arms, and even on the breast, though this part of the body as well as the shoulders is more usually decorated with several stars and rosettes. The backs of the hands are tatued, quite irrespective of bravery or experience in warfare; in fact we have frequently had occasion to note that a man with tatued hands is a wastrel or a conceited braggart, of no account with Europeans or with his own people. This wild and irresponsible system of tatu has been accompanied by an inevitable degradation of the designs. There is a considerable body of evidence to show that the Sea Dayaks have borrowed much in their arts and crafts from tribes who have been longer established in Borneo; but it must be confessed that in their decorative art they have often improved upon their models; their bamboo carvings and their woven cloth are indeed "things of beauty." But their tatu involves, not an intelligent elaboration of the models, but a simplification and degradation, or at best an elaboration without significance. Figs. 1 — 6, Pl. 137, are examples of the Sea Dayaks TUANG ASU or dog design. The figures show the dog design run mad, and it is idle to attempt to interpret them, since in every case the artists have given their individual fancies free play. When the profession of the tatu-artist is hereditary, and when the practice has for its object the embellishment of definite parts of the body for definite reasons, we naturally find a constancy of design; or, if there are varieties, there is a purpose in them, in the sense that the variations can be traced to pre-existing forms, and do not depart from the original so widely that their significance is altogether lost. With the borrowing of exogenous designs arises such an alteration in their forms that the original names and significance are lost. But when the very practice of tatu has no special meaning, when the tatu-artist may be any member of the tribe, and where no original tatu design is to be found in the tribe, then the borrowed practice and the borrowed designs, unbound by any sort of tradition, run complete riot, and any sort of fanciful name is applied to the degraded designs. Amongst the Kenyah tribes the modification and degradation of the dog design has not proceeded so far as amongst the Sea Dayaks, and this may be explained by their more restrained practice of tatu and by the constant intercourse between them and the Kayans, for they always have good models before them. Pl. 137, Fig. 3, illustrates the extreme limit of degradation of the dog design amongst Sea Dayaks; it is sometimes termed KALA, scorpion,[87] and it is noteworthy that the representation of the chelae and anterior end of the scorpion (A) was originally the posterior end of the dog, and the hooked ends of the posterior processes of this scorpion design (B), instead of facing one another as they did when they represented the open jaws of the dog, now look the same way; the rosette-like eye of the dog still persists, but of course it has no significance in the scorpion. A curious modification of this eye is seen in another Sea Dayak scorpion design figured by E. B. Haddon [4, Fig. 19]. Furness [3, p. 142] figures a couple of scorpion designs, but neither are quite as debased as that which we figure here. Furness also figures a scroll design, not unlike a Bakatan design, tatued on the forearm, and termed TAIA GASIENG, the thread of the spinning wheel; a similar one figured by Ling Roth [7, p. 88] is termed TRONG, the egg plant. On the breast and shoulders some forms of rosette or star design are tatued in considerable profusion; they are known variously as BUNGA TRONG, the egg plant flower, TANDAN BUAH, bunches of fruit, LUKUT, an antique bead, and RINGGIT SALILANG. A four-pointed star, such as that shown in Fig. 64, is termed BUAH ANDU, fruit of PLUKENETIA CORNICULATA; since this fruit is quadrate in shape with pointed angles, it is evident that the name has been applied to the pattern because of its resemblance to the fruit. Furness figures examples of these designs and also Ling Roth [7, p. 88]. We figure (Figs. 75, 76, 77) three designs for the throat known sometimes as KATAK, frogs, sometimes as TALI GASIENG, thread of the spinning wheel, and no doubt other meaningless names are applied to them. Two of the figures (Figs. 75, 77) are evidently modifications of the Bakatan GEROWIT design, but here they are represented with the tatu pigment, whilst with the Bakatans the design is in the natural colour of the skin against a background of pigment, I.E. the Dayak design is the positive of the Bakatan negative. Furness figures two examples of the throat design, one with a transverse row of stars cutting across it; the same authority also figures a design for the ribs known as TALI SABIT, waist chains, consisting of two stars joined by a double zigzag line. The same design is sometimes tatued on the wrist, when it is known as LUKUT, antique bead; it is also tatued on the throat [7, p. 88], and attention has already been drawn to the probable derivation of this design also from a Bakatan model.
It is only very seldom that Sea Dayak women tatu, and then only in small circles on the breasts [7, p. 83] and on the calves of the legs.
As a conclusion to the foregoing account of Bornean tatu we add a table which summarises in the briefest possible manner all our information; its chief use perhaps will lie in showing in a graphic manner the blanks in our knowledge that still remain.
We do not consider that tatu can ever be of much value in clearing up racial problems, seeing how much evidence there is of interchange of designs and rejection of indigenous designs in favour of something newer; consequently we refrain from drawing up another scheme of classification of tatu in Borneo; at best it would be little more than a re-enumeration of the forms that we have already described in more or less detail.
Table showing the Forms of Tatu Practised by the Tribes of Borneo
Character of Designs.Part of Body Tatued.Cermonial.Object of Tatu.
Kayan[male]Isolated designs, representing the dog, a bead, rosettes andstars. Serial designs on hands.Inside of forearm, outside of thigh, breasts, wrist and points ofshoulders. Back of hand sometimes.NoneSign of bravery in some forms, to ward off illness in others.
[female]Serial designs of complex nature, geometrical, anthropo- andzoomorphic.The whole forearm, back of hand, the whole thigh, the metatarsalsurface of the foot.Very elaborateChiefly for ornament, for use after death, for cure of illness.
Kenyah[male]As amongst Kayans, with some degradation of design and alternationof name.Same as with Kayans.NoneSign of bravery in some cases. Chiefly for ornament.
[female]As amongst Kayans.The whole forearm, back of hand, metatarsal surface of foot.NoneOrnament.
Kenyah-Kalamantan.Peng[male]Geometrical serial designs, discs, ? isolated designs.Arm from shoulders to wrist; calf of leg.?? Ornament.
[female]Designs employed by Kayan [male] [male]Forearms and legs.?? Ornament.
Lepu Lutong [female] Simple geometrical design. Forearm and back of hand. ? ?
Uma Tow [male] ? ? same as Kayan designs. ? ? ?
[female] Simple geometrical designs (low-class [female] [female]), anthropomorphic designs, copied from other tribes (high-class [female] [female]). Forearm and back of hand, front and sides of the thigh and the shin. Some. ?
Long Glat and Uma Luhat. [male] ? not at all.
?
[female] Complicated serial designs, chiefly of zoomorphic MOTIF. As with Kayan [female] [female], but also with lines round the ankles. Tatu of forearms not so extensive.
Chiefly ornament, for use in the next world.
Kalamantan.
Uma Long [female] Simple geometrical design ("stippled") Forearm and back of hand. ? ?
Dusun[male]LinesStomach, breast, arm.NonePartly as tally of enemies slain.
Murut[male]Scroll designs and circlesAbove the knee-cap; on the breast (Practice obsolescent).None.?
[female]Parallel lines.Arm and back of hand.? None.? Ornament.
Kalabit [male] As with Dusuns As with Dusuns ? ?
[female]Zigzags and chevrons.Forearms, the lower part of the leg.Very little.?
Long Utan [female] Complicated serial geometrical designs. As with Long Glat. ? ?
Biajau[male]Complicated serial geometrical designs, scrolls, zoomorphs, etc.Almost the whole body including the face amongst some of thesub-tribes.?With some sub-tribes to signify success in war and love, manualdexterity, etc.
[female] ? ? ? ? as with Long Glat. ? ?
Ot-Danum, Ulu Ajar, etc.[male]Curved lines, discs, and simple geometrical designs.On breast, stomach, outside of arms and thighs, calf of leg.? None.In some cases a sign of bravery.
[female] Simple designs like those of the Uma Tow Kenyahs (low-class [female] [female]). High-class [female] [female] like Long Glat? Shin, thigh, and calf of leg. ? ?
Kahayan[male]Chequer design.On breast, stomach, throat, arms.??
Bakatan and Ukit[male]Chiefly scroll and circle designs. Nearly all represented in"negative."Jaws, throat, breast, back, shoulders, forearms, thighs, calf of leg,ankles, feet and backs of hands.Obsolete.Sign of bravery and experience in war, symbol of maturity.
[female]Anthropomorphic, lines, representation of a bead.Forearms, wrist, metacarpals.None.Ornament.
Sea-Dayak[male]Degraded Kayan and Bakatan designs.ALmost every part of the body, except the face.None.Ornament.
[female]Small circles.Breasts and calves of legs.None.Ornament.
Bibliography.
1. Beccari, Dr. O., NELLE FORESTE DI BORNEO (1902). 2. Bock, Carl, THE HEAD-HUNTERS OF BORNEO (1882). 3. Furness, W. H., THE HOME LIFE OF BORNEO HEAD-HUNTERS (1902). 4. Haddon, E. B., "The Dog-motive in Bornean Art" (JOURN. ANTH. INST., 1905). 5. Hamer, C. den, IETS OVER HET TATOUEEREN OF TOETANG BIJ DE BIADJOE-STAMMEN. 6. Hein, A. R., DIE BILDENDEN KUNSTE BEI DEN DAYAKS AUF BORNEO (1890). 7. Ling Roth, H., THE NATIVES OF SARAWAK AND BRITISH NORTH BORNEO (1896), vol. ii. 8. Nieuwenhuis, Dr. A. W., IN CENTRAL BORNEO (1900). vol. i. 9. Nieuwenhuis, Dr. A. W., QUER DURCH BORNEO (1904), vol. i. 10. Schwaner, Dr. C. A. L. M., BORNEO (1853 — 54); cf. Ling Roth, vol. ii. pp. cxci to cxcv. 11. Whitehead, J., EXPLORATION OF MOUNT KINA BALU, NORTH BORNEO (1893).
Brief references to tatu will also be found in the writings of Burns, Brooke Low, MacDougall, De Crespigny, Hatton, St. John, Witti, and others, but notices of all these will be found in Mr. Ling Roth's volumes.
Explanation of Plates.
Plate 136.
Fig. 1. — Kayan dog design (UDOH ASU) for thighs of men. From a tatu-block in the Sarawak Museum. (No. 1054.104.)
Fig. 2. — Uma Balubo Kayan dog design. From a tatu-block in theSarawak Museum. (No. 1054.90.)
Fig. 3. — Sea Dayak scorpion design (KELINGAI KALA) for thigh, arm, or breast of men. From a tatu-block in the Sarawak Museum. (No. 1054.99.)
Fig. 4. — Kenyah dog design, copied from a Kayan model. From a tatu-block in the Sarawak Museum. (No. 1054.108.)
Fig. 5. — Kayan dog design. From a tatu-block in the SarawakMuseum. (No. 1054.106.)
Fig. 6. — Kayan dog design. From a tatu-block in the SarawakMuseum. (No. 1054.88.)
Fig. 7. — Kayan double dog design for outside of thigh of man. From a tatu-block in the Sarawak Museum. (No. 1054.31.)
Fig. 8. — Kayan designs of dog with pups (TUANG NGANAK). A=pup. For thigh of man. From a tatu-block in Sarawak Museum. (No. 1054.57.)
Fig. 9. — Kenyah jaws of centipede design (LIPAN KATIP), for breast or shoulder of man. From a tatu-block in the Sarawak Museum. (No. 1054.20.)
Fig. 10. — Kenyah crab design (TOYU). A=mouth (BA), B=claw (KATIP),C=back (LIKUT), D=tail (IKONG). From a tatu-block in the SarawakMuseum. (No. 1054.71.)
Plate 137.
Fig. 1. — Sea Dayak modification of the dog design. From a tatu-block in the Sarawak Museum.(No. 1054.102.)
Fig. 2. — (No. 1054.101.)
Fig. 3. — (No. 1054.67.)
Fig. 4. — (No. 1054.109.)
Fig. 5. — (No. 1054.70.)
Fig. 6. — But known as "scorpion" (KALA) pattern.From a tatu-block in the Sarawak Museum. (No. 1054.69.)
Fig. 7. — Barawan and Kenyah modification of the dog design, known as "hook" (KOWIT) pattern. From a tatu-block in the Sarawak Museum. (No. 1054.63.)
Fig. 8. — (No. 1054.75.)
Fig. 9. — Kenyah modification of the dog design, but known as the "prawn" (ORANG) pattern. From a tatu-block in the Sarawak Museum. (No. 1054.89.)
Plate 138.
Fig. 1. — Kayan three-line pattern (IDA TELO) for back of thigh of woman of slave class. From a tatu-block in the Sarawak Museum. (No. 166A Brooke Low Coll.)
Fig. 2. — Kayan four-line pattern (IDA PAT) for back of thigh of woman of middle class. From a tatu-block in the Sarawak Museum. (No. 1434.)
Fig. 3. — Kayan (Rejang R.) three-line pattern (IDA TELO) for back of thigh of women of upper and middle classes. From a tatu-block in the Sarawak Museum. (No. 1054.2.)
Fig. 4. — Kayan (Uma Pliau) design for front and sides of thigh of high class women. A = TUSHUN TUVA, tuba root; B = JALAUT, fruit of PLUKENETIA CORNICULATA; D = KOWIT, interlocking hooks. From a tatu-block in coll. C. Hose.
Fig. 5. — Kayan design for front of thigh of woman of high class. A = TUSHUN TUVA; B = DULANG HAROK, bows of a boat; C = ULU TINGGANG, hornbill's head; D = BELILING BULAN, full moons. From a tatu-block in the Sarawak Museum. (No. 1432.)
Fig. 6. — Barawan design for the shoulder or breast of men. From a drawing.
Fig. 7. — Design of uncertain origin, on the calf of the leg of anUkit man.
Plate 139.
Fig. 1. — Kayan (Rejang R.) design known as IDA TUANG or IDA LIMA for back of thigh of women of high rank. Note the hornbill heads at the top of the design. From a tatu-block in the Sarawak Museum. (No. 166D Brooke Low Coll.)
Fig. 2. — Kayan (Rejang R.) design; compare with Figs. 5 and 11. From a tatu-block in the Sarawak Museum. (No. 166C Brooke Low Coll.)
Fig. 3. — Long Glat hornbill design (after Nieuwenhuis). This is tatued in rows down the front and sides of the thigh.
Fig. 4. — Kayan (?) hornbill design, known, however, as the "dog without a tail" (TUANG BUVONG ASU). From a tatu-block in the Sarawak Museum. (No. 1054.8.)
Fig. 5. — Kayan (Rejang R.) tatu design known as "dog without a tail"(TUANG BUVONG ASU) pattern, for front and sides of thigh of womenof high rank. From a tatu-block in the Sarawak Museum. (No. 166G,Brooke Low Coll.)
Fig. 6. — Kayan three-line and four-line design (IDA TELO and IDA PAT) for back of thigh of women of low class. From a tatu-block in the Sarawak Museum. (No. 1435.)
Fig. 7. — Uma Lekan Kayan anthropomorphic design (SILONG), tatued in rows down front and sides of thigh.
Fig. 8. — Kayan bead (LUKUT) design, tatued on the wrist of men.
Fig. 9. — ,, ,, ,,
Fig. 10. — ,, ,, ,, From a tatu-block in the Sarawak Museum. (No. 1054.62.)
Fig. 11. — Portion of Uma Lekan Kayan design for back of thigh of women of high rank (after Nieuwenhuis).
Plate 140.
Fig. 1. — Tatu design on the forearm of an Uma Lekan Kayan woman of high rank. From a rubbing of a carved wooden model in the Sarawak Museum. (No. 1398.)
Fig. 2. — Tatu design on the thigh of an Uma Lekan Kayan woman of high rank. From a rubbing of a carved wooden model in the Sarawak Museum. (No. 1398.)
Fig. 3. — Tatu design on the forearm of an Uma Phan Kayan woman of high rank. A = BELILING BULAN, full moons; B = DULANG HAROK, bows of a boat; C = KAWIT, hooks; D = DAUN WI, leaves of rattan; E = TUSHUN TUVA, bundles of tuba root. From a carved wooden model in the Sarawak Museum. (No. 1431.)
Fig. 4. — Kenyah design, representing the open fruit of a species of mango (IPA OLIM), tatued on breasts or shoulders of men. From a tatu-block in the Sarawak Museum. (No. 1054.14.)
Fig. 5. — Kayan (Baloi R.) KALANG KOWIT or hook design for back of thigh of woman of high rank. From a tatu-block in the Sarawak Museum. (No. 1054.54.)
Plate 141.
Fig. 1. — Design on the hand of a Skapan chief tatued in the Kayan manner. From a drawing.
Fig. 2. — Design on the arm of a Peng man. From a drawing byDr. H. Hiller of Philadelphia.
Fig. 3. — Design on the arm of a Kabayan man. From a drawing byDr. H. Hiller of Philadelphia.
Fig. 4. — Design on the forearm of a Lepu Lutong woman. From a drawing.
Fig. 5. — Design on the forearm of a Long Utan woman. From a rubbing of a carved model in the Sarawak Museum. (No. 1430.)
Fig. 6. — Design on the thigh of a Long Utan woman. From a rubbing of a carved model in the Sarawak Museum. (No. 1426.)
Fig. 7. — Kenyah design, representing the DURIAN fruit (USONG DIAN), tatued on the breasts or shoulders of men. From a tatu-block in the Sarawak Museum. (No. 1054.17.)
Plate 142.
Fig. 1. — Tatu design on the forearm of a Kalabit woman. From a drawing.
Fig. 2. — Tatu design on front of leg of a Kalabit woman. C = BETIKLULUD, shin pattern. From a photograph.
Fig. 3. — Tatu design on back of leg of a Kalabit woman. A = BETIKBUAH, fruit pattern; B = BETIK LAWA, trunk pattern. From a drawing.
Fig. 4. — Tatu design on front of leg of the same Kalabit woman. D =BETIK KARAWIN; E = UJAT BATU, hill-tops. From a drawing.
Fig. 5. — Tatu design on the forearm of an Uma Long woman. From a drawing.
Fig. 6. — Tatu design on arms and torso of a Biajau man of low class. From a drawing by a Maloh.
Fig. 7. — Tatu design on leg of Biajau man of low class. From a drawing by a Maloh.
Fig. 8. — Tatu design on shin of Biajau woman of low class. From a drawing by a Maloh.
Fig. 9. — Kajaman design representing the fruit of PLUKENETIA CORNICULATA (JALAUT), tatued on the breasts or shoulders of men. From a tatu-block in the Sarawak Museum. (No. 1054.21.)
Fig. 10. — Tatu design on the biceps of an Ukit man, said to represent a bead (LUKUT). From a drawing.
Plate 143.
Fig. 1. — Design (GEROWIT, hooks) tatued on the breast of a Bakatan man. From a tatu-block in the collection of H.H. the Rajah of Sarawak.
Fig. 2. — ,,
Fig. 3. — Design (AKIH, tree gecko) tatued on the shoulder of aBakatan man. From a drawing.
Fig. 4. — ,,
Fig. 5. — Design tatued on the calf of the leg of an Ukit. From a photograph.
Fig. 6. — Tatu design on the foot of a Kayan woman of low class. From a drawing.
Fig. 7. — Design representing an antique bead (LUKUT), tatued on the wrist of a Bakatan girl. From a drawing.
Fig. 8. — Design (GEROWIT) tatued on the metacarpals of a Bakatan girl. From a drawing.
Fig. 9. — Design (KANAK, circles) on the back of a Bakatan man. From a tatu-block.
Fig. 10. — Design (GEROWIT) tatued on the throat of a Bakatan man. From a photograph.
Ideas of Spiritual Existences and the Practices Arising From Them
The Kayans believe themselves to be surrounded by many intelligent powers capable of influencing their welfare for good or ill. Some of these are embodied in animals or plants, or are closely connected with other natural objects, such as mountains, rocks, rivers, caves; or manifest themselves in such processes as thunder, storm, and disease, the growth of the crops and disasters of various kinds. There can be no doubt that some of these powers are conceived anthropomorphically; for some of them are addressed by human titles, are represented by carvings in human form, and enjoy, in the opinion of the Kayans, most of the characteristically human attributes.
Others are conceived more vaguely, the bodily and mental characters of man are attributed to them less fully and definitely; and it is probably true to say that these powers, all of which, it would seem, must be admitted to be spiritual powers (if the word spiritual is used in a wide sense as denoting whatever power is fashioned in the likeness of human will and feeling and intelligence), range from the anthropomorphic being to the power which resides in the seed grain and manifests itself in its growth and multiplication, and which seems to be conceived merely as a vital principle, virtue, or energy inherent in the grain, rather than as an intelligent and separable soul.[88]
It has been said of some peoples of lowly culture that they have no conception of merely mechanical causation, and that every material object is regarded by them as animated in the same sense as among ourselves common opinion regards the higher animals as animated. On the difficult question whether such a statement is true of any people we will not presume to offer an opinion; but we do not think that it could be truthfully made about any of the peoples of Borneo. It would be absurd to deny all recognition or knowledge of mechanical causation to people who show so much ingenuity in the construction of houses, boats, weapons, and a great variety of mechanical devices, such as traps, and in other operations involving the intelligent application of mechanical principles. These operations show that, though they may be incapable of describing in abstract and general terms the principles involved, they nevertheless have a nice appreciation of them. If a trap fails to work owing to its faulty construction, the trapper treats it purely as a mechanical contrivance and proceeds to discover and rectify the faulty part. It is true that in this and numberless similar situations a man's movements may be guided by his observation of omens; but if, after obtaining good omens, he has success in trapping, he does not attribute the successful operation of the trap to any, activity other than its purely mechanical movements; though it may be, and probably in some such cases is, true that the Kayan believes the omen bird to have somehow intervened to direct the animal towards the trap, or to prevent the animal being warned against it. The Kayan hangs upon the tomb the garments and weapons and other material possessions of the dead man;[89] and it would seem that he believes that some shadowy duplicate of each such object is thereby placed at the service of the ghost of the dead man. This, it might be argued, shows that he attributes to each such inert material object a soul, whose relation to the object is analogous to that of the human soul to the body. But such an inference, we think, would not be justified. As with the Homeric Greeks, the principle of intelligence and life is not to be altogether identified with the ghost, or shade, or shadowy duplicate of the human form that is conceived to travel to the Kayan Hades. The soul seems to be rather an inextended invisible principle; for, as the procedure of the soul-catcher[90] shows, it is regarded as capable of being contained within, or attached to, almost any small object, living or inert. It would seem, then, that after death the visible ghost or shade of a man incorporates and is animated by the soul; and that the visible shade of inert objects is, like themselves, inert and inanimate.
There is, then, no good reason to suppose that the Kayans attribute life, soul, or animation to inert material objects; and they do not explain the majority of physical events animistically.
The spiritual powers or spirits may, we think be conveniently regarded as of three principal classes: —
(1) There are the anthropomorphic spirits thought of as dwelling in remote and vaguely conceived regions and as very powerful to intervene in human life. Towards these the attitude of the Kayans is one of supplication and awe, gratitude and hope, an attitude which is properly called reverential and is the specifically religious attitude. These spirits must be admitted to be gods in a very full sense of the word, and the practices, doctrines, and emotions centred about these spirits must be regarded as constituting a system of religion.
(2) A second class consists of the spirits of living and deceased persons, and of other anthropomorphically conceived spirits which, as regards the nature and extent of their powers, are more nearly on a level with the human spirits than those of the first class. Such are those embodied in the omen animals and in the domestic pig, fowl, dog, in the crocodile, and possibly in the tiger-cat and a few other animals.
(3) The third class is more heterogeneous, and comprises all the spirits or impalpable intelligent powers that do not fall into one or other of the two preceding classes; such are the spirits very vaguely conceived as always at hand, some malevolent, some good; such also are the spirits which somehow are attached to the heads hung up in the houses. The dominant emotion in the presence of these is fear; and the attitude is that of avoidance and propitiation.
The Gods
The Kayans recognise a number of gods that preside over great departments of their lives and interests. The more important of these are the god of war, TOH BULU; three gods of life, LAKI JU URIP, LAKI MAKATAN URIP, and LAKI KALISAI URIP, of whom the first is the most important; the god of thunder and storms, LAKI BALARI and his wife OBENG DOH; the god of fire, LAKI PESONG; gods of the harvest, ANYI LAWANG and LAKI IVONG; a god of the lakes and rivers, URAI UKA; BALANAN, the god of madness; TOH KIHO, the god of fear; LAKI KATIRA MUREI and LAKI JUP URIP, who conduct the souls of the dead to Hades.
Beside or above all these is LAKI TENANGAN, a god more powerful than all the rest, to whom are assigned no special or departmental functions. He seems to preside or rule over the company of lesser gods, much as Zeus and Jupiter ruled over the lesser gods of the ancient Greeks and Romans.
The Kayans seem to have no very clear and generally accepted dogmas about these gods. Some assert that they dwell in the skies, but others regard them as dwelling below the surface of the earth. The former opinion is in harmony with the practice of erecting a tree before the house with its branches buried in the ground and the root upturned when prayers are made on behalf of the whole house; for the tree seems to be regarded as in some sense forming a ladder or path of communication with the superior powers. The same opinion seems to be expressed in the importance attached to fire and smoke in prayer and ritual. Fire, if only in the form of a lighted cigarette, is always made when prayers are offered; it seems to be felt that the ascending smoke facilitates in some way the communication with the gods.
While some gods, those of war and life, of harvest and of fire, are distinctly friendly, others, namely, the gods of madness and fear, are terrible and malevolent; while the god of thunder and those that conduct the souls to Hades do not seem to be predominantly beneficent or malevolent.
LAKI TENANGAN seems to be the supreme being of the Kayan universe. He is conceived as beneficent and, as his title LAKI implies, as a fatherly god who protects mankind. He is not a strictly tribal god, for the Kayan admits his identity with PA SILONG, and with BALI PENYLONG, the supreme gods of the Klemantans and Kenyahs respectively. In this, we think, the Kayan religion shows a catholicity which gives it a claim to rank very high among all religious systems.
LAKI TENANGAN has a wife, DOH TENANGAN, who, though of less importance than himself, is specially addressed by the women. The god is addressed by name in terms of praise and supplication; the prayers seem to be transmitted to him by means of the souls of domestic pigs or fowls;[91] for one of these is always killed and charged to carry the prayer to the god. At the same time a fire is invariably at hand and plays some part in the rite; the ascending smoke seems to play some part in the establishment of communication with the god. As an example of a prayer we give the following. The supplicant, having killed a pig and called the messengers of the god, cries, "Make my child live that I may bring him up with me in my occupations. You are above all men. Protect us from whatever sickness is abroad. If I put you above my head, all men look up to me as to a high cliff."
Similar rites are observed on addressing DOH TENANGAN. The following was given us as an example, "Oh! DOH TENANGAN, have pity upon me; I am ill — make me strong to-morrow and able to find my food."
The Kayans are not clear whether Laki Tenangan is the creator of the world. He does not figure in the Kayan creation myth.[92] There seems to be no doubt about his supremacy over the other gods; these are sometimes asked by Kayans to intercede with him on their behalf.[93]
As regards the minor departmental gods, it is difficult to draw the line between them and the spirits of the third class distinguished above. All of them are approached at times with prayers and with rites similar to those used in addressing LAKI TENANGAN. Several wooden posts, very roughly carved to indicate the head and, limbs of a human form, stand before every Kayan house. When the gods are addressed on behalf of the whole household, as before or after an important expedition, the ceremony usually takes place before one of these rudely carved posts.[94] But the post cannot be called an idol. It is more of the nature of an altar. No importance attaches to the mere posts, which are often allowed to fall away and decay and are renewed as required. A similar post may be hastily fashioned and set up on the bank of the river, if a party at a distance from home has special occasion for supplication.
An altar of a rather different kind is also used in communicating with the gods. It seems to be used especially in returning thanks for recovery of health after severe illness. It consists of a bamboo some four or five feet in length fixed upright in the ground. The upper end is split by two cuts at right angles to one another, and a fresh fowl's egg is inserted between the split ends (Pl. 145). Leaves of the LONG, (a species of CALADIUM), a plant grown on the PADI field for this purpose, are hung upon the post. These leaves serve merely to signalise the fact that some rite is going forward; they are also hung, together with a large sun hat, upon the door of any room in which a person lies seriously ill, to make it known as LALI or tabu; and in general they seem to be used to mark a spot as pervaded by some spiritual influence, or, in short, as "unclean." The bodies of fowls and pigs sacrificed in the course of the rites performed before such an altar-post are generally hung upon sharpened stakes driven into the ground before it, I.E. between it and the house, towards which the post, in the case of posts of the former kind, invariably faces; and the frayed sticks commonly used in such rites are hung upon the altar-post. Such posts are sometimes fenced in, but this is by no means always the case (Pl. 144).
The Kayans seek to read in the behaviour of the omen birds and in the entrails of the slaughtered pigs and fowls indications of the way in which the gods responds to their prayers. For they regard the true omen birds as the trusty messengers of the gods. After slaughtering the pigs or fowls to whose charge they have committed their petitions, they examine their entrails in the hope of discovering the answer of the gods; and at the same time they tell off two or three men to look for omens from the birds of the jungle.[95] If the omens first obtained are bad, more fowls and pigs are usually killed and omens again observed; and in an important matter, E.G. the illness of a beloved child, the process may be repeated many times until satisfactory omens are forthcoming. Whatever may have been the origin and history of such rites, it seems to be quite clear that the slaughtering of these animals is regarded as an act of sacrifice in the ordinary sense of the word, I.E. as an offering or gift of some valued possession to the spiritual powers; for, although on some occasions a pig so slaughtered is eaten, those stuck upon stakes before the altar-post are left to rot; and the idea of sacrificing, or depriving oneself of, a valued piece of property is clearly expressed on such occasions in other ways; E.G. a woman will break a bead of great value when her prayers for the restoration to health of a child remain unanswered, or on such an occasion a woman may cut off her hair.[96]
The custom of approaching and communicating with the gods through the medium of the omen birds, seems to be responsible in large measure for the fact that the gods themselves are but dimly conceived, and are not felt to be in intimate and sympathetic relations with their worshippers. The omen birds seem to form not only a medium of communication, but also, as it were, a screen which obscures for the people the vision of their gods. As in many analogous instances, the intercessors and messengers to whose care the messages are committed assume in the eyes of the people an undue importance; the god behind the omen bird is apt to be almost lost sight of, and the bird itself tends to become an object of reverence, and to be regarded as the recipient of the prayer and the dispenser of the benefits which properly he only foretells or announces.[97]
We have little information bearing upon the origin and history of these Kayan gods. But a few remarks may be ventured. The names of many of the minor deities are proper personal names in common use among the Kayans or allied tribes, such as JU, BALARI, ANYI, IVONG, URAI, UKA; and the title LAKI, by which several of them are addressed, is the title of respect given to old men who are grandfathers. These facts suggest that these minor gods may be deified ancestors of great chiefs, and this suggestion is supported by the following facts: —
First, a recently deceased chief of exceptional capacity and influence becomes not infrequently the object of a certain cult among Klemantans and Sea Dayaks. Men will go to sleep beside his grave or tomb, hoping for good dreams and invoking the aid of the dead chief in acquiring health, or wealth, or whatever a man most desires. Sea Dayaks sometimes fix a tube of bamboo leading from just above the eyes of the corpse to the surface of the ground; they will address the dead man with their lips to the orifice of the tube, and will drop into it food and drink and silver coins. A hero who is made the object of such a cult is usually buried in an isolated spot on the crest of a hill; and such a grave is known as RARONG.
Secondly, all Kayans, men and women alike, invoke in their prayers the aid of ODING, LAHANGand his intercession with LAKI TENANGAN. That they regard the former as having lived as a great chief is clearly proved by the following facts: firstly, many Kayans of the upper class claim to, be his lineal descendants; secondly, a well-known myth,[98] of which several variants are current, describes his miraculous advent to the world; thirdly, he is regarded by Kayans, Kenyahs, and many Klemantans as the founder of their race.
The Kenyahs also invoke in their prayers several spirits who seem, like ODIN LAHANG, to be regarded as deceased members of their tribe; such are TOKONG and UTONG, and PA BALAN and PLIBAN. From all these descent is claimed by various Kenyah and Klemantan sub-tribes; and that they are regarded as standing higher in the spiritual hierarchy than recently deceased chiefs, is shown by the prefix BALI,[99] commonly given to their names, whereas this title or designation is not given to recently deceased chiefs; to their names the word URIP is prefixed by both Kayans and Kenyahs. The word URIP, means life or living; the exact meaning of this prefix in this usage is obscure, possibly it expresses the recognition that the men spoken of are, though dead, still in some sense alive.
A further link in this chain of evidence is afforded by the Kenyah god of thunder, BALINGO. This spirit, it would seem, must be classed among the departmental deities, being strictly the Kenyah equivalent of LAKI BALARI of the Kayans; and all the Kenyahs and many Klemantans seem to claim some special relation to BALINGO,[100] while one Madang (Kenyah) chief at least claims direct descent from him.[101]
The last mentioned instance completes the series of cases forming a transition from the well remembered dead chief to the departmental deity, the existence of which series lends colour to the view that these minor gods have been evolved from deceased chiefs. The weakness of this evidence consists in the fact that the series of cases is drawn from a number of tribes, and is not, so far as we know, completely illustrated by the customs or beliefs of any one tribe.
There is, then, some small amount of evidence indicating that the minor gods are deified ancestors, whose kinship with their worshippers has been forgotten completely in some cases, less completely in others. If this supposition could be shown to be true, it would afford a strong presumption in favour of the view that LAKI TENANGAN also has had a similar history, and that he is but PRIMUS INTER PARES. For among the Kayans, as we have seen, a large village acknowledges a supreme chief as well as the chiefs of the several houses of the village; and in the operations of war on a large scale, a supreme war chief presides over a council of lesser chiefs. And it is to be expected that the social system of the superior powers should be modelled upon that of the people who acknowledge them.
On the other hand, none of the facts, noted in connection with the minor gods as indicating their ancestral origin, are found to be true of LAKI TENANGAN, except only his bearing the title LAKI, which, as we have seen, is the title by which a man is addressed as soon as he becomes a grandfather. The name TENANGAN is not a proper name borne by any Kayans, nor, so far as we know, does it occur amongst the other peoples. LAKI in Malay means a male. The name is possibly connected with the Kayan word TENANG which means correct, or genuine. The termination AN is used in several instances in Malay (though not in Kayan) to make a substantive of an adjective. The name then possibly means — he who is correct or all-knowing; but this is a very speculative suggestion.
It is possible that the Kayans owe their conception of a supreme god to their contact. with the Mohammedans. But this is rendered very improbable by the facts: firstly, that the Kayans have had such intercourse during but a short period in Borneo, probably not more than 300 years, (though they may have had such intercourse at an earlier period before entering Borneo); secondly, that among the Sea Dayaks, who have had for at least 150 years much more abundant intercourse with the Mohammedans of Borneo than the Kayans have had, the conception has not taken root and has not been assimilated.
The Kenyah gods and the beliefs and practices centering about them are very similar to those of the Kayans. This people also recognises a principal god or Supreme Being, whose name is BALI PENYLONG, and a number of minor deities presiding over special departments of nature and human life. The Kenyahs recognise the following minor deities: BALI ATAP protects the house against sickness and attack, and is called upon in cases of madness to expel the evil spirit possessing the patient. A rude wooden image of him stands beside the gangway leading to the house from the river's brink; it holds a spear in the right hand, a shield in the left; it carries about its neck a fringed collar made up of knotted strips of rattan; the head of each room ties on one such strip, making on it a knot for each member of his roomhold. Generally a wooden image of a hawk, BALI FLAKI, stands beside it on the top of a tall pole.
The Kenyahs carve such images more elaborately than the Kayans, who are often content merely to indicate the eyes, mouth, and four limbs, by slashing away with the sword chips of wood from the surface of the log, leaving gashes at the points roughly corresponding in position to these organs. The Kenyahs treat these rude images with rather more care than do the Kayans; and they associate them more strictly with particular deities. The children of the house are not allowed to touch such an image, after it has been once used as an altar post; it is only when it is so used, and blood of fowls or pigs sprinkled upon it, that it seems to acquire its uncleanness."[102]
BALI UTONG brings prosperity to the house. BALI URIP is the god of life; he too has a carved altarpost, generally crowned with a brass gong. BALINGO is the god of thunder.
BALI SUNGEI is the name given to a being which perhaps cannot properly be called a god. He is thought of as embodied in a huge serpent or dragon living at the bottom of the river; he is supposed to cause the violent swirls and uprushes of water that appear on the surface in times of flood. He is regarded with fear; and is held to be responsible for the upsetting of boats and drownings in the river. It is not clear that he is the spirit of the river itself; for floods and the various changes of the river do not seem to be attributed to him.
BALI PENYALONG, like Laki Tenangen, has a wife BUNGAN. She is not so distinctly the special deity of the women folk as is DOH TENANGAN among the Kayans.
A special position in the Kenyah system is occupied by BALI FLAKI, the carrion hawk, which is the principal omen bird observed during the preparation for and conduct of war. Something will be said of the cult of BALI FLAKI in a later chapter; but we would note here that this bird is peculiar among the many omen-birds of the Kenyahs, in that an altar-post before the house is assigned to him, or at least one of the posts rudely carved to suggest the human figure is specially associated with BALI FLAKI, and in some cases is surmounted by a wooden image of the hawk. It seems to us probable that in this case the Kenyahs have carried further the tendency we noted in the Kayans to allow the omen birds to figure so prominently in their rites and prayers as to obscure the gods whose messengers they are; and that BALI FLAKI has in this way driven into the background, and more or less completely taken the place of, a god of war whose name even has been forgotten by many of the Kenyahs, if not by all of them.
Peculiar adjuncts of the altar-posts of the Kenyahs are the DRACAENA plant (whose deep red leaves are generally to be seen growing in a clump not far from them) and a number of large spherical stones, BATU TULOI. These are perpetual possessions of the house. Their history is unknown; they are supposed to grow gradually larger and to move spontaneously when danger threatens the house. When a household removes and builds for itself a new home, these stones are carried with some ceremony to the new site (Pl. 144).
We reproduce here a passage from a paper published by us some ten years ago[103] in which we ventured to speculate on the development of the Kenyah belief in a Supreme Being.
We cannot conclude without saying something as to, the possible origin of their conception of a beneficent Being more powerful than all others, who sends guidance and warnings by the omen birds, and receives and answers the prayers carried to him by the souls of the fowls and pigs. It might be thought that this conception of a beneficent Supreme Being has been borrowed directly or indirectly from the Malays. But we do not think that this view is tenable in face of the fact that, while the conception is a living belief among the Madangs, a Kenyah tribe that inhabits a district in the remotest interior and has had no intercourse with Malays, the Ibans, who have had far more intercourse with the Malays than have the Kayans and Kenyahs, yet show least trace of this conception. As Archdeacon Perham has written of the Ibans, there are traces of the belief in one supreme God which suggest that the idea is one that has been prevalent, but has now almost died out. We are inclined to suppose that the tribes of the interior, such as the Kenyahs and Kayans, have evolved the conception for themselves, and that in fact Bali Penyalong of the Kenyahs is their god of war exalted above all others by the importance of the department of human activity over which he presides; for we have seen that they had been led to conceive other gods — Balingo, the god of thunder, Bali Sungei, the god of the rivers, whose anger is shown by the boiling flood, and Bali Atap, who keeps harm from the house, while the Kayans have gods of life, a god of harvesting, and other departmental deities. It seems to us that the only difficult step in such a simple and direct evolution of the idea of a beneficent Supreme Being is the conception of gods or spirits that perform definite functions, such as Bali Atap, who guards the house, and the gods that preside over harvesting and war, as distinct from such gods or nature-spirits as Balingo and Bali Sungei. But there seems to be no doubt that this step has been taken by these peoples, and that these various gods of abstract function have been evolved by them. And it seems to us that, were a god of war once conceived, it would be inevitable that, among communities whose chief interest is war and whose prosperity and very existence depend upon success in battle, such a god of battles should come to predominate over all others, and to claim the almost exclusive regard of his worshippers. Such a predominance would be given the more easily to one god by these people, because the necessity for strict subordination to their chiefs has familiarised them with the principles of obedience of subjects to a single ruler and of subordination of minor chiefs to a principal chief; while the beneficence of the Supreme Being thus evolved would inevitably result; for the god of battles must seem beneficent to the victors, and among these people only the victors survive. Again, this conception is one that undoubtedly makes for righteousness, because it reflects the character of the people who, within the community and the tribe, are decent, humane, and honest folk.
We are conscious of presumption in venturing to adopt the view that the conception of a beneficent Supreme Being may possibly be neither the end nor the beginning of religion, neither the final result of an evolution, euhemeristic, totemistic, or other, prolonged through countless ages and generations, nor part of the stock-in-trade of primitive man mysteriously acquired. Yet we are disposed to regard this conception as one that, amid the perpetual flux of opinion and belief which obtains among peoples destitute of written records, may be comparatively rapidly and easily arrived at under favourable conditions (such as seem to be afforded by tribes like the Kenyahs and Kayans, warlike prosperous tribes subordinated to strong chiefs), and may as rapidly fall into neglect with change of social conditions; and we suggest that it may then remain as a vestige in the minds of a few individuals only to be discerned by curious research, as among the Ibans or the Australian blacks, until another turn of Fortune's wheel, perhaps the birth of some overmastering personality or a revival of national or tribal vigour, gives it a new period of life and power.
We still regard as highly plausible the view suggested in this passage. We would add to what we have written only a few words in explanation of what may seem to be a difficulty in the way of this view. It was mentioned above that the Kayans recognise a god of war, TOH BULU. This fact may seem incompatible with the view that the idea of LAKI TENANGAN has been reached by exalting the god of war above his fellow-departmental deities; but it is not, we think, a fatal objection. For TOH BULU seems to be a god of but small account with the Kayans; his name figures but little in their rites; and the name itself indicates his subordinate position; for TOH is, as we have seen, the generic name for spirits of minor importance, and BULU is the Kayan word for feather; TOH BULU, literally translated, is then the feather-spirit or spirit of the feathers. It seems possible, therefore, that TOH BULU was nothing more than the spirit concerned with the hornbill's feathers, which are the emblems or badges of acknowledged prowess in battle; and that with the exaltation of the original god of war above his fellows, this minor spirit concerned in warfare has acquired a larger sphere and importance.
With the Kenyahs similar processes, we suggest, have led to the exaltation of BALI PENYALONG, the original god of war, into the position of the Supreme Being, and of BALI FLAKI, his special messenger, into the position, or almost into the position, of the god of war. This view derives, we think, considerable support from the fact that the Kenyahs recognise no special god of war; and in view of their tendency to create deities to preside over each of the great departments of nature and of human activity, the absence from their system of a special god of war requires some special explanation such as we have offered above.
The Klemantan gods are more numerous and more vaguely conceived, and the whole system seems more confused than that of the Kayans or Kenyahs. It is probable that the Klemantan tribes have borrowed freely from these more powerful neighbours. Many of them are very skilful in wood-carving, and it is probably largely owing to this circumstance that they make a larger number of images in human form. Some of these are kept in the house, while others stand before the house like those before the Kayan houses. The former are generally more highly regarded, and it is before them that their rites are generally performed. It seems not improbable that these stand for the gods proper to these people, and those outside the house for the borrowed gods.
The supernatural beliefs and cults of the Sea Dayaks differ so widely from those described above that we think it best to bring together in one place (vol. ii., p. 85) what we have to say about them.
The Lesser Spirits of Ill-defined Nature
In the second of the three classes of spiritual beings distinguished above (vol. ii., p. 4) we put the souls of men and of some of the animals. Some account of beliefs connected with these will be given in the following two chapters. We conclude this chapter by describing the spirits of the third class, spirits or intelligent powers vaguely conceived, of minor importance, but imperfectly individualised and not regularly envisaged in any visible forms or embodied in any material objects. The generic Kayan name for spirits of this class is TOH. All the spirits of this class seem to be objects of fear, to be malevolent, or, at least, easily offended and capable of bringing misfortunes of all kinds upon human beings.
The most important of these TOH are perhaps those associated with the dried human heads that hang in every house. It seems that these spirits are not supposed to be those of the persons from whose shoulders the heads have been taken. Yet they seem to be resident in or about the heads, though not inseparable from them. They are said to cause the teeth of the heads to be ground together if they are offended or dissatisfied, as by neglect of the attentions customarily paid to the heads or by other infringement of custom. The heads are thus supposed to be animated by the TOH; if a head falls, through the breaking of the rattan by which it is suspended, it is said to have thrown itself down, being dissatisfied owing to insufficient attention having been paid to it. This animation of the heads by the TOH is illustrated by the treatment accorded by the people to the heads from the time they are brought into the house. Having been dried and smoked in a small hut made for the purpose, they are brought up to the house with loud rejoicings and singing of the war chorus. For this ceremony all members of the village are summoned from the fields and the jungle, and, when all are assembled in the houses, every one puts off the mourning garments which have been worn by all since the death of the chief for whose funeral rites the heads have been sought. Everyone having donned the ordinary attire, the men carry the heads in procession adorned with DAUN SILAT, the dried and frayed leaves of a palm, before one of the altar posts that stand between the house and the river. There fowls and pigs are sacrificed in the usual way, and their blood is scattered upon the assembled men with a wisp of shredded palmleaves.
Then the procession carries the heads into the house and up and down the gallery. The men dressed in their war coats, carrying shields and swords, drawn up in a long line, sing the war chorus, and go through a peculiar evolution, known as SEGA LUPAR. Each man keeps turning to face his neighbours, first on one side, then on the other, with regular steps in time with all the rest. This seems to symbolise the alertness of the warriors on the war-path, looking in every direction. The heads, which have been carried by old men, are then hung up over the principal hearth on the beam on which the old heads are hanging; they are suspended by means of a rattan, of which one end is knotted and the other passed upward through the FORAMEN MAGNUM and a hole cut in the top of the skull. After this the men sit down to drink, and the chief describes the taking of the heads, eulogising the warrior who drew first blood in each case, and who is credited with the glory of the taking of the head. Then follows a big feast, in every room a pig or fowl being killed and eaten; after which more BORAK is drunk, the war chorus breaking out spontaneously at brief intervals. BORAK is offered to the heads by pouring it into small bamboo cups suspended beside them; and a bit of fat pork will be pushed into the mouth of each. The heads, or rather the TOH associated with them, are supposed to drink and eat these offerings. The fact that the bits of pork remain unconsumed does not seem to raise any difficulty in the minds of the Kayans; they seem to believe that the essence of the food is consumed.
At all times the heads hanging in the house are treated respectfully and somewhat fearfully. When it is necessary to handle them, some old man undertakes the task, and children especially are prevented from touching them; for it is felt that to touch them involves the risk of madness, brought on by the offended TOH or spirits of the heads.
The fire beneath the heads is always kept alight in order that they shall be warm, and dry, and comfortable. On certain special occasions they are offered BORAK and pork in the way mentioned above.
On moving to a new house the heads are temporarily lodged in a small shelter built for the purpose, and are brought up into the house with a ceremony like that which celebrates their first installation. The Kayans do not care to have in the house more than twenty or thirty heads, and are at some pains occasionally to get rid of some superfluous heads — a fact which shows clearly that the heads are not mere trophies of valour and success in war. The moving to a new house is the occasion chosen for reducing the number of heads. Those destined to be left are hung in a hut built at some distance from the house which is about to be deserted. A good fire is made in it and kept up during the demolition of the great house, and when the people depart they make up in the little head-house a fire designed to last several days. It is supposed that, when the fire goes out, the TOH of the heads notice the fact, and begin to suspect that they are deserted by the people; when the rain begins to come in through the roof their suspicions are confirmed, and the TOH set out to pursue their deserters, but owing to the lapse of time and weather are unable to track them. The people believe that in this way they escape the madness which the anger of the deserted TOH would bring upon them.
The precautions described in the foregoing paragraph illustrate very well the power for harm attributed to the TOH of the heads and the fear with which they are regarded. Nevertheless these beings are not wholly malevolent. it is held that in some way their presence in the house brings prosperity to it, especially in the form of good crops; and so essential to the welfare of the house are the heads held to be that, if through fire a house has lost its heads and has no occasion for war, the people will beg a head, or even a fragment of one, from some friendly house, and will instal it in their own with the usual ceremonies.
The TOH of the heads are but a few among many that are conceived as surrounding the houses and infesting the tombs, the rivers, the forests, the mountains, the caves, and, by those who live near the coast, the sea; in fact every locality has its TOH, and, since they are easily offended and roused to bring harm, the people are careful to avoid offence and to practise every rite by which it is thought possible to propitiate them. Death and sickness, especially madness, accidental bodily injuries, failure of crops, in fact almost any trouble may be ascribed to the malevolent action of Toh. Examples of the way conduct is influenced by this belief are the following: —
In clearing a patch of jungle in preparation for sowing PADI, it is usual to leave a few trees standing on some high point of the ground in order not to offend the TOH of the locality by depriving them of all the trees, which they are vaguely supposed to make use of as resting-places. Such trees are sometimes stripped of all their branches save a few at the top; and sometimes a pole is lashed across the stem at a height from the ground and bunches of palm leaves hung upon it; a "bull-roarer," which is used by boys as a toy, is sometimes hung upon such a cross-piece to dangle and flicker in the breeze.[104]
Again, young children are held to be peculiarly subject to the malevolent influence of the TOH. We have already mentioned that no name is given to a child until it is two or three years of age, in order to avoid attracting to it the attention of the TOH. For the same reason the parents dislike any prominent person to touch an infant; and if for any reason such contact has taken place, it is usual to give the mother a few beads, which she ties about the wrist or ankle of the child, "to preserve its homely smell" as they say, and so, it would seem, avoid the risk of the TOH being attracted by the unusual odour of the child. Parents who have lost several young children will give to a child, when the time comes for naming it, some such name as TAI (dung), or TAI MANOK (birds' dung), or JAAT (bad), in order that it may have a better chance of escaping the unwelcome attention of the TOH. If for any reason it is suspected that the attention of some evil-disposed TOH has been drawn to a child (and the same practice is sometimes observed by adults under similar circumstances), a sooty mark is made upon the forehead, consisting of a vertical median line and a horizontal band just above the eyebrows. This is thought to render it difficult for the TOH to recognise his victim. Such a black mark is worn more especially on going away from the house. Sea Dayaks sometimes go farther under such circumstances. They place the new-born child in a small boat and allow it to float down river, and standing upon the bank call upon all the evil spirits to take the child at once, if they mean to take it, in order that the parents may be spared the greater bereavement of losing it some years later. If, after floating some distance down stream, the child is found unhurt, it is carried home, the parents feeling some confidence that it will be "spared" to grow up
Again, on going to the territory of people who have recently come to friendly terms with their village, men will make a black mark across the forehead with soot in order to disguise themselves from the TOH of this region. In the main, although all regions are infested with TOH those of the locality in which a man dwells are regarded by him as less dangerous than those of other parts; for experience has shown him that in the neighbourhood of his own village he may behave in certain ways with impunity, whereas in distant regions all is uncertain. It is for this reason that, when boys enter any river or branch of the river for the first time, a special rite is performed. An old man will take them apart from the company to some spot on the bank of the river, and, calling all the spirits of the place, will ask them to favour the boys and to give them vigorous life. An egg (which on this occasion is spoken of only by the name OVE = sweet potato) is offered to the spirits on behalf of each boy (or sometimes merely a fowl's feather) by placing it in the split end of a bamboo stick thrust into the ground. Not until this rite has been performed are the boys considered to be safe in the strange region.
The more remote and inaccessible the region, the more are the TOH of it feared; rugged hill tops and especially mountain tops are the abodes of especially dangerous TOH, and it was only with difficulty that parties of men could be induced to accompany us to the summits of any of the mountains.
The influence of the TOH is not always pernicious; certain spots become credited with the presence of TOH of benign influence. Thus, tradition relates of a streamlet (Telang Ading) falling over the rocky bank of the Baram river some little distance below the mouth of the AKAR, that a wild pig recently killed with spears fell into it and was allowed to lie there, and that after a little while it jumped up and made off Through this event the streamlet has acquired a great reputation, and passing boats generally stop in order that the crews may splash some of the water on their heads and faces, and so be cured of any ailments they may happen to have at the time. These therapeutic effects are attributed to the TOH of the stream.
The TOH play a considerable part in regulating conduct; for they are the powers that bring misfortunes upon a whole house or village when any member of it ignores tabus or otherwise breaks customs, without performing the propitiatory rites demanded by the occasion. Thus on them, rather than on the gods, are founded the effective sanctions of prohibitive rules of conduct. For the propitiation of offended TOH fowls' eggs and the blood of fowls and of young pigs are used, the explanations and apologies being offered generally by the chief or some other influential person, while the blood is sprinkled on the culprit or other source of offence.
The beliefs and practices of the Kenyahs and Klemantans in regard to spirits of this class are very similar to those of the Kayans. They designate them by the same general name, TOH.
We are doubtful whether the Sea Dayaks can properly be said to have any religion. They believe in a number of mythical and legendary heroes in whose honour they indulge in heavy feasting; but none of these seem to be credited with the attributes of a god, or to evoke on the part of the people the specifically religious emotions and attitudes — awe, reverence, supplication, trust, gratitude, and hope. Their cult of the PETARA seems to show traces of Javanese and Hindu influence or origin. They believe in a multitude of ill-defined spirits which they speak of as ANTU, and towards which their attitude is very similar to that of the Kayans towards the TOH. Some further account of Iban superstitions will be found in Chapter XV.