I shall become a bird again." Since then her descendants have never
eaten this bird, because they know that their great, great, great
grandmother was a punai.
NOTE. - The punai is a light-green pigeon. Mata Punai (the eye of punai) is
one of the most common decorative designs of many Dayak tribes.
23. RETRIBUTION
In the beginning there were mountain-tops and sea between them. Gradually
the sea subsided and the land appeared. A man and a woman living on such a
mountain-top had a son. One day a typhoon lifted him in the air and
carried him off to Java, where he arrived in the house of a rich Javanese.
This was long before the Hindu kingdom of Modjopahit. In this house he
remained many years, and showed much intelligence and industry in his
work, which was to cut wood, fish, look after the poultry, and clean the
rooms. It was not necessary to give him orders, for he understood
everything at a glance. By and by he became a trader, assisting his
patron. Finally he married the rich man's only daughter, and after living
happily a long time he remembered his parents, whom he had left in Borneo,
desired to visit them, and asked his wife to accompany him.
They went in two ships, and, after sailing a month or more, came to a
mountain, for there was no river then. When the ships arrived, prahus came
out to ask their errand. "I am looking for my father and mother whom I
left long ago," said the owner. They told him that his father was dead,
but that his mother still lived, though very old.
The people went and told her that her son had come to see her. She was
very poor, for children there were none, and her husband was dead. Wearing
old garments, and in a dilapidated prahu, she went out to the ships, where
she made known that she wanted to see her anak (child). The sailors
informed the captain that his mother was there, and he went to meet her,
and behold! an old woman with white hair and soiled, torn clothing. "No!"
he said, "she cannot be my mother, who was beautiful and strong." "I am
truly your mother," she replied, but he refused to recognise her, and he
took a pole (by which the prahus are poled) and drove her off.
She wept and said: "As I am your mother, and have borne you, I wish that
your wife, your ships, and all your men may change into stone." The sky
became dark, and thunder, lightning, and storm prevailed. The ships, the
men, and the implements, everything, changed into stone, which today may
be seen in these caves.
NOTE. - In the neighbourhood of Kandangan, a small town northward from
Bandjermasin, are two mountains, one called gunong batu laki: the mountain
of the stone man, the other gunong batu bini: the mountain of the stone
wife. They contain large caves with stalactite formations which resemble
human beings, ships, chairs, etc. The natives here visualise a drama
enacted in the long gone-by, as related.
The Ex-Sultan of Pasir, a Malay then interned by the government in
Bandjermasin, who was present when this story was told to me by a
Mohammedan Kahayan, maintained that it is Dayak and said that it is also
known in Pasir (on the east coast). Although the fact that the scene is
laid in a region at present strongly Malay does not necessarily give a
clew to the origin of the tale, still its contents are not such as to
favour a Dayak source.
CONCLUSION
In closing this account of my investigations in Borneo it seems
appropriate to comment briefly regarding the capabilities and future
prospects of the tribes in Dutch Borneo comprised under the popular term
Dayaks. We have seen that these natives are still inclined to the
revolting habit of taking heads. In their dastardly attacks to accomplish
this purpose, though moved by religious fanaticism, they show little
courage. On the other hand they exhibit traits of character of which a
civilised community might well be proud.
They are honest, trustworthy, and hospitable. In their kampongs a lonely
stranger is safe from molestation and a white man travelling with them is
far safer than with the Malays. They are able woodcraftsmen, and
strikingly artistic, even their firewood being arranged in orderly
fashion, pleasing to the eye. Should criticism arise regarding the
unrestricted relations permitted in these tribes before marriage, owing to
the fact that primitive conditions survive which are disapproved in
civilised society, to their credit it must be admitted that conjugal
relations are all that could be desired. A Dayak does not strike his wife,
as Malays may do, and in business matters he takes her advice. During my
travels I never heard of but one instance of infidelity. If such cases
occur they are punished in some tribes with extreme severity.
In certain ways the Dayaks show more aptitude than either Malays or
Javanese. To illustrate - the young men of the latter races whom I employed
as "boys" on various occasions, and the Javanese soldiers who accompanied
me, were satisfactory on the whole, but when several work together, each
one is afraid he will do more than his share. Neither of them can tie
knots that are at once firm and readily undone, nor are they able to drive
a nail properly, put in screws, or rope a box, although no doubt in time
they could learn; but the Dayaks are uniformly handy at such work. A
well-known characteristic of the "inlander," which he possesses in common
with some classes in other races, is that if he receives his due, no more
and no less, he accepts the payment without question, but if a gratuity is
added he will invariably ask for more. The Dayaks are much easier to deal
with in that regard and more businesslike.
