No doubt the Dayaks had gladly acceded to my wishes in making the feast,
because dancing and sacrifice are believed to attract good spirits which
may be of assistance to them. In the evening there was a banquet with the
pig as the piece de resistance; and a young fowl was sent to me as a
present.
CHAPTER XIII
DAYAK CURE OF DISEASE - EVIL SPIRITS AND GOOD - ANIMISM - BLIANS, THE
PRIEST-DOCTORS - THE FEAST OF RUBBER-GATHERERS - WEDDINGS - IN PRIMITIVE
SURROUNDINGS
A day or two later the kapala, evidently solicitous about our comfort,
asked permission to perform for three consecutive nights certain rites for
the purpose of curing several sick persons. The reason for his request was
that they might be noisy and prove disturbing to our rest. The ceremonies
consisted in singing and beating drums for three hours, in order to
attract good spirits and drive away the evil ones that had caused the
illness. One of the patients, who had malaria, told me later that he had
been cured by the nightly service, which had cost him forty florins to the
doctor.
Among the aborigines of Borneo whom I visited, with the possible exception
of the Punan nomads, the belief in evil spirits and in good ones that
counteract them, both called antoh, is universal, and to some extent has
been adopted by the Malays.
