On the last day of our stay he helped me to repress the
eagerness of the Dayaks to "turn an honest penny." The prahus, besides
being defective, were not large enough for many men, and I was determined
not to have more than three in each, a quite sufficient number when going
downstream. I have a suspicion that he objected to four for reasons of
personal safety.
Owing to the rapid current, we made the return voyage in two hours, and
when we got to the Mahakam River we found it very much swollen, with logs
floating downstream beside us. Our low-lying prahus were leaking and the
situation was not agreeable, though I should have felt more anxious had I
not been with Dayaks, who are extremely able boatmen. At Long Pahangei the
captain from Long Iram, who is also the controleur of that district, had
arrived and was waiting on account of the overflow of the river. I had an
hour's talk with this pleasant man, who thinks that the Dayaks on the
Upper Mahakam ultimately must die out because they do not have enough
children to perpetuate the tribe. He said that in 1909, when he was
stationed at Puruk Tjahu, nothing was known about the country where we
then were.
The Oma-Sulings, according to their traditions, came from Apo Kayan nearly
two hundred years ago. Oma means place of abode; Suling is the name of a
small river in Apo Kayan. They had at the time of my visit six kampongs on
the Upper Mahakam, the largest of which is Long Pahangei, with about 500
inhabitants. Material for clothing is no longer woven, but is bought in
Long Iram. This is probably also the case with the Long-Glats, but the
Penihings still do some weaving.
CHAPTER XXVI
AMONG THE LONG-GLATS - IS FEAR OF EXPOSURE TO THE SUN JUSTIFIED? -
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LONG-GLATS - GOOD-BYE TO THE MAHAKAM
In the latter part of July we went to the near-by kampong, Long Tujo ("a
small animal with many legs"), situated at the mouth of another small
tributary to the Mahakam. Here live Long-Glats who are located below the
other Bahau peoples of the river and are found as far as Batokelau, between
the upper and lower rapids. Though Long Iram is rather distant - five days'
travel down-stream, and, if the river is high, perhaps two months may be
consumed in returning - still its influence was evidenced by the several
umbrellas I saw, all black, an adaptation from the high-class Malays and an
unusual sight in these parts. The kapala of this large kampong resembled a
Malay raja, in that he always carried an umbrella when he walked and looked
pale because the sun was not allowed to shine upon him.
