Few of them survive. On the
authority of missionaries there are some three hundred such savages at the
headwaters of the Kahayan, who are described as very Mongolian in
appearance, with oblique eyes and prominent cheekbones, and who sleep in
trees.
They are considered inveterate head-hunters, and the skulls of people
killed by them are used as drinking-vessels. Controleur Michielsen, who in
his report devotes two pages of hearsay to them, concludes thus: "In the
Upper Katingan for a long time to come it will be necessary to exercise a
certain vigilance at night against attacks of the Ulu-Ot head-hunters." A
civilised Kahayan who, twelve years previous to my visit, came upon one
unawares at the headwaters of the Samba, told me that the man carried in
his right hand a sampit, in his left a shield, and his parang was very
large. He wore a chavat made of fibre, and in his ear-lobes were inserted
large wooden disks; his skin was rather light and showed no tatuing; the
feet were unusually broad, the big toe turned inward, and he ran on his
toes, the heels not touching the ground.
Without precluding the possibility, although remote, of some small, still
unknown tribe, it seems safe to assume that Ulu-Ot is simply a collective
name for several mountain tribes of Central Borneo with whom we already
have made acquaintance - the Penyahbongs, Saputans, Bukits, and Punans. Of
these the last two are nomads, the first named have recently been induced
to become agriculturists, and the Saputans some fifty years ago were still
in an unsettled state. The "onder" at Braui confirmed this opinion when
telling me of the fight he and thirty other Duhoi once had with
Penyahbongs from whom he captured two heads - for they are Ulu-Ots, he
said.
Before all my things were cleared away from my camping-place and taken to
the prahus, the kapala and three women, one of them his wife, came and
seated themselves in a row close together in a squatting position. With
the few words of Malay he knew he explained that the women wanted to say
good-bye. No doubt it was their way, otherwise they have no greetings. At
the landing float the "onder" and his Kahayan assistant were present to
see us off. When leaving I was on the point of wishing I might return some
day to the unsophisticated Duhoi.
On our arrival at Kuala Samba we found ourselves in a different
atmosphere. The Bakompai, although affable, are inquisitive and
aggressive, and do not inspire one with confidence. The cheerful old
Kahayan who lived on board our big prahu to guard it had just one measure
of rice left, and was promptly given more rations.
