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.
