Through Central Borneo An Account Of Two Years' Travel In The Land Of The Head-Hunters Between The Years 1913 And 1917 By Carl Lumholtz
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It Appears To Be About The Size Of A
Rusa, And In Form Is A Combination Of The Body Of
That animal and a
serpent, the horned head having a disproportionately large dog's mouth.
Being an antoh, and the greatest
Of all, it is invisible under ordinary
conditions, but lives in rivers and underground caves, and it eats human
beings.
Lidju, who accompanied me as interpreter and to be generally useful, had
aroused the men early in the morning to cook their rice, so that we could
start at seven o'clock, arriving in good time at the Kayan kampong, Long
Blu. Here, on the north side of the river, was formerly a small military
establishment, inhabited at present by a few Malay families, the only ones
on the Mahakam River above the great kihams. Accompanied by Lidju I
crossed the river to see the great kampong of the Kayans.
Ascending the tall ladder which leads up to the kampong, we passed through
long, deserted-looking galleries, and from one a woman hurriedly retired
into a room. The inhabitants were at their ladangs, most of them four
hours' travel from here. Arriving finally at the house of Kwing Iran, I
was met by a handful of people gathered in its cheerless, half-dark
gallery. On our return to a newly erected section of the kampong we met
the intelligent kapala and a few men. Some large prahus were lying on land
outside the house, bound for Long Iram, where the Kayans exchange rattan
and rubber for salt and other commodities, but the start had been delayed
because the moon, which was in its second quarter, was not favourable.
These natives are reputed to have much wang, owing to the fact that
formerly they supplied rice to the garrison, receiving one ringit for each
tinful.
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