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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Some
Of It Is Smeared On The Patient's Forehead, Head, And Chest, The Remainder
Being Offered To Antoh, Both In Plain Form And Mixed With Uncooked Rice,
As Has Been Described In Chapter XIX.
When a fowl is sacrificed the empty
skin, suspended from a bamboo stalk, is likewise reserved for antoh, the
meat having been consumed, as usual, by those concerned.
As another effective means of inducing the return of the soul the blian
sings for several hours during one night or more. In the Penihing tribe he
accompanies himself by beating an especially made stringed shield. It is
believed that the singer is able to see how the antoh caused the sickness:
whether he did it by throwing a spear, by striking with a stick, or by
using a sumpitan. In his efforts to restore the patient the blian is told
what to sing by a good antoh that enters his head. Without such help no
person can sing properly, and the object of the song is to prevail upon a
beneficent spirit to eject or kill the evil one so that the souls may
return.
The blian usually resorts also to feats of juggling, proceeding in the
following way: Clasping his open hands forcibly together over the painful
part, at the same time turning himself round and stamping on the floor, he
wrings his hands for a few seconds and then, in sight of all, produces an
object which in the Penihing conception represents a bad antoh - in fact,
by them is called antoh.
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