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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The Hunting-Party,
One Man And Three Women, Had Been Successful.
The babi had been killed
with spears and, in accordance with custom, the head had been cut off with
a parang.
The carcass had been cut up and the three women carried the meat
in the coarse-meshed rattan bags on their backs, while the man bore the
head on his shoulder, all homeward bound, when the Bukats attacked them.
Only one woman escaped.
The slayers hurried off with the three heads, being afraid of the people
of the kampong which was not far away. As usual the heads were tied by the
hair to the handle of the shield, and were thus carried to the place where
the rattan bags had been left, inside of which they were then placed.
After taking heads the men are on the run for two or three days,
travelling at night with torches, and in the evening they make a big fire
to dry the heads. The brains, because of the weight, may have been taken
out the first evening; this is done through the foramen, and a hole is
made with a spear point in the top of the skull. The hair has first been
cut off and taken care of, to be tied as ornaments to shields or plaited
round the handle of the sword. The Katingans, however, throw away the hair
with the flesh. Apprehensive of pursuit, they may dry the head but a
little while each night, grass being tied round it when carried.
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