In dancing with masks, which is much practised
on the Mahakam, the idea is that the antoh of the animal represented by
the mask enters the dancer through the top of his head.
The Penihings and Long-Glats of the Mahakam have an interesting belief in
the existence of a friendly antoh which reminded me of the superstition of
the "Nokken" in the rivers of Norway. It lives in rivers, is very rarely
beheld by mortals, and the one who sees it becomes rich beyond dreams of
avarice. The Long-Glats call it sangiang, a survival of Hindu influence.
An old man in Long Tujo is reported to have seen this antoh, and according
to him it had the appearance of a woman sitting underneath the water. No
doubt other tribes have the same belief.
The most famous of antohs is the nagah, which may be good or evil,
according to the treatment received from mortals, and being very powerful
its help and protection are sought in a manner later to be described in
connection with my travels on the Mahakam. The nagah guards underneath as
well as above the surface of water and earth, but the air is protected by
three birds which are messengers, or mail carriers, so to speak. They are
able to call the good antoh and carry food to him; they are also
attendants of man and watch over him and his food. Fowls and pigs are
sacrificed to them as payment. They are - the tingang (hornbill), the
sankuvai (formerly on earth but now only in heaven), and the antang (red
hawk). As these birds are called by the same names in the tribes of the
Katingans, Ot-Danums, Kahayans, and others, it may be presumed that their
worship is widely prevalent in Borneo.
Among most if not all native races certain persons occupy themselves with
religious services and at the same time cure disease. In Borneo, as far as
my experience goes, these priest-doctors, whether male or female, are
generally recognised by the name blian, or balian. Although some tribes
have their own and different designations, for the sake of convenience I
shall call them all blians.
While there are both male and female blians, the service of women is
regarded as more valuable, therefore commands higher remuneration than
that received by men. A Dayak explained to me: As there are two sexes
among the antohs, so there are also male and female blians. He or she on
occasion pretends to be possessed of helpful antohs, in some parts of
Borneo called sangiangs. Besides assisting the blians in their work they
enable them to give advice in regard to the future, illness, or the
affairs of daily life. A blian may be possessed by as many as fifty good
antohs, which do not remain long at a time. Although in the remote past
men sometimes saw good or evil spirits, at present nobody is able to do so
except blians, who also sing in a language that only they and the antohs
understand.
The blian does not know how to take omens from birds and read the liver of
the pig. There may be one expert along this line in the kampong and there
may be none. The blians of the tribes visited by me can neither make rain
nor afflict people with illness. Among the Long-Glats I saw them directing
the great triennial feast tasa, at which they were the chief performers.
The constant occupation of the blians, however, is to cure disease which
is caused by a malicious antoh longing to eat human blood and desiring to
drive away the human soul. When hungry an antoh makes somebody ill. The
blian's rites, songs, dances, and sacrifices aim to induce a good antoh to
chase away or kill the evil one which has taken possession of the patient,
and thus make an opportunity for the frightened soul to return, which
restores the man to health. This, without undue generalisation, is a short
summary of the religious ideas which I found on the Mahakam and in
Southern Borneo, more especially those of the Penihing, Katingan, and
Murung. Further details will be found among descriptions of the different
tribes.
Shortly afterward we all made an excursion up the river as far as Batu
Boa, which, as is often the case, contains a Dayak as well as a Malay
kampong. At the first one, a forlorn and desolate looking place, the
kapala, who had an unusually large goitre, told me that eighteen men had
been engaged by the captain for his journey northward from there, which
definitely precluded any prospect of ours for an overland expedition, even
if under other conditions it would have been possible. As for the Malays,
I found them rather distant, and was glad to return to Tumbang Marowei.
Here a singular sight met us in a sculptured representation of a
rhinoceros with a man on his back, entirely composed of red rubber,
standing on a float and surrounded by a number of blocks made of the same
material. White and red pieces of cloth tied to upright saplings on the
float added a certain gaiety to the scene. Some of the kampong people had
just returned from a rubber expedition, and part of the output had been
cleverly turned into plastics in this way.
The rhino was about seventy-five centimetres high, strong and burly
looking, and the posture of the young man on his back conveyed a vivid
suggestion of action. They were now on their way to sell this to some
Chinaman. The image was said to be worth from two to three hundred
florins, and as there was considerable additional rubber, perhaps all of
it approached a value of a thousand florins.
