The boiling-point thermometer
showed an elevation of 270 metres.
I had a meeting with the blians, who knew nothing worth mentioning. Almost
everything had been forgotten, even the language, still it is remarkable
how primitive these people remain, and there is scarcely any mixture of
Malay apparent in the type. For two or three days the kind-hearted, simple
people gathered in numbers at the middle kampong of the three which bear
the same name, Lok Besar, upper, middle, and lower. The Dayaks call the
upper one Darat, which means headwaters.
One man had a skin formation which at a superficial glance might be taken
for a tail. It was about the size of a man's thumb, felt a little hard
inside, and could be moved either way. On the outside of each thigh, over
the head of the femur, was a similar but smaller formation. Another man
had an excrescence on each thigh, similarly located, but very regular in
shape, forming half a globe; I saw a Dayak on the Mahakam with the same
phenomenon. One woman had such globular growths, though much smaller, in
great numbers on the feet.
Among the Bukits I observed two harelipped men, one hunchback, and an
unusual number of persons with goitre. These natives drink water by the
aid of a leaf folded into an improvised cup. Eight of the upper front
teeth are cut. Suicide is not known. Their only weapon at present is the
spear, which they buy very cheaply from the Malays, but formerly the
sumpitan was also in use. To hunt pig they have to go some distance into
the mountains; therefore, they seldom undertake it. Honey is gathered by
climbing the tree in which the bees' nest is discovered. Bamboo pegs are
inserted in the trunk at intervals and a rope made from a certain root is
tied between them, thus forming a ladder upon which the natives ascend the
tree at night. The women make rattan mats, and also habongs or receptacles
in which to carry the mats when travelling.
Fire is extinguished for the night. These natives sleep on a single mat,
made from either bamboo or rattan, and usually nothing is placed under the
head, but sometimes small wooden blocks are used. In the morning when they
arise they roll the mats, and the chamber-work is done. A young girl whom
I measured had her hair fastened up with the quill of a porcupine; when
asked to undo her hair, she put the quill under the top of her skirt. The
Bukits possess one musical instrument, sarunai, a kind of clarinet, which
does not sound badly. There are many blians, nearly all men. Several
prominent members of the tribe asserted that head-hunting was never
practised - at least there is no tradition concerning it.
A man may have one, two, or three wives. When a young man is poor, he pays
two ringits or two sarongs to his bride's father, but half that amount is
sufficient for a woman no longer youthful. The usual payment appears to be
twelve ringits or twelve sarongs, which the blian at the wedding places on
top of his head, while with his right hand he shakes two metal rings
provided with rattles. On the Barito I noted the same kind of rattles used
on a similar occasion. He asks Dewa not to make them ill, and a hen as
well as boiled rice is sacrificed to this antobu. The dead are buried in
the ground as deep as the height of a man. Formerly the corpse was placed
in a small bamboo house which rested on six upright poles, and on the
floor a mat was spread.
I was pleasantly surprised one day when a Dayak arrived at our kampong
bringing a number of attractive new bamboo baskets which he had bought on
the Tappin River, near by to the west. He was going to finish them off by
doing additional work on the rims and then carry them to Kandangan, where
they would fetch about one guilder each. All were of the same shape, but
had different designs, and he knew the meaning of these - there was no
doubt about it - so I bought his entire stock, thirteen in number. I
learned that most of the people were able to interpret the basket designs,
but the art of basket-making is limited, most of them being made by one or
two women on the Tappin. A very good one, large and with a cover, came
from the neighbouring lower kampong. An old blian sold it to me, and his
wife softly reproved him for so doing, but when I gave her ten cents as a
present she seemed very well satisfied.
For the interpretation of these designs I found an excellent teacher in a
gentlewoman from the lower kampong. She had extensive knowledge concerning
this matter, an impression later confirmed by submission of the baskets to
another woman expert from the Tappin, of repute as a maker and for
knowledge of the designs. I hope that in due time my informant will
receive the photograph of herself and her boys which I shall send to her
in grateful recognition of her valuable assistance. Her name was Dongiyak,
while her good husband was called Nginging. She had two attractive and
extremely well-behaved sons of twelve and fourteen years, who trusted
implicitly in her and showed absolute obedience, while she was kindness
itself coupled with intelligence. In fact their relations were ideal, and
it seemed a pity that these fine boys should grow to manhood and die in
dense ignorance.
I doubt whether any traveller, including the honest missionary, disagrees
with the terse sentence of the great Wallace in The Malay Archipelago:
"We may safely affirm that the better specimens of savages are much
superior to the lower examples of civilised peoples." Revolting customs
are found, to be sure, among native races, but there are also redeeming
virtues.
