Seven is their sacred number. Formerly the
kampongs elected a kapala for an indefinite period. If he was satisfactory
he might remain a long time. At present the native kapala of the district
makes the appointment.
Among my friends here were the kapala of the kampong and his wife. She was
an interesting woman, very intelligent, with a slender but splendid
figure, and her face was curiously Mongolian. She had lost an eye by
smallpox, but there was so much light and vivacity in the brown one she
had left that the missing organ was forgotten. At first sternly refusing
to face the camera, after receiving chocolate like the rest both she and
her husband wanted to be photographed.
More than once I have seen the Dayak father here and elsewhere take the
youngest baby to the river to bathe. As soon as the navel is healed, about
eight days after birth, the infant is immersed, usually twice a day,
before seven o'clock in the morning and at sunset. The temperature of the
river water here in the morning was 72 F. It is astonishing how the
helpless little nude being, who can neither walk nor talk, remains
absolutely quiet while being dipped under the cold water again and again.
The father holds it in a horizontal position for immersion, which lasts
only a few moments, but which undoubtedly would evoke lusty cries from a
white child. Between the plunges, which are repeated at least three times,
with his hand he strokes water from the little body which after a few
seconds is dipped again. It seems almost cruel, but not a dissenting voice
is heard. The bath over he takes the child into his arms, ascends the
ladder of the river bank and carries it home as silent as when it went
forth. Sometimes one may hear children cry from being cross, but as a rule
they are charming.
Monkeys, including the orang-utan, are eaten, but not the crocodile nor
the tiger-cat. In accordance with the prevailing Dayak custom men and
women eat at the same time. If they choose, women may accompany fishing or
hunting expeditions if not far away, but when the game is wild ox or
rhinoceros they are not allowed to take part. When there is an overflow of
the river one cannot go hunting, nor if one should fall at the start, nor
if the rattan bag should drop when the man slings it on his back, or if
anybody sneezes when about to leave the house. If when going out on an
errand one stubs his toe against the threshold, he must wait an hour.
Having started on a fishing or hunting expedition nobody is permitted to
go back home; should this be done the enterprise would be a failure for
the others; nor should the dogs, on a pig hunt, be called in while on a
ladang lest monkeys and deer eat the paddi. When about to undertake a
journey of more than four or five days' duration one must abstain from
eating snake or turtle, and if a pregnant woman eats these reptiles the
child will look like them. Should she eat fruit that has fallen to the
ground, the child will be still-born. The same prohibition applies to
lizards.
Up to twenty years ago the Duhoi and the Katingans made head-hunting raids
on each other. It was the custom to take a little flesh from the arm or
leg of the victim, which was roasted and eaten. Before starting on such an
expedition the man must sleep separate from his wife seven days; when
going pig-hunting the separation is limited to one day. On the Upper Samba
the custom still prevails of drinking tuak from human skulls. This was
related to me by the "onder" of Kasungan, a trustworthy man who had
himself seen it done.
A wide-awake kapala from one of the kampongs above was of excellent
service in explaining the purposes of the ethnological objects I
purchased. About articles used by women he was less certain, but he gave
me much valuable information, though it was impossible to keep him as long
as I desired because he felt anxious about the havoc rusa and monkeys
might make with his paddi fields. At five o'clock of an afternoon I had
finished, and in spite of a heavy shower the kapala left to look after his
paddi, with a night journey of six hours before him. These people are
satisfied with little, and he was happy to receive, besides rice and
money, a quantity of cocoanut oil and some empty tin cans thrown in.
During this busy day the thought occurred to me that the night was
Christmas eve, the great festival in Scandinavian countries, and I had
made no preparation for a better meal, having neither time nor means. In
fact, it so happened that I had rather less than usual. Nevertheless, the
day had passed happily, as I accomplished much and acquired interesting
information, for instance, about the flying prahu which I had secured. It
was about half a metre long, and this and similar models seem to be quite
an institution in the southern parts of Borneo. The Duhoi and the
Katingans use the contrivance for curing disease, though not in the way we
should expect, by carrying away the disorder, but by making a present of
the prahu to a good antoh to facilitate his journey.
The name of the flying prahu is menama, in. Katingan, melambong. The more
or less wavy carvings of the edge represent the beach. On board are
several wooden images: The great hornbill which carries the prahu along
and steers it; the tiger-cat, which guards it; the gong and two blanga
(valuable urns), to which are added a modernism in the shape of a
rifle - all are there ready to drive away the bad antoh which caused the
illness.
