I Was Told That When They Go Fighting The Wild
Head-Hunters, They Are Allowed To Bring In As Trophies The Heads Of
Those They Kill, In The Same Way That The Dayaks Themselves Do.
The
method of execution here is the same as in other Malay countries,
the criminal being taken down to the banks of the river, where a long
"kris" is thrust down through the shoulder into the heart, and is
then twisted about till the man is dead.
After a visit to Bau, further up the Sarawak River, where the Borneo
Company, whose guest I was, have a gold mine (the clay being treated
by the "cyanide" process), I collected specimens for some time in the
beautiful forests at the foot of the limestone mountains of Poak. Here
I saw something of the Land Dayaks, but they are a poor degenerate
breed, and not to be compared to the Sea Dayaks, who are born fighters,
and whose predatory head-hunting instincts give a great deal of trouble
to the government. These latter were the Dayaks I was anxious to meet,
and I soon made arrangements to visit their country, which is a good
way from Kuching, the real Sea Dayak rarely visiting the capital.
So one morning early I found myself with my two servants, a Chinese
cook and a civilized Dayak named Dubi (Mr. R. Shelford also going),
on board a government paddle-wheel steamer which was bound for Sibu,
on the Rejang River. Twenty-five miles' descent of the Sarawak River
brought us to the sea.
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