He thought he was going to
be killed, and the whole of the voyage he was chanting a most mournful
kind of song, a regular torrent of words going to one note. My Dayak
servant Dubi informed me that he was singing about the heads he had
taken, and for which he thought he was now going to die.
After a day's stay in Sibu I went up the Sarekei River with my
two servants, and made a long stay in a Dayak house. I will try to
describe my life among the Dayaks in the next chapter. In conclusion,
I must tell the tragic story of a fatal mistake, which was told me by
Johnson, one of the officials at Sibu, which serves to illustrate the
superstitious beliefs of the Malays. A Chinese prisoner at Sibu had
died, at least Johnson and Bolt both thought so, and they sent some of
the Malay soldiers to bury the body on the other side of the river. A
few days later one of them casually remarked to Johnson that they had
often heard it said that the spirit of a man sometimes returned to
his body again for a short time after death (a Malay belief), but he
(this Malay) had not believed it before, but he now knew that it was
true. Johnson, much amused, asked him how that was. "Oh," said the
Malay, "when the Tuan (Johnson) sent us across the river to bury the
dead man the other day, his spirit came back to him and his body sat
up and talked, and we were much afraid, and seized hold of the body;
which gave us much trouble to put it into the hole we had digged,
and when we had quickly filled in the hole so that the body could not
come out again, we fled away quickly, so now we know that the saying
is true." It thus transpired that they had buried a live Chinaman
without being aware of the fact.
CHAPTER 13
Home-Life Among Head-Hunting Dayaks.
I leave the Main Stream and journey up the Sarekei - A Stream
overarched by Vegetation - House 200 feet long - I make Friends with
the Chief - My New Quarters - Rarity of White Men - Friendliness
of my New Hosts - Embarrassing Request from a Lady, "like we your
skin" - Similar Experience of Wallace - Crowds to see me Undress -
Dayak's interest in Illustrated Papers - Waist-rings of Dayak Women
- Teeth filled with brass - Noisiness of a Dayak House - Dayak
Dogs - A well-meant Blow and its Sequel - Uproarious Amusement of
the Dayaks - Dayak Fruit-Trees - The Durian as King of all Fruits
- Dayak "Bridges" across the Swamp-Dances of the Head-Hunters -
A Secret "Fishing" Expedition - A Spear sent by way of defiance to
the Government - I "score" off the Pig-Hunters - Dayak Diseases -
Dayak Women and Girls - Two "Broken Hearts" - I Raffle my Tins -
"Cookie" and the Head-Hunters, their Jokes and Quarrels - My Adventure
with a Crocodile.
The Rejang is one of the many large rivers which abound in Borneo,
and its tributaries are numerous and for the most part unexplored. The
Rejang is tidal for fully one hundred and fifty miles, and at Sibu
is over a mile in width. The banks of this river are inhabited by
a large population of Malays, Chinese, Dayaks, Kayans, Kanawits,
Punans and numerous other tribes. Thus it is a highly interesting
region for an ethnologist.
It was with feelings of pleasant anticipation that I started down
the river in the government steam-launch from Sibu just as dawn was
breaking, on my way to spend several weeks among the wild Dayaks
on the unexplored Sarekei River. I took with me my two servants,
Dubi, a civilized Dayak, and my Chinese cook. After a journey of
four hours we arrived at a large Malay village near the mouth of
the Sarekei River. Here I disembarked and sought out the chief of
the village and demanded the loan of two canoes, with some men to
paddle them, and in return I offered liberal payment. Accordingly,
an hour after my arrival I found myself with all my belongings and
servants on board the two canoes, with a crew of nine Malays. Soon
after leaving the Malay village we branched off to the left up the
Sarekei River. It was very monotonous at first, as the giant plumes
of the NIPA palm hid everything from my view. My Malays worked hard
at their paddles, and late in the afternoon we left the main Sarekei
River and paddled up a small and extremely narrow stream. There we
found ourselves in the depth of a most luxuriant vegetation. We were
in a regular tunnel formed by arching ferns and orchid-laden trees,
giant PANDANUS, various palms and arborescent ferns and CALADIUMS. Here
grew the largest CRINUM lilies I had ever seen. They literally towered
over me, and the sweet-scented white and pink flowers grew in huge
bunches on stems nearly as thick as my arm.
After the bright sun on the main river, the dark, gloomy depths of this
side-stream were very striking. It was so narrow that sometimes the
vegetation on both sides was forced into the canoes, and the "atap"
(palm-thatched) roof of my canoe came in for severe treatment as it
brushed against prickly PANDANUS and thorny rattans.
The entrance to this stream was completely hidden from view, and no
one but these Malays, who had been up here before, trading with the
Dayaks, could have discovered it. I had told the Malay chief that I
wished to visit a Dayak village where no white man had ever been and
where they were head-hunters. He had smiled slyly and nodded as if he
understood.
