When He Returned, He Entered His Sweetheart's Hut,
Carrying A Sack On His Shoulders.
He opened it, and four human heads
rolled upon the bamboo floor.
At the sight of the trophies, the girl
at once took him back into her favour, and flinging her arms round
his neck, embraced him passionately.
"You wanted heads," declared her lover. "I have brought them. Do you
not recognize them?"
Then to her horror she saw they were the heads of her father, her
mother, her brother and of a young man who was Hathnaveng's rival
for her affections. Hathnaveng was immediately seized by some of
the tribesmen, and by way of punishment was placed in a small bamboo
structure such as is commonly used by the Dayaks for pigs, and allowed
to starve to death.[12] This is a true story, and occurred while I
was still in Borneo.
The day after we arrived at Kapit a great crowd of Dayaks, belonging to
the tribe of those implicated in the attack on the Punans, assembled
at the fort to talk with Dr. Hose on the matter, and the upshot of
it all was startling in its severity. This was Hose's ultimatum:
They must give up the rest of those that took part in the raid, and
they would all get various terms of imprisonment. They must return
the rest of the heads. They must pay enormous fines, and, lastly,
those villages which had men who took part in the raid, must move
down the river opposite Sibu, and thus be under Hose's eye as well
as under the guns of the fort. I watched the faces of the crowd, and
it was interesting to witness their various emotions. Some looked
stupefied, others looked very angry, and that they could not agree
among themselves was plainly evident from their angry squabbling. They
were a curious crowd with their long black hair and fringes and round
tattoo marks on their bodies. They finally agreed to these terms, as
Hose told them that if they did not do so, he would come and make them,
even if he had to kill them all. The following days I witnessed large
bands of Dayaks bringing to the fort their fines, which consisted of
large jars and brass gongs, which are the Dayak forms of currency. The
total fine amounted to $5,200, and the jars were carefully examined,
the gongs weighed and their values assessed. Some of the jars were
very old, but the older they are the more they are worth. Three of
the poorest looking ones were valued at $1,400 (the dollar in Borneo
is about two of our shillings). Of the total, $1,200 was later paid to
the Punans as compensation ("pati nyawa"). I watched some Dayaks - who
had just brought in their fines - as they went away in one of their
large canoes, and they crossed the river with a quick, short stroke
of their paddles in splendid time, so that one heard the sound of
their paddles, as they beat against the side of the canoe, come in one
short tr-r-up.
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