Borneo and the Indian Archipelago: with drawings of costume and sceneryMarryat, Frank
History
Borneo and the Indian Archipelago: with drawings of costume and scenery
Marryat, Frank
Borneo -- Description and travel; Malay Archipelago -- Description and travel
building, and divided into many compartments, in each of which a Dyak
family resides. We were escorted, through a crowd of wondering Dyaks, to
a house in the centre of the village, which was very different in
construction from the others. It was perfectly round, and well
ventilated by numerous port-holes in the roof, which was pointed. We
ascended to the room above by means of a rough ladder, and when we
entered we were rather taken aback at finding that we were in the Head
House, as it is termed, and that the beams were lined with human heads,
all hanging by a small line passed through the top of the skull. They
were painted in the most fantastic and hideous manner; pieces of wood,
painted to imitate the eyes, were inserted into the sockets, and added
not a little to their ghastly grinning appearance. The strangest part of
the story, and which added very much to the effect of the scene, was,
that these skulls were perpetually moving to and fro, and knocking
against, each other. This, I presume, was occasioned by the different
currents of air blowing in at the port-holes cut in the roof; but what
with their continual motion, their nodding their chins when they hit
each other, and their grinning teeth, they really appeared to be endowed
with new life, and were a very merry set of fellows. However, whatever
might be the first impression occasioned by this very unusual sight, it
very soon wore off, and we amused ourselves with those motions which
were "not life," as Byron says; and, in the course of the day, succeeded
in making a very excellent dinner in company with these gentlemen,
although we were none of us sufficiently Don Giovannis to invite our
friends above to supper. We visited three villages on the Sarambo
mountain. Each of these villages was governed by a chief of its own, but
they were subordinate to the great chief, residing in the first village.
[Illustration: DYAK HEAD.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account