I will notice a few things which the Dayaks consider must not be done by them; for instance, most are not allowed to eat the flesh of horned animals, as cattle and goats, and many tribes extend the prohibition to the wild deer. In their refusal to touch the flesh of cows and bulls they add another illustration of the theory that their religion is indirectly derived from the Hindu, or if not actually derived, greatly influenced by their intercourse with its disciples. They say that some of their ancestors, in the transmigration of souls, were formerly metamorphosed into these animals; and they slily, or innocently add, that the reason why the Mahomedan Malays will not touch pork is, that they are afraid to eat their forefathers, who were changed into the unclean animal. It has often struck me that the origin of many of their superstitions arose from the greediness of the elders; as in some of the tribes they, together with the women and children, but not the sturdy young men, may eat eggs. In other instances the very old men and the women may eat of the flesh of the deer, while the young men and warriors of the tribe are debarred from venison for fear it should render them as timid as the graceful hind. The taboo which prevents certain families from consuming the flesh of snakes and other kinds of reptiles, most probably arose from some incident in the life of one of their ancestors, in which the rejected beast played a prominent part. It is religiously forbidden to all those intending to engage in a pig-hunt from meddling with oil before the chase, for fear the game should thus slip through their fingers. I may add, if a certain kind of bird flies through a house the inhabitants desert it; as they likewise do if a drop of blood be seen sprinkled on the floor, unless they can prove whence it came. In addition to the incantations (Beruri) which accompany every feast (Gawei), there are special ones on occasions of sickness both in men and rice. The Dayak idea of life is this, that in mankind, animals, and rice there is a living principle called “semungat” or “semungi;” that sickness is caused by the temporary absence, and death by the total departure of this principle from the body. Hence the object of their ceremonies is to bring back the departed souls; and some of the feasts are held to secure the soul of the rice, which, if not so detained, the produce of their farms would speedily rot and decay. At sowing time, a little of the principle of life of the rice, which at every harvest is secured by their priests, is planted with their other seeds, and is thus propagated and communicated.