They have no graven images, nor do they practise any outward or visible signs of idolatry, nor have they any mode of religious worship further than a solemn attention to superstitious practices and observances. Several Dayaks have an objection to eating the flesh of pigs, deer, and other animals; but it is because they are afraid of getting certain complaints, as skin diseases, and the custom becomes hereditary, as many families are subject to them; or it arises from the fear of going mad; or as some married women tremble to touch deer’s flesh previously to the birth of their firstborn; or because they have received warning in dreams not to touch a particular kind of food. Their religious opinions do not forbid them to eat any kind of animals. The Sea Dayaks, however, would not intentionally kill a cobra, one species of the lizard, or owls, or any of their birds of omen. There are, also, certain animals and other birds which many families abstain from injuring; in some cases, owing to a dream; in others, to help traditionally received from them by an ancestor. In others, it is forbidden to kill a civet cat, an orang-utan, or an alligator; and they give such reasons as the following:--“One of my ancestors, a clever man, cured a sick alligator, and then they made an agreement that neither should injure the other.” Another said, when his great-grandfather first settled at the hill of Banting, the orang-utan abounded there. Their enemies once came to attack the place, but were repulsed by the assistance of the orang-utans, who crowded to the edge of the fruit groves to glare on the strangers, and were probably mistaken for men. As a reason for not destroying the cobra, they say, “It has always been forbidden, those who dream of them are lucky, and often do the great spirits put on the forms of snakes.” They sometimes change their names after severe sickness, when their priests recommend it on the restoration of health. And, also, in the event of a slave becoming free, his late master gives a feast upon the occasion of manumitting him, and proclaims his freedom in public. They often present a spear upon the occasion, the meaning of which is that, if he be again claimed as a slave, the spear may be used to put to death his former master. It is contrary to custom for a man to marry a first cousin, as they look upon them as sisters. No marriage is allowed with aunt or niece, and some objection is made in a few of the communities to a man marrying a deceased wife’s sister, or a woman taking her husband’s brother; but these customs are not always followed, and I have heard of uncles marrying nieces, and a marriage with a deceased wife’s sister is also permitted, provided her parents approve of the man; and it is then often encouraged by them in order to bring up the children as one family.