Through Central Borneo; an Account of Two Years' Travel in the Land of Head-Hunters Between the Years 1913 and 1917Lumholtz, Carl
History
Through Central Borneo; an Account of Two Years' Travel in the Land of Head-Hunters Between the Years 1913 and 1917
Lumholtz, Carl
Borneo -- Description and travel; Ethnology -- Borneo; Natural history -- Borneo
Malay is not spoken here, and we got on as best we could--nevertheless the
want of an interpreter was seriously felt. The chief himself spoke some
and might have served fairly well, but he studiously remained away from
me, and even took most of the men from the kampong to make prahus at
another place. I was told that he was afraid of me, and certainly his
behaviour was puzzling. Three months later I was enlightened on this point
by the information that he had been arrested on account of the murder by
spear of a woman and two men, a most unusual occurrence among Dayaks, who,
as a rule, never kill any one in their own tribe. With the kampong
well-nigh deserted, it soon became evident that nothing was to be gained by
remaining and that I would better change the scene of my activities to
Long Kai, another Penihing kampong further down the river.
A small garrison had been established there, and by sending a message we
secured prahus and men, which enabled us to depart from our present
encampment. There were some rapids to pass in which our collector of
animals and birds nearly had his prahu swamped, and although it was filled
with water, owing to his pluck nothing was lost. At Long Kai the
lieutenant and Mr. Loing put up a long shed of tent material, while I
placed my tent near friendly trees, at the end of a broad piece of road on
the river bank, far enough from the kampong to avoid its noises and near
enough to the river to enjoy its pleasant murmur.
When going to their ladangs in the morning the Dayaks passed my tent,
thence following the tiny affluent, Kai, from which the kampong received
its name. Under the trees I often had interviews with the Penihings, and
also with the nomadic Bukats and Punans who had formed settlements in the
neighbouring country. Some of them came of their own accord, others were
called by Tingang, the kapala of Long Kai, who did good service as
interpreter, speaking Malay fairly well. From my tent I had a beautiful
view of the river flowing between wooded hills, and the air was often
laden with the same delicious fragrance from the bloom of a species of
trees which I had observed on the Kasao River. Here, however, the odour
lasted hours at a time, especially morning and evening. On the hills of
the locality grow many sago palms, to which the natives resort in case
rice is scarce.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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