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
The country traversed from the River Pantun, to follow Mr. Spaan's
account, at first is somewhat hilly, changes gradually into undulating
country, and finally into a plain in the middle of which, quite
singularly, rises this lonely limestone mountain, full of holes and caves,
about 1,000 metres long, 400 broad, and 100 high, with perpendicular
walls. The caves are finely formed and have dome-shaped roofs, but few
stalactite formations appear. Thousands of bats live there and the ground
is covered with a thick layer of guano. From the viewpoint of natural
beauty these caves are far inferior to the well-known cave of Kimanis in
the Birang (on the River Berau, below the Kayan) with its extraordinarily
beautiful stalactite formations. In one of the caves with a low roof were
found eleven Hindu images; only the previous day the regent of Kutei had
turned the soil over and recovered a couple more archaeological remains.
Ten of these relics are in has-relief and about a metre high. The
eleventh, which is lower, represents the sacred ox and is sculptured in
its entirety. One bas-relief from which the head had been broken struck
the observer as being finely executed; he recognized four Buddhas, one
Durga, and one Ganesha.
Another cave visited was noteworthy on account of a strong wind which
continually issues from it and for which he was unable to account. The
current is formed in the opening, and twenty-five metres back of it there
is no movement of the atmosphere. The cave is low, but after ten minutes'
walk it becomes higher and has connection with the outside air. There it
is very high, and the sun's rays falling in produced a magnificent effect,
but no wind was noticeable there. Standing in front of this cave a strange
impression was created by the sight of leaves, branches, and plants in
violent movement, while outside there was absolutely no wind.
I should much have liked to visit Kong Beng, but circumstances prevented
my doing so, though the assistant resident, Mr. G. Oostenbroek,
courteously offered his small steamer to take me up along the coast. Some
months later an American friend, Mr. A.M. Erskine, at my instigation made
the journey, and according to him it would take a month to properly
explore the locality. The man whom the Sultan of Kutei sent with him threw
rice on the statues, and the accompanying Dayaks showed fear of them. By
digging to a depth of about a metre and a half through the layer of guano,
a pavement of hewn stone was found which rested on the floor of the cave.
That the trip proved interesting is evident from the following description
submitted to me:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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