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 Kahayans who live to the east of them always liked to come to the
Samba, often marrying Duhoi wives, and they also exert an influence. In
intellect they are superior to the Duhoi as well as in knowledge of
worldly affairs, in that respect resembling the Malays, though they have
none of their objectionable qualities. One or two of them are generally
present in a kampong, and I always found them useful because they speak
Malay well besides being truthful and reliable. Some of these are converts
to Christianity through the efforts of the Protestant mission on the
Kahayan River, which has begun to extend its activity to the Samba by
means of such Kahayans.
I prevailed on the "onder" to call the people from three kampongs above,
promising presents of rice. He wrote the order himself in Arabic letters
and sent it on, and late the following day twenty-five Duhoi arrived,
among them four women and several children. Many showed indications of
having had smallpox, not in a scarred face, but by the loss of an eye; one
man was totally blind from the same cause. In order to induce them to
dance I bought a domestic pig, which was brought from the ladang and in
the customary way was left on the ground in the middle of the dancing
place. Four men attended to the gongs which had unusually fine tones.
The women were persuaded to come forward with difficulty. As I expected,
they were like bundles of cloth, exhibiting Malay innovations, and the
dance was uninteresting, each woman keeping her position in a stationary
circle. There was not much life in the dancing of the men either, each
performing at his place in a similar circle, with some movements
resembling the most common form of dancing hitherto described. Finally,
one whose long hair and attire, an ancient short shirt, betrayed him as
belonging to the old school, suddenly stepped forward, drew his parang,
and began to perform a war dance, swinging himself gracefully in a circle.
Another man was almost his equal, and these two danced well around the
babi which was lying at the foot of two thin upright bamboo poles; to the
top of one of these a striped cloth had been tied.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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