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
A wide-awake kapala from one of the kampongs above was of excellent
service in explaining the purposes of the ethnological objects I
purchased. About articles used by women he was less certain, but he gave
me much valuable information, though it was impossible to keep him as long
as I desired because he felt anxious about the havoc rusa and monkeys
might make with his paddi fields. At five o'clock of an afternoon I had
finished, and in spite of a heavy shower the kapala left to look after his
paddi, with a night journey of six hours before him. These people are
satisfied with little, and he was happy to receive, besides rice and
money, a quantity of cocoanut oil and some empty tin cans thrown in.
During this busy day the thought occurred to me that the night was
Christmas eve, the great festival in Scandinavian countries, and I had
made no preparation for a better meal, having neither time nor means. In
fact, it so happened that I had rather less than usual. Nevertheless, the
day had passed happily, as I accomplished much and acquired interesting
information, for instance, about the flying prahu which I had secured. It
was about half a metre long, and this and similar models seem to be quite
an institution in the southern parts of Borneo. The Duhoi and the
Katingans use the contrivance for curing disease, though not in the way we
should expect, by carrying away the disorder, but by making a present of
the prahu to a good antoh to facilitate his journey.
The name of the flying prahu is menáma, in. Katingan, melambong. The more
or less wavy carvings of the edge represent the beach. On board are
several wooden images: The great hornbill which carries the prahu along
and steers it; the tiger-cat, which guards it; the gong and two blanga
(valuable urns), to which are added a modernism in the shape of a
rifle--all are there ready to drive away the bad antoh which caused the
illness. To a pole--or rather a combination of two poles--are tied two
rudely made wooden figures, one above the other, representing, the one
below, the djuragan or skipper (tiháng); the one above, the master of the
"sails" (únda).
When a Duhoi is very ill and able to pay the blian five florins, he
promises a good antoh to give him a menáma if he will make him well. The
contrivance is then made and the necessary ceremonies performed to the end
that its purpose shall be fulfilled. In the presence of many persons, the
afflicted man lying on his mat, the blian dances in the room holding the
prahu on his hands, the left at the bow, and swerving it to left and to
right; he sings at the same time but there is no other music. On three
consecutive nights this performance is continued for about an hour, near
the door, with an eye to the ship's departure, and although it does not
disappear it is believed to have accomplished its mission.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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