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
Next day we arrived at Kasungan, where we were offered quarters in a large
room in the "onder's" house. There was no news of our steamer, the
_Selatan_, and I remained about a week. The "onder," a Kahayan who had been
here twenty-five years, had the intelligence and reliability that seems
characteristic of the Dayaks of the Kahayan and Kapuas Rivers, and, as a
matter of course, possessed extensive knowledge of the Katingan. He had
lately been converted to Christianity. The kampong was quite large, and
although it has been subject to the influence of Malay traders a long time
and quite recently to that of a missionary, still the natives offered
considerable of interest. It is only eight years since the communal house
obtained. Before some of the houses stand grotesque kapatongs, and the
majority of the population lives in the atmosphere of the long ago. I was
still able to buy ethnological articles and implements which are becoming
increasingly difficult to secure.
On entering a house the salutation is, _Akko domo_ (I (akko) arrive). To
this is answered, _Munduk_ (Sit down). On leaving the visitor says, _Akko
buhao_ (I am going). To which is responded, Come again. On my way to visit
a prominent Katingan I passed beneath a few cocoanut trees growing in
front of the house, as is the custom, while a gentle breeze played with
the stately leaves. "Better get away from there," my native guide suddenly
said; "a cocoanut may fall," and we had scarcely arrived inside the house
before one fell to the ground with a resounding thump half a metre from
where I had been standing. Eighteen years previously a Katingan had been
killed in this way as he descended the ladder. Eleven years later another
was carrying his child on his back when a cocoanut of small size hit and
killed the little one.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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