Through Central Borneo; an Account of Two Years' Travel in the Land of Head-Hunters Between the Years 1913 and 1917 — John Shaqi
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
At my request the raja, with a few companions, went out in search of some
of the shy jungle people called Punans. Seven days afterward he actually
returned with twelve men, who were followed by seven more the next day.
All the women had been left one day's journey from here. These Punans had
been encountered at some distance from kampong Bruen, higher up the river,
and, according to reports, made up the entire nomadic population of the
lower Kayan River. Most of them were rather tall, well-made men, but, as a
result of spending all their lives in the darkness of the jungle, [*]
their skin colour, a pale yellowish brown, was strikingly lighter,
especially the face, than that of the Kayans.
[Footnote *: In von Luschan's table, Punan 15, Kayan 22.]
They actually seemed to hate the sun, and next day when it broke through
the mist for a little while they all sought shelter in the shade of trees.
As a result of their avoidance of direct rays from the sun they have a
washed-out, almost sickly pale appearance, contrasting strangely with the
warm tone of light brown which at times may be observed among the Dayaks.
This is probably the reason why they are not very strong, though
apparently muscular, and are not able to carry heavy burdens. They began
at once to put up a shed similar to those of the Dayaks, but usually their
shelters for the night are of the rudest fashion, and as they have only
the scantiest of clothing they then cover themselves with mats made from
the leaves of the fan-palm.
On the Upper Mahakam I later made acquaintance with some of the Punans who
roam the mountainous regions surrounding the headwaters of that river.
Those are known under the name Punan Kohi, from a river of that name in
the mountains toward Sarawak. The members of the same tribe further east
in the mountains of the Bulungan district are called Punan Lun, from the
River Lun, to whom the present individuals probably belonged. According to
the raja, there are two kinds of Punans here, and his statement seems to
be borne out by the variations in their physical appearance.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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