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 men, manifesting great spontaneity and enthusiasm, gathered quickly
about and on the badak, and one of them took the rubber man by the hand.
This was followed by pantomimic killing of the badak with a ceremonial
spear as well as with parangs, which were struck against its neck. The man
who was deputed to kill the pig with the spear missed the artery several
times, and as blood was his first objective, he took no care to finish the
unfortunate animal, which was still gasping fifteen minutes later.
An old woman then appeared on the scene who waved a bunch of five hens, to
be sacrificed, whirling them over and among the performers who were then
sitting or standing. The hens were killed in the usual way by cutting the
artery of the neck, holding them until blood had been collected, and then
leaving them to flap about on the ground until dead. Blood was now smeared
on the foreheads of the principal participants, and a young woman danced a
graceful solo.
Having ascertained, by sending to the kampong below, that I could obtain
twenty men with prahus whenever I intended to move, I discharged with
cheerful willingness most of the Puruk Tjahu Malays. Their departure was a
relief also to the Murungs, who feared to be exploited by the Malays. As
soon as the latter had departed in the morning, many Dayaks whom I had not
seen before ventured to come up to the kitchen and my tent to ask for
empty tin cans. The Malays had slept in the Dayak houses, and the last
night one of them carried off the mat which had been hospitably offered
him.
One day there were two weddings here, one in the morning and the other in
the evening. A cloth was spread over two big gongs, which were standing
close together on the floor and formed seats for the bride and bridegroom.
She seemed to be about sixteen years old, and laughed heartily and
frequently during the ceremony, which occupied but a few minutes. A man
waved a young live hen over and around them, then went away and killed it
in the usual manner, returning with the blood, which, with the help of a
stick, he smeared on the forehead, chest, neck, hands, and feet of the
bridal pair, following which the two mutually daubed each other's
foreheads. The principal business connected with marriage had previously
been arranged--that of settling how much the prospective bridegroom was to
pay to the bride's parents. With most tribes visited I found the
adjustment of the financial matter conclusive in itself without further
ceremonies.
The officiating blian took hold of a hand of each, pulled them from their
seats, and whisked them off as if to say: "Now you can go--you are
married!" Outside the full moon bathed the country in the effulgence of
its light, but being quite in zenith it looked rather small as it hung in
the tropical sky.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account