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
There appeared to be more Siangs than Murungs here, the former, who are
neighbours and evidently allied to the latter, occupying the inland to the
north of the great rivers on which the Murungs are chiefly settled, part
of the Barito and the Laong. They were shy, friendly natives, and
distinguished by well-grown mustaches, an appendage I also later noted
among the Upper Katingans. The people told me that I might photograph the
arrangements incident to the feast as much as I desired, and also promised
to furnish prahus and men when I wished to leave.
The following day Mr. Demmini seemed worse than before, being unable to
sleep and without appetite. The festival was to begin in two days, but
much to my regret there seemed nothing else to do but to return to Puruk
Tjahu. The Dayaks proposed to take the sick man there if I would remain,
but he protested against this, and I decided that we should all leave the
following day. In the evening I attended the dancing of the Dayak women
around an artificial tree made up of bamboo stalks and branches so as to
form a very thick trunk. The dancing at the tiwa feast, or connected with
it, is of a different character and meaning from the general performance
which is to attract good antohs. This one is meant to give pleasure to the
departed soul. The scene was inside one of the houses, and fourteen or
fifteen different dances were performed, one of them obscene, but
presented and accepted with the same seriousness as the other varieties.
Some small girls danced extraordinarily well, and their movements were
fairylike in unaffected grace.
Enjoying the very pleasant air after the night's rain, we travelled
rapidly down-stream on the swollen river to Tumbang Marowei, where we
spent the night. There were twenty men from the kampong eager to accompany
me on my further journey, but they were swayed to and fro according to the
dictates of the kapala, who was resolutely opposed to letting other
kampongs obtain possession of us. He wanted to reserve for himself and the
kampong the advantages accruing from our need of prahus and men. To his
chagrin, in the morning there arrived a large prahu with four Murungs from
Batu Boa, who also wanted a chance at this bonanza, whereupon the kapala
began to develop schemes to harass us and to compel me to pay more.
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