6o3 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



and other ornaments, by the weight of which the lobe is gradually 

 distended down to the shoulder. In several tribes the skulls of 

 the infants are artificially deformed by means of bamboo frames 

 and bandages. 



The simple Dayak costume of blue cotton with a three-colored 

 stripe for border is always gracefully draped, and the black hair 

 is usually wrapped in a red cloth trimmed with gold. Most of 

 the Dayaks tattoo the arms, hands, feet, and thighs, occasionally 

 also the breast and temples. The designs, generally of a beauti- 

 ful blue color on the coppery ground of the body, display great 

 taste, and are nearly always disposed in odd numbers, which, as 

 among so many other peoples, are supposed to be lucky. Amulets 

 of stone, filigree, and the like, are also added to the ornaments to 

 avert misfortune. In some tribes coils of brass wire are wound 

 round the body, as among some African peoples on the shores of 

 Victoria Nyanza. 



Many Dayak tribes are still addicted to head-hunting, a prac- 

 tice which has made their name notorious, and which but lately 

 threatened the destruction of the whole race. It is essentially a 

 religious practice — so much so that no important act in their lives 

 seems sanctioned unless accompanied by the offering of one or 

 more heads. The child is born under adverse influences unless 

 the father has presented a head or two to the mother before its 

 birth. The young man can not become a man and arm himself 

 with the manclau, or war-club, until he has beheaded at least one 

 victim. The wooer is rejected by the maiden of his choice unless 

 he <?an produce one head to adorn their new home. The chief 

 fails to secure recognition until he can exhibit to his subjects a 

 head secured by his own hand. No dying person can enter the 

 kingdom beyond the grave with honor unless he is accompanied 

 by one or more headless companions. Every rajah owes to his 

 rank the tribute of a numerous escort after death. 



Among some tribes, notably the Bahu Trings, in the north- 

 ern part of the Mahakkam basin, and the Ot-Damons of the up- 

 per Kahajan, the religious custom is still more exacting. It is 

 not sufficient to kill the victim, but before being dispatched he 

 must also be tortured, the corpse sprinkled with his blood, and his 

 flesh eaten under the eyes of the priest and priestesses, who perform 

 the prescribed rites. All this explains the terror inspired by the 

 Dayaks in their neighbors, and the current belief that they are 

 sprung from swords and daggers that have taken human form. 

 With the gradual spread of Islam the Dayaks of the British 

 and Dutch possessions are slowly abandoning their bloodthirsty 

 usages. At the same time the head-hunters themselves, strange 

 to say, are otherwise the most moral people in the whole of In- 

 donesia. Nearly all are perfectly frank and honest. They scru- 



