ANIMISTIC BELIEFS ^ 



wear such a skin as a war-coat, or even to touch it. 

 These skins have been brought from other lands by- 

 Malay traders, and it is probable that whatever know- 

 ledge of the tiger the Kenyahs possess has come 

 from the same source. 



A chief will sometimes name his son Linjau, that 

 is, the Tiger. 



Other Animals 



A carnivore {Arctogale leucotis) allied to the civet- 

 cat warns of danger when seen or heard. 



There is a certain large lizard ( Varanus) that is 

 eaten freely by other tribes, but Kenyahs may not 

 eat it, though they will kill it. 



They regard the seeing of any snake as an 

 unfavourable omen, and will not kill any snake 

 gratuitously. 



Kenyahs, like all, or almost all the other natives 

 of Borneo, are more or less afraid of the Maias 

 (the orang-utan) and of the long-nosed monkey, 

 and they will not look one in the face or laugh 

 at one. 



In one Kenyah house a fantastic figure of the 

 gibbon is carved on the ends of all the main cross- 

 beams of the house, and the chief said that this has 

 been their custom for many generations. He told 

 us that it is the custom, when these beams are being 

 put up, to kill a pig and divide its flesh among the 

 men who are working, and no woman is allowed to 

 come into the house until this has been done. None 

 of his people will kill a gibbon, though other Kenyahs 

 will kill and probably eat it. They claim that he 

 helps them as a friend, and the carvings on the 

 beams seem to symbolize his supporting of the 

 house. 



In other parts of the same house are carvings of 

 the bangat, Semnopithecus Hosei, but the old chief 



