76 PAGAN TRIBES OF BORNEO chap. 



CROCODILES 



The Kayan's attitude towards the crocodile is 

 practically the same as the Kenyah's. We append 

 the following notes of a conversation with a young 

 Kayan chief, Usong, and his cousin Wan : — 

 There are but very few Kayans who will kill a 

 crocodile except in revenge. But if one of 

 their people has been taken by a crocodile 

 they go out together to kill the criminal, and 

 they begin by saying, '* Don't run away, you've 

 got to be killed, why don't you come to the surface.'* 

 You won't come out on the land because you have 

 done wrong and are afraid." After this he will 

 perhaps come on land ; and if he does not, he will 

 at least float to the surface of the water, and is then 

 killed with spears. In olden days Kayans used to 

 make a crocodile of clay and ask it to drive away 

 evil spirits ; but now this is not done. A crocodile 

 may become a man just like themselves. Some- 

 times a man dreams that a crocodile calls him to 

 become his blood-brother, and after they have gone 

 through the regular ceremony and exchanged 

 names (in the dream), the man is quite safe from 

 crocodiles. Usong's uncle has in this way become 

 blood-brother to a crocodile, and is now called 

 '* Baya " (the generic'name for the crocodile), while 

 some crocodile unknown is called Jok, and Usong 

 considers himself the nephew of the crocodile Jok. 

 Usong's father has also become blood-brother to 

 a crocodile, and Usong calls himself a son of this 

 particular unknown crocodile. Sometimes he asks 

 these two, his uncle- and his father -crocodiles, to 

 give him a pig when he is out hunting, and once 

 they did give him one. After relating this, Usong 

 added, ** But who knows if this be true ? " 



Wan's great-great-grandfather became blood- 

 brother to a crocodile, and was called *' Klieng 



