CHAPTER XVI 



MAGIC, SPELLS, AND CHARMS 



Magic is in a comparatively neglected and back- 

 ward condition among the Kayans and Kenyahs, 

 Punans, Ibans, and the more warlike up-country 

 Klemantans. On the other hand, some of the coast- 

 wise tribes of Klemantans, especially the Malanaus 

 and Kadayans, cultivate magic with some assiduity. 



The Kayans dislike and discourage all magical 

 practices, with the exception of those which are 

 publicly practised for beneficent purposes and have 

 the sanction of custom. 



In the old days they used to kill those suspected 

 of working any evil by magic. There are no 

 recognised magicians among them other than the 

 dayongs^ and these, as we have seen, perform the 

 functions of the priest and the physician rather than 

 those of the wizard or sorcerer. 



Some of the dayongs make use at certain 

 ceremonies of a rough mask carved out of wood, 

 or made from the shell of a gourd. The mask is 

 merely an oval shell with slits for eyes and mouth, 

 generally blackened with age and use. It may be 

 worn during the soul- catching ceremony, but not 

 during attendance on the recently deceased. This 

 use of a mask is not known to us among any other 

 of the peoples (PL 151). 



The medicine man of the Ibans is known as 

 manang] the manangs are more numerous than 



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