124 PAGAN TRIBES OF BORNEO chap. 



yam or other root covered with projecting spikes of 

 bamboo cane. This is done openly to spoil the crop. 

 Another trick is to tie under a bench in the boat 

 of one's enemy a pebble, generally of quartz. This 

 is supposed to make the boat so heavy that it can 

 only travel very slowly. 



Charms 



These practices involve the application of charms. 

 Charms are extensively used by all the peoples, 



least so by Kayans. In 

 every house is at least one 

 bundle of charms, known 

 as siap aioh by the Ken- 

 yahs, by whom more im- 

 portance is attached to it 

 than by any of the other 

 tribes. This bundle, which 

 is the property of the 

 whole household or village, 

 generally contains hair 

 taken from the heads that 

 hang in the gallery ; a 

 crocodile's tooth ; the 

 blades of a few knives 

 that have been used in 

 special ceremonies ; a few crystals or pebbles of 

 strange shapes ; pig's teeth of unusual shape (of 

 both wild and domestic pig) ; feathers of a fowl 

 (these seem to be substitutes for Bali Flaki's 

 feathers, which they would hardly dare to touch) ; 

 stone axe-heads called the teeth of Balingo ; ^ and 

 isang, i.e. palm leaves that have been put to cere- 

 monial use (Fig. 80). 



The whole bundle, blackened with the smoke 

 and dust of years, hangs in the gallery over the 



^ See vol. ii., p. 11. 



Fig. 80. — Kenyah Siap. 



