XVI MAGIC, SPELLS, AND CHARMS 125 



principal hearth beside the heads, usually in a wide- 

 meshed basket. It constitutes the most precious 

 possession of the household, being of even greater 

 value than the heads. No one willingly touches or 

 handles the siap, not even the chief. And when it 

 becomes necessary to touch the bundle, as in trans- 

 ferring it to a new house, some old man is specially 

 told off for the duty; he who touches it brings 

 upon himself the risk of death, for it is v^vy parit 

 to touch it, i,e, strongly against custom and there- 

 fore dangerous.^ Its function seems 

 to be to bring luck or prosperity of 

 all kinds to the house ; without it 

 nothing would prosper, especially in 

 warfare. 



Many individuals keep a small 

 private bunch of siap, made up of 

 various small objects, of unusual 

 forms, generally without any human 

 hair (Fig. 81). These are generally 

 obtained through dreams. A man 

 dreams that something of value is to 

 be given him, and then, if on waking 

 his eye falls upon a crystal of quartz, fig. 81. — Kenyah 

 or any other slightly peculiar object, Charm made with 



, \ . ii« 1 1'^ crocodile s tooth. 



he takes it and hangs it above his 

 sleeping-place ; when going to bed he addresses it, 

 saying that he wants a dream favourable to any busi- 

 ness he may have in hand. If such a dream comes 

 to him, the thing becomes siap ; but if his dreams are 

 inauspicious, the object is rejected. Since no one 

 can come in contact with another man's siap without 

 risk of injury, the inconvenience occasioned by 

 multiplication of siap bundles puts a limit to their 

 number. Nevertheless a man who possesses private 

 siap will carry it with him attached to the sheath of 



^ Although breach of custom and of lali by any individual may bring mis- 

 fortune on the whole household, the offending individual is regarded as specially 

 liable to wasting sickness with diarrhoea and spitting of blood. 



