MYTHS, LEGENDS, STORIES 139 



them prosperity of every kind, and demonstrated 

 the procedure he advised by decapitating a small 

 frog. Tokong therefore determined to follow the 

 frog's advice and carried away the heads of his 

 enemies ; this was followed immediately by increased 

 prosperity. As the party returned home and passed 

 through their fields the padi grew very rapidly. 

 As they entered the fields the padi was only 

 up to their knees, but before they had passed 

 through it was full-grown with full ears. As they 

 approached the house their relatives came to meet 

 them, rejoicing over various pieces of good fortune 

 that had befallen them. The words of the frog thus 

 came true, and Tokong and his people continued to 

 follow the new practice, and from them it was learned 

 by others. 



Although the help of the stars is not needed 

 by the Borneans in directing their course when 

 travelling, since all but very short journeys are 

 made on the rivers, most of them are familiar 

 with the principal constellations, and name them in 

 accordance with the resemblances they discover to 

 men, animals, and other objects. Some of the tribes 

 determine the arrival of the season for sowing padi 

 by the observation of the stars. Thus the Long 

 Kiputs (Klemantans) name the great square of 

 Pegasus Palaiy the padi storehouse (these houses 

 are generally square) ; the Pleiades they call a 

 well ; and the constellation of which Aldebaran is a 

 member they call a pig's jaw. They measure the 

 altitude of a star by filling a tall bamboo vessel with 

 water, inclining it until it points directly to the star, 

 and then setting it upright again, and measuring the 

 height at which the surface of the water remaining 

 in the vessel stands above its floor. Orion is inter- 

 preted as the figure of a man, Lafaang, in much the 

 same way as by Europeans ; but his left arm is 

 thought to be wanting. They tell the following 



