156 PAGAN TRIBES OF BORNEO chap. 



The body, wrapped in a mat, is buried in a grave 

 dug in the earth among the tombs, instead of being 

 put in a coffin raised on a tall post ; for the soul of 

 the woman who dies in childbirth goes, with the 

 souls of those who fall in battle, or die by violence 

 of any kind, to Bawang Daha (the lake of blood). 



If twins are born, one is chosen, generally the 

 boy, if they are of different sexes. The other is 

 got rid off by exposure in the jungle. The avowed 

 motive for this practice (which, of course, is rapidly 

 passing away under the influence of the European 

 governments) is the desire to preserve the life of 

 the survivor ; for they hold that his chances of life 

 are diminished not only by the necessity of dividing 

 the mother's care and milk between the twins, if 

 both survive, but also by the sympathetic bond 

 which they believe to exist between twins, and 

 which renders each of them liable to all the ills and 

 misfortunes that befall the other; and to Kayans 

 the loss of a child of some years of age is a calamity 

 of the first magnitude, whereas the sacrifice of one 

 of a pair of new-born twins is hardly felt. 



At the moment the child is completely born, a 

 tawak or a drum (according as it is male or female) 

 is beaten in the gallery with a peculiar rhythm. All 

 members of the household (i.e. all whose rooms are 

 under the roof of the one long house, and who, there- 

 fore, are under the same omens and tabus) who are 

 within the house at this moment have the right to 

 a handful of salt from the parents of the child ; and 

 all members who are not under the roof at the 

 moment are expected to make a present of some 

 piece of iron to the child. This is an ancient custom, 

 which is no longer strictly observed, and which seems 

 to be undergoing a natural decay. 



During the confinement of a woman, Kayans 

 (more especially those of the upper Rejang) some- 

 times perform a dance which is supposed to facilitate 



