CHAPTER XX 



MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL PECULIARITIES 



In this chapter we propose to bring together a 

 number of observations which have found no place 

 in foregoing chapters but which will throw further 

 light on the moral and intellectual status of the 

 pagan tribes. 



We have seen that among the Kayans the 

 immediate sanction of all actions and of judgments 

 of approval and disapproval is custom, and that the 

 sanction of custom is generally supported by the 

 fear of the toh and of the harm they may inflict upon 

 the whole house. The principle of collective or 

 communal responsibility of the household, which is 

 thus recognised in face of the spiritual powers, as 

 well as in face of other communities, gives every 

 man an interest in the good behaviour of his 

 fellows, and at the same time develops in him the 

 sense of obligation towards his community. The 

 small size of each community, its separation and 

 clear demarcation by its residence under a single 

 roof, its subordination to a single chief, and its 

 perpetual conflict and rivalry with other neighbour- 

 ing communities of similar constitution, all these 

 circumstances also make strongly for the develop- 

 ment in each of its members of a strong collective 

 consciousness, that is to say, of a clear conscious- 

 ness of the community and of his place within it and 

 a strong sentiment of attachment to it. The attach- 



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