290 PAGAN TRIBES OF BORNEO chap. 



Kenyah tribe in the interior are far more genial and less 

 shy than those of other communities, and I believe that 

 the surest sign of the good faith of natives such as these 

 is that the women and children come out to greet one 

 unattended by the men. The sounds of our merriment 

 soon attracted the attention of the men, and as they 

 strolled over and joined us in gradually increasing numbers, 

 the possibility of any disturbance taking place between these 

 people and mine quickly vanished from my mind. 



On the following morning several parties of Madangs 

 from other villages came in, numbering in all about 600, 

 and exchanged presents of weapons with my people. It 

 was necessary that the gods should be consulted as to 

 whether the meeting was really in the interests of peace 

 or not. So a pig was caught and tied by the legs, and 

 when all the Madangs were assembled in Tama Usun 

 Tasi's house, the pig was brought in and placed in front 

 of the chiefs. Then one of the head men from a neighbour- 

 ing village took a lighted piece of wood and singed a few 

 of the bristles of the pig, giving it a poke with his hand 

 at the same time, as if to attract its attention, and calling in 

 a loud voice to the supreme being, " Bali Penyalong." Then, 

 talking at a great rate and hardly stopping for a moment to 

 take breath, he asked that, if any one had evil intentions, 

 the truth might be revealed before the evilly disposed one 

 was allowed to enter the Madang houses, and that, if any 

 Madang, whether related to him or not, wished to disturb the 

 peace which was about to be made with the Baram people, 

 his designs should be revealed. The old man stood waving 

 his hands as if to sweep within the circle of his influence 

 the whole of the assembled crowd, and then, jumping into 

 the air with great violence, brought both feet down on the 

 plank floor with a resounding thump ; then, spinning round 

 on one foot with his arm extended, he quickly altered the 

 tone of his voice to a more gentle pitch, and, quivering 

 with excitement, quietly sank down into his place amid a 

 dead silence. The speech was a stirring one, and created 

 an impression. Others spoke a few words to the pig, and it 

 was then taken to one side and stabbed in the throat with a 

 spear, after which the liver was taken out and examined. 

 I should mention that a pig intended to serve the same 

 purpose was provided by the Madangs for our people, who 

 were still waiting to be invited to the house. 



Having years before studied the beliefs of the natives 



