194 PKIMITIVE AGEICULTUEAL EACES 



involved in almost continual warfare with Kabadi ; apart from this 

 long continual struggle the Koita appear to have carried on Httle 

 inter-tribal fighting. ... A considerable number of people fell in 

 these encounters.' ^ Other accounts of New Guinea give the 

 impression that, however frequent the fighting, the losses were 

 not large.^ Among the Dyaks, on the other hand, warfare is not 

 only frequent but also sanguinary ; ^ women and children are 

 killed at times.^ Fighting occurs between the Ainu clans, and is 

 the cause of much loss of life.^ 



34. It is not necessary to discuss the prevalence of feuds in 

 general, as they are not to be distinguished from warfare. But 

 in addition to the special case of murder following upon natural 

 death, one form of homicide deserves mention as it is of con- 

 siderable importance in this region, though not uncommon 

 elsewhere — especially in Nigeria. Head hunting is popularly 

 connected with Borneo, but it is also practised in New Guinea 

 and the neighbouring islands. The taking of a head is counted 

 a proof of manliness ; in Kiwai Island, Fly Eiver, it enables 

 a young man to secure a wife more easily.^ Thomson saw thirteen 

 skulls over the door of a house in an inland village in Normanby 

 Island.' Woodford found whole villages devastated owing to 

 the prevalence of this habit.^ Speaking of the New Hebrides, 

 Hickson says that ' in the olden times a fresh human head was 

 an indispensable preliminary to any marriage negotiations '.^ 

 Among the Sea Dyaks (Ibans) it is certainly a form of sport ; 

 the other inhabitants of Borneo are said only to practise it as 

 a part of warfare.^" It is not true to say that in Borneo the taking 

 of a head is indispensable for a youth who wishes to marry ,^1 

 though considerable prestige clearly attaches to it.^^ Without 

 doubt the practice is responsible for a large number of deaths,^^ 

 and the head of a woman or child is equally valuable as that of 

 a mauM The habit is also very prevalent among the Bontoc 

 Igorot. ' For unknown generations these people have been fierce 



1 



Seligman, Melanesians, p. 121. ^ ^bel, New Guinea, pp. 129 ff. ; 



Williamson, Mafulu People, p. 180 ; Reche, Siidsee-Expedition, 1908-10, p. 289. 

 ^ Ling Roth, Sarawak, vol. ii, p. 117; Hose and McDougall, Pagan Tribes, 

 pp. 158 ff. '' Ling R,oth, Sarawak, vol. ii, p. 120. ^ Batchelor, loc. cit., 



p. 15. ^ Chalmers, J. A. I., vol. xxxiii, p. 123. ' Thomson, British New 



Guinea, p. 23. * Woodford, Head Hunters, p. 154 ; Guppy, loc. cit., p. 16 ; 



Romilly, Western Pacific, p. 73. » Hickson, New Hebrides, p. 275. '" Hose 



and McDougall, loc. cit., p. 187. '^ Ibid., p. 187. '^ Gomes, Sea 



Dyaks, p. 5. " Brooke, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 121 ; Ling Roth, Sarawak, vol. ii, 



p. 143. '* Brooke, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 121 ; St. John, loc. cit., vol. i, p. 68. 



