730 



BORNEO. 



Borneo, be immediately applied an antidote which they ge- 

 '""""' nerally carry about with them, and which is said to 

 be quite efficacious. 

 Marriage Among the Biadjoos, as in most other savage na- 

 ccremoiues. t j ons> a p erson w h is inclined to marry, makes it his 

 first object to obtain the consent of the parents with- 

 out once consulting the inclinations of his intended 

 bride. Before he can succeed in his suit, he must 

 have proved his courage by cutting oft" the head of 

 an enemy, and when he is accepted by "the parents, 

 he carries to his bride a present, which generally con- 

 sists of a male or female slave, two dresses, and a 

 water-pot, adorned with some favourite figures. On 

 the wedding-day both the parties give a feast at their 

 respective houses; after which the bridegroom, in 

 his best apparel, is conducted to the house of the 

 bride, at the door of which is stationed one of her 

 relations, who smears him with the blood of a cock, 

 killed on purpose, and the bride is smeared, in like 

 manner, with the blood of a hen. They then pre- 

 sent to each other their bloody hands, and the so- 

 lemnity is closed with a second entertainment. Po- 

 lygamy is unknown among the Biadjoos; and when 

 a wife dies, the husband cannot contract a second 

 marriage till he has again cut off the head of an ene- 

 my as an expiation for the death of his wife. If the 

 husband wishes to get rid of his wile, on account of 

 any delinquency, he retains her clothes and ornaments, 

 and makes her pay a fine, amounting to about thirty 

 rials ; and each party is then at liberty to marry. 

 When a married woman has committed adultery, the 

 husband, instead of taking vengeance on the adul- 

 terer, puts to death two or three of his slaves, and 

 his ignominy is thus removed ; the woman is in general 

 punished only with words, though some husbands, 

 more irascible, or more jealous ot their honour, pro- 

 ceed to blows. Among the inhabitants of the coasts, 

 the laws relating to marriage are quite different. 

 Like all other Mahometans, they are allowed to 

 marry several wives, though they rarely form al- 

 liances with strangers. The punishment of adultery 

 is instant strangulation. The powerful and the 

 wealthy, indeed, set this law at defiance ; but it falls 

 with extreme rigour on culprits in the middle or 

 lower classes of the community. 

 Funeral ee- The funeral ceremonies of the Biadjoos partake 

 rcmonies. of the same bloody character as the rest of their su- 

 perstitious rites. When one of them dies, his body 

 is put into a coffin, and kept in the house until the 

 remaining males in the family have conjointly pur- 

 chased a slave. When the body is burnt, the slave is 

 beheaded, that he may attend the deceased in the 

 other world ; and before he is put to death, he re- 

 ceives strict injunctions to be faithful to his master. 

 The ashes of the deceased, together with the head 

 of the slave, are put into a watering pot, and deposit- 

 ed in a small edifice, or tomb, constructed for the 

 purpose. 

 Laws. Scarcely any regular form of government prevails 



among these barbarians. They have no sovereigns ; 

 but are ruled by chiefs, whose authority appears to 

 be very circumscribed, and is supported by no writ- 

 ten code of laws. Their trials bear a strong resem- 

 blance to the trials by ordeal which prevailed in Eu- 

 rope during the dark zges. If a person happened to 



be accused of theft, and no sufficient proof can be Efrneo. 

 alleged against him, the culprit and the accuser are v -' 



carried before one of the oldest inhabitants. An 

 earthen pot, containing ashes and water, is placed on 

 the ground ; across the pot is laid a piece of wood, 

 on which are put two small copper buttons. An 

 oath is then adihinistercd .to each party, and the piece 

 of wood is turned round, so that the buttons fall in- 

 to the water ; the accused and the accuser take each 

 one of the buttons, and he is deemed to have suc- 

 ceeded whose button appears as if scowered and 

 whitened by the ashes. 



The Biadjoos acknowledge a Supreme Being, Religion, 

 whom they worship under the name of Deuatta ; 

 and to whom, as the creator, preserver, and ruler of 

 the universe, they utter prayers for prosperity in this 

 world, and happiness in the next. If it be consider- 

 ed part of their religious duty to resemble this deity 

 in character, he must be a very gloomy and terrible 

 being ; for no nation on earth can equal the Biadjoos 

 in their thirst for blood, and their propensity to re- 

 venge. Though they have no kings uf their own, 

 they recognise the sovereignty of the sultan of Ban- 

 jar-massin, to whom they pay annually a tribute in 

 gold dust to the value of 20 rials. 



The Moors, who have taken possession of the 

 coasts of Borneo, are much more civilized, living un- 

 der regular governments, and restrained by well de- 

 fined and certain laws. Their territories are divided Terriiorie* 

 into several distinct kingdoms ; Banjar-massin, Succa- of the 

 tana, Landac, Sambas, Hermata, Jathou, and Bor- Moor - 

 neo. The largest of these kingdoms, and the most 

 important, on account of its connection with the 

 Dutch East India Company, is that of Banjar-massin 

 on the southern coast, (See,BANjA - K-MA^siN.) Ca- Banjar- 

 gu-Tangie was formerly the residence of the sultans n '- a '- :n - 

 of that kingdom ; but, in the year 1771, the Sultan 

 Sasuhannan transferred the seat of his court from 

 that place to Martapura, where he caused a large ci- 

 ty to be built, and a canal to be conducted through 

 the middle of it ; and, at the same time, he changed 

 its name from Martapura to Bumie-Kintjana. The 

 Dutch factory is situated at the end of the village of 

 Tatas, or Banjar-massin. It is protected by a fort 

 of an octagonal form, surrounded by palisades, and 

 furnished, on the east side next the river, with three 

 bastions, and with two on the west or land side. For 

 the productions of the country valued in commerce, 

 which are copper, gold, diamonds, canes, birds nests, 

 wax, pedra del porco, dragons' blood, and iron, the 

 Dutch give in exchange, agates, rings of red agate, 

 different kinds of coral, coarse porcelain, silk of va- 

 rious colours, all kinds of cotton cloth, such as arc 

 worn by the Indians, various productions of Java, 

 and opium, which, being prohibited by the sultan, is 

 privately smuggled. At the town of Banjar-maasin 

 there is a manufacture, or, more properly, a dock- 

 yard, for junks ; one of which, loaded with the com- 

 modities of the country, may be had at a very low 

 price. 



The kingdom of Succatana lies about .50' south of Succatana. 

 the equator, having a little to the north the river 

 Pontiana, which discharges itself into the sea under 

 the line through several mouths. At the distance of 

 about seven or eight miles from the sea the river ser 



