CHAPTER IX 



HYDROPHOBIA — FUNERAL CEREMONIES — AT A PADDI HAR- 

 VEST — ANOTHER TUBA-FISHING EXPEDITION — THE 

 CHARM OF PRIMITIVE MAN — INTERESTING CEREMO- 

 NIES ON HEAD-HUNTING GROUND 



Hydrophobia was raging at Long Pelaban, and dur- 

 ing my stay one man and seven children were bitten. 

 For religious reasons the Dayaks do not like to kill dogs, 

 so in cases like this the canines that are ill are caught, 

 their legs are tied together, and they are thrown into the 

 water to die without being killed. Over forty were 

 disposed of in this way. I saw one of the hydrophobia 

 victims standing in the water as if alive, a little of the 

 back showing above the surface. 



The sounding of a gong one day signified the death of 

 a woman. A party immediately went out to procure a 

 suitable tree from which to make the coffin. Throughout 

 the night we could hear without intermission the sounds 

 produced by those who hollowed out the log and smoothed 

 the exterior. Next day I was present at the obsequies 

 of the dead woman. On the large gallery men were sitting 

 in two long rows facing each other, smoking their green- 

 hued native tobacco in huge cigarettes, the wrappers of 

 which are supplied by large leaves from two species of 

 trees. A jar of native brandy stood between them, of 

 which but little was consumed. More alcohol is made 

 here from sugar-cane than from rice. The latter is the 

 better and sweeter, the former being sour. 



