CHAPTER XIII 



DAYAK CURE OF DISEASE — EVIL SPIRITS AND GOOD — ANI- 

 MISM — BLIANS, THE PRIEST-DOCTORS — ^THE FEAST OF 

 RUBBER-GATHERERS — WEDDINGS — IN PRIMITIVE SUR- 

 ROUNDINGS 



A DAY or two later the kapala, evidently solicitous 

 about our comfort, asked permission to perform for three 

 consecutive nights certain rites for the purpose of curing 

 several sick persons. The reason for his request was that 

 they might be noisy and prove disturbing to our rest. 

 The ceremonies consisted in singing and beating drums 

 for three hours, in order to attract good spirits and drive 

 away the evil ones that had caused the illness. One of 

 the patients, who had malaria, told me later that he had 

 been cured by the nightly service, which had cost him 

 forty florins to the doctor. 



Among the aborigines of Borneo whom I visited, with 

 the possible exception of the Punan nomads, the belief in 

 evil spirits and in good ones that counteract them, both 

 called antoh, is universal, and to some extent has been 

 adopted by the Malays. Though various tribes have 

 their own designations (in the Duhoi (Ot-Danum) ijntu; 

 Katingan, talum; Kapuas, telun; Kahayan, kambae), 

 still the name antoh is recognised throughout Dutch 

 Borneo. Apprehension of evil being predominant in 

 human minds, the word is enough to cause a shudder even 



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