238 THROUGH CENTRAL BORNEO 



ing its head and body, the other its tail. Before being 

 placed on the gables a sacrifice had been offered and the 

 carvings had been smeared with blood — in other words, 

 to express the thought of the Dayak, as this antoh is 

 very fierce when aroused to ire, it had first been given 

 blood to eat, in order that it should not be angry with 

 the owner of the house, but disposed to protect him from 

 his enemies. While malevolent spirits do not associate 

 with good ones, some which usually are beneficent at 

 times may do harm, and among these is one, the nagah, 

 that dominates the imagination of many Dayak tribes. 

 It appears to be about the size of a rusa, and in form is 

 a combination of the body of that animal and a serpent, 

 the horned head having a disproportionately large dog's 

 mouth. Being an antoh, and the greatest of all, it is in- 

 visible under ordinary conditions, but lives in rivers and 

 underground caves, and it eats human beings. 



Lidju, who accompanied me as interpreter and to be 

 generally useful, had aroused the men early in the morn- 

 ing to cook their rice, so that we could start at seven 

 o'clock, arriving in good time at the Kayan kampong. 

 Long Blu. Here, on the north side of the river, was 

 formerly a small military establishment, inhabited at 

 present by a few Malay families, the only ones on the 

 Mahakam River above the great kihams. Accom- 

 panied by Lidju I crossed the river to see the great 

 kampong of the Kayans. 



Ascending the tall ladder which leads up to the kam- 

 pong, we passed through long, deserted-looking galleries, 

 and from one a woman hurriedly retired into a room. The 

 inhabitants were at their ladancs, most of them four 



