290 THROUGH CENTRAL BORNEO 



departed soul is guarded by a benevolent spirit, Dewa, 

 and it is reported from certain tribes that female blians 

 are called by the same name. A party of Malays caught 

 a snake by the neck in a cleft of a stick, carried it away 

 and set it free on land instead of killing it, but whether 

 this and similar acts are reminiscent of Hindu teaching 

 remains to be proven. 



At the end of August we arrived in Bandjermasin, 

 where several days were spent in packing my collections. 

 For many months I had been in touch with nature and 

 natural people, and on my return to civilisation I could 

 not avoid reflective comparisons. Both men and women 

 of the Mahakam have superb physiques; many of them 

 are like Greek statues and they move with wonderful, 

 inborn grace. When with them one becomes perfectly 

 familiar with nudity and there is no demoralising effect. 

 Paradoxical as it may sound, the assertion is neverthe- 

 less true, that nothing is as chaste as nudity. Uncon- 

 scious of evil, the women dispose their skirts in such 

 fashion that their splendid upper bodies are entirely 

 uncovered. Composed of one piece of cloth, the gar- 

 ment, which reaches a little below the knee and closes in 

 the back, passes just over the hips, is, as civilised people 

 would say, daringly low. It is said that the most beauti- 

 ful muscles of the human body are those of the waist, 

 and among these natives one may observe what beauty 

 there is in the abdomen of a well-formed young person. 



It is an undeniable fact that white men and women 

 compare unfavourably with native races as regards 

 healthful appearance, dignity, and grace of bearing. We 



