330 THROUGH CENTRAL BORNEO 



I made a large collection of kapatongs (in Kahayan, 

 hapatong), which here, and in less degree on the Katin- 

 gan, I found more abundant than in any region of Borneo 

 visited. These interesting objects are carved representa- 

 tions of a good antoh, or of man, bird, or animal which 

 good antohs have entered, and which, therefore, are be- 

 lieved to protect their owners. When the carving has 

 been finished the blian invokes a beneficent antoh to take 

 it in possession, by dancing and singing one or two nights 

 and by smearing blood on it from the sacrifice of a fowl, 

 pig, or a water-buffalo — formerly often taken from a 

 slave. As with a person, so with a kapatong; nobody is 

 permitted to step over it lest the good antoh which re- 

 sides in it should become frightened and flee. 



Kapatongs are made from ironwood; they are of 

 various kinds and serve many purposes. The larger 

 ones, which appear as crude statues in many kampongs 

 of Southern Borneo, more rarely on the Mahakam, are 

 supposed to be attendants on the souls of the dead and 

 were briefly described on page 116. 



The smaller kapatongs are used for the protection of 

 the living and all their earthly belongings or pursuits. 

 These images and their pedestals are usually carved from 

 one block, though the very small ones may be made to 

 stand inside of an upright piece of bamboo. Some kapa- 

 tongs are placed in the ladang to protect the crops, others 

 in the storehouse or inside the baskets where rice or food 

 is kept. The monkey, itself very predatory on the rice 

 fields, is converted into an efficient watchman in the form 

 of its image, which is considered an excellent guardian of 



