AMONG THE DUHOI 335 



Up to twenty years ago the Duhoi and the Katingans 

 made head-hunting raids on each other. It was the cus- 

 tom to take a little flesh from the arm or leg of the victim, 

 which was roasted and eaten. Before starting on such 

 an expedition the man must sleep separate from his wife 

 seven days; when going pig-hunting the separation is 

 limited to one day. On the Upper Samba the custom still 

 prevails of drinking tuak from human skulls. This was 

 related to me by the "onder" of Kasungan, a trustworthy 

 man who had himself seen it done. 



A wide-awake kapala from one of the kampongs above 

 was of excellent service in explaining the purposes of the 

 ethnological objects I purchased. About articles used 

 by women he was less certain, but he gave me much valu- 

 able information, though it was impossible to keep him 

 as long as I desired because he felt anxious about the havoc 

 rusa and monkeys might make with his paddi fields. At 

 five o'clock of an afternoon I had finished, and in spite of 

 a heavy shower the kapala left to look after his paddi, 

 with a night journey of six hours before him. These peo- 

 ple are satisfied with little, and he was happy to receive, 

 besides rice and money, a quantity of cocoanut oil and 

 some empty tin cans thrown in. 



During this busy day the thought occurred to me that 

 the night was Christmas eve, the great festival in Scan- 

 dinavian countries, and I had made no preparation for 

 a better meal, having neither time nor means. In fact, 

 it so happened that I had rather less than usual. Never- 

 theless, the day had passed happily, as I accomplished 

 much and acquired interesting information, for instance, 

 about the flying prahu which I had secured. It was 



