TRIBES IN DUTCH BORNEO 445 



the dogs, pigs, and hens; it is not considered fit for hu- 

 man food. 



Regarding the number of souls: The Murung says 

 that each person has seven souls, called brua, six being 

 distributed as follows: one at the top of the head, one 

 in each eye and knee, and one in the navel. The Duhoi 

 (Ot-Danum) has also seven brua, one at the top of the 

 head and one in each eye, knee, and wrist. 



Other tribes speak of three souls. The Kenyahs, 

 according to Dr. J. M. Elshout, have only one brua, 

 located at times in the head, at times in the heart; and 

 the tiger-cat and the orang-utan have stronger brua than 

 man. The Katingans likewise recognise but one, called 

 liao in life, and after death. They also give the same 

 name to the soul of an animal, but the more common 

 usage in the tribes is to call the ghost liao, by the Malays 

 named njava. 



In regard to the practice of incision, which is used 

 in Southwest Borneo, page 379, I am able to furnish 

 some details gathered in Sampit from three Dayaks who 

 had been operated upon. A cut is made in the praeputium 

 lengthwise with a knife (further east a sharpened bamboo 

 is used), a piece of ironwood being used as a support, and 

 the operation which in Katingan is called habalak is per- 

 formed by the father of the father's brother when the 

 boy is coming of age. Before the event he must go into 

 the river up to his navel seven days in succession, morn- 

 ing, midday, and evening, and stand in the water for an 

 hour. All boys must undergo the operation, which is 

 not sanguinary, the leaves of a tree called mentawa being 



