INHABITANTS OF BOENEO. 135 



neither parents nor friends, not even tHeir own mother ; their only occupation is 

 the weaving of mats, and their food is administered by a slave. When at last 

 released from her prison, pale, emaciated, tottering on her small enfeebled feet, 

 the maiden is considered a worthy prize for the wealthiest suitors ; a " piece of 

 man," that is to say a slave, is immolated, and her person sprinkled with his 

 blood. 



Many Dayak tribes are still addicted to head-hunting, a practice which has 

 made their name notorious, and which but lately threatened the destruction of the 

 whole race. It is essentially a religious practice, so mucji so that no important 

 act in their lives seems sanctioned unless accompanied by the offering of one or 

 more heads. The child is born under adverse influences unless the father has 

 presented a head or two to the mother before its birth. The young man cannot 

 become a man and arm himself with the mandaii, or war club, until he has 

 beheaded at least one victim. The wooer is rejected by the maiden of his choice 

 unless he can produce one head to adorn their new home. The chief fails to 

 secure recognition until he can exhibit to his subjects a head secured by his own 

 hand. No dying person can enter the kingdom beyond the grave with honora* 

 unless he is accompanied by one or more headless companions. Every rajah owes 

 to his rank the tribute of a numerous escort after death. 



Amongst some tribes, notably the Bahu Trings, in the northern part of the 

 Mahakkam basin, and the Ot-Damons of the Upper Kahajan, the religious 

 custom is still more exacting. It is not sufficient to kill the victim, but before 

 being dispatched he must also be tortured, the corpse sprinkled with his blood, 

 and his flesh eaten under the eyes of the priests and priestesses, who perform the 

 prescribed rites. All this explains the terror inspired by the Dayaks in their 

 neighbours, and the current belief that they are sprung from swords and daggers 

 that have taken human form. 



A regular head-hunting expedition is so much regarded as a pre-eminently 

 religious act, that amongst the primitive tribes it must be preceded by a general 

 confession. All sinners confess their shortcomings, submit to the pomali, that is, 

 the taboo of the Polynesians, and do penance in the forests in order to be " restored 

 to grace." AVhen thus cleansed from all moral stain, they engage in their funeral 

 dances, don their warlike costume of the skins of wild beasts, and put on their 

 masks representing the open jaw^s of a tiger or crocodile. Thus disguised they 

 sally forth to fall upon some distant tribe of friends or foes, and gather their 

 harvest of heads or of victims reserved for the feast. The skulls of the enemy are 

 usually held in the greatest respect ; every attention is bestowed on them ; at 

 every meal the choicest morsels are placed in their mouth ; they are suj)plied with 

 betel and tobacco ; they are treated as chiefs, in the hope that they may forget 

 their own and attach themselves to the new tribe. " Your head is ours now ; 

 help us to slay your former friends," is the language addressed to them. 



AYith the gradual spread of Islam the Dayaks of the British and Dutch 

 possessions are slowly abandoning their bloodthirsty usages. At the same time 

 the head-hunters themselves, strange to say, are otherwise the most moral 



