iv] THE SEA DYAKS 



whether these be taken from defenceless or unsuspecting victims, 

 man or woman, or from harmless villagers, surprised in their sleep. 

 The prowess and bravery of the warrior is secure in the eyes of his 

 fellow tribesmen and neighbours if he be only in possession of 

 the coveted trophy. It has been said, and the assertion is quite 

 true, that the title-deeds of nobility amongst the Dyaks consist 

 of the number of heads a man and his ancestors have collected. 

 Not infrequently a Dyak starts on a head-hunting expedition 

 by himself, as a relaxation or to wear off the effects of a domestic 

 squabble, just as with us a man might go out rabbit-shooting to 

 get over an attack of ill-humour. To obtain a head is for these 

 savages the acme of glory, and the rejoicings and festivities held on 

 such occasions are considered by them harbingers of happiness and 

 plenty, bringing fine weather and good crops of rice and fruits, 

 abundance of fish and game, no less than health, and fertility in 

 women. For a Dyak it is on given occasions an absolute duty to 

 get a head ; as, for example, to gain the affection of their lady-love 

 by a palpable proof of their prowess, or to enable them to go out of 

 mourning for the death of a relative. 



The bangkong or war canoes of the Dyaks (Fig. 14) are specially 

 constructed and quite different from the Malay sampan. Some are 

 quite eighty feet in length, and are light and very fast. They can 

 be taken to pieces, being constructed of planks bound together by 

 ligatures of rotang. When a party of Sea-Dyaks on one of their war 

 expeditions found themselves surprised by an enemy of greater 

 strength, they would run ashore, take their canoes to pieces, and 

 disperse with the planks in the forest, where it was impossible to 

 follow them. 



During my stay in Sarawak no warlike expeditions of the Sea- 

 Dyaks occurred, but it is not so very long ago, as St. John tells us, 

 that the Sakarrang and Seribas Dyaks used to put to sea with as 

 many as 200 war canoes, extending their head-hunting expeditions 

 as far as the Natunas and Pontianak. The same author narrates that 

 sometimes when overtaken at sea by bad weather these Dyaks 

 would jump overboard to lighten their canoe, holding on or swim- 

 ming alongside, and if there were sharks about they took the pre- 

 caution to tow astern a bundle of roots of " tuba " (used for stupe- 

 fying and catching fish), to keep them off. 



It is said of the Sakarrang and Seribas Dyaks that within the 

 memory of man they were peaceable and inoffensive, although they 

 did take a few heads from inland tribes ; but afterwards the Malays 

 and Lanuns took advantage of their skill as warriors, and joined 

 them in piratical expeditions along the coast, for the Dyaks were 

 content with the heads alone, and left the booty to their associates. 



When a small party consisting of two or three Sea-Dyaks start 

 on a head-hunting expedition, they only take salt with them as 



47 



