IN BORNEAN FORESTS [chap. 



black. This is done with a vegetable dye, the juice of the large fleshy 

 leaves of a Melastomacea {Medinillopsis Beccariana, Cogn., P. B., 

 No. 4,004). The hair is cut short in front, but worn long behind, 

 flowing down over the shoulders. They often wear rings of plaited 

 fibre or of brass below the knee. 



Tattooing is in general use, and is practised as an ornament, or 

 as a sign of tribal distinction. The men are usually tattooed on 

 the hands, and the pattern consists of transverse bands, equal in 

 number to that of the heads obtained, beginning from the wrist 

 and going towards the fingers. Many have stars or dragons tattooed 

 on the arms and chest. The women are much more tattooed than 

 the men. I saw some with the hands and lower half of the forearm 

 covered with designs, and the feet and legs up to the knee. A full 

 tattooing may cost as much as twenty-five to thirty dollars' worth of 

 bronze objects. Thus the greater or lesser extent of the tattooing 

 may be looked upon as in a measure representing the wealth of the 

 individual. 



The dress of the women is more complicated than that of the 

 men. As usually worn it consists of a cotton cloth, often parti- 

 coloured, tied round the waist and open on one side. They also 

 use, but not always, a baju or jacket, and at night a sort of 

 sarong as a wrapper. 



The Kayans, when they wish to cement a solemn tie of friend- 

 ship, undergo the ceremony of blood-exchange. This is, however, 

 less imposing than might be imagined, for it merely consists in getting 

 a few drops of blood by a slight puncture in any part of the body, 

 and placing them in a cigarette. The two neophytes of friendship 

 exchange cigarettes and quietly smoke them, and this comprises 

 the whole ceremony. 



The singular operation of " perforatio penis " performed by the 

 Kayans is well known, 1 and another of their peculiarities, prac- 

 tised both by men and women, is carefully to pluck out any hair 

 which grows on their bodies, including eyebrows and eyelashes 

 (Fig. 48-49), the latter operation often causing inflammation of 

 the eyes. Depilation, indeed, appears to be one of the main occu- 

 pations of this people. From what I was led to understand, this 

 custom appears to have arisen from a desire to differ as much as 

 possible from evil spirits, whom they believe to be hairy, like an 

 orang-utan. During subsequent travels in Celebes I found a similar 

 horror of hairiness, and in that island, as in Borneo, a hairy woman 

 is believed to bring bad luck. 



The Kayans use the sumpitan and arrows poisoned with upas, 2 



1 Those seeking full particulars on this subject may consult a paper by 

 N. von Miklucho-Maclay, in Berliner Gesellschaft fur Anthrop. Ethnol. u. 

 Urgeschichte, Meeting of January 19, 1876. 



2 Low (Op. cit. p. 53) mentions a poison more powerful than upas, 



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