SEA DYAK RELIGION. 291 



unenlightened by other principles, will dare touch the ground 

 until it is made. >ome now dig the grave ; some cook a meal, 

 which is afterwards eaten on the spot ; whilst others get a 

 large log of wood of the required length, split it into two, scoop 

 out the inside sufficiently to admit the corpse, and thus make 

 a rude coffin, the two parts of which, after receiving the body, 

 are firmly lashed together with rotan. Sometimes, however, 

 the coffin is made of planks before proceeding to the grave- 

 yard. 



"With, the burial of the body is deposited baiya, that is, 

 things given to the dead. Personal necessaries, like rice, plates, 

 the betel- nut mixture, money and a few other articles are laid 

 with the body in the ground ; whilst spears, baskets, swords, 

 weaving materials, pots, jars, gongs, etc., are put on the sur- 

 face, the jars and gongs being broken to render them useless 

 to any alien who may be inclined to sacrilegious depredations."* 

 This baiya, little or much according to the wealth of the 

 deceased, is regarded as a mark of affection, and to omit it is 

 to fail in a natural duty. But the custom is really founded 

 upon the belief that the things so bestowed are in some 

 mystic way carried into the other world, and useful to the 

 dead — their capital, in fact, to begin life with in the new stage 

 of existence. And in cases where Dyaks are killed, or die by 

 sickness, far away from home, the baiya is still deposited in 

 the family burying-place. A burial without baiya is, in 

 their phrase, the burial of a dog. A fence round the grave 

 as a protection from ravages by wild pigs completes the 

 interment. 



There is a deeply-seated fear amongst Dyaks touching 

 everything connected with death and burial rites. They have 

 for instance, a lurking suspicion that the dead, having become 

 the victims of the most terrible of all powers, may harbour 

 envious feelings, and possibly follow the burying-party back to 

 their homes with some evil intent. To prevent such mischief, 

 some of them will make a notched stick-ladder, f and fix it upside 



* Compare the observances of the Jolior Jakuns, JNo. 7 of this Journal 

 p. 97.— Ed. 



t The tang g a samangat of the Johor Jakuns is said " to enable the 

 spirit to leave the grave when required." Id.— Ed. 



