SEA DYAK RELIGION. 295 



There is a similar observance called Slumping, which is 

 carried out at a varying period after death. They take the 

 symbols and trophies of a head-hunting raid, and the wailer is 

 supposed to procure the services of the spirit of the winds to 

 convey them to the dead, whose abode, before full of darkness 

 and discomfort, is now, at sight of the trophies, filled with 

 light; for they have the satisfaction of feeling that their rela- 

 tions have revenged upon others their own death ; so hence- 

 forth they stand more freely upon their own footing. 



This observance, which, according to ancient custom, could 

 not be performed until the head of an enemy had been obtained, 

 brings out the darker and fiercer side of the Dyak nature. 

 They would fight with death if they could ; but as they cannot, 

 they rejoice in taking vengeance upon the living, whenever a 

 chance of killing the enemies of their tribe offers itself; so as 

 to be able to say to themselves : " My relatives have revenged 

 " my death . I am now on equal terms with the evil fate which 

 " has sent me hither/'' But in these times, when they live 

 under a strong and civilized government, it is very seldom 

 that this observance can be carried out in its fulness ; and 

 therefore it is either slurred over by some mild substitute, or 

 omitted altogether. 



But the great observance for the dead is the Gaicci, 

 antu, Festival of Departed Spirits. No definite period is 

 fixed for the celebration of it, and the time varies from one 

 to three or four years. The preparation for it of food and 

 drink and other things is carried on for weeks and even months ; 

 and sometimes it taxes mcyj severely the resources of the 

 Dyak. When all is ready, the whole neighbourhood for miles 

 round is invited to partake of it. It is an opportunity for a 

 general social gathering ; it is a formal laying aside of mourn- 

 ing; above all, it is, in their minds, the execution of certain 

 offices necessary for the final well-being of the dead. 



But though it is a feast for the dead to which they are 

 invoked and invited, yet they pretend to guard against any 

 unorthodox and premature approach of the departed as full of 

 uncanny influence. When the tuak, a drink brewed from 

 rice, has been made, an earthenware potful of it is hung up 

 before the door of the one room which each family of the 



