SEA DYAK RELIGION. 290 



the paddy stores from which they have been supplying them- 

 selves under cover of darkness. They are driven to such little 

 foraging expeditions, it is said, by the necessities of their 

 position ; for the powers of Hades look with contempt npon 

 any who go thither insufficiently provisioned, and even quarrel 

 with th^rn. And worse still is said to happen if this feast be 

 omitted altogether : the dead lose their personality, and are 

 dissolved into primitive earth. Hence charity to the dead 

 and motives of economy urge the Dyak to undertake the 

 labour and expense of the Gqipei antu, the preparation of 

 which seriously hinders the farmwork, and diminishes the 

 following year's crop of paddy. 



According to ancient custom, this Feast of the Spirits 

 could not be held until a new human head had been procured, 

 but this ghastly, yet valued, ornament to the festival has now 

 to be generally dispensed with. 



Thus far I have, in the main, followed Dyak thought 

 about death and the afterstate as it is embodied in their tribal 

 ceremonies and songs ; but as might be expected popular 

 thought is not without its ideas and theories ; and these sup- 

 plement what has hitherto been said. 



In the borderland, says the Dyak, between this world and 

 the next, is situated the house of the Bird bubut, a bird here, 

 a spirit there, covering his identity in human form. Every 

 human spirit in the extremity of sickness comes to this place : 

 if it goes up into the house, by the influence of the bird it 

 returns to the body, which thereupon recovers; but if it avoids 

 the house, as is more probable, because it is always in a filthy 

 state of dirt and stench, then it is well on its way to the other 

 world. There is, however, another chance for it at the " Bridge 

 of Pear/' a see-saw bridge stretching across the Styx, and 

 clifHcult to pass over : if the soul makes makes the passage 

 successfully, it is gone past recovery ; if it falls into the water, 

 the cold bath wakes it up to a sense of its real position, and 

 determines it to retrace its steps. 



Afier this, it seems, the soul lias to pass the " Hill of 

 Fire/" Evil souls are compelled to go straight over the hill 

 with scorching fire on every side, which nearly consumes them ; 

 but good ones are led by an easy path round the foot, and so 



