A NOTE ON THE TAGALS OF SARAWAK. 217 
The Tagals in Sarawak have a very curious form of amuse- 
ment called “ Ungakang.’” In the middle of their long house 
verandahs there is a hole about 15 feet by 20 feet let down into the 
floor with loose spring boards at the bottom into which the young 
men jump. Then they gradually work up a higher speed, jumping 
up and down, singing “sembila kun mahor” meaning in Malay 
“ Baik baik kita jalan. ” When there are sufficient men on the 
boards and the singing has been going on a while the women 
dressed in their best. jump on and with their hands on each others 
shoulders slowly lock-step round the jumping men whilst the 
swaying boards throw them up and down with every other step. 
This is kept up for hours on end and is a survival of a head dance. 
They are very artistic; most of their doors are ornamented 
with drawings as also are their bamboo pipes, combs etc. Singing 
is a special forte and some of their chorus songs are very fine and 
tuneful, quite unlke those of surrounding tribes. They are 
tatooed they say to act as lights when their eyes are closed in death. 
Some Tagals have a story that the origin of Man was from 
Monkeys and “that at one time the people of the world were all 
male monkeys. Others say that originally the Sun laid thzee eggs, 
one white which was a Murut, one green, a Tagal and one Red. 
The first man on earth according to many Tagals was set to 
work making the holes for the rivers to run down. He had seven 
children, the youngest of whom was drowned in the Runi which 
was the first river made. Before the holes were made for the 
rivers, when it rained the water came right up and drove the people 
on to the top of Mt. Mulok and it was once whilst all the animals 
and people were up there for a long time that they ran short of 
food. ‘The other animals talked together and decided to eat the 
dogs, who, understanding what they said, were very angry and 
rushed in and bit them and that is why to ‘this day the dog bunts 
other animals. 
When a man dies they put in his mouth a string of beads. 
The idea is that when he reaches the top of the world and entrance 
to the dead man’s country, he finds it guarded by a snake who 
demands that a man shall look for its excrement and eat it before 
he can pass. When therefore the man reached this he bites the 
beads which make a noise and the snake is hoodwinked and allows 
them through. 
Like other Bornean natives they believe in birds (omens) but 
many of them only for the first two days of a journey or of work. 
They blame women for the beginning of head-hunting and blood 
fueds and like certain other tribes many of the women rill not eat 
deer’s flesh as they believe it to be the reincarnation of dead men. 
Their houses are very strongly built and much more carefully 
erected than those of the surrounding Muruts. The most favored 
earring holes are series pierced right round the ears both for men 
and women. 
EK. V. ANDREINI. 
R. A. Soc., No. 85, 1922. 
