THE MYTHOLOGY OF THE DYAKS. 113 
cipient citizens of the world so long beyond the usual time 
of their captivity of nine months, that they come to look 
upon the prospect of the land of liberty so close at hand as 
a mere dream. The Klo’a on the contrary, though generally 
aiming at the same object, pursue a different course; they 
quietly lie in wait till the moment when the little stranger 
for the first time is to hail the land of liberty, but then 
quickly coming forth from their hiding places, grasp the 
little crier by his neck, and lo—he is deformed into a 
{C pehingen’’ (monsterbirth.) Generally however the women, 
knowing their formidable foe by tradition, are on their 
guard against her, and spare neither stratagems nor craft, 
to throw dust in the eyes of the Kloii; their chief expedient, 
however is to make her fine promises, such as, to give 
her, if all goes on well, an invitation to a splendid dinner, pro¬ 
fusely furnished with pork, chickens, rice &c ; a vow which 
for the most part is fulfilled. 
d. the last evil Spirit* 
To him the name Kukang is given, and he has nothing in 
common with either of the abovementioned evil Spirits, 
though his disposition is equally malignant. The Kukang 
does not trouble himself about men during their lifetime, 
but as soon as a mortal has breathed his last, and the poor 
soul, after the long pilgrimage through the deserts of the 
island, takes her departure towards the places of repose, 
then he commences his hostilities. Midway he stands, 
just where the narrow path abruptly turns, with lunju 
(spear) and arrow, waiting with burning desire for the slow¬ 
ly approaching traveller. There, on that prominent inevita- 
able point, he stands watching day and night, and never 
sleeping nor resting lest a soul might take the opportunity 
of passing unobserved. If the wandering soul belonged to a 
rascal ( u olo bangang”) it cannot pass that spot, the lunju 
of the Kukang annihilates it for ever, if it animated the body 
of a c olo bahalass’ or f olo bujur* ‘(of a good or righteous 
man) it must also do battle with the Kukang, but is victori- 
out and reaches the place of destination. 
A certain Tomogong Johong had apeeuliarly severe encoun¬ 
ter with the Kukang; the usual weapons of the soul were 
insufficient to force the passage, he therefore some hours 
after his demise, returned to his abandoned corpse, rose from 
his bed and walked through the house. When questioned 
by the inmates (( Buhen balang”? (Why not through ? or 
why was your attempt baffled ?)he answered—“ The Kukang 
nearly destroyed me, and I could not pass the formidable 
