The Pagan Tribes of Borneo Part 11

CHAPTER 11

Handicrafts

In any account of the arts and crafts of the Kayans, the working of iron claims the first place by reason of its high importance to them and of the skill and knowledge displayed by them in the difficult operations by which they produce their fine swords. The origin of their knowledge of iron and of the processes of smelting and forging remains hidden in mystery; but there can be little doubt that the Kayans were familiar with these processes before they entered Borneo, and it is probable that the Kayans were the first ironworkers in Borneo, and that from them the other tribes have learnt the craft with various measures of success.[63] However this may be, the Kayans remain the most skilful ironworkers of the country, rivalled only in the production of serviceable sword-blades by the Kenyahs.

At the present day the Kayans, like all the other peoples, obtain their iron in the form of bars of iron and steel imported from Europe and distributed by the Chinese and Malay traders. But thirty years ago nearly all the iron worked by the tribes of the interior was from ore found in the river-beds, and possibly from ma.s.ses of meteoric iron; and even at the present day the native ore is still smelted in the far interior, and swords made from it by the Kenyahs are still valued above all others.

Smelting and forging demand a specialised skill which is attained by relatively few. But in each Kayan village are to be found two or three or more skilled smiths, who work up for a small fee the metal brought them by their friends, the finishing touches being generally given by the owner of the implement according to his own fancy.

The smelting is performed by mixing the ore with charcoal in a clay crucible, which is embedded in a pile of charcoal. The charcoal being ignited is blown to a white heat by the aid of four piston-bellows. Each of the bellows consists of a wooden cylinder (generally made from the stem of a wild sago palm) about four feet in length and six inches in diameter, fixed vertically in a framework carrying a platform, on which two men sit to work the pistons (see Pl. 107). The lower end of each cylinder is embedded in clay, and into it near its lower end is inserted a tube of bamboo, which, lying horizontally on the ground, converges upon and joins with a similar tube of a second cylinder. The common tube formed by this junction in turn converges with the tube common to the other pair of cylinders, and with it opens by a clay junction into a final common tube of clay, which leads to the base of the fire. The piston consists of a stout stick bearing at its lower end a bunch of feathers large enough to fill the bore of the cylinder. When the piston is thrust downwards, it drives the air before it to the furnace; as it is drawn upwards, the feathers collapsing allow the entrance of air from above. The upper extremity of each of the piston-rods is attached by a cord to one end of a stout pliable stick, which is firmly fixed at its other end in a horizontal position, the cord being of such a length that the piston-head is supported by it near the upper end of the cylinder. Two men squat upon the platform and each works one pair of the cylinders, grasping a piston-rod in each hand, thrusting them down alternately, and allowing the elastic reaction of the supporting rods above to draw them up again. The crucible, having been brought to white heat in the furnace, is allowed to cool, when a ma.s.s of metallic iron or steel is found within it.

The forging of implements from the metal obtained is effected by the aid of a charcoal furnace to which a blast is supplied by the bellows described above, or sometimes by one consisting of two cylinders only. Stone anvils and hammers were formerly used, and may still be seen in use in the far interior (Fig. 31); but the Kayans make iron hammers and an anvil consisting of a short thick bar of iron, the lower end of which is fixed vertically in a large block of wood.

The peculiarly shaped and finely tempered sword-blade, MALAT, is the highest product of the Kayan blacksmith. The smith begins his operations on a bar of steel some eight inches in length. One end is either grasped with pincers, or thrust firmly into a block of wood that serves for a handle. The other end is heated in the furnace and gradually beaten out until the peculiar shape of the blade is achieved, with the characteristic hollow on the one side and convexity on the other. If the blade is to be a simple and unadorned weapon, there follow only the tempering, grinding, and polishing. But many blades are ornamented with curled ridges projecting from the back edge. These are cut and turned up with an iron chisel while the metal is hot and before tempering.

Two methods of tempering are in use. One is to heat the blade in the fire and to plunge it at a dull heat into water. The other is to lay the cold blade upon a flat bar of red-hot iron. This has the advantage that the degree of the effect upon the blade can be judged from the change of its colour as it absorbs the heat. The Kayan smiths are expert in judging by the colours of the surface the degree and kind of temper produced. They aim at producing a very tough steel, for the MALAT has to serve not only in battle, but also for hacking a path through the jungle, and for many other purposes.

Many sword-blades are elaborately decorated with scroll designs along the posterior border and inlaid with bra.s.s. The inlaid bra.s.s commonly takes the form of a number of small discs let into the metal near the thick edge; small holes are punched through the hot metal, and bra.s.s wire is pa.s.sed through each hole, cut off flush with the surface and hammered flat. The designs are chased on the cold metal with a chisel and hammer supplemented by a file. The polishing and sharpening are done in several stages: the first stage usually by rubbing the blade upon a block of sandstone; the second stage by the use of a hone of finer grain; and the highest polish is attained by rubbing with a leaf whose surface is hard and probably contains silicious particles. At the present time imported files are much used.

Other implements fashioned by the smiths are the small knives, spear-heads, hoes, small adzes, rods for boring the sumpitan, the anvil, and the various hammers, and chisels, and rough files used by the smiths.

Bra.s.s-work

Although bra.s.s-ware is so highly valued by all the peoples of the interior, the only brazen articles made by them (with one exception presently to be noticed) are the heavy ear-rings of the women. The common form is a simple ring of solid metal interrupted at one point by a gap about an eighth of an inch wide, through which is pulled the thin band of skin formed by stretching the lobule of the ear. Other rings form about one and a half turns of a corkscrew spiral. These rings are cast in moulds of clay, or in some cases in moulds hollowed in two blocks of stone which are nicely opposed.

The Malohs, a Klemantan sub-tribe in the upper basin of the Kapuas river, are well known as bra.s.s-workers; their wares are bartered throughout the country, and a few Maloh bra.s.s-workers may be found temporarily settled in many of the larger villages of all tribes. They make the bra.s.s corsets of the Iban women, tweezers for pulling out the hair of the face, bra.s.s ear-rings, and a variety of small articles, and they make use of the larger bra.s.s-ware of Malay and Chinese origin as the source of their material.

Fire Piston

This very ingenious instrument for the making of fire is cast in metal by the Ibans. (See Fig. 36 and Pl. 108.) It consists of a hollow bra.s.s or leaden cylinder about five inches in length and one inch in diameter, the bore being about one-quarter of an inch in diameter and closed at one end. A wooden piston, which closely fits the bore, bears a rounded k.n.o.b; it is driven down the cylinder by a sharp blow of the palm upon the k.n.o.b and is quickly withdrawn. The heat generated by the compression of the air ignites a bit of tinder (made by sc.r.a.ping the fibrous surface of the leaf stem of the Arenga palm) at the bottom of the cylinder. The cylinder is cast by pouring the molten metal into a section of bamboo, while a polished iron rod is held vertically in the centre to form the bore. When the cylinder is cold the iron rod is extracted, and the outer surface is trimmed and shaped with knife or file.

Boat-building

The Kayans make much use of boats, as described in Chapter VIII., and are skilful boat-makers. The forest offers them an abundant variety of timbers suitable for the different types of boat used by them.

The most ambitious efforts of this kind are devoted to the construction of the great war-boats, fine specimens of which are as much as 100 feet in length, or even, in exceptional instances, nearly 150 feet. The foundation of every boat is a single piece of timber shaped and hollowed by fire and adze. Several kinds of timber are used, the best being the kinds known as AROH (Sh.o.r.eA) and NGELAI (AFZELIA PALAMBANICA). Sometimes a suitable stem is found floating down river and brought to the bank before the house. But such good fortune is exceptional, and commonly a tree is selected in the forest as near as possible to the river bank. The tree is felled in the way described in Chapter VI. (Pl. 55), its branches are hewed away, and the stem is cut to the required length and roughly hewn into shape. About one-fourth of the circ.u.mference of the stem is cut away along the whole length, and from this side the stem is hollowed. When, by chopping out the centre, the thickness of this sh.e.l.l has been reduced to a thickness of some five inches, it is brought down to the river. This is effected by laying through the jungle a track consisting of smooth poles laid across the direction of progress; the hollowed stem is pulled endwise over this track with the aid of rattans, perhaps a hundred or more men combining their strength. If the stem proves too heavy to be moved at any part of the journey by their direct pull and push, a rough windla.s.s is constructed by fixing the stem of a small tree across two standing trees and winding the rattans upon this, the trimmed branches of the tree serving as the arms of the windla.s.s. The Kayans are skilled in this kind of transport of heavy timber; for the building of their houses and of the larger tombs involves similar difficulties, though the timbers required for these purposes are not so huge as those used for the war-boats. Arrived at the river bank, the hollowed stem is launched upon the water and towed down stream to the village at a time when the water is high. It is made fast to the bank before the village at as high a point as the water will allow, so that when the river subsides it is left high and dry. A leaf shelter is then built over it to protect it and the workers from the sun. The sh.e.l.l is then further hollowed, partly by firing it with shavings inside and out, and by sc.r.a.ping away the charred surfaces. The inside is fired first; then the hollow is filled with water, and the outside is fired.

When in this way the sh.e.l.l has been reduced to a thickness of a few inches, it is opened out, while hot from firing and still filled with water, by wedging stout sticks some six to seven feet in length between the lateral walls, so that the hollow stem (which hitherto has had the form of a hollow cylinder some three to four feet in diameter, lacking along its whole length a strip about the fourth of its circ.u.mference) becomes a shallow trough some six to seven feet wide in the middle of its length. During the hollowing, small b.u.t.tresses are left along each side at intervals of about two feet to form supports for benches. After the opening, the sh.e.l.l is left lying covered with branches for some days, while the wood sets in its new form. The outer surface is then shaved approximately to the required degree, all irregularities are removed, and holes about half-an-inch in diameter are bored through all parts of the sh.e.l.l at intervals of some twenty inches. Wooden pegs are then hammered into these holes, each peg bearing two marks or grooves at an interval equal to the thickness of the sh.e.l.l desired at each part; the peg is driven in from the outside until the outer groove is flush with the outer surface of the sh.e.l.l, and the projecting part is cut away; the inner surface is then further chipped and sc.r.a.ped in each area until it becomes level with the inner groove on the peg. In this way the workers are enabled to give to each part its appropriate thickness. The outer surface is then finally smoothed to form about one-third of a cylinder, and the foundation is complete. It only remains to lash the cross-benches to their supports, to raise the sides by lashing on a gunwale, and to fit in wedge-shaped blocks at bow and stern. The gunwale consists of a tough plank some ten inches wide overlapping the outer edge of the sh.e.l.l, and lashed firmly to it by rattan strips piercing both sh.e.l.l and planks at intervals of about six inches. In some cases the gunwale is further raised in its middle part by lashing on a second smaller plank to the upper edge of the first. The block fitted in at the prow presents to the water a flat surface inclined at a low angle; and a similar block completes the sh.e.l.l at the stern. The prow is often ornamented with the head of a crocodile or the conventional dog's head carved in hard wood and painted in red and black.

The whole operation, like every other important undertaking, is preceded by the finding of omens, and it is liable to be postponed by the observation of ill omens, by bad dreams, or by any misfortune such as a death in the house. In each house are certain men who are specially skilled in boat-making, and by them the work is directed and all the finer part of the work executed. In the case of a war-boat which is to be the property of the household, these special workers are paid a fee out of the store of valuables acc.u.mulated under the care of the chief by way of fines and confiscations.

The smaller boats, ranging from a small canoe suitable for one or two paddlers only, to one capable of carrying a score or more, are generally private property. These, like the war-boats, are made from a single stem. The larger ones are made in just the same way as the war-boats. In the smaller ones the bow is shaped from the solid block and is not opened out, as is the rest of the boat. The craftsman who makes a boat for another is helped by his customer, and is paid by him a fee in bra.s.s-ware or dollars, the usual fee being a TAWAK varying in size according to the size of the boat.

If Kayans find themselves for any reason in immediate need of a boat when none is at hand, they sometimes fashion one very rapidly by stripping the bark from a big tree. The two ends of the sheet of bark are folded and lashed with rattan to form bow and stern; the middle part is wedged open with cross-pieces which serve as benches, and the sh.e.l.l is strengthened with transverse ribs and longitudinal strips. A serviceable boat capable of carrying several men and their baggage may be completed in the course of two hours. Such a makeshift boat is more commonly made by Sea Dayaks.

Of all the interior tribes the Kayans are probably the best boat-makers; but most of them make their own boats in the same way as the Kayans. There are, however, a few of the Klemantan sub-tribes who never attempt to make anything more than a very rough small canoe of soft wood, and who buy from others what boats they need. This is a curious instance of the persistent lack of the tradition of a specialised craft among communities that might have been expected to acquire it easily from their neighbours.

For ordinary work a rough paddle made from iron-wood is generally used; the blade and shaft are of one piece; the flat blade, nearly two feet in length, is widest about six inches below its junction with the shaft, and from this point tapers slightly to its square extremity; the shaft is about three feet in length and carries, morticed to its upper end, a cross-piece for the grip of the upper hand.

A few paddles, especially those made for women, are very finely shaped and finished, and have their shafts ornamented with carving of a variety of designs, generally one band of carving immediately above the blade and a second below the cross-piece. Some of the Klemantans excel the Kayans in this work, producing very beautiful women's paddles, sometimes with designs of inlaid lead (Pl. 92).

House-building

A Kayan community seldom continues to inhabit the same spot for more than about a dozen years; though in exceptional instances houses are continuously inhabited for thirty or even forty years. House-building is thus a craft of great importance, and the Kayans are seldom content to build their houses in the comparatively flimsy style adopted by the Ibans and some of the Klemantans, and even occasionally by Kenyahs. The main features of the structure of a Kayan long-house have been described in Chapter IV. Here it remains only to describe some of the more peculiar and important processes of construction.

The great piles that support the house may be floated down river from the old house to be used in the construction of the new; [64] they are not dug from the ground, but are felled by cutting close to the surface of the ground. The great planks of the floor, the main cross-beams, and the wooden shingles of the roof, are also commonly carried from the old house to the new. If a house has been partially destroyed by fire, no part of the materials of the old house is used in the construction of the new; for it is felt that in some indefinable way the use of the old material would render the new house very liable to the same fate, as though the new house would be infected by the materials with the ill-luck attaching to the old house.[65] In such cases, or upon migration to a different river, the whole of the timbers for the house have to be procured from the jungle, and shaped, and erected; and the process of construction is extremely laborious. But once the timber has been brought together upon the chosen site, the building goes on rapidly, and the whole of a house some hundreds of yards in length may be substantially completed within a fortnight. The main supports of the structure are four rows of ma.s.sive columns of iron-wood. Holes about four feet in depth are dug for the reception of the b.u.t.t ends of these. They are disposed in the manner indicated in the diagrams (Figs. 37, 38, 39), so that a single row supports the front of the house, another the back, and a double row the middle.[66] The intervals between the columns of each row are about twenty feet, or rather more. Each pile is erected by raising the one end until the other slips into the hole. Rattans are tied round it a little above its middle and pa.s.sed over a tall tripod of stout poles. A number of men haul on these while others shove up the top end with their shoulders. The pile is thus suspended with its b.u.t.t end resting so lightly on the ground that it can easily be guided into the hole prepared for its reception. Smaller accessory piles, to serve as additional supports, are put under the main cross beams of the floor when these have been laid. The columns of the double row in the middle line are about six feet taller than those of the front and back rows. For the support of the floor a ma.s.sive squared transverse tie is morticed through each set of four columns at a height of some fifteen to twenty feet from the ground, and secured by a pin through each extremity. A squared roof-plate, still more ma.s.sive than the floor ties, is then laid upon the crowns of the columns of the front row, along its whole length, and a second one upon the back row. This is dowelled upon the columns (I.E. the top of the column is cut to form a pin which is let into the longitudinal beam); and the beams which make up the roof-plate are spliced, generally in such a way that the top of a column serves as the pin of the splice. Each of these heavy beams is generally lifted into its place by tiers of men standing on poles lashed at different heights across the columns, their efforts being seconded by others pulling on rattans which run from the beam over the topmost cross-pole. The framework of the roof is then completed by laying stout roof-ties across the crowns of the double row of columns of the middle line, and lashing their extremities to stout purlins (longitudinal beams for the support of the rafters in the middle of their length), and by laying the ridge-timber upon a line of perpendicular struts. The ridge-timber and purlins, though less heavy than the roof-plates, consist also of stout squared timbers, spliced to form beams continuous throughout the whole length of the house. The rafters are laid at an angle of about forty degrees and at intervals of eighteen inches; they are lashed to the ridge-timber and to the purlins, and lipped on to the roof-plates, beyond which they project about four feet to form an cave. Strong flat strips or laths are laid along the rafters parallel to the length of the house at intervals of about sixteen inches. On these are laid the shingles or slats of iron-wood in regular rows, in just the way in which roof tiles are laid in this country. Each slat is a slab about 1 x 30 x 12 inches, and is lashed by a strip of rattan, which pierces its upper end, to one of the laths. The floor is completed by laying longitudinal joists of stout poles across the main floor-ties; the poles are notched to grip the ties. Upon these joists, transversely to them, are laid a number of flat strips which immediately support the floor planks; these are kept in place by their own weight.

In a well-built house these planks are between thirty and forty feet in length, or even more, two to three feet in breadth, and three to four inches thick. They are made from tough strong timber, but usually not from the iron-wood trees. They are moved from house to house, and some of those in use are probably hundreds of years old. A single tree is generally made to yield two such planks. After being felled it is split into halves longitudinally in the following way. A deep groove is cut along one side, and wedges of hard tough wood are driven in with rough heavy mallets. Deep transverse grooves are then cut in the rounded surface of each half at intervals of three or four feet; and the intervening ma.s.ses of wood are split off. In this way it is whittled down until it is only some six inche's thick. The plank is then trimmed down to the desired thickness by blows of the adze struck across the direction of the grain. The two ends are generally left untrimmed until the plank has been transported to the site of the house and has lain there for some time. This prevents its splitting during the journey to the house and the period of seasoning.

When the floor has been laid, it only remains to make the main part.i.tion wall which separates the gallery from the rooms along the whole length of the house, and the walls between the several rooms. These walls are made only some eight or nine feet in height. The wall of the gallery is made of vertical planks lashed to horizontal rails whose extremities are let into the columns of the anterior set of the double median row. The wall thus divides the house into a narrower front part, the gallery, and a broader back part; the latter is subdivided by the transverse walls into the series of rooms each of which accommodates one family.

The work of construction is carried on by all the men of the house; the women and children lend what aid they can in the way of fetching and carrying, and in preparing rattans. The ownership of each section is arranged beforehand; the section of the chief being generally in the middle, and those of his near relatives on either side of it. Each man pays special attention to the construction of his own section, and carries out the lighter work of that part, such as laying the shingles, with the help of his own household. If any widow is the head of a household, her section is constructed by her male neighbours or relatives without payment.

Before beginning the building of a new house favourable omens must be obtained; and the Kayans would be much troubled if bad omens were observed during the building, especially during the first few days. At this time, therefore, children are told off to beat upon gongs hung about the new site, and so, by scaring away the birds and obscuring the sound of their cries, to prevent the appearance of bad omens from their side. Bad omens combined with ill-luck, such as death, bad dreams, or an attack by enemies during building (even if this were successfully repelled), would lead to the desertion of a partially built house and the choice of another site.

All the interior peoples construct their houses on principles similar to those described above, but with considerable diversity in detail. The greatest diversity of plan is exhibited by the houses of Ibans. An Iban community seldom remains in the same house more than three or four years; it is, no doubt, partly on this account that their houses are built in a less solid style than those of most other tribes. The timbers used are lighter; the house is not raised so high above the ground, and the floor is usually made of split bamboo in place of the heavy planks used by Kayans and others. The plan of construction is less regular. The numerous slight supporting piles pa.s.s through the floor of the gallery in all sorts of odd positions; the only part that is kept clear of them being a narrow gangway that runs from end to end of the house; it adjoins the private chambers, and is about four feet in width; it is called TEMPUAN.

Some of the Klemantans make houses very inferior to those of the Kayans in respect to size, solidity, and regularity of construction; lashed bamboos largely replace the strongly morticed timber-work of the better houses; but the worst houses of all are made by those Punans who have recently adopted the agriculture and settled habits of the other peoples.

Other Kinds of Wood-working

The building of houses and the shaping of boats are by far the most important kinds of wood-working; but there are many small articles of wood in the making of which much skill and ingenuity are displayed. Among these the shields and parang-sheaths deserve special mention. The former have been described in Chapter X.

The sword-sheath is made from two slips of hard wood, cut to fit together exactly, leaving a s.p.a.ce accurately shaped for the lodgment of the sword-blade. The two slips are neatly lashed together with rattan, and in many cases are elaborately carved with varieties of a peculiar conventional design in relief (see vol. i., p. 240).

Dishes of iron-wood, now almost superseded by European earthenware, were formerly in general use (Figs. 6 and 7). Their shapes are very good; the dish is generally provided with one or two "ears" or f.l.a.n.g.es for the grip of the hands, and these are cunningly decorated with carved designs or inlaid pieces of sh.e.l.l or pottery. Some have a spout opposite the single handle. The hollowing and general shaping of such dishes is done with a small adze, and they are finished with the knife.

Basket-work, etc.

The weaving of baskets, mats, and caps is one of the most important handicrafts of the Kayans. It is chiefly practised by the women, though the men help in collecting and preparing the materials. The material chiefly used is strips of rattan. A rattan about one-third of an inch in diameter is split into five strips, and the inner surface of each strip is smoothed with a knife; but the stems of several other jungle-plants are also used.

The most important of the baskets (Pl. 43), are the following: The large one used for carrying PADI from the farms to the house; the small basket hung on the back by a pair of shoulderstraps, and always carried by the men on going far from home; the fish-baskets; large baskets provided with lids and kept in the rooms for storing clothing and other personal valuables; the winnowing trays, and the large rough basket used for carrying on the back water-vessels or any other heavy objects (Fig. 41).

Of the mats (see Pl. 43), the princ.i.p.al are the mat worn round the waist for sitting upon; the large mats spread for seating several persons in the gallery or private chambers; those spread on the floor for catching the winnowed rice, or on the platforms outside the gallery for exposing and drying the PADI before pounding it; the mat which every person spreads to sleep upon.

Most of these baskets and mats are made from narrow strips of rattan varying from 1/16 to 1/4 of an inch according to the size and use of the article; the strips are closely woven with great regularity. The commonest arrangement is for two sets of strips to cross one another at right angles, each strip pa.s.sing over and under two of the opposed set. The basket-work so made is very pliable, tough, and durable. The standard shapes are worked out with great precision. The Kayans are generally content to make strong serviceable basket-ware without ornamentation; but in a large proportion of basket-ware of this kind made by the other peoples, strips of rattan dyed black are combined with those of the natural pale yellow colour, and very effective patterns are thus worked in. The dyeing of the strips is effected by soaking them in a dye obtained by beating out in water the soft stem and leaves of a plant known as TARUM. The dark stain is rendered still blacker by subsequently burying the strips in the mud of the river for some ten days, or by washing them in lime. The dyed strips are then jet black with a fine polished surface, and the dye is quite permanent.

A form of mat-work deserving special notice is the LAMPIT, the mat used largely for sleeping and sitting upon. It is made of stout strips of rattan lying parallel to one another, and held together by strings threaded through the strips at right angles to their length at intervals of four or five inches. This mat has an extremely neat appearance and allows itself to be neatly rolled up. The piercing of the rattan strips at suitable intervals is facilitated by the use of a block of wood grooved for the reception of the strip and pierced with holes opening into the groove at the required intervals.

The most elaborately decorated and finely plaited basket-ware is made by some of the Klemantan sub-tribes, especially the Kanowits and the Tanjongs, and the Kalabits, who use, as well as the black dye, a red dye (Pl. 110). The last is made by boiling the seeds of the rattan in water and evaporating the product until it has the consistency of a thick paste. The Punans also excel in this craft. These adepts barter much of their handiwork in this kind with the people of communities less skilled in it. This affords yet another ill.u.s.tration of the fact that the various specialised handicrafts are traditional in certain tribes and sub-tribes, and are practised hardly at all or in an inferior manner only by the other tribes, who seem to find it impossible to achieve an equal degree of mastery of these crafts.