The Pagan Tribes of Borneo Part 40

[5] -- Despite Crawfurd's opinion this is now an accepted fact. Raffles's HISTORY OF JAVA contains much interesting information on the point, and there is a remarkable statement which has not obtained the attention that it deserves, showing that the Chinese recognised the similarity between the Java and Soli (Nagpur) alphabets. -- Groeneveldt, NOTES ON MALAY ARCHIPELAGO AND MALACCA; Trubner's ESSAYS RELATING TO INDO-CHINA, vol. i. p. 166.

[6] -- There is a Bruni still alive whose hands have been cut off for theft.

[7] -- This account is taken from Groeneveldt (LOC. CIT.) who, however, supposes Poli to be on the north coast of Sumatra. In this he follows "all Chinese geographers," adding "that its neighbourhood to the Nicobar Islands is a sufficient proof that they are right." But Rakshas, which may have been "for a long time the name of the Nicobar Islands, probably on account of the wildness and bad reputation of their inhabitants," is merely Rakshasa, a term applied by the Hindu colonists in Java and the Malay Peninsula to any wild people, so that the statement that to the east of Poli is situated the land of the Rakshas is hardly sufficient support for even "all Chinese geographers." Trusting to "modern Chinese geographers," Groeneveldt makes Kaling, where an eight-foot gnomon casts a shadow of 2.4 feet at noon on the summer solstice, to be Java, that is to say, to be nearly 5[degree] south of the equator. Having unwittingly demonstrated how untrustworthy are the modern geographers, he must excuse others if they prefer the original authority, who states that Poli is south-EAST of Camboja, the land of the Rakshas EAST of Poli, to "all" geographers who state on the contrary that Poli is south-WEST of Camboja, the Rakshas' country WEST of Poli. The name Poli appears to be a more accurate form of Polo, the name by which Bruni is said to have been known to the Chinese in early times.

[8] -- Rajah Charles Brooke, TEN YEARS IN SARAWAK, quoted in Ling Roth's valuable work, THE NATIVES OF SARAWAK AND BRITISH NORTH BORNEO, vol. ii. p. 279.

[9] -- E. H. Parker, CHINA, p. 33.

[10] -- Groeneveldt, LOC. CIT.

[11] -- Marsden, HISTORY OF SUMATRA, p. 383.

[12] -- Than camphor, tortoisesh.e.l.l, ivory, and sandal woods.

[13] -- There is some doubt as to the date of the foundation of Maj.a.pahit.

[14] -- According to a Malay ma.n.u.script of some antiquity lent to us by the late Tuanku Mudah, one of the kings (BATARA) of Maj.a.pahit had a beautiful daughter, Radin Galo Chindra Kirana. This lady was much admired by Laiang Sitir and Laiang Kemitir, the two sons of one Pati Legindir. On the death of the king, Pati Legindir ruled the land and the beautiful princess became his ward. He, to satisfy the rival claims of his two sons, promised that whoever should kill the raja of Balambangan (an island off the north coast of Borneo), known by the nickname of Manok Jingga, should marry the princess. Now at the court there happened to be Damar Olan, one of the sons of Raja Matarem, who had disguised his high descent and induced Pati Legindir to adopt him as his son. This young man found favour in the princess's eyes, and she tried to persuade her guardian to let her marry him. Pati Legindir, however, declared that he would keep to his arrangement, and roughly told the lover to bring Manok Jingga's head before thinking of marrying the princess. So Damar Olan set out with two followers on the dangerous mission, which he carried out with complete success. On his return he met his two rivals, who induced him to part with the head of the royal victim, and then buried him alive in a deep trap previously prepared. Pati Legindir, suspecting nothing, ordered his ward to marry Laiang Sitir, who brought the trophy to the palace; but the princess had learned of the treachery from one of the spectators, and asked for a week's delay. Before it was too late, Damar Olan, who had managed to find a way out of what nearly proved a grave, reached the court and told his tale, now no longer concealing his rank. He married the princess and afterwards was entrusted by Pati Legindir with all the affairs of state. Having obtained supreme power, Damar Olan sent his treacherous rivals to southern Borneo, with a retinue of criminals mutilated in their ear-lobes and elsewhere as a penalty for incest. These transported convicts, the ancestors of the Kayans, landed near Sikudana and spread into the country between the Kapuas and Banjermasin. It is interesting to see how this tale agrees with other traditions. The Kayans state that they came across the sea at no distant date. Javan history relates that Maj.a.pahit was ruled during the minority of Angka Wijaya by his elder sister, the princess Babu Kanya Kanchana Wungu. A neighbouring prince, known as Manok Jengga, took advantage of this arrangement by seizing large portions of the young king's domains. One, Daram Wulan, however, son of a Buddhist devotee, overthrew him and was rewarded by the hand of the princess regent. When Angka Wijaya came of age he entrusted the care of a large part of his kingdom to his sister and brother-in-law.

[15] -- SEJARAH MALAYA, edited by Sh.e.l.labear, Singapore, 1896, p. 106.

[16] -- Whose descendants are the Malanaus.

[17] -- Cf. Low, JOURNAL STRAITS BRANCH ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY, vol. v. p. 1, from whose article we have obtained much interesting material.

[18] -- This is said to have been accomplished by Alak ber Tata's brother, Aw.a.n.g Jerambok, the story of whose dealings with the Muruts is well known both to Brunis and Muruts. He set out one day for the head of the river Manjilin, but lost his way after crossing the mountains. After wandering for three days he came upon a Murut village, whose inhabitants wished to kill him. He naturally told them not to do so, and they desisted. After some time, which he spent with these rude folk, then not so far advanced into the interior, he so far won their affections that they followed him to Bruni, where they were entertained by the sovereign and generously treated. These Muruts then induced their friends to submit.

[19] -- Founded after the capture of Malacca by the Portuguese, 1512 A.D. (Crawfurd, DESCRIPTIVE DICTIONARY). Sultan Abdul Krahar, great-great-grandson of Sultan Mohammed's younger brother, died about 1575 A.D. From this fact and the statement that Mohammed stopped the Maj.a.pahit tribute, we may infer that the latter sat on the throne of Bruni in the middle of the fifteenth century; if this inference is correct, the story of his visit to Joh.o.r.e must be unfounded.

[20] -- Some say he was never converted, others that he was summoned to Joh.o.r.e expressly to be initiated into Islam.

[21] -- He is also alleged to have seized the lady in a drunken freak. It is stated that the Sultan was so much enraged at this that he proposed to make war on Bruni. His minister, however, suggested that enquiries should be made into the strength of that kingdom before commencing operations. He was accordingly sent to Bruni, where he was so well received that he married and remained there, with a number of followers. Word was sent to Joh.o.r.e that the princess was treated as queen and was quite happy with her husband. This appeased the Sultan's wrath. An old friend of ours belonging to the Burong Pingai section of Bruni, that is to say, the old commercial cla.s.s, says that his people are all descended from this Pengiran Bandahara of Joh.o.r.e, and that the name Burong Pingai is derived from the circ.u.mstance that their ancestor bad a pigeon of remarkable tameness.

[22] -- Cf. with Dalrymple's account of the origin of the Sulu Sultanate, JOURNAL INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO, iii. 545 and 564. See also Lady Bra.s.sey's LAST VOYAGE, p. 165.

[23] -- He puts the longitude 30[degree] too far east; but in his day, of course, there were no chronometers.

[24] -- Cited in full by Crawfurd, DESCRIPTIVE DICTIONARY OF THE INDIAN ISLANDS. Article, "Brunai."

[25] -- Much of the following information is extracted from an article by J. R. Logan on European intercourse with Borneo, JOURNAL INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO, vol. ii. p. 505.

[26] -- The article in the JOURNAL INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO says 1702.

[27] -- Crawfurd, DESCRIPTIVE DICTIONARY, p. 37.

[28] -- 1811 to 1815.

[29] -- It seems not unreasonable to conjecture that the uniformly high physical standard of the Punans and their seemingly exceptional immunity from disease are due to their exposed mode of life, and to the consequently severe selection exercised upon them by their environment.

[30] -- The Sea Dayak is exceptional in this respect; he wears a coat of coloured cotton fibre woven in various patterns by the women.

[31] -- See Chap. XII.

[32] -- The turban is a head-dress which is copied from the Malays and is rapidly spreading inland.

[33] -- This toy cross-bow is found among Kayans. Both it and the arrow used are very crudely made.

[34] -- The war dress and accoutrements will be more fully described in Chap. X.

[35] -- Accidental tearing of the lobe inevitably occurs occasionally; and if this is attributed to the carelessness of any other person a bra.s.s TAWAK or gong must be paid in compensation. Repair of a torn lobe is sometimes effected by overlapping the raw ends and keeping them tied in this position for some weeks.

[36] -- Some of the copper coins of Sarawak are perforated at the centre.

[37] -- By the Kayans the heads are suspended in a single long row from thelower edge of a long plank, each being attached by a rattan pa.s.sed through a hole in the vertex. Many of the Klemantans hang them in a similar way to a circular framework, and the Sea Dayaks suspend them in a conical basket hung by its apex from the rafters.

[38] -- The sub-tribes are the following: -- Uma Pliau, Uma Poh, Uma Semuka, Uma Paku, and Uma Baw.a.n.g, chiefly in the basin of the Baram; in the Rejang basin -- the Uma Naving, Uma Lesong, Uma Daro; in the Bintulu basin -- the Uma Juman; in the Batang Kayan -- the Uma Lekan; in the Kapuas -- the Uma Ging; the Uma Belun, the Uma Blubo scattered in several river-basins; and one other group in the Madalam river, and one in the Koti.

[39] -- All the Kenyahs of the Baram are known as Kenyah Bauh. On the watershed between the Batang Kayan and the Baram are the Lepu Payah and the Madang. In the Batang Kayan basin are the Lepu Tau, the Uma Kulit, Uma Lim, Uma Baka, Uma Jalan, Lepu Tepu. In the Koti basin are the Peng or Pnihing; in the Rejang the Uma Klap. These are the princ.i.p.al branches of the pure Kenyahs; each of them comprises a number of scattered villages, the people of each of which have adopted some local name. In addition to these there is a number of groups, such as the Uma Pawa and the Murik in the Baram, and the Lepu Tokong and the Uma Long in the Batang Kayan, the people of which seem to us to be intermediate as regards all important characters between the Kenyahs and the Klemantans. (For discussion of these relations see Chap. XXI.)

[40] -- For the marriage ceremony see Chap. XVIII.

[41] -- We take this opportunity of contradicting in the most emphatic manner a very misleading statement which of all the many misleading statements about the peoples of Borneo that are in circulation is perhaps the most frequently repeated in print. The statement makes its most recent reappearance in Professor Keane's book THE WORLD'S PEOPLES (published in 1908). There it is written of the "Borneans"

that "No girl will look at a wooer before he has laid a head or two at her feet." To us it seems obvious that this state of affairs could only obtain among a hydra-headed race. The statement is not true of any one tribe, and as regards most of the "Borneans" has no foundation in fact. Applied to the Sea Dayaks alone has the statement an element of truth. Among them to have taken a head does commonly enhance a wooer's chances of success, and many Sea Dayak girls and their mothers will taunt a suitor with having taken no head, but few of them will make the taking of a head an essential condition of the bestowal of their favour or of marriage. A mother will remark to a youth who is hanging about her daughter, BISI DALAM, BISI DELUAR BULI DI TANYA ANAK AKU (When you have the wherewithal to adorn both the interior and the exterior of a room (I.E. jars within the room and heads without in the gallery) you can then ask for my child).

[42] -- For the naming ceremony see Chap. XVIII.

[43] -- It is not rare to find that a child does not know the original names of his parents, and even husbands may be found to have forgotten the original names of their wives.

[44] -- We append to this chapter a table showing the names and degrees of kinship of all the inhabitants of one Kenyah long house. At the suggestion of Dr. W. H. R. Rivers, who has found this method of great value in disentangling the complicated kinship systems of some Melanesian and Papuan and other peoples, we have collected similar information regarding Kayan, Sea Dayak, Klemantan, and Murut villages. But in no case does the table discover any trace of any elaborate kinship system.

[45] -- They are skilled woodmen, and know how to cut a tree so as to ensure its falling in any desired manner; the final strokes cut away the ends of the narrow portion of the stem remaining between the upper and lower notches.

[46] -- See Chap. X.

[47] -- See Chap. XVII.

[48] -- The same connection of ideas is ill.u.s.trated by the practice of sterile women who desire children sleeping upon the freshly gathered ears in the huts in the fields.

[49] -- See Chap. XVIII.

[50] -- See Chap. V.

[51] -- See Chap. XVII.

[52] -- See Chap. XV.

[53] -- There are said to be two other less common species of wild pig, but probably there is only one other.