Part 25 (1/2)
They went in two s.h.i.+ps, and, after sailing a month or more, came to a mountain, for there was no river then. When the s.h.i.+ps arrived, prahus came out to ask their errand. ”I am looking for my father and mother whom I left long ago,” said the owner. They told him that his father was dead, but that his mother still lived, though very old.
The people went and told her that her son had come to see her. She was very poor, for children there were none, and her husband was dead. Wearing old garments, and in a dilapidated prahu, she went out to the s.h.i.+ps, where she made known that she wanted to see her anak (child). The sailors informed the captain that his mother was there, and he went to meet her, and behold! an old woman with white hair and soiled, torn clothing. ”No!”
he said, ”she cannot be my mother, who was beautiful and strong.” ”I am truly your mother,” she replied, but he refused to recognise her, and he took a pole (by which the prahus are poled) and drove her off.
She wept and said: ”As I am your mother, and have borne you, I wish that your wife, your s.h.i.+ps, and all your men may change into stone.” The sky became dark, and thunder, lightning, and storm prevailed. The s.h.i.+ps, the men, and the implements, everything, changed into stone, which today may be seen in these caves.
NOTE.--In the neighbourhood of Kandangan, a small town northward from Bandjermasin, are two mountains, one called gunong batu laki: the mountain of the stone man, the other gunong batu bini: the mountain of the stone wife. They contain large caves with stalact.i.te formations which resemble human beings, s.h.i.+ps, chairs, etc. The natives here visualise a drama enacted in the long gone-by, as related.
The Ex-Sultan of Pasir, a Malay then interned by the government in Bandjermasin, who was present when this story was told to me by a Mohammedan Kahayan, maintained that it is Dayak and said that it is also known in Pasir (on the east coast). Although the fact that the scene is laid in a region at present strongly Malay does not necessarily give a clew to the origin of the tale, still its contents are not such as to favour a Dayak source.
CONCLUSION
In closing this account of my investigations in Borneo it seems appropriate to comment briefly regarding the capabilities and future prospects of the tribes in Dutch Borneo comprised under the popular term Dayaks. We have seen that these natives are still inclined to the revolting habit of taking heads. In their dastardly attacks to accomplish this purpose, though moved by religious fanaticism, they show little courage. On the other hand they exhibit traits of character of which a civilised community might well be proud.
They are honest, trustworthy, and hospitable. In their kampongs a lonely stranger is safe from molestation and a white man travelling with them is far safer than with the Malays. They are able woodcraftsmen, and strikingly artistic, even their firewood being arranged in orderly fas.h.i.+on, pleasing to the eye. Should criticism arise regarding the unrestricted relations permitted in these tribes before marriage, owing to the fact that primitive conditions survive which are disapproved in civilised society, to their credit it must be admitted that conjugal relations are all that could be desired. A Dayak does not strike his wife, as Malays may do, and in business matters he takes her advice. During my travels I never heard of but one instance of infidelity. If such cases occur they are punished in some tribes with extreme severity.
In certain ways the Dayaks show more apt.i.tude than either Malays or Javanese. To ill.u.s.trate--the young men of the latter races whom I employed as ”boys” on various occasions, and the Javanese soldiers who accompanied me, were satisfactory on the whole, but when several work together, each one is afraid he will do more than his share. Neither of them can tie knots that are at once firm and readily undone, nor are they able to drive a nail properly, put in screws, or rope a box, although no doubt in time they could learn; but the Dayaks are uniformly handy at such work. A well-known characteristic of the ”inlander,” which he possesses in common with some cla.s.ses in other races, is that if he receives his due, no more and no less, he accepts the payment without question, but if a gratuity is added he will invariably ask for more. The Dayaks are much easier to deal with in that regard and more businesslike.
Needless to state neither Javanese nor Malays are stupid. They learn quickly to do efficient routine work in office or shop, but when something new demands attention they are at a loss and appear awkward. Their intelligence, especially as regards the Javanese, is sometimes beyond the ordinary. Dr. J.C. Koningsberger, who at the time was director of the Botanic Garden at Buitenzorg, Java, told me that an ”inlander” once applied to him for a position. He was able to read a little, but the doctor said: ”I cannot employ you because you cannot write.” A week later he returned and demonstrated that he had mastered the obstacle, having been taught by a friend in the evenings by lamplight. When clever, the Javanese are very clever.
The different tribes of Dayaks known to me are also quick of perception, intelligent, and, though varying in mental ability, some of them, as the Kahayans and the Duhoi, undoubtedly are capable of considerable attainment if given the opportunity. The Dutch missionary in Kasungan told me of a sixteen-year-old youth, a Duhoi, who was very ambitious to learn to read.
Although he did not know the letters to start with, the missionary a.s.sured me that in two hours he was able to read short sentences.
It was always a pleasure to meet the unsophisticated Dayaks, and on leaving them I invariably felt a desire to return some day. What the future has in store for them is not difficult to predict, as the type is less persistent than the other with which it has to compete in this great island domain. Ultimately these natives, who on the whole are attractive, will be absorbed by the Malays; the latter, being naturally of roving disposition, travel much among the Dayaks, marry their women, and acquire their lands. The Malay trader takes his prahus incredibly far up the rivers. No place is so remote that beads, mirrors, cotton cloth, bright bandannas, sarongs for women, ”made in Germany,” etc., do not reach the aborigines, often giving them a Malay exterior, however primitive they may be in reality. The trader often remains away a year, marries a woman whom he brings back, and the children become Malays. In its a.s.sumed superiority the encroaching race is not unlike the common run of Mexicans who insidiously use the confiding Indians to advance their own interests. As Mohammedans, the aggressors feel contempt for the pork-eating natives, many of whom gradually give up this habit to attain what they consider a higher social status, at the same time adopting a new way of living, and eventually disappear.
In this manner a change is slowly but surely being wrought in the Dayaks, who regard the Malays as superior and are influenced accordingly; but the influence is not beneficial. Malays have been known to incite them to head-hunting, using them as tools for their own ends, and when entering upon one of their frequent revolutions always manage to enlist the support of Dayaks whom they have deceived by promises. The late comers have already occupied most of the main courses of the great rivers, and are constantly pressing the rightful owners back into the interior.
The Dutch officials, be it said to their credit, are helping the latter against the intruders, and at times the government has limited the activities of the Malays on some rivers. But it is difficult, and apparently impossible, to stop a process of absorption that began centuries ago. The ultimate extinction of the Dayak is inevitable because the Malay is not only stronger, but has the additional advantage of being more prolific.
SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES TO THE TRIBES IN DUTCH BORNEO VISITED BY THE AUTHOR
KAYANS
The Kayans of Dutch Borneo are not numerous. Outside of Long Blu on the Mahakam they are found chiefly on the Kayan River in the large district of the northeast called Bulungan. They occupy the lower course, reaching not quite to Long Pangian, though having settlements there. Three subtribes are known to exist here, Oma-Gaai, Oma-Laran, and Oma-Hiban. The first named, also called Segai, live in Kaburau, Bruen, and Long Pangian. They appear somewhat different from the rest in language, and they abstain from rusa (deer) as food, while the others eat it. They file off ten teeth in the upper front jaw. At the headwaters of the Kayan River in Apo Kayan lives a subtribe, Oma-Lakan, said to number about 400; these do not file the front teeth. In Chapter IX is described a recent head-hunting raid by the Kenyahs on these Kayans.
KENYAHS
The Kenyahs are found only within the Bulungan district on the Kayan River. They are settled princ.i.p.ally at the headwaters in Apo Kayan and at the sources of a northern tributary, the Bahau, in Podjungan. In these two regions it is estimated that they number altogether about 25,000. Down the river they have a few kampongs below Long Pangian, in the same vicinity; west of it are a few more, as mentioned in the description of my journey.
On attempting to ascend the river further one would soon reach a vast extent of country entirely uninhabited except around the headwaters. The Bahau, too, is inhabited only at its source, and both rivers pa.s.s through wild, picturesque regions.
On that portion of the Kayan called Brem-Brem the river presents a formidable array of kihams which defeated the government's attempt to establish communication between Apo Kayan and the debouchure of the river.
This was desirable for the sake of provisioning the garrison. An officer of the Dutch army in Borneo told me that from military reports and the testimony of Kenyahs he estimated that the Brem-Brem is a continuous stretch of kihams for thirty kilometres. The Kenyahs had told him that they walked two days and he thought that for four kilometres the river ran underground. These difficult conditions compel the Kenyahs to take another route in their travels to Tandjong Selor, marching over the watershed to the Bahau River, where they make new prahus and then continue the journey.
I give a list of subtribes with reserve:
Oma-Bakkah, Oma-Lisan, Oma-Kulit, Oma-Lim, Oma-Puah, Oma-Yalan, Oma-Tokkung, Oma-Bakkung, Oma-Bam, Oma-Lung, Oma-Badang, Lepo-Tepo, Lepo-Tao, Lepo-Maot, Lepo-Ke Anda Pah, Lepo-Ke Ang Lung, Lepo-Ke Oma-Lasang. Most of the Lepo are on the Bahau. My informant, who had travelled in the interior, said there was little difference in the languages of these subtribes.