[58] — There is no reason to suppose that the Kayan augurs have not complete faith in the significance of the omens, and in the reality of the protection afforded by the favourable omen-birds, which they speak of as upholding them. Nevertheless, there can be no doubt that the strong faith of the people in the omen-birds, and the awe inspired by them, is very favourable to the maintenance of discipline and obedience to the chiefs, and that this fact is appreciated by the chiefs. The cult of the omen-birds, which hampers the undertakings of these peoples at almost every turn, and which might seem to be wholly foolish and detrimental, thus brings two great practical advantages: namely, it inspires confidence, and it promotes discipline and a strong sense of collective unity and responsibility. It is not improbable, then, that the advantages of this seemingly senseless cult outweigh its drawbacks, which in the shape of endless delays and changes of plans are by no means small.
[59] — So far as we know this is the only way in which the bow and arrow is used in Borneo, although the principle of the bow is frequently applied in making traps. It is perhaps worthy of remark that the dense character of the jungle is probably more favourable to use of the blow-pipe than to that of the bow and arrow.
[60] — It is probable that the observation of this practice by Europeans has given rise to the frequently published statements that the tribes of the interior are cannibals. We affirm with some confidence that none of the peoples of Borneo ever consume human flesh as food. It is true that Kayans, Kenyahs, and Klemantans will occasionally consume on the spot a tiny piece of the flesh of a slain enemy for the purpose of curing disorders, especially chronic cough and dysentery; and that Ibans, men or women, during the mad rejoicings over captured heads will occasionally bite a head, or even bite a piece of flesh from it. A third practice involving the consumption of human flesh was formerly observed among the Jingkangs (Klemantans of Dutch Borneo); when a son was seriously ill and the efforts of the medicine-men proved ineffective, an infant sister of the patient was killed and a small piece of the flesh given to the patient to eat. It would, we think, be grossly unfair to describe any of these peoples as cannibals on account of these practices.
[61] — At one such feast eighty-five pigs and fifty-six fowls were slaughtered.
[62] — See footnote, vol. i., p. 76.
[63] — The Malays of Bruni and the other coast settlements have, of course, used iron, and perhaps to some small extent forged it, since the time when they adopted Arab civilisation; but they have not at any time practised the smelting of iron ore. Between three and five hundred years ago the principal currency of the people of Bruni consisted of small oblong flattened pieces of iron known as SAPANGGAL (about 2 [ERROR: unhandled ×] 1 [ERROR: unhandled ×] 1/4 inches) bearing the Sultan's stamp. This iron was probably obtained from Chinese and other foreign traders, and was worked up into implements.
[64] — The convenience of thus floating the timber is one reason for the general tendency shown by Kayans to migrate gradually down river.
[65] — This is an example of a very common type of practice which implies the belief that the attributes of any object will attach themselves to any whole into which the object may be incorporated as a part; thus a hunter who has shot dead a pig or deer with a single bullet will cut out the bullet to melt it down with other lead, and will make a fresh batch of bullets or slugs from the mixture, believing that the lucky bullet will leaven the whole lump, or impart to all of it something of that to which its success was due. Compare also the similar practice in regard to the seed grain (vol. i., p. 112).
[66] — The pair of centre columns and the main columns supporting the roof back and front should have been drawn thicker than the accessory columns supporting the floor, and the width of the roof-plates is much greater than is indicated in the diagrams.
[67] — Some Kayans habitually speak of most of the dog-patterns by the term USANG ORANG (which means the prawn's head). This indicates possibly some gradual substitution of designs of the one origin for those of the other.