[117] — Cases occur among the Kayans, though but rarely. The method most employed is to stab a knife into the throat.
[118] — In one such case the body was laid out in the gallery of the house and preparations for the funeral were far advanced, when one of us (C. H.) arrived. On glancing at the alleged corpse he suspected that life was not extinct, and succeeded, by the application of ammonia to the nostrils, in restoring the entranced Kayan to animation, and shortly to a normal condition of health.
[119] — The man mentioned in the foregoing footnote had given to a DAYONG (no doubt in response to leading questions) a circumstantial account of adventures of this kind, before we had an opportunity of questioning him after an interval of some ten days. He then admitted that he could remember nothing clearly.
[120] — The cry of this species is peculiar; it terminates with an interrupted series of cries that sound like mocking laughter.
[121] — See below, vol. ii. p. 130.
[122] — The incident was reported by Dr. Hose to the British Consul at Bruni, who entered an effective warning against repetitions of such acts.
[123] — A dangerous madman is generally kept shut up in a large strong cage in the gallery of the house.
[124] — It is believed that the tatuing on the woman's hands and forearms illuminates for the ghost dark places traversed on the journey to the other world.
[125] — Coco-nuts are commonly opened by two blows with a sword struck upon opposite sides, and it seems probable that the method of splitting the jar was suggested by this practice.
[126] — In this chapter we have departed from our rule of describing first and most fully the facts and beliefs of the Kayan people, because before planning this book we had paid special attention to this topic, and had obtained fuller information in regard to the Kenyahs than to other peoples, and had published this in the form of a paper in the JOURNAL OF THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE ("The Relations between Men and Animals in Sarawak," J. ANTH. INSTIT. vol. xxxi.). This paper, modified and corrected in detail, forms the substance of this chapter. We wish to epxress our thanks to the Council of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland for permission to make use of this paper.