During an evening of this sort the women congregate in the adjacent rooms, where they can overhear the proceedings; and if they find these exceptionally interesting, they will congregate about the doors, but will strictly abstain from interfering with, them in any way. The flow of speech and song and conversation goes on uninterruptedly, except when the occasional intrusion into the circle of some irrepressible dog necessitates its violent expulsion; until, as midnight approaches, the men drop away from the circle by twos and threes, the circle being finally broken up when the visiting chief expresses a desire to sleep. Each guest spreads his own mat on the platform assigned to the party, and the men of the house retire to their rooms.
We will not conclude this chapter without stating that among the Kayans, Kenyahs, and most of the Klemantans, alcoholic intoxication is by no means common. At great feasts, such as are made at the close of the harvest or on the return of a successful war-party, much BORAK is drunk, the women joining in, and a few of the men will usually become quite drunk; but most of them will hardly go further than a state of boisterous jollity.
Although in a year of good PADI harvest each family constantly renews its supply of BORAK, yet the spirit is never drunk in private, but only on festive occasions of the kind described above, or when a man entertains a small party of friends in his own chamber.
The account given above of the reception and entertainment of guests would apply with but little modification to the houses of the Kenyahs and Klemantans. In the Sea Dayak house the reception and entertainment of guests is less ceremonious, and is carried out by the unorganised efforts of individuals, rather than by the household as a whole with the chief at its head. On the arrival of a party of visitors, the people of each room clamorously invite the guests to sit down before their chamber. The guests thus become scattered through the house. First they are offered betel nut and sirih leaf smeared with lime to chew, for among the Sea Dayaks this chewing takes the place of the smoking of cigarettes which is common to all the others; and they are then fed and entertained individually, or by twos and threes, in various rooms. No pig is killed or rice-spirit offered, though possibly a toasted bat or bit of salted wild pig will be served as a relish.
At great feasts the Sea Dayaks drink more freely than the other peoples, except the Muruts. Men and women alike drink deeply, and many become intoxicated. The men take pride in drinking the largest possible quantity; and when the stomach is filled, will vomit up large quantities, and then at once drink more, the women pressing it upon them. The Dayaks and Muruts alone thus sink in the matter of drink to the level of those highly cultured Europeans among whom a similar habit obtains: while among all the other tribes strong drink is seldom or never abused, but rather is put only to its proper use, the promotion of good fellowship and social gaiety.
CHAPTER 8
Life on the Rivers
With the exception of the Punans and some of the Muruts who inhabit the few regions devoid of navigable streams, all the peoples of Borneo make great use of the rivers. The main rivers and their principal branches are their great highways, and even the smallest tributary streams are used for gaining access to their PADI fields. It is only when hunting or gathering jungle produce that they leave the rivers. Occasionally PADI is cultivated at a distance of a mile or more from the nearest navigable stream, and a rough pathway is then made between the field and the nearest point of the river. Here and there also jungle paths are made connecting points where neighbouring rivers or their navigable tributaries approach closely to one another. In the flat country near the coast, where waterways are less abundant than in the interior, jungle tracks are more used for communication between villages. Where a route crosses a jungle swamp, large trees are felled in such a way that their stems lie as nearly as possible end to end. Their ends are connected if necessary by laying smaller logs from one to the other. In this way is formed a rude slippery viaduct on which it is possible for an agile and bare-footed man to walk in safety across swamps many miles in extent.
But the jungle paths are only used when it is impossible to reach the desired point by boat, or if the waterway is very circuitous. On the lower and deeper reaches of the rivers the paddle is the universal instrument of propulsion. It is used without any kind of rowlock — the one hand, grasping the handle a little above the blade, draws the blade backwards through the water; the other hand, grasping the T-shaped upper end, thrusts it forward. The lower hand thus serves as a fulcrum for the other.
A small boat may be propelled by a single rower, who, sitting at the stern, uses the paddle on one side only, and keeps the boat straight by turning the paddle as he finishes his stroke. In a boat of medium size one man seated at the stern devotes himself to steering with his paddle, although here and there among the coast-people a fixed rudder is used. In a war boat of the largest size, the two men occupying the bow-bench and the four men on the two stern-most benches are responsible for the steering; the former pull the bow over, or lever it in the opposite direction.