CHAPTER 10
War
The Kayans are perhaps less aggressive than any other of the interior peoples with the exception of the Punans. Nevertheless prowess in war has made them respected or feared by all the peoples; and during the last century they established themselves in the middle parts of the basins of all the great rivers, driving out many of the Klemantan communities, partly by actual warfare, partly by the equally effective method of appropriating to their own use the tracts of jungle most suitable for the cultivation of PADI.
The fighting quality of the individual Kayan, the loyalty and obedience of each household to its chief, the custom of congregating several long houses to form a populous village upon some spot carefully chosen for its tactical advantages (generally a peninsula formed by a deep bend of the river), and the strong cohesion between the Kayans of different and even widely separated villages, — all these factors combine to render the Kayans comparatively secure and their villages immune from attack. But though a Kayan village is seldom attacked, and though the Kayans do not wantonly engage in bloodshed, yet they will always stoutly assert their rights, and will not allow any injury done to any member of the tribe to go unavenged. The avenging of injuries and the necessity of possessing heads for use in the funeral rites are for them the principal grounds of warfare; and these are generally combined, the avenging of injuries being generally postponed, sometimes for many years, until the need for new heads arises. Though an old dried head will serve all the purposes of the rites performed to terminate a period of mourning, yet it is felt that a fresh head (or heads) is more desirable, especially in the case of mourning for an important chief.
When an old head is used in these rites, it is customary to borrow it from another house or village, and it is brought to the house by a party of warriors in the full panoply of war, who behave both on setting out and returning as though actually on the war-path.
It may be said generally that Kayans seldom or never wage war on Kayans, and seldom attack others merely to secure heads or in sheer vainglory, as the Ibans not infrequently do. Nor do they attack others merely in order to sustain their prestige, as is sometimes done by the Kenyahs, who in this respect carry to an extreme the principle that attack is the most effective mode of defence.
War is generally undertaken by the Kayans very deliberately, after much preparation and in large well-organised parties, ranging in numbers from fifty to a thousand or more warriors, made up in many cases from several neighbouring villages, and under the supreme command of one chief of acknowledged eminence.
The weapons and war-dress are similar among all the peoples. The principal weapon is the sword known as PARANG ILANG, or MALAT, a heavy blade (Pl. 91) of steel mounted in a handle of horn or hardwood. The blade, about twenty-two inches in length, has the cutting edge slightly bowed and the blunt back edge slightly hollowed. The edges diverge slightly from the handle up to a point about five inches from the tip, where the blade attains its maximum width of nearly two inches. At this point the back edge bends sharply forward to meet the cutting edge at the tip. A very peculiar feature of the blade is that it is slightly hollowed on the inner surface (I.E. the thumb side or left side in the case of the PARANG, of a right-handed man, the right side in case of one made for a left-handed man), and is convex in transverse section to a corresponding degree on the other surface. This peculiar shape of the blade is said to render the PARANG, more efficient in sinking into or through either limbs or wood, and is more easily withdrawn after a successful blow. This weapon is carried in a wooden sheath suspended by a plaited waist-strap, and is the constant companion of every man; for it is used not only in warfare, but also for a variety of purposes, such as the hewing down of jungle undergrowth, cutting rattans and bamboos, the rough shaping of wooden implements.
The weapon second in importance is the spear (Pl. 92). It consists of a flat steel blade, about one foot in length, of which the widest part (between one and two inches) is about four inches from the tip. The tip and lateral edges of the blade are sharp, and its haft is lashed with strips of rattan to the end of a wooden shaft. The extremity of the haft is bent outwards from the shaft, to prevent its being dragged off from the latter. The shaft is of tough wood and about seven feet in length; its butt end is usually shod with iron. The spear is used not only for thrusting, but also as a javelin and as a parrying stick for warding off the spears hurled by the foe. It is always carried in the boat when travelling on the river, or in the hand during excursions in the jungle.
The blow-pipe, which projects a poisoned dart, is used by many of the Kayans in hunting, but is hardly regarded as a weapon for serious use in warfare.