BATANG MIJONG, O, why are you called?
BATANG MIJONG SPEAKS: —
Why do you question me, why do you stare at me?
UNGAP ANSWERS —
Your limbs are shapely, smooth is your skin and slender your body.
My eyes are dazzled by your bodily perfections.
Some of the Malanaus, one of the many branches of the Klemantan people, hold peculiar views about the soul. Each man is credited with two souls. After his death one of these goes to some region in the heavens where it becomes a good spirit that assists at the BAYOH ceremonies.[121] The other makes a journey to a world of the dead much like APO LEGGAN of the Kayans; and the journey involves the crossing of the river on a single log, the passage of which is disputed by a malign being, who tries to shake the nerve of the ghost by flinging ashes at him as he traverses the bridge. Other Malanaus (of Muka) describe this opposing power as a twoheaded dog, MAIWIANG by name, whom it is necessary to propitiate with the gift of a valuable bead. For this reason a bead of some value is fastened to the right arm of the corpse before the coffin is closed. It is said of the Malanaus that they were formerly in the habit of killing several slaves at the tomb of a chief; and, since it was believed that, if the victims died a violent death, their souls would not go to the same place as the dead chief, and would thus be of no service, they were allowed to die from exposure to the sun while bound to the tomb. Now that homicide is prohibited, these people arrange a great cock-fight; and there can be little doubt that the death of many of the birds is felt to compensate in some degree for the enforced abstention from homicide.
The last case on record of the killing of a slave at the entombment of a chief occurred about fifteen years ago among the Orang Bukits (Klemantans) in Bruni territory. The son of the dead chief (Datu Gunong) went to Bruni city, and there bought an aged slave from one of the principal officers of state. The slave was kept in a bamboo cage until the day of entombment, when he was killed, each of the funeral guests inflicting a small wound with a spear. His head was hung on the tomb. From circumstantial accounts of this incident which reached one of us, we infer that those who took part in this brutal act were moved only by a sense of duty and that the co-operation was repugnant to all of them.[122]
Exorcism
The Kayans, as well as most of the peoples, regard madness as due to possession by an evil spirit,[123] but the Malanaus extend this theory to many other forms of disease, and practise an elaborate rite of exorcism. This will be described in the chapter (XVI.) dealing with charms and magical practices.