Sir James Brooke made a law that after a certain number of years all slaves for debt were to be set free, so at present there are not any, except those who have grown old in the service of their masters, and do not wish for their freedom.
CHAPTER VII
CHILD-BIRTH AND CHILDREN
The Couvade among the Dyaks—Harm to the child—Ways of evading these restrictions—Punishment for violating these restrictions—A Christian woman’s ideas on the subject—Witch doctors and their methods—The waving of a fowl—Treatment of the mother and child—Infanticide—Bathing the child—Ceremony for insuring happiness to the child—Naming the child—Change of name—Children—Toys—Smallness of families—Reason.
As the Sea Dyaks look upon child-birth as a very ordinary event, there are not many ceremonies connected with it, though there are many rules and restrictions which have to be observed by the parents before the child is born.
The Couvade is in existence among the Sea Dyaks, and there are many superstitions which impede and harass those who are about to become parents.
When it is known that a woman is enceinte, the following restrictions, binding on both husband and wife, come into force, and have to be observed until the child has cut its first teeth. The parents may not cut creepers that hang over the water or over the path, lest the mother should suffer from hæmorrhage after delivery. They may not cut anything in the shape of cloth, cotton, etc., nor lay hold of the handle of a knife or chopper, nor bind up anything into a parcel; nor may they dam a stream to set up a fish-trap, or plait the rattan for fixing the adze. They must under no circumstances tie up anything with a string, or drive a nail into a board. Neither parent may eat anything while in the act of walking. If the neighbour in the next room should hand anything through the small window in the partition wall, the hand that receives it must not be passed through the window, so as to be on the other side in the next room, but must be kept on its own side of the wall. The man may not nail up a wall or fasten together the planks of a boat. Nor must he plant a post in the earth, nor dig a trench. Plaiting a basket or mat-work must not be done by the woman. It is unfortunate if the cord of the water-gourd, used by the women, break when carrying water, but in case of such an accident, evil consequences may be averted if the woman step astride over the gourd or other vessel three times backwards and forwards. To do any of these forbidden things would hinder the wife’s parturition.
There are many prohibitions which, if disregarded by the parents, would result in some harm to the child. They must not pour out oil, lest the child should suffer from inflammation of the ears; or fix the sword (duku) in its hilt, lest the child be deaf; or break an egg, lest the child be blind; or plant a banana-tree, lest the head of the child should be abnormally large; or kill any animal, lest the child be deformed or its nose bleed; or scrape the shell of a cocoanut, lest the child’s hair should not grow. It is also forbidden to eat anything in a mosquito curtain, lest the child should be still-born; to carry stones, lest the child should be paralyzed; to bend into a circle any piece of wood, lest the child should not prosper.
There are a great many other matters of a similar sort forbidden, but in the case of nearly all their restrictions, there are ways by which they can be circumvented, and no evil effects follow. For instance, the mother may do basket-work and make mats, provided some other woman begin the work for her, and the man may dig trenches or erect a hut provided the hands of others are first laid to it. A man may not kill an animal yet, if he does kill anything, and runs away and then returns a few minutes afterwards, and makes some remark like this aloud, “I wonder who killed this animal?” he has nothing to fear.