DYAK WOMEN IN CANOE.
Preparatory to landing, we began performing our ablutions in the boat, much to the amusement and delight of the naked groups of Dyaks who were assembled at the landing place, and who eyed us in mute astonishment. The application of a hair brush was the signal for a general burst of laughter, but cleaning the teeth with a tooth brush caused a scream of wonder, a perfect yell, I presume at our barbarous customs. There were many women among the groups; they appeared to be well made, and more than tolerably good looking. I need not enter into a very minute description of their attire, for, truth to say, they had advanced very little beyond the costume of our common mother Eve. We were soon in closer contact with them, for one of our party throwing out of the boat a common black bottle, half a dozen of the women plunged into the stream to gain possession of it. They swam to the side of our boat without any reserve, and then a struggle ensued as to who should be the fortunate owner of the prize. It was gained by a fine young girl of about seventeen years of age, and who had a splendid pair of black eyes. She swam like a frog, and with her long hair streaming in the water behind her, came pretty well up to our ideas of a mermaid.
As we had contrived to empty a considerable number of these bottles during our expedition, they were now thrown overboard in every direction. This occasioned a great increase of the floating party, it being joined by all the other women on the beach, and for more than half an hour we amused ourselves with the exertions and contentions of our charming naiads, to obtain what they appeared to prize so much; at last all our empty bottles were gone, and the women swam on shore with them, as much delighted with their spoil as we had been amused with their eagerness and activity.
About 10 o'clock we landed, and proceeded to pay our visit to the Chief. We were ushered into a spacious house, built of wood and thatched with leaves, capable of containing at least 400 people. The Chief was sitting on a mat with his three sons by his side, and attended by all his warriors. The remainder of the space within was occupied by as many of the natives as could find room; those who could not, remained in the court-yard outside. The Chief, who was a fine looking grey-bearded man of about sixty years of age, was dressed in velvet, and wore on his head a turban of embroidered silk. The three sons were dressed in the way I have already described the one to have been who came to us in the canoe. Without exception, those three young men were the most symmetrical in form I have ever seen. The unrestrained state of nature in which these Dyaks live, gives to them a natural grace and an easiness of posture, which is their chief characteristic. After the usual greetings and salutations had been passed through, we all sat down on mats and cushions which had been arranged for us; a short conversation with Mr. Brooke, who speaks the language fluently, then took place between him and the Chief, after which refreshments were set before us. These consisted of various eatables and sweetmeats made of rice, honey, sugar, flour, and oil; and although very simple as a confectionery, they were very palatable. We remained with the Chief about an hour, and before we went away he requested our company in the evening, promising to treat us with a Dyak war dance. We took our leave for the present, and amused ourselves with strolling about the town. I will take this opportunity of making known some information I have at this and at different times obtained relative to this people.
The villages of the Dyaks are always built high up, near the source of the rivers, or, should the river below be occupied by the piratical tribes, on the hills adjoining to the source. Their houses are very large, capable of containing two hundred people, and are built of palm leaves. A village or town may consist of fifteen or twenty houses. Several families reside in one house, divided from each other by only a slight partition of mats. Here they take their meals, and employ themselves, without interfering with each other. Their furniture and property are very simple, consisting of a few cooking utensils, the paddles of their canoes, their arms, and a few mats.
In all the Dyak villages every precaution is taken to guard against surprise. I have already described the strength and fortifications of Loondoo, and a similar principle is every where adopted. The town being built on the banks of the river, the boom I have described is invariably laid across the stream to prevent the ascent of boats. Commanding the barriers, one or more forts are built on an eminence, mounting within them five or six of the native guns, called leilas. The forts are surrounded by a strong stockade, which is surmounted by a cheveaux-de-frise of split bamboos. These stockaded forts are, with the houses and cocoa nuts adjoining, again surrounded by a strong stockade, which effectually secures them from any night attack.
Great respect is paid to the laws and to the mandates of their Chiefs, although it but too often happens that, stimulated by revenge, or other passions, they take the law into their own hands; but if crimes are committed, they are not committed without punishment following them, and some of their punishments are very barbarous and cruel: I have seen a woman with both her hands half-severed at the wrists, and a man with both his ears cut off.
The religious ideas of the Dyaks resemble those of the North American Indians: they acknowledge a Supreme Being, or "Great Spirit;" they have also some conception of an hereafter. Many of the tribes imagine that the great mountain Keney Balloo is a place of punishment for guilty departed souls. They are very scrupulous regarding their cemeteries, paying the greatest respect to the graves of their ancestors. When a tribe quits one place to reside at another, they exhume the bones of their relations, and take them with them.
I could not discover if they had any marriage ceremony, but they are very jealous of their wives, and visit with great severity any indiscretion on their parts.
The Dyaks live principally upon rice, fish, and fruit, and they are very moderate in their living. They extract shamshoo from the palm, but seldom drink it Their principal luxury consists in the chewing the betel-nut and chunam; a habit in which, like all the other inhabitants of these regions, from Arracan down to the island of New Guinea, they indulge to excess. This habit is any thing but becoming, as it renders the teeth quite black, and the lips of a high vermilion, neither of which alterations is any improvement to a copper-coloured face.