CHAPTER CXV.
BORNEO—Continued.
WAR.
DYAK WEAPONS — THE SUMPITAN, OR BLOW GUN — CONSTRUCTION OF THE WEAPON — THE INLAID OR METAL BUTT — THE SPEAR HEAD, OR BAYONET — THE SUMPIT ARROW — THE UPAS POISON AND ITS EFFECTS — DESCRIPTION OF THE TREE — THE QUIVER — THE PARANG, OR SWORD, AND ITS VARIETIES — THE PARANG-LATOK, AND ITS CURIOUS HANDLE — POWER OF ITS BLOW — TWO BLOWS OF AN EXECUTIONER — THE PARANG-IHLANG: ITS CURIOUSLY FORMED BLADE — AN AWKWARD WEAPON — POWER OF THE PARANG-IHLANG, AND ITS VALUE — THE SHEATH AND ITS ADDITIONAL KNIFE — DOUBLE-EDGED PARANG, WITH CHARMS — A SINGULAR ORNAMENT — THE KRIS AND ITS VARIETIES — ITS WAVED AND LAMINATED BLADE — EFFECT OF THE LIME JUICE — THE EXECUTIONER’S KRIS.
We now come to the subject of Warfare, which forms perhaps the most important branch of Dyak history. Whether the Dyaks belong to the Land or Sea division, they are always warlike, though the latter are fiercer, perhaps braver, and certainly more enterprising than the former. In order to understand the system by which they wage war, we must first examine their weapons. I will take that which is the most characteristic; namely, the sumpitan, or blow gun.
We have here a weapon, the like of which we have not seen in any country that we have hitherto investigated; namely, an instrument by means of which missiles are projected by means of compressed air. The principle on which the sumpitan acts is precisely similar to that of fire-arms, though the propelling power is obtained in a different and more simple manner. In fact, the sumpitan is nothing but the “pea-shooter” of boys, very much enlarged, and carrying an arrow instead of a pea or clay ball.
This curious weapon is about eight feet in length, and not quite an inch in diameter, and is bored with the greatest accuracy, a task that occupies a very long time, the wood being very hard, and the interior of the sumpitan smooth and even polished. It is not always made of the same wood, the specimens in my own collection being of different material, one of very dark and the other of very light wood. The surface is of equal thickness from end to end, and, as it generally has to enact the part of a spear as well as of a sumpitan, it is very strong and heavy.
One of these weapons, brought to England by the late Admiral Young, is of a beautiful colored wood, and is beautifully inlaid, both at the butt and the point, with metal. The last few inches of the butt are entirely made of metal, the weight of which causes the weapon to balance itself easily when held to the lips. The pattern of the inlaying may be seen in [fig. 1], of the illustration entitled “Sumpitans,” on the 1122nd page.
The other sumpitan, [fig. 2], is of a very dark, almost black wood, which is brightly polished on the exterior as well as in the interior, and is not inlaid. The butt, however, is encased with brass for five inches, the brass being very thick and heavy at the end, and deeply ridged, so as to look at a little distance as if it were a spiral brass wire coiled round the butt of the sumpitan.
At the tip of this weapon is a spear head, very thick, broad, and strong, sharply edged and pointed, and decorated with engraved patterns after the manner employed by Dyak smiths. It is firmly bound to the sumpitan by brass wire or rattan, and is an exact analogue of the bayonet, the spear head being fastened to the side of the weapon, and not interfering with the flight of the missile. The bore of the weapon is very small, not quite half an inch in diameter, and it is really wonderful that the maker could contrive to hollow it with the perfect precision which is necessary for the accurate flight of the arrow.
We next come to the missile which is projected through the sumpitan. This is a very tiny arrow, made of the thorn of the sago palm, about seven or eight inches long, equally thick from base to point, and not thicker than a large steel knitting-needle. In order to make it fit the bore so that it can be propelled by the breath, it is furnished at the butt with a conical piece of pith or soft wood, so that it exactly fits the bore. In some of the arrows, the cone is hollow, and a few of them are furnished with wing-like appendages along the shaft. As a rule, however, the solid cone is in most general use.
These arrows are so small that the wound which they inflict is in itself insignificant, and would not be sufficient to kill any animal larger than a rat. They are, however, converted into weapons of the most formidable character by being smeared at the tip with poison obtained from the upas-tree.