“The arrow thus made is inserted, and whenever the game is within reach the Indian places his mouth to the lower end or mouthpiece, and with a strong ‘puff,’ which practice enables him to give, he sends the little messenger upon its deadly errand. He can hit with unerring aim at the distance of forty or fifty paces; but he prefers to shoot in a direction nearly vertical, as in that way he can take the surest aim. As his common game—birds and monkeys—are usually perched upon the higher branches of tall trees, their situation just suits him. Of course it is not the mere wound of the arrow that kills these creatures, but the poison, which in two or three minutes after they have been hit, will bring either bird or monkey to the ground. When the latter is struck he would be certain to draw out the arrow; but the notch, already mentioned, provides against this, as the slightest wrench serves to break off the envenomed head.
“These arrows are dangerous things—even for the manufacturer of them—to play with: they are therefore carried in a quiver, and with great care—the quiver consisting either of a bamboo joint or a neat wicker case.”
To return, however, to our savage friends the Borneans. Like almost all savages under the sun, they have their war dances:—
“We had one day a dance of the Illanuns, and Gillolos; they might both be called war dances, but are very different. The performer with the Illanuns is decked out with a fine helmet (probably borrowed from our early voyagers) ornamented with bird-of-paradise feathers. Two gold belts crossed like our soldiers, over the breast, are bound at the waist with a fantastical garment reaching half-way down the thigh, and composed of various coloured silk and woollen threads one above another. The sword or kempilan is decorated at the handle with a yard or two of red cloth, and the long upright shield is covered with small rings, which clash as the performer goes through his evolutions. The dance itself consists of a variety of violent warlike gestures; stamping, striking, advancing, retreating, turning, falling, yelling, with here and there bold stops, and excellent as to aplomb, which might have elicited the applause of the opera-house; but generally speaking, the performance was outrageously fierce, and so far natural as approaching to an actual combat; and in half an hour the dancer, a fine young man, was so exhausted that he fell fainting into the arms of his comrades. Several others succeeded, but not equal to the first, and we had hardly a fair opportunity of judging of the Maluku dance, from its short continuance; but it is of a more gentle nature, advancing with the spear, stealthily casting it, then retreating with the sword and shield. The Maluku shield, it should be observed, is remarkably narrow, and is brandished somewhat in the same way as the single-stick player uses his stick, or the Irishman his shillalah, that is to say, it is held nearly in the centre, and whirled every way round.”
The following extract from Sir J. Brooke’s Bornean Journal will serve to initiate the curious reader in the peculiarly horrid custom of “head-hunting,” as observed in this part of the world. Close to the Rajah’s residence were located a party of Sigo Dayaks, who happily discovered in good time an incursion of their deadly enemies the Singés into their territory:—
“The Sigos taking the alarm, cut off their retreat and killed two of the Singé Dayaks, and obtained altogether five heads, though they lost two, and those belonging to their principal warriors. This news reaching me, I hurried up to the hill and arrived just after part of the war party had brought the heads. On our ascending the mountain we found the five heads carefully watched about half a mile from the town, in consequence of the non-arrival of some of the war party. They had erected a temporary shed close to the place where these miserable remnants of noisome mortality were deposited, and they were guarded by about thirty young men in their finest dresses, composed principally of scarlet jackets ornamented with shells, turbans of the native bark cloth dyed bright yellow and spread on the head, and decked with an occasional feather, flower, or twig of leaves. Nothing can exceed their partiality for these trophies; and in retiring from the war path, the man who has been so fortunate as to obtain a head, hangs it about his neck, and instantly commences his return to his tribe. If he sleep on the way, the precious burden, though decaying and offensive, is not loosened, but rests in his lap, whilst his head (and nose) reclines on his knees.
“On the following morning the heads were brought up to the village, attended by a number of young men, all dressed in their best, and were carried to Parembam’s house, amid the beating of gongs and the firing of one or two guns. They were then disposed of in a conspicuous place in the public hall of Parembam. The music sounded, and the men danced the greater part of the day, and towards evening carried them away in procession through all the campongs except three or four just above me. The women in these processions crowd round the heads as they proceed from house to house, and put sirih and betel-nut in the mouths of the ghastly dead, and welcome them. After this they are carried back in the same triumph, deposited in an airy place, and left to dry. During this process, for seven, eight, and ten days, they are watched by the boys of the age of six to ten years, and during this time they never stir from the public hall: they are not permitted to put their foot out of it whilst engaged in this sacred trust. Thus are the youths initiated.
“For a long time after the heads are hung up, the men nightly meet and beat their gongs, and chant addresses to them, which were rendered thus to me. ‘Your head is in our dwelling, but your spirit wanders to your own country. Your head and your spirit are now ours; persuade, therefore, your countrymen to be slain by us! Speak to the spirits of your tribe; let them wander in the fields, that when we come again to their country we may get more heads, and that we may bring the heads of your brethren, and hang them by your head,’ etc. The tone of this chant is loud and monotonous, and I am not able to say how long it is sung, but certainly for a month after the arrival of the heads, as one party here had had a head for that time, and were still exhorting it.
“These are their customs and modes of warfare, and I may conclude by saying, that though their trophies are more disgusting, yet their wars are neither so bloody, nor their cruelties so great, as those of the North American Indian. They slay all they meet with of their enemies, men, women, and children; but this is common to all wild tribes. They have an implacable spirit of revenge as long as the war lasts, retort evil for evil, and retaliate life for life: and as I have before said, the heads are the trophies, as the scalps are to the red men. But on the contrary, they never torture their enemies, nor do they devour them, and peace can always be restored amongst them by a very moderate payment. In short, there is nothing new in their feelings or in their mode of showing them, no trait remarkable for cruelty, no head hunting for the sake of head hunting. They act precisely on the same impulses as other wild men: war arises from passion or interest, peace from defeat or fear. As friends they are faithful, just, and honest; as enemies, bloodthirsty and cunning; patient on the war path, and enduring fatigue, hunger, and the want of sleep with cheerfulness and resolution. As woodmen, they are remarkably acute, and on all their excursions carry with them a number of ranjows, which, when they retreat, they stick in behind them at intervals at a distance of twenty, fifty, or a hundred yards, so that a hotly-pursuing enemy gets checked, and many severely wounded. Their arms consist of a sword, an iron-headed spear, a few wooden spears, a knife worn at the right side, with a sirih pouch or small basket. Their provision is a particular kind of sticky rice boiled in bamboos. When once they have struck their enemies, or failed, they return without pausing to their homes.”
Among the Dayaks and the Samoans heads are the precious war trophies; among the Indians of North America the scalp alone suffices; the Tinguian of the Philippine Islands, with a refinement of barbarism far excelling his brother savage, must have his enemy’s brains. While La Gironiere was sojourning at Palan, one of the seventeen villages of which Tinguia is composed, news arrived that a battle had been fought and several renowned warriors captured. Therefore there was to be a brain feast.