Books: The Pagan Tribes of Borneo

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Although the Kayans regard a madman as possessed by an evil spirit,
they seem to have no traditional methods of casting out the spirit;
but some of the Klemantans practise a rite of exorcism; this varies
in detail from tribe to tribe, and attains the greatest elaboration
among the Malanaus. The rite is known as BAYOH, and bears a general
resemblance to the corresponding Malay rite known as BERHANTU. The
Malanaus are Klemantans of the coast regions of Sarawak, most of
whom have recently become converted to Islam, while all of them have
been much influenced by contact with Malays. The following account is
reproduced from a paper published by one of us (C. H.) in the REVIEW
OF THE FAR EAST (Feb. 1907), to the editor of which we are indebted
for permission to make use of the paper: --

The ceremony of casting out evil spirits is of frequent occurrence
among Malanaus, and the noise of gongs and drums throughout the night,
lasting every night for sometimes a whole week, cannot fail to impress
even a casual observer.

The natives of Niah, who are Malanaus, believe in a multitude of
spirits, good and bad, great and small, important and of little
account. At the head of these is Ula Gemilang, the sea divinity,
a power who works for the good of man.[158] Adum Girang is another
spirit of the sea, as also is Raja Duan, who has power over the sun,
a spirit who is distinguished, when he appears in human form, by his
white head-cloth. Majau is said to be pre-eminently rich. Aiar Urai
Arang is said to be a small child whose mother is Aiar. Besides these
there are other powerful spirits of the sea, the land, the up-river
country, and so forth, and each is attended by innumerable slaves
and attendants of ghostly kind; they have influence of many kinds
over the dwellers in this world, some for good, others very much for
evil. Madness is caused by various evil spirits throwing themselves
into mortals, ghosts with red eyes which flash like lightning. The
"amok" devil which comes from the swamp, differs from those which
drive people to commit suicide -- these again being quite distinct
from those which cause merely harmless lunacy.

It not infrequently happens that when a woman (or more rarely a man)
is insane or is very ill, she is urged to admit that a devil has
possessed her, and to become a medicine woman. By this means she
becomes well of her complaint, and at the same time acquires the
power of helping others to cast out devils. But she is not able of
her own accord to determine whether she shall become a medicine woman
or not. For three nights she is taken through the ceremony of BAYOH,
afterwards to be described, without a rattan swing, and then for three
nights with the swing. If the indications are favourable, some three
weeks are allowed to elapse before she undergoes the final test of
five nights with the swing. The first BAYOH is to satisfy the people,
the second to appease the demon; and if her malady is cured by the
eleven nights of artificial hysteria, she is considered to have been
accepted both by men and spirits in her new role of exorciser.

As one woman expressed it, she is now "in with the demons." Even
then, however, it does not follow that she is able to see when an
evil spirit has ceased to possess a person. One old female, who had
worked at BAYOH for fifteen years, admitted that if a devil went into
herself she could turn it out, but only a more powerful woman than
herself could turn devils out of others.

Two forms of BAYOH are known to the people of Niah, but it is only
with the BAYOH SADONG that there is any need to deal here. The other
form is used by the Punans, or mixed Punans and Malanaus. If it is
supposed that some illness is due to possession by an evil spirit, it
is decided to call the medicine women and get the unwelcome visitant
to depart, though it is not considered possible in all cases to turn
a demon out of his mortal abode. Offerings of eggs and fowls to the
good spirits having proved fruitless, a day is fixed for the BAYOH,
preferably shortly after a good harvest, and the household begins its
preparations for the occasion. As powerful spirits are to be invited
to the house, the room where they are to appear is decked with a
profusion of ornaments suited to such exalted guests. Great tassels
of white shavings are hung upon the walls, a white cloth adorned with
the blossoms of the areca palm hides the rafters, and these graceful
inflorescences are spread out fanwise over the doors and among the
shavings. In one corner a hollow cone of areca blossoms and shavings
spread over a framework of rattan is suspended from a rafter; and
a model of a ship or raft is placed just outside an open window. As
the function takes place at night, candles of beeswax are set about
to give light. At the appointed time brass dishes are put on the
floor with rice of many colours -- yellow, red, and blue -- spread in
patterns of crocodiles; popcorns of rice and maize, water, and washing
utensils, boxes of betel ready for chewing, tobacco, and cigarettes,
to appease the varied appetites of the spirits invoked. just after
sundown the neighbours troop in and settle themselves round the room,
the ill-mannered pushing themselves in front. Certain of the villagers
agree to form the band. Soon the house is full of people, boys and old
men contentedly chewing and smoking, women retiring to darker parts
of the room to gossip. A person of importance will be received with
some show of civility, but without any definite ceremony. Arabian
incense, KAMANYAN, which is used nowadays because the native GARU
has too high a value for export to be consumed at home, disperses
a not unpleasant smell through the gathering. Then the fun begins,
gongs and drums are struck, and the strains of music sound through
the village. With intervals of a quarter of an hour every two hours,
the monotonous melody proceeds until seven the next morning, to be
resumed, in all probability, the next night for another twelve hours,
and perhaps maintained night after night for a whole week.

The medicine women -- one, two, or three, rarely four in number --
have collected in the middle of the room. Generally experienced by
years of performing, they are often too old to be attractive, despite
the gorgeous raiment with which they conceal their aged frames and
the hawkbells which jingle as they move. At first they collect round
the earthenware censers to warm their hands. They then begin to step
with the music and wave their arms, hissing loudly through their
teeth the while, and occasionally breaking into a whistle. After a
time they sit down and nod this way and that to the music, as though
engaged in training the muscles of the neck. But the drums and gongs go
faster, till the long hair of the woman flies round with her head. The
whistling is varied by a chant, SADONG, in an ancient language now
barely understood.

"Why do you speak? Why do you SADONG? Why are you such a long
time? As long as it takes a pinang (areca) to become old? The fruit
of the cocoanut has had time to reach maturity and drop. Come to this
country below the heavens. What do you wish? What is your desire? I
have come to heal the sick one who lies on the floor, feeble and
unable to rise, thin and shrivelled like a floating log. Have pity
from your heart and prevent my soul from parting from my skin and my
bones from failing away. This sickness is very severe and I am unable
to contend against it."

One of the women goes to the patient, who, clad in black, sits alone
on a mat, and brings her a pinang blossom to hold, covering her head
with a cloth. The unfortunate being is then brought to the hollow cone
of shavings and seated within it; it is then whirled round till the
white shreds rise like a ballet dancer's skirt. Gradually the sick
person is worked up to a frenzy, and, keeping time with the music,
the medicine women sway about and wag their heads. So the proceedings
go on, with weird fantastic dancing, nodding, howling, whistling,
chanting, for all the hours of the tropical night. Then the medicine
women are whirled round in the cone, and one by one they fall into a
faint, to be recovered by fanning with the pinang blossom. They dance
about and brush against the onlookers as though unable to control their
movements, and are only kept at a distance by finding handfuls of rice
flung in their faces. The point of giddiness and hysteria eventually
reached can only be compared with certain stages of drunkenness.

The outsider will find it difficult to detect much method in the
madness, but on more sober occasions the performers can offer
intelligible explanations of their behaviour. The account given
by an old medicine woman at Niah, and confirmed by the man who
conducts the ceremonies at the same village, shows that the part
taken by the spirits is quite as definite as the performance of the
exorcisers. Attracted by the music, the followers of the chief evil
spirits gather round the house when the BAYOH has begun, and hunt
about. These little demons ask the chief medicine woman, "Why have
you called us?" She replies, "Tell your master that I have called you
because there is a person here sick." They then go back and fetch the
more powerful spirit whom they serve. This demon comes up from the
sea to the JONG, a small ship or raft that stands behind the house
(Fig. 84), and finds his way up the rope ladder. He asks the BAYOH
woman, "Why have you called me, mother?" She answers, "I have called
you because there is a sick person here. You can help him! See whether
you can help him or not." If the demon finds the sickness beyond
his power to cure, he says, "I cannot help you; get some one else";
and the next night another one is invoked, until the evil spirit is
cast out of the patient. If for seven nights the attempt is made in
vain, the BAYOH is stopped and medicines are tried again, but with
little hope that they will do much good. One of the BAYOHS I saw at
Niah was on behalf of a slightly mad woman, who became very violent
during the performance. She was said to be mad because she had become a
Mohammedan, and it was explained that the Malanau demons had no power
over the evil spirits of Islam. The poor woman was consequently put
into stocks in her own room, and not long afterwards recovered.

When a big spirit comes into one of the medicine women, as they say,
like a flash she feels its presence, but does not see its form. If
it agrees to help, the woman goes on with the regular BAYOH, and soon
feels confident that she is able to make the patient well. She asks for
rice and other food, and spirit made from fruit, which she eats and
drinks to gratify the demon within her. She calls upon the people to
see that the viands are good, but not from any selfish motive, for it
is said that she is not aware that she is eating at all. The coloured
rice, which has been prepared, is the spirit's share, and eggs are
also given. The demon invoked to help calls out to the evil spirit
in possession of the sick person, "You stay in this craft whilst I
sit here." "If you don't wish to stay here you can go to the woods,
or your former abode." The evil spirit then goes from the patient
into the basket prepared for his reception, and is then induced or
ordered to depart by the demon in the medicine woman. What remains of
the food set apart for the spirit is scattered along the river. The
BAYOH is stopped, and thanksgiving offerings are floated out to sea
that the exertions of the supernatural powers may not have been in
vain, or these gifts may be taken into the jungle, where the hollow
cone and raft are also placed or hung from a tree.

The medicine women work for a fee, and it is likely enough that
the length of the BAYOH is influenced to some extent by their
pay. Sometimes the ceremony is most gorgeous. A rattan swing,
covered with a beautiful cloth, is provided for the women and the
patient to swing in, with a platform near at hand to receive the evil,
spirit. Sometimes Ula Gemilang himself is invoked. On these occasions
the expenditure is profuse. A box is placed in the middle of the room
with a handsome covering. The walk up the floor is covered with cloth
of gold thread. There are seven candles in seven brass sticks, seven
betel stands, and seven men carrying spears. When the god arrives,
seven people carry the umbrella over his head. If every thing is not
perfectly satisfactory in his judgment, he demands through the medicine
woman whose body he has occupied some expensive gift, and if this is
refused she may fall in a dead faint. Rice is thrown on her and she is
fanned with the pinang blossoms, but the women who attend to her only
share her fate and also become senseless. Eventually they recover, but
there is now but little hope for the patient, for Gemilang is angry. In
a despairing mood the BAYOH women then seek help from lesser powers.

Needless to say, the women bear out their part of the pantomime with
great skill, becoming "possessed" at the proper time, snatching at
the sick person's head as though to catch the evil spirit, and so
forth. It is probable that in some cases the ceremony works a cure by
suggestion. In any case the villagers have not too many occasions for
social gatherings and feasts, and since those who hold BAYOHS must
offer a good deal of hospitality to their neighbours, such meetings
in a village are exceedingly popular with all except those who wish
to go to sleep.

CHAPTER 17

Myths, Legends, and Stories

Among all the peoples of Borneo a number of myths are handed on from
generation to generation by word of mouth. These are related again
and again by those who make themselves reputations as story-tellers,
especially the old men and women; and the people are never tired of
hearing them repeated, as they sit in groups about their hearths
between supper and bed-time, and especially when camping in the
jungle. The myths vary considerably in the mouths of different
story-tellers, especially of those that live in widely separated
districts; for the myths commonly have a certain amount of local
colouring. Few or none of the myths are common to all the peoples;
but those of any one people are generally known in more or less
authentic form to their neighbours.

Although many of the myths deal with such subjects as the creation of
the world, of man, of animals and plants, the discovery of fire and
agriculture, subjects of which the mythology has been incorporated
in the religious teachings of the classical and Christian worlds, the
mythology of these peoples has little relation to their religion. The
gods figure but little in the myths, and the myths are related with
little or no religious feeling, no sense of awe, and very little
sense of obligation to hand them on unchanged. They are related
in much the same spirit and on the same occasions as the animal
stories, of which also the people are fond, and they may be said to
be sustained by the purely aesthetic or literary motive, rather than
the religious or scientific motives. In fact it is not possible to
draw any sharp line between myths and fables. If it is asked, Do the
people believe the myths? no clear answer can be given; for few of
the myths have any direct bearing upon practical life, and therefore
belief in them is not brought to the test of action, the only test
that can reveal the reality of belief, or indeed differentiate belief
from merely unreflective acceptance of a story. Where such practical
bearing is not altogether wanting, we commonly see conduct regulated
in conformity with the myth or story, as in the case of the story
of the bat carrying to the creatures in the river the news of the
intention of the people to poison the water.

A certain number of the Bornean myths and legends have been published
in Mr. Ling Roth's book and elsewhere, especially those of the
Ibans. We have chosen for reproduction some representative specimens
that have not hitherto appeared in well-known publications. A few
stories that properly belong to this chapter are scattered in other
parts of this book.

We give first in a condensed form the substance of a long rambling
creation-myth current among all branches of the Kayan people. This
myth is sung in rhymed blank verse, a fact which is partly responsible
for the wealth of names occurring in it.

In the beginning there was a barren rock. On this the rains fell and
gave rise to moss, and the worms, aided by the dung-beetles, made soil
by their castings. Then a sword handle (HAUP MALAT) came down from
the sun[159] and became a large tree. From the moon came a creeper,
which hanging from the tree became mated with it through the action of
the wind.[160] From this union were born KALUBAN GAI and KALUBI ANGAI,
the first human beings, male and female. These were incomplete, lacking
the legs and lower half of their trunks, so that their entrails hung
loose and exposed. Leaves falling from the tree became the various
species of birds and winged insects, and from the fallen fruits sprang
the fourfooted beasts. Resin, oozing from the trunk of the tree, gave
rise to the domestic pig and fowl, two species which are distinguished
by their understanding of matters that remain hidden from all others,
even from human beings. The first incomplete human beings produced
PENGOK NGAI and KATIRA MUREI; the latter bore a son, BATANG UTA TATAI,
who married AJAI AVAI and begot SIJAU LAHO, ODING LAHANG, PABALAN,
PLIBAN, and TOKONG, who became the progenitors of the various existing
peoples. ODING LAKANG is claimed as their ancestor by the Kayans,
and also by the Kenyahs and some of the Klemantan tribes.

TOKONG is claimed as ancestor by the Sebops (a tribe of Klemantans)
and by the Punans. The former attribute to him the introduction of
head hunting. The story goes that once upon a time, when TOKONG and
his people were preparing to attack a village, he was addressed by
the frog, who called out, "WONG KA KOK, TETAK BATOK." This fairly
represents the cry of this species of frog (BUFO); and TETAK BATOK
in the Sebop language means "cut through the neck." At first the
people, who hitherto had taken only the hair of their enemies to
adorn their shields, scoffed at this advice; but the frog assured them
that the taking of heads would bring them prosperity of every kind,
and demonstrated the procedure he advised by decapitating a small
frog. TOKONG therefore determined to follow the frog's advice and
carried away the heads of his enemies; this was followed immediately
by increased prosperity. As the party returned home and passed through
their fields the PADI grew very rapidly. As they entered the fields the
PADI was only up to their knees, but before they had passed through
it was full-grown with full ears. As they approached the house their
relatives came to meet them, rejoicing over various pieces of good
fortune that had befallen them. The words of the frog thus came true,
and Tokong and his people continued to follow the new practice,
and from them it was learned by others.

Although the help of the stars is not needed by the Borneans in
directing their course when travelling, since all but very short
journeys are made on the rivers, most of them are familiar with
the principal constellations, and name them in accordance with the
resemblances they discover to men, animals, and other objects. Some of
the tribes determine the arrival of the season for sowing PADI by the
observation of the stars. Thus the LONG KIPUTS (Klemantans) name the
great square of Pegasus PALAI, the PADI storehouse (these houses are
generally square); the Pleiades they call a well; and the constellation
of which Aldebaran is a member they call a pig's jaw. They measure
the altitude of a star by filling a tall bamboo vessel with water,
inclining it until it points directly to the star, and then setting
it upright again, and measuring the height at which the surface of
the water remaining in the vessel stands above its floor. Orion is
interpreted as the figure of a man, LAFAANG, in much the same way as
by Europeans; but his left arm is thought to be wanting. They tell
the following story about LAFAANG, who of course is regarded as of
their own tribe.

The Story of LAFAANG

The daughter of PALAI (the constellation Pegasus) fell in love with
a Long Kiput youth, LAFAANG by name, and invited him to ascend to
the heavens, warning him at the same time that the customs in her
celestial home were very different from those of earth. The girl
was very beautiful, and LAFAANG was not slow to find his way to her
father's house. PALAI, surprised to see this mortal visitor, enquired
of his daughter, "Who is this man, and why does he come here?" "It
is the man I wish to wed," replied the girl. The kind-hearted father
told her to give her lover food, and consented to the realisation of
her hopes. So LAFAANG took up his abode in the house of PALAI and
was wedded to his daughter. But in spite of repeated instructions,
LAFAANG found it very difficult to conform to the customs of his
adopted country. He put his food into his mouth with his fingers
instead of using a needle for the purpose, and by doing so distressed
his wife, who chid him for his disobedience to her instructions. On
the morrow of his arrival he was invited to clear a patch of jungle
for a PADI field; and his wife told him that, in order to fell a tree,
he was merely to lay the axe she gave him at the foot of the tree,
which would forthwith fall to the ground. But habit was too strong to
be controlled, and, when LAFAANG set his hand to the task, he fell
to chopping at the tree. But though he chopped with might and main
he made no impression, and his gentle spouse was horrified to see
the crudeness of his methods. On the next day he was told to watch
PALAI at work felling the trees. Squatting in the jungle he saw how
the great trees fell when PALAI merely laid the blade of the axe at
the foot of each one. This spectacle filled LAFAANG with terror and he
would have ran away, but that his wife reproached him for cowardice. On
the following day he set to work again; and once more forgetting his
lesson, he began to chop at the stems of the trees. This gross breach
of custom was punished by the fall of a tree from the patch of jungle
hard by that on which PALAI was at work; for the tree in falling cut
off LAFAANG'S left arm. Disgusted by these disagreeable incidents and
by the awkward appearance of his wife, who was now far advanced in
pregnancy, LAFAANG made up his mind to return to his own people. His
wife reproached him for his intention; but, when she could not alter
his determination, she gave him sugar-cane tops and banana roots,
previously unknown to men, and let him down to earth by means of a
long creeper. Before he reached the ground he heard the cry of his
new-born child, and begged to be allowed to go back to see him. But
his entreaties were unavailing, and weeping bitterly, he alighted on
the earth at TIKAN ORUM (a spot in the upper Baram district). Still
his disobedience was not overcome; for, although he had been told to
plant the sugar-cane and banana by merely throwing them on the ground,
he planted them carefully in the soil; and to this day a tall coarse
grass (BRU) grows on the spot. Nevertheless some sugar-cane and banana
plants grew up; but they were of an inferior quality, and such they
have remained wherever they have spread in this world. LAFAANG died
among his own people on earth, but the bright constellation that
bears his name and shape still moves across the heavens, reminding
men of his journey to the world above the sky and of the misfortunes
he suffered there.[161]

The Story of USAI

The following myth, current under several forms among the Klemantans,
accounts for a number of the geographical features of the Baram
district, in which it was told us. The story was evoked from an
old man of the Long Kiputs by a question as to his views about the
nature of the stars. He explained that the stars are holes in the
sky made by the roots of trees in the world above the sky projecting
through the floor of that world. At one time, he explained, the sky
was close to the earth, but one day USAI, a giant, when working sago
with a wooden mallet accidentally struck his mallet against the sky;
since which time the sky has been far up out of the reach of man. Our
informant, warming up with the excitement of the recital, went on to
give us the following history of USAI: --

USAI was the brother of the guardian of the shades of men. His
wife desired to have a large prawn that lived in the Baram river;
so USAI built a dam across the river at LUBOK SUAN (a spot where the
river is about 250 yards in width) and baled out the water below it,
seizing the crocodiles with his fingers and whisking them out on to
the bank. While this operation was in progress, the dam gave way;
and USAI'S wife was drowned in the sudden rush of water. In vain
he sought for his wife, weeping bitterly. Disconsolately he waded
down the river. At the mouth of the PELUTAN he wept anew, throwing
aside the crocodiles as he explored the bed of the river. At LONG
SALAI he found his wife's coat and wept again. At LONG LAMA he found
his wife's waist-cloth and gave up hope, and at TAMALA he clucked
like a hen, so great was his grief. Still he went on wading down
the river. The water, which at LONG PLUSAN was only just above his
ankles, reached his middle at the mouth of the TUTAU, and covered
all his body at the place where the Tinjar (the largest tributary)
flows into the Baram. At the mouth of the ADOI he wailed aloud,
"ADOI, ADOI!" (a sorrowful cry in common use, nearly the equivalent
of our Alas!). He began to shiver with cold, but at the mouth of the
BAKONG he wept again. When he reached LUBOK KAJAMAN he was out of his
depth (this is a part known to be very deep) and colder than ever;
but he kept on, and presently the water reached only to his belly,
and when he reached the sea it came only to his knees. (There is a
shallow bar at the river mouth.) On seeing the boundless ocean, USAI
gave up the search and strode down the coast to Miri, where he lived
on charcoal and ginger. (The belief is widely held that the people of
Miri, formerly ate charcoal in large quantities.) The people of Miri
seemed to him like maggots; and they, taking him to be a great tree,
climbed up on him. When he brushed them off, he killed ten men with
each sweep of his hand. The Miri people set to work to hew down this
great tree, and blood poured from USAI'S foot as they worked. Then
USAI spoke to them, asking them what sort of creatures they might be,
and said, "Listen to my words. I am about to die. My brains are sago,
my liver is tobacco. Where my head falls there the people will have
much knowledge, where my feet lie will be the ignorant ones." Then,
his legs being cut through, he fell with a mighty crash, his head
falling towards the sea, his feet pointing up river. ("This accounts
for the fact that white men and Chinese know so many things, while
the people of Borneo are ignorant" said our informant; but this was
probably his own comment.) The Miris, of whom a thousand were killed
by the fall of USAI, have beautiful hair, because his head fell in
their district; but the other people have only such hair as grew on
USAI'S limbs. The mosquitoes that existed in the time of USAI were
as big as fowls, and their bites were terribly painful. The people
hewed them into small pieces, so that now they are the smallest of
the animals; but their bite is still painful.