Wichita eagle., 1890-03-05
IN THE WILos OF RoRNEo.
Customs of the People Described by q


Missionary from That Country.
| The Very Rev. Thomas jackson, prefect
| apostolic OF Lebanon and Northern Borneo,
carries with him letters from Pope Leo XIII
and has the approval Of Archbishop Ryan TO
collect in his dioceses Rev Father Jackson
is a native Of Preston Lancashire, England.
and is at present superior of band of mis-
sionaries delegated by the pope 10 christian
ize the savages of Bcrneo and other islands
in that archipelago. Rev Father Jackson
was educated in Mil Hill college, London,
and was ordained by Cardinal Manning
After his ordination he was sent TO Afghan
istan chaplain during the war between
the British and Afghans, and was made mill
tary chaplain by the British commander-in-
chief, Gen. Roberts
He was in the midst of the bloody fight Of
Malwand with Burrows, when the British ad-
vance guard was cut TO pieces and the sur
viving remnant forced To free across the desert
as far as Candahar He helped TO gather the
dead bodies of the battlefield ard often cele-
brated military mass over the trenches of the
dead. At the close OF the war in Afghanis-
tan, Pope Leo conferred on him the title and
powers of prefect apostolic of Lebanon and
Northern Borneo and ordered him 10 make
an attempt to evangelize the savages
The missionaries started for Borneo with
scarcely any temporal resources. They knew
nothing of the language spoken BY the tribes
Their journey was long and perilous one
They were compelled to go 10 sea in rude
native boats, and after being repeatedly ship
wrecked were landed on the savage shores by
pagan boatmen.
At the peril of their lives they were forced
to make long and dangerous journeys TO un-
known and almost inaccessible places in tEe
inland, wading through rivers infested with
crocodiles and climbing mountain ranges
In the day time they suffered from the In
tense heat, and at night were almost stung
TO madness by the sandAies and other in
sects which abound In the jungles Of Borneo.
Most OF the tribes" said Father Jackson,
''are rude and uncivilized They are gene
rally located far apart and fond of changing
their dwelling places. They have barbar-
Gus custom of killing people in order to OBJ
tain human skulls, which they suspend from
the roofs of their huts. Their greatest hero
is ne who is in possession of the largest num-
Der of skulls. At times as many as forty Of
these CHASTITY looking objects may be seen
suspended from the roof of a little hut"
Notwithstanding all these barbarous Gus
toms, they have many good qualities. They
are truthful and honest and have a great at
fection for their children. Polygamy is al
most unknown among them.
There are several missionary stations on
the island, the main one being Father jack
sons cathedral This is built OF bamboo,
covered with large leaves sewn together.
Father Jackson says that it is almost impos-
sible to convert the Dykes, as the adults of
the interior tribes are called, and the main
attention of the missionaries is given to the
children, whom they hope in time to make
susceptible TO higher civilization.
One great drawback TO Christianiging the
Dykes is their peculiar habit of continually
changing the location of their villages. In
selecting a village site they choose a piece of
forest generally on the bank of river, and
burn down the timber. Here they erect their
huts and plant their rice. Each year they
move to another place.
The fact of their once locating upon piece
of ground gives them a title TO it, and from
the ururpation of the deserted villages BY
other tribes arises the various feuds which
exist among them.
The village consists of one long building,
raised on posts about twenty feet from the
ground and are roughly built of bamboo and
leaves. The buildings are elevated not only
on account of the moisture of the soil, but to
protect the inhabitants from the spear thrusts
of their enemies, who, if the huts were low, |
could easily spear the occupants while asleep. !
The natives appear to have very little idea |
of religion. They believe, however, that a
God or Good Spirit exists in the many !
varieties of the birds that abound in the
island
One day an old native was naming the gods |
for me on his fingers, and after he was through |
be started to count on his toes. | thought !
surely that he would stop at his last toe, but |
instead of that he turned to his wife and fin |!
ished the count on her little toe
The marriage custom varies, the general |
method being for the bride and groom to be |
brought out before the tribes and seated side |
by side A betel nut is then cut in two by |
the medicine men of the tribe One half is |
given to the bride and the other half to the |
groom. They begin TO chew the nut and |
the old women, after some sort of incarnation,
knock their heads together. This completes
the ceremony.
The Chinese 90 a great deal of trading
along the coast OF the island and in the do
ninion of Rajah Brook. The rajah is an
Englishman, who rules king over 100000
natives. His dominion embraces over 500
niles Of coast line in the island. lie has
about forty Europeans with him, upon whom
le has conferred various titles and who assist
lim in the management Of the kingdom. He
las personal guard Of 200 natives, who are
irilled and supplied with modern arms. His
navy consists Of little gunboat, about 80
eet long, carrying a few guns. His sway is
lbsoIute aud his authority fully recognized
1y the native chiefs. with whom ne sits III
Judgment upon various disagreements among
he tribes. His government is recognized ny
10 European power. The work that Father
jackson has before him is long and arduous,
nd he says his only aim is to educate the
leatnen children.-Phiiadeiph Pimes.
Newspapers in Perm.
The leading newspaper Of Lima is FL Com
rcio, OF The Commercial, which was estab-
sbed in 1899