The Portland daily press., 1896-10-27
QUEER MEN.oF BoRNEo.
A Fresh Account Of How They Dress,
Court, Marry, Hunt, and Fish.

and there can be no question that In
1.-THE Natives Of Earawak and British
North Bornso," which has Just been
published by Messrs. Trnslove and Han
son, Mr.. Henry Ling Roth has produced
a work Of solid value. In addition to the
manuscript collections of the late Mr..
Hugh Brooke Lowe of the Sarawak Gov
ernment service, the author has collected
vast number of observations from the
works of other travellers. The ingredients
it is true, are mixed with an absence of
tart which renders tine book less attrac
i've to the reader for entertainment than
tn the serious student. Yet there are
plenty of good things to be picked out
of these encyclopedia pages. The modern
history Of Sarawak In in itself ro-
nance, the country being one of the now
necessarily very rare instances Of king
dom carved out by the energy, deter
mination. and genius for rule of one
man. In this respect 1t is certainly the
most interesting corner of the Malay
Archipelago. Before the arrival on the
scene of the young Englishman who af-
tsrward became Rajah Brooke the Dyaks
were the prey of all the pirates, slave
raiders, and freebooters who, until very
recent times, infested Malayan waters.
No sooner had young Mr.. Brooke con-
verified himself into an absolute monarch
by obtaining the cession of that north
western portion Of the Island of Borneo
which we know as Sarawak than the
harassed natives began to breathe more
freely. The pirates were kept at re-
spectful distance, and property became
secure, and, with gratitude that might
not have been found among more
sophisticated people, the Rajah was
revered as superior being, descended to
earth to sucoor the afflicted. Primitive
man, as he Is still to be seen In Borneo,
seems, however. to have good many
ideas and customs not very far removed
from those of more polished peoples. He
knows all spout the Deluge, possesses
an improved versi1 IN of purgatory, and
has firm belief in guardian angels.
Like his white fellow-sujeots of the
West, he may not marry bis deceased
wife's sister or his grandmother, and al
though divorce is easy, public opinion
does not consider it respectable to break
the seventh commandments. The young
Dyak gallant Is quite as particular about
the fit ana fashion of his voluminous
waist-cloth az any European dandy
about the at of his necktie; while his
sister lavishes the paternal wealth upon
the brass wire coraets which are her
proudest garment.
Even in his sports the methods of the
Dyak are not altogether unfamiliar. He
fishes with float, knows how to bait
hook scientifically, and angles for croco-
diles with dead monkey for bait-the
higher" the monkey the bigger the bag.
becoming 80 favorite a branch OF
aquatios, he could give points to the
most expert practitioner on the Thames.
On the whole, he seems to live a happy
life, tempered by few lingering regrets
that, at all events in Sarawak, he is no
longer permitted TO take occasional holt
days in search Of heads. That grim
sport, So far as 1t still exists, appears to
be almost entirely kept in fashion by
the ladies. These Malayan daughters of
Herodiss turn disdainfully from wooer
who has never shortened q man by a
head. No head, no wife. is their rule,
though, TO do them just Joe, 1t must be
admitted that they are not too exigent as
to whose it is, or how obtained. A
woman's will serve, faute de mieux, and
singularly enough he who obtains this
essential in what seems, to our Western
notions, tho least sportsmanlike fashion,
is esteemed remarkably clever fellow.
A brave boasted that he had secured his
trophy from Chairman in "the finest
way"-by cutting II off when the owner
was asleep. The tribes who keep up this
tradition regard their prizes as .heirlooms
to be preserved az zealously as an Eng
lish nobleInan who has not been too hard
bit by agricultural depression guards his
ancestral picture gallery, or as Span
ish grandee watches over the archives of
his SCORE or SO of Dukedoms and Count
ships.
A naughty old chief whose house was
burned wept sears Ut anguish at the loss
of the family heads which had been 40
cumulating for generations, the products
of the loves and leisure of his forbears.
In common with many other peoples in
low scale of civilization, there is no
morality. as we understand 1t. for the
Dyak young man and maiden. Fidelity
to the marriage tie is, however, almost
universal, tempered, no doubt, by re-
markable facilities for escaping from 1t.
In Borneo You may divorce yourself for
almost anything. The Dyak matron
may exhibit her incompatibility of tenn
per BY being unduly jealous; the hus-
band may not like bis dinner, or one OF
the other may have disagreeable dream,
Instant divorce by mutual consent FOL
lows Dreams are found peculiarly con-
venient for this purpose, for, if they arc
unpleasant, they mean that the dreamer
has not yet found his or her true help
meet; and Dyaks of volatile DISPOSE
ton appear to be good deal troubled by
uneasy slum bers.
But If the notions of morality which
obtain in Northwestern Borneo do not
quite square with our own, the people
are, in practice, no worse s.than anybody
else. Their religious ideas, are, on the
whole, vague; but their Polytheism is
not very extensive. They believe that
everything was made by Tupa, the black
smith, the head of ths celestial system,
and that no would have them follow a
code of ethics which, as set forth in Mr..
Roth's book, is uncommonly like an
amalgamation of the Ten Command
ments and the Beatitudes. Certainly
they are. in the main, an honest people
tas many travellers testify. Otherwise
nan intensely superstitious, of course,
'hey could not bs. They imag inc them
selves to be surrounded by all manner of
invisible spirits good and evil and here
IN they are. perhaps, not much more
backward than the peasantry Of remote
corners E51va he OIL MI,