The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-04-04
THE FoLK-LORE or BORNEO.
Chief Fault of the People Is Their
Habit of Head Hunting.
From the New York Times.

Habit of Head Hunting.
From the New York Times
Probably the most popular and interest
ing address on folklore yet given before
the Comparative Literature Society at
Carnegie Lyceum was that delivered yes
terday by DR.. William Henry Furness of
the University of Pennsylvania on THE
Folklore of Borneo." His talk ended
with series of stereOpticon views.
DR.. Furness said the people of Borneo
were savages, but of a high order, pos
sessed of a degree-of civilization far above
what we usually understand to be implied
by the term savage They live together
in what might be termed cooperative com
munites they practice the arts of weav-
ing forging rough implements of iron,
farming rice and esculent plants, and in
house building, bodybuilding, manufac-
ture of cloth, and of weapons of defense
and offense they show a desire and abil-
ty 10 ornament their work and make it
not only useful, but pleasing to the eye as
we'll
zone of their most serious faults, how
ever is their adherence to the custom of
head hunting, and strict observation of
the principle of an eye for an eye and
tooth for a tooth. This keeps the differ
ent households, even of the same tribe. at
constant warfare with each other. The
origin of the Borneans, as well as that of
most of the inhabitants of the Polynesian
Islands. is an chronological problem. They
are not Malay, neither are they Monaghan
nor Negritos; they have resemblance to
all of these races, but not enough to any
one of them to claim it as the parent
stock Furthermore, there is a certain
amount of evidence in favor of the theory
that they are the result of successive mi
ffrF, 81 trfh TraIf as,1 FrnFe
Anam.
THE inland tribes of Barneo, by which
include all the natives except the Malays
settled along the coast, are without any
| definite forms of religious worship; they
make idols of wood. They are the children
of nature. and as such have inherited their
parents disregard for life, and this feature
of their temperament has kept them in a
constant turmoil of warfare. Communities
| build for themselves a common house
| wherein they live, ever ready to turn out
| in force and resist the attacks of hostile
| tribes. In many instances these houses are
| as much as a quarter of a mile In length,
| aud shelter as many as 400 persons. Each
| household is presided over by an 'Orang
| Tuah,' who i'm turn is governed in a meas
ure by the chief of the tribe, known as the
| Penghulu. The government of the house.
| holds seems 10 be conducted In the quietest
! ma fher. / have on several occasions lived
in these houses for several weeks, and l
| have never seen anything approaching a
| violent quarrel between two members of
| the same house. nor have seen the Orang
| -ruah or tn Penghulu submit any of the
members TO what might be termed harsh
| treatment"
The speaker said that the people are not
actlve-minded or industrious in any sense.
| They yield to the influence of the some
what pleasant but depressing climate, and
| following the example set them by the vast
| dense Jungle on every side, accept life as
| easily as it comes. Each pool, each tree,
| each mass of rock. Is the home of the
| sprite and all the mysterious noises of
| the forest are whisperings of spirits. On
every hand are signs and omens 10 warn
man of danger or to advise him which
course to take.
Many of the natives of the interior live
and die with never a glimpse of the sea,
and to them the tales which traders tell
them of lands beyond the horizon where
white men live are as incomprehensible
as are the conjectural accounts which as
trononners tell us of the canals on the
planet Mars. Every tribe has its own tale
of the beginnings of all things.
DR.. Furness gave an interesting account
of the Kayan version of the story of Gen
esIs. there being no trace OF a Supreme Gre
ator in the legend For this reason, he ar
gued the people had evidently heard no
account OF the creation from the Malays
or from other outside sources. The Ka-
vans. he explained, are Of Northwestern
Borneo. and have had little communication
with the outside world. except through oc-
casional Chinese or Malay traders. one Of
their ideas as shown in the legend that the
wooden sword handle is the source Of an
life. might possibly come from the fact
that the word for chief-"penghulu''-is
derived from "hulu," meaning a sword
handle. ana the prefix, "peng" denoting
agency. so that the whole word means III
| orally 'the master of the sword, J." and thus
the ruler or chief
"The Dyaks another tribe" continued
Dr. Fumess. who are closely akin to the
Malays. and have no doubt borrowed the
greater part Of their FOLKLORE before the
spread OF Mohammedanism. give an ac-
count OF the creation differing IN every par
ticular from the Kayan story" This Dyak
tale was OF the creation OF a man and a
woman by two birds, out OF a "kumpong"
tree which has strong fiber ana a red
sap. These were very inferior beings which
! became the ancestors Of The Maias and the
monkeys, from which man as now known
| there DEVELOPED THE manufacture OF
man Qua Of wood" said the speaker. us
quite in keeping with a purely Dyak origin
20 tins tale. The Dyaks carve their bows
ana dishes out u hard wood. otherwise b.
seems 20 me tnaI clay would have suggest
81 Itself 10 them 90 the most suitable sub
stance Wheleof 20 have made man. An