The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1913-11-14
KNOWS WILD MEN
OF LONELY ISLE
Clergyman Describes Sea Dyaks OF
BOrneO.

B0rQ6O.
London, Oct. ALL have heard
of the Wild Man of Borneo and his
dog and his child and his wife and
the rest of his belongings as enumerat-
ed in the ditty Of childhood days, and
! now comes a description of his char
acteristics, which prove to be queer
enough, from an English clergyman
VINO knows the wild man better than
the late Phineas T. Barnum, who first
exhibited one of him in the United
States, ever did. This clergyman is
the Rev. Edwin H. Comes, who has
spent Il years among the Sea Dyakes,
or wild men, of Borneo and whose
account of chem is highly entertain
ing
According to Mr.. Comes, George
Washington would be canonized by
the wild men of Borneo did they nap
pen to know that such a person ever
existed, for they are almost, if not
quite, the most truthful race on earth
So disgraceful, in fact, do they con-
slider the deceiving of others by an
untruth that such conduct is handed
down to posterity by a curious Gus
tom.
''They heap up vast pile of
branches of trees in memory of the
man who has uttered a great lie,'
says Mr.. Comes, $50 that future gen.
erations may know Of his wickedness
and take warning by it. The persons
deceived start the tugong bula-the
liars mound-by heaping up large
number Of branches in some con-
sspicuous spot by the side of the patch
leading from one village to another.
Every passerby contributes to it. and
at the same time curses the man in
memory of whom it is.
Seat of Emotions.
The Dyaks, who used to be head
hunters, but are not now to any extent,
would also, apparently, agree with
Punch's famous answer to the ques-
ton, "Is life worth living?' which
was, you will remember, "!t depends
on the liver" for in Dyakland this
much maligned orggan, instead of the
heart, is supposed to be the seat of
the variorIs qualities and emotions.
Ivy nen,' says Mr.. Comes, ''the
Dyaks wish to describe the great cour-
age of man, they say he has a Grave
liver. Intelligence also resides in the
liver, and a man of knowledge is one
possessing an enlightened liver
Kindness is the quality of the man
who has a large liver, and persever-
ance that of one who has hard
liver A weak, undecided man is
spoken of as one who has a soft
liver
Logic appears to the wild man of
Borneo's weakest point.
The most contradictory opinions,
says Mr.. Comes, "seem to dwell to-
gether in perfect harmony, in the
turgid stream of his mind. He can
no. distinguish, for instance, betwe.
coincidence and causation, and will
argue that because his grandfather
died after he had climbed a tree,
therefore his ath was caused by
his climbing the tree, and consequent
Iy neither his father nor himself nor
his children are to climb trees, if they
wish to enjoy good hsalth.
No Conscience.
H"The faculty of moral PERCEPTION
is so indefinitely latent among the
Dyaks,' adds Mr. Comes, that one is
inclined to say that they possess no
conscience In spite of this, in his
jungle home, the Dyak is remarkably
honest. Families are often away from
their homes for weeks at time, ana
though no one is left in charge of
their rooms in the long village house,
things are seldom lost. Som times
Dyaks become demoralized by asso-
ciating with other races in the towns,
but case Of theft among the Dyaks
in their native wilds is indeed rare.
This student of the wild man of
Borneo winds up by saying that, not
withstanding his lack of initiative and
other faults, a consideration Of his
thoughts, customs, belief and ideals
shows that he is every inch man,
that his mental powers are quite equal
to those of other races in the same
stage of civilization and his moral
character far superior to theirs.