BORNEO--_Continued_.
ARCHITECTURE--MANUFACTURES.
AERIAL HOUSES -- THE LONG HOUSE AND ITS ARRANGEMENTS -- THE
ORANG-KAYA’S ROOM -- STRUCTURE OF THE FLOORING -- REASONS FOR THE
DYAK ARCHITECTURE -- THE NIPA PALM AND ITS USES -- THE ATAPS -- SALT
AND SUGAR MANUFACTURE -- ERECTION OF THE FIRST POST -- VARIOUS MODES
OF PROCURING FIRE -- CONSTRUCTION OF THE DYAK BRIDGE -- A NARROW
ESCAPE -- MANUFACTURES -- THE ADZE AXE OF THE DYAKS -- ITS ANALOGY
WITH THE BANYAI AXE -- SMELTING AND FORGING IRON -- BASKET MAKING --
THE DYAK MAT -- SPLITTING THE RATTAN -- THE BORNEAN KNIFE, AND MODE
OF USING IT -- THE SACRED JARS AND THEIR PROPERTIES.
The architecture of the Dyaks is very peculiar. The reader may find a
Dyak village represented on page 1153.
In the first place, the houses are all built on posts, some of them
twenty feet in height, and the mode of access to them is by climbing
up a notched pole, which answers the purpose of a ladder. The chief
dwelling in every village, and indeed practically the village itself,
is the long house, which is of wonderfully large dimensions. One of
these houses, measured by Mr. St. John, was more than five hundred and
thirty feet long, and was inhabited by nearly five hundred people.
Throughout the entire length of the house runs the broad veranda or
common room, which is open to all the members, and at the side are
rooms partitioned off for the different families, as many as sixty or
seventy such rooms being sometimes seen in one long house. Although the
veranda is common ground to all the tribe, and in it the members go
through their various sedentary occupations, each family occupies by
tacit consent the portion of the veranda opposite their own rooms.
These rooms are strictly private, and none except the members of the
family, or their intimate friends, would think of entering them. The
chief or Orang-kaya of the long house has a much larger room than the
others, and the space in front of his room is considered to be devoted
to the use of the lesser chiefs and councillors, and, although free to
all the inhabitants, is frequented almost entirely by the old men and
warriors of known courage.
One of the rooms inhabited by the Orang-kaya was visited by Mr. Boyle,
and was not an attractive apartment. On each side of the entrance there
was a piece of furniture somewhat resembling an old English plate-rack,
upon the lower shelf of which was placed a flat stone. In spite of the
heat, which was terrific, a large fire was burning on the stone, and on
the range above were wood, rice, pots, and other utensils. There was no
chimney to the house, but a sort of flap in the roof was lifted up, and
kept open by a notched stick. This flap answered both for window and
chimney, and when it was closed the room was in total darkness, beside
being at once filled with smoke.
The height of the chamber was barely seven feet, and the space was
rendered still more limited by the weapons, girdles, mats, mosquito
curtains, strings of boars’ tusks, aprons, and other property, that
hung from the rafters. The sides were adorned with a quantity of
English and Dutch crockery, each piece being in a separate rattan
basket and suspended from the wall. The house being an old one, the
smell was abominable; and the Orang-kaya’s chamber was, on the whole, a
singularly uncomfortable residence.
A number of fire-places, varying according to the population of the
house, are arranged along the veranda, and, as a general rule, one of
the primitive ladders already mentioned is placed at either end, so
that when a visitor enters the house, he sees throughout its entire
length, the range of his eye being only interrupted by the posts, which
after supporting the floor pass upward and serve also to support the
roof. Outside this veranda extends another, called the outer veranda.
It has no roof, and is exposed to the blazing sunbeams. It is used, not
as a habitation, but as a kind of storehouse and drying ground.
As the flooring is made of bamboo, the Dyaks can easily, if they
choose, keep the interior of their rooms clean. This, however, they
seldom choose to do, limiting their cleanliness to the simple process
of sweeping any offal through the floor so as to fall under the house.
They never think of removing it after it has fallen, so that by degrees
the heaps of refuse become higher and higher, and gradually diminish
the distance between the floor of the house and the soil beneath. In
some of the older houses, these heaps of rubbish have increased to such
an extent that when the pigs are grubbing in them their backs touch the
bamboo flooring of the house.
The reason for building the Dyak houses on piles are several, the chief
being that such a house acts as a fort in case of attack. The custom of
building on piles is universal, but only those tribes that are liable
to invasion employ piles of the height which have been mentioned. This
mode of architecture also protects the inhabitants from floods and from
the intrusion of reptiles. The Dyaks do not use the bow and arrow, and
before they learned the use of fire-arms, a house built on piles some
twenty or thirty feet in height made a very secure fort, which could
not be fired, and which exposed the storming party to certain and heavy
loss. Even since the English have taken up their residence in Borneo,
some of these houses, belonging to revolted chiefs, have given great
trouble before they could be taken, artillery appearing to be the only
weapon to which they at once succumb.
The piles are made of the hardest iron-wood, and are very thick, much
thicker than is needed for the support of the house. The reason for
this strength and thickness is, that in case of attack, the assailing
party dash under the house, protecting themselves from missiles by a
canoe which they turn keel upward, and hold over their heads while they
chop at the posts, so as to bring the house and its defenders down
together. If the posts are but moderately stout, they will sometimes
succeed; but if they are very thick and strong, the defenders can
remove part of the floor, and throw on the attacking party weights
sufficiently heavy to break through their roof and kill them.
It is probable that the custom of building houses on piles is partly
derived from the Malay fashion of erecting buildings over the water.
The Dyaks copied this plan, and became so used to it that when they
built inland they still continued the practice. The same theory
accounts for the habit already mentioned of throwing all kinds of offal
through the open bamboo flooring. This custom was cleanly enough when
the houses were built over the water, but became a source of utter
pollution when they were erected on land, and the offal was allowed to
accumulate below, undisturbed except by the dogs and pigs.
Most of these houses are built rather high up the rivers, especially
upon the tributary streams; and booms, composed of bamboos and rattans,
are fastened across the stream below them, so as to hinder the advance
of the enemy’s canoes. The thatch, as well as a considerable portion
of the material, is obtained from the nipa palm, a tree which to the
Borneans is almost a necessity of existence, and supplies a vast number
of their wants. It grows in large numbers at the water’s edge; its huge
leaves, fifteen or twenty feet in length, projecting like the fronds of
vast ferns.
When dried, the leaves are woven into a sort of matted fabric
called “ataps,” which is used sometimes as thatch, sometimes as the
indispensable covering of boats, and sometimes even as walls of houses,
the mats being fastened from post to post. By the use of these ataps
certain portions of the roof can be raised on sticks in trap-door
fashion, so as to answer the double purpose of admitting light and
securing ventilation.
Various other mats are made of the nipa palm leaf, and so are hats
and similar articles. The entire leaf is often used in canoes as an
extemporized sail, the leaf being fastened upright, and driving the
boat onward at a very fair pace. Besides these uses the nipa leaves,
when young, are dressed as vegetables, and are both agreeable and
nutritious, and the fine inner leaves, when dried, are rolled round
tobacco so as to form cigars.
From the root and stem a coarse sugar is made, which is used for all
general purposes; for, although the sugar-cane grows magnificently in
Borneo, the natives only consider it in the light of a sweetmeat. It
seems rather strange that sugar and salt should be extracted from the
same plant, but such is really the case, and salt-making is one of the
principal occupations of some of the tribes.
They gather great quantities of the nipa root, and burn them. The ashes
are then swept together, and thrown into shallow pans half filled
with water, so that the salt is dissolved and remains in the water,
while the charcoal and woody particles float at the surface, and can
be skimmed off. When the water is clear, the pans are placed over the
fire and the water driven off by evaporation, after which the salt,
which remains on the bottom and sides of the pans, is scraped off. It
is of a coarse and decidedly bitter character, but it is much liked by
the natives, and even the European settlers soon become accustomed to
it. Salt is imported largely from Siam, but the Borneans prefer that
of their own manufacture for home use, reserving the Siamese salt for
preserving fish.
The nipa and the mangrove grow in similar localities and on the same
streams, and are useful to those who are engaged in ascending rivers,
as they know that the water is always shallow where the mangrove grows,
and deep near the nipa.
In the olden times, when a long house was projected, the erection of
the first post was always accompanied by a human sacrifice, precisely
as has been mentioned of several other parts of the world. Mr. St. John
saw one of these houses where a human sacrifice had been made. A deep
hole was dug in the ground, and the huge post, which, as the reader may
remember, is cut from the trunk of the hardest and heaviest wood which
can be found, was suspended over it by rattan lashings. A girl was laid
at the bottom of the hole, and at a given signal the lashings were cut,
permitting the post to drop into the hole, and crush the girl to atoms.
The same traveller saw a ceremony among the Quop Dyaks, which showed
that the principle of sacrifice still remained, though the victim was
of a different character. The builder wanted to raise a flag-staff
near his house, and proceeded on exactly the same plan. The excavation
was made, the pole was suspended by a rattan, but, instead of a human
being, a fowl was bound and laid at the bottom of the hole, so as to be
crushed to death when the lashings were cut.
These houses are often approached by bridges, which are very curious
structures, so apparently fragile that they seem unable to sustain the
weight of a human being, and of so slight a character that to traverse
them seems to imply the skill of a rope dancer. As these houses are
often built on the side of a steep hill, a pole is laid from the
platform to the hill, and, if it be a tolerably long one, supported by
several rattan ropes fastened to trees. A very slight bamboo handrail
is fastened a little above it, and the bridge is considered as complete.
One of these simple bridges is shown in illustration No. 2, on the
1153d page, which gives a good idea of the height of the house and its
general style of architecture. Near the foreground is a man engaged
in making fire by means of twirling one stick upon another, precisely
as is done by the Kaffirs and other savage tribes. There is, however,
one improvement on the usual mode. Instead of merely causing a pointed
stick to revolve upon another, the Dyaks use instead of the lower stick
a thick slab of very dry wood, with a deep groove cut on one side of
it, and a small hole on the other, bored down to the groove.
When the Dyak wishes to procure fire, he places the wooden slab on the
ground with the groove undermost, and inserts his pointed stick in the
little hole and twirls it rapidly between his hands. The revolution
of the stick soon causes a current of air to pass through the groove,
and in consequence the fire is rapidly blown up as soon as the wood is
heated to the proper extent. In consequence of this arrangement, much
labor is saved, as the firemaker is not obliged to stop at intervals
to blow upon the just kindled dust which collects in the little hole
around the firestick. Some tribes merely cut two cross grooves on the
lower piece of wood, and insert the point of the firestick at their
intersection.
The Saribas and Sakarrang Dyaks have a very remarkable instrument for
obtaining fire, called by them “besi-api.” It consists of a metal tube,
about three inches in length, with a piston working nearly air-tight in
it. A piece of dry stuff by way of tinder is introduced into the tube,
the piston rod is slapped smartly down and withdrawn with a jerk, when
the tinder is seen to be on fire. Europeans find that to manage the
besi-api is as difficult a task as to procure fire by two sticks. The
reader may remember that a machine of similar construction is sold at
the philosophical instrument makers, and that a piece of German tinder
is lighted by the sudden compression of the air.
Another form of the besi-api is thus described by Mr. Boyle:--“Among
some of the Dyak tribes there is a manner of striking fire much more
extraordinary. The instrument used is a slender cube of lead, which
fits tightly in a case of bamboo. The top of the cube is hollowed
into a cup, and when fire is required this cup is filled with tinder,
the leaden piston is held upright in the left hand, the bamboo case
is thrust sharply down over it, as quickly withdrawn, and the tinder
is found to be lighted. The natives say that no metal but lead will
produce the effect.”
The same traveller gives an account of another mode of obtaining
fire:--“Another interesting phenomenon these natives showed us, which,
though no doubt easily explained on scientific principles, appeared
very remarkable. As we sat in the veranda my cheroot went out, and I
asked one of the Dyaks squatted at our side to give me a light.
“He took from his box of bamboo a piece of pitcher and a little
tinder; put the latter upon the pitcher and held it under his thumb,
struck sharply against the bamboo, and instantly offered me the tinder
lighted. Several times subsequently we watched them obtain fire by this
means, but failed to make out a reasonable theory for the result.”
Even rivers are bridged over in the same simple, but really efficacious
manner, as the approaches to the houses. The mountain streams alternate
greatly in depth and rapidity, and it is no uncommon occurrence for
a heavy rain to raise a river some forty feet in its deep and rocky
channel, and even after a single heavy shower the fords are rendered
impassable. In consequence of this uncertainty, the Dyaks throw across
the chasms such bridges as are described by Mr. St. John:--
“How light and elegant do these suspension-bridges look! One, in
particular, I will attempt to describe. It was a broad part of the
stream, and two fine old trees hung over the water opposite to each
other. Long bamboos lashed together formed the main portion, and were
fastened by smaller ones to the branches above; railings on either side
were added to give greater strength and security, yet the whole affair
appeared so flimsy, and was so far above the stream, that when we saw a
woman and child pass over it we drew our breath until they were safe on
the other side. And yet we knew that they were secure.
“I have often passed over them myself; they are of the width of one
bamboo, but the side railings give one confidence. Accidents do happen
from carelessly allowing the rattan lashings to rot. Once, when pressed
for time, I was passing rapidly across with many men following close
behind me, when it began to sway most unpleasantly, and crack! crack!
was heard as several of the supports gave way. Most of my men were
fortunately not near the centre, and relieved the bridge of their
weight by clinging to the branches, otherwise those who were with me in
the middle would have been precipitated on the rocks below. After that,
we always passed singly over such neglected bridges.”
* * * * *
The domestic manufactures of the Dyaks are of a very high order, and
display a wonderful amount of artistic taste. The mode of building
canoes has already been mentioned, but the principal tool of the
canoe maker is too curious to be passed over. The implement in
question is singularly ingenious, combining within itself a number of
qualifications. The general appearance of it can be seen by reference
to the illustration, which is drawn from a specimen presented to me by
C. T. C. Grant, Esq.
It is apparently a most insignificant tool, hardly worthy the hands
of a child; and yet, when wielded by a Dyak, it produces the most
remarkable results. The handle is only ten inches in length, and the
blade measures barely an inch and a quarter across the widest part. The
handle is made of two portions, united with a strong lashing of rattan,
backed up by cement, The lower portion, which is curved exactly like
the hilts of the Dyak swords, is made of a soft and light wood, while
the upper part, which carries the head, is made of a hard, strong, and
moderately elastic wood.
[Illustration: ADZE-AXE.]
The head is made of iron, mostly imported, and is in all probability
formed on the model of a stone implement that was formerly in use. As
the reader may see, it is fastened to the wood by rattan, exactly as
the stone heads of the Polynesian axes are held in their places by
lashings of plaited sinnet.
But here the resemblance ends. The head of the Polynesian axe is
immovable, whereas the essence of the Bornean axe is that the head can
be shifted at will, by taking it out of the rattan lashing, reversing
and replacing it, so that it forms an axe or an adze, as the user
desires. The reader may remember that the Banyai tribe of Southern
Africa have an axe made on a similar principle, though in their case
the reversal is accomplished by cutting holes at right angles to each
other, through which the shank of the iron head can be passed. (See p.
364, figs. 4, 5.)
With this tiny instrument the Dyaks not only shape their planks, but
cut down the largest trees with a rapidity that an English workman
could scarcely equal, in spite of the superiority of his axe. They have
a very curious method of clearing away timber from a space of ground.
They first cut away all the underwood with their parangs, or choppers,
and then, with their little axes, cut the larger trees rather more
than half through, leaving the largest to the last. This tree is then
felled, and, as all the trees are bound together with rattans and other
creepers, it brings down all the others in its fall.
[Illustration: (1.) A DYAK VILLAGE. (See page 1149.)]
[Illustration: (2.) A DYAK HOUSE. (See page 1151.)]
Although the iron which the Dyaks use is mostly imported, they are
capable of smelting their own metal by a very simple process. By way of
a crucible, they dig a small pit in the ground, and perforate the sides
with holes, through which currents of air can be passed by means of the
native bellows. Charcoal is first placed in the pit, and then the ore,
well broken, is laid on the charcoal; and so the Dyak workmen proceed
to fill the pit with alternate layers of charcoal and ore. A light
is then introduced by means of a hole, the bellows are worked, and
in a short time the metal is smelted. Although each man is generally
capable of making his own tools on a pinch, there is generally a man
in each village who is a professional blacksmith, and makes his living
by forging spear heads and parang blades, as well as by keeping the
weapons of the villagers in repair.
The basket work of the Dyaks is exceedingly good, color as well as form
being studied in the manufacture. The basket called tambok is made of
the nipa palm leaf, cut into strips not quite the twelfth of an inch
wide, and stained alternately yellow and red. These are interwoven so
as to produce a considerable variety of pattern, somewhat resembling
that which is used in the sarongs and other woven fabrics. These
patterns are nearly all combinations of the square, the zigzag, and the
diamond; the last form, however, being nothing more than the square
turned diagonally.
Although made in cylindrical form, the tambok is slightly squared by
means of four strips of hard red wood, which are tightly fastened to
the basket by rattan lashing. The bottom of the basket is squared in
a similar manner, so as to flatten it and enable it to stand upright,
and is defended by thicker strips of wood than those which run up the
sides. The lid is guarded by two cross-strips of wood, and both the lid
and the top of the basket are strengthened by two similar strips bound
firmly round their edges. This basket is exceedingly light, elastic,
strong, easily carried, and fully warrants the estimation in which it
is held. Tamboks are made of almost all sizes, and are extensively used
by the Dyaks, the Malays, and the European colonists.
Mats of various kinds are made by this ingenious people. One of these
mats, which is in my possession, is a wonderful specimen of Dyak work.
It is nine feet long and five wide, and is made of rattan, cut into
very narrow strips--not wider, indeed, than those of the enlarged
patterns of the tambok basket. These strips are interwoven with such
skill as to form an intricate and artistic pattern. The centre of the
mat is occupied by a number of spiral patterns, two inches in diameter,
the spiral being produced by extensions of the zigzag already mentioned.
Around the spirals are three distinct borders, each with a definite
pattern, and the whole is edged by a sort of selvage, which gives
strength to the fabric, and prevents it from being torn. This kind
of mat is exceedingly durable, the specimen in question having been
long used in Borneo, then brought over to England, and employed as a
floor-cloth; and, although cut in one or two places by chair-legs, is
on the whole as firm as when it was made. As the rattan has not been
dyed, the color of the mat is a pale yellow; but the pattern comes out
with wonderful distinctness, just as is the case with good English
table linen.
Like all uncivilized people, the Dyaks never hurry themselves about
their manufactures. Time is no object to them; there is none of the
competition which hurries European workmen through life. The women,
who make these beautiful mats, go about their work in a very leisurely
way, interweaving the slender rattan strips with infinite care, and
certainly producing work that is thorough and sound.
The rattan is split in rather a curious manner. On account of the
direction and length of its fibre, it will split almost _ad infinitum_
into perfectly straight strips of very great length, so that the only
difficulty is to cut the slips of precisely the same width. The knives
with which this task is performed are rather peculiar. One of them has
already been described on page 1125, as an appendage to the Bornean
sword; but there is another which is so remarkable that it deserves a
separate description.
The handle is bent at an angle like that of the parang-latok, described
and figured on the page to which reference was just made. In order to
produce this effect, the handle is made of two pieces of wood, the ends
of which are bevelled off, so that when they are placed together they
produce the angular form which is desired. The two pieces are fitted
very neatly together, and the joint is strengthened by a thick coating
of cement. The handle is further ornamented by having a long piece of
brass wire coiled tightly round it, and is finished off at the end with
the same kind of cement as that which is used at the joint.
Not only does the handle resemble that of the parang, but there is a
great resemblance between the blades of the sword and the knife. The
blade of this knife has been forged out of a square bar of steel, which
has been first flattened, and then beaten out into the slightly curved
form which is so largely used throughout the whole of this part of the
world.
As is the case with the sword knife already described, this implement
is used by putting the handle under the left arm and holding the blade
firmly in front of the body, while both hands are at liberty to press
the end of the rattan against the edge of the knife, and so to split
it into as many strips as are needed. In spite of the comparative
roughness of the manufacture, which dispenses with a finish and
polish, the knife can take a very fine edge; and my own specimen, after
having suffered rather rough usage, is so sharp that I have just mended
a pen with it, and cut a piece of note paper edgewise. The blade of
this knife is eleven inches in length.
In order to preserve the sharpness of the edge, the Dyak carries the
knife in a sheath made simply of a small joint of bamboo, closed at the
lower end of the natural knot, and carefully wrapped at each end with
rattan to prevent it from splitting.
The cotton fabrics are entirely made by the women, from the preparation
of the thread to the weaving of the stuff. They beat out the cotton
with small sticks, and, by means of a rude sort of wheel, spin it
out into thread very rapidly. They cannot compete with the English
manufacturer in fineness of thread, but in durability there is no
comparison between the two, the Dyak thread being stronger than
that made in England, and the dye with which it is stained being so
permanent that no fabric wears so well as that which is of native
manufacture.
Although we can hardly rank the Dyak jars among native manufactures,
they play so important a part in the domestic life of these tribes that
they cannot be passed over without some notice.
The Dyaks have no real currency, and can scarcely be made to understand
it. They perfectly comprehend direct barter, but the secondary barter
by means of a circulating medium is, as a rule, beyond an ordinary
Dyak. He will take some goods to the market for the purpose of
exchanging them for some article which he wants; but he has no idea
of selling his goods for money, and buying with that money the needed
article.
The reader may remember that brass guns have already been mentioned
as a sort of currency. These are nothing more or less than cannon of
various sizes, which are valued by weight, and form a sort of standard
by which prices are measured, like the English pound or the French
franc. They are bored to carry balls from one to two pounds weight,
and, though regarded chiefly in the light of money, are serviceable
weapons, and can throw a ball to a considerable distance. There is an
advantage about this kind of currency. It is not easily stolen, and
outside the chiefs’ houses may be seen rows of brass guns lying on the
ground unmounted and owing their safety to their weight.
There is also a second standard of value among the Dyaks. This is the
Jar, an institution which, I believe, is unique. These jars are of
earthenware, and as far as can be judged by appearance, must have been
of Chinese manufacture. They are of different descriptions, and vary
greatly in value. The commonest jars, called Naga or Dragon jars, are
worth about seven or eight pounds, and derive their name from figures
of dragons rudely scrawled on them. They are about two feet in height.
The Rusa jar, which is next higher in value, is worth from ten to
fifteen pounds, according to its quality, and is known by the figures
of the Rusa deer which are drawn upon it.
But the most costly is the Gusi, which is worth almost any sum that
the owner chooses to demand for it. The Gusi jar is neither large
nor pretty. It is of a dark olive green color, and about two feet in
height. These jars are very scarce, and are considered as being worth
on an average about five hundred pounds. Seven or eight hundred pounds
have been paid for a Gusi jar, and there have been one or two so
valuable that many thousands pounds have been offered and refused for
them.
Mr. St. John mentions a jar of this kind belonging to the Sultan of
Brunei, which derived its chief value from the fact that it spoke on
certain great occasions. For example, the Sultan declared that on the
night before his wife died the jar uttered hollow moaning sounds, and
that it never failed to apprize him of any coming misfortune by wailing
pitifully. This jar is kept in the women’s apartments, and is always
covered with gold brocade, except when wanted for consultation, or
to exhibit its medicinal properties. Water poured into a Gusi jar is
thought by the Dyaks and by the Malays to be the best possible medicine
for all kinds of diseases, and, when sprinkled over the fields, to be
a certain means of procuring a good crop. As the people are willing
to pay highly for this medicated water, there is some reason for the
enormous cost of these jars.
One of them is said to possess a quality which belongs to itself. It
increased everything that was put into it. If, for example, it were
half filled with rice in the evening it would be nearly full in the
morning; and if water was poured into it, a few hours would increase
the depth of water by several inches. It is remarkable that the art of
making these jars is lost. The Chinese, admirable imitators as they
are, have always failed when they have endeavored to palm off upon a
Dyak a jar manufactured by themselves.