SOME CURIOUS CUSTOMS
There are many curious customs to be met with among the Dyaks of Borneo.
They have the trial by ordeal, by diving, in which two men keep their
heads under water as long as they can. This is their way of referring
disputed questions to supernatural decision. They believe that the gods
are sure to help the innocent, and punish the guilty. When there is a
dispute between two parties, in which it is impossible to obtain
reliable evidence, or where one of the parties is not satisfied with the
decision of the headman of the Dyak house, this ordeal is often resorted
to.
Several preliminary meetings are held by the representatives of both
parties to decide the time, and the place of the match. It is also
decided what property each party should stake. This has to be paid by
the loser to the victor.
For several days and nights before the contest, they gather their
friends together; they make offerings and sing incantations to the
spirits, and beg of them to support their just cause, and help their
representative to win. Each party chooses a champion. There are many
professional divers, who, for a trifling sum, are willing to take part
in this painful contest.
On the evening of the day previous to that on which the diving match is
to take place, each champion is fed with seven compressed balls of
cooked rice. Then each is made to lie down on a nice new mat, and is
covered with a beautiful, Dyak-woven sheet; an incantation is made over
him, and the spirit inhabitants of the waters are invoked to come to the
aid of the man whose cause is just.
Early the next morning the champions are roused from their sleep, and
dressed each in a fine new waistcloth. The articles staked are brought
down from the houses, and placed upon the bank. A large crowd of men,
women and children join the procession of the two champions and their
friends and supporters to the scene of the contest at the river-side. As
soon as the place is reached, fires are lit and mats are spread for the
divers to sit on and warm themselves. While they sit by their respective
fires, the necessary preparations are made.
Each party provides a roughly-constructed wooden grating, to be placed
in the bed of the river, for his champion to stand on in the water.
These are placed within a few yards of each other, where the water is
deep enough to reach the waist, and near each a pole is thrust firmly
into the mud for the man to hold on to while he is diving.
The two divers are led into the river, and each stands on his own
grating, grasping his pole. At a given signal they plunge their heads
simultaneously into the water. Immediately the spectators shout aloud at
the top of their voices, over and over again, "_Lobon--lobon_," and
continue doing so during the whole contest. What these mysterious words
mean, I have never been able to discover. When at length one of the
champions shows signs of yielding, by his movements in the water, and
the shaking of the pole he is holding to, the excitement becomes very
great. "_Lobon--lobon_," is shouted louder and more rapidly than before.
The shouts become deafening. The struggles of the poor victim, who is
fast losing consciousness, are painful to witness. The champions are
generally plucky, and seldom come out of the water of their own will.
They stay under water until the loser drops senseless, and is dragged
ashore, apparently lifeless, by his companions. The friends of the
winner, raising a loud shout of triumph, hurry to the bank and seize and
carry off the stakes. The vanquished one, quite unconscious, is carried
by his friends to the fire, where he is warmed. In a few minutes he
recovers, opens his eyes and gazes wildly around, and in a short time is
able to walk slowly home. Where both champions succumb at the same time,
the one who first regains his senses is held to be the winner.
The Dyaks have a curious superstition that if food is offered to a man,
and he refuses it, and goes away without at least touching it, some
misfortune is sure to befall him. It is said that he is sure to be
either attacked by a crocodile, or bitten by a snake, or suffer from the
attack of some animal.
When Dyaks have been asked to stay and have a meal, if they do not feel
inclined to do so, I have often noticed them touch the food before going
away. I have never been able to discover the origin of this curious
superstition, but innumerable tales are told of those who have
disregarded it, and have paid the penalty by being attacked by some
animal.
The Dyaks are very truthful. So disgraceful indeed do the Dyaks consider
the deceiving of others by an untruth, that such conduct is handed down
to posterity by a remarkable custom. They heap up a pile of the branches
of trees in memory of the man who has told a great lie, so that future
generations may know of his wickedness, and take warning from it. The
persons deceived start the _tugong bula_--"the liar's mound"--by heaping
up a large number of branches in some conspicuous spot by the side of
the path from one village to another. Every passer-by contributes to it,
and at the same time curses the man in memory of whom it is. The Dyaks
consider the adding to any _tugong bula_ they may pass a sacred duty,
the omission of which will meet with supernatural punishment, and so,
however pressed for time a Dyak may be, he stops to throw on the pile
some small branch or twig.
A few branches, a few dry twigs and leaves--that is what the _tugong
bula_ is at first. But day by day it increases in size. Every passer-by
adds to it, and in a few years' time it becomes an imposing memorial to
one who was a liar. Once started, there seems to be no means of
destroying a _tugong bula_. There used to be one by the side of the path
between Seratok and Sebetan. As the branches and twigs that composed it
often came over the path, on a hot day in the dry weather, I have more
than once applied a match to it and burnt it down. However, in a very
short time, a new heap of branches and twigs was piled on the ashes of
the old _tugong bula_.