Four Young Explorers; Or, Sight-Seeing in the Tropics

by Oliver Optic

  CHAPTER X.

  THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE DYAKS.

  After seeing the sleeping accommodations of the Dyaks, consisting of amat on a rather uneven floor, the Americans concluded to pass the nighton board of the yacht. They invited Mr. Eng to supper on board, and hepassed the evening with them in the cabin.

  "You have seen the Dyaks at home now, young gentlemen; how do you likethe looks of them?" asked the guest, after the meal had been disposedof.

  "I think they are the pleasantest savages I have ever met," repliedLouis.

  "I am afraid you did not appreciate the young women who were soattentive to you, Mr. Belgrave," continued the agent.

  "Regarding them as uncivilized maidens, they are about the bestspecimens. The expression on their faces was pleasant, a few of themwere pretty, though as a whole they were not handsome, and they seemedto be kind-hearted. I could not admire them, though their eyes were asbrilliant as they were black. Their long hair would be the envy of manyan English or American belle."

  "The women are very vain of their hair. They bestow a great deal ofattention upon it," added Mr. Eng. "The fever of the island sometimesdeprives them of their hair, as it may in your country, and that is thegreatest calamity that can overtake the younger women."

  "I suppose it all right here; but they disfigure and spoil one of theprincipal attractions of ladies in enlightened nations, the teeth, whichthey blacken by chewing betel."

  "It also makes their lips look as though they had daubed them with bloodor red paint; but they do it here, as in India, to make themselves morebeautiful. Tastes differ, and the practice makes them ugly to you. Thebetel-vine grows here, and the leaves are used for chewing. The nut of acertain palm produces the same effect on the teeth."

  "I don't admire the brass rings they wear on their waists and aroundtheir necks. If I were old enough to get married, I should not look fora wife among the Dyak girls," said Louis, laughing and shaking his head.

  "The Dyak women are generally well treated; but they have to work veryhard, and much that you would think the men ought to do is done by them.The lords of creation here are inclined to be lazy, while their wivesand daughters are engaged in the rice-fields, though their husbands andbrothers are driven to labor.

  "But the women are not the abject slaves you sometimes find them in thesavage state. They have their influence, and exercise a degree ofcontrol in household matters. The females are fond of fish, and insistthat their husbands shall supply them with this diet. On account of thebores which sweep up the rivers, this is often a dangerous occupation,and the men are unable to procure any fish. Instances are known in whichthe women bar the door of the house against them if they areunsuccessful."

  "I believe the Malays are generally Mohammedans. What is the religion ofthe Dyaks?" inquired Louis.

  "It has been said by some travellers that they have no religion of anykind; but I don't think this is quite true, though it is not far fromit," replied Mr. Eng. "Religion is a very indefinite idea among theDyaks, and they are chary in speaking of what there is of it. Some whohave been among them maintain that they believe in a Supreme Being, whohas a great many different names among the various tribes. They havealmost as many inferior deities as the Hindus.

  "They are very superstitious; and there are all sorts of omens, amongwhich there is a particular bird which has obtained the name of the omenbird. His cry on the right of, or behind, a person engaged in anyenterprise is an unlucky sign, and he abandons his object; while the cryheard on the left is a favorable omen, and the individual is dulyencouraged to go forward.

  "I had a story from a Kyan head man which had come down to him as atradition. A great head-hunting expedition, consisting of a thousandwarriors, had set out many years ago. It had not gone far when a littlemuntjac, which you know is a kind of deer, ran across the path of thewarriors. This was a bad omen; and they gave up the enterprise, andreturned to their villages.

  "I know of a couple just married who separated because they heard adeer-cry within three days after their union, which was a sign that oneof them would die within a year. Even little insects intimidate doughtywarriors, or assure them that they are far from danger, by theirappearance or their cry."

  "There is not a little of similar superstition in enlightened nations,though there is vastly less of it than formerly," added Louis.

  "I have heard my grandfather say that the ticking of a death-watch usedto scare him so that he could not sleep when he was a boy," said Morris.

  "What is a death-watch?" asked Scott.

  "It is a kind of beetle that conceals itself in the walls of oldhouses," replied Louis. "The noise it makes is really the call of thebug for his mate, and is the cry of love instead of death, as manyignorant people believe. The breaking of a looking-glass is also a signof death in the family."

  "Mrs. Blossom wouldn't break a looking-glass for a fortune," addedFelix. "She says she broke one nine years before her husband died, andtherefore it was a sure sign."

  "But the death must come within a year to make the sign hold good,"replied Louis. "But if enlightened people have faith in such stuff, itis no wonder that Dyaks believe in omens. I want to ask, Mr. Eng, ifthese Dyaks are regularly married?"

  "They are, though with very little ceremony, and no vows, oaths, norpromises. In fact, the marriage consists of such rites as the partiesplease, and often with no rites at all. Sometimes the betrothed aremarried by exchanging bracelets in public, or by eating a meal of ricetogether. In some communities the affianced are seated on a couple ofbars of iron, and the head man shakes a couple of live chickens overtheir heads, invoking many blessings upon them, and the birds areafterwards killed and eaten."

  "Do these people drink liquor, or have they anything in the shape ofintoxicating fluids?" asked Scott.

  "The national drink of Borneo is _tuak_, about the vilest tipple thatever was invented. I went to a Dyak feast when I first came to theisland, which proved to be nothing but a series of drunken orgies. Theprincipal actors at the feast were a number of pretty girls, such as yousaw this afternoon. Their office was to induce the men present to drinkthis vile liquid till they dropped on the floor of the open platform;and they even poured it down the throats of their victims when no longerable to drink for themselves."

  "What sort of rum is it?" inquired Scott.

  "It looks like the milk of the cocoanut, and I suppose that it is madefrom that; but I did not taste it," replied the agent. "It is about mybedtime, and I think I will go to my sampan and retire."

  But Captain Scott invited him to sleep on board of the Blanchita; and heaccepted after a little pressing, evidently believing that the softcushions of the yacht made a better bed than the mats of the sampan.Felipe was instructed to have steam on at daylight, and the anchor watchwas to call him in season to do so. Fully protected by their nettingsfrom the mosquitoes, which had troubled them to some extent in theevening, all hands slept like tired boys.

  When the steam from the gauge-cocks hissed as the engineer examined intothe condition of the water in the boiler, the sound waked the captain,and he jumped from his bed. This movement roused all the others; andthey went out into the waist, following the example of Scott, who worenothing but his nightdress.

  "I am going to have a swim this fine morning," said he.

  "Look out for crocodiles," Morris interposed. "You know they areman-eaters in these rivers."

  "I haven't seen any of them around here," replied the captain. "But callall hands, Lane; and tell the men to bring out their rifles."

  "I think you are very imprudent to go into the water here," interposedMr. Eng. "The reptiles are on the watch; and if you must go in, I warnyou to keep near the boat."

  But the boys all dived from the gunwale into the river, and swam out afew rods. The men placed themselves on the rail, and kept a sharp lookout for saurians, though it was still too dark to enable them to seevery distinctly. Scott had reasoned that he could not take his bathafter it was fully light, for a crowd
of Dyak men and women would be onthe bank at that time.

  The swimmers had not been in the water more than five minutes when thecry of "Crocodiles!" came from Achang, who had stationed himself justforward of the engine. Probably he had a keener vision for the reptilesthan the Americans; for the seamen had not yet seen anything that lookedlike one. He could tell by the appearance of the water that the enemywas approaching, though the disturbance of its surface was near theother side of the stream.

  The party in the water turned about, and headed for the boat, swimmingwith all the vigor they could command. Achang had his rifle in his hand;but even he could not make out the crocodile clearly enough to be sureof his aim. Five minutes more elapsed; for it required that time for theswimmers to reach the yacht. The seamen assisted the party into theboat, and they rushed with all speed into the cabin; for a quartet ofDyak maidens had already reached the bank of the river, and were beggingthe men for more tobacco.

  Achang fired his rifle; but three crocodiles could now be seen movingtowards the yacht. Their approach was not impeded by the shot, for itwas impossible to see the eyes of the reptiles in the semi-darkness. Butthe cabin party were safe, and it was as useless to fire at them as itwould have been at a stone wall.

  "I advise you not to try that experiment again, young gentlemen," saidMr. Eng as the bathing party came out into the waist.

  "I don't think we shall, though we were protected by half a dozenrifles," replied the captain, who had been the leader in the venturesomeexploit.

  "If you do try it again, do so in the daylight, when your riflemen cansee the eyes of the enemy," added the agent. "I must bid you good-bynow, for I have business on shore here. I don't think the crocodileswill come any nearer to you, but be prudent. I shall hope to see you atSimujan on your return."

  Mr. Eng shook hands with all the cabin party, and went ashore. Thecaptain gave the order to cast off the fasts, and Lane was ordered totake the wheel. The two sampans had before made fast to the shore; andas the Blanchita got under way, one of them put off, and paddled towardsthe crocodiles. The last that was seen of the craft, it had a saurianhooked after the Malay mode of fishing for them.

  After breakfast had been served in the cabin, and the party had gone totheir seats forward, the character of the river began to change,becoming much narrower. They came to another Dyak village, where thejungle was cleared off and paddies were near the stream. It looked asthough all the inhabitants had gathered on the bank, male and female. Along-house was to be seen on a knoll, and the wheelman was ordered totake the boat within a couple of rods of the shore.

  "Are you going to make a landing at this village, Captain Scott?" askedLouis.

  "No; we have seen enough of these people, but we will see what we can aswe pass along. They are all beckoning us to go ashore; but we won't doso, for any more Dyak maidens would be rather monotonous."

  "I quite agree with you, Captain, though there is one with a big stickof bamboo in her hand, who looks more graceful and pretty than any wesaw in the village we visited," replied Louis.

  "I wonder what that cane is for," added Scott.

  "That's to contain some kind of liquid; and she may have four feet oftuak in it," answered the millionaire, laughing at the idea of measuringa fluid by Long Measure. "I think the girl comes nearer to being abeauty than any girl I have seen before."

  "She is hooped with brass like all the rest of them," added Scott, asthe boat proceeded beyond the group on the shore.

  In another half-hour great trees, with an abundant undergrowth ofbushes, extended down to the river, and in places some distance into thewater.