FOLK-LORE IN BORNEO
A SKETCH
BY
WILLIAM HENRY FURNESS 3D, M.D., F.R.G.S.
MEMBRE DE LA SOCIÉTÉ DE GÉOGRAPHIE À PARIS
MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY
MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN ORIENTAL SOCIETY
[PRIVATELY PRINTED]
WALLINGFORD
DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
1899
A Kayan Chief.
A SKETCH
OF THE
FOLK-LORE OF BORNEO.
In this short monograph I do not pretend to give anything more than aSketch of the Folk-lore to be found among the Borneans. The island islarge, and the people, scattered and isolated by constant inter-tribalwarfare, differ one tribe from another, in language, customs andappearance almost more than do Germans, French, or English; to say thatany tradition or custom is common to all the tribes, or even to all ofone tribe, of Borneans, would be far too sweeping. A still greaterdrawback to any universality, in legend or custom, is that there is nowritten language, not even so much as picture-drawings on rocks to giveus a clue to ancient myths or traditions. The natives of Borneo are in acertain sense savages, but yet they are savages of a high order,possessed of a civilization far above what is usually implied by theterm; they live together in what almost might be called coöperativecommunities, they practise the art of weaving, they forge roughimplements of iron, they cultivate rice and esculent plants, and in alltheir work, such as house-building, boat-building, manufacture of clothand weapons of warfare, they show an ambitious desire, and a skilfulability, to ornament[Pg 4] their work and add, to its usefulness, pleasure tothe eye. One of their gravest faults, however, is their embarrassingtenacity to the fad of head-hunting, and a strict adherence to theprinciple of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. This keeps thedifferent households, even of the same tribe, at constant war and makesinevitable an uncomfortable yet pleasing interchange of heads during thetedious months of the rainy season, when time hangs heavy on thewarriors' hands, and disused swords might get rusty.
So little is known of the social and anthropological position of thesepeople, to others than those who make Malaysia and the South Sea islandstheir study, that it may not be out of place to give a short descriptionof the people themselves before entering on the subject of their Folk-lore.
The remote origin of the Borneans, as well as of the greater part of allof the inhabitants of the Polynesian islands, is an ethnologicalproblem; they are not Malay, neither are they Mongolian nor Negrito;they bear resemblances here and there to all of these races, but notmarked enough to claim any one as the parent stock. Furthermore, thereis some evidence in favor of the theory that they are the result ofsuccessive migrations of tribes from northern India and from Anam.
A Kayan Long-House.
The inland tribes of Borneo, by which I include all the natives exceptthe Malays settled along the coast, are without any definite forms ofreligious worship; they make idols of wood, but I ha