CHAPTER CXV.
BORNEO—Continued.
WAR.
DYAK WEAPONS — THE SUMPITAN, OR BLOW GUN — CONSTRUCTION OF THE WEAPON — THE INLAID OR METAL BUTT — THE SPEAR HEAD, OR BAYONET — THE SUMPIT ARROW — THE UPAS POISON AND ITS EFFECTS — DESCRIPTION OF THE TREE — THE QUIVER — THE PARANG, OR SWORD, AND ITS VARIETIES — THE PARANG-LATOK, AND ITS CURIOUS HANDLE — POWER OF ITS BLOW — TWO BLOWS OF AN EXECUTIONER — THE PARANG-IHLANG: ITS CURIOUSLY FORMED BLADE — AN AWKWARD WEAPON — POWER OF THE PARANG-IHLANG, AND ITS VALUE — THE SHEATH AND ITS ADDITIONAL KNIFE — DOUBLE-EDGED PARANG, WITH CHARMS — A SINGULAR ORNAMENT — THE KRIS AND ITS VARIETIES — ITS WAVED AND LAMINATED BLADE — EFFECT OF THE LIME JUICE — THE EXECUTIONER’S KRIS.
We now come to the subject of Warfare, which forms perhaps the most important branch of Dyak history. Whether the Dyaks belong to the Land or Sea division, they are always warlike, though the latter are fiercer, perhaps braver, and certainly more enterprising than the former. In order to understand the system by which they wage war, we must first examine their weapons. I will take that which is the most characteristic; namely, the sumpitan, or blow gun.
We have here a weapon, the like of which we have not seen in any country that we have hitherto investigated; namely, an instrument by means of which missiles are projected by means of compressed air. The principle on which the sumpitan acts is precisely similar to that of fire-arms, though the propelling power is obtained in a different and more simple manner. In fact, the sumpitan is nothing but the “pea-shooter” of boys, very much enlarged, and carrying an arrow instead of a pea or clay ball.
This curious weapon is about eight feet in length, and not quite an inch in diameter, and is bored with the greatest accuracy, a task that occupies a very long time, the wood being very hard, and the interior of the sumpitan smooth and even polished. It is not always made of the same wood, the specimens in my own collection being of different material, one of very dark and the other of very light wood. The surface is of equal thickness from end to end, and, as it generally has to enact the part of a spear as well as of a sumpitan, it is very strong and heavy.
One of these weapons, brought to England by the late Admiral Young, is of a beautiful colored wood, and is beautifully inlaid, both at the butt and the point, with metal. The last few inches of the butt are entirely made of metal, the weight of which causes the weapon to balance itself easily when held to the lips. The pattern of the inlaying may be seen in fig. 1, of the illustration entitled “Sumpitans,” on the 1122nd page.
The other sumpitan, fig. 2, is of a very dark, almost black wood, which is brightly polished on the exterior as well as in the interior, and is not inlaid. The butt, however, is encased with brass for five inches, the brass being very thick and heavy at the end, and deeply ridged, so as to look at a little distance as if it were a spiral brass wire coiled round the butt of the sumpitan.
At the tip of this weapon is a spear head, very thick, broad, and strong, sharply edged and pointed, and decorated with engraved patterns after the manner employed by Dyak smiths. It is firmly bound to the sumpitan by brass wire or rattan, and is an exact analogue of the bayonet, the spear head being fastened to the side of the weapon, and not interfering with the flight of the missile. The bore of the weapon is very small, not quite half an inch in diameter, and it is really wonderful that the maker could contrive to hollow it with the perfect precision which is necessary for the accurate flight of the arrow.
We next come to the missile which is projected through the sumpitan. This is a very tiny arrow, made of the thorn of the sago palm, about seven or eight inches long, equally thick from base to point, and not thicker than a large steel knitting-needle. In order to make it fit the bore so that it can be propelled by the breath, it is furnished at the butt with a conical piece of pith or soft wood, so that it exactly fits the bore. In some of the arrows, the cone is hollow, and a few of them are furnished with wing-like appendages along the shaft. As a rule, however, the solid cone is in most general use.
These arrows are so small that the wound which they inflict is in itself insignificant, and would not be sufficient to kill any animal larger than a rat. They are, however, converted into weapons of the most formidable character by being smeared at the tip with poison obtained from the upas-tree.
The reader is probably aware of the many tales that are told of this tree—how that it poisons the country for a mile round, and how that the deadly juice can only be obtained by means of condemned criminals, who earn their pardon in case they can bring off a bottle of the juice. Even in more recent days the upas-tree has not lost all its legends, and many persons still believe that actual contact with the tree or its leaves produces a sensation of faintness. This, however, is not the case; neither is the actual juice of the tree so deadly as is supposed.
A wound made by an arrow poisoned with upas juice is sure to be fatal, provided that the poison be quite fresh; but it loses its power very rapidly, and after it has been exposed to the air for two hours it is useless, and must be renewed. When fresh, it is fatal in a very short time, as was found by Mr. Johnson, who led an attack on the Kanowit Dyaks in 1859. He lost thirty men in the attack, every one of them being killed by the tiny sumpit arrow, and not one having a mark on him, except the little wound made by the arrow’s point.
Should the poison have been exposed to the air, the wounded man has a chance of recovery; and it has been found that a large dose of spirits, sucking the wound, and keeping the sufferer continually in motion will generally overcome the virulence of the poison. Indeed, the sumpit arrow seems to have much the same effect as the bite of the cobra, and the treatment which is efficacious for the snake bite answers equally well for the arrow wound.
The juice of the upas-tree is procured simply by boring a hole in the trunk, from which the juice issues in a white, cream-like state. It is received in little flasks made of bamboo, which are closed in the most careful manner, in order to exclude the air. One of these flasks in my possession is five inches in length, and about half an inch in diameter. One end is naturally closed by a knot, and the other is sealed with the most scrupulous care. First, a plug of soft wood has been inserted into the end, after the manner of a cork. Over the plug a lump of beeswax has been firmly kneaded, and over the wax a piece of membrane has been tied when wet. Although the upas juice is white when it first issues from the tree, it speedily becomes black when exposed to the air.
The upas-tree is called scientifically Antiaris toxicaria, and it belongs to the natural order Astocarpeæ, the best known species of which order is the well-known bread-fruit tree. All the plants of this order produce a white milky juice, which is always acrid and deleterious, and in many instances is exceedingly poisonous. Yet those parts of the plant, such as the fruit, in which the milk is replaced by sugar in the process of ripening, are not only harmless, but even nutritious. The tree grows to a considerable size, and the bark of the trunk has a reddish hue.
The reader will at once understand how formidable is this weapon. It is greatly to be dreaded even when the Dyak warriors are met in open battle, and in naval engagements the showers of poisoned arrows that are continually shot through the port-holes render the gunners’ task a most unpleasant one. But the sumpitan is much more to be dreaded by land than by sea; and when it is employed in bush warfare, the boldest soldier shrinks from the encounter. The Dyak who wields it lies hidden in the thick foliage, sure that, even in case of discovery, he can glide through the tangled thickets into a place of security. The sumpitan makes no report, and gives out no smoke as an indication of its position, but the deadly arrow flies silently on its errand, and the only intimation of the presence of an adversary is the slight tap with which the arrow strikes its mark.
The only disadvantage of the sumpitan is that its range is a short one, the light arrow being seldom used at a distance exceeding forty yards, though a man who is accustomed to its use can propel an arrow for seventy or eighty yards. At this distance, however, it is not to be dreaded, as its force is so expended that it can scarcely break the human skin. Some of these arrows have their heads made of the barbed bone of the sting-ray, which snaps off at a touch, and remains in the wound if the man tries to draw out the weapon. Others have separate heads made of wood, which become detached as soon as the shaft is pulled. The native name of the head is jowing.
(1.) PARANG LATOK.
(See page 1123.)
(2.) DYAK SUMPITANS.
(See page 1119.)
(3.) PARANG IHLANG.
(See page 1124.)
The Dyak generally carries thirty or forty of these arrows in a peculiar-shaped quiver. It is made of the ever useful bamboo, and is furnished with an appendage by which it can be stuck into the belt and carried at the side. This appendage is made of hard wood, and is lashed to the quiver by a broad belt of rattan, most beautifully plaited. The quiver is closed by a conical wooden cover, which is always secured by a string so that it shall not be lost. Some of the Dyak quivers are highly polished, covered with carvings, and are almost to be ranked with works of art. Many of these quivers have an inner case or lining of dried skin or membrane, so as to exclude the air, and preserve the poison of the arrow as long as possible.
When the Dyak uses the sumpitan, he holds the mouthpiece to his lips between the two first fingers of his left hand, while with his right he supports and aims the heavy weapon, which requires a strong as well as a practised man to direct it steadily.
The weapon which comes next in importance to the sumpitan is the parang or sword, of which there are several varieties. The Dyaks pride themselves greatly on their swords, and the excellence of their workmanship is so great that they have good reason for pride. Their forges are of excellent quality, and some of the tribes are able not only to forge their own weapons but to smelt their own iron.
The commonest of all the Dyak weapons is the sword called parang-latok, which is carried by every man and nearly every woman. It is used not only as a sword, but as an axe, and is indifferently employed for cutting through the jungle or cutting down the enemy. The shape of this sword is very peculiar, as may be seen from illustration No. 1, on the preceding page, which represents a specimen in my collection.
The blade is formed after a very curious pattern. Toward the hilt it is squared, and is in fact nothing but a square bar of steel nearly half an inch in thickness, and three quarters of an inch in width. From the hilt to the point the blade becomes gradually wider and thinner, so that the broad point, two inches in width, contains just the same amount of metal as the half-inch square hilt. It is evident that the sword is first forged into a square bar of equable size, and is then beaten out flatter and flatter toward the point.
The illustration shows that the blade of the sword is bent at a considerable angle toward the hilt. This curious shape, awkward as it is to an unaccustomed hand, forms the principal value of the sword. When the parang-latok is used for cutting down branches or chopping a path through the jungle, it is grasped at the squared portion of the blade, and is used just as we use the common bill-hook in this country. But when the object which is to be chopped lies on the ground, the parang is held by the handle, so that the angular shape allows the blade to be used with full force. It is the habit of holding the parang by the squared portion of the blade, that disfigures and even deforms the fingers of the women, as has already been mentioned on page 1118.
The ordinary parangs have no attempt at ornament upon them, but those of better construction are covered with patterns engraved upon the blade, of which we shall see some examples.
In war, this sword is a most formidable weapon. It is so heavy, weighing on an average two pounds, that a blow from it is sufficient to crush the skull or break the limb of a man, and, even if it had no edge, it would equal in efficacy the merai of the New Zealander. But the parang-latok has a very sharp edge, which is kept in the best order, and, when a blow is delivered with it, the very form of the weapon causes it to make the terrible “drawing cut,” the blade being drawn through the wound nearly from hilt to point. In consequence of this peculiarity, the wounds made by the parang-latok are very severe, and the natives pride themselves greatly on the depth of the wound which they can inflict.
One of the modes by which they try their skill is killing a pig with a single blow of a parang-latok, a good swordsman being able to sever the animal completely, and to drive the point of his weapon into the earth. If the reader has been accustomed to use the sword, he will see that to strike downward at an object so near the ground is by no means an easy task.
When an English swordsman performs the feat of severing a sheep at a single blow, he has several advantages which are denied to the Dyak. In the first place, the sheep is already dead, so that he can take his aim in quiet, whereas the pig is alive, so that the Dyak must aim his blow as he can. Then the sheep has been skinned and cleaned, so that the sword has not so much resistance to overcome. Lastly, the sheep is suspended, so that the swordsman can use the most effective blow, namely, “Cut 6,” i. e. a sweeping, horizontal cut from left to right, which can be delivered with the full swing of the arm.
Were it not for the peculiar form of the parang-latok the feat of severing a pig could not be accomplished, but the angular shape of the blade and its gradually increasing width combine the power of the drawing cut with the chopping force gained by the weight of the weapon.
The sheath of this parang is neatly made of two flat pieces of wood, neatly hollowed inside to receive the blade, and bound together in the most elaborate manner by a series of belts, twelve or fourteen in number. These belts are made of very narrow strips of dark rattan, and are twined into an endless four-plait. In my own specimen, there are thirteen of these belts. Attached to the upper end of the sheath is the cord by which the weapon is hung to the side. This cord is doubled, is made of scarlet and yellow cotton plaited square, and is ornamented at the ends with two large tassels, the strings of which are yellow tipped with scarlet tufts.
The parang-latok is more a Malayan than a Dyak weapon, but it is in favor with the Dyaks, and, as has been mentioned, has come into general use.
The Malays use it in execution, and are able to decapitate a man at a single blow, the executioner standing at his side and a little behind him. On one occasion, an executioner, who was distinguished for the skill with which he wielded a very heavy parang which he possessed, stood between two criminals as they knelt on the ground, and with a right and left hand blow struck off both their heads. The same man, who was one of the police, being annoyed by the howling of some dogs in the street, rushed out with his parang, and with one blow cut in two the first animal which he met.
We now come to another weapon, the parang-ihlang, which is one of the most extraordinary swords in the world, and more troublesome and even dangerous to strangers than can well be conceived. This is a smaller, shorter, and lighter weapon than the parang-latok. From point to hilt it measures nineteen inches, and in extreme breadth of blade is rather under an inch and a half. It weighs rather less than one pound six ounces, and altogether appears to be quite insignificant when compared with the parang-latok. We shall see, however, that in the hands of an experienced swordsman it is even superior to that weapon on account of a strange peculiarity in construction. The general shape of the blade of the parang-ihlang can be seen in illustration No. 3, on page 1122. It is very thick and heavy toward the hilt, where it is nearly squared, like the parang-latok, but becomes gradually thinner toward the point, which is finished off in a series of scooped patterns that look at a little distance as if the sword had been broken. The back is quite straight, and along it and on either side of the blade is a series of small patterns engraved with much neatness and freedom of execution.
But the most remarkable thing about the blade is, that instead of being nearly flat as are European sword blades, it is convex on one side, and concave on the other, as is shown at the section, fig. 5. Owing to this form, it can only be used for two cuts, one downward and one upward; and if used in the wrong direction, it flies off at an angle, and is nearly certain to inflict a wound on the man who wields it. These swords are made either for the right or left hand, so that a man who is not acquainted with the peculiarities of any parang is afraid to use it without a careful trial, lest he should make the wrong cut with it, and so wound himself.
Small and insignificant as this weapon looks, it is capable of inflicting the most dreadful wounds, the peculiar concavity of the blade aiding it in a most remarkable manner. Like the parang-latok, it is used as a chopper as well as a sword, and in experienced hands is a most effective tool. One man, described by Mr. Brooke, was a celebrated swordsman, and has been known to sever at a single blow a log of tolerably hard wood as thick as a man’s leg.
Even English officers have been so much impressed with the value of this weapon, that they have only carried the regulation sword for show, preferring the parang-ihlang for use. The Sea Dyaks, who have been already mentioned as essentially warriors, prefer this sword to any other weapon, though the real inventors and principal makers of it are the Kayans, who belong to the Malanau division of the Land Dyaks. As a rule, the ordinary Land Dyaks use the parang-ihlang but little, and when they do use it are apt to hurt themselves. Mr. Boyle mentions an instance where the eldest son of a chief had cut himself seriously on both shins through his incautious use of this weapon.
“The finest parangs,” writes Mr. Boyle, “or those esteemed so, are found in the graves of Kayan warriors, which are consequently rifled by Dyaks and Malays on every possible occasion. I have one, purchased at Kennowit, which I was told had been obtained from a sepulchre, three hundred years old—a rather improbable assertion, though I believe the weapon was really found in a Kayan grave, for it was strangely stained and rusted when I bought it.”
The Dyaks are very proud of the quality of their blades, and hold even the best European steel in utter contempt. It is said that their swords are made of old files, which are imported in large quantities; but, whatever may be the material, the temper of their blades is marvellously excellent. These parangs not only take a razor-like edge, but are exceedingly tough, and when used for bush-work beat the very best English implements. Mr. Boyle remarks, that whereas his own hunting-knives, which professed to be the finest steel possible, broke and gapped, the Dyak parangs were not in the least injured.
Such a blade as has been described is exceedingly valuable, even in its own country, and one of the best quality cannot be purchased under ten pounds sterling. It may be easily imagined that when a Dyak is fortunate enough to possess one of these valuable blades he will not be content with an ordinary handle and sheath, but will lavish upon his weapon all the powers of his native art. The handle, instead of being of simple wood, is of bone, carved deeply and boldly into patterns, and is always bent at right angles to the line of the blade. It is further ornamented by sundry tufts of human hair, dyed of various colors, of which deep red, yellow, and green are the favorites. The hilt is generally bound with brass wire, and, for a small-handed race like the Dyaks, affords an excellent hold. An European generally finds that the narrow handle is very awkward and cramped, and is not sufficient for his grasp.
The scabbard of this weapon is covered with ornaments. Instead of being a plain and simple sheath, like that of the parang-latok, it is made of a hard wood, of a dark, rich, mahogany color, which takes a very high polish. This is carved in elaborate and really artistic patterns, the carving being confined to the front of the scabbard.
In the middle, just under the carved part, is a piece of fur, and below the fur is a tuft of human hair dyed red. In most cases of swords made by uncivilized races, there is some danger to the hand in drawing them, the edge of the sword being apt to project between the two flat pieces of which the sheath is made. In order, however, to guard against such an accident, the maker of the parang-ihlang places a piece of rattan against each edge of the scabbard, so that the blade cannot by any possibility cut the fingers, even if the hand should grasp the sheath. The various parts of this sheath are bound together by six belts of plaited rattan and three belts of brass wire, plaited most beautifully, in that form which is known to sailors as the Turk’s head.
The belt by which the sword is attached to the wearer is made of rattan, cut into very narrow strips and plaited into thongs, three of which thongs are again plaited together to form the belt. On the opposite side of the scabbard is a second sheath, of the same length as that to which it is fastened, but small and cylindrical. This sheath is made of red and yellow cloth, is lined with bark, and is intended for the reception of a knife which is peculiar to the Dyaks. One of these knives maybe seen at fig. 3, in the illustration of the parang on page 1129. The handle of this knife is made of the same hard wood as that of which the sheath is formed. It is nearly cylindrical, about half an inch in diameter, and fourteen inches in length, the blade being short, pointed, and barely two inches in length. This curious knife is used by the Dyaks for splitting rattan, and similar purposes, the long handle being held under the left arm, while the rattan is drawn with both hands, across the edge of the blade.
The natives are singularly averse to parting with this knife. They will sell the sword, if a sufficient price be offered, but will always endeavor surreptitiously to withdraw the knife, so that, out of many parangs which have been brought to Europe, comparatively few have the knife attached to them. In one specimen in my collection, the weapon appears to be quite perfect, but, on withdrawing the knife from its sheath, it is seen that the Dyak has cleverly substituted a bladeless handle for the real knife.
Both the weapons which have been described were presented to me by C. T. C. Grant, Esq.
There is also in my collection a third kind of parang, which at first sight looks almost exactly like the old Roman sword. It is thick, massive, weighty, and at first sight looks more like an ancient than a modern weapon. On a closer examination, however, the peculiar Dyak workmanship is evident. Though it is not like the preceding weapon, convex on one side, and concave on the other, the two sides are entirely distinct. The blade is double-edged, very thick in the middle, and sloped off rather abruptly to the edge on either side.
The handle is only made of wood, but is profusely decorated with human hair of different colors and considerable length, and it is bound with a broad belt of plaited rattan. The sheath for the knife is entirely made of bark, and the knife itself is shown at fig. 2. Like the scabbard of the parang-ihlang already described, that of this weapon is richly carved, and adorned with fur and long tufts of human hair.
The belt by which it is suspended is made of rattan split very fine, and plaited so as to form a strap nearly an inch in width, and the sixth of an inch in thickness. It is rounded at the edges, and at the upper part it is ingeniously separated into two portions, so as to form a loop.
The chief peculiarity of this weapon lies in the number of charms which are attached to it. First come two teeth, and then there is a beautifully plaited little case, something like the cocoon of an insect, containing several little pieces of wood. Next comes a small bag of netted string, about an inch and a half in length, in which is a stone, and then come three little flattish baskets, with covers, which are empty. Fastened to the belt by several thongs is a curiously shaped piece of wood which I believe to be used for sharpening the edges of the sword, and to the end of the sheath is hung by a string of beads a feather, the quill of which has been carefully wrapped with red and black string.
This weapon is in all ways a most formidable one, and to European travellers is by far the best for practical purposes. The handle is rather larger than is the case with either of the preceding weapons; the blade has not that curvature which renders it so perilous a weapon in unpractised hands; it is double-edged, and either edge can be used with equal facility; and lastly, it possesses a point, which is not the case with the other forms of the sword.
One Dyak chief had an ornament attached to his sword of which he was exceedingly proud. It was an enormous tuft of hair, being nothing more nor less than the pigtails of ten Chinese whom he had killed, and whose hair he had fastened to the scabbard of his sword. This ornament must have been singularly inconvenient to him. There is in my collection an average specimen of a Chinese pigtail. It weighs nine ounces, so that the weight of the ten must rather exceed five pounds and a half, while the length is five feet, so that ten tufts of hair, each five feet in length, must have given the wearer an infinity of trouble as he walked.
The reader will already have noticed how the various forms of sword are used alike by the Malays and the Dyak tribes. There is another weapon, which, though strictly a Malay invention, is used by the Dyaks, and indeed, with some variations, throughout the whole of the Malay Archipelago. It is called the kris, sometimes, but wrongly, spelt creese, and is so common that any ordinary collection of weapons is sure to contain several specimens of the kris. It is remarkable for three points. In the first place, the handle is not set in a line with the blade, as in ordinary daggers, but is bent at a right angle; next, the blade is almost always waved in form, like the flaming sword with which the old painters armed the angels who kept the gates of Paradise; and thirdly, the blade is never smooth, but dull, rough, and indented with curved grooves much resembling in form the marks on a “browned” gun-barrel. By referring to the illustration “Kris” on page 1129, the reader will better understand its peculiarities.
There are few weapons which vary more in value, or in which the price set upon them is so apparently excessive. A first-rate blade, even without the handle and sheath, will cost from eighteen to twenty pounds, and an ordinary one can scarcely be purchased under two pounds. They have by no means the appearance of being valuable weapons, the steel of the blade being not only rough and corroded, but looking as if it were composed of successive laminæ which are on the point of being separated. This effect is produced by steeping the blade in lime juice, thus causing a partial corrosion of the metal, which is made of small pieces of steel twisted and welded together in such a manner as to produce exceeding toughness.
One of these weapons in my collection is worn away almost to a mere ribbon of steel by the action of the acid, and, strange as it may seem, weapons of this kind, which look much as if they were mere pieces of rusty iron-hooping, are the most valued by connoisseurs. The length of grain in this weapon is wonderful, the corrosion of the lime juice showing it in the most perfect manner. The long grooves can be traced from one end of the blade to the other, following the waved form of the narrower portion, and curling round in the wider part near the hilt, as if the whole of the blade had been forged out of steel wires laid parallel to each other and then welded together.
The lime juice takes off from the edge that razor-like smoothness which is so much admired in European blades, and gives it a ragged, saw-like appearance that is peculiar to the instrument. This edge, however, is a terrible one for penetration into human flesh, and answers the purpose even better than a plain and sharp edge could do.
The form of the kris is sufficient to tell the reader the mode of handling it, the weapon being thrust forward just as a man points with his extended forefinger, and not grasped according to the conventional ideas of painters. Spaniards, who are proverbially expert in the use of their long knives, hold and use them in nearly the same manner, laying the extended forefinger along the blade as a guide, and thrusting forward instead of striking downward. The average length of a kris blade is about a foot, but some are nearly as long as ordinary swords, while others are only six or seven inches in length.
Very great pride is taken in an old family kris, the owner regarding it with a veneration that is almost superstitious. Generally, the handle is quite plain, but the more wealthy have it made of gold, and encrusted with precious stones. This weapon is seldom used in war. It is carried more as the symbol of a gentleman than as a weapon to be used in actual fight, and plays the part that the sword used to play in the last century.
The kris is much used in executions, the weapon being one made expressly for the purpose, quite straight, thin, and narrow. In all cases it is used in the same manner, though there are some variations in detail. Generally, the man who is to suffer walks quietly and unbound to a chair, in which he seats himself, mostly solacing his last moments by chewing the betel-nut. His arms are then extended, and held by two men, while the executioner, standing behind him, places the point of the kris just above the left collar-bone, and strikes it downward into the heart, so that death is instantaneous.
In some places the execution kris is very narrow, thin, and sharp on both edges, like a lancet. The executioner takes a small tuft of cotton wool, and twists it lightly round the blade of the kris, just above the point. He then holds the cotton wool between the finger and thumb of his left hand, so as to keep the kris upright. After placing the point of the weapon on the right spot above the left collar-bone, he drives it downward into the heart with his right hand, and the man is dead. Still holding the cotton wool between the finger and thumb, he draws out the kris, and, as the point is withdrawn, presses the cotton wool into the small wound which it has made, so that the weapon is quite clean and bright, and not a drop of blood is allowed to be seen. There is no doubt that this mode of execution is as certain, swift and merciful as any that can be devised. It is equal in these respects to the guillotine, and has the great advantage of being absolutely bloodless, and requiring no scaffold or visible apparatus. A traveller might pass within two yards of the fatal spot, and not know that anything out of the ordinary way was being done.
Some of these weapons have been used for many successive generations, and are highly prized, some being valued at sums which to Europeans seem almost fabulous. One of these execution krises was shown at the Great Exhibition in London, but was lost, together with many other weapons of great value.
The spear is a weapon much favored by many Dyak tribes, but little employed by others, the spear head at the end of the sumpitan answering every practical purpose. In fact it is used, like the club of the Fiji Islander, as a summons to battle, and serves the same purpose as the fiery cross of the Scotch Highlands. This symbol is instantaneously obeyed, and, as it runs through a country with almost magical speed, a chief can raise a large force within a very short time. On one occasion, during the rajahship of Sir James Brooke, an incipient rebellion was ingeniously stopped by finding the “calling-out spear” as it lay hidden in a canoe, and taking possession of it. The people strenuously denied that such an article ever existed; but when it was taken from its hiding-place, the projected rising instantly collapsed.