MARRIAGE AMONG THE DYAKS — COURTSHIP, ACCEPTANCE OR REJECTION — A SIBUYAN WEDDING — CURIOUS DOMESTIC ARRANGEMENTS — PRIDE OF BIRTH — STATE OF MORALITY — FACILITIES OF DIVORCE — JEALOUSY, AND ITS RESULTS — HOW TO TREAT A RIVAL — FORBIDDEN DEGREES — SPORTS AND GAMES — BEE HUNTING — THE BORNEAN SWING — TRIALS OF STRENGTH AND EQUILIBRIUM — TRICKS WITH STRING — COCK FIGHTING — THE SWORD DANCE — A DYAK WAR DANCE WITH HEADS — THE CAT-O’-NINE TAILS — DYAK FESTIVALS — STRANGE COOKERY — THE DURIAN FRUIT — THE NATIONAL DRINK, ITS ODOR AND TASTE — HABIT OF INTOXICATION — A DYAK CIRCE — STOUT DRINKERS AND STRONG HEADS — THE FORCE OF RIDICULE.

Passing from war to peace, we will begin with marriage as practised among the Dyaks.

In some parts of the country marriage is a very simple business, the two parties living together as long as they like each other, and separating if either feels dissatisfied. In any case, as we shall see, the facilities for divorce are extreme, and the bonds of matrimony are worn with marvellous looseness.

The reader cannot but have remembered the singular coincidence that often exists between customs of savage and of civilized life.

Among the Sinambau Dyaks there is a mode of courtship which still prevails in some parts of Europe, though it is generally falling into disuse. A young Sinambau Dyak, when struck with the charms of a girl, shows his preference in various ways, such as helping her in her daily labor, carrying home her load of wood for her, and making her such presents as are in his power to give.

After he has carried on these attentions for some time, he thinks that he may proceed to a more explicit declaration. At night, when the family is supposed to be asleep, he quietly slides back the bolt of the door, steals to the spot where his beloved is sleeping under her mosquito curtains, and gently awakes her. He always brings with him an abundant supply of betel-nut and sirih leaf, and the two sit talking together throughout the greater part of the night. It cannot be expected that the parents of the girl, who sleep in the same room, should be wholly ignorant of the proceeding, but they are conventionally supposed to be so, and if they approve of the young man they take no notice, while if they do not, they use their influence with the girl to induce her to dismiss him.

The mode of rejection is in keeping with the rest of the proceedings. Should the girl dislike the too adventurous suitor, she declines accepting the betel-nut, and merely asks him to blow up the fire or light the lamp, a request which is tantamount to instant dismissal.

When the marriage takes place a feast is made, and then the parties are made man and wife without any more ceremony. It is very seldom that the young couple begin housekeeping on their own account, and, as a general rule, the bridegroom enters the household of his father-in-law, or, at all events, of some of his wife’s relations, and so becomes one of the family, laboring for the common stock, and taking his share when the head of the household dies. Occasionally this plan is reversed, and when the bride is one of a large family of brothers and sisters, or if the bridegroom is the sole support of his parents, she accompanies her husband, and becomes part of his household.

The ceremony of marriage among the Sibuyan Dyaks of Lundu is worthy of notice. The artist has given an admirable representation of this unique ceremony on the following page. Two bars of iron are laid on the ground in the spot appointed for the ceremony, and the young couple are brought from opposite ends of the village. The first part of the ceremony consists in seating them on the bars of iron, as token that the blessings of their married life are to be as strong as iron. The priest gives to each of the pair a cigar and some betel-nut and sirih leaf, which they hold in their hand until the next part of the ceremony is completed. Taking two fowls in his hands, the priest waves them over the heads of the couple, and, in the course of a long address, invokes every blessing upon them. He then solemnly knocks their heads together three times, after which the bridegroom places the betel-nut in the mouth of his bride, and inserts the cheroot between her lips, she afterward doing the same by him, this ceremony being the public acknowledgment of accepting each other as husband and wife.

After they have thus declared their acceptance of each other, the fowls are killed, and their blood received in two cups, the color of the blood being carefully inspected by the priest, and its hue being held as an omen of the future well-being or misery of the newly married pair. One of the feasts which will presently be described closes the ceremonies.

It has already been mentioned that in most cases the bridegroom enters the family of his wife. But in any case he is bound to honor the father of his wife even above his own father. The young husband may never even pronounce the name of his father-in-law, he may not eat from the same dish, drink from the same cup, or rest on the same mat.

Among another tribe of Dyaks, the Balaus of Lingga, the ceremonies of marriage are rather different. By way of a propitiatory offering, the mother of the bridegroom gives to the relatives of the bride some domestic utensil, such as a plate or a basin, and three days afterward the very simple ceremony is performed.

The bridegroom’s mother takes a quantity of the areca-nut prepared for chewing, divides it into three portions, places them in a basket, and sets them on a sort of altar in front of the bride’s house. The friends of both parties then assemble, and chew the nuts while they discuss the future prospects of the young couple, and they decide as to the amount of fine which the husband shall pay to his wife in case he separates from her after she is a mother, or when she is likely to be so. In fact, in their own rough-and-ready way, these Dyaks have contrived to organize a tolerably complete code of marriage settlements, which, in consequence of the very easy system of divorce, is absolutely necessary for the protection of the women.

These Sea Dyaks of Lingga have, in common with all the sea tribes, the greatest pride of birth; and if a girl were to listen to the addresses of a man of much inferior rank, her parents would prohibit the match. In one such case the two lovers fled into the jungle, poisoned themselves with the juice of the tuba plant, and were found dead next morning in each other’s arms. So full are they of their family pride, that they look upon any mixture of their noble blood as a dire disgrace, and this is carried to so great an extent that, although within their own degree their morals are of the laxest order, the men would scorn an intrigue with a woman of low condition.

The Dyaks of Sibuyan are remarkable for the superiority of their morals when compared with the generality of the Dyak tribes, believing that immorality is an offence against the higher powers, and that, if a girl becomes a mother before she is married, she angers the deities of the tribe, who show their wrath by visitations upon the whole of the tribe. If, therefore, such a case be discovered, both the erring lovers are heavily fined, and a pig is sacrificed in order to avert the anger of the offended deities. Nor do the delinquents always escape the fine even after the sacrifice of the pig, for every one who was smitten with sickness, or met with an accident, within a month of the sacrifice, has a claim on them for damages, as having been the cause of the misfortune, while, if any one has died, the survivors claim compensation for the loss of their relative.

The reader will remember that the young people of both sexes live with their parents, contributing their labor to the common stock, and being therefore incapable of possessing property of their own. In consequence of this arrangement, the fines which are levied upon the lovers practically fall upon the parents, who therefore take care to look after their daughters, while the young men are partly kept out of mischief by being obliged to sleep together at the head house.

The Dyaks of the Batang Lupar are more lax in their notion of morality than the Sibuyans, and it is seldom that a girl is married until she is likely to become a mother. When this is the case, the lover marries her as a matter of course, but in those cases where a man denies his complicity, and the girl is unable to prove it, she is so bitterly scorned and reproached by her kindred that she generally runs away from the village. Some such delinquents have been known to take poison in order to escape the contempt of their relatives and acquaintances. They are thought to have brought such a disgrace on their family, that the parents sacrifice a pig to the higher powers, and wash the door of the house with its blood, in order to propitiate the offended deities.

When the pair are married, they almost invariably remain faithful to each other. There is, however, small credit to them for it, inasmuch as they can be divorced on the slightest pretext. An evil omen in the night, such as a “bad bird,” will frighten both parties so much that they will separate by mutual consent on the next day. Mr. St. John mentions that many men and women are married seven or eight times before they finally fix upon a partner with whom they mean to spend the rest of their lives, and as an example of the exceeding facility for divorce which exists among the Dyaks, states that he saw a young girl of seventeen who had already had three husbands.

Still, it is very seldom that married couples part after they are parents; and if they do so, the family of the women expect a heavy fine from the fickle husband. Now and then, a married pair are really so attached to each other that they do not like to part, even when they hear the voice of a “bad bird.” In such a case they avert the anger of the superior powers by sacrificing a pig, and are then able to remain together without fear. It often happens that a man and wife quarrel, and divorce themselves. After a while, however, they begin to think that they have made a mistake, and are allowed to renew their matrimonial relations without any ceremony or fresh rites of marriage.

Mr. St. John mentions a curious case of jealousy after a divorce, and its consequences.

The Pañgeran Mumein took a Murout girl, and paid her father as a marriage portion a heavy weight of brass guns—a curious sort of currency which is much valued by the Dyaks, and perfectly useless for any practical purposes. He left her for some time, and then, after she had borne him a child, repudiated her, telling her father that he did not want her any more, unless she liked to follow him to Brunei. This, however, the girl refused to do, so the Pañgeran made her father refund the brass guns, and besides pay a fine of double the amount, as a penalty for not allowing the girl to go to Brunei, where he meant to have sold her as a slave. The father paid the fine, and was told that the girl might then go where she liked, and marry whom she chose, as was only just after the previous event.

Accordingly, some little time afterward, she did marry one of her countrymen, whereupon the Pañgeran flew into a fit of jealousy, and ordered the head man or Orang-Kaya of the village to seize them and bring them to him. The Orang-Kaya was afraid, and hid himself, so that the Pañgeran had to employ the Bisayas, who captured the husband and brought him to their employer. The unfortunate man was then tied up to the Orang-Kaya’s landing place, and the Pañgeran cut him to pieces with his own hand, finishing by making a present of his head to the Gadong Murut Dyaks. Having thus wreaked his vengeance on the man who excited his jealousy, he allowed the girl and her father to go unharmed. Dyak history is full of similar tales.

Jealousy is by no means confined to the men, the women being far more jealous of the men than they of their wives, and with good reason. There is a tacit law that, whenever a wife detects her husband in flirting, she may beat her rival to her heart’s content, provided that she use nothing except a stick, and, if the woman be married, her husband may beat the disturber of his domestic peace, if he can. The usual result of discovery in such cases is, that the man goes off into the bush under the pretext of head hunting, and stays there until he thinks his wife’s anger has cooled down. If he is fortunate enough to return with a head, his success as a warrior ensures a condonation for his shortcomings as a husband.

The Dyaks have a code of forbidden degrees for marriages, differing slightly in the various tribes, but tolerably uniform on the whole. Marriage with first cousins is not permitted, they being looked upon as brother and sister; neither, as a general rule, is an uncle allowed to marry his niece. To this latter rule, however, there are exceptions. Marriage with a deceased wife’s sister is almost universally permitted, and, in fact, encouraged, provided that the parents of the woman approve of the match, because in that case all the children belong to one family.

Of sport, as we understand the word, the Dyaks have no idea, though they possess all the capabilities for it, being active, daring, and quick sighted. All these characteristics are shown in the mode by which they supply themselves with honey. They do not keep hives in or near their houses, but seldom fail to see a bees’ nest in a tree, though the unaccustomed eyes of an European can see nothing of the bees at the great height at which the nests are usually found.

Sometimes the stem of the tree rises for a hundred feet without a branch, and is from fifteen to twenty-five feet in circumference. The Dyaks, however, ascend such a tree with ease. They bore holes in the trunk of the tree as high as they can reach, and drive into them wooden pegs rather more than a foot in length. A stout rattan or a bamboo is then driven into the ground, and the ends of the wooden pegs are lashed to it so as to form a sort of ladder, of which the bamboo forms one side, and the trunk of the tree the other. On this slender ladder they ascend, drive in more pegs, and lash them to the bamboo, adding one bamboo after another until the nest is reached.

Nothing looks more insecure than this primitive ladder, which sways fearfully as the man ascends, the rattan lashings cracking and creaking as if the whole structure were coming to pieces. It is, however, perfectly adapted for its purpose, and, armed with a flaming torch, the almost naked Dyak ascends, and fearlessly takes the nest, which he lowers down by means of a rattan.

The nest is generally attacked at night, the Dyaks saying the bees always fly after the sparks that fall from the torch, believing them to be the enemy that is disturbing the nest, the man himself escaping unhurt. Some of the tribes have another plan, and before they ascend the tree light beneath it a large fire in which they throw a quantity of green branches. The smoke from these branches drives the bees out of their nest, and stupefies them for a time, so that the combs can be taken without danger.

Of games which are, in fact, an imitation of war, the Dyaks are equally ignorant, and, although so warlike a people, they do not wrestle, nor box, nor race. It would be expected that a people who trust so much to the sword would exercise with sham weapons, for the purpose of accustoming themselves to the proper management of the sword and shield. This, however, they never do, thinking that all such exercises are unlucky.

They have one game which somewhat resembles our swing, but which partakes in some degree of the nature of a religious ceremony. A strong derrick is erected some forty or fifty feet high, and to this is suspended a stout single rattan, which reaches within a few feet of the ground. The derrick is strengthened by rattan stays lashed to a neighboring tree. The end of the rattan is formed into a large loop.

At some distance from the derrick, just where the end of the rattan describes its circle, a slight bamboo stage is erected. One of the swingers mounts on the stage, draws the rattan to him by means of a string, places his foot in the loop, and swings off with as much impetus as he can give himself. As he returns, another leaps on the swing, and sometimes two at a time will do so, until ten or twelve are all swinging away at the same time. Of course, they cannot all put their feet in the loop, but content themselves with clinging to the arms and legs of those who have done so. As they swing, they strike up a monotonous song, which sounds like a dirge. It is, however, merely an invocation to the deities for a plentiful harvest and a good fishing season. As may be imagined, they often get bad falls from those swings.

The boys and youths have a game which is familiar to all gymnasts. The two competitors sit opposite each other on the ground, the soles of their feet being placed in contact. They then grasp a short stick, and each tries to pull the other on his face or to raise him off the ground. There is also a game which bears a close resemblance to our “prisoners’ base,” twenty or thirty players joining in the game; and there is another game, which is very much like the “cock fighting” of English school-boys. The players stand on one foot, holding the other foot in one hand and try to upset each other, or at least to make their antagonists put both feet to the ground.

In “cat’s cradle” they are wonderful proficients. Mr. Wallace thought that he could instruct them in the game but found that they knew much more about it than he did. They were acquainted with all the mysteries of the English modification of the game, and produced a vast number of additional changes from the string. Indeed, the Dyaks can do almost anything with a piece of string, and they could well instruct our own conjurors in this branch of legerdemain.

Cock fighting is an amusement of which the Dyaks are very fond, though they do not indulge in that amusement with the reckless enthusiasm of the Malays. Mr. St. John writes of the birds used for this purpose: “We did not see more than a few of these birds in Dyak houses, but since they are usually kept, when not in training or exercise, closely wrapped in linen bands and hung on nails in a dry place, they might easily escape our notice.

“Not having the fear of police magistrates and Humane Society prosecutions before our eyes, we assisted at one or two brief combats, evidently mere trial matches to assist the calculations of the ‘bookmakers,’ by testing each bird’s pluck and skill. When this object was attained by a few minutes’ struggle, held with much secrecy in the veranda by the gray light of early morning, the cocks were picked up before any injury was inflicted, and carefully swathed in their bandages, from the midst of which they soothed their ruffled feelings with an occasional crow of defiance.”

Allusion has already been made to the feasts held by the Dyaks on several occasions, and it is only on such festivities that the men ever use their weapons in sham fight. Even in those cases, they do not so employ them by way of practising themselves, but merely because they form part of the movements of the dance. In one of these dances, described by Mr. Keppel, two swords are laid on a mat in the middle of the room, and two men advance toward them from opposite sides, waving their arms, revolving on their toes, and performing various manœuvres with their legs.

As soon as they come to the mat, they suddenly stoop, seize the swords, and go through the movements of actual combat, crossing swords, advancing, retiring, cutting at each other, kneeling at one moment as if to collect force, and then springing up with renewed energy. Both dancers have previously studied and practised the various movements, each of which they make simultaneously.

Sometimes the sword dance is performed with the shield as well as the sword, and of this dance Mr. Marryat has written so graphic an account that his own words must be used. The guests were asked if they wished for a specimen of the war dance.

“Having expressed our wishes in the affirmative, the music struck up; it consisted of gongs and tom-toms. The Malay gong, which the Dyaks also make use of, is like the Javanese, thick with a broad rim, and very different from the gong of the Chinese. Instead of the clanging noise of the latter, it gives out a muffled sound of a deep tone. The gong and tom-tom are used by the Dyaks and Malays in war, and for signals at night, and the Dyaks procure them from the Malays. I said that the music struck up, for, rude as the instruments were, they modulate the sound, and keep time so admirably, that it was anything but inharmonious.

“A space was now cleared in the centre of the house, and two of the oldest warriors stepped into it. They were dressed in turbans, long loose jackets, sashes round their waists descending to their feet, and small bells were attached to their ankles. They commenced by first shaking hands with the rajah, and then with all the Europeans present, thereby giving us to understand, as was explained to us, that the dance was to be considered only as a spectacle, and not to be taken in its literal sense, as preparatory to an attack upon us, a view of the case in which we fully coincided with them.

“This ceremony being over, they rushed into the centre and gave a most unearthly scream, then poising themselves on one foot they described a circle with the other, at the same time extending their arms like the wings of a bird, and then meeting their hands, clapping them and keeping time with the music. After a little while the music became louder, and suddenly our ears were pierced with the whole of the natives present joining in the hideous war cry. Then the motions and the screams of the dancers became more violent, and everything was working up to a state of excitement by which even we were influenced.

“Suddenly a very unpleasant odor pervaded the room, already too warm from the numbers it contained. Involuntarily we held our noses, wondering what might be the cause, when we perceived that one of the warriors had stepped into the centre, and suspended round the shoulders of each dancer a human head in a wide-meshed basket of rattan. These heads had been taken in the late Sakarran business, and were therefore but a fortnight old. They were encased in a wide network of rattan, and were ornamented with beads. Their stench was intolerable, although, as we discovered upon after-examination, when they were suspended against the wall, they had been partially baked, and were quite black. The teeth and hair were quite perfect, the features somewhat shrunk, and they were altogether very fair specimens of pickled heads; but our worthy friends required a lesson from the New Zealanders in the art of preserving.

“The appearance of the heads was a sign for the music to play louder, for the war cry of the natives to be more energetic, and for the screams of the dancers to be more piercing. Their motions now became more rapid, and the excitement in proportion. Their eyes glistened with unwonted brightness, the perspiration dropped down their faces; and thus did yelling, dancing, gongs, and tom-toms become more rapid and more violent every minute, till the dancing warriors were ready to drop. A farewell yell, with emphasis, was given by the surrounding warriors; immediately the music ceased, the dancers disappeared, and the tumultuous excitement and noise were succeeded by a dead silence.

“Such was the excitement communicated, that when it was all over we ourselves remained for some time panting to recover our breath. Again we lighted our cheroots, and smoked for awhile the pipe of peace.

“A quarter of an hour elapsed, and the preparations were made for another martial dance. This was performed by two of the Rajah’s sons, the same young men I have previously made mention of. They came forward each having on his arm one of the large Dyak shields, and in the centre of the cleared space were two long swords lying on the floor. The ceremony of shaking hands, as described, preparatory to the former dance, was gone through; the music then struck up, and they entered the arena.

“At first they confined themselves to evolutions of defence, springing from one side to the other with wonderful quickness, keeping their shields in front of them, falling on one knee, and performing various feats of agility. After a short time, they each seized a sword and then the display was very remarkable, and proved what ugly customers they must be in single conflict. Blows in every direction, feints of every description, were made by both, but invariably received upon the shield. Cumbrous as these shields were, no opening was left; retreating, pursuing, dodging, and striking, the body was never exposed.

“Occasionally, during this performance, the war cry was given by the surrounding warriors, but the combatants held their peace; in fact, they could not afford to open their mouths, lest an opening should be made. It was a most masterly performance, and we were delighted with it.”

A rather curious dance was witnessed by Mr. Boyle at a feast of which an account will presently be given. First two chiefs each took a sword, and began a maniacal sort of dance, which was intended to be very imposing, but only succeeded in being very ludicrous, owing to the fact that both were too much intoxicated to preserve their balance, and, being of opposite tempers in their cups, one was merry and the other was sulky.

After this performance was over, a tall chief stepped forward with a whip, much like a cat-o’-nine-tails, another produced a human head, and the two began to chase each other round the veranda of the building. Presently, the chief with the head stopped, and with one foot in the air began to pirouette slowly, while he swung the head backward and forward, the chief with the whip lashing vigorously at the spectators, and laughing derisively at each cut.

After a while these performers became too tired to proceed without refreshment, and their place was taken by four or five others carrying blocks of wood having a feather at each end. The foreign guests took these objects to represent canoes, but were told that they were rhinoceros hornbills, and were thought by all competent judges to be fine works of art. Suddenly a number of gongs were beaten, and over the mass of human beings arose swords, heads, rhinoceros hornbills, and cat-o’-nine-tails in profusion, the Dyaks being for the time half mad with excitement.

It was remarkable that in this wild scene no harm was done, no blow was struck in anger, and no quarrel took place. Decorum was maintained throughout the whole of the festival, though not one of the revellers was sober, and then, as Mr. Boyle remarks, “a scene which, according to all precedent, should have been disgusting, turned out to be pleasantly amusing.”

This feast was a very good example of a Dyak revel. It was given by the chief Gasing, who was gorgeously attired for the occasion in an old consular uniform coat, covered with gold lace, the top of a dragoon’s helmet tied on his head with a handkerchief, a brass regimental breastplate on his forehead, and a plated tureen cover on his breast. This tureen cover, by the way, was the most valued of Gasing’s possessions, and one which was madly envied by all the neighboring chiefs. Being a tall, thin man, the effect of his naked, lean, yellow legs, appearing from beneath all this splendor, was remarkable.

He had prepared his long house carefully for the festival. He had erected a bamboo railing on the edge of the veranda, as a necessary precaution against accidents, for the veranda was at a considerable height from the ground, and the guests are all expected to be very unsteady on their feet, even if they can stand at all. From the top of the rail to the eaves of the veranda he had thrown a quantity of cloths, so as to allow the chiefs who sat under them to be sheltered from the rays of the sun.

For this festival Gasing had been making preparations for months past, half-starving himself in order to collect the requisite amount of provisions, and being likely to find himself rather deeply in debt before the preparations were completed. Unfortunately for the English guests, the smell of Dyak cookery is anything but agreeable, and one of their favorite articles of food, the fruit called the durian, exhales a most intolerable odor, so that, if they had not been furnished with plenty of tobacco, they would have been obliged to retire from the scene.

The Dyaks roast fowls without removing the feathers, tear them joint from joint, and so eat them. They have a most extraordinary liking for viands in a nearly putrid state, such as fish or molluscs in a very advanced state of decomposition, eggs black from age, and rotten fruit, the chief being the durian, which smells like all the other dishes put together, but with a sort of peculiar fragrance of its own. Even foreigners have learned to like the durian, but they have not found that it acclimatizes them to the bad eggs, burnt feathers, and very high fish.

This very remarkable fruit is about as large as a cocoa-nut, slightly oval, and is covered with a thick, tough skin, armed with sharp, short, and stout spines, the bases of which touch each other. The skin is so strong, that even when it falls, as it always does when ripe, from a considerable height, it does not break, and the spines are so sharp and hard, that, if a durian falls on a man, it inflicts a very severe wound, and causes great loss of blood.

When possible it is eaten fresh, as it falls ripe from the tree, but it is often cooked while still green, and, when especially plentiful, is preserved in jars by means of salt. In this state its natural odor is very greatly increased, and the very opening of a jar of preserved durians is enough to drive a stranger to the country out of the room.

Mr. Wallace gives a very interesting account of the durian, mentioning that, although for some time the odor of the fruit completely deterred him from tasting it, he once found a ripe durian just fallen from the tree, overcame his repugnance to the fruit, tried it, ate it, and became from that moment a confirmed durian eater. The following passage contains his description of the peculiar flavor of the durian:—

“The five cells are satiny white within, and are each filled with an oval mass of cream-colored pulp, embedded in which are two or three seeds about the size of chestnuts. This pulp is the eatable part, and its consistence and flavor are indescribable. A rich, butter-like custard, highly flavored with almonds, gives the best general idea of it, but intermingled with it come wafts of flavor that call to mind cream cheese, onion sauce, brown sherry, and other incongruities.

“Then there is a rich glutinous smoothness in the pulp which nothing else possesses, but which adds to its delicacy. It is neither acid, nor sweet, nor juicy, yet one feels the want of none of these qualities, for it is perfect as it is. It produces no nausea or other bad effect, and the more you eat of it the less you feel inclined to stop. In fact, to eat durians is a new sensation, worth a voyage to the East to experience.”

Mr. Wallace, in summing up the merits of the various fruits with which we are acquainted, says that if he had to fix on two only, which would represent the very perfection of flavor and refreshing qualities, he would choose the durian and the orange, which he terms the king and queen of fruits.

Their national drink, called “tuak,” is worthily matched with the viands. It is in color like thin milk, and its odor has been forcibly compared to that of five hundred negroes drunk in a slave-pen. The same traveller, having fortified his palate with the strongest tobacco, drank some of the liquid in honor of his host, and gives a very vivid description of its flavor. When first taken into the mouth, it gives the idea of cocoa-nut milk gone very sour, and holding in solution a considerable quantity of brown sugar and old cheese. When it is swallowed, the victim is conscious of a suffocating sensation, as if the liquid were thickened with starch and a great quantity of the strongest cayenne pepper, the general effect produced on the novice being comparable to nothing but a very bad attack of sea sickness.

Strange to say, this abominable liquid retains the strongest hold on three millions of human beings, who can conceive no greater luxury than the privilege of drinking it without stint. At their feasts it is kept in huge bathing jars, and is handed about in all kinds of vessels, which are continually emptied and sent back to be replenished, so that a continual stream of full and empty vessels passes from and to the large jars.

Even if the warriors who are invited to the festival were to feel inclined to sobriety, they would be forced to drink by the women, who seem to think themselves bound to make every man completely intoxicated. “No Delilah of Europe better knows her power to make a fool of a strong man than one of these Dyak syrens, nor is more inclined to exert her fascinations.

“The presence of the female element was soon felt in the noise and confusion, which absolutely seemed to increase. Several of the girls were so charming as to excuse the infatuation of their victims, and I need scarcely say that the prettiest were the most culpable. But ugly or beautiful, old or young, all instantly employed their most cunning arts in enticing the bravest and most famous warriors to drink and drink again.

“We saw a little beauty seat herself lovingly beside a tall fellow with a simple face and honest eyes, whom she coaxed to toast her from a large jar which she offered to his lips, until he fairly fell backward upon the floor. This satisfactory conclusion attained, his tormentor, who, we heard, was affianced to him, ran screaming with laughter to bring seven other wretches as mischievous as herself to jeer at the vanquished lover. Raising her hopes to sport of a higher order, she shortly after brought her jar to the spot where we sat, in the hope, no doubt, of beguiling the white men into the same condition as her other admirers; but in Europe we are accustomed to run the gauntlet of more dangerous fascinations, and she relinquished the attempt in despair.”

Mr. St. John mentions that the men are in no way behind the women in their efforts to seduce their guests to intoxication, and it is their greatest pride to have as much tuak drunk as possible, to drink their own share and remain comparatively sober, while all their guests are laid prostrate and insensible. In fact, if we substitute punch and port for tuak, and an open veranda for a closed dining-room, there is little difference between the hospitality of the present Dyak chief and that of the average English squire of the last century.

A chief, for example, who prides himself on his strong head, will sit before a huge jar of tuak, and pledge every one around. For every one whom he serves he drinks one cup himself, and it is his ambition to keep his seat after all his companions are insensible. Of course, it is impossible that any man can drink an equal amount with ten or twelve others, and it is most likely that he forces the tuak on them so fast that they are soon rendered incapable of seeing whether their host drinks or not. They are very proud of being fresh on the following morning, and boast that although their guests, who belonged to another tribe, had severe headaches, they themselves suffered nothing at all.

It is partly by means of appealing to this pride that the girls are able to make the men drink to the extent which has been mentioned, and they derive so much amusement from exercising their power that they lose no opportunity that falls in their way, and essay their blandishments even when there is no definite feast.

Once, when Mr. St. John had travelled from the Sibuyan Dyaks to the Bukars, he and his guides were received, as usual, in the head house. While the English guests were making their toilet, two young Dyak girls came very gently up the ladder and slipped into the chamber. Now the head house is, as the reader may remember, the bachelors’ hall, and consequently the girls had no business there. So, pretending not to see them, the white men proceeded with their toilets, and quietly watched their proceedings.

The two girls, after glancing cautiously at the strangers, and thinking themselves unobserved, made their way to the Dyak guides, each having in her hands a vast bowl of fresh tuak, which they offered to the visitors. The young men, knowing their object, declined to drink, and thereby drew on themselves a battery of mixed blandishments and reproaches. Above all, they were entreated not to inflict on the girls the shame of refusing their gift, and making them take it back, to be laughed at by all their friends.

Cajolery, honied words, and caresses having been resisted, they tried the effect of ridicule, and their taunts succeeded where their coaxings failed. “What!” said they, “are the Sibuyans so weak-headed as to be afraid of drinking Bukar tuak?” This touched the visitors on a very tender point. The Sibuyans specially pride themselves on the strength of their heads and of their tuak, and a refusal to drink was thus made tantamount to a confession of inferiority in both respects. So they raised the huge bowls to their lips, and were allowed no peace until they had drained the last drops, when their tempters ran away laughing, knowing that in a very short time their two victims would be senseless.

It is a most extraordinary thing that the Dyak women, most of whom do not drink at all, and very few drink even moderately, take such a delight in forcing the men into intoxication. The young girls are the most successful temptresses. They take advantage of their youth and beauty, and employ all their fascinations to inveigle the men into drinking. No man is safe from them.

Their brothers, friends, and even their betrothed, fall, as we have seen, victims to their blandishments. They will make up to perfect strangers, get up a flirtation, and lavish all their enchantments upon them like Circe of old, until they have reduced their helpless admirers to a state little better than that of the mythological swine. Even after the men have sunk on the ground, and are incapable of raising the cup to their lips, the women think their task not quite completed, and pour the tuak down the throats of the helpless men. In the “Dyak Feast,” which the artist has so finely drawn on the opposite page, the appeal and dresses of these Eastern syrens are illustrated.

Yet, although on such occasions they give themselves over to utter drunkenness, the Dyaks are a sober race, and except at these feasts, or when beset by women, they are singularly temperate, the betel-nut supplying the place of all intoxicating liquor.