LIBRARY v.. BOOKS BY CARL LUMHOLTZ THKODOH CENTRAL BORNEO NEW TRAILS IN MEXICO AMONG CANNIBALS Ea(k Profuitly llluilraUd CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS THROUGH CENTRAL BORNEO 1. 1>V lutKSi « AKI. J-lMHol,!/. IN IMK HI 1 N<. AN U H THROUGH CENTRAL BORNEO AN ACCOUNT OF TWO YEARS' TRAVEL IN THE LAND OF THE HEAD-HUNTERS BETWEEN THE YEARS 1913 AND 1917 BY ^ i\^ ^'^'' CARL LUMHOLTZ IfEMBER OF THE SOaETY OF SCIENCES OF CHRISTIANIA, NORWAY GOLD MEDALLIST OF THE NORWEGIAN GEOGRAPHICAL SOCTETY ASSOCIE ETRANGER DE LA SOCIETE DE L'ANTHROPOLOGIE DE PARIS, ETC. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BY THE AUTHOR AND WITH MAP VOLUME I NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 1920 COPYKICBT, IMO. BY CHARLF.'; '^CRIBN'ER'S SONS Publubed Sepcembcr, IMU We may safely affirm that the better specimens of savages are much superior to the lower examples of civilized peoples. Alfred Russel ffallace. PREFACE Ever since my camping life with the aborigines of Queensland, many years ago, it has been my desire to explore New Guinea, the promised land of all who are fond of nature and ambitious to discover fresh secrets. In furtherance of this purpose their Majesties, the King and Queen of Norway, the Norwegian Geographical So- ciety, the Royal Geographical Society of London, and Koninklijk Nederlandsch Aardrijkskundig Genootschap, generously assisted me with grants, thus facilitating my efforts to raise the necessary funds. Subscriptions were received in Norway, also from American and English friends, and after purchasing the principal part of my outfit in London, I departed for New York in the au- tumn of 1913, en route for the Dutch Indies. In 1914, having first paid a visit to the Bulungan, in northeast Borneo, in order to engage the necessary Dayaks, I was preparing to start for Dutch New Guinea when the war broke out. Under these changed conditions his Excellency, tne Governor-General, A. W. F. Idenburg, regretted his in- ability to give me a military escort and other assistance needed for carrying out my plan, and advised me to await a more favorable opportunity. During this in- terval, having meanwhile visited India, I decided to viii PREFACE make an expedition through Central Borneo, large tracts of which arc unexplored and unknown to the out- side world. My project was later extended to include other regions of Dutch Borneo, and the greater j)art of two years was spent in making researches among its very interesting natives. In tliese undertakings I received the valuable assistance of their Excellencies, the gov- ernor-general and the commanding general, as well as the higher officials of the Dutch Government, to all of whom I wish to express my heartfelt thanks. Through the courtesy of the well-known Topo- grafische Inrichting, in Batavia, a competent surveyor, whose work will later be published, was attached to my expeditions. He did not accompany me on my first visit to the Bulungan, nor on the second occasion, when I went to the lake of Sembulo, where the country is well known. In the map included in this book I have indi- cated the locations of the different tribes in Dutch Borneo, based on information gathered from official and private .sources and on my own observations. I usually had a taxidermist, first a trained Sarawak Dayak, later a Javanese, to collect mammals and birds. Fishes and reptiles were also preserved in alcohol. Specimens of ethnological interest were collected from the different tribes visited; the collection from the Pcni- hings I believe is complete. Measurements of 227 in- dividuals were taken and as soon as practicable will be worked out by Doctor K. S. Schreiner, professor at the University of Christiania. Vocabularies were collected from most of the tribes. In spite of adverse conditions, PREFACE ix due to climate and the limitations under which I trav- elled, a satisfactory collection of photographic plates and films was brought back. With few exceptions, these photographs were taken by myself. For the pictures facing page 26 I am indebted to Doctor J. C. Konings- berger, President of the Volksraad, Buitenzorg, Java. Those facing pages 16 and 17 were taken by Mr. J. F. Labohm. The lower picture facing page 286 was taken by Mr. A. M. Erskine. My observations on the tribes are recorded in con- formity with my itinerary, and include the Kayans, Kenyahs, Murungs, Penyahbongs, Saputans, the nomadic Punans and Bukits, Penihings, Oma-Sulings, Long- Glats, Katingans, Duhoi (Ot-Danums), and the Ta- moans. On one or two occasions when gathering intel- ligence from natives I was very fortunate in my inform- ants—an advantage which will be appreciated by any one who has undertaken a similar errand and has en- joyed the keen satisfaction experienced when drawing the veil from primitive thought which lies so near and yet so far away. Circumstances naturally prevented me from making a thorough study of any tribe, but I indulge the hope that the material here presented may prove In some de- gree acceptable to the specialist as well as to the general reader. Matter that was thought to be of purely anthro- pological Interest is presented in a special supplement. Above all, I have abstained from generalities, to which one might be tempted on account of the many similar- ities encountered in the tribes that were visited. With- X PREFACE out the light of experience it is inij)ossible to imagine how much of interest and delight there is in store for the student of man's primitive condition. However, as the captain of Long Iram said to me in Long Pahangei, "One must have plenty of time to travel in Borneo." I have pleasure in recording here the judicious manner in which the Dutch authorities deal with the natives. On a future occasion I shall hope to be able to pub- lish a detailed report on several of the novel features of my Bornean collections, especially as regards decorative art, the protective wooden carvings called kapatongs, the flying boat, etc. The first collections sent to Norway ran the risks in- cident to war. Most of them were rescued from the storehouses at Antwerp after the German occupation, through the exertions of the Norwegian Foreign OtTice, though a smaller part, chiefly zoological, appears to have been lost in Genoa. Count Nils Gyldenstolpe, of the Natural History Museum, Vetenskapsakademien in Stockholm, who is determining the mammals collected, informs me that so far a new species of flying maki and two new subspecies of flying squirrels have been described. To further my enterprise, liberal gifts of supplies were received from various firms in Christiania: preserved milk from Nestle & .Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Co., tobacco from Tiedeinann's Fabrik, alcohol for preserving specimens from Loitens Braenderi, cacao from Freia Chokolade Fabrik. A medical outfit was presented by Mr. L. Sisscner, Apotheket "Kronen," Christiania, and PREFACE xi Messrs. Burrows, Wellcome & Co., of London, placed at my disposal three of their excellent medicinal travelling- cases. I want to express my appreciation of many services rendered by the Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij and its branches, especially the Factorij in Batavia. I am under similar obligations to the Koninklijke Paket- vaart-Maatschappij, and my thanks are also due to De Scheepsagentuur for courtesies received. Miss Ethel Newcomb, of New York, has kindly transcribed the two songs rendered. Finally I desire to make grateful acknowledgment of valuable assistance rendered by Doctor J. C. Konings- berger, and by Doctor W. van Bemmelen, director of Koninklijk Magnetisch en Meteorologisch Observator- ium, Weltevreden, Batavia. Although force of circumstances altered the scope and to some extent the character of this expedition, never- theless my Bornean experiences afforded great satis- faction. Moreover, my sojourn in the equatorial regions of the East has imbued me with an even stronger desire to carry out my original purpose, which I hope to ac- complish in the near future. Carl -, ^ , .. Lumholtz New York, April, 1920. — CONTENTS VOLUME I CHAPTER I VAOC DEPARTURE FROM NEW YORK—A RACE WITH THE IMPERIAL LIMITED IMPRESSIONS OF JAPAN—SINGAPORE—ARRIVAL AT BATAVIA, JAVA—BUITENZORG—BORO BUDUR, THE WON- DROUS BUDDHIST MONUMENT 3 CHAPTER II BORNEO—CLIMATIC AND BIOLOGICAL CONDITIONS—NATURAL RESOURCES—POPULATION—HISTORY—GOVERNMENT OF THE NATIVES—RACIAL PROBLEMS I4 CHAPTER III BANDJERMASIN, THE PRINCIPAL TOWN IN DUTCH BORNEO NORTHWARD ALONG THE EAST COAST—BALIK PAPAN, AN OIL PRODUCING CENTRE—SAMARINDA—TANDJONG SELOR THE SULTAN—UP THE KAYAN RIVER 24 CHAPTER IV AN EXPEDITION INTO THE JUNGLE—FIRST IMPRESSIONS—RAPID CHANGE IN THE DENSENESS OF VEGETATION—ANIMAL LIFE —A STUBBORN FIGHT 34 CHAPTER V MEETING PUNANS, THE SHY JUNGLE PEOPLE—DOWN THE RIVER AGAIN—MY ENTHUSIASTIC BOATMEN—MALAYS VERSUS DAYAKS 44 CHAPTER VI RESUMPTION OF MY JOURNEY UP THE KAYAN RIVER—LONG PANGIAN—BERI-BERI—HINTS ON PROPER PROVISIONS KENYAHS FROM CENTRAL BORNEO— EFFECT OF A SPIDER's BITE 53 xiii — xiv CONTENTS CHAPTER VII ON THE ISAU RIVKR —A KINVAH lUILd's FUNERAL—A GREAT FISHING EXPEDITION —CATCHIN(; FISH BY POISONING THE RIVER—TAKING OMENS—ENTERTAINING SCENES 63 CHAPTER VIII THE JOURNEY CONTINUED UP THE K.AYAN RIVER—FIRST EX- PERIENCE OF K.IHAMS, OR RAPIDS —WITH K.ENYAH BOATMEN —ADVANTAGE OF NATIVE COOKING—LONG PELABAN THE ATTRACTIVE KENYAHS SOCIAL STRATA—CUSTOMS AND HAB- ITS —VALUABLE BEADS 70 CHAPTER IX HYDROPHOBIA—FUNERAL CFREMONIKS—AT A PADDI HARVEST —ANOTHER TUBA-FISHING EXPEDITION —THE CHARM OF PRIMITIVE MAN — INTERESTING CEREMONIES — ON HEAD- HUNTING GROUND 78 CHAPTER X IN FOG AND DARKNESS—A RAID BY ANTS —DEPARTURE