The pagan tribes of Borneo - Get a Free Blog Here

72 PAGAN TRIBES OF BORNEO chap.
a subordinate member of their household. If they
succeed in this they will claim as their property
half the children born to the couple. On the other
hand, if the man insists on establishing himself in
possession of a room, he may succeed in practically
emancipating his wife, perhaps making some compensation
to her owners in the shape of personal
services or brass ware. In this case the children
of the couple would be regarded as freeborn. It is
generally possible for an energetic slave to buy his
freedom.
Less frequent is the marriage of a slave man
with a free woman of the middle class. In this
case the man will generally manage to secure his
emancipation and to establish himself as master of
a room, and to merge himself in the middle class.
In the case of marriage between two slaves, they
continue to live in the rooms of their owners,
spending by arrangement periods of two or three
years alternately as members of the two households.
The children born of such a slave-couple
are divided as they grow up between the owners of
their parents.
On the whole the slaves are treated with so much
kindness and consideration that they have little to
complain of, and most of them seem to have little
desire to be freed. A capable slave may become
the confidant and companion of his master, and in
this way may attain a position of considerable influence
in the village. A young slave is commonly
addressed by his master and mistress as *'My Child."
A slave is seldom beaten or subjected to any
punishment save scolding, and he bears his part
freely in the life of the family, sharing in its labours
and its recreations, its ill or its good fortunes.
Nothing in the dress or appearance of the slave
distinguishes him from the other members of the
village.