The pagan tribes of Borneo - Get a Free Blog Here

AGRICULTURE 105
against the edge of the knife. The ears thus
cropped are thrown into a basket slung round the
neck. As soon as a large basket has been filled by
the reapers, its contents are spread out on mats on a
platform before the hut. After an exposure of two
or three days, the grain is separated from the ears by
stamping upon them with bare feet. The separated
grain passes through the meshes of the coarse mat
on to a finer mat beneath. The grain is then
further dried by exposure to the sun. When the
whole crop has been gathered, threshed, and dried
in this way, it is transported in the large shoulder
baskets amid much rejoicing and merry-making to
Fig. 14. Fig. 15.
the padi barns adjoining the house, and the harvest
festival begins.
The elaborate operations on the padi farm that
we have described might seem to a materialist to
be sufficient to secure a good harvest ;
but this is
not the view taken by the Kayans, or any other
of the cultivators of Borneo. In their opinion all
these material labours would be of little avail if not
supplemented at every stage by the minute observance
of a variety of rites. T\i^ padi has life or soul,
or vitality, and is subject to sickness and to many
vaguely conceived influences, both good and bad.
Determination of the Seasons
The determination of the time for sowing the
seed is a matter of so great importance that in each