The pagan tribes of Borneo - Get a Free Blog Here

128 PAGAN TRIBES OF BORNEO chap.
host and other of the principal men present. Then
he makes acknowledgment of the kind and flattering
reception accorded him, and his pleasure at finding
this opportunity of improving the understanding
between himself and his hosts. " The views so
eloquently expressed by my friend (naming him
and using some complimentary title, e.g, brother or
father) are no doubt correct. Indeed, how could
it be otherwise ? But I have been told so and so,
and perhaps it may be, . . ." and so he goes on
to state his own views, taking care to shift the
responsibility for any remaining dissension on to the
shoulders of some distant third party. He congratulates
all parties on this free discussion of
matters of common interest, and with free gesticulation
exhorts them to turn a deaf ear to vague
rumours and to maintain friendly relations. Then,
dropping down beside his host, he says " Take no
notice of what I have said, I am drunk." Ganymede
again approaches him with a bumper cup, and then
rising to his feet and calling on his men, he addresses
his host in complimentary song and chorus, using
the gestures and expressions peculiar to his own
people. The song culminates as before in a general
chorus, long drawn out, while the house-chief drains
the cup.
The cups then circulate freely, and the smoking
of cigarettes is general ; other shorter speeches
may be made, perhaps by the sons or brothers of
the chiefs. As the evening wears away, both guests
and hosts become increasingly boisterous and
affectionate ; but few or none on an occasion of this
sort become intoxicated or quarrelsome. If a man
becomes a little too boisterous, he is led away to
one of the sleeping platforms in the gallery, and
kept there until he falls asleep.
During an evening of this sort the women congregate
in the adjacent rooms, where they can