The pagan tribes of Borneo - Get a Free Blog Here

I40 PAGAN TRIBES OF BORNEO chap.
their agility to avoid the spikes with which some of
the fish are armed. Large quantities of fish are
sometimes taken in this way ; what cannot be eaten
fresh
house.
are dried and smoked over the fires in the
While the tuba fishing is being arranged and the
preparations are going forward, great care is taken
to avoid mentioning the word tuba, and all references
to the fish are made in oblique phrases, such as
'' The leaves {i.e. the fishes) can't float over this
fence." This precaution is observed because it is
believed that the birds and the bats can understand
human speech, and may, if they overhear remarks
about the preparations, give warning to their friends
the fish, whose magician ^ (a bony fish called belira),
will then make rain, and, by thus swelling the
river, prevent the successful poisoning of the water.
Tickling is also practised with success, the men
standing in the edge of a lake among the grass and
sedges, where the fish seek cooler water in the heat
of the day.
All the methods of taking fish described above
are practised by most of the peoples, except of
course the use of the drag-net in the sea.
The crocodiles, which are numerous in the
lower reaches of the rivers, are not hunted or
attacked, save on provocation, by any of the peoples
of Borneo except the Malays.^ Occasionally a
bather is seized by one of them while in the
water or standing on a log floating in deep water
and more rarely a person is dragged out of a
small boat, while drifting quietly on deep water
at evening. If men and boats are at hand they
turn out promptly to attack the crocodile, if it
rises to the surface ; but there is small chance
of rescue. If the victim has sufficient presence
of mind and strength to thrust his thumbs against
1 See Chap. XVII. 2 gee Chap. XV.
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