The pagan tribes of Borneo - Get a Free Blog Here

CHAP. X WAR 159
possessing heads for use in the funeral rites are for
them the principal grounds of warfare ; and these
are generally combined, the avenging of injuries
being generally postponed, sometimes for many
years, until the need for new heads arises. Though
an old dried head will serve all the purposes of the
rites performed to terminate a period of mourning,
yet it is felt that a fresh head (or heads) is more
desirable, especially in the case of mourning for an
important chief.
When an old head is used in these rites, it is
customary to borrow it from another house or
village, and it is brought to the house by a party of
warriors in the full panoply of war, who behave
both on setting out and returning as though actually
on the war-path.
It may be said generally that Kayans seldom or
never wage war on Kayans, and seldom attack
others merely to secure heads or in sheer vainglory,
as the I bans not infrequently do. Nor do
they attack others merely in order to sustain their
prestige, as is sometimes done by the Kenyahs,
who in this respect carry to an extreme the principle
that attack is the most effective mode of defence.
War is generally undertaken by the Kayans
very deliberately, after much preparation and in
large well- organised parties, ranging in numbers
from fifty to a thousand or more warriors, made up
in many cases from several neighbouring villages,
and under the supreme command of one chief of
acknowledged eminence.
The weapons and war-dress are similar among all
the peoples. The principal weapon is the sword known
as parang Hang, or malat, a heavy blade (PI. 91)
of steel mounted in a handle of horn or hardwood.
The blade, about twenty-two inches in length, has
the cutting edge slightly bowed and the blunt back
edge slightly hollowed. The edges diverge slightly