The pagan tribes of Borneo - Get a Free Blog Here

WAR 187
and in some cases of murder by Sea Dayaks,
a head ;
the
way.
murderer has no doubt been egged on in this
Nevertheless, we repeat that there is no ground
for the oft-reprinted assertion that the taking of a
head is a necessary prelude to marriage/ Like
other tribesmen I bans do not bring home the heads
of their companions who have fallen in battle ; but
while men of other tribes are content to drag the
corpses of their fallen friends into some obscure spot
and to cover them with branches, Ibans frequently
cut off the heads and bury them at a distance from
the scene of battle, in
taken by the enemy.
order to prevent their being
The Ibans use a rather greater variety of weapons
than the Kayans, in that they have spears whose
blades bear barbs which prevent the withdrawal of
the blade from the body of the enemy without great
violence.
The Klemantan tribes are on the whole far less
warlike than Kayans, Kenyahs, and Ibans. Their
offensive warfare is usually on a small scale, and
is undertaken primarily for revenge. Their warlike
ambition is easily satisfied by the taking of a single
head, or even by a mere hostile demonstration
against the enemy's house. Nevertheless, like all
the other tribes, except the Punans, the Klemantans
need a human head to terminate a period of mourning.
We venture to append to this chapter a few speculations
on the origin and history of head-hunting.
From what we have said above it is clear that the
Ibans are the only tribe to which one can apply the
epithet head-hunters with the usual connotation of
the word, namely, that head-hunting is pursued as
a form of sport. But although the Ibans are the
most inveterate head-hunters, it is probable that
they adopted the practice some few generations
^ See footnote, vol. i., p. 76.