Part 9 - Borneo

The methods of chewing in both Borneo and Celebes present no innovations. Nearly all travel-books to the East Indies of the nineteenth century contain the usual short account.

Speaking of the Dyaks (or Dayaks) of Sarawak, Hose says they are constantly chewing and have both lips and teeth discoloured with the practice.^[1]

Spencer St John gives us details of the use of the nut and betel leaf in Dyak betrothals and marriages.^[2]

Besides the ordinary attention which a young man is able to pay to the girl he desires to make his wife, there is a peculiar testimony of regard which is worthy of note. About nine or ten at night, when the family is supposed to be asleep within the mosquito curtains in the private apartment, the lover quietly slips back the bolt by which the door is fastened on the inside and enters the room on tiptoe. He goes to the curtains of his beloved, gently awakes her, and she, on hearing who it is, rises at once, and they sit conversing together and making arrangements for the future in the dark over a plentiful supply of sīrīh leaf and areca-nut, which it is the gentleman’s duty to provide. If, when awakened, the young lady arises and accepts the prepared areca-nut, happy is the lover, for his suit is in a fair way to prosper, but if, on the other hand, she rises and says: “Be good enough to blow up the fire,” or “to light the lamp,” then his hopes are at an end, as that is the usual form of dismissal. Of course, if this kind of nocturnal visit is frequently repeated the parents do not fail to discover it, although it is a point of honour among them to take no notice of the visit, and, if they approve of him, matters take their course; but if not, they use their influence with their daughter to ensure the utterance of the fatal: “Please blow up the fire.”

When the courtship is satisfactorily concluded, and it is decided that the girl shall be definitely asked in marriage, then, with the parents’ consent, a day is fixed upon which they shall meet together to discuss the harta, or price that is to be paid by the young man for his bride.

As a preliminary to this, a present of nine areca-nuts, nine sīrīh -fruits and some gold or silver ornaments has to be sent to the girl. In the olden times of the head-hunters a fresh human head was an indispensable preliminary to any marriage negotiations; but this abominable practice was effectually stamped out by the Dutch Government many years ago. It is probable that this ghastly present was intended not only as a proof of personal bravery on the part of the young hero, but as a promise that in the world of spirits the young bride would have at least one slave to wait upon her.^[3] The harta was in former times usually paid in land, houses, sagoweer-trees, pigs, cloths, etc. Nowadays it is often paid in money, one thousand guilders (£84) being about the highest harta known.^[4]

At the appointed time the members of the young man’s family repair to the house of the bride, bringing with them the harta, and after that comes the bridegroom himself. They mount the steps of the house and take their places at a long table in the principal room, the bride and bridegroom sitting side by side at one end of it. At first everything is very stiff and formal. Food is served, but not a word is spoken by the young couple; not a muscle of their faces moves; not even a stray glance passes from one to the other.

Then comes the priest, who takes a piece of areca-nut and solemnly chews it for some time with the sīrīh and lime; this he removes from his own mouth and puts it into the bridegroom’s mouth, who continues the process for some time and passes it on to the bride. When this is done the walian (or balian —i.e. “he who turns the spirit”—a priest) gives the bride and bridegroom rice and pork to eat and sagoweer wine to drink, and the official part of the ceremony is concluded. At this moment the couple retire to the nuptial chamber, while the guests amuse themselves by feasting, drinking and singing, and the priest implores the empungs (ancestral heroes, gods or spirits) to pour blessings on the happy pair.

In Dayak Kampongs one notices numerous upright pillars, usually carved into human form. They are known by the name of kapatongs, and are erected as guardians of the dead. One of the first duties of surviving relatives is to make the kapatong, the soul of which waits on and guards the soul of the departed one.

A woman carrying a betel-box is believed to watch well, because when chewing betel one does not sleep; but in her case there must always be a male kapatong near by, for a woman alone is not sufficient protection. Betel makes the mouth and lips beautiful in the estimation of the natives, therefore many kapatongs are seen with betel-box in hand.^[5]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Hose and McDougall, Pagan Tribes of Borneo, vol. i, pp. 32, 60. See also Hose, Natural Man, London, 1 926, p. 94.

[2]:

Life in the Forests of the Far East, 2 nd edition, 2 vols., London, 1863, quoted by Hickson, A Naturalist in North Celebes, p. 274 et seq.

[3]:

G. A. Wilken, “Jets over Schedelvereering bij de volken van den Indischen Archipel,” Bijdragen tot de Taal, Land en Volkeṅkunde van Nederlandsch Indie, vol. iv, 1889, p. 89.

[4]:

N. Graafland, De Minahassa, Rotterdam, 1867-1869.

[5]:

See Carl Lumholtz, Through Central Borneo, vol. i, p. 116, and vol. ii, p. 352. For further short notices see H. Ling Roth, Natives of Sarawak and British North Borneo, pp. 100, 394, 395; H. Low, Sarawak: its Inhabitants and Productions, 1848, pp. 41, 42; A. C. Hadden, Head-Hunters: Black, White and Brown, p. 217.