SUPERSTITIOUS BELIEFS 233 municating with the spirits, and by means of certain ceremonies, in conjunction with the use of rods, particular leaves, and ashes, periodically, by open warfare and by magic, drive the malignant demons from such places in man's neighbourhood as they may have intruded into, or defeat them when prevailing disease or misfortune can be traced to their agency. These practices and beliefs, which it would be incorrect to class together under the name of religion, are not accompanied by any moral element. Their code of ethics has no connection whatever with the form of malevolent spiritualism which they entertain, but is entirely an affair of public opinion and social convention. The cult of the natives as it exists in the south, with its multiplicity of charms, "medicine," and demon-scaring figures and objects, is probably only an isolated case of a practice widely spread throughout the Malayan Archipelago-in Sumatra, Borneo, and other islands, and even amongst the Papuans still further east.* * (a) “On the path, at no great distance from the (Dyak) village, rude wooden figures of a man and woman are placed, one on each side opposite to each other, with short wooden spears in their mouths. They are called Tebudo, and are said to be inhabited by friendly hantu (spirits) who keep the path clear of inimical spirits.”—Chalmers. (b) “The Bedājoē possess a multitude of large wooden idols called Hampatong, as well as other objects which cult or superstition has consecrated. Every habitation of this tribe, as well as those of the Dusuns, has several small wooden idols who are supposed to guard the habitation, protect the rice harvest, preserve the inhabitants against sickness, and to fulfil generally analogous functions. The Dyaks collect, with the same object, skulls of monkeys, bears, and wild cats, which they preserve in little boxes called kamontoha, and which they suspend in the houses."-S. Müller. (c) "As far as we could learn, the only act of worship paid these images is that of offering them food once or twice a month, such as rice, pork, eggs, fowls. On no condition will they (Dyaks) consent to give them up, and the only reason assigned is that sickness will be the inevitable consequence."-Doty. (d) "The inland tribes of Borneo are without any definite forms of religious worship; they make idols of wood, but I have never seen any offerings made to them, nor do they regard them apparently as anything more than scarecrows to frighten off evil spirits."-Folklore in Borneo, by W. H. Furness. (e) "These figures (tambatongs) are not exactly idols in the ordinary sense of the word, as they are not directly worshipped, although representing the On the other hand, it is not at all impossible, in view of the natives' acquisitiveness of foreign ideas, that most of their practices arise from a corrupted interpretation of the, in other respects, futile teachings of the numerous missionaries who have laboured in vain in the islands, complicated by an additional jumble of tenets adopted from other strangers with whom they have come into contact, while, in particular, the figures, pictures, and charms of many localities may be to some extent merely a degraded survival of the religious paraphernalia of the Jesuit missionaries. religious beliefs of the Dyaks, and regarded with superstitious veneration; they should, perhaps, rather be called talismans, as they are looked upon as charms to keep away evil spirits and ill-luck."-P. 32, Headhunters of Borneo, by Carl Bock. (f) "Although I found in a house at Old Affara (a village on Vorkay, one of the southernmost of the Arrus) an image rudely formed of wood, together with a post on which different figures, such as snakes, lizards, crocodiles, and human forms, were carved, and which the owner stated to be intended for preserving the house from evil spirits (Swangi), yet it is evident that the Arafuras of Vorkay possess no religion whatsoever. . . They certainly hold a feast at the time in which they have perceived that the Christians of Wamma hold one also, namely, at the commencement of the year, when they, in imitation of the Christians, celebrate the advent of the new year. . . . Of the immortality of the soul they have not the least conception."-Koff's Voyage of the Dourga, p. 161. ... (g) "The Battas believe in demonic agency called Begu for every species of malady. . . . To drive out these demon monsters . . . talismans and charms are employed."-Featherman's Social History of Mankind. |