Through Central Borneo | Page 2

With few exceptions, these photographs
were taken by myself. For the pictures facing page 26 I am indebted to
Doctor J.C. Koningsberger, President of the Volksraad, Buitenzorg,
Java. Those facing pages 16 and 17 were taken by Mr. J.F. Labohm.
The lower picture facing page 286 was taken by Mr. A.M. Erskine.
My observations on the tribes are recorded in conformity with my
itinerary, and include the Kayans, Kenyahs, Murungs, Penyahbongs,
Saputans, the nomadic Punans and Bukits, Penihings, Oma-Sulings,
Long-Glats, Katingans, Duhoi (Ot-Danums), and the Tamoans. On one
or two occasions when gathering intelligence from natives I was very
fortunate in my informants--an advantage which will be appreciated by
any one who has undertaken a similar errand and has enjoyed the keen
satisfaction experienced when drawing the veil from primitive thought
which lies so near and yet so far away.
Circumstances naturally prevented me from making a thorough study
of any tribe, but I indulge the hope that the material here presented may
prove in some degree acceptable to the specialist as well as to the
general reader. Matter that was thought to be of purely anthropological
interest is presented in a special supplement. Above all, I have
abstained from generalities, to which one might be tempted on account
of the many similarities encountered in the tribes that were visited.
Without the light of experience it is impossible to imagine how much
of interest and delight there is in store for the student of man's primitive
condition. However, as the captain of Long Iram said to me in Long
Pahangei, "One must have plenty of time to travel in Borneo." I have
pleasure in recording here the judicious manner in which the Dutch
authorities deal with the natives.
On a future occasion I shall hope to be able to publish a detailed report
on several of the novel features of my Bornean collections, especially
as regards decorative art, the protective wooden carvings called
kapatongs, the flying boat, etc.
The first collections sent to Norway ran the risks incident to war. Most
of them were rescued from the storehouses at Antwerp after the
German occupation, through the exertions of the Norwegian Foreign
Office, though a smaller part, chiefly zoölogical, appears to have been
lost in Genoa. Count Nils Gyldenstolpe, of the Natural History
Museum, Vetenskapsakademien in Stockholm, who is determining the

mammals collected, informs me that so far a new species of flying
maki and two new subspecies of flying squirrels have been described.
To further my enterprise, liberal gifts of supplies were received from
various firms in Christiania: preserved milk from Nestle &
Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Co., tobacco from Tiedemann's Fabrik,
alcohol for preserving specimens from Löitens Braenderi, cacao from
Freia Chokolade Fabrik. A medical outfit was presented by Mr. E.
Sissener, Apotheket "Kronen," Christiania, and Messrs. Burrows,
Wellcome & Co., of London, placed at my disposal three of their
excellent medicinal travelling-cases.
I want to express my appreciation of many services rendered by the
Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij and its branches, especially the
Factorij in Batavia. I am under similar obligations to the Koninklijke
Paketvaart-Maatschappij, and my thanks are also due to De
Scheepsagentuur for courtesies received. Miss Ethel Newcomb, of New
York, has kindly transcribed the two songs rendered.
Finally I desire to make grateful acknowledgment of valuable
assistance rendered by Doctor J.C. Koningsberger, and by Doctor W.
van Bemmelen, director of Koninklijk Magnetisch en Meteorologisch
Observatorium, Weltevreden, Batavia.
Although force of circumstances altered the scope and to some extent
the character of this expedition, nevertheless my Bornean experiences
afforded great satisfaction. Moreover, my sojourn in the equatorial
regions of the East has imbued me with an even stronger desire to carry
out my original purpose, which I hope to accomplish in the near future.
CARL LUMHOLTZ
NEW YORK, April, 1920.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I
DEPARTURE FROM NEW YORK--A RACE WITH THE
IMPERIAL LIMITED--IMPRESSIONS OF
JAPAN--SINGAPORE--ARRIVAL AT BATAVIA,
JAVA--BUITENZORG--BORO BUDUR, THE WONDROUS
BUDDHIST MONUMENT

CHAPTER II
BORNEO--CLIMATIC AND BIOLOGICAL
CONDITIONS--NATURAL RESOURCES--POPULATION--
HISTORY--GOVERNMENT OF THE NATIVES--RACIAL
PROBLEMS.

CHAPTER III
BANDJERMASIN, THE PRINCIPAL TOWN IN DUTCH
BORNEO--NORTHWARD ALONG THE EAST COAST--BALIK
PAPAN, AN OIL PRODUCING
CENTRE--SAMARINDA--TANDJONG SELOR--THE SULTAN--UP
THE KAYAN RIVER.

CHAPTER IV
AN EXPEDITION INTO THE JUNGLE--FIRST
IMPRESSIONS--RAPID CHANGE IN THE DENSENESS OF
VEGETATION--ANIMAL LIFE--A STUBBORN FIGHT

CHAPTER V
MEETING PUNANS, THE SHY JUNGLE PEOPLE--DOWN THE
RIVER AGAIN--MY ENTHUSIASTIC BOATMEN--MALAYS
VERSUS DAYAKS

CHAPTER VI
RESUMPTION OF MY JOURNEY UP THE KAYAN
RIVER--LONG PANGIAN--BERI-BERI-- HINTS ON PROPER
PROVISIONS--KENYAHS FROM CENTRAL BORNEO--EFFECT
OF A SPIDER'S BITE

CHAPTER VII
ON THE ISAU RIVER--A KENYAH CHILD'S FUNERAL--A
GREAT FISHING EXPEDITION-- CATCHING FISH BY
POISONING THE RIVER--TAKING OMENS--ENTERTAINING
SCENES

CHAPTER VIII
THE JOURNEY CONTINUED UP THE KAYAN RIVER--FIRST
EXPERIENCE OF KIHAMS, OR RAPIDS--WITH KENYAH
BOATMEN--ADVANTAGE OF NATIVE COOKING--LONG
PELABAN--THE ATTRACTIVE KENYAHS--SOCIAL
STRATA--CUSTOMS AND HABITS--VALUABLE BEADS

CHAPTER IX
HYDROPHOBIA--FUNERAL CEREMONIES--AT A PADDI
HARVEST--ANOTHER