THE DAYA of BORNEO.

The population of the extensive island of Borneo consists of the Daya, the Chinese, the Malaya, the Ugi from Celebes, and a few Arabs. The Dayas, who are principally miners and agriculturists, are by far the most numerous class. They are, generally speaking, peaceable; but petty feuds among themselves are not infrequent, which are ascribed to the horrid custom of ornamenting their houses with human skulls, procured by waylaying individuals of a different tribe, and to decorating their children with the teeth; or to disputes about particular tracts of forests; and the oppression of the Chinese sometimes rouses them to revenge themselves against that race. It is considered more honourable that the skulls should be those of women or children, on the supposition that the men would exert themselves for their protection; but it is seldom they are procured by open attack; the general practice, when operations are carried on to a considerable extent, being to surround a village during the night, and murder those who have occasion to leave it at break of day. Some of those who are found about the ports to the northward of Sambas at times connect themselves with the pirates, and the condition of the connexion is, that the skulls and iron shall be their share, the other plunder that of the pirates.

"The villages of these savages are mostly placed near spots fit for their ladangs, and are generally protected by a beinting or breastwork. The houses are built with a long verandah in front, which serves for communicating with the different families, and for their several fire-places. There are mostly three ladders, which are pulled up at night. From six to seven families reside in one house, the patriarch in the middle, in whose apartment the musical instruments are kept. The houses are built upon posts, and in the space below the pigs, &c. are reared.

"Among the customs peculiar to them, it may be expected that something respecting the decapitation of heads should be mentioned. The more heads a man has cut off, the more he is respected; and a young man can

not marry until he can produce heads procured by himself; nor can the corpse of a person of rank be inhumed until a fresh head be acquired by his nearest of kin. Should he be of high rank, great rejoicings take place on his return from a successful expedition; the heads, which probably still bleed, are seized by the women, who rush into the water, dip the heads, and anoint themselves with the ensanguined stream which drops from the skulls. A man of great consideration may have fifty or sixty skulls suspended in his premises. It has been known that two years have expired before a young man could be married, or, in other words, before he could procure a skull.

"The following are the customs observed on the conclusion of peace between two hostile tribes. Each provides a slave to be murdered by the other, and the principal person present gives the first wound, which is inflicted on the lower part, and in the centre of the breast bone. The other persons of the tribe who may be present immediately follow the example, and fathers encourage their children to mutilate the body with their knives or whatever weapon they can acquire. The slaves sacrificed to peace are not criminals, but generally purchased for this purpose. Besides this, presents are interchanged; these are provisions, gold-dust to the value of a few rupees, and Siamese earthen jars, which are highly valued, as the priests use them as oracles, striking them, and predicting according to the sounds which may be elicited. Peace is concluded at the chief village or town of the most powerful tribe. It was thus that a feud which had existed five years between the Sintang and Sakado Daya was determined in 1826, since when they have been on amicable terms.

"The principal Daya are those of Kayang, whose principal town is Segao, which is about twenty-five days' journey by water above Sintang, and the latter is about fourteen inland from Pontianak. Seven different dialects are known to exist among the Daya of this presidency. Far in the interior the only trace of religion appears to be in a superstitious reverence paid to deer, which are considered to be the progenitors of the Daya, and this animal is not therefore killed or eaten by them. The high caste Daya

do not engage in mining, as they fancy it may induce misfortune on their country."

Ruins of temples, statues, and dilapidated cities have been discovered in the Island of Borneo, as well as inscriptions in characters unknown, to the Malays, Chinese, or Dayas.

THE BALINESE.

“The island of Bali is at present divided under seven separate authorities, each independent of the other; and of this heptarchy, the state of Klongkong is acknowledged to be the most ancient; its princes tracing their descent from the princes of Java, and having once possessed authority over the whole island. Among the regalia of this state are reported to be still preserved the creese of Majapahit, and the celebrated gong named Bentur Kadaton; and although the other governments do not, at the present day, admit of any interference on the part of this state, they still evince a marked respect and courtesy to that family, as the Asal Rajah Bali (the stock from which they sprung).

"The population is roughly estimated by the number of male inhabitants whose teeth have been filed, and whose services each prince can command; and who amount to upwards of 200,000. The female population is understood rather to exceed the male.

"The government is despotic, and vested in the prince alone, who is assisted in all affairs relating to the internal administration of the country, by a head Perbakal (immediately under officers of this name, are placed the heads of villages), and by a Radin Tumung-gung, who conducts the details of a more general nature, of commerce and foreign intercourse.

"Whatever, at former periods, may have been the extent and influence of the Hindu religion, Bali is now the only island in the eastern seas, in which that religion is still prevailing as the national and established religion of the country.

Asiatic Journal,

"That high spirit of enterprize which burst the bounds of the extensive confines of India, like the dove from the ark, rested its weary wing for a while in Java, till driven from thence it sought a refuge in Bali, where even amongst the rudest and most untutored of savages it found an asylum. The four grand divisions of the Hindus are here acknowledged.

"The bodies of deceased persons are invariably burnt, and the wives and concubines of the higher classes perform the sacrifice of suttee. A few days previous to my landing on Bali, nineteen young women, the wives and concubines of the younger rajah, who was lately put to death, sacrificed themselves in this manner."*

"The Balinese acknowledge (says Mr. Medhurst in the Transactions of the London Missionary Society) Brahma as the supreme, who they suppose to be the god of fire. Next to him they rank Vishnu, who is said to preside over rivers of waters; and thirdly, Segara, the god of the sea. They also speak of Ram, who sprung from an island at the confluence of the Jumna and Gunga, and we distinctly recognize in their temples an image of Ganesha, with an elephant's head; and one of Durga standing on a bull. They have great veneration for the cow, not eating its flesh, nor wearing its skin, nor doing any thing to the injury of that animal. We observed, also, an image of a cow in one of their sacred enclosures, which seemed put there as an object of worship."

Their temples were numerous, but small and common in their architecture. Outside of some of them stood the large images usually discovered in the porches of the Hindu temples. The principal priests were called BrahThose of inferior rank Idas. They wore the Brahminical cord, which they call Ganitree."

manas.

JAVA.

Java is washed on the south and east by the Indian Ocean. To the west lies the island of Sumatra; to the north, Borneo; to the north-east, Celebes; and to the east it is separated by two narrow straits from the islands

Sir T. S. Raffles.

of Madura and Bali. In length it may be estimated at six hundred miles, by ninety-five in average breadth.

"If we admit the natural inference, that the population of the islands originally emigrated from the continent, the history of the eastern islands may, with reference to that of Java in particular, in which a powerful Hindu government was without doubt early established, be divided into five distinct periods.

"The first division would include the period commencing with the earliest accounts of the population, down to the first establishment of a foreign colony in Java.

"The Javans date the commencement of their era* from the arrival of Adi Saka, the minister of Prabu joyo Boyo, sovereign of Hastina, and the fifth in descent from Arjuno, the favourite of Krishna, and the leading hero of the B'rata Yud'ha. This epoch corresponds with that of the introduction of a new faith into China, and the further peninsula, by Saka, Shaka, or Sakia, as he is differently termed.

"But whether Saka himself, or only some of his followers assuming this name, found their way to Java, may be questionable.

"Anterior to this supposed arrival of Adi Saka, the two most eventful periods in the history of these countries of which tradition and history make mention, are-first, that which includes the excursions of the far-famed race, which have been supposed to have peopled South America;† and according to Sir William Jones, 'imported into the furthest parts of Asia the rites and fabulous history of Rama;' and secondly, that which includes the consequences of the invasion of India by Alexander the Great. That the fabulous history of Rama, as well as the exploits of Alexander, have been current in the Malayan Archipelago from time immemorial, cannot be questioned; and it may be remarked, that while the Javans use the term Rama, for father, the Malays universally attempt to trace their descent from Alexander or his followers.

"The second division would include the period between this first regular

*Their present year is 1758.

+ Humboldt describes the existence of Hindu remains still found in America.