Journey into the heart of Borneo with this captivating work by William Henry Furness. Drawing on both scholarly research and personal anecdotes, Furness's work provides a richly detailed portrait of the folk traditions and cultural practices of this enigmatic island. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, ...
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Journey into the heart of Borneo with this captivating work by William Henry Furness. Drawing on both scholarly research and personal anecdotes, Furness's work provides a richly detailed portrait of the folk traditions and cultural practices of this enigmatic island. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
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Seller's Description:
Fine. No dust jacket as issued. 29 p. This booklet, first published in 1899, begins with a description of the way of life of the peoples of Sarawak in the 19th century their houses, social structure and their beliefs in the spirits. Creation myths of the Kayans and the Dayaks, a legend on the origin of the tradition of head-hunting, stories of visits to regions below the earth and above the earth; all are told. One of the stories of a visit to a land above the earth recounts how Si Kira gave the Dayaks three types of rice, but the author laments that he also gave them their omen-birds; the sighting of any of these birds can cause any project even vital chores such as the planting of rice to be postponed. Superstitions regarding names ceremonies for the naming of a child, taboos on uttering one's own name, the changing of the name of a sick person are also described.
