Seventeen years among the Sea Dyaks of Borneo; a ... - Sabrizain.org

13G BURIAL RITES
that the dead man may not know his way back to the
house, and may thus be unable to trouble his friends afterwards.
The women are not permitted to accompany the
body to its burial, so they raise a dismal wail as the body
is carried away from the house.
The body is either taken by boat or carried on foot to
the jungle, where a tree is to be cut down for the coffin.
When the spot is reached a halt is made. A fowl is killed,
and the blood is collected in a cup and mixed with a little
water. Each person present is touched with the blood,
to propitiate the gods of the infernal world and to secure
immunity from any evil consequences to the persons engaged
in the funeral rites. They now set to work to make
the coffin. A tree is felled, and the required length cut
off. This is split in two, and each half is hollowed out.
The corpse is then placed in this rude coffin, the two
parts of which are now firmly lashed together with
cane.
The crowd then proceed either on foot or by
boat to
the place of burial. The burial-ground, or pendam, is
on the side of a hill. The trees are not cut
generally
down, and there is nothing to distinguish the pendam
from ordinary jungle. The Dyaks regard a cemetery
with superstitious terror as the abode of spirits, and never
go to it except to bury their dead, and when they do this
thoy do not stay longer than they can help, but hurry
from the other
away lest they should meet some spirit
world. The consequence is that the place is wild and
uncared for. The graves, being shallow and not fenced
round, are often dug up by wild pigs or bears, and bones
and skulls strew the ground.
When they reach the spot where the grave is to be,
some rice is scattered on the ground. This rice is the