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

168 "MANANG," OR WITCH-DOCTOR
only done in special cases, and I have often been told
b} 7
Dyaks who have been present at a particular manatig
performance :
" The man was very ill indeed. His
samengat (soul) had gone so far away that the manangs
had great difficulty in finding it. They paddled over the
sea, they threw a net into the water, and did many
succeeded in catch-
other things before they ultimately
ing it."
Generally the next thing they
faster, till they rush round the Pagar Api
do is to move faster and
as hard as
they can, still singing their incantation. One of their
number suddenly falls to the floor and remains motionless.
The others sit down round him. The motionless manang
is covered over with a blanket, and all wait while his spirit
is supposed to hurry away to the other world to find
the wandering soul and bring it back. Presently he
revives, and looks vacantly round like a man just waking
out of sleep. Then he raises his right hand, clenched as
if holding something. That hand contains the soul, and
he proceeds to the patient and solemnly returns it to the
body of the sick man through the crown of his head,
muttering at the same time more words of incantation.
This " catching of the soul " (nangkap samengat)
is the
great end to which all that has preceded leads up. One
function remains to complete the cure. A live fowl must
be waved over the patient, and as he does so, the leader
sings a special invocation of great length. The animal is
afterwards killed as an offering to the spirits, and eaten by
the manangs.
I have given a general account of all Pelian or manang
performances. There are different kinds of ceremonies,
according to the advice of the manang
or the fee the
patient is prepared to pay. In the following list are the