The pagan tribes of Borneo - Get a Free Blog Here

lo PAGAN TRIBES OF BORNEO chap.
accounts until the fifteenth century. The Chinese,
on the other hand, always a literary people, carefully
preserved in their archives all that could be gathered
with regard to the "southern seas." But China
was far away, and many local events would possess
no interest for her subjects. Under the circumstances,
the official historians deserve our gratitude
for their geographical descriptions and for the
particulars of tribute-bearing missions to the Son of
Heaven, though they have little else to tell.
The first account we have been able to find
referring to Borneo is a description of the kingdom
of Poli from the Chinese annals of the sixth century.
Poli was said to be on an island in the sea southeast
of Camboja, and two months south-east of
Canton. The journey thither was made by way
of the Malay Peninsula, a devious route still
followed by Chinese junks. Envoys were sent
to the Imperial court in a.d. 518, 523, and 616.
'* The people of this country," our authority says,
"are skilled in throwing a discus - knife, and the
edge is like a saw ; when they throw it at a man,
they never fail to hit him. Their other arms
are about the same as in China. Their customs
resemble those of
of the country are
Camboja, and the productions
the same as of Siam. When
one commits a murder or theft they cut off his
hands, ^ and when adultery has been committed,
the culprit has his legs chained for the period of
a year. For their sacrifice they choose the time
when there is no moon'; they fill a bowl with wine
and eatables and let it float away on the surface
of the water ; in the eleventh month they have
a great sacrifice. They get corals from the sea,
and they have a bird called s'ari, which can talk."
A later reference to the same place says: "They
carry the teeth of wild beasts in their ears, and
^ There is a Bruni still alive whose hands have been cut off for theft.