It would seem that fowls and pigs are to some extent
interchangeable equivalents for sacrificial purposes. Perhaps the most
important occasion on which the fowl plays a part is the performance
of the rite by which a blood-feud is finally wiped away. The following
extract from the journal previously quoted describes an incident of
this kind: --
In the evening there was serious business on hand. Two chiefs, who
some years ago were burned out of their homes in the Rejang district
by the government, have settled themselves with their people in the
Baram district. They had made a provisional peace with the Kayans
some years ago, but the final ceremony was to be performed this
evening. The two chiefs of the immigrants, who had remained hitherto
in a remote part of the house, seated themselves at one side, and
the Kayan chiefs at the other, and Tama Bulan and ourselves between
the two parties. First, presents of iron were exchanged. In the old
days costly presents of metal-work used to be given; but, as this led
sometimes to renewed disputes, the government has forbidden the giving,
in such ceremony, of presents of a greater value than two dollars. So
now old sword-blades are given, and the other essential part of the
present has been proportionately reduced from a full-grown fowl to a
tiny chick.
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