In such cases the eggs are probably economical substitutes for fowls,
as seems to be indicated by the following facts: When Kenyah boys enter
a strange branch of the river for the first time, they go, each one
taking a fowl's egg in his hand, into the jungle with some old man, who
takes the eggs, puts them into the cleft ends of poles fixed upright
in the earth, and thus addresses all the omen-birds collectively,
"Don't let any harm happen to these children who are coming for
the first time to this river; they give you these eggs." Sometimes
instead of eggs the feathers of a fowl are used; and both the eggs
and feathers would seem to be substituted for fowls, as being good
enough in the case of mere children performing a minor rite.
When the belly of a fowl is opened there are prominent two curved
portions of the gut. The state of these is examined in some cases
before the planting of PADI, and sometimes before attempting to catch
the soul of a sick man. If the parts are much curved, it is a good
omen; if straight or but slightly curved, it is a bad omen.
The Crocodile
Like all other races of Sarawak, the Kenyahs regard the crocodiles
that infest their rivers as more or less friendly creatures. They fear
the crocodile and do not like to mention it by name, especially if
one be in sight, and refer to it as "old grandfather.
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