They have no domestic cattle, and
the buffalo does not occur in their districts. Lower-class Kenyahs
and slaves, taken as war-captives from other tribes, may eat deer
and horned cattle, but they must take the flesh some little distance
from the house when they cook it. A woman who is pregnant, or for
any other reason is in the hands of a physician, has to observe the
restrictions with regard to deer and cattle more strictly than other
people, and she will not touch or allow to be brought near her any
article of leather or horn.
The war-coats of the men are often made of the skin of goats or deer,
and any man may wear such a war-coat. But when a man has a young son,
he is particularly careful to avoid contact with any part of a deer,
lest through such contact he should transmit to his son in any degree
the timidity of the deer. On one occasion when we had killed a deer,
a Kenyah chief resolutely refused to allow its skin to be carried in
his boat, alleging the above reason.
The cry or bark of the deer (CERVULUS MUNTJAC) is a warning of danger,
and the seeing or hearing of the mouse-deer or PLANDOK (TRAGULAS NAPU)
has a like significance.
The Tiger-cat
The only large species of the FELIDAAE that occurs in Borneo is the
tiger-cat (FELIS NEBULOSA).
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