) They sometimes make a wooden
image of it, and hang it before the leaf shelter or hut in which they
may be living at any time; and if one of their party should fall ill,
they hang the blossom of the betel-nut tree on the figure, and the
medicine-man addresses it when he seeks to call back the wandering
soul of his patient.
Punans certainly ascribe significance to the behaviour of a few animals
other than those observed by the other peoples. Thus, if they see
a lizard of any kind upon a branch before the shelter in which they
are encamped, and especially if it utters its note, they regard this
as a sign that enemies are near.
The Sea Dayaks or Ibans
The Ibans do not seem to have any conception that corresponds closely
to the Supreme Spirit of the races with which we have already
dealt. Archdeacon Perham[140] has given an account of the Petara
of these people, showing how it is a conception of one god having
very many manifestations and functions, each special function being
conceived vaguely as an anthropomorphic deity. He has described also
the mythical warrior-hero and demi-god Klieng, and the god of war,
Singalang Burong. As Archdeacon Perham has said, this last deity has
a material animal form, namely, the white-headed hawk, which is the
Bali Flaki of the Kenyahs, and plays a somewhat similar part in their
lives.
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