It is not clear that any other plants are regarded as be-souled; but
we mention here certain customs in connection with some of them that
seem to point in that direction. The SILAT, a common jungle palm,
figures most prominently in rites and beliefs of the Kayans. The
leaves of this palm are used to decorate the heads taken in war;
and on the occasion of any ceremonial use of the heads, fresh leaves
are always hung upon or about them. No other leaves will serve this
purpose, though it is difficult to say in what the special virtue of
this plant consists. The leaves of the same plant are hung about the
doorway of a new house when the people first take up their abode in it;
but it is hung in such a way that passers-by do not brush against it,
and children especially are kept away from it. It is commonly hung
about the altar-posts of the gods; and it is a strip of this leaf
that is tied about the wrist of a sick man to confine his soul to his
body at the close of the soul-catching ceremony. It is tied also about
the wrists of men returning from any warlike expedition. When applied
for any ceremonial purpose it is called ISANG; and it is not until it
has been so used that it becomes an "unclean" object. It is used in
its merely material aspect for roofing leaf shelters in the jungle,
and is put to other similar uses to which the broad tough leaves are
well adapted.
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