In the centre was a huge, gaily painted
effigy of a hornbill, one of the birds sacred to all the tribes,
and on it were hung thousands of cigarettes of home-grown tobacco
wrapped in dried banana leaf. Three enormous pigs were now brought
in and laid, bound as to their feet, before the chiefs, one for each
of the main divisions of the people, the Barams, the Tinjars, and
the hill-country folk. The greatest chiefs of each of these parties
then approached the pigs, and each in turn, standing beside the pig
assigned to his party, addressed the attentive multitude with great
flow of words and much violent and expressive action; for many of
these people are great orators. The purport of their speeches was
their desire for peace, their devotion to the Resident ("If harm come
to him, then may I fall too," said Tama Bulan), and their appreciation
of the trade and general intercourse and safety of life and property
brought them by the Rajah's government; and they hurled threats and
exhortations against unlicensed warfare and bloodshed.
As each chief ended his speech to the people he turned to the pig
at his feet, and, stooping over it, kept gently prodding it with
a smouldering fire-brand, while he addressed to it a prayer for
protection and guidance -- a prayer that the spirit of the pig,
soon to be set free by a skilful thrust of a spear into the beast's
heart, should carry up to the Supreme Being.
Pages:
732
733
734
735
736
737
738
739
740
741
742
743
744
745
746
747
748
749
750
751
752
753
754
755
756