Dyaus

“ Dyaus is called the father of the Asvins (Rig-Veda X, 61, 4) , the Dawn their mother, while under another name, as Sûryâ, she is represented as the daughter of Savitri and as the beloved of the Asvins [18] . Another poet says that the Dawn is born, when the Asvins have harnessed their chariot, and that Day and Night, again the Asvins, spring from Vivasvat [19] , the shining sun. As Saranyû, 196Erinys, also is called the mother of the Asvins, she must likewise have been another form of the Dawn in her varying aspects. ”

“ Thus he is hardly anthropomorphized at all, whether named alone, or when conjoined with earth, and his worship is little removed from the direct adoration of the sky as a living being. No moral attribute belongs to him, nor is there any trace of sovereignty over the world or the other gods. The position of power and elevation which Greek mythology ascribes to Zeus is not accorded in full to any Vedic deity, but in so far as Zeus has a parallel, it is in Varuṇa, not in Dyaus. ”

“ Ida Pfeiffer concludes that the Dyaks pleased her best, not only among the races of Borneo, but among all the races of the earth with which she has come in contact. And a cultivated Englishman, with wealth and social position at command, has been so attracted to them, that he has lavished both his fortune and his best years in the work of their elevation. The social condition of the Dyaks has been sufficiently wretched. ”

“ Underneath them the feet of Dhoya beat up the ground, but the feet of the other as he rushed hither and thither, matching his agility with the mortal’s mighty strength, made neither shadow nor footstep on the sands. Dhoya was wounded, and growing weary a little, when the other leaped away, and, crouching down by the water, began—“You have carried away by some spell unknown the most beautiful of our bands—you who have neither laughter nor singing. ”

“ And the Dyaks—one of the few remaining savage races of the world—share the superstition of the people who fashioned all the arts and most of the sciences.
The Pleiades form the Dyak tutelary genius. Some among a bloodthirsty and vengeful horde were even then pointing to the clustering stars that promised quick voyage to the isle where their kinsmen had been struck down by a white man who rescued a maid. Nevertheless, Grecian romance and Dyak lore alike relegate the influence of the Pleiades to the sea. Other stars are needed to foster enterprise ashore. ”

“ But Change is everywhere, with the tides and the stars fastened to her wheel. Every blood drop in their lips, every cloud in the sky, every leaf in the world changed a little, while they brushed back their hair and kissed. All things change save only the fear of change. And yet for his hour Dhoya was happy and as full of dreams as an old man or an infant—for dreams wander nearest to the grave and the cradle. ”

“ Dhoya, I have left my world far off. My people—on the floor of the lake they are dancing and singing, and on the islands of the lake; always happy, always young, always without change. I have left them for thee, Dhoya, for they cannot love. Only the changing, and moody, and angry, and weary can love. I am beautiful; love me, Dhoya. ”

“ The Dyaks are great observers of omens (see Chapter XII.) , and among their omens the cries of certain birds are most important.
Singalang Burong is also the god of war, and the guardian spirit of brave men. He delights in fighting, and head-taking is his glory. When Dyaks have obtained a human head, they make a great feast to the honour of this god and invoke his presence. He is the only god ever represented by the Dyaks in a material form—a carved, highly-coloured bird of grotesque shape. ”

“ But I've seen one innocent fellow—I thought him guilty as hell, too—— But, Dawes, I believe you are a dirty, cold blooded blackleg, and about the only reason you haven't taken a shot at me from a window, or when this door was opened, is because you know the miners would hang you!"
Dawes answered without a flicker in his tone, and his face, pale and thin as an ascetic's, remained inscrutable as ivory:
"You say that, sir, to an unarmed man—who is sick." ”

“ Every man had a woman or a child held tightly in his arms—held in front of him as a buckler—and it was from these poor devils that those awful screams were coming. I jumped in front of the Dyaks and yelled to them in Malay to hold their fire; but O'Hara thrust me aside, and shooed the Dyaks on with shouts and curses and peals of laughter, slapping his palm on his gunstock, and capering with delight and excitement. The Dyaks took no sort of heed of me, and the volleys met the Muruts like a wall of lead. ”

“ I found him as usual, sitting smoking in a large cool room. We were soon in the interior of Borneo, the scene of his former exploits. Some of these were of so sanguinary a character, that they do him very little credit; and many of his tales partook of the marvellous. Among the Dyaks, natives of the interior, it is a custom, he said, that when a man wishes to marry, he must produce a certain number of human heads. He related that he had once seen a very handsome young woman, to whom a number of heads had been delivered, swimming about in some water, and playing with them. ”

“ The greater the number of heads he can present, the more willing the damsel becomes to receive his advances. Notwithstanding such a peculiar custom, the Dyaks possess many excellent qualities. They are said to be truthful and honest, generally intelligent, kind tempered and mild, and tolerably industrious; superior indeed in many respects to the Malays and Chinese, who cheat and plunder them.
“While we are opening up Africa, it seems to me that we should make an effort to civilise and carry the blessings of Christianity to the numberless inhabitants of Borneo beyond the province of Sarawak.” ”

“ At length the retreating tribe came within some sixty miles of the winding river of Sarebus, where Hanns Schlott and his pirates might be expected, and at once Tyler set to work to prepare for the struggle.
"At present we have not instructed our men in the attack," he said, calling John Marshall and the Chinaman to him. "Coming through the forest we have kept one formation, and the Dyaks have learnt how to march in safety very well. I think that there has never been a day when an enemy could have taken us unawares, while ample watch has been kept at night. ”

“ Restore her, Dhoya, and go free.” Dhoya answered him no word, and the other rose and again thrust at him with the spear. They fought to and fro upon the sands until the dawn touched with olive the distant sky, and then his anger fit, long absent, fell on Dhoya, and he closed with his enemy and threw him, and put his knee on his chest and his hands on his throat, and would have crushed all life out of him, when lo! he held beneath his knee no more than a bundle of reeds. ”

“ For several years the Dyaks could not understand the prohibition, and the English rajah and his officers were continually pestered with requests from Dyaks to be allowed to go and take heads. An old man, for example, had lost his wife, and begged piteously to be allowed to take just one head, so that she might rest quietly in her grave. Then a young man would come, who had been rejected by a Dyak damsel, lay his case before the authorities, and beseech them to permit him to take a head, and so to win the hand of the disdainful lady. ”

“ The woman whom I took to be Dy-lee's mate was a slim, high-breasted she, whose hair was sleeker and finer than his, and on whose face the shag was lighter and not of so matted a nature. It was on this shy creature that I first perceived the color of the cave folk's skin; when I was told her name (which was Zheena) , she put back the long hair of her forehead with a very feminine gesture, and I saw that just around her eyes, less deepsunk than the males', there was no fur at all. The skin was white, like a winter's baby before it is tanned by the sun, and seemed smooth and firm. ”

“ But in spite of their lucky escape they would have given back at once, and have plunged in mad flight into the forest, had it not been for Tyler. With a shout to encourage them, he fired at the nearest Malay and brought him staggering upon the ground. Then Li Sung's voice joined in and helped to maintain the courage of the Dyaks.
"Fear them not!" he cried in the Dyak language. "We are as yet unseen, and can punish them. Think of the women and children taken into captivity by these men! Keep your places and shoot straight!" ”

“ But Dhoya, being filled with his anger fit at the sight of his enemy, answered, “I will play, and I know well the stake you mean, and I name this for mine, that I may again have my knee on your chest and my hands on your throat, and that you will not again change into a bundle of wet reeds.” His companion lay down on a skin and began to cry a little.
Dhoya felt sure of winning. He had often played in his boyhood, before the time of his anger fits, with his masters of the galley; and besides, he could always return to his hands and his weapons once more. ”

“ Tighter and tighter grew his body, like a screw that is gradually increasing in pressure, till something breaks.
Then suddenly he relaxed, full of wonder and misgiving. Dawes had been yielding. Morel felt his body flame with pain, as he realized what he was doing; he was all bewildered. Dawes’s struggles suddenly renewed themselves in a furious spasm. Paul’s hands were wrenched, torn out of the scarf in which they were knotted, and he was flung away, helpless. ”

“ The unfed smoky flames of the fireplace were dying. Ferdinand's eyes were piercingly watchful, but he could not detect the least guilty change of expression. A sound of fear, a confessional movement or word, and the life of Dawes would have ended. But the gambler played for his life. He stared fixedly. There was the glancing glint of candle light on his eyes, and his eyes were steady.
Firmly he spoke:
"I am not Dawes."
"You lie!" said Ferdinand in anger, but he lowered his hand, and loosely thrust the knife into the belt. He simply did not dare kill the wrong man. ”

“ Close behind looms the tall prow of the Scylla, and they can hear the water hissing and foaming round her cutwater. “They are gaining!” shouts Gyas; and even as he speaks the huge galley, steered by a bold and skilful hand, takes the inside place, sweeps round the island, and gaining deep water, rushes triumphantly forward, bound for the shore. This was too much for the excitable Gyas; with tears of rage and grief he sprang upon the helmsman, and, snatching the tiller from his hand, with one vigorous thrust he flung the too cautious veteran into the sea. ”

“ At the first touch of the hand on his arm, the unfortunate man had wheeled round as if spun on a pivot, and shrank back with a low, piteous cry, as if some dumb beast were caught in the toils. The blood fled away from the wretch's face, and the skin became gray as if a shadow of death had passed in the air and fallen on it, and Dyson caught a choking whisper—
"Mr. Davies! For God's sake, have pity on me, Mr. Davies. On my oath, I say—" and his voice sank to silence as he heard the message, and strove in vain to bite his lip; and summon up to his aid some tinge of manhood. ”

“ Those on the prahus, however, could have enlightened them, for from the river the dull glare of the embers of the dying fires, the bamboo stockade, and every hut within were distinctly within view, while the dusky figure crawling across to that part where the captives had been taken was plainly discernible. With straining eyes each one of the Dyak tribe aboard the prahus watched the young leader whom they had come to look up to and admire. They saw him creep rapidly, but with every caution, through the entrance to the stockade and then across the clearing. ”

“ The Dyaks thought it a grand thing to be able to bring home a human head to hang up as an ornament in their house. The man who succeeded in securing a human head was looked upon as a great warrior, and so very often the young braves would make an expedition against some tribe simply because they wanted to bring home the ghastly trophy of a human head. ”

“ And that is why one can safely describe Diaz as a born ruler. He instinctively understands his subjects: he has not learnt it, for he began thirty years ago. He was never educated in statecraft, for indeed he had no education at all; he was merely the son of an innkeeper, first sent to a Jesuit seminary, whence he ran away and joined the army. No! the man's secret is an iron will and positively miraculous tact. Whatever he does, whatever he orders, is always done so nicely. Everybody knows it has got to be done. Nobody ever crossed Diaz and lived to boast of so doing. ”

“ The Dyaks were constantly at war, tribe against tribe, and no Dyak village was safe from sudden attack. Many human lives were sacrificed because the Dyaks wished, not only to obtain booty, but to satisfy their lust for blood, and indulge in their favourite pursuit of head-hunting, and gain glory for themselves by bringing home human heads to decorate their houses with. ”

“ The greatest evil, perhaps, from which the Dyaks suffer, is the influence of the Datus or chiefs; but this influence is never carried to oppression, and is only used to obtain the expensive luxury of ‘birdsʼ-nests’ at a cheap rate. In short, the Dyaks are happy and content; and their [345] gradual development must now be left to the work of time, aided by the gentlest persuasion, and advanced (if attainable) by the education of their children.”
The latest accounts from Sarāwak describe the increasing prosperity of that interesting settlement. ”