Kampong

“ The number seldom exceeds twenty in one kampong; but opposite to each is a kind of open building that serves for sitting in during the day, and as a sleeping­place for the unmarried men at night. These together form a sort of street. To each kampong there is also a balei, where the inhabitants assemble for transacting public business, celebrating feasts, and the reception of strangers, whom they entertain with frankness and hospitality. At the end of this building is a place divided off, from whence the women see the spectacles of fencing and dancing ”

“ Their advent causes a stir in the kampong, for the moment the dogs give warning of the approach of strangers the natives all dive into the shacks, to peer furtively through the crevices until assured the visitors mean them no harm. The Chinese enter the kampong boldly and, espying our camp, come to greet us immediately; and 168as the Chinaman is always hail fellow well met, we invite the men in and give them a cup of tea. Moh is most happy to serve them and beams upon them as he passes the tea. ”

“ We dug a grave for Ali and buried him; then we gathered our material and started back for the kampong. My fever was so bad that the medicine in my kit did me little good; for hours at a time, I was unconscious and had to be carried. At the kampong, I rested for several days, gathering strength to make the trip to the coast.
When I went to see the Sultan at Trengganu, before taking the boat to Singapore, he regarded me severely and said: "Tûan, why have I given you big concessions in land? Is it because I want you to go out and kill yourself in capturing animals?" ”

“ The river bank on which the kampong is built is lower than usual, and the place is clean and attractive. All the people look strikingly more healthy than the Saputans, and I saw a few very nice-looking young girls. The men swarmed round me like bees, all wanting in a most amiable way to help put up my tent. ”

“ Each Chinese colony, or Kampong, has a chief, appointed by government, with the title of lieutenant, captain, or major, available within the limits of the Kampong, but which, it is needless to say, confers no military privileges. Those of the Chinese residing in Java belong to mutual societies, whose members assist each other, and which have not merely humanitarian, but also political tendencies. ”

“ Every four or five miles we came to a large kampong, and exchanged our boatmen for new ones, so that all day long we swiftly glided down the smooth stream, one relay of men not getting weary before they were relieved by another, and the strong current also helping us onward. The kampongs here are free from the filth seen in those farther up in the interior. ”

“ Labuan Kapal, or the ship’s anchorage, is the next kampong, and opposite to the houses there is deep water up to the wharves, so that ships can load without boats. The inhabitants are much employed making the kejangs, or mats of the inner nipa leaf, used to cover boats, and make the walls of houses. Kampongs Jawatan Jeludin and Khatib Bakir, traders and blacksmiths. Peminiak, from miniak, oil, manufacturers [256] of that article; and it is also the residence of the two viziers, pañgerans de gadong and pamancha. ”

“ Never! He simply grasps the object between his great and second toe and raises the foot to his hand, and he does it gracefully, never losing his poise or missing his stride.
On an afternoon, shortly after the heat of midday, the men gather in the shade of the cocoas back of the kampong to discuss the latest scandal or politics. Inasmuch as the kapala kampong, or chief, holds his position solely by the sufferance of the others, or possibly because of some trait of natural leadership inherent in him, changes in administration frequently occur. ”

“ The rain bursts upon us without warning, obliterating from view the grove behind the tent. The cocoas are thrashing wildly to and fro in a frenzy that makes us wonder how they stand it. The torrential rain floods the kampong, which for a few moments resembles a lake in which the houses are entirely surrounded with water. A terrific peal of thunder follows one of the most vivid of lightning-flashes and above the drumming patter of the rain and the howling of the wind we hear the shrieks of the frightened children in the shack next to us. ”

“ Those on view here are regarded as slaves (or soldiers) of a raja, who is represented by a small kapatong which presides in a diminutive, half-tumbled-down house, and who is possessed by a good antoh that may appear in human shape at night. When the people of the kampong need rice or have any other wish, a fowl or pig is killed; the blood is smeared on the raja and on the slaves, and some of the meat is deposited in a jar standing next to him. When advised of what is wanted the raja gives the slaves orders to see that the people are supplied. ”

“ The result is the same, and girls are highly prized, as Intelligence tells us that they are more tender than the men. In fact, he says that there is no morsel that equals the left shoulder-blade of a ten- or twelve-year-old girl. Immediately upon killing their victims, the visitors stealthily remove the bodies from the kampong, and in the concealing darkness of the jungle decapitate them. After trussing up the bodies upon bamboo poles for ease in carrying them, they depart in haste for 155their own kampong, taking a circuitous route to avoid other kampongs between them and home. ”

“ The slain man is believed to change into a servant and assistant in the next life. When a chief dies it becomes an essential duty to provide him with heads, which are deposited on his grave as sacrifices, and the souls of which serve him in the next life. Heads taken for the benefit of kampong people are hung in the house of the kapala to counteract misfortune and to confer all manner of benefits. An important point is that the presence of the heads from other tribes, or rather of the souls residing in them, compels evil antohs to depart. A kampong thus becomes purified, free from disease. ”

“ As I learned later, at Angkipi especially, and during a couple more days of travel, they were less affected by Malay influence than the Dayaks elsewhere on my route. The kampong exists only in name, not in fact, the people living in the hills in scattered groups of two or three houses. Rice is planted but once a year, and quite recently the cultivation of peanuts, which I had not before observed in Borneo, had been introduced through the Malays. ”

“ Our soldiers, some sixty in number, obtained a meal immediately in every kampong. When a Dayak goes on a journey in a friendly region he may be sure of receiving shelter and food in every house.
"They are distrustful of foreigners, but if he has gained their confidence they give assistance freely in every respect. Loving their liberty in a high degree they prefer not to be ordered. ”

“ The way to the Chinese district is through a labyrinth of deserted streets and crumbling houses, abandoned on account of their unhealthiness. The contrast is striking on emerging from this scene of solitude and desolation into the bustling Chinese Kampong, where that active and ingenious people carry on their innumerable trades and handicrafts. Here mechanics, with the simplest and seemingly most inadequate tools, give a perfect finish to their manufactures ”

“ We Take up Quarters in the Kampong Our first visit has turned out so well and the natives seem so friendly that there seems to be no reason why we should not move camp so as to be near them and thus save a long hike through the jungle every time we wish to see them. A walk through the jungle is the occasion of a fight with mosquitos, particularly at this time of year, February, which is the beginning of the rainy season. With the assistance of several of the younger men we transfer our belongings from the beach to the kampong and settle down for a long visit. ”

“ My stories deal with natives of all classes; dwellers in the Courts of Kings; peasants in their kampongs, or villages, by the rivers [viii] and the rice-fields; and with the fisher-folk on the seashore. I have tried to describe these things as they appear when viewed from the inside, as I have myself seen them during the many dreary years that I have spent in the wilder parts of the Malay Peninsula. It will be found that the pictures thus drawn are not always attractive—what man's life, when viewed from the inside, ever is pretty to look at? ”

“ If opportunity is given they will take heads even if they are on a commercial trip. Outsiders, even if they have been staying a long time in the kampong, run a risk of losing their heads."
CHAPTER XXV DEPARTURE FROM THE PENIHINGS—FRUIT-EATING FISH—ANOTHER CALL AT LONG PAHANGEI—A TRIP UP THE MERASI RIVER—GENIAL NATIVES—AN INOPPORTUNE VISIT—THE DURIAN, QUEEN OF ALL FRUITS It became expedient to prepare for our farther journey down the river, but first I wanted to take some photographs and measurements of the kampong people ”

“ The mode of attack that the Pasumas adopt is to send forward a few of their braves to set fire to a village, while the main body remains near by to make attack as soon as the confusion caused by the fire begins. This is undoubtedly the safest and most effectual mode of attacking [519] a kampong, as the houses of the natives are mostly of bamboo, and if there is a fresh breeze and one or two huts can be fired to windward, the whole village will soon be in a blaze. ”

“ In a Chinese or Malay camp, or what not. But above all I should like to experience life, as it is lived in Dessa and Kampong among our own people; that has always had a great charm for me. I know that my people would then grow still nearer to my heart. One cannot learn the soul of a people without living and working among them. The love that I have for our people is only a foretaste of what I should feel under more intimate circumstances. We try to come in contact with the people as much as possible. When we go out alone, we always stop and pay a visit to some of the Kampong houses. ”

“ On our return to a newly erected section of the kampong we met the intelligent kapala and a few men. Some large prahus were lying on land outside the house, bound for Long Iram, where the Kayans exchange rattan and rubber for salt and other commodities, but the start had been delayed because the moon, which was in its second quarter, was not favourable. These natives are reputed to have much wang, owing to the fact that formerly they supplied rice to the garrison, receiving one ringit for each tinful. ”

“ Two days later, in the cool of the afternoon, Kria left Chêp in the house busy with the evening's rice, and, accompanied by a small boy, his son by a former marriage, he went to seek for fish in one of the swamps at the back of the village. These marshy places, which are to be found in the neighbourhood of many Malay Kampongs, are ready-made rice fields, but since the cultivation of a pâdi swamp requires more exacting labour than most Malays are prepared to bestow upon it, they are often left to lie fallow, while crops are grown in clearings on the neighbouring hills. ”

“ The kapala of the kampong, with two prahus, had ascended it in twenty days. The Dayaks told me that if they wanted gold they were able to wash much in these rivers when the water is low.
I heard here of large congregations of wild pigs, up to 500 or 1,000. When the herds, called dundun, have eaten all the fruit at one place they move to another, feeding and marching, following one leader. They can be heard at a great distance, and there is time to seek safety by climbing a tree or running. ”

“ Marre, in his Kata-Kata Malayou (Paris, 1875) , gives the following expanded definition: "Village palissadé, ou, dans une ville, quartier séparé et généralement clos, occupé par des gens de même nation, Malays, Siamois, Chinois, Bouguis, &c. Ce mot signifie proprement un enclos, une enciente, et par extension quartier clos, faubourg, ou village palissadé. Le mot Kampong désigne parfois aussi une maison d'une certaine importance avec le terrain clos qui en dépend, et qui l'entoure" (p. 95) . ”

“ There are still several rajas in one kampong, for instance, three in Long Tjehan. The Penihings have a practical turn of mind and though they usually tell the truth at times they may steal. They are the best workers among the tribes on the Mahakam River (above the great rapids) and on a journey they travel in their prahus day and night, resting only a couple of hours in the early morning. However, the custom of travelling at night may be due to fear of meeting omen birds. ”

“ But it may be observed that it was possible that the word kampung was itself originally a corruption of the Port. campo, taking the meaning first of camp, and thence of an enclosed area, or rather that in some less definable way the two words reacted on each other. The Chinese quarter at Batavia—Kampong Tzina—is commonly called in Dutch 'het Chinesche Kamp' or 'het Kamp der Chinezen.' Kampung was used at Portuguese Malacca in this way at least 270 years ago, as the quotation from Godinho de Eredia shows. The earliest Anglo-Indian example of the word compound is that of 1679 (below) . ”

“ All the flesh is consumed at one sitting and after the feast is over the place is usually cleaned up and the pits covered carefully with earth and brush to hide the evidence of guilt, for the feasters are sure that sooner or later they will be visited by members of other kampongs who are curious to learn whether or not they know anything of the disappearance of certain people of Kampong Sangase or Watambi, or whatever the name may be. ”

“ In the centre is the Court-house with the Government offices; the markets are on one side, and the jail on the other; behind are the Police Station and the Government Dispensary. Beyond the Kuching creek are the Borneo Company's offices and godowns, above which, on the hill behind, are the houses of the manager and his assistants. Beyond again another Kampong, in which there are a good many houses of foreign Malays and some Chinese, and this portion of the town extends to the race-course. ”