The Sea Dyaks of Borneo

Abstract

IT is obvious that this pleasantly written book is not intended for the anthropologist, but is rather meant for that large class of readers who take a general interest in remote countries and strange peoples. Nor is Mr. Gomes in any special sense himself an anthropologist, a matter it is well to mention, since in some reviews considerable stress has been laid on the fact that no mention is made of the so-called nyarong, the “spirit helper” of the Dyaks. But even if the nyarong, or, as it should be spelt ngarong, is not mentioned by name, its existence is not ignored; an undoubted example will be found on p. 188, and it may be assumed that the reference to a Dyak of whom it is recorded on p. 143 that “he treated a snake with the greatest kindness, because it had been revealed to him in a dream that the spirit of his grandfather dwelt in that snake,” is another example of the same belief.