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As will be seen later, the designs tatued on women are in longitudinal rows or transverse bands, and the divisions between the rows or bands are marked by one or more zigzag lines termed IKOR.
The Punans apparently do not attribute disease to the adverse influence of an antoh, although their remedy is the same, consisting of singing in the night and removing small stones from the abdomen or other parts that may be affected. The Bukats whom I met were beautifully tatued.
Among Kayans isolated designs are found on the following parts of the bodies of the men: The outside of the wrist, the flexor surface of the forearm, high up on the outside of the thigh, on the breasts and on the points of the shoulders, and, as already stated, in the case of warriors on the backs of the hands and fingers. But not all the men are tatued on all these parts of the body.
They are tatued, and noticeable on the men is a succession of stars across the chest, as if hanging on a thread which is lower in the middle. The stars symbolise the fruits of durian. The colour of the tatuing is obtained from damar.
The men of such Kenyah tribes as the Lepu Jalan, Lepu Tau, Lepu Apong, etc., if tatued at all, are tatued in the Kayan manner, that is, with some form of dog design on the forearms and thighs, and with rosettes or stars on the shoulders and breasts.
Moreover, with these people the front and sides of the thigh and the shin are tatued with primitive-looking designs made up of series of short transverse lines, curved lines, and broad bands; the names of the designs are not given; these designs are said to be characteristic of the slave-class, the higher-class women copying the more elaborate designs of the Uma Lekan.
The sides of the thigh are tatued with a beautiful design of circles and scrolls termed KERIP KWE, flight feathers of the Argus pheasant, and on the back of the thigh is a scroll design borrowed from the decoration of a grave and known as KALANG SONG SEPIT. The knee is left untatued.
Since so many tribes owe much of their knowledge of tatu and the majority of their designs to the Kayans, it will be well to commence with an account of the art of tatu as practised by these people. Kayan Tatu. Dr. There is no fixed time of life at which a man can be tatued, but in most cases the practice is begun early in boyhood.
The men of the tribe apparently were not tatued, and the designs reproduced on Pl. 141, Figs. 5, 6, are those of the women.
As no antiseptic precautions are taken, a newly tatued part often ulcerates, much to the detriment of the tatu; but taking all things into consideration, it is wonderful how seldom one meets with a tatu pattern spoilt by scar tissues.
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