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"The national drink of Borneo is tuak, about the vilest tipple that ever was invented. I went to a Dyak feast when I first came to the island, which proved to be nothing but a series of drunken orgies. The principal actors at the feast were a number of pretty girls, such as you saw this afternoon.
On the Upper Samba the custom still prevails of drinking tuak from human skulls. This was related to me by the "onder" of Kasungan, a trustworthy man who had himself seen it done. A wide-awake kapala from one of the kampongs above was of excellent service in explaining the purposes of the ethnological objects I purchased.
The flower part is cut off with a knife, when the sap which issues is gathered in a bamboo cup. It is now of a slightly acid and bitter taste, resembling the thin part of butter-milk. When this is allowed to ferment, it becomes what the natives call tuak a very intoxicating beverage, of which they are very fond. The seeds grow in such large bunches, that one alone is as much as two men can carry.
House building must cease and sacrificial offerings of pork and tuak are made to a good antoh to induce him to deal with the evil one that caused the mishap.
They know how to make tuak, crushing the rice, boiling it, and then pouring it into a gutshi until the vessel is half full, the remaining space being filled with water. In three days the product may be drunk, but sometimes it is allowed to stand a month, which makes it much stronger. If there is no tuak there can be no dancing, they said.
The owner with wife and children having concluded their meal, all others present and as many as care to come are welcome to partake of new rice and meat and to drink tuak. On the following day they go to the ladang to cut paddi, but barely half the number that took part in the feast assist in the work.
After the meal the bridegroom gives everybody tuak, and people go home the same evening unless they become drunk, which often happens. The young married couple remain one year with the bride's parents.
It is made of ironwood, and in these regions the people have a preference for placing it high above the ground, but it may also be put underground in a subterranean chamber also made of ironwood, which may take five or six months to construct and which is large enough to accommodate a family. The feast lasts one week, during which food and tuak are provided.
It is the women also who serve out the tuak, a spirit prepared from rice and spiced with various ingredients, tobacco being one. The men must drink at these feasts; they are very temperate generally, but on this occasion they are rather proud of being drunk and boasting the next day of a bad headache!
This is done to the end that no odour of the dead shall linger, thus exposing the living to danger from the bad antoh that is responsible for the unfortunate event which necessitated their recent activities. Later, all partake of tuak, including the children.
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