ks and
in the streams--and that these cause disease and death. And so when
sickness comes, the witch doctor or _Manang_ is sent for, because he
claims to have mysterious powers over the spirits.

Every disease is believed to be caused by the touch of some demon, who
wishes to carry off the soul of the sick man into the other world, and
the witch doctor is the man who has power to charm or kill the evil
spirit, and rescue the soul of the sick man from his cruel clutches.
When called in to attend a patient, he in company with other medicine
men go through a ceremony, which, though agreeing in the main points,
differs in details according to what the disease is, and the amount of
fees paid.

The witch doctor always possesses a _lupong_ or medicine box, generally
made of bark skin, which is filled with charms, consisting of scraps of
wood or bark, curiously twisted roots, pebbles and fragments of quartz.
These charms are either inherited or revealed to their owners by the
spirits in dreams, as possessing medicinal virtue. One important and
necessary charm is the _Batu Ilau_--"stone of light"--a bit of quartz
crystal into which the witch doctor looks in order to see the soul, so
as to be able to catch it and bring it back to the body it has left. It
is believed by the Dyaks that in all cases of serious sickness, the soul
leaves the body and wanders about at greater or less distance from it;
if it can be caught before it has proceeded too far on its journey to
the other world, well and good; if not, the patient dies. Whether the
patient recover or not, the witch doctor is rewarded for his services.
He makes sure of this beforehand, and demands his fee before he
undertakes the case.

The _Manang_ never carries his own box of charms; the people who fetch
him must carry it for him. He arrives at the house of the sick man
generally at sunset, for he never performs by daylight, unless the case
is very serious, and he is paid extra for doing so. It is difficult and
dangerous work, he says, to have any dealings with the spirits in the
daytime. Sitting down by the patient, after some inquiries, he produces
out of his medicine box a pebble, or a boar's tusk, or some other charm,
and gently strokes the body with it. If there be several medicine men
called in, the leader undertakes the preliminary examination, the rest
giving their assent.

The witch doctor now produces his _Batu Ilau_ ("stone of light") and
gravely looks into it t