Lance

Basi Wako Tado

56. Lance - "Bassi wakko tado".
This lance, called rope lance, is only used at the big and authentic national deer hunts on South Celebes. It is unique and found in use by no other people. The shaft of this hunting lance is either made of a tough, elastic wood or of bamboo. It is very long, often 3 meters and more, and formed like a whip with a thick lower and a thin very supple upper end. On the lower thick end there is a very delicate flat or chiselled lance head which is long and narrowly formed, which, when not in use, rests in a simple wooden sheath. On the upper, thin end a spring clamp of horn is attached which is formed like a pincer. About a meter below this clamp on the side of the thin shaft there is a second bow-shaped horn clamp which resiliently rests on the shaft. Into these two clamps is shoved the loop of a 3-meter long, elastic lasso rope, whose end is always fastened onto the halter of the hunter's horse. The lasso rope, "tado", is twisted from a strong, elastic bast, similar to a wire noose so that the loop, fixed in this way always stays open. For the Buginese and Makassars the deer hunt is in every case a purely coursing hunt, and only princes, their relatives and privileged persons or, with permission from the prince, chiefs and their relatives may participate. The common folk is only used as beaters of the game. The princes and privileged people are familiar with European firing arms, many own expensive European hunting weapons, but they only use these to shoot birds, ducks, snipe or wild boar. The deer may only be killed by princes and only using the rope lance, following old laws. In the hunts either only a few hunters participate and search for the game in the forest or in the fields, or large princely hunts are organized, where several hundred beaters flush the game out of the woodlands onto open terrain which is advantageous for a coursing hunt.
The hunters, at such hunts their numbers can often be several hundred in number, comprise only invited guests and relatives of the prince who has organized the hunt. Such a hunt often turns into folk festival for the whole region. Here following will be a short description of one such. For days prior, preparations are made; large open buildings of bamboo are built where the invited guests will gather already days in advance of the hunt and they overnight in these buildings. The open terrain for the hunt is fenced in with barriers so that the agitated game does not scatter into an area which is too large. The barriers are constructed with wooden posts of about one meter which are driven into the ground and connected to each other with a bast rope which is intensely yellow. And it is a very interesting and completely unexplained fact that the chased and completely frightened animals never break through this simple, light fencing but rather will prefer to run back to their deaths. I saw a deer which no longer saw an escape: in front of him was only the yellow barrier; he turned around and ran directly into the pack of hunters on horseback. It seems that the intense yellow color of the bast rope against the dark green background raises an image, an irritation in the eyes of the animal which causes it to be shocked back. 
Some days before the hunt the game is driven together by hundreds of beaters and small dogs into a small wood and held there by such a ring. The beaters, who have been provided in advance with rice, dried fish and some water in a bamboo box, must stay at their posts day and night until the signal is given for the coursing. On the day of the hunt the hunting party goes to the hunting terrain before sunrise, positions itself at the edge of the wood where the game has been fenced in. As soon as it is light, the beaters begin the beating with their dogs. Up until this time the party has looked very sleepy, the little unimpressive horses hang their heads and have their eyes half shut; the hunters crouch on their horses and have drawn their naked legs up under them and have covered themselves with wide cotton skirts "sarongs" like coats: they too look dreamy, beetle balls in their mouths. All the hundreds of people and horses make up a stationary mass which appears in the early morning to be quite strange. But then suddenly the sounds of the distant cries of the dogs become clearer and clearer, the horses open their eyes, raise their heads and begin to paw with their hoofs. The rider binds his head band tight, winds the sarong around his body and sits up straight, checks his rope lance as well as his horse's primitive halter, spits out the ball of beetle. The barking of the dogs comes closer and closer, the horses which were so sleepy earlier become so impatient that the whole party begins to move in a circular pattern since the horses are just as passionate hunters as their owners. There are a few hunters who stand on the backs of their horses and stare into the wood. Now the sound of the breaking through of the game can be heard and now is the time for the full preparedness for after just a few seconds the herds, which number in the hundreds, come thundering from the wood onto the open terrain. At this time begins a spectacle which is so grand, so wonderful that it really cannot be described. A herd of many hundreds of deer running in panic on a green laughing field, followed by some hundreds of half naked, brown riders with long, flying hair and their heads adorned with red head scarves, the hips wound in red sarongs. Everything in the splendid light of the sun, surrounded by the eternally green forests and mountains; an overpowering sight. But one must bravely ride with them for if not, one easily loses sight because of bushes and hills. The rider follows the animal so closely that he is able to set the open noose around its neck. When this is done he pulls the lance back with a strong abrupt pull, whereby the elastic loop comes free from the two brackets described above. Now the horse and the deer are bound together by the rope, since the lower end of the rope, as described, is fastened to the halter of the horse. At the same time the hunter holds the lance ready for the kill. He frees his lance from its wooden sheath with the toes of his right foot. As soon as the noose is free from the lance, the rider stops his horse; a horse which has been used more often for hunting does this by itself. Since the horse is stronger than the deer, it is suddenly held back by the noose around its neck which tightens thus and frightens the animal to such a degree that the animal, full of deadly fear, continues to try to run ahead and after just a few leaps falls to the ground half strangled, where the hunter then makes the kill with his lance. In such a large hunt quite a pile of game will be killed, which will then be distributed among the guests, the beaters and the common people who gather. The hunter himself may not taste any of the meat of the killed animal. After the hunt the party returns to the bamboo huts where a great feast is prepared. The deer are roasted on an open fire and large stones that are glowing hot are filled into the belly of the animal, after removal of the offal so that it is roasted from outside and inside. The natives know how to prepare a large number of hunting dishes and show themselves to be great gourmets. The shaft of the present lance is of wood, the head is narrow and has double ribbing, the metal fitting is of brass.

Translation of: Czurda, F. A. J. (1883). Catalog mit Erklärungen der Etnografischen Privatsammlung des Dr. F. A. J. Czurda in Postelberg (Böhmen). (p. 10-14). Wien, Wilhelm Braumüller