34 
the rice is separated from the stalks by the hand; but in larger 
farms, the Padi is shaken about in a sieve and thus cleared in a 
more summary manner. The custom of afterwards removing 
the husk, by pounding the rice in a mortar, prevents its ever 
keeping long; for the grains being thus broken and_ their 
protecting enamel destroyed, they are quickly attacked and 
spoiled by the weevil. If kept in the husk, (in which state the 
vice is always called Padi,) the grain remains uninjured for 
many years. It is not uncommon for the soil to produce such 
enormous crops, that much is lost for want of hands to gather it. 
When this is the case, the land seems for a while exhausted, and 
the Dyaks forsake it for a period of seven years, and returning, 
begin anew the process of felling, clearing, and burning. They 
assign the custom of their ancestors for giving the ground this 
certain time of rest. ° 
Tobacco, Millet, a species of Mustard, the egg plant, and a 
few other vegetables are cultivated, but to a very limited extent, 
by the Dyaks and Malays. 
Among the Dyaks, two plants are held in special reverence, 
the Dracena and the Yellow Bamboo; and these being natives 
of India may probably have been introduced from thence at the 
same time as the Brahminical worship. The former, the Dra- 
cena terminalis, is planted round the houses together with the 
Ivory Bamboo. Beneath their shade, generally stands a little 
altar, sometimes roofed to protect it from rain, but oftener 
uneovered. The tree itself is not worshipped; but the place 
where it grows is held sacred, and no village is ever without it. 
Perhaps the graceful stems and lovely foliage first attracted 
attention, and induced the simple natives to suppose that 
objects endowed with such beauty must be special favourites of 
their gods. | 
Among the Dyaks of the Sarawak river, the Pancratium 
Amboynense, which they call Si-kudip, is highly esteemed. It 
nowhere grows wild in Borneo, and being a native of the 
Moluccas and other Islands to the eastward, it seems to argue 
that the Dyaks brought it with them when they first immigrated 
into Borneo. Its are preserved with jealous care, from 
the idea that the Padi crop will fail, unless one Si-kudip be 
grown in the same field. When the grain is ripe, this bulb is 
accordingly secured and preserved in the graneries, to be planted 
again the followg year. The Pancratium bears a beautiful 
crown of white and fragrant flowers, on a stalk about a foot high. 
Mr. Low mentions that he saw a single specimen in one place, 
which the owner had honoured by erecting an altar of bamboo 
~~ . —_ nas 
