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Furness.J ^-^^ [Dec. 18, 



to the primeval forest. Palms as a rule do not enter into the landscape ; 

 being of low growth, they are hidden by the lofty trees. Toward the 

 centre of the island there is a broken range of mountains and of high 

 hills running from North to South, the longest diameter of the island ; of 

 these mountains, according to our present knowledge, Kina Balu in the 

 North is the highest, and is 13,680 ft. high, but not snow-capped. Other 

 mountains in the chain vary from 3000 to 10,000 ft. in height. 



It is in this central range of highlands and mountains that all the 

 numerous rivers rise and form the highways and by-ways of the island, 

 rendering it traversable in almost every direction. 



The government of the island is divided between the Dutch in the 

 South and East, The British North Borneo Company in the North, the 

 small Sultanate of Brunei on the west coast, and below this the inde- 

 pendent territory of Sarawak, governed by Eajah Brooke, in whose ter- 

 ritory the greater part of my time was spent. 



In almost every book on Borneo the people are included under the name 

 of Dyaks, either Sea-D3faks or Land-Dyaks. This is an error. There 

 are many distinct tribes or possibly races, scattered throughout the hills 

 and on the rivers of Borneo ; they speak a dift'erent language, and have 

 different customs of burial, of marriage, of naming children, of boat build- 

 ing, etc., etc. Some show a decidedly Chinese influence, while others 

 are clearly of the Malay type and have adopted the Mohammedan relig- 

 ion in a somewhat modified form ; others again are nomadic, and, in ap- 

 pearance, are stronger and slightly taller than the Dyaks, and are not 

 Head-hunters, which is another custom erroneously attributed to all the 

 inhabitants of Borneo. 



Borneo is a subject so large that to give a reallj' clear idea of all the in- 

 tricacies of the manners and customs of its people would occupy far more 

 time than one short evening's talk. Let me rather recount to you what 

 it will be probably impossible to find in books. 



Dr. Hiller and myself had the rare opportunity, through the kindness 

 of Mr. Charles Hose, one of the Rajah's most energetic Residents, 

 of spending five weeks among the natives, in the household of Tamabu- 

 lan, one of the most powerful chiefs of the Kayans and Kenniahs, on 

 the river Baram. 



Tliis chief had come down the Baram about two hundred and fifty 

 miles, with a hundred of his men, more or less, to attend a Meeting of 

 Peace and Reconciliation with the Dyaks and other tribes living on the 

 Baram. The Rajah talked to them all most impressively on the evils 

 attending constant warfare, and at the end of his speech, given in Ma- 

 lay — the court language — Tamabulau was the first to step forward and 

 heartily shake hands with the Rajah and express his willingness to do 

 all he could to maintain the peace ; which was duly ratified on the mor- 

 row by the slaughter of a pig and the examination of tlie omens as inter- 

 preted from the colorations of its liver ; yet this same Tamabulan only 

 three years ago was one of the most rebellious up-river chiefs and 



