ETHNOGRAPHY OF SARAWAK. 427 



the patterns on the bamboo carvings of the men are few and 

 simple, their parangs (swords) are of a simpler type than those 

 of the Sea Dayaks and they are neither bellicose nor even 

 vigorous. Immediately prior to the arrival of the first white 

 Rajah, oppressed both by Malays and Sea Dayaks they were 

 obliged to retire to the headwaters of the rivers where high up 

 on the mountains they built their houses. Since that time one 

 tribe, the Lundu Dayaks, once fairly numerous, has completely 

 died out : other tribes barely keep up their numbers and in 

 many cases, total extinction is avoided by the marriages of 

 Dayak girls with Chinamen. The religion of Land Dayaks 

 shews unmistakable evidences of a Hindu influence dating 

 probably from the time when emigrants from Java overran 

 the western part of Borneo. They cremate their dead, a 

 custom not found in any other of the tribes of Borneo. 



The standard of morality is high for they are thoroughly 

 honest and truthful. 



Milanos are a tribe of comparatively civilised people who 

 occupy a long" stretch of the coast line of Sarawak. They live 

 in small houses like Malays and dress somewhat similarly 

 though there are points of difference. To this tribe belongs 

 the distinction of having a settled industry, the working of raw 

 sago for export. 



A very curious custom of these people is that of head- 

 pressing. At the present day it is the proper thing for the 

 mother to apply a small wooden press to the forehead of the 

 female infant when only a few weeks old : the press is applied 

 during the sleeping hours of the child and the operation is 

 repeated several times a day for many weeks. When the fore- 

 head is sufficiently flattened' the process is brought to an end. 

 So the result is that all the Milano women have a conspicuous 

 depression in the forehead, an additional feature of beauty 

 from the Milano point of view. The same custom exists in 

 Celebes, in Thibet and in Northern India; in former times head 

 pressing has occurred practically all over the world. 



The religion of Milanos is highly interesting especially in its 

 relations to medical practice. As in the case of the Sea Dayaks 

 they assume that happiness and good luck is the normal lot of 

 man and that sickness and misfortunes are the result of a 

 direct attack by some evil spirit. Consequently they make no 

 use of herbal concoctions but in case of sickness the patient 

 applies to the witch doctor whose business is to get rid of the 

 interfering spirit. So the witch doctor makes, or orders of a 

 carpenter, an image of sago pith, this image to be a likeness of 

 the evil spirit in c|uestion : then a ceremony is held during the 

 course of which the doctor persuades the evil spirit of the sick 

 man to leave him in favour of the image. Afterwards the 

 patient is assured of his recovery, the doctors fee is pocketed, 

 and the enchanted image is taken away by the doctor — no other 

 person dares to touch it. This image finds a resting place on 

 the sea shore, or high up in a tree or in the jungle, according" 

 as the spirit in question has his real home in the water, in the 

 air or in the jungle. Images are only used once and they are 



