90 BOENEO. • 



driving in pegs in the way I have already described at page 

 65. This method is constantly used in order to obtain wax, 

 which is one of the most valuable products of the country. 

 The honey-bee of Borneo very generally hangs its combs un- 

 der the branches of the tappan, a tree which towers above all 

 others in the forest, and whose smooth cylindrical trunk often 

 rises a hundred feet without a branch. The Dyaks climb 

 these lofty trees at night, building up their bamboo ladder 

 as they go, and bringing down gigantic honey-combs. These 

 furnish them with a delicious feast of honey and young bees, 

 besides the wax, which they sell to traders, and with the 

 proceeds buy the much-coveted brass wire, earrings, and 

 gold-edged handkerchiefs with which they love to decorate 

 themselves. In ascending durion and other fruit-trees which 

 branch at from thi"rty to fifty feet from the ground, I have 

 seen them use the bamboo pegs only, without the upright 

 bamboo which renders them so much more secnre. 



The outer rind of the bamboo, split and shaved thin, is 

 the strongest material for baskets ; hen-coops, bird-cages, 

 and conical fish-traps are very quickly made from a single 

 joint by splitting off the skin in narrow strips left attached 

 to one end, while rings of the same material or rattan are 

 twisted in at regular distances. Water is brought to the 

 houses by little aqueducts formed of large bamboo split in 

 half and supported on crossed sticks of various heights so as 

 to give it a regular fall. Thin long-jointed bamboos form the 

 Dyaks' only water-vessels, and a dozen of them stand in the 

 corner of every house. They are clean, light, and easily car- 

 ried, and are in many ways superior to earthen vessels for the 

 same purpose. They also make excellent cooking utensils ; 

 vegetables and rice can be boiled in them to perfection, and 

 they are often used when travelling. Salted fruit or fish, 

 sugar, vinegar, and honey are preserved in them instead of 

 in jars or bottles. In a small bamboo case, prettily carved 

 and ornamented, the Dyak carries his sirih and lime for betel- 

 chewing, and his little long-bladed knife has a bamboo sheath. 

 His favorite pipe is a huge hubble-bubble, which he will 

 construct in a few minutes by insei'ting a small piece of 

 bamboo for a bowl obliquely into a large cylinder about six 

 inches from the bottom containing water, throusrh which the 



