578 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1907. 
There is a very fine specimen in the British Museum (fig. 34) 
which was collected by Carl Bock at Fort van de Capelle, Padang 
province, Sumatra. This example is elaborately carved out of horn. 
The cylinder is 8.2 cm. long and tapers slightly from above; it is 
decorated with bands of carving. The piston has a carved head which 
is surmounted by a well-shaped, rounded receptacle for tinder. This 
is very neatly fitted with a cap or lid which fits into the opening like 
a stopper, and is furnished on one side with a small projecting spur ; 
in closing the lid this spur passes through a slot in the rim of the 
tinder receptable, and a half turn secures the lid in position (fig. 
34a). The name of this instrument is given as tanar datar, but it 
seems possible that there has been some confusion with Tanah Datar, 
the name of a place. At least this name requires verification. 
Borneo—Sarawak.—In this island the fire piston is found princi- 
pally in the hands of Malays and Sea Dayaks of Sarawak. In 
1865, F. Boyle described 7 it as used by some of the Dayak tribes, and 
expressed much astonishment at the singular method of procuring 
fire. His description is evidently erroneous, but he adds, “ I must 
observe that we never saw this singular method in use, though the 
officers of the Rajah seemed acquainted with it.” He refers to lead 
being used as a material in making the instruments, and adds that 
“ the natives say that no metal but lead will produce the effect.” 
Charles Brooke, in 1866,’ writes as follows: “ There is a method 
* * * used by the Saribus and Sakarang Dyaks for obtaining 
fire, which is peculiarly artistic, and from what direction such a 
practice could have been inherited is beyond my ken. The instrument 
is a small metal tube, about 3 inches long, closed at one end, with a 
separate piston, the bottom of which fits closely into the tube, and 
when some dried stuff answering the purpose of tinder is introduced, 
and the piston slapped suddenly down, the head of it being held in the 
palm of the hand in order to withdraw it as quickly as possible with 
a jerk, fire is by this means communicated to the tinder in the tube. 
The Dyaks call the instrument ‘ besi api.’ ” 
W. M. Crocker asserts ° that the fire piston is “ found among the 
Saribus Dyaks only. Here we have a small brass tube lined with 
lead; no other metal, the natives say, would produce the same result. 
A small wooden plunger is made to fit the tube, the end of which is 
hollowed out in the shape of a small cup, in which is placed the 
tinder.” 
W. H. Furness also describes and figures? an example with lead- 
lined brass cylinder and wooden piston, from the Saribas Ibans (Sea 
@Adventures among the Dyaks of Borneo, 1865, p. 67. 
4Ten Years in Sarawak, 1866, p. 50. 
¢Journ. Anthrop. Inst., XV, 1886, p. 426. 
¢Home Life of the Borneo Head-Hunters, 1907, p. 170. 
