THE FIRE PISTON—BALFOUR. 581 
downward, the small orifice of the duct was tightly closed by a 
finger which would lie comfortably in the rounded notch. This would 
allow the air to be compressed, as the cylinder would thus be, tem- 
porarily, a closed one. At the end of the piston stroke, when the 
tinder was ignited, the finger would be raised, thus opening the duct, 
and, in addition to the piston being more readily and quickly with- 
drawn, through no vacuum being formed, the air from the outside, 
which would rush in through the open duct owing to the suction of 
the piston, would actually blow up the tinder into a higher state of 
incandescence, rendering it unnecessary to blow upon it after removal 
from the cylinder. I offer this theory as a possible solution of the 
mystery of this peculiar type, though as yet I have not been able to 
conduct experiments in order to see if such a process would act effi- 
ciently. The piston of this specimen is of wood, and presents the 
peculiarity of the cupped end having been capped with lead. This 
lead capping is damaged, and it is not easy to see whether it was 
intended to take the place of a packing or whether it was supple- 
mentary to the more usual packing of thread. No trace of thread 
packing is to be seen, though a sunken groove near the end of the 
pistons seems to be designed for holding some kind of packing wound 
round at this point. Mr. Beaufort told Sir R. B. Martin that fire 
pistons were becoming very difficult to obtain in British North 
Borneo, where they are confined to the west coast. He also added 
that “the better ones are made of wood.” 4 
The only example made of wood from Borneo is one figured by 
C. M. Pleyte,” and, although this is not so stated, it seems likely that 
this may have come from British North Borneo. It is (fig. 38) quite 
plain, and differs in external detail from examples from Sarawak. 
In regard to the general question of the presence of the fire piston 
in Borneo, it appears to be confined to an area extending from the 
westerly portions of Sarawak to the western coast of British North 
Borneo, though there is a wide hiatus in the distribution between 
these two regions. It is only found on or comparatively near the 
coast, where there is a strong admixture with the Malay element, and 
where Malayan culture is very evident. Both Mr. C. Hose and Mr. 
R. Shelford are strongly of opinion that this instrument has been 
introduced by the Malays, from whom the Sea Dayaks have borrowed 
it in comparatively recent times. Mr. Shelford wrote to me in answer 
to my inquiries that “the Malays and Sea Dayaks of the Saribas 
River were at one time associated a good deal in piracy, ete., and 
there was a good deal of intermarrying; at the present day the 
‘Orang Saribas’ have more of the Malay in them than any other 
tribe of Sea Dayaks, and, as far as I can make out, they are the only 
@Journ. Anthrop. Inst., XX, 1891, p. 331. 
+’ Globus, LIX, pt. Iv, p. 8 (of reprint), fig. 7. 
