336 u^n Account of Borneo >^ 



circumstance : — Two of their principal chiefs, induced front 

 curiosity, came one day to the factory ; they plainlv told 

 me they came to see a white man, and sliould judge of my 

 treatment of them then, what inducement thcv might havC 

 to cultivate an intercourse with me : pleased \\ith the pro- 

 i<pectj however faint, nl having thus met with an instrument 

 through which I might encomp^lss, in time, what I have 

 ever esteemed my capital object, I endeavoured to ingratiate 

 myself by glviug them small presents of ditferent assort- 

 ments of goods, and expressed a desire to see them again i 

 one only of them shortly afterwards returned with some 

 provisions, which I learnt he had first been endeavouring 

 to sell to the junks, and even then demanded of me such 

 an exorbitant price as I could not think of complying with* 

 They are represented, however, as industrious in culti- 

 vating their paddy plantations, and in following such other 

 employments as are known amongst them ; but having no 

 purchaser for their commodity but tiie Bornevans, who treat 

 them very indifferently, the intercourse, of consequence, is 

 not carried to any extent. 



Their arms are long knives and soompittans, a tube of 

 \\ood, about six feet long, through which thev blow small 

 arrows, poisoned at one end, having at the other a small 

 bit of cork wood just big enough to fill up the hollow of 

 the tube, .he least touch of which, where blood is produced, 

 is certain death, unless immediately counteracted by the 

 medicine they make use of. 



Their dress at present is nothing more than a girdle, or 

 long slip of stvifF, made of the bark of a certain tree, which 

 turns between the thighs to cover their nudities, one end of 

 which hangs down before, the other behind. 



The eivd govcrnn)ent of Borneo is vested with a sailtaun 

 and a superior council, which consist of those pangararis 

 who hold the great offices of the 'sxa.Hi ; such as a bandahara, 

 in whose hands is lodged the whole cxecutire power; the ga-' 

 dong, or director of the sulfaun's household ; the toman- 

 gong, or commander in chief on their occasional wai-; the 

 pa mancha, or mediator in disputes; and the shabandar : 

 to a^ssist these are three oran kavos, de gadong, ivattan, and 

 -liabandar. Tliere are many others w'ho hold the title of 

 p.uigarans, but who are called to council only on particular 

 uiiiiters. 



I cannot better convey an idea of tlii< form of govern- 

 ment than to say it bears a strong resemblance to our an- 

 ticnt feudal system ; for although there i-. more respect paid 

 to the reeal power here than in ai;v otlier N'Jalay country I 

 .'? have 



