68 THE MINDS AND MANNERS 



rhinoceros and sladang. And there dwells a jungle tribe called 

 the Jackoons, some members of which I met at their family 

 home, and observed literally in their own ancestral tree. Their 

 house was not wholly bad, but it might have been 100 

 per cent better. It was merely a platform of small poles, 

 placed like a glorified bird's nest in the spreading forks of a 

 many-branched tree, about twenty feet from the ground. The 

 main supports were bark-lashed to the large branches of the 

 family tree. Over this there was a rude roof of long grass, 

 which had a fairly intelligent slope. As a shelter from rain, 

 the Jackoon house left much to be desired. The scanty loin 

 cloths of the habitants knew no such thing as wash-day or line. 

 With all its drawbacks, however, this habitation was far more 

 adequate to the needs of its builders than the cold brush 

 rabbit-forms of the Patagonian canoe Indians. 



We now come to a tribe which has reduced the problem of 

 housing and home life to its lowest common denominator. 

 The Poonans of Central Borneo, discovered and described by 

 Carl Bock, build no houses of any kind, not even huts of green 

 branches; and their only overture toward the promotion of 

 personal comfort in the home is a five-foot grass mat spread 

 upon the sodden earth, to lie upon when at rest. And this, 

 in a country where in the so-called "dry season" it rains half 

 the time, and in the "wet season" all the time. 



The Poonans have rudely-made spears for taking the wild 

 pig, deer and smaller game, their clothes consist of bark cloth, 

 around the loins only. They know no such thing as agriculture, 

 and they live off the jungle. 



It was said some years ago that a similarly primitive jungle 

 tribe of Ceylon, known as the Veddahs, could count no more 

 than five, that they could not comprehend "day after to- 

 morrow," and that their vocabulary was limited to about 

 200 words. 



It is very probable that the language of the Poonans and 

 the Jackoons is equally limited. 



