8o 



THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND 



says, 'Be good enough to blow up the fire, or to light the lamp' (a bamboo filled with resin), 

 then his hopes are at an end, as that is the usual form of dismissal. Of course, if this kind 

 of nocturnal visit is frequently repeated, the parents do not fail to discover it, although it is 

 a point of honour among them to take no notice of their visitor, and if they approve of him 

 matters take their course; but if not, they use their influence with their daughter to ensure 

 the utterance of the fatal 'Please blow up the fire.' It is said on good authority that these 

 nocturnal visits but seldom result in immorality." 



The custom of burning the dead is confined to the Land Dyas. In Western Sarawak 

 the custom is universal; in the districts near the Samarahan, the dead may be either burned 

 or buried; and in the Sadoug they are always buried. Among the Silakan, the Lara, and 

 the true Lundu tribes the bodies of the elders and the rich people are burned, while the 

 others are buried. 



The Sea Dyas dispose of their dead by burial. When, any one dies, the medicine-man 

 who has been in attendance during the illness is expected also to superintend the interment, 

 and for this service he is paid an extra fee. All able-bodied men in the village turn out to 

 assist the bereaved family, for it is expedient to have the funeral on the day of death. No 

 sooner has the patient breathed his last than female relatives utter loud laments; they wash 



the corpse, and dress it in the 

 finest garments of the deceased, 

 and frequently add all his 

 weapons. It is then borne along 

 to the great common hall, where 

 friends come to mourn. In 

 some villages a hireling leads 

 the lament, which is continued 

 until the corpse leaves the hall 

 for the burial-ground. Before 

 this, however, the body is rolled 

 up in cloths and fine mats, kept 

 together by pieces of bamboo 

 tied in with rattans. The Sea 

 Dyas regard their burying- 

 grounds with superstitious terror 

 as the abode of spirits, hurrying 

 away as soon as possible for fear 

 of meeting ghosts. Consequently 

 the graves are uncared for. 

 Many years ago some at least of 

 the Sea Dyas* used to sacrifice 

 prisoners on the graves of chiefs. 

 We cannot conclude this 

 brief description of the people 

 of Borneo without some reference 

 to the splendid work of Eajah 

 Brooke in Sarawak. When the 

 late Mr. Brooke came in 1839, 

 the country was in a state of 

 "chronic insurrection." Two 

 TWO JAVA WOMEN. J afterwards he was made 



Photo li// 



[London. 



* The writer is greatly indebted to Sir Hugh Low, G.C.M.G., for his kindness in lending the valuable photographs of 

 Dyas and Sakais which illustrate the text of this chapter. They were collected by Sir Hugh's son, the late Mr. H. B. Low ; 

 and some taken by Mr. Leonard Wray, of the Perak Museum, Taiping ; others by Mr. E. J. Robertson, Singapore. 



