MYTHS, LEGENDS, STORIES 143 



of the Tutau, and covered all his body at the place 

 where the Tinjar (the largest tributary) flows into 

 the Baram. At the mouth of the Adoi he wailed 

 aloud, ''Adoi, Adoi!'' (a sorrowful cry in common 

 use, nearly the equivalent of our Alas ! ). He began 

 to shiver with cold, but at the mouth of the Bakong 

 he wept again. When he reached Lubok Kajaman 

 he was out of his depth (this is a part known to be 

 very deep) and colder than ever ; but he kept on, 

 and presently the water reached only to his belly, 

 and when he reached the sea it came only to his 

 knees. (There is a shallow bar at the river mouth.) 

 On seeing the boundless ocean, UsaigdiY^ up the 

 search and strode down the coast to Miri, where he 

 lived on charcoal and ginger. (The belief is widely 

 held that the people of Miri, formerly ate charcoal 

 in large quantities.) The people of Miri seemed to 

 him like maggots ; and they, taking him to be a 

 great tree, climbed up on him. When he brushed 

 them off, he killed ten men with each sweep of his 

 hand. The Miri people set to work to hew down 

 this great tree, and blood poured from Usais foot 

 as they worked. Then Usai spoke to them, asking 

 them what sort of creatures they might be, and 

 said, " Listen to my words. I am about to die. 

 My brains are sago, my liver is tobacco. Where my 

 head falls there the people will have much knowledge, 

 where my feet lie will be the ignorant ones." Then, 

 his legs being cut through, he fell with a mighty 

 crash, his head falling towards the sea, his feet point- 

 ing up river. ('* This accounts for the fact that white 

 men and Chinese know so many things, while the 

 people of Borneo are ignorant " said our informant ; 

 but this was probably his own comment.) The 

 Miris, of whom a thousand were killed by the fall 

 of Usai, have beautiful hair, because his head fell 

 in their district ; but the other people have only 

 such hair as grew on Usais limbs. The mosquitoes 



