THE NOMAD HUNTERS 185 



a little more private than usual for the benefit of the 

 labouring woman. The pregnant woman goes on 

 with her work up to the moment of labour and re- 

 sumes it almost immediately afterwards. She at 

 once becomes responsible for the care of the infant. 

 The only special treatment after childbirth is to sit 

 with the back close to a fire, so as to heat it as 

 much as can be borne. The delivery is sometimes 

 aided by tightly binding the body above the gravid 

 uterus in order, it would seem, to prevent any re- 

 trogression of the process. While the mother goes 

 about her work in camp, the infant is usually sus- 

 pended in a sling of bark-cloth from a bent sapling 

 or branch, an arrangement which enables the mother 

 to rock and so soothe the child by means of an 

 occasional push. When travelling or working in 

 the jungle the mother carries the infant slung upon 

 her back, either in a bark-cloth or a specially con- 

 structed cradle of plaited rattan such as is used by 

 the Kayans. The infant is suckled from one to two 

 years, and then takes to the ordinary diet of boiled 

 wild sago, varied with other animal and vegetable 

 products of the jungle. 



The children begin to help in the family work at 

 a very early age. They are disciplined largely by 

 frequent warnings against dangers, actual and sup- 

 positious, of which they remain acutely conscious 

 throughout life. This discipline no doubt contri- 

 butes largely to induce the air and the attitude of 

 timid alertness which are so characteristic of the 

 Punan. Harmony and mutual help are the rule 

 within the family circle, as well as throughout the 

 larger community ; the men generally treat their 

 wives and children with all kindness, and the women 

 perform their duties cheerfully and faithfully. 



The religious beliefs and practices of the Punans 

 are similar to those of the Kayans, but are less 

 elaborated. They observe a simpler system of 



