XIX THE NOMAD HUNTERS 193 



adventures of a departing soul on its way to the 

 land of shades, is an experience which makes a 

 deep impression, one not devoid of aesthetic quality. 



In dancing, the Punan attains only a very modest 

 level. The men dance upon a narrow plank (for 

 the good reason that they have nothing else to 

 dance upon) ; and the exhibition is one of skilful 

 balancing on this restricted base while executing a 

 variety of turning movements and postures. The 

 women dance in groups with very restricted move- 

 ments of the feet, and some monotonous swaying 

 movements of the arms and body. The men also 

 imitate the movements of monkeys and of the horn- 

 bill and the various strange sounds made by the 

 latter. 



The most striking evidence of the low cultural 

 standing of the Punan is the fact that he cannot 

 count beyond three (the words are/^, dua, telo) ; all 

 larger numbers are for him merely many [pina). 

 Yet, although in culture he stands far below all 

 the settled agricultural tribes, there is no sufficient 

 reason for assuming him to be innately inferior to 

 them in any considerable degree, whether morally 

 or intellectually. Any such assumption is rendered 

 untenable by the fact that many Punans have quickly 

 assimilated the mode of life and general culture of 

 the other tribes ; and there can be no doubt, we 

 think, that many of the tribes that we have classed 

 as Klemantan and Kenyah are very closely related 

 to the Punans, and may properly be regarded as 

 Punans that have adopted Kayan or Malay culture 

 some generations ago. 



