ETHNOLOGY OF BORNEO 243 



Islam and absorbed. It seems probable that 

 different communities of them suffered these three 

 different fates. 



The supposition that the Kayans represent a part 

 of such a population, which was driven on by the 

 pressure of Malays to seek a new country in which 

 to practise its extravagant system oi padi culture, is 

 in harmony with the probability as to the date of 

 their immigration to the southern rivers of Borneo ; 

 for the rise and expansion of the Menangkabau 

 Malays began in the middle of the twelfth century 

 A.D. ; and the Kayans may well have entered Borneo 

 some 700 years ago. 



III. We have now to summarise the evidence in 

 favour of the view that the Kayans have imparted 

 to the Kenyahs and many of the Klemantan tribes 

 the principal elements of the peculiar culture which 

 they now have in common. 



We have shown that the culture of the Kenyah 

 and Klemantan tribes is in the main very similar to 

 that of the Kayans, and that it differs chiefly in 

 lacking some of its more advanced features, in having 

 less sharply defined outlines, in its greater variability 

 from one community to another, and in the less 

 strict observance of custom. Thus the Kayans in 

 general live in larger communities, each of their 

 villages generally consisting of several long houses ; 

 whereas a single long house generally constitutes 

 the whole of a Kenyah or Klemantan village. The 

 Kayans excel in iron-working, in padi culture, in 

 boat-making, and in house-building. Their customs 

 and beliefs are more elaborated, more definite, 

 more uniform, and more strictly observed. Their 

 social grades are more clearly marked. They hang 

 together more strongly, with a stronger tribal 

 sentiment, and, while the distinction between them 

 and other tribes is everywhere clearly marked and 

 recognised both by themselves and others, the 



