288 PAGAN TRIBES OF BORNEO chap. 



for some time, they came near and inquired : *' Who 

 are you ? Whence do you come ? What is your 

 business ? " H aving obtained satisfactory assurances, 

 they retreated, stepping backwards with the same 

 grotesque gestures, and returned to report the results 

 of their investigations to their chief. 



Before friendly intercourse between the parties 

 could begin it was still necessary, in view of the 

 recent feud between them, that they should engage 

 in a sham fight (jawa). When this boisterous 

 ceremony had been accomplished, the Resident pre- 

 sented to the Lepu Agas a number of presents, 

 calculated to whet their appetite for the products of 

 civilised industry to be found in the Baram bazaar. 

 Very soon all suspicion and reserve were overcome, 

 and all the men of the Resident's party turned to 

 with hearty goodwill to help build a house for their 

 former enemies. So well did they work that between 

 sunrise and sunset a house of forty doors was hewn 

 out of the forest, solidly constructed, and roofed ; so 

 that when night fell the new-comers were able to 

 move in and to invite their helpers to a convivial 

 meeting in its long gallery. The Resident made a 

 speech in native fashion, saying that his party had 

 ventured to build a rude hut in order to provide a 

 night's shelter for their new friends, and hoped that 

 they would find it sufficient for the moment. Tama 

 Bulan also spoke, saying how now the old troubles 

 were over, never to come again. Aban J along, the 

 old chief of the Batang Kayan people, was so 

 touched by these unwonted demonstrations of good- 

 will, that he wept and could with difficulty find words 

 in which to express the gratitude of himself and his 

 people. Through these people messages of good- 

 will and invitations to the proposed peace-making at 

 Claudetown were sent to their former neighbours in 

 the Batang Kayan, and these in due time bore 

 good fruit. For in the course of the next few years 



