292 PAGAN TRIBES OF BORNEO chap. 



was quickly settled by the payment of a pig and a small 

 spear to the wounded person ; so the ceremony may be 

 said to have ended without a mishap. When quiet had 

 been restored, we all sat down and rice-spirit was produced, 

 healths drunk, and speeches made ; food was brought out 

 and given to the visitors in the long verandah, as, on first 

 being received, visitors are not allowed to enter the rooms ; 

 and the convivialities were prolonged far into the night. 



In the evening of the following day the Madangs prepared 

 a feast for all present, and afterwards a great deal of rice- 

 spirit was drunk and some very good speeches made, 

 former troubles and difficulties being explained and dis- 

 cussed in the most open manner. Each chief spoke in 

 turn, and concluded his speech by offering drink to another 

 and singing a few phrases in his praise, the whole assembly 

 joining in a very impressive chorus after each phrase and 

 ending up with a tremendous roar as the bamboo cup was 

 emptied. • 



The following day the Madangs collected a quantity of 

 rubber for their first payment of tribute to the government, 

 namely, $2.00 per family, and as we had no means of 

 weighing it except by guesswork, it was decided that 

 Tama Bulan and two Madang headmen should act as 

 assessors, and decide whether the piece of rubber brought 

 by each person was sufficiently large to produce S2.00. 

 It took these men the whole day to receive it all, and much 

 counting was done on the fingers and toes. 



On taking our departure from the Madang country, 

 most of the women presented us with a small quantity of 

 rice for food on our homeward journey, but as each little 

 lot was emptied into a large basket, the giver took back a few 

 grains so as not to offend the omen-birds, who had bestowed 

 on them a bounteous harvest, by giving the whole away to 

 strangers. Presents of considerable value were given on both 

 sides, and all parted the best of friends. The two principal 

 Madang chiefs accompanied us for a day's journey, their 

 followers carrying the whole of our baggage. On parting I 

 promised to arrange a similar peace-making at Claudetown, 

 at which most of the Baram chiefs would be present. 



We add an account of the peace-making previ- 

 ously published by one of us.^ 



1 "A Savage Peace-Conference," by W. McDougall, The Eagle, the 

 magazine of St. John's College, Cambridge, 1900. 



