BORNEO 235 



malformation of their children's heads hy boards, in tlio 

 manner of some South American tribes. Others innnure 

 their young girls for two or three years or more at the 

 age of puberty, and there are many curious customs, 

 especially among the Kayans, for the knowledge of wliich 

 we are indebted to Mr. Dalton, who resided for a lon» 

 period with the head-hunting Dyaks in 1828. 



As a rule the Dyak pagan tribes wear rude clothing 

 of bark or cotton cloth, and the women deck them- 

 selves with abundance of beads, brass wire, and plaited 

 girdles. The men generally wear only the chawat — 

 a long band of bark or strip of cotton cloth passed 

 between the legs and round the loins, with sometimes 

 a jacket. The women wear a short petticoat, and 

 in some tribes have a belt of bark or bamboo bound 

 together with brass wire or rattans, and sometimes also 

 a jacket. The women, as with most savage tribes, do 

 much hard labour, whereas among the Malays and other 

 Mohammedans they are almost wholly confined to house- 

 work, occasionally assisting in the fields at harvest-time. 

 The practice of taking heads as trophies was common 

 among almost all the Dyak tribes, but has been to a 

 great extent abolished where European influence is pre- 

 dominant. A young Dyak could not marry, nor a parent 

 or widower leave off mourning, till a head was obtained. 

 These heads were dried and carefully preserved in their 

 houses. It was a custom, and as a custom was observed, 

 but it did not imply any extraordinary barbarism or 

 moral delinquency. On the contrary, it is the general 

 opinion of all who know them well that the Dyaks are 

 among the most pleasing of savages, that they are kind, 

 truthful, and have many excellent qualities. The ])yak 

 houses are generally very large, many families residing 

 together, and there is in every village a halai, or council- 



