26 THE 'HEAD HOUSE.' [1843. 



they reached the outer lines. Those who accompanied me 

 maintained their ground until we made good our lodging 

 in the Great " Head House ", but we amounted only to 

 three ; forty-five minutes afterwards (by watch), when we 

 had recovered ourselves, we noticed the rest of our party 

 advancing, some towed along holding a stick by which a 

 Dyak helped them forward, whilst several were reduced 

 in dress to nearly the same limited garb as their Dyak 

 assistants ; yet, upon subsequent examination we found 

 that the height to which we had ascended was only 950 

 feet above our point of departure at Siniavan. 



After refreshing ourselves with cool cocoa-nut milk, aided 

 by the contents of our baskets, we examined the village and 

 our apartment, which was the " Head House," par excel- 

 lence, of this tribe. It is a building elevated on posts, 

 about thirty feet above the ground, of an octagonal form, 

 with the roof, commencing at the height of six feet within 

 the room, carried up to a very sharp peak ; the flooring, 

 which in all buildings in the country, is sufficiently open 

 for the passage of a kris, is formed of the outer rind of 

 the Nibon Palm (Areca tigillarid), an exogenous wood 

 of flinty hardness towards its exterior, and pith within ; 

 from some cause, however, not yet determined, it does 

 not endure long, the decay, arising probably from the 

 fermentation of its juices. Suspended from the ceilings 

 of this building are the heads of the enemies captured by 

 the tribe, those of the higher caste being ornamented 

 according to their taste by red and white paint, with 

 Cowries for eyes, but the generality simply smoke-dried. 

 We examined a few of them, but it is highly probable 

 their numbers had been very much diminished out 



