THE BALOWS. 397 



to the pistons ; observing with admiration several large 

 and handsome War prahus, building under sheds, of 

 great length, and having elevated and highly-ornamented 

 prows ; and more especially did we find amusement in 

 examining the interiors of those large Caravansaries 

 raised on poles, where the Balows live. The cabins 

 allotted to the married couples, are garnished with fur- 

 niture of a very simple and primitive description ; a rude 

 bed-place in one corner, and a few jars for holding water 

 in another, seemed to constitute the chief essentials for 

 the toilet and repose of the Dyak. These Balow dwel- 

 lings, which may be compared to enormous bee-hives, 

 have places under the kedjangs of the corridor, or gallery, 

 common to the whole swarm, where might be seen fowls 

 roosting by the dozen; various implements of war; 

 cooking utensils ; canoes unlashed, and taken to pieces ; 

 rush-woven mats ; looms for weaving sarongs ; huge 

 baskets of rice and corn ; and last, not least, among this 

 singular " omnium gatherum," at all events in the esti- 

 mation of the owners, numerous smoked and dusty 

 human heads, hanging suspended from the rafters, and 

 some of which I noticed of very recent capture. An 

 examination of their teeth and cranial peculiarities, ap- 

 prised me that one among them was the trophy of a 

 European ; several were Malayan, and by far the greater 

 number Dyak, with their black, stained, shark-like teeth. 

 Dalton, alluding to the propensity these people have 

 for hoarding up the heads of their enemies, says that 

 his friend Selgie, a Dyak chief of Coti, had as many as 

 one hundred and fifty ; and one of his sons, only twenty 

 years of age, was possessed of nine. 



