42 PAGAN TRIBES OF BORNEO chap, m 



of Borneo is the great diversity of language ob- 

 taining among them. The migratory habits of the 

 people and the consequent mingling of communities 

 of different stocks within the same areas, far from 

 having resulted in the genesis by fusion of a 

 common language, have resulted in the formation 

 of a great number of very distinct dialects ; so 

 that in following the course of a river, one may 

 sometimes find in a day's journey of a score of 

 miles half a dozen or more villages, the people of 

 each of which speak a dialect almost, or in some 

 cases quite, unintelligible to their neighbours. A 

 necessary consequence of this state of affairs is 

 that, with the exception of the Sea Dayaks, almost 

 all adults speak or at least understand two or more 

 dialects or languages, while most of the chiefs and 

 leading men speak several dialects fluently and 

 partially understand a larger number. The language 

 most widely understood by those to whom it is not 

 native is the Kayan ; but since the recent spread 

 of trade through large areas under the protection 

 of the European governments, a simplified form 

 of the Malay language has been rapidly establishing 

 itself as the lingua franca of the whole country. 

 In Sarawak, where, during the last fifty years, the 

 Sea Dayaks have spread from the Batang Lupar 

 district and have established villages on all the 

 principal rivers, their language, which seems to be 

 a bastard and very simple branch of the Malay 

 tongue, is very widely understood and is largely 

 used as a common medium. 



Note on the use of the term Klemantan. The Malay name for Borneo is 

 Pulu Klemantan, and we have adopted this name to denote the large group 

 of allied tribes which in our opinion have the best claim to be regarded as 

 representing the indigenous population of the island. 



