MATERIAL CONDITIONS 55 



split bamboo covered with coarse mats. An open 

 platform at the level of the floor runs along the 

 whole length of the open side of the house. 

 There are no padi barns about the house, the padi 

 being kept in bins in the roofs. The roof itself is 

 low, giving little head space. The gallery of the 

 house makes an impression of lack of space, very 

 different to that made by the long wide gallery of 

 a Kayan or Kenyah house. 



Although the more solidly built houses, such as 

 those of the Kayans, would be habitable for many 

 generations, few of them are inhabited for more 

 than fifteen or twenty years, and some are used 

 for much shorter periods only. For one reason 

 or another the village community decides to build 

 itself a new house on a different and sometimes 

 distant site, though the new site is usually in the 

 same tributary river, or, if on the main river, within 

 a few miles of the old one. The most frequent 

 causes of removal are, first, using up of the soil 

 in the immediate neighbourhood of the village, for 

 they do not cultivate the same patch more than 

 three or four times at intervals of several years ; 

 secondly, the occurrence of a fatal epidemic ; thirdly, 

 any run of bad luck or succession of evil omens ; 

 fourthly, the burning of the house, whether acci- 

 dentally or in the course of an attack by enemies. 



On removing to a new site the planks and the 

 best of the timber of a well-built house are usually 

 towed along the river to the spot chosen, and used 

 in the construction of the new house. 



After the houses the most important of the 

 material possessions of the people are their boats. 

 Each family possesses at least one small boat 

 capable of carrying seven or eight persons, and used 

 chiefly for going to and from the padi fields, but 

 also for fishing and short journeys of all kinds. In 

 addition to these the community possesses several 



