70 PAGAN TRIBES OF BORNEO chap. 



The upper class is relatively more numerous 

 in the Kenyah than in the Kayan houses, and 

 more clearly distinguishable by address and bear- 

 ing. 



The middle class comprises the majority of the 

 people of a house in most cases. They may enjoy 

 all the forms of property, though generally their 

 possessions are of smaller extent and value, and 

 they seldom possess slaves. Their voices carry 

 less weight in public affairs ; but among this class 

 are generally a few men of exceptional capacity 

 or experience whose advice and co-operation are 

 specially valued by the chief Among this class, 

 too, are usually a few men in each house on whom 

 devolve, often hereditarily, special duties implying 

 special skill or knowledge, e.g. the working of iron 

 at the forge, the making of boats, the catching of 

 souls, the finding of camphor, the observation and 

 determination of the seasons. All such special 

 occupations are sources of profit, though only the 

 last of these enables a man to dispense with the 

 cultivation oi padi. 



The lower class is made up of slaves captured in 

 war and of their descendants, and for this reason its 

 members are of very varied physical type. An 

 unmarried slave of either sex lives with, and is 

 treated almost as a member of, the family of his 

 or her master, eating and in some cases sleeping 

 in the family room. Slaves are allowed to marry, 

 their children becoming the property of their 

 masters. Some slave - families are allowed to 

 acquire a room in the house, and they then begin 

 to acquire a less dependent position ; and though 

 they still retain the status of slaves, and are spoken 

 of as **slaves-outside-the-room," the master generally 

 finds it impossible to command their services beyond 

 a very limited extent, and in some cases will volun- 

 tarily resign his rights over the family. But in this 



