72 PAGAN TRIBES OF BORNEO chap. 



a subordinate member of their household. If they 

 succeed in this they will claim as their property 

 half the children born to the couple. On the other 

 hand, if the man insists on establishing himself in 

 possession of a room, he may succeed in practically 

 emancipating his wife, perhaps making some com- 

 pensation to her owners in the shape of personal 

 services or brass ware. In this case the children 

 of the couple would be regarded as freeborn. It is 

 generally possible for an energetic slave to buy his 

 freedom. 



Less frequent is the marriage of a slave man 

 with a free woman of the middle class. In this 

 case the man will generally manage to secure his 

 emancipation and to establish himself as master of 

 a room, and to merge himself in the middle class. 

 In the case of marriage between two slaves, they 

 continue to live in the rooms of their owners, 

 spending by arrangement periods of two or three 

 years alternately as members of the two house- 

 holds. The children born of such a slave-couple 

 are divided as they grow up between the owners of 

 their parents. 



On the whole the slaves are treated with so much 

 kindness and consideration that they have little to 

 complain of, and most of them seem to have little 

 desire to be freed. A capable slave may become 

 the confidant and companion of his master, and in 

 this way may attain a position of considerable influ- 

 ence in the village. A young slave is commonly 

 addressed by his master and mistress as *'My Child." 

 A slave is seldom beaten or subjected to any 

 punishment save scolding, and he bears his part 

 freely in the life of the family, sharing in its labours 

 and its recreations, its ill or its good fortunes. 

 Nothing in the dress or appearance of the slave 

 distinguishes him from the other members of the 

 village. 



