loo PAGAN TRIBES OF BORNEO chap. 



facing up the hill, the other cuts a similar notch 

 about a foot lower down 

 on the opposite side, each 

 cutting almost to the 

 centre of the stem. This 

 operation is accomplished 

 in a surprisingly short time, perhaps 

 thirty minutes in the case of a stem 

 two to three feet in diameter. When 

 all the large trees within the V- 

 shaped area have been cut in this 

 way, all the workers and any women, 

 children, or dogs who may be pre- 

 sent are called out of the patch, 

 and one or two big trees, carefully 

 selected to form the apex of the 

 phalanx, are then cut so as to fall 

 down the hill/ In their fall these 

 giants throw down the trees stand- 

 ing immediately below them on the 

 hillside ; these, falling in turn against 

 their neighbours, bring them down. 

 And so, like an avalanche of widening 

 sweep, the huge disturbance pro- 

 pagates itself with a thunderous roar 

 and increasing momentum down- 

 wards over the whole of the pre- 

 pared area ; while puny man looks 

 on at the awful work of his hand 

 and brain not unmoved, but dancing 

 and shouting in wild triumphant 

 delight. 



The fallen timber must now lie 

 some weeks before it can be burnt. 

 This period is mainly devoted to 



^ They are skilled woodmen, and know how to cut 

 a tree so as to ensure its falling in any desired manner ; FiG. II. 



the final strokes cut away the ends of the narrow 

 portion of the stem remaining between the upper and lower notches. 



