128 PAGAN TRIBES OF BORNEO chap. 



host and other of the principal men present. Then 

 he makes acknowledgment of the kind and flattering 

 reception accorded him, and his pleasure at finding 

 this opportunity of improving the understanding 

 between himself and his hosts. " The views so 

 eloquently expressed by my friend (naming him 

 and using some complimentary title, e.g, brother or 

 father) are no doubt correct. Indeed, how could 

 it be otherwise ? But I have been told so and so, 

 and perhaps it may be, . . ." and so he goes on 

 to state his own views, taking care to shift the 

 responsibility for any remaining dissension on to the 

 shoulders of some distant third party. He con- 

 gratulates all parties on this free discussion of 

 matters of common interest, and with free gesticula- 

 tion exhorts them to turn a deaf ear to vague 

 rumours and to maintain friendly relations. Then, 

 dropping down beside his host, he says " Take no 

 notice of what I have said, I am drunk." Ganymede 

 again approaches him with a bumper cup, and then 

 rising to his feet and calling on his men, he addresses 

 his host in complimentary song and chorus, using 

 the gestures and expressions peculiar to his own 

 people. The song culminates as before in a general 

 chorus, long drawn out, while the house-chief drains 

 the cup. 



The cups then circulate freely, and the smoking 

 of cigarettes is general ; other shorter speeches 

 may be made, perhaps by the sons or brothers of 

 the chiefs. As the evening wears away, both guests 

 and hosts become increasingly boisterous and 

 affectionate ; but few or none on an occasion of this 

 sort become intoxicated or quarrelsome. If a man 

 becomes a little too boisterous, he is led away to 

 one of the sleeping platforms in the gallery, and 

 kept there until he falls asleep. 



During an evening of this sort the women con- 

 gregate in the adjacent rooms, where they can 



