X WAR 163 



The war-coat is made of the skin of the goat, the 

 bear, or (in case of distinguished chiefs) of the tiger- 

 cat. The whole of the skin in one piece is used, 

 except that the skin of the belly and of the lower 

 parts of the forelimbs are cut away. A hole for the 

 warrior's head is made in the mid-dorsal line a little 

 behind the skin of the head, which is flattened out 

 and hangs over the chest, descending to the level of 

 the navel ; while the skin of the back, flanks, and 

 hind limbs in one large flap, covers the back and 

 hind parts of the warrior as far as the bend of the 

 knees. A large pearly shell usually adorns the 

 lower end of the anterior flap. The warrior's arms 

 are thus left free, but unprotected. In the finest 

 coats there is a patch of brightly coloured bead- 

 work at the nape of the neck, and the back-flap is 

 adorned with rows of loosely dangling hornbills' 

 feathers ; but these again are considered appropri- 

 ate only to the coats of warriors of proved valour. 



The Kayan shield is an oblong plate cut from a 

 single piece of soft wood. Its ends are pointed 

 more or less acutely ; the length between the points 

 is about four feet. The inner surface forms a flat 

 hollow ; the outer is formed by two flat surfaces 

 meeting in a flat obtuse angle or ridge extending 

 from point to point. The grain of the wood runs 

 longitudinally, and a downward falling parang is 

 liable to split the wood and become wedged fast in 

 it. In order to prevent the shield becoming divided 

 in this way, and to hold fast the blade of the sword, 

 it is bound across with several stout strips of rattan 

 which are laced closely to the wood with finer strips. 

 The handle, carved out of the same solid block of 

 wood as the body of the shield, is in the middle of 

 the concave surface ; it is a simple vertical bar for 

 the grasp of the left hand. The Kayan shield is 

 commonly stained red with iron oxide, and touched 

 up with black pigment, but not otherwise decorated. 



