2i8 PAGAN TRIBES OF BORNEO chap. 



and fro within it a long piece of closely fitting 

 rattan ; that of the outer surface, by rubbing it first 

 with the skin of a stingray (which, although a 

 marine fish, sometimes ascends to the upper reaches 

 of the rivers), and afterwards with the leaf (emplas) 

 which is the local substitute for emery paper. 



The shaft of the poisoned dart is made from the 

 wood of the nibong and wild sago palms. It is 

 about nine inches in length and one-sixteenth to 

 one-eighth of an inch in diameter (PI. 115). On to 

 one end of this is fitted a small tapering cylinder 

 of tough pith, about one inch in length, its greatest 

 diameter at its butt end being exactly equal to the 

 bore of the pipe. The pith is shaved to the 

 required diameter by the aid of a small wooden 

 cylinder of the standard size (Fig. 42); this is pro- 

 longed in a pin of the same diameter as the shaft 

 of the dart. A piece of pith transfixed by the pin 

 is shaved with a sharp knife until its surface is flush 

 with that of the wooden gauge. 



The poison is prepared from the sap of the Ipoh 

 tree, Antiaris Toxicaria. The milky sap runs out 

 when the bark is incised, and is collected in a 

 bamboo cup (PL 88). It is then heated slowly 

 over a fire in a trough made from the leaf stem 

 of a palm, until it becomes a thick paste of dark 

 purple brown colour (PI. 116). When the poison 

 is to be applied to the darts, it is worked into 

 a thinner paste on a palette with a spatula. A 

 circular groove is cut round the shaft of the dart 

 about two inches from its tip, and the part so 

 marked off is rolled in the paste and then dried 

 before a fire. For use against large game, pig, 

 deer, or human beings, a larger dose of poison 

 is required than can be carried on the tip of the 

 shaft. x\ small triangular piece of metal is affixed 

 by splitting the tip of the shaft, thrusting in the base 

 of the triangular plate, and securing it with a fine 



