HANDICRAFTS 221 



Spinning and Weaving and Dyeing of Cloth 



The Kayans, Kenyahs, and most of the 

 Klemantans weave no cloth ; but the Kayans 

 claim, probably with truth, that they formerly wove 

 a coarse cloth. In recent years the I bans, Muruts, 

 and a few of the Klemantan tribes have been the 

 only weavers. It may be said, we think, without 

 fear of contradiction, that this is the only craft in 

 which the Ibans excel all the other peoples. Their 

 methods are similar to those of the Malays, and 

 have probably been learnt from them. The weaving 

 is done only by the women, though the men make 

 the machinery employed by them. 



The fibre used by the Ibans is cotton, which is 

 obtained from shrubs planted and cultivated for 

 the purpose. The seed is extracted from the 

 mass of fibre by squeezing the mass between a 

 pair of rollers arranged like a rude mangle, while 

 the fibre is pulled away by hand (PI. 118). Next 

 the thread is spun from the mass of fibre by the aid 

 of a simple wheel, turned by the right hand while 

 the left hand twists the fibres (PI. 119). The 

 dyeing precedes the weaving if a pattern is to 

 be produced. The web is stretched on a wooden 

 frame about six feet long and twenty inches in 

 width, by winding a long thread round it from end 

 to end. The parts of the web corresponding to 

 the parts of the cloth that are to remain undyed 

 and of the natural pale brown colour of the 

 thread are tied round with dried strips of a 

 fibrous leaf [lemba), the upper and lower set of 

 threads being wrapped up together in the same 

 bundles (PI. 120). If only one colour is to be 

 applied, the web is then slipped off the frame. The 

 threads are held in their relative positions by the 

 wrappings, but are further secured by tying a string 



