228 PAGAN TRIBES OF BORNEO chap. 



work are put to many decorative uses : they are 

 applied to the women's head-bands, to the centre of 

 the sun-hat, to sword sheaths, to cigarette boxes, 

 to the war-coat at the nape of the neck, and, by 

 some Klemantans, to the jackets of the women. 



The designs worked in this way are but few, and 

 most of them are common to all the tribes. The 

 thread used is prepared by rolling on the thigh 

 fibres drawn from the leaf of the pine-apple ; it is 

 very strong and durable. The design to be repro- 

 duced is drawn or carved in low relief on a board. 

 A thread is fixed across the end of the board and 

 others are tied to it at short intervals ; on these the 

 beads are threaded, neighbouring threads being 

 tied together at short intervals ; and the colours of 

 the beads are selected according to the demands of 

 the pattern over which they are worked. 



Besides these designs on the flat, tassels, girdles, 

 necklaces, ear-rings, and cigarette rings are also 

 made of these beads. The modern imported beads 

 used for these purposes are sometimes improved 

 by being ground flat on the two surfaces that 

 adjoin their neighbours ; this is done by fixing a 

 number of them into the cut end of a piece of 

 sugar-cane and rubbing this against a smooth stone. 

 This treatment of the beads gives to the articles 

 made of them a very neat and highly finished 

 appearance. 



Bamboo Decorations 



The working of designs on the surface of pieces 

 of bamboo is done very simply, but none the less 

 effectively. Among the bamboo articles generally 

 decorated in the way to be described are the native 

 drinking-cup, the tobacco-box, and tubes for carrying 

 flint and steel and all sorts of odds and ends. 



The pattern to be produced is outlined with the 



