HORSES, GOATS, PIGS. 91 



afford excellent beef : they are plentiful at Bruni and 

 to the northward, but not on the west coast, and are 

 sold to the ships of war at a very cheap rate. The 

 cows of this breed kept at Sarawak do not give much 

 milk, though the little they produce is very rich. 



About the river of Tanjong Barram, and on the 

 Sangow river, is a breed of wild cattle called by the 

 name of ' banting,' (Bos Sondiacus), they are said to 

 be very wild and fierce, living chiefly in bamboo forests, 

 on the young shoots of which they feed. Were they 

 not in such inaccessible parts of the country, they would 

 furnish excellent sport to the Europeans ; and if in very 

 great numbers, their hides and tallow might become 

 an article of commerce. Horses, of a small breed, are 

 also plentiful in the northern and southern parts of the 

 island, though unknown on the western coast. In 

 Banjarmasin, as in Celebes, they are trained to hunt 

 the deer, which are caught by a lasso, the loop of 

 which being carried on a light bamboo is passed over 

 the head of the animal. This sport can only be followed 

 in open countries, which are not found on the western 

 coast. It is a favourite amusement with the Bugis 

 nobles of Celebes, and has been by them introduced 

 into the south and east coasts of Borneo. 



Amongst the Kyans and sea Dyaks, and in most 

 of the Malayan towns many goats are kept, but the 

 land Dyaks have none of them, as their superstitious 

 belief, hereafter to be mentioned, prevents their using 

 the flesh of these animals. They are of a small breed, and 

 are killed by the Kyans and sea Dyaks on festival days ; 

 but their flesh is not so much esteemed as that of the 



