210 A SEA-DTAK BLACKSMITH. 



doctor, is the only person in the village whose time is 

 solely occupied by a profession or trade. If the black- 

 smith of a village be celebrated for the goodness of his 

 work, he is not only employed in the manufacture of 

 the arms and instruments necessary for his tribe, but 

 those made by him sell for higher prices than those 

 of his neighbours, and he is sure of plenty of employ- 

 ment and considerable profit. The smith's shop is 

 always a little apart from the houses of the village, to 

 prevent accidents from the fire ; the bellows precisely 

 resemble those of the Malays, the two bamboos, or 

 hollow trees, before described ; a stone is generally the 

 anvil, but when a heavy piece of iron can be obtained 

 it is preferred. His instruments are all of his own 

 making, and rude in their construction ; the vessel in 

 which the water for cooling his work is held is a block 

 of wood hollowed out. The 'parangs,' or chopping- 

 knives, and 'pedangs,' or swords, of which there are 

 several denominations, spear-heads and fish spears, 

 are the principal articles of their manufacture. The 

 chopping-knife, which the Dyak always carries by his 

 side, is a rough and awkward looking instrument, 

 though the Dyaks use it with facility : the blade, 

 which is broadest towards the end, and small and 

 square towards the base, is generally from twenty-four 

 to thirty inches in breadth, the hilt being bent from the 

 blade backwards, which makes it appear clumsy ; the 

 axe fits into a wooden handle, and the blade, which 

 is round or square at the end, is preserved by a sheath 



