A FAKM. 227 



When the fire has exhausted itself, and the ground is 

 again cool, which, from the frequency of rain, is soon 

 the case, the Dyaks collect, from the black and charred 

 trunks of the trees, the smaller ones suited to the pur- 

 pose, and commence making their ' pagar/ or fence, for 

 the protection of the future crop against the inroads of 

 the deer and wild hogs, which would soon injure and 

 destroy it. The method generally used in constructing 

 this fence, is by raising one pole above another, hori- 

 zontally, and sustaining them in this position by stakes 

 driven into the ground, at an angle, and opposite to 

 each other, so that the bar rests upon the crutch 

 formed by their crossing each other. The pagars, or 

 fences, are about six feet high, and the bars about 

 fifteen inches one above the other; they are strong 

 enough to resist the encroachments of wild animals 

 for one season : for more they are not required, being 

 then split up, and used in the houses for fire-wood. 



In parts of the country more populous than others, 

 it frequently happens that the Dyaks have not, in 

 their territory, old jungle; or it is at such a disr 

 tance from their houses, that the labour of carrying 

 the produce to them would be very oppressive in a 

 country where the services of no domestic animal are 

 available for this purpose. Such situations are not 

 so laborious to prepare, but being destitute of that 

 rich layer of vegetable mould, and the fertilizing 

 properties of the burnt wood, are not nearly so pro- 

 ductive. The pagars of these farms, in which bamboo 



Q 2 



