THEIR MORALITY. 247 



butes and powers of a superior being ; and believe that 

 he can, by his word, shed an influence over their 

 persons or property, which will be beneficial to them. 

 In all their prayers, he is named with the gods of their 

 superstitions, and no feast is made at which his name 

 is not invoked. This misdirected gratitude shows the 

 force with which that virtue influences their minds, and 

 promises, when the Missionaries shall have arrived at the 

 scene of their holy labours, to be a feature of their 

 character which will be of the greatest advantage and 

 assistance to them, if properly directed. 



The amiability of the Dyaks of the Hill tribes is 

 of a superior character to that of those before 

 described ; the licentious intercourse between the 

 sexes is not here permitted ; and so strict are these 

 people in encouraging virtue amongst their children, 

 that the young and unmarried men are not permitted to 

 sleep in the houses of their parents, after having attained 

 the age of puberty, but occupy a large house, of peculiar 

 construction, which is set apart for their use in the 

 village, and will be hereafter noticed. Neither has 

 the passion for taking the heads of their fellow creatures, 

 for the mere purpose of complying with a brutal 

 custom, and satisfying a barbarous appetite, eve r 

 entered their civil institutions, though to preserve the 

 skulls of their enemies, as memorials of their triumph, 

 has prevailed. The practice of slavery does not disgrace 

 their usages, nor is piracy practised by their tribes. 

 Crime is so rare amongst them, that its punishments 

 are only known from tradition ; and they live at present 



