ANCIENT DRAGON-JARS. 271 



been found in the vicinity of Sukadana and Banjar. 

 Some jars and other earthenware, similar to that 

 used in India in the present day, have been dug up 

 close to the town of Sarawak, in the garden of 

 Mr. Hentig, an European gentleman residing there. 

 In one of the earthen jars, which resembled the chatty, 

 used for cooking by the Hindus, were discovered the 

 golden ornaments of the face, which are common 

 amongst the people of Hindustan : this jar had, per- 

 haps, contained the ashes of a person whose body had 

 been burned. 



Amongst the Dyaks are found jars, held by them 

 in high veneration, the manufacturers of which are 

 forgotten ; the smaller ones, amongst the Land and Sea 

 Dyaks, but particularly with the latter, are common. 

 They are called Nagas, from the Naga or dragon, 

 which is rudely traced upon them. They are glazed on 

 the outside, and the current value of them is forty dol- 

 lars ; but those which are found amongst the Kyan tribes, 

 and those of South Borneo and amongst the Kadyans, 

 and other tribes of the north, are valued so highly as 

 to be altogether beyond the means of ordinary persons, 

 and are the property of the Malayan Rajahs, or of the 

 chiefs of native tribes. 



I have never had an opportunity of seeing one of 

 these valued relics of antiquity, but am told that, 

 like the Nagas, they are glazed, but larger. They 

 have small handles round them, called ears by the 

 natives, and figures of dragons are traced upon their 

 surface: their value is about two thousand dollars. 



