280 LAND DYAK HOUSES. 



observable to a great degree in the Sow, Sennah, and 

 Sempro tribes. In the interior, these houses differ from 

 those formerly noticed, only in having at the end of 

 the house, farthest from the door, a raised platform, 

 about two feet higher than the floor of the apartment. 

 This serves as a seat for the family by day, and is set 

 apart for the use of the unmarried females of the hous e 

 by night. The roofs of these houses are lower, gene- 

 rally, among the poorer tribes ; and, amongst all, are 

 formed from a different palm from the Nipah, with 

 which those of the Sea Dyaks are composed. The 

 palms they use are of several kinds; and though not 

 gathered with such facility, on account of their greater 

 scarcity, they are reported to last much longer than the 

 other/ 



The furniture of the houses differs in no respect from 

 that of those already described; and the flooring on 

 which the married people, with their younger children, 

 sleep, is of the same construction. One or more 

 cradles, formed of the hollow stem of the Sago-palm, 

 or a block of wood, in which a cavity has been made, 

 slung from the beams of the house by ropes attached to 

 both ends of it, adorn the room ; and a notched pole 

 serves them as a ladder to ascend to the loft of the 

 house. 



In the villages of all the tribes of Land Dyaks are 

 found one, and sometimes more houses of an octagonal 

 form, with their roofs ending in a point at the top. 

 They always stand apart from the others ; and 

 instead of having a door at the side, these, which are 



