DYAK WEAPONS. 313 



The weapons used by the Hill tribes in their wars, 

 are very like those described as appertaining to the Sea 

 Dyaks. The swords of the Hill tribes differ, however, 

 in having no wooden handle ; this part of the weapon 

 being of iron, and a mere continuation of the blade. 

 The handle of this weapon and its sheath are orna- 

 mented with hair, instead *of the feathers of the argus 

 pheasant. But this is put on sparingly, and in small 

 tufts only at the extremities. The sheath is always 

 stained red, and very rarely carved, and if such decora- 

 tion be attempted, it amounts to nothing better than 

 mere scratching. 



The spears are formed, as to the blade, like those of 

 the Sakarran people ; but among the Land tribes, par- 

 ticularly those of Sadong, each family generally possesses 

 one, the haft of which is made of balean wood, and 

 towards the brass plate, which binds the blade into the 

 handle, are carved rude representations of the human 

 figure in high relief. These stand with their backs to 

 each other, and are from three to five in number : 

 like those on the war-boats of the Sea Dyaks, these 

 figures generally represent indecent attitudes. Their 

 spears are also ornamented with sheets of tin foil, 

 with which the haft of the weapon is covered, and 

 also with the feathers of the argus pheasant and the 

 rhinoceros hornbill, which latter are usually stuck on 

 three little prongs, into which the handle has been cut 

 for that purpose. 



Their shields are precisely like those of the people 

 of Sarebas, but they do no use the sumpit-an, and are 

 without the padded jacket of the Sea tribes* It is, 



