324 THE KYANS FOES OF THE DYAKS. 



has elapsed, the chief no longer holds himself respon- 

 sible if any portion of the stipulated quantity should be 

 wanting. 



The houses of the Kyans are built, like those of the 

 Sea Dyaks, in one long terrace, with the verandah front- 

 ing its whole length. They are said to be formed of 

 the most substantial materials, the posts being always of 

 the very hardest wood, and the roof of planks of the 

 same material. In the south of Borneo, where there 

 are tribes who live only to desolate each other, all the 

 villages are said to be surrounded by a high and strong 

 pagar ; but the low country of the south of Borneo 

 has its effects upon the customs of the people, as 

 there are no paths in that flat and swampy part of the 

 island, as in that of the country of the Kyans of the 

 north ; and all communication between the tribes of the 

 Banjar river, even far inland, is carried on by boats. 



The Kyan tribes of the north are not engaged in 

 incessant conflicts with each other, nor do they seem to 

 have any foreign enemies whom they dread. They are 

 the hereditary foes of the Dyaks of Sarebas and Sakarran, 

 than whom they are more powerful ; although I once 

 heard a chief of these rivers say, that the report 

 merely of two or three muskets which they possessed, 

 sufficed to beat the Kyans, of whom, I believe, in 

 reality they have great dread. They are allowed by all 

 their enemies, and others who have known them, to 

 possess in a much higher degree personal courage, than 

 any of the other tribes inhabiting the island. Their 

 bodies are beautifully tattooed, of a blue colour, in 



