viii PREFACE 



make an expedition through Central Borneo, large 

 tracts of which arc unexplored and unknown to the out- 

 side world. My project was later extended to include 

 other regions of Dutch Borneo, and the greater j)art of 

 two years was spent in making researches among its very 

 interesting natives. In tliese undertakings I received 

 the valuable assistance of their Excellencies, the gov- 

 ernor-general and the commanding general, as well as 

 the higher officials of the Dutch Government, to all of 

 whom I wish to express my heartfelt thanks. 



Through the courtesy of the well-known Topo- 

 grafische Inrichting, in Batavia, a competent surveyor, 

 whose work will later be published, was attached to my 

 expeditions. He did not accompany me on my first visit 

 to the Bulungan, nor on the second occasion, when I 

 went to the lake of Sembulo, where the country is well 

 known. In the map included in this book I have indi- 

 cated the locations of the different tribes in Dutch 

 Borneo, based on information gathered from official and 

 private .sources and on my own observations. 



I usually had a taxidermist, first a trained Sarawak 

 Dayak, later a Javanese, to collect mammals and birds. 

 Fishes and reptiles were also preserved in alcohol. 



Specimens of ethnological interest were collected from 

 the different tribes visited; the collection from the Pcni- 

 hings I believe is complete. Measurements of 227 in- 

 dividuals were taken and as soon as practicable will be 

 worked out by Doctor K. S. Schreiner, professor at the 

 University of Christiania. Vocabularies were collected 

 from most of the tribes. In spite of adverse conditions, 



