30 'HlROlc;H CENTRAL BORNEO 



never beat their children, and later I did not observe 

 similar cruelty among Malays. Wise though King 

 Solomon was, his precept not to spare the rod should be 

 regarded in the light of his large family, "700 wives, prin- 

 cesses, and 300 concubines." Even in the training of 

 animals, better results are obtained by omitting the lash. 



In the beginning of January, 1914, I was able to start 

 for Kaburau. Ihc controleur courteously provided for 

 my use the government's steamship Sophia, which in six 

 hours approached within easy distance of the kampong. 

 My party consisted of Ah Sewcy, a young Chinese 

 photographer from Singajiore whom I had engaged for 

 developing plates and films, also Chonggat, a Sarawak 

 Dayak who had had his training at the museum of Kuala 

 Lampur in the Malay Peninsula. Finally, CJo Hong 

 Cheng, a Chinese trader, acted as interpreter and man- 

 dur (overseer). He spoke several Dayak dialects, but not 

 Dutch, still less English, for Malay is the lingua franca of 

 the Dutch Indies as well as of the Malay Peninsula. As 

 we anchored for the night I heard for the first time, from 

 the hills that rose near by, the loud defiant cry of the argus 

 pheasant. How wildly weird it scnmds on a quiet eve- 

 ning ! 



The next morning the Kayans met us with boats to 

 take us up to their kampong, Kaburau. Some women 

 were pounding paddi (rice) under the large communal 

 house which, in accordance with the i ustoni of the coun- 

 try, was raised from tlic ground on posts. Dogs were 

 much in evidence, both on the ground below and on the 

 gallery of the house above. The canine species kept by 



