AT LONG PANGIAN 6i 



tion of the short sword of the Dayak which has grown to 

 be almost a part of himself. In the northeast these 

 famous swords are called mandau, but the designation 

 parang is more extensively used, and I shall employ that 

 name. One exceedingly fine one, belonging to the chief, 

 I purchased for three sets of ivory rings, each set at fifteen 

 florins, and one sarong. In the blacksmith's art the 

 Dayaks have reached a higher level than the otherwise 

 more advanced Malays and Javanese. There were three 

 women in the party. One of the men was dressed as a 

 woman and his hands were tatued. Though his voice 

 was quite manly, there was something feminine about 

 him and in appearance he was less robust than the others. 

 According to my Chinese interpreter, who has travelled 

 much, there are many such men in Apo Kayan. 



I stopped over night at one of the Bugis settlements 

 which have large pineapple plantations. Such delicious 

 pineapples as those in northern Borneo, with an unusual 

 abundance of juice and very slightly acid, I had never 

 before tasted. A gigantic white rat, about the size of a 

 rabbit, which had been caught working havoc with the 

 pineapples, was offered me for sale alive. I afterward 

 regretted that, owing to the great difficulty of transporta- 

 tion, I declined, as no doubt it was a rare, if not a new, 

 species. 



In the evening, on my return to Long Pangian, I went 

 to bed in the old pasang-grahan which I occupied there. 

 It consisted of a single large room and had an air of se- 

 curity, so for once I omitted to tuck the mosquito-net un- 

 derneath me. But this was a mistake, for some animal 



