UP THE BARITO RIVER 115 



which is less attractive on account of its lack of cleanli- 

 ness and its pretense of being civilised. 



I soon realised that it would not be possible to over- 

 take the captain, still less to proceed overland, as our 

 men from Puruk Tjahu were rather a poor lot. They 

 were Malays with the exception of three Dayaks, and one 

 of these, an Ot-Danum, had accepted Islam and there- 

 fore had imbibed many Malay ideas. The majority of 

 them were personally amiable, but physically, with few 

 exceptions, they were even below the Malay average, 

 having weak, ill-balanced bodies. I saw one man, when 

 pushing his prahu, fall into the water twice, and the 

 men in my prahu often nearly upset it. In view of these 

 conditions I decided to stop over at the large kampong 

 Tumbang Marowei. Something might be gained by a 

 stay among the Murungs, and meantime the overdue 

 photographic supplies, much needed for our inland ex- 

 pedition, would possibly arrive. 



The kampong created a pleasant impression, the space 

 in front toward the river, which the Dayaks are compelled 

 to clear and keep clean, being unusually extensive — 

 almost approaching a boulevard on the river bank. 

 Along this are four communal houses arranged lengthwise, 

 in two pairs, and elevated on upright posts. Between 

 the groups and farther back is a smaller house. There 

 are areca-palms and other trees planted in front, and at 

 the back the vast jungle begins immediately. Most 

 of the people were absent, burning trees and bushes 

 that had been cut down to make new fields for rice- 

 planting, the so-called ladangs, but about sunset they 



