302 THROUGH CENTRAL BORNEO 



I had a meeting with the blians, who knew nothing 

 worth mentioning. Almost everything had been forgot- 

 ten, even the language, still it is remarkable how primi- 

 tive these people remain, and there is scarcely any mix- 

 ture of Malay apparent in the type. For two or three 

 days the kind-hearted, simple people gathered in num- 

 bers at the middle kampong of the three which bear the 

 same name, Lok Besar, upper, middle, and lower. The 

 Dayaks call the upper one Darat, which means head- 

 waters. 



One man had a skin formation which at a superficial 

 glance might be taken for a tail. It was about the size of 

 a man's thumb, felt a little hard inside, and could be 

 moved either way. On the outside of each thigh, over 

 the head of the femur, was a similar but smaller formation. 

 Another man had an excrescence on each thigh, similarly 

 located, but very regular in shape, forming half a globe; 

 I saw a Dayak on the Mahakam with the same phe- 

 nomenon. One woman had such globular growths, 

 though much smaller, in great numbers on the feet. 



Among the Bukits I observed two harelipped men, one 

 hunchback, and an unusual number of persons with goitre. 

 These natives drink water by the aid of a leaf folded into 

 an improvised cup. Eight of the upper front teeth are 

 cut. Suicide is not known. Their only weapon at present 

 is the spear, which they buy very cheaply from the Ma- 

 lays, but formerly the sumpitan was also in use. To hunt 

 pig they have to go some distance into the mountains; 

 therefore, they seldom undertake it. Honey is gathered 

 by climbing the tree in which the bees' nest is discovered. 



