MARRIAGE AND FUNERAL CUSTOMS 303 



Bamboo pegs are inserted in the trunk at intervals and a 

 rope made from a certain root is tied between them, thus 

 forming a ladder upon which the natives ascend the tree 

 at night. The women make rattan mats, and also habongs 

 or receptacles in which to carry the mats when travelling. 



Fire is extinguished for the night. These natives 

 sleep on a single mat, made from either bamboo or rat- 

 tan, and usually nothing is placed under the head, but 

 sometimes small wooden blocks are used. In the morn- 

 ing when they arise they roll the mats, and the chamber- 

 work is done. A young girl whom I measured had her 

 hair fastened up with the quill of a porcupine; when 

 asked to undo her hair, she put the quill under the top 

 of her skirt. The Bukits possess one musical instrument, 

 sarunai, a kind of clarinet, which does not sound badly. 

 There are many blians, nearly all men. Several promi- 

 nent members of the tribe asserted that head-hunting 

 was never practised — at least there is no tradition con- 

 cerning it. 



A man may have one, two, or three wives. When a 

 young man is poor, he pays two ringits or two sarongs to 

 his bride's father, but half that amount is sufficient for a 

 woman no longer youthful. The usual payment appears 

 to be twelve ringits or twelve sarongs, which the blian 

 at the wedding places on top of his head, while with his 

 right hand he shakes two metal rings provided with rat- 

 tles. On the Barito I noted the same kind of rattles used 

 on a similar occasion. He asks Dewa not to make them 

 ill, and a hen as well as boiled rice is sacrificed to this 

 antoh. The dead are buried in the ground as deep as 



