328 THROUGH CENTRAL BORNEO 



always found them useful because they speak Malay 

 well besides being truthful and reliable. Some of these 

 are converts to Christianity through the efforts of the 

 Protestant mission on the Kahayan River, which has 

 begun to extend its activity to the Samba by means of 

 such Kahayans. 



I prevailed on the "onder" to call the people from 

 three kampongs above, promising presents of rice. He 

 wrote the order himself in Arabic letters and sent it on, 

 and late the following day twenty-five Duhoi arrived, 

 among them four women and several children. Many 

 showed indications of having had smallpox, not in a 

 scarred face, but by the loss of an eye; one man was 

 totally blind from the same cause. In order to induce 

 them to dance I bought a domestic pig, which was 

 brought from the ladang and in the customary way was 

 left on the ground in the middle of the dancing place. 

 Four men attended to the gongs which had unusually 

 fine tones. 



The women were persuaded to come forward with dif- 

 ficulty. As I expected, they were like bundles of cloth, 

 exhibiting Malay innovations, and the dance was unin- 

 teresting, each woman keeping her position in a station- 

 ary circle. There was not much life in the dancing of the 

 men either, each performing at his place in a similar circle, 

 with some movements resembling the most common form 

 of dancing hitherto described. Finally, one whose long 

 hair and attire, an ancient short shirt, betrayed him as 

 belonging to the old school, suddenly stepped forward, 

 drew his parang, and began to perform a war dance, 



