EXPEDITION TO LAKE SEMBULO 377 



The name of the tribe, Tamoan, also pronounced Samoan, 

 means to wash. The tatu marks are the same as those of 

 the Katingans. At present these natives have only six 

 kampongs, three of them above Sampit. Cultivating 

 rice was very difficult, they complained, on account of 

 the poor soil and wet weather. The lake has few fish 

 and they cannot be caught except when the water is low. 

 There are no large serpents here, and neither snakes, dogs, 

 nor crocodiles are eaten; but the rusa is accepted as 

 food. Fruits, as the durian and langsat, are rather 

 scarce. 



Fire is made by twirling, and these natives use the 

 sumpitan. They know how to make tuak, crushing the 

 rice, boiling it, and then pouring it into a gutshi until 

 the vessel is half full, the remaining space being filled with 

 water. In three days the product may be drunk, but 

 sometimes it is allowed to stand a month, which makes it 

 much stronger. If there is no tuak there can be no danc- 

 ing, they said. Many remarked upon the expense of 

 obtaining a wife, the cost sometimes amounting to several 

 hundred florins, all of which must be earned by gathering 

 rubber. The tiwah feast is observed, but as to legends 

 there are none, and their language and customs are dis- 

 appearing. 



These Tamoans are disintegrating chiefly on account 

 of the ravages of cholera. About forty years previously 

 an epidemic nearly extinguished Bangkal, and there was 

 another in 1914. The result is that the population has 

 changed, people from other kampongs, at times from 

 other tribes, taking the places of the dead. At the kam- 



