430 THROUGH CENTRAL BORNEO 



mutually understood. Whether they really are Punans 

 or have been called so because of their recent nomadic 

 habits is difficult to determine. However, since they 

 declare themselves to be Punans, in view of all related 

 circumstances it is safe to conclude that they are allied 

 to that great nomadic tribe. 



According to the Penihing chief in Long Kai the name 

 Penyahbong was applied formerly not only to the people, 

 but also to the mountain range in which they were living, 

 the Miiller mountains, around the headwaters of the 

 Kapuas River in the Western Division. The western 

 sides of the Miiller mountains seem to have been their 

 headquarters, and most of them still live west of the 

 mountains. To one of the tributaries of this river the 

 tribe owes the name by which they are known among 

 Punans, Saputans, and Bukats, who call the Penyahbongs 

 simply Kreho. 



They are not numerous and so far as my information 

 goes they are limited to a few hundred. Gompul, the 

 most reliable of my Malays in that region, and one of 

 the first to arrive in those parts, told me that his mother 

 had been captured by the Penyahbongs and kept by them 

 for thirty-five years, until her death. According to his 

 estimate there were over two hundred of them in the 

 Miiller mountains, and they had killed many Malays, 

 taking their heads. Three chiefs were famous for being 

 very tall. 



Fishing with tuba is known to them, also to the 

 nomadic Punans and Bukats, Saputans, and Penihings. 

 The Penyahbongs believe they were placed in this world 



