CHAPTEE XXXY. 



A MONTH WITH THE DYAKS, 



Joumej to the Sibuvau. — The River. — A Malodorous Village. — Barriers. — 

 Proboscis Monkeys and Flying Lemurs. — Head of Canoe Navigation. — • 

 Swamp-wading. — Our Journey's End. — A Lodge in a Vast Wilderness. — 

 Fine Hunting-grounds. — Source of the River. — Hunting Gibbons. — Lively 

 Sport. — Gibbons' Remarkable Mode of Progress. — A Mias. — A Successful 

 Hunt. — Affection and Courage of a Male Gibbon. — Helplessness of the 

 Baby Orang in Water. — A Live Tarsier. — More Gibbons Shot. — Argus 

 Pheasants. — Dyak Mode of Snaring. — A Deadly Pig-trap. — A Shiftless 

 Village. — A Magnificent Bird. — Curious Rodent. — Visit to Lanchang. — 

 A Village of Head-hunters. — Trophies of the Chase. — A Fine Dyak Speci- 

 men. 



It was only a bunch of argus pheasant feathers that lured me from 

 Sadong to the Sibuyau, to stay a month with the Dyaks, for better 

 or worse. The promise of wah-wahs, also, had something to do 

 with it, I suppose, even though they are hard to shoot. The Dyaks 

 said their settlement had never been visited by a white man, and in 

 spite of all I could learn from them, the nature of the country re- 

 mained a profound mystery. But then, the greatest charm of 

 travel is going to places one knows nothing at aU about, and satis- 

 fying one's geographical curiosity. 



Behold us, then, starting down the Sadong with the turning of 

 the tide, early on the morning of October 28th. At home the trees 

 have taken on their gayest autumn tints, but here the forest is still 

 clad in the same persistent, never-changing, monotonous gi'een it 

 has always worn. 



Under the kadjang roof of the old Malay headman's large boat, 

 there sit the " orang putei " (white man), " orang China " (China- 

 man), and the " orang utan " or jungle man, my little pet, while 

 three stout Malays furnish the motive-power. Perara and Dobah 

 are coming after us in my own boat. It is a delightful day, quiet, 

 clear, and warm, such as fills a man with a sense of keen enjoyment, 

 provided his digestion is good and his conscience clear. My httle 



