470 TWO YEARS IN THE JUNGLE. 



" In England such a scene of drunkenness and uncoutb merri- 

 ment -would necessarily be coarse and disgusting to the last degree, 

 but among these savages it is not so. We did not see a single act 

 of impropriety even among the most reckless of the revellers, and 

 the brutality inseparable from a ' heavy wine ' at Oxford or Cam- 

 bridge was utterly absent. We were assured that dui-ing the 

 whole festi\dty decorum would be maintained as strictly as it was 

 in our presence, nor would any Dyak dream of violating the laws 

 of decency and good temper. Whether this be owing to the na- 

 tional character, or the quality of the liquor I cannot judge, inas- 

 much as it was impossible for us to swallow enough of the latter 

 to decide ; but I am inchned to think that barbarous manhood and 

 savage modesty were the principal causes of pubhc decency. Thus 

 it happened that a scene which, according to all precedent, should 

 have been disgusting, turned out to be pleasantly amusing."* 



So it seems the Dyak is a gentleman, even when drunk. 



This reminds me to speak of woman's social position among 

 the Sea Dyaks. From the cradle to the grave, she is considered 

 man's equal, except in fighting and hunting. Her opinion is en- 

 titled to serious consideration, and her advice is always asked in all 

 matters of importance. In speaking of the women of the Lingga 

 Dyaks, the present Eajah Brooke remarks : "I soon learned that 

 great power and influence is attached to their opinions on matters 

 in general, and that to stand well with them was more than half of 

 any Dyak battle." f 



One great secret of the pleasant domestic and social Hfe of the 

 Dyaks lies in the fact that parents think too much of theu- children 

 to make them maiTy against their will, or fi'om mercenaiy motives. 



The Sibuyaus believe in strict chastity, both before and after 

 marriage, and lapses from wtue are considered highly shameful. 

 Strangely enough, these simple-minded savages, without written 

 law and wholly without religion, hold that in cases of unchastity, or 

 infidehty to the marriage relation, the man in the case is equally 

 guilty with the woman. Both stand on precisely the same footing 

 toward the remainder of the community, and the disgrace and pun- 

 ishment are shared equally by both participants in the crime. 



How very different is this from the improved customs of Chris- 

 tian lands. We say that what is folly in a man becomes crime in 



I 



* Adventures among the Dyaks, p. 24S. 

 f Ten Tears in Sarawak, I., 129. 



