662 RKPORT— 1880. 



The natives were at first shj- and suspicious ; but after a while Mr. Bock managed 

 to get on good terms with them. These Dyaks are, like the rest of the other tribes 

 in Koti, inveterate head-liunters ; but in other respects good and honest people. 

 The ' head-hunting ' belongs to the Dj'ak religion, and is a custom ('adat ') estab- 

 lished from ancient times. For this reason the traA'eller who moves amongst such 

 tribes is in continual danger. The different tribes have often petty wars, and the 

 attacks are mostly made in the night. 



From Longwai Mr. Bock went further north, in order to find the Orang Poonan 

 (also called Olo-Ott) or forest people, whom no European had before seen. These 

 savages, on the very lowest scale of civilisation, are exceedingly shy ; they live in 

 troops of six to twenty, have no huts nor any fixed dwelling-places, but roam about 

 the immense forests, and feed upon monkeys, boars, birds, serpents, and wild fruits. 

 They seem to be provided with strong digestive organs, as they eat with great appe- 

 tite the thick roasted hide of the wild boars and monkeys {Nasalis larvatus.) 



The women are especially light in colour, and both sexes go almost naked. 

 They have a very scurvy appearance, and are verj' dirty : but the rumour that the 

 Orang Poonan are furnished with a caudal appendage is entirely false. 



Having returned to Tangarong, Mr. Bock prepared for his overland journey — 

 over 700 miles, and left Tangarong with forty-one men and three canoes, being in 

 every respect well fitted out. The Pangeran (or Prince) Sokmaviro accompanied 

 the traveller, as well as a Malay interpreter for the Dyak language. The route 

 was again up the great Mahakkan to Moeara Kaman, where the mosquitoes were 

 such a plague that the expedition thought of returning. The next village in the 

 interior was Kotta Bangoen — the largest in Koti — with more than a thousand 

 souls. The inhabitants are all Malays f-nd Bugis, wlio carry on a considerable 

 trade in rattan, gutta pei-cha, wax, and ' saroeng boeroeng ' (edible birds' nests). 

 It must be remembered that all the Dyak tribes inhabit the tributarj- rivers of the 

 Mahakkan, to the far inferior of the country. In the neighbourhood of Kotta 

 Bangoen, as well as at Tangarong and Moeara Kaman, Mr. Bock found traces of 

 a former Hindoo occupation. 



While at Kotta 13angoen, the Sultan and a numerous suite arrived, but ]\Ir, 

 Bock preferred to continue the journey alone, on account of the many occupations 

 which an Indian monarch indulges in. In order to study the diflerent wild tribes, 

 he proceeded through the lalie region. He was fortunate enough to meet the 

 Triug Dyaks, the only cannibals in Borneo, with whose Jlajah, Sibau Mobang, Mr. 

 Bock spent a couple of days. This man is a savage of most forbidding appearance, 

 extremely ugly : he told the traveller, in an easy wajs that the brains and palms 

 of the hands of men tasted delicious, whereas the shoulder part always had a bitter 

 taste. After Mr. Bock had drawn his portrait, Sibau Mobang presented him, on 

 his departure, with two human skulls, and with a shield ornamented all over, in a 

 verj' ingenious way, with human hair. During the time Mr. Bock travelled in Koti, 

 Sibau Mobang and his followers killed in one week — being out on a head-hunting' 

 excursion — not less than sixty people. 



At Moeara Pahou, the last JIalay village in the interior, Jlr. Bock pgain met 

 the Sultan and his suite, who had gathered together a number of Dvaks to escort 

 the expedition through the most dangerous part of his territory. The journey was 

 continued down the Moeara Pahou river, which close to Moeara Anang becomes 

 very difficult to navigate. There are many rapids, over which the canoes had to 

 be dragged bj' means of rattan ropes, the luggage and provisions having to be first 

 discharged. At iloeara Anang the march through the great forest began, the 

 most fatiguing and dangerous part of the journey. Here one of the Dyaks was 

 murdered, and attempts were made to poison Mr. Bock and his followers. A path 

 of the rudest description had first to be constructed by the natives, and, in order to 

 cross the numerous small rivers and abysses, they had made bamboo bridges. Only 

 those who have travelled in the tropics can form an idea of these elastic structures, 

 more fit for an acrobat than an ordinary traveller. After four days' march from 

 sunrise to sunset, the Benangan river was reached. By this and the Tew6h rivei", 

 and down the great Barito, Mr. Bock and his party reached Banjermassin on 

 December 31, two days before the Sultan and suite. 



