Vou. XXH, No: 8 
WASHINGTON 
AUGUST, 1911 
NOTES ON THE SEA 
By EpwiIn 
HE Bornean jungles are immense 
} tracts of country covered by 
gigantic trees, in the midst of 
which are mountains clothed in ever- 
green foliage, their barren cliffs buried 
beneath a network of creepers and ferns. 
The striking features are the size of the 
enormous forest trees and the closeness 
of their growth, rather than their loveli- 
ness or brilliancy of color. In the tropi- 
cal forests few bright-colored flowers 
relieve the monotony of dark green leaves 
and dark brown trunks and branches of 
trees. The prevailing hue of tropical 
plants is a somber green. The greater 
and lesser trees are often loaded with 
trailers and ferns, among which huge 
masses of the elkhorn fern are often 
conspicuous. 
But there is little color to relieve the 
monotony of all these somber hues. Here 
and there may be seen some creeper with 
red berries, and many _ bright-colored 
orchids hang high overhead. But it is 
impossible for the observer to gain a 
favorable position for beholding the 
richest blooms, which often climb far 
above him, turning their faces towards 
the sunlight above the roof of foliage. 
These regions are still inhabited by 
-tume. 
OF BORNEO* 
DYAKS 
H. Gomes 
weird ceremonies, and cherishing strange 
superstitions and curious customs, de- 
lighting in games and feasts, and repeat- 
ing ancient legends of their gods and 
heroes. But in a few years “all these 
things will be forgotten; for in Borneo, 
as elsewhere, civilization is coming— 
coming quickly—and all the distinctive 
Dyak customs will soon be things of the 
past. Already the Dyak is mixing with 
other races in the towns, and is changing 
his picturesque dress for Western cos- 
He is fast forgetting his old prac- 
tices and his old modes of thought. 
The tropical forests of Sarawak were 
much the same years ago as they are 
today. But the life of the Dyak is al- 
ready greatly changed and his lot im- 
proved by the introduction of just rule, 
law and order, and respect for human 
life. For a moment let us go back to the 
past and try to picture the life of the Sea 
Dyak as it was some 60 years ago. 
In those days there was constant war- 
fare between the different tribes, and the 
Dyaks lived together in large numbers in 
their long houses, which had stockades 
around them, so that they had some de- 
fense against anv sudden attack. Very 
often the young braves would. make an 
half-clad men and women, living quaint expedition against some neighboring 
lives in their strange houses, observing tribe, simply because they wanted to 
* Abstracted from Mr. Gomes’ exceedingly entertaining narrative, “Seventeen Years 
Among the Sea Dyaks of Borneo,” 
published by Je. 18 Lippincott Co. 
