PAE SEA DVAIKS OF BORNEO 705 
DYAK CHILDREN 
The figure on the right is a boy, the other five are girls. The children are fond of 
games, and are generally expert swimmers, but they have to make themselves useful, and 
help their parents very early in life. 
Co. 
use Malay words in their conversation 
when necessary. The Dyak language is 
particulary weak in expressing abstract 
ideas. What the mind cannot grasp the 
tongue is not likely to express. I believe 
there is only one word—rindu—to ex- 
press all the different varieties of love. 
On the other hand, the language is rich 
in words expressing the common actions 
of daily life. There are many words to 
express the different ways of carrying 
anything; one word for carrying in the 
hand, another for carrying on the back, 
and another for carrying on the shoulder. 
THEIR LONG COMMUNAL HOUSES 
Among the Dyaks a whole village, 
consisting of some twenty or thirty fam- 
Dyak parents are very kind to their children, who, as 
a rule, return the affection and do as they are told from a desire to please them. 
“Seventeen Years Among the Sea Dyaks of Borneo,’ by Edwin H. Gomes. 
From 
J. B. Lippincott 
ilies, or even more, live together under 
one roof. This village house is built on 
piles made of hard wood, which raise 
the floor from six to twelve feet above 
the ground. The ascent is made by a 
notched trunk or log, which serves as a 
ladder; one is fixed at each end of the 
house. The length of this house varies 
according to the number of families in- 
habiting it; but as the rooms occupied 
by the different families are built on the 
same plan and by a combination of labor, 
the whole presents a uniform and regular 
appearance. 
The roof and outside walls are 
thatched with the leaves of the mipa 
palm, which are first made into attap. 
These are made by doubling the leaves 
