THE SEA DYAKS OF BORNEO 707 
DYAK HOUSES 
Showing the outside open platform, where paddy, etc., is put out to dry. 
eaves are very low, parts of it are often raised to admit more light into the house. 
palm trees in the picture are cocoanut palms. 
J. B. Lippincott Co. 
Dyaks of Borneo,” by Edwin H. Gomes, 
over a stick about six feet long, each 
leaf overlapping the other, and sewn 
down with split cane or reeds. These 
attap are arranged in rows, each attap 
overlapping the one beneath it, and thus 
forming a roof which keeps off the rain 
and sun and lasts for three or four 
years. 
The long Dyak village house is built 
in a straight line, and consists of a long 
uncovered veranda. The paddy is put 
on the veranda to be dried by the sun 
before it is pounded to get rid of its husk 
and convert it into rice. Here also the 
clothes and a variety of other things are 
hung out to dry. The family whetstone 
and dye vat are kept under the eaves of 
the roof, and the men sharpen their tools 
and the women do their dyeing on the 
veranda. The flooring of this part of 
Where the 
The 
From “Seventeen Years Among the Sea 
the house is generally made of iron- 
wood, so as to stand exposure to the 
weather. 
Next to the uncovered veranda comes 
the covered veranda, or ruai. This also 
stretches the whole length of the house, 
and the floor is made of bamboo, split 
into laths and tied down with rattan or 
cane. 
This ruai, or public hall, is generally 
about twenty feet wide, and as it 
stretches the whole length of the house 
without any partition, it is a cool and 
pleasant place, and is much frequented 
by men and women for conversation and 
indoor pursuits. Here the women often 
do their work—the weaving of cloth or 
the plaiting of mats. Here, too, the men 
chop up the firewood, or even make 
boats, if not of too great a size. This 
