110 BORNEO. [chap. v. 



dressed himself in bright-coloured cloths and many orna- 

 ments, and sitting at the door, murmured a long prayer 

 or invocation, sprinkling rice from a basin he held in his 

 hand, while several large gongs were loudly beaten and 

 a salute of muskets fired off. A large jar of rice wine, 

 very sour but with an agreeable flavour, was then handed 

 round, and I asked to see some of their dances. These 

 were, like most savage performances, very dull and un- 

 graceful affairs ; the men dressing themselves absurdly 

 like women, and the girls making themselves as stiff 

 and ridiculous as possible. All the time six or eight 

 large Chinese gongs were being beaten by the vigorous 

 arms of as many young men, producing such a deafening 

 discord that I was glad to escape to the round house, 

 where I slept very comfortably with half a dozen smoke- 

 dried human skulls suspended over my head. 



The river was now so shallow that boats could hardly 

 get along. I therefore preferred walking to the next 

 village, expecting to see something of the country, but 

 was much disappointed, as the path lay almost entirely 

 through dense bamboo thickets. The Dyaks get two crops 

 off the ground in succession ; one of rice, and the other 

 of sugar-cane, maize, and vegetables. The ground then 

 lies fallow eight or ten years, and becomes covered with 

 bamboos and shrubs, which often completely arch over 

 the path and shut out everything from the view. Three 



