XIIl] 



ON THE RIVER KANTU 



The building was entirely constructed of rough timber and other 

 forest products, on piles about ten feet high, and not a single nail 

 had been used in it. It was much longer than it was wide, with a 

 span roof of ataps made with palm leaves. It was longitudinally 

 divided into two principal parts. One, the back one, was again 

 subdivided, in the usual Dyak fashion, into chambers or " pintus" 

 as they are called. The word ftinlu, both in Malay and Dyak, means 

 a door ; but in this case it signifies an apartment occupied by the 

 head of a family. These pintus do not communicate with each other, 

 but each has a door which opens on to the front compartment of 

 the house, and has a lessong, or wooden mortar for shelling rice, 



Fig. 33. INTERIOR OF SEA-DYAK'S HOUSE. 



standing close to it. This front half of the house has no sides, but 

 the large projecting roof protects it from the weather. It is sub- 

 divided longitudinally into three portions of unequal width ; the 

 first and narrowest is that on which the doors of the pintus open, 

 and may be styled a corridor for these. The second portion is the 

 widest, often taking up one half of the total width of the house ; 

 it is the common hall and workroom for each member of the com- 

 munity. Outside this is the third portion, over which the roof is 

 very low, and here the young unmarried men sleep. Quite outside, 

 unprotected by any roof, is a sort of wide terrace or platform, used 

 for various purposes, but especially for drying rice. 



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