IN BORNEAN FORESTS [chap. 



the bottom of a closed iron tube fitted with a piston. A smart blow 

 on the latter compresses the air and is sufficient to ignite the tinder. 1 

 But to all these methods they now prefer the usual flint and steel, 

 using as tinder the lulup, a soft cottony down which clothes the 



Fig. 42. — DYAK METHOD OF OBTAINING FIRE. 



(The man here shown is a Malay.) 



dilated base of the young fronds in some palms, on the inner part, 

 towards the centre of the bud. The best quality of lulup is produced 



1 In Burma a similar pneumatic method is found, the natives using a 

 small instrument like that of the Dyaks, which is described and figured by 

 Signor Fea in his excellent book, Quattro Anni fra i Birmani, p. 316, fig. 103. 

 Milano, 1896. 



236 



