IN BORNEAN FORESTS [chap. 



attachments on the lower jaw. These might, perhaps, be caused 

 by the abnormal development of the cheek muscles owing to the 

 constant use of the sumpitan or blow-pipe, the favourite weapon 

 of the Buketans. 



At 6 p.m., there being no habitation near, we stopped on the 

 bank of the river to cook our supper. Mosquitoes were in abundance. 

 We passed the night in the boat, and had fine rain. 



Next morning we were off again at sunrise. Hitherto I had 

 only seen nipa and sago palms on the banks of the river, but now 

 other kinds of trees occurred intermingled with them. I could not 

 then stop to collect plants, intending to do so on my return, and thus 

 I avoided the trouble of preparing them whilst travelling. Never- 

 theless, I could not resist the temptation of taking a few specimens 

 of the magnificent Hoy a imperialis ; it was such a joy to be able to 

 handle its charming flowers, which are of a lovely violet, spotted with 

 white at the centre. 



At nine o'clock we stopped at a rude hut or lanko of the 

 Punans, a tribe inhabiting some of the affluents of the Bintulu. 

 The Punans, like the Buketans, are true forest nomads, and have 

 no permanent houses, but only temporary shelters or rude huts, 

 which they construct without much trouble in those places where 

 the jungle offers them wild animals to hunt and wild fruits on which 

 they can feed. They naturally undertake no cultivation, except in 

 the case of a few, who, by frequenting the villages of the Mellanaos 

 and Kayans, have learnt the advantage of sowing some rice and 

 planting a few sugar canes and bananas. They hunt wild animals 

 solely with the sumpitan and its small peculiar arrows tipped with 

 upas, and they also use dogs, which they breed in considerable 

 numbers. They make very fine mats ; but this is, I believe, their 

 only art, though they are great collectors of wax, camphor, gutta- 

 percha, rotangs and edible nests. When they have exhausted the 

 produce of a locality they move on to another. My servant, Sahat, 

 assured me that he had once traded a good deal with the Punans, 

 and observed that they are frequently affected by hernia, caused by 

 the constant use of the sumpitan. Besides this weapon they have 

 the parang ilang, and wooden shields for defence similar to those of 

 the Kayans, called " utak " ; but these I shall describe further on. 



Physically the Punans differ but slightly from the Kayans ; 

 perhaps their cheek bones are a little more projecting and their 

 lower jaw more heavy. They tattoo slightly on various parts of 

 the body. The operation is performed with the milky secretion of 

 the Bua Rambei, to which they add black pigment obtained by 

 burning dammar. They pierce the lobe of the ears, and insert one 

 or more brass or tin rings, so heavy that the ears get distended to 

 such an extent that the hand may be passed through the perforation 

 of the lobes, which hang down to the shoulders and even reach the 



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