XVI 1 1] 



A FESTIVAL 



of age, most civil and intelligent, and owner of the house in which 

 I was staying. He spoke Malay fluently, and did not bother me 

 with continual questions, as most of his fellow tribesmen did. His 

 wife, Henan-Riam, was suffering from ague, and asked me for quinine. 

 She was a fine young woman with a sweet and pleasing expression, 

 and of very light complexion. I was told that the Kayan women 

 were true Amazons, following their husbands on their war expedi- 

 tions, when they replace the badang (petticoat) with the jaw at, and, 



Fig. 46.- 



-ORANG-KAYA TUMANGGONG, KAYAN CHI2F 

 OF THE BARRAM RIVER. 



donning the characteristic coat of goat-skin, arm themselves with 

 the parang-ilang and a spear, and carry a large wooden shield. 



Later, the Kayans got up an entertainment for me in the shape 

 of a dance, towards which I contributed the candles. It was very 

 different from the usual Dyak dances, which consist of various 

 contortions and ungraceful movements. The Kayan dance — at 

 least the one I saw — was, instead, a kind of warlike pantomime, with 

 no lack of broad humour, with the krore as orchestral accompani- 



271 



