IN BORNEAN FORESTS [chap. 



process is called " chinchian" and its object is to separate the 

 fecula from the fibres detached by the -polo. This is done by 

 placing the triturated contents of the emptied trunk on a wide 

 wooden board, and beating them for a long time with a big wooden 

 knife. Then follows the " tindjak" which consists of washing the 

 mass broken up by the " chmchian" which is done in a large and 

 peculiar basket made with plaited strips about half an inch in width, 

 and cut from the huge ribs of the fronds of the sago palm itself. 

 Instead of baskets, large mats made of the same material are 

 sometimes used. 



The operation of " tindjak" or washing, is performed by placing 

 the pith in the mat or basket, and treading it steadily with the 

 bare feet while an assistant pours water over it from time to time. 

 Even the pails used for this purpose are constructed from the sago 

 palm. They are conical in shape, and are made from the thin 

 laminar and coriaceous portion of the base of the fronds where 

 they encircle the stem. This method of treading the baskets with the 

 feet causes the stuff expressed to be carried off by the water through 

 the meshes of the mat or basket, and to collect in a vessel placed 

 beneath, which is usually a small canoe. Here it settles down, and 

 after the water has been drained off constitutes what the natives 

 call " lanianta" After it has been dried and reduced to a granular 

 form (pearling) it becomes the sago we all know. All the above 

 described operations are performed in the outhouses or sheds, 

 which, as I have already mentioned, are connected with the Mel- 

 lanao houses on the river-side. 



My preparations once, more to ascend the Bintulu river, and to 

 pass from this river to the Barram, were by this time nearly finished. 

 The object of the excursion was Gunong Julit, of which I had heard 

 all sorts of wonderful stories. They also told me that a species of 

 wild tobacco was to be found, and this I was, of course, anxious to 

 get. From information I had received this mountain lay half-way 

 between the Bintulu and the Tinj ar rivers ; the latter a branch of 

 the Barram, which T had resolved to descend to its mouth, and to 

 get thence to Miri. 



On the fourth of September I went in a canoe to the Mellanao 

 houses, to see whether I could get a large and sufficiently commodious 

 boat for my j ourney to the Tinj ar. Returning to the fort I noticed a 

 singular floating object in the middle of the river, and on getting 

 nearer I found that it was a diminutive house, or rather the facsimile 

 of one, embellished with tassels and streamers made with the young 

 white leaves of the nipa palm. Curiosity impelled me to ascertain 

 its contents ; but the natives who were with me begged me not to 



in this same work ; but the implement differs. Thus in the Moluccas the 

 " business end " is made with a piece of bamboo, whilst in New Guinea it is 

 of stone. 



288 



