1892.] S. E. Peal — Communal Barraclcs of Primitive "Races. 25"9 



tribes of the Assam frontier, we find in each village one or more public 

 halls used for public ceremonies, but which also form dormitories of 

 the unmarried young men of the community and serve thus as a sort 

 of main guard to the village, and in these halls both in Borneo and 

 Assam is often seen suspended the treasure of trophy skulls. Hence 

 St. John often calls them head-houses and sometimes bachelors' houses." 

 Unfortunately St. John's "Life in the forests of the far East" is not in 

 our library, and I must be content with the above single quotation. 



Wallace, however, in his Malay Archipelago, page 50, says, "My 

 things were taken "up to the " head-house," a circular building attached 

 to most Dyak villages, and serving as a lodging for strangers and the place 

 for trade. The sleeping room of the unmarried youths, and the general 

 council chamber." 



It may not be out of place to notice here, that in some cases the 

 type of Chief's house is the same as those seen in. the hills round 

 Assam, and in New Guinea. 



In Mr. D. D. Daly's note on the explorations in British North 

 Borneo, {Proceedings R. G. S. January 1888, p. 6) he says: — " At Pun- 

 pun, the head man. is Rendom, who lives in a large house, raised ten feet 

 off the ground; there is a centre passage through the top part with many 

 rooms containing families on either side." This is structurally identical 

 with our Chiefs' houses in the Naga hills, and many other places, see 

 " Nature " June 19, 1884 p. 169. 



The difficulty of tracing these barracks among the savage tribes 

 in Sumatra has been considerable. So far my only source of informa- 

 tion has been the short notice in the " Lllustrated London .News" of 

 September 12th, 1891, p. 335, of M. Julius Claine's trip among the 

 Battak Karo, in May 1890. He says : — "The town of Sirbayais divided 

 into several "kampongs," separated by bamboo palisade and ruled by 

 their respective chiefs. The houses are built on piles of squared timber. 

 In front of the house is a raised platform with a staircase of bamboo. 

 The interior is one large room with a trench along the middle of the 

 floor serving as a passage from end to end. This abode is occupied by 

 the family Patriarch, with his married sons and daughters and their 

 children, each branch of the family having its allotted place. 



They pass much of their time on the outer terrace or platform, and 

 occasionally sleep there at night. A dozen married couples with their 

 offspring, or nearly 100 persons, may inhabit one such dwelling. Un- 

 married young men live together in a large house sometimes of two 

 stories, which is set apart for them. 



So that here again in Sumatra we find unmistakably this singular 

 social institution, and according to •' Nature" August 13th, 1885, p. 

 346, these Battaks are "head-hunters." 



