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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



THE NIPA PALM AND A FLOCK OF PADI P.IRDS IN THE LOWER REACHES OF THE 



niah river; THIS PALM GROWS ONLY WITHIN REACH OF 



THE SALT WATER: BORNEO 



Roofing material is made from the leaves of this plant; also cigarette wrappers. Sugar is 

 obtained from the sap and salt secured by burning the roots. 



part of Sarawak, extending also into 

 Dutch Borneo. 



These people for unknown generations 

 have lived almost entirely isolated in the 

 interior of the island. There are many 

 reasons for believing they are of Caucasic 

 origin, having entered Borneo from 

 southeastern Asia, where they received 

 infusion of Mongol blood and separated 

 from people of their own race, who were 

 the progenitors of the present Karen 

 tribes of Lower Burma. 



It appears that the Kayans came to 

 Borneo by the way of Tenasserim, the 

 Malay Peninsula, and Sumatra, later 

 penetrating up the rivers of Borneo. One 

 notices the features of some Kayans that 

 very strongly suggest Caucasic origin, 

 this being particularly true of the upper 

 or ruling classes, who would be most 

 likely to preserve their racial stock un- 

 contaminated by mixture with conquered 

 tribes. 



Many Kayans have very light skin, 

 particularly those of the interior and 

 those who have been little exposed to the 

 sun. The tribe believes in a large number 

 of deities, with one supreme being at the 

 head, thus resembling the Greek mythol- 

 ogy. Many of the details of the methods 

 of taking omens among the Kayans by 

 the flight of birds and the examination 

 of the entrails of animals present extra- 

 ordinary points of similarity with the 

 Roman methods of taking the auspices. 



While the Brunei Sultans held control 

 of the mouths of the Baram and Rejang 

 rivers they were able to exact tribute 

 from the Kayans, who, in turn, terror- 

 ized the Dayaks living below them on the 

 Rejang. 



These raids against the Rejang Dayaks 

 who had accepted the Rajah's sovereignty 

 at last became so serious that in 1863 

 the late Rajah conducted a large expedi- 

 tion against the Kayans of the Rejang, 



