THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



183 



WATER GIRIvS OE DAYAK LAND 



These demure Rebekahs of Sarawak are provided with gourds instead of pitchers of pottery, 

 and their well is a bamboo trough fed by the waters of a near-by spring. 



prepared to find such culture among Bor- 

 nean "savages." 



There are three fairly well-defined 

 social classes in the Kayan house : the 

 upper class, comprising the chief and his 

 relatives, occupy rooms in the middle of 

 the long house ; the middle class, whose 

 members are not related to the chief, oc- 

 cupy rooms on both sides adjoining, 

 while the rooms at each end of the house 

 are occupied by the slaves — that is. the 

 descendants of those captured in war. 



"Slave" is rather a misleading term, 

 for in all that concerns the welfare and 

 comfort of this third class they differ so 

 little from the other inhabitants of the 

 house that one without experience has 

 difficulty in distinguishing them. Their 

 daily occupations do not differ very ma- 

 terially from those of the upper classes, 

 for almost all participate in the hard 

 labor of planting and harvesting the rice 

 crops. 



The formal welcome to visitors in a 

 Kayan house is apt to be rather long and 

 tedious, but on this occasion a number of 

 deaths had placed the house in mourning, 

 so that our welcome was concluded with 

 the drinking song, a unique and interest- 

 ing performance. 



HOW A GUEST IS RECEIVED IN A KAYAN 

 HOUSE 



After the guest is seated on the fresh 

 rattan mats spread upon the floor, when 

 the first greetings have been exchanged 

 and the people of the house have assem- 

 bled, squatting in a circle around the 

 guest, the young girls bring jars of rice 

 wine and cups, and one of the prominent 

 men of the house, taking his place on the 

 mat in front of the guest, fills a cup and 

 begins the song. 



In a monotone, the singer voices his 

 esteem for the visitor and his good wishes 

 for health and prosperity, pausing fre- 



