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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 





A TAPANG TREE), ABOUT 1 75 EEET IN HEIGHT, ON THE BANKS OE THE BARAM 



RIVER! SARAWAK 



Hanging on the under side of the branches may be seen black masses of honeycomb. 



pleasant people, whose only sorrow was 

 that they had no children ; yet they were 

 too happy and contented to separate, al- 

 though lack of children is usually suffi- 

 cient cause for divorce. 



The Punans, about whose murder Tama 

 Aping Bulieng brought the news, belong 

 to one of the most primitive tribes of 

 Borneo. They are timid, harmless peo- 

 ple, living in the jungle, usually away 

 from the rivers, cultivating no fields, but 



getting their food from the wild sago and 

 other jungle plants and from the small 

 game, which they shoot with the sumpi- 

 tan, or blowgun, in the use of which they 

 are exceedingly skillful. 



HOW THE BEOWGUN IS MADE 



The blowgun is made chiefly by the 

 Kayans, from whom the Punans pur- 

 chase it. It consists of a hardwood pole 

 about six and a half feet long, the hole 



