3Si SOOLOO. 



clothing except the maro, and many of them are tattooed, with a 

 variety of figures, over their body. They live in houses built of 

 wood, that are generally of large size, and frequently contain as 

 many as one hundred persons. These houses are usually built on 

 piles, divided into compartments, and have a kind of veranda in 

 front, which serves as a communication between the several families. 

 The patriarch, or elder, resides in the middle. The houses are 

 entered by ladders, and have doors, but no windows. The villages 

 are protected by a sort of breastwork. 



Although this people are to be found throughout all Borneo, and 

 even within a few miles of the coast, yet they do not occupy any part 

 of its shores, which are held by Malays, or Chinese settlers. There 

 is no country more likely to interest the world than Borneo. All 

 accounts speak of vast ruins of temples and palaces, throughout the 

 whole extent of its interior, which the ancestors of the present inha- 

 bitants could not have constructed. The great resemblance these 

 bear to those of China and Cambojia has led to the belief that 

 Borneo was formerly peopled by those nations ; but all traditions of 

 the origin of these edifices have been lost; and so little is now known 

 of the northern side of Borneo, that it would be presumption to 

 indulge in any surmises of what may have been its state during these 

 dark ages. Even the Bugis priests, who are the best-informed persons 

 in the country, have no writings or traditions that bear upon the 

 subject; and the few scattered legends of Eastern origin, can afford no 

 proof of the occurrence of the events they commemorate in any parti- 

 cular locality. 



The accounts of the habits of the Dyacks are discrepant. Some 

 give them credit for being very industrious, while others again speak 

 of them as indolent. They are certainly cultivators of the soil, and 

 in order to obtain the articles they need, will work assiduously. 

 Many of them are employed in collecting gold-dust, and some in the 

 diamond mines; and they will at times be found procuring gums, 

 rattans, &c, from their native forests for barter. They are a people 

 of great energy of character, and perseverance in the attainment of 

 their object, particularly when on war-parties, or engaged in hunting. 



Their food consists of rice, hogs, rats, snakes, monkeys, and many 

 kinds of vermin, with which this country abounds. 



Their chief weapon is the parang or heavy knife, somewhat like 

 the kris. It is manufactured of native iron and steel, with which the 

 coast of the country is said to abound. They have a method of work- 



