364 
S O O L O O. 
been submitted to smoke to destroy the smell. After these prelimi¬ 
naries, the family honour of the bride is supposed to be satisfied, and 
she is not allowed to refuse to marry. A feast is now made, and the 
couple are seated in the midst naked, holding the bloody heads, when 
handfuls of rice are thrown over them, with prayers that they may 
be happy and fruitful. After this, the bridegroom repairs in state to 
the house of the bride, where he is received at the door by one of her 
friends, who sprinkles him with the blood of a cock, and her with 
that of a hen. This completes the affair, and they are man and wife. 
Funerals are likewise consecrated by similar offerings, the corpse 
remaining in the house until a slave can be procured, by purchase or 
otherwise, whom they design to behead at the time the body is burnt. 
This is done in order that the defunct may be attended by a slave on 
his way to the other w 7 orld or realms of bliss. After being burnt, the 
ashes of the deceased are gathered in an urn, and the head of the slave 
preserved and placed near it. 
In some parts, a rajah or chief is buried with great pomp in his war 
habiliments, and food and his arms are placed at his side. A mound is 
erected over him, which is encircled w 7 ith a bamboo fence, upon which 
a number of fresh heads are stuck, all the warriors who have been 
attached to him bringing them as the most acceptable offering; and 
subsequently these horrid offerings are renewed. 
The Dyacks are found also on the island of Celebes, but there, as in 
Borneo, they are confined to the interior. I have already mentioned 
that they were supposed to have been the original inhabitants of the 
Sooloo Archipelago. The Sooloos speak of the country of the Dyacks 
as being exceedingly fertile and capable of producing every thing. The 
north end of Borneo is particularly valuable, as its produce is easily 
transported from the interior, w 7 here much of the land is cultivated. I 
have obtained much more information in relation to this people, in a 
variety of ways, from individuals as well as from the published 
accounts, which are to be found at times in the Eastern prints; but as 
this digression has already extended to a great length, I trust that 
enough has been said to enable the reader to contrast it with the natives 
w 7 ho inhabit the islands that dot the vast Pacific Ocean, and to make 
him look forward with interest to the developements that the philan¬ 
thropic exertions of Mr. Brooke may bring to light. 
Having completed our duties here, the boats were hoisted in, after 
despatching one to leave orders for Mr. Knox of the Flying-Fish, in a 
bottle tied to a flag-staff’. 
On the afternoon of the 12th, we got under way to proceed direct to 
Singapore, and passed through the channel between the reef off the 
