od BRITISH BORNEO. 
winds, his canoes were blown over to the British Colony ; the 
Muruts landed, held apparently friendly intercourse with some 
of the Kadaian (Muhammadan) population and, after a visit of 
two or three days, made preparations to sail; but meeting a 
Kadaian returning to his home alone, they shot him and went 
off with his head—though the man was an entire stranger to 
them, and they had no quarrel with any of his tribe. 
With the assistance of the Brunai authorities, the chief and 
several of his accomplices were subsequently secured and sent 
for trial to Labuan. The chief died in prison, while awaiting 
trial, but one or two of his associates paid the penalty of their 
wanton crime. 
A short time afterwards, Mr. Cook and I visited the La- 
was River for sport, and took up our abode in a Murut long 
house, where, I remember, a large basket of skulls was placed 
as an ornament at the head of my sleeping place. One night, 
when all our men, with the exception of my Chinese servant, 
were away in the jungle, trying to trap the then newly dis- 
covered “ Bulwer pheasant,’ some Muruts from the Trusan 
came over and informed our hosts of the fate of their chief. 
On the receipt of this intelligence, all the men of our house 
left it and repaired to one adjoining, where a great “ drink” 
was held, while the women indulged in a loud, low, monoton- 
ous, heart-breaking wail, which they kept up for several hours. 
Mr. Cook and myself agreed that things looked almost as 
bad for us as they well could, and when, towards morning, 
the men returned to our house, my Chinese boy clung to me 
in terror and—nothing happened! But certainly I do not 
think I have ever passed such an uncomfortable period of 
suspense. 
Writing to the Court of Directors of the East India Company 
a hundred and thirteen years ago, Mr. YESSE, who concluded 
the pepper monopoly agreement with the Brunai Government, 
referring to the Murut predilection for head-hunting says :— 
“With respect to the Idaan, or Muruts, as they are called 
here, I cannot give any account of their disposition; but 
from what I have heard from the Borneyans, they area set of 
abandoned idolaters; one of their tenets, so strangely inhu- 
man, I cannot pass unnoticed, which is, that their future in- 
