2 SARAWAK ETHNOGRAPHICAL COLLECTION. 



had its effects; the dominant Sea-Dyak has increased enormously 

 in the Rejang River, driving the Kyan, Kanowit and other tribes 

 less robust than himself before him, so that the ethnographical 

 variety of the chief river of Brooke Low's collecting area is 

 now sadly diminished; finally the influence of the European on 

 the change of native habits must not be left out of account. * 

 The catalogue, then, is not begun a day too soon, reliable 

 information on many specimens must be obtained now, or before 

 many years it may be too late. As it is, the Srus, a tribe appar- 

 ently allied to the Tanjongs, living near Kalaka. have forgotten 

 all their old customs and culture, a fragmentary language 

 alone remaining to suggest a less ignoble past ; whilst the Tan- 

 jongs themselves, thanks to the gin-bottle and the immorality 

 of their women are rapidly drawing near to the abyss of extinction . 

 The project of such a catalogue as this was for some time in my 

 mind, but the ways and means of production were difficult to 

 find. However, at the end of 1902 the Council of the Straits 

 Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society generously came to the res- 

 cue and the catalogue will be published in parts under their 

 auspices. 



The ethnographical collection now to be catalogued cannot 

 claim to be absolutely complete, and there are many specimens 

 scattered amongst European Museums which are unrepresented 

 in the Sarawak Museum. These will be alluded to in the catalogue 

 whenever possible and specimens known to the writer but un- 

 represented in any museum will also be noted. No particular 

 order in the series of objects described will be observed, but 

 each part will be produced as soon as it is ready. I have been 

 fortunate in securing the collaboration of Dr. 0. Hose, Resident 

 of the Baram district, in at least one part of the catalogue and 

 other local authorities have been as generous in supplying me 

 with information as they have been in obtaining specimens for 

 the Museum. 



* To give a concrete example of change : — It is no longer easy 

 to obtain specimens of the niabor a variety of short sword formerly 

 much in use amongst the Sea Dyaks, the jimpul and tilang hamarau 

 are much more common, the former was invented less than 20 years 

 ago, the latter only last year. Numerous other examples might be 

 quoted . 



Jour. Straits Branch 



