SARAWAK ETHNOGRAPHICAL COLLECTION. 53 



Addenda. 



Since going to press my friend Mr. W. Howell has sent to 

 the Museum a toy musical instrument used by Sea-Dyak child- 

 ren ; as it is so very different from every other form of musical 

 instrument found in Borneo, I cannot refrain from adding a 

 brief description of it : — 



Sea-Dyak — Sulieng — toy " squeaker." 



A piece of the stem of a species of Calamus known as 

 Kerniong, 21 centim. long and 1 centim. in diameter ; one end 

 is open and cut square, the other is closed by the natural septum, 

 a very narrow crack runs down the whole length of the instru- 

 ment on one side, in fact it is so narrow as to be hardly per- 

 ceptible from the outside. A blast of air driven into the tube 

 just forces apart the sides of the crack, but they quickly close 

 again by virtue of their elasticity and curvature. If the pressure 

 of air is maintained they are forced open again, close again and 

 so on ; in other words the sides oi the tube bordering the crack 

 vibrate and constitute a "partial" valve through which the air 

 issues in a pulsatory manner producing a loud and penetrating 

 squeak. The instrument may be compared with the trumpet 

 class though in that class the lips of the performer constitute 

 the "partial" valve, not the walls of the instrument itself. 

 Malays know this instrument as serune, the same term as 

 that employed by Land-Dyaks of the Bukar sub-tribe for their 

 pipes with " beating" reeds. 



Catalogue No. 1363. Rev. W. Howell [P. 6. xij. 03]. 



The wooden clappers used by Sea-Dyaks are also worthy 

 of note. These instruments, which are known variously as tongkat 

 be-igi, tdnghat krutak .tugal be-igi, tugai behurong, and tugal klek, 

 are long staves of hard wood with an enlarged head, the head 

 is hollowed out but a loose block of wood occupies part of the 

 hollow and slides up and down when the staff is shaken ; this 

 block is cut out of the head itself, the hollowing of the head 

 and the freeing of the block being negotiated through four 

 longitudinal slits in the head. The staffs are used as padi- 

 dibblers, and they are carried and sounded at intervals by the 



R. A.-Soc, No. 40, 1904 



