54 SARAWAK ETHNOGRAPHICAL COLLECTION. 



principal celebrant at that part of the religious festivals when 

 the Mengap is being recited ; they are also carried and rattled 

 by any one when walking- in the dark to give notice of his 

 coming to spirits, men and animals. 



Sea-Dyak — Tongkat Iratak. 



a. A long staff of hard wood, the lower end thickened and 

 pointed and with an enlarged four-sided head 40*5. centim long ; 

 the angles of the head are marked by wide slits, through which 

 the head has been hollowed out, a sliding block of wool 20 

 centim. long being left in the hollow. The passage of the stem 

 of the staff into the head is sudden and is marked by a little 

 carving and a narrow band of plaited rattan ; the top of the 

 head is crowned with a finfaal and a tuft of grass. 



Total length 239 cm. 



From the Krian River. I. Kirpkatrick, Esq. [P. 2$. xiii. 96.] 



Catalogue No. 999. 



b. A similar specimen, but the lower end is much thicker 

 and less pointed ; the head is round in transverse section and the 

 hollowing of it and the freeing of the sliding block has been 

 conducted through three slits only ; the rest of the staff instead 

 of being of equal diameter throughout is marked with seven 

 circular blunt ridges at unequal distances apart ; the passage of 

 the stem into the head is very gradual ; the head has a long 

 carved finical but no tuft of grass. 



Total legth 262 cm. ; length of head 36-5 cm. ; of sliding 

 block 23-5. cm. From the Lamanak River. Brooke Low col- 

 lection. 



Catalogue No. 517. 



c. Much shorter specimen, the head rather slender and 

 without a fin^al, which is replaced by a stout projection ; the 

 staff is encircled by several narrow ridges some of which are 

 carved to imitate the nodes of bamboo ; there are four slits in 

 the head. 



Jour. Straits Branch 



