56 INTERIOR OF BORNEO. 



leaving a passage, by which communication could be kept up 

 from one end of the house to the other, without it being neces- 

 sary to come out into the common verandah. This passage I 

 found was used by the women, who did not appear in the 

 verandah except on special occasions. In the, centre of the 

 middle wall was erected an enormous fireplace and on either 

 side of this "was a sort of kennel, in which the married 

 couples slept. These were not walled in on the side next the 

 fireplace, so as to get all the warmth possible, but of course as 

 there was no chimney, they also got their full amount of smoke, 

 and soot. The cold at night quite warranted these people 

 desiring a close proximity to the fire, and I found also that a 

 plunge into the river in the morning seemed as icy and as 

 exhilarating as a cold bath in England. 



The next day all the Kalabits collected from the villages 

 round to the number of five or six hundred, and a grand feast 

 was held ; a buffalo and nine pigs were killed. I must admit 

 that although the feast was a fearful orgy, still I could not help 

 admiring the thoroughness with which these people enjoyed the 

 meal. They began to eat at about noon and did not stop doing 

 so until the evening and then only because there was nothing 

 more to eat. All that was left of that buffalo were its horns 

 and leg bones, which even Kalabit indigestion seemed to shy 

 at. The skin I found was being eaten with the hair still on 

 and evidently relished. Of the pigs nothing was left at all. 



The meal being finished, some twenty jars of ' borak ' 

 were produced and a drinking bout was started, which lasted 

 till day-light. Whilst this was going on, all the women, attiring 

 themselves in their best clothes and ranging themselves in a 

 long line one behind the other, clasping the shoulders of the 

 one in front, began to march round the house, up the verandah 

 and down the passage at the back and then out into the 

 verandah again. The leader of this procession suddenly 

 burst forth into song, whilst the others joined in the chorus, 

 keeping time with their feet. Although their voices were 

 rather raucous, still the song had a weird plaintive air, which 

 was decidedly fascinating, and to which the smoky torches and 

 wild faces made an impressive ' mise-en-scene' The song was 



Jour. Straits Branch 



