58 INTERIOR OF BORNEO. 



Dyau Blawing then toasted the Kalabit chief Hi Bawang 

 to the rousing tune of the Kavan drinking song which with its 

 rolling chorus was much appreciated by the Kalabits. Opportu- 

 nity is taken during these extempore songs to tell the in- 

 dividual who is toasted the customs of civilized Government 

 and to make certain trite remarks as to his former life and 

 conduct, which he must now reform. 



After this was over they settled themselves down to 

 drinking, in which occupation every night was spent during 

 our visit there. I noticed that when a drink was offered to any 

 man, all the people near by caught hold of the arm of the 

 giver, those further off catching hold of the arms of those 

 nearer, thus making the drink appear to come from all of them 

 and so the harder to refuse. If a chief was being offered one 

 it often happened that some thirty or forty persons would collect 

 round him to assist in forcing the liquor down his throat. 



The Kalabits were the most generous of hosts, and whilst 

 we stayed with them we wanted for nothing in the way of 

 food, and every day presents of fowls, eggs, sugarcane and 

 sweet potatoes were brought to us. They seemed genuinely 

 pleased to see us and compared favourably their life under the 

 Government to their former one further in the interior, with its 

 constant alarms of war and rumours of war. 



On the fourth day I received their poll tax, and, as dollars 

 or coins of any sort were unknown in these regions, it had to be 

 paid in rubber ; every married man therefore paid in three 

 katties of rubber. 



The next day we started on our return journey. We 

 were escorted down to the landing place by the whole popula- 

 tion, and amidst the banging of guns and repeated expressions 

 of * au revoir ' and wishes for a safe journey, and the usual 

 accompaniment of cheering, we started down-river. 



Our return was very different from the journey up ; there 

 was no hard poling and pulling up rapids, for with our experi- 

 enced boatmen, these were shot with ease in quick succession. 



At midday we reached the mouth of the Magoh River and 

 here I had arranged for a meeting of all the Punan tribes who 

 range through the dense jungle round here. We found about 



Jour. Straits Branch 



