CUAT. Vt.] 



CHARACTER. 



89 



yoimg mea were about me, I tliuught to amuse them with 

 something tkjw, and showed them how to make "cat's 

 cradle" with a piece of string. Greatly to my suiprise, 

 they knew all about it, and more than I did; lor, after 

 I and Charles had gone through all the changeg we could 

 make, oue of the boys took it off my hand, and made 

 several ne%v figures which quite puzzled me. They theu 

 sliowed ine a uumber of other tricks with pieces of string, 

 which seemed a tavourite amusement with them. 



Even these apparently trifling mattei's may assist us to 

 form a truer estimate of the Dyaks' character and social 

 condition. We learn thereby, that these people have passed 

 beyond that fu-st stage of savage life in which the struggle 

 for existence absorbs the whole faculties, and in which 

 every thought and idea is connected with waf or hunting, 

 or the provision for their immediate necessities. These 

 amusements indicate a capability of civilization, an apti- 

 tude to enjoy other than mere sensual pleasures, which 

 might be taken advantage of to elevate their whole intel- 

 lectual and social life. 



The moral character of the Dyaks is undoubtedly high — 

 a statement %vhich will seem strange to those who have 

 heai'd of them only as head-hunters and pirates. Tlie Hill 

 Dyaks of whom 1 am speaking, however, have never been 

 pirates, since they never go near the sea ; and head-hunting 

 is a custom originating in the petty wara of villago with 

 village, and trihe with ti'ibe, which no more implies a bad 

 moral character than did the custom of the slave-trade 

 a hundred years ago imply want of geueml moraUty in all 

 who participated in it Against tliis one stain on their 

 character (which in the case of the Sarawak Dyaks no 

 longer exists) we have to set many good points. They are 

 truthful and honest to a remai-kaUe degree. From this 

 cause it is very often impossible to get from them any 

 definite information, or even an opinion. Tliey say, " If I 

 were to tell yon what I don't know, I might tell a lie;" 

 and whenever they voluntarily relate any matter of fact, 

 you may be sure they are* speakmg the truth. In a Pyak 

 village the fniit trees have each their owner, and it has 

 often happened tf> me, on asking an inhabitant to gather 

 me some fruit, to be answered, " I can't do that, for the 



