THE BIN I! A OF JOH(JRB. 
with Its accompanying charms and talismans; a living faith fresh 
from the ancient days of eastern and middle Asia,—preserving its 
pristine vigour and simplicity in the nineteenth century, untouched 
by the Budhistic deluge which has passed over the vast south eastern 
regions, and sent so many waves to different parts of the Archipelago ; 
and resisting the pressure of the Islamisn which surrounds it. 
The Poy&ng and Paw&ng of the Bermun tribes, the Poyang of the 
Binua, the Blians of the Dyaks, and the D'ato and the Si Basso of 
the Battas, are all the Shaman, the Priest —wizard—physician, in 
different shapes. 
Ideas Respecting some Natural Phenomena, Dread op 
Small Pox and the Sea &c. —The Binuas have no written cha¬ 
racter, and so far as 1 could learn hardly any indigenous literature. 
It is probable however that they have many chants or rude songs con¬ 
taining a number of the words of their original language. A few of 
these were repeated to me. They believe the world to be globular 
and enclosed in the sky. “The sun and moon” said a Binua to me 
one night, “ move round the earth, so that now, while we arc in dark¬ 
ness, it is light on the other side of the earth wiiere the sun is shin¬ 
ing.” Clouds and rain they believe to be produced from the waves 
of the sea by the action of the wind. A Mintira declared to me that 
fogs and clouds were the sweat of the sea at flood tide. When thun¬ 
der is heard in the north or south, the Binua say “ berbum poco utarit 
or sl&tan” the north or south tree is sounding.* The only explanation 
I could obtain of this was that in the north and south were the extremi¬ 
ties of a great beam; that in the north being twenty days journey be¬ 
yond Boko where there was a great hill from which the north winds is¬ 
sue. They have no division of time save the natural one of the north and 
south monsoons, each of which they call <c sa’tahun hangin,” a wind 
-year. The Binua mark time (as the Mintira also do) by the sea¬ 
sons when paddy is cut, when fruits ripen—“ musim paddi,” “ musim 
huah.” Like the Malays, when pressed for a definite statement on 
a subject on which their ideas are indefinite, they answer at random. 
The father of a family told me that his age was eight years. They in¬ 
dicate the progress of the day by the inclination of a stick. Early 
morning is represented by pointing the stick to the eastern hori¬ 
zon. Placed erect it indicates noon, inclined at an angle of about 
45* to the west it corresponds nearly with 3 o’clock, and so on. In 
this way a guide who is familiar with the path can intimate with* 
* The- Malays usg the word po$o to indicate directions on the horizon, 
