NORTH BORNEO. 
75 
to see if they could discover anything, they were one day told by their spies that there 
was a small house in a paddi-field not many miles off, the sole occupant being a decrepit 
old woman. Here w^as a chance not to be lost; in the night these hundred braves (!) 
surrounded the house, and suddenly rushed in on the poor woman, cut her head off, and 
decamped as soon as possible. 
One afternoon we visited another Murut village: these people were more civilized 
than those of Si’Lalang’s village. The men Avore blue cotton coats and headcloths or 
“ dastar ” of the same material, but the skirts of the women Avere, if anything, shorter; 
they also greatly prized long agate beads, and some of old yelloAV porcelain, which they 
obtained many years ago from the Chinese; ordinary glass beads they would not look 
at. Most of the young men, they told us, Avere away Avith the expedition mentioned. They 
did not seem to set much value on their skull collection, as, instead of being hung up, 
these relics Avere packed aAvay in baskets, in Avhich there Avere several Avooden dummy skulls. 
In these houses I noticed some of the Avomen busy making bark coats. The bark is 
peeled off a tree in broad strips and is very united and flexible; it is then hammered all 
over Avith a heavy Avooden instrument, which has a flat surface on one side cut in deep cross 
lines like a file; this breaks up the harder tissues of the bark and reduces it to a very 
pliant though by no means united texture. The bark being full of rents and holes, this 
difficulty is overcome by transverse darning: one of these coats now before me has no 
feAver than 270 transverse strings on the back alone, each thread penetrating the outer 
surface only, and assists to Avork out a cross pattern for ornamentation. The size of a strip 
of bark for a “baju” is about 5 feet by 18 inches. This after being prepared is folded in half: 
the half for the front of the jacket is divided right down the centre; the sides are stitched 
up, leaving holes for the arms; from the back of the neck hang narrow strips of bark or 
long streamers of coloured avooI. The bark is mostly reddish brown; but the best kind is 
Avhite, the texture being more united and requiring little or no transverse stitching, but 
is occasionally ornamented Avith coloured patterns in avooI. The seAving-thread is made from 
pine-apple leaves, which plant Avas growing in a semi-Avild state on some hills near, the 
fruit being apparently valueless to the Muruts. These people, like those of the Padas, 
complain of the ravages committed by rats on their crops, and they have often to abandon 
their homes and migrate elseAvhere on account of these pests. But they have this advantage 
over the Padas Mohammedans, that they can eat the rats. 
On our return, Avhen we had nearly reached our house, the Muruts suddenly com¬ 
menced singing and firing off their guns, which one of my folloAV'ers declared betokened the 
return of the expedition of head-hunters: but as Ave had been tramping all day I could 
not get up sufficient energy to return to the village again; this I afterwards much regretted. 
In the evening Ave heard that the Murut head-hunters had returned with a head; but as 
our informant also OAvned that one of their party—a slave—had died (!) in the forest, it 
is more than probable that they cut off his head, if they did not even murder him to 
obtain it. 
The most interesting Murut Aveapon is the “ sumpitan,” the boring of which must 
require great skill, considering the primitive tool employed—a piece of trade iron sharpened 
L 2 
