VI.—The Sea-Bayak method of making Thread 
from their Home-Grown Cotton. —By the Revd. 
W. Howell, of The S. P. G. Mission, Sabu, Sarawak. 
The Sea-Davaks are more advanced in some ways 
than the majority of Bornean tribes, and the weaving of 
cloth from their home-grown cotton is an instance of this. 
The subject has been mentioned briefly by numerous 
writers, but a glance at the pages of Ling-Roth’s valuable 
compendium on the races of Sarawak and British North 
Borneo, shows that after all the recorded details of this 
industry are distinctly meagre, and more recent books 
add but little further information. The purpose of the 
following lines therefore is to try and fill a small gap in 
our knowledge of Sea-Dayak life, by giving a detailed 
account of their process of making and dyeing thread 
from their home-grown cotton. 
Separate farms or gardens ( empulai) are set apart 
for growing cotton (toya) and the seed once planted soon 
develops, so that within a year of sowing, there is fruit 
sufficient to pick and utilize for cotton. It should be 
added that the Dayaks do not buy their cotton seed from 
local bazaars, but take it when needed from their own 
crops; where the original seed is supposed to have come 
from I am unable to find out. 
After the cotton has been picked, taken out of its 
skin and dried, it is passed through a cotton gin ( pemigi ) 
in order to get rid of its seeds. Then from very early in 
the morning until about 9 a. ill, it is threshed out on a 
mat with a cotton-beater (pevialu taya), the women using 
both hands for the work. It is believed that the strong 
heat of the sun hinders laxity, hence the early hours 
adopted for this part of the work. The cotton is thresh¬ 
ed twice ; first, into a flat piece averaging two to three 
feet square and some two inches in thickness; this is 
called a lapis. In the evening after dinner when every¬ 
body assembles in the long reception room (mat) for all 
sorts of purposes such as settling cases, chatting or doing 
odd pieces of work, among other occupations one sees 
the lapis brought out, folded and placed on the thigh 
to be cut into very thin pieces and then gathered into a 
basket. The following morning the thin fragments of 
Sar. Mus. Journ. No. 2, 1912. 
