234 
COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL 
of the Dyaks and Malays. Finally, the Bajaus, a race of 
Malays who have been well described as the “ Sea- 
gipsies ” of the archipelago, are well known in most of 
the creeks and rivers of the island. 
Dyak is the generic name applied to the wild tribes 
which w r ere found living on the island when the Malays 
first settled upon its shores. ' Whether they are the 
aboriginal inhabitants, or whether they were preceded by 
a Negrito race, it is impossible to say. It is quite pos¬ 
sible that the latter may be the case, and that they are 
the descendants of a former immigrant pre-Malayan 
horde who overwhelmed a yet earlier race. They 
are divided into innumerable tribes, speaking distinct 
languages, forming distinct political units, and, in the 
wilder parts of the country, engaged in constant inter¬ 
tribal warfare. Physically, these people differ little from 
the Malays except in being somewhat lighter, taller, and 
more active, and they are generally of a more cheerful 
and child-like disposition. In point of civilisation they 
vary considerably. Some are described as exceedingly 
low in the social scale, living, like the Lubus and other 
Sumatran tribes, as forest vagrants, building no houses, 
but only temporary shelters. Others, like some of the 
Milanaus, are almost as civilised as the Malays. But in 
this respect Borneo is far behind Sumatra, for while in 
the latter island several of the tribes have separately 
and independently invented writing, with rather complex 
alphabets, no instance of this kind is known in Borneo. 
The majority of the Dyaks are heathen, but in many 
places contact with the Malays has converted them to 
Islamism. Tattooing is very generally practised, and it 
is a favourite custom to wear a quantity of brass ear-rings, 
so that the lobe of the ear becomes enormously dilated, and 
hangs almost on the shoulder. The Milanaus cause the 
