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There was no time to cut down the fruit-trees, or to destroy the fields of maize and rice, as is usually done on like occasions. We marched on all night and some part of the morning before a halt was called, so unwilling were the Dyaks to stop till they were out of the reach of the allies of those they had attacked. At last they lay down to sleep in the shade of some wide-spreading trees.
Beside the above mentioned articles, there are birds'-nests, bees-wax, and several kinds of scented wood, in demand at Singapore, which are all collected by the Dyaks, and would be gathered in far greater quantity provided the Dyak was allowed to sell them.
When they have got all these good things out of it, they burn the stem of the palm with some of the leaves, and wash the burnt ashes in water. This water is then boiled until it is evaporated, and some black salt remains at the bottom of the pot. It tastes bitter as well as salt; but the Dyaks prefer it to common salt, and if you ask why, they say, "It is a fat salt."
The five Dyaks who had escaped carried the news of the terrible creatures that had fallen upon them in the jungle, and of the awful prowess of the giant white man who led them.
It is one of the ingredients used by the Bornean Dyaks for tipping their poisoned spears, and the arrows of their sumpitans or blow-guns. They use it in combination with the bina, another deadly poison, extracted from the juice of a parasitical plant found everywhere through the forests of Borneo.
They were shown the different methods of catching fish, and learnt to make the different kinds of fish-trap used by Dyaks of the present day, and they remained in Singalang Burong's house that whole year for the purpose of acquiring a complete and practical knowledge of the different stages of paddy growing. When the year was ended, Seragunting's mother took him and Siu to see her father.
If they failed to secure water that night, if the Dyaks maintained a strict siege of the rock throughout the whole of next day, well they might survive it was problematical. Best leave matters in God's hands. With feminine persistency she clung to the subject, detecting his unwillingness to discuss a possible final stage in their sufferings.
Having received these gifts, the dead relinquish all claim upon the living, and depend on their own resources. A superstitious people like the Dyaks, living in constant dread of unseen powers, naturally hold a feast when anything unusual takes place.
It frets me dreadfully; however, on the whole I see a vast improvement, and a degree of confidence in me arising among the Dyaks, greater than I expected. "14th. I have now entered on the most difficult task, and the one most likely to cause an ultimate failure in my undertaking, but which is indispensably necessary. I mean, the administration of justice.
The Dyak of Borneo has a sense of play and fun that would not exactly appeal to an American mind; although there are those who claim that American football is a near kin to the delightful game of Head-hunting indulged in by the Dyaks of Borneo. The Dyaks have for centuries been known as the head-hunters of the Far East.