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The only exceptions to this rule are, so far as we know, the omen-birds, a carnivore, and a lizard, and, as we have said, it seems doubtful whether even these are excepted in the case of Punans who have not had much intercourse with other peoples.
For in several of the wilder parts, where the great forest areas remain untouched, bands of nomads closely resembling the Punans of Borneo are still to be found, notably the Orang Kubu of Sumatra, and perhaps the Bantiks of northern Celebes.
If a present of tobacco is made to one member of a group of Punans, the whole mass is divided by one of them into as many heaps as there are members of the band present; and then each of them, men and women alike, takes one heap for his or her own use, the one who divided the mass taking the heap left by the rest. In spite of their shyness and timidity, they respond readily to kind treatment.
The Kenyahs, Klemantans, and Punans speak a great variety of tongues, which are, however, so closely similar, and the extreme members of which are connected by so many intermediate forms, that it would seem they may properly be regarded as but dialects of one language.
At my request the raja, with a few companions, went out in search of some of the shy jungle people called Punans. Seven days afterward he actually returned with twelve men, who were followed by seven more the next day. All the women had been left one day's journey from here.
The Punans proper are found in the central highlands wandering through the upper parts of the basins of all the large rivers; here and there they range into the lowlands, and in rare instances they even reach the coast.
It is supposed to be the spirit of some ancestor renowned for bravery, or some other virtue, who at death has taken an animal form ... it is revealed in a dream what animal form the honoured dead has taken." Magic, Spells, and Charms Magic is in a comparatively neglected and backward condition among the Kayans and Kenyahs, Punans, Ibans, and the more warlike up-country Klemantans.
The Punans and the Bukats have not yet learned to make prahus, but they are experts in the manufacture of sumpitans. They are also clever at mat-making, the men bringing the rattan and the women making the mats. Cutting of the teeth is optional. The gall of the bear is used as medicine internally and externally.
It is generally admitted that, assuming the Australians to be mainly of that race, a Pre-Dravidian element should occur in the Archipelago, and the cousins Sarasin have noted this strain among the Toalas of Celebes and Moszkowski among the Batins of Sumatra; in this connection it is of interest that Nieuwenhuis discovered ten Ulu Ayars and two Punans with straight hair and a "black or blue-black" skin colour; Kohlbrugge, who records this observation, offers no explanation.
Hose at his Sarawak Home The Fort at Sibu Enormous length of Dayak Canoes A Brush with Head-Hunters Dayak Vengeance on Chinamen First Impressions of the Sea Dayak, "picturesque and interesting" A Head-Hunting raid, Dayaks attack the Punans I accompany the Punitive Expedition Voyage Upstream A Clever "Bird Scare" Houses on the top of Tree-stumps The Kelamantans Kanawit Village The Fort at Kapit Capture of a notorious Head-Hunting Chief I inspect the "Heads" of the Victims Cause of Head-Hunting Savage Revenge of a Dayak Lover and its Sequel Hose's stem Ultimatum Accepted by the Head-Hunters I return to Sibu A Fatal Misconception.
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