Children of Borneo

e house is built on posts of hard wood, which raise the floor from six to twelve feet above the ground. It is wise of them to build their houses in this way, because the ground, even on the h

if they live together in large numbers, high above the ground

VILLA

f the house. The length of the building varies according to the number of families inhabiting it, but as the rooms

he sun; afterwards it is pounded to get rid of its husk, and so converted into rice. Here, also, the clothes and a variety of other things are hung out to dry. The flooring of this part of t

or the plaiting of mats. Here, too, the men chop up the firewood used for cooking their food, and even make boats, if not of too great a size. This long hall is a public place open to all comers, and used as a road by travellers, who climb up the ladder at one end, walk through the whole length of the house, and go dow

erves as a kitchen, because in one corner there is a fireplace where the food is cooked. It also serves as a dining-room, because when the meal is ready, mats are sprea

ups and plates are hung up in rows flat against the wall. The flooring of this room is the same as that of the public hall outside, and made of split palm or bamboo tied down with cane. The floor is swept after

om occupied by the family, and in each of these portions there is a small fireplace which consists of a slab of stone, at wh

These are the heads obtained when on the war-path by various members of the family-dead and living-and handed down from f

orns of deer and the tusks of wild boar. The empty sheaths of swords are hung from t

and this house divided into two parts, one a large public hall common to all the inmates, and the other divided into se

o to the river as soon as they wake, carrying their water-gourds with them. They have

n crocodiles. A favourite method of cooking is to put the proper quantity of fish or vegetables or meat, with sufficient water and a little salt, into a newly-cut bamboo. The mouth is then stopped up with leaves, and the bamboo is placed over the fire, resting on a stone at an angle of forty-five degrees or more. By the time the

Sometimes the women eat with the men; but if there are too many to eat comfortably at one sitti

n clean leaves. They eat with their fingers, dipping the hand when necessary into the common stock of salt or comm

The mats are swept and taken up, and the refuse thrown through

; consequently this is covered with rubbish, and perpetually wet from the water thrown down from the floor

tno

-rice in