The pagan tribes of Borneo - Get a Free Blog Here

MATERIAL CONDITIONS 55
split bamboo covered with coarse mats. An open
platform at the level of the floor runs along the
whole length of the open side of the house.
There are no padi barns about the house, the padi
being kept in bins in the roofs. The roof itself is
low, giving little head space. The gallery of the
house makes an impression of lack of space, very
different to that made by the long wide gallery of
a Kayan or Kenyah house.
Although the more solidly built houses, such as
those of the Kayans, would be habitable for many
generations, few of them are inhabited for more
than fifteen or twenty years, and some are used
for much shorter periods only. For one reason
or another the village community decides to build
itself a new house on a different and sometimes
distant site, though the new site is usually in the
same tributary river, or, if on the main river, within
a few miles of the old one. The most frequent
causes of removal are, first, using up of the soil
in the immediate neighbourhood of the village, for
they do not cultivate the same patch more than
three or four times at intervals of several years
secondly, the occurrence of a fatal epidemic ; thirdly,
any run of bad luck or succession of evil omens ;
fourthly, the burning of the house, whether accidentally
or in the course of an attack by enemies.
On removing to a new site the planks and the
best of the timber of a well-built house are usually
towed along the river to the spot chosen, and used
in the construction of the new house.
After the houses the most important of the
material possessions of the people are their boats.
Each family possesses at least one small boat
capable of carrying seven or eight persons, and used
chiefly for going to and from the padi fields, but
also for fishing and short journeys of all kinds. In
addition to these the community possesses several
;