The pagan tribes of Borneo - Get a Free Blog Here

6o PAGAN TRIBES OF BORNEO chap.
Rice, the principal food, which forms the bulk of
every meal, is boiled in an iron or brass pot with
lip, handle, and lid, not unlike the old English
cauldron ; it has no legs,
and is placed on a tripod
of stones or suspended
over the fire. This metal
pot, which is obtained
from the Chinese traders,
has superseded the
home-made pot of clay
(Fig. 8) and the bamboo
vessels in which the rice
was cooked in former
times. A larger wide
stewpan is also used for cooking pork, vegetables,
and fish. The Kayans smoke tobacco, which they
cultivate in small quantities. It is generally smoked
in the form of large cigar-
ettes, the finely cut leaf
being rolled in sheets of
dried banana leaf. But it
is also smoked in pipes,
which are made in a
variety of shapes, the
bowl of hardwood, the
stem of slender bamboo
(Fig. 9). Sea Dayaks
chew tobacco, but smoke
little, being devoted to
the chewing of betel nut.
Fig. 8.
Jin every house is a
number of large brass gongs [tawak), which are
used in various ceremonies and for signalling, and
constitute also one of the best recognised standards
of value and the most important form of currency.
Besides these largest gongs, smaller ones of various
shapes and sizes are kept and used on festive