The pagan tribes of Borneo - Get a Free Blog Here

IV MATERIAL CONDITIONS 6i
occasions (PL 45). All these gongs are obtained
through traders from Bruni, China, and Java^J'
Beside the gongs a Kayan house generally contains,
as the common property of the whole household,
several long narrow drums (Fig. 10). Each
is a hollow cylinder of wood, constricted about its
middle, open at one end, and closed at the other
with a sheet of deer- skin. This is stretched
by means of slips of rattan attached to its edges,
and carried back to a stout rattan ring woven
about the constricted middle of the drum ;
the
skin is tightened by inserting wedges under
this ring.
w^ J^
Fig. 9.
In most houses two or three small brass swivel
guns may be seen in the gallery, and a small stock
of powder for their service is usually kept by the
chief. They are sometimes discharged to salute
a distinguished visitor, and formerly played some
Fig. 10.
small part in repelling attacks. The domestic
animals of the Kayans are fowls, goats, pigs, and
dogs. The latter live in the house, the others run
free beneath and around the house.
The material possessions of the other peoples
differ little from those of the Kayans. Almost