The pagan tribes of Borneo - Get a Free Blog Here

AGRICULTURE 99
houses will be reconstructed on the old site or one
adjacent to it, if no circumstances arise to tempt
them to migrate to a more distant country, and if the
course of their life on the old site has run smoothly,
without misfortunes such as much sickness, con-
flagrations, or serious attacks by other villages.
After this interval the land is regarded as being
almost as good as the virgin forest land, and has
the advantage that the jungle on it can be more
easily felled. But since no crop equals that obtainable
from virgin soil, it is customary to include at
least a small area of it in the operations of each
year.
Each family cultivates its own patch of land,
selecting it by arrangement with other families, and
works as large an area as the strength and number
of the roomhold permits. A hillside sloping down
to the bank of a river or navigable stream is considered
the choicest area for cultivation, partly
because of the efficient drainage, partly because the
felling is easier on the slope, and because the
stream affords easy access to the field.
When an area has been chosen, the men of the
roomhold first cut down the undergrowth of a
V-shaped area, whose apex points up the hill, and
whose base lies on the river bank. This done,
they call in the help of other men of the house,
usually relatives who are engaged in preparing
adjacent areas, and all set to work to fell the large
trees. In the clearing of virgin forest, when very
large trees, many of which have at their bases
immense buttresses, have to be felled, a platform
of light poles is built around each of these giants
to the height of about 15 feet. Two men standing
upon this rude platform on opposite sides of the
stem attack it with their small springy-hafted axes
(Fig. 11) above the level of the buttresses (PI.
55). One man cuts a deep notch on the side