The pagan tribes of Borneo - Get a Free Blog Here

IX LIFE IN THE JUNGLE 151
from trees of more than a score of species. The
best is known as Kayan gutta, because it is gathered
and sent to the bazaars by the Kayans in a pure
form. The trees are felled and the stem and
branches are ringed at intervals of about eighteen
inches, a narrow strip of bark being removed at each
ring. The milky viscid sap drips out into leaf-cups,
which are then emptied into a cylindrical vessel of
bark. Water is then boiled in a large pan beside
the tree, a little common salt is added to the water,
and the gutta is poured into the boiling water, when
it rapidly congeals. Then, while still in a semiviscid
state, it is kneaded with the feet and pressed
into a shallow wooden frame, which in turn is compressed
between two planks. In this way it is
moulded into a slab about one and a half inches
thick, about a foot long, and about six inches across
at one end, two inches across at the other. While
it is still warm a hole is pierced through the
narrower end ; and the slab is then thrown into
cold water, where it sets hard. In this form it
reaches the market at Singapore, where it is valued
at about five hundred dollars (;^5o) the hundredweight.
Gutta of an inferior quality is obtained in large
quantities by tapping a large tree {Jelutong) which
grows abundantly in the low-lying jungles.
The best rubber, known 2.^ ptilut by the Kayans,
is obtained by them from a creeper, the stem of
which grows to a length of fifty to a hundred feet
and a diameter of six inches or more. It bears
a brilliant red luscious fruit which is eaten by
the people ; its seeds being swallowed become
distributed in this way. The Punans carefully
sow the seed they have swallowed, and transplant
the young seedlings to the most suitable positions.
The milky juice of the creeper is gathered and
treated in much the same way as the gutta. It