The pagan tribes of Borneo - Get a Free Blog Here

cHAP.xr HANDICRAFTS 199
piston, which closely fits the bore, bears a rounded
knob ; it is driven down the cylinder by a sharp
blow of the palm upon the knob and is quickly
withdrawn. The heat generated by the compression
of the air ignites a bit of tinder (made by scraping
the fibrous surface of the leaf stem of the
Arenga palm) at the bottom of the cylinder. The
cylinder is cast by pouring the molten metal into a
section of bamboo, while a polished iron rod is held
vertically in the centre to form the bore. When
the cylinder is cold the iron rod is extracted, and
the outer surface is trimmed and shaped with knife
or file.
BOAT-BUILDING
The Kayans make much use of boats, as
described in Chapter VIII., and are skilful boatmakers.
The forest offers them an abundant variety
of timbers suitable for the different types of boat
used by them.
The most ambitious efforts of this kind are
devoted to the construction of the great war-boats,
fine specimens of which are as much as 100 feet
in length, or even, in exceptional instances, nearly
150 feet. The foundation of every boat is a single
piece of timber shaped and hollowed by fire and
adze. Several kinds of timber are used, the best
being the kinds known as^ aroh {Skorea) and ngelai
{Afzeliapalambanica). Sometimes a suitable stem
is found floating down river and brought to the
bank before the house. But such good fortune is
exceptional, and commonly a tree is selected in the
forest as near as possible to the river bank. The
tree is felled in the way described in Chapter VL
(PI. 55), its branches are hewed away, and the
stem is cut to the required length and roughly
hewn into shape. About one-fourth of the circumference
of the stem is cut away along the whole