The pagan tribes of Borneo - Get a Free Blog Here

202 PAGAN TRIBES OF BORNEO chap.
similar block completes the shell at the stern. The
prow is often ornamented with the head of a crocodile
or the conventional dog's head carved in hard
wood and painted in red and black.
The whole operation, like every other important
undertaking, is preceded by the finding of omens,
and it is liable to be postponed by the observation
of ill omens, by bad dreams, or by any misfortune
such as a death in the house. In each house are
certain men who are specially skilled in boatmaking,
and by them the work is directed and all
the finer part of the work executed. In the case
of a war-boat which is to be the property of the
household, these special workers are paid a fee out
of the store of valuables accumulated under the
care of the chief by way of fines and confiscations.
The smaller boats, ranging from a small canoe
suitable for one or two paddlers only, to one capable
of carrying a score or more, are generally
private property. These, like the war-boats, are
made from a single stem. The larger ones are
made in just the same way as the war-boats. In
the smaller ones the bow is shaped from the solid
block and is not opened out, as is the rest of the
boat. The craftsman who makes a boat for another
is helped by his customer, and is paid by him a fee
in brass-ware or dollars, the usual fee being a tawak
varying in size according to the size of the boat.
If Kayans find themselves for any reason in
immediate need of a boat when none is at hand,
they sometimes fashion one very rapidly by stripping
the bark from a big tree. The two ends of the sheet
of bark are folded and lashed with rattan to form
the middle part is wedged open with
bow and stern ;
cross-pieces which serve as benches, and the shell
is strengthened with transverse ribs and longitudinal
strips. A serviceable boat capable of carrying several
men and their baggage may be completed in the