The pagan tribes of Borneo - Get a Free Blog Here

DECORATIVE ART 227
Chinese traders at various dates. Some of them
are probably of Chinese manufacture, others probably
came from the near East and even from Venice.
Some are of glass curiously marked and coloured,
others of stone inlaid with bits of different colours,
others of some hard substance whose composition
defies description. Certain rare kinds are especially
valued and can hardly be bought at any price ;
they are reckoned to be worth at least 100 dollars
apiece. The most valuable of all is known as
the lukut sekala ; the ownership of each such bead
is as accurately known throughout a large district
as the ownership of the masterpieces of ancient art
in our own country. The wife of a rich chief may
possess old beads to the value of thousands of
pounds, and will wear a large part of them on any
occasion of display (PI. 130). These old beads are
worn threaded together to form necklaces and
girdles, being arranged with some reference to
harmony of size and colour and to value, the most
valuable being placed in the middle where they will
be shown to best advantage. A single rare bead
is sometimes worn on the wrist.
A woman who possesses a good stock of such
beads will seldom be seen without some of them on
her person. She will occasionally exchange a few
for other varieties, and is generally eager to add to
her collection ;
she may occasionally make a present
of one or two to some highly esteemed friend or
relative, and will generally assign them, but without
handing them over, to various female relatives
before her death.
Besides these valuable old beads there are in
use among all the tribes many small glass beads of
modern European manufacture. These are threaded
to form a variety of designs, generally in two
colours, the combination of black and yellow being
the most commonly preferred. These strips of bead-