The Malay archipelago : the land of the orang-utan ... - Wallace Online

VI.] BORNEO—THE DYAKS. 67dark palm -thatched house, witli a lofty roof, in whose recessesevery moth was lost tlie instant it entered. This last was thegreatest drawback, and the real reason why I never again wasable to make a collection of moths ;for I never afterwards livedin a solitary jungle-house with a low-boarded and whitewashedverandah, so constructed as to prevent insects at once escapinginto the upper part of the house, quite out of reach. After mylong experience, my numerous failures, and my one success, Ifeel sure that if any party of naturalists ever make a yachtvoyageto explore the Malaj^an Archipelago, or any othertropical region, making entomology one of their chief pursuits,it would well repay them to carry a small framed verandah, ora verandah-shaped tent of white canvas, to set up in everyfavourable situation, as a means of making a collection of nocturnalLepidoptera, and also of obtaining rare specimens ofColeoptera and other insects. I make the suggestion here, becauseno one would suspect the enormous difference in resultsthat such an apparatus would produce ; and because I considerit one of the curiosities of a collector's experience to have foundout that some such apparatus is required.When I returned to Singapore I took with me the Malay ladnamed Ali, who subsequently accompanied me all over theArchipelago. Charles Allen preferred staying at the Missionhouse,and afterwards obtained employment in Sarawak and inSingapore, till he again joined me four years later at Amboynain tiie Moluccas.CHAPTEE VI.BORNEO—THEDYAKS.The manners and customs of the aborigines of Boi-neo havebeen described in great detail, and with mucli fuller informationthan I possess, in the writings of Sir James Brooke, Messrs. Low,St. John, Johnson Brooke, and many others. I do not proposeto go over the ground again, but shall confine myself to a sketch,from personal observation, of the general character of the Dyaks,and of such physical, moi'al, and social characteristics as havebeen less frequently noticed.The Dyak is closely allied to the ^Nlalaj', and moi'e remotely tothe Siamese, C!hinese, and other Mongol races. All these arechai'acterized by a reddish -brown or yellowish-brown skin ofvarious shades, by jet-black straight hair, by tlie scanty or deficientbeai'd, by the rather small and broad nose, and highcheekbones ; but none of the Malayan races have the obliqueeyes which are characteristic of the more typical Mongols. Theaverage stature of the Dyaks is rather more than that of theMalays, while it is considerably under that of most Europeans.