Four Young Explorers Part 10

The village did not consist of a great number of small buildings, but from the landing-place could be seen the end of an immense structure with a forest of palms behind it. The rear of it was not perpendicular, but slanted outward, like many of the walls of corn-houses in New England, doubtless to keep the rain from the roof from penetrating. All the party, including the sailors, landed; for Mr. Eng declared that the Dyaks were honest, and even in Sarawak were never known to steal anything, though the Malays and Chinamen were given to pilfering.

The crowd of men, women, and children gathered on the sh.o.r.e had looked the Blanchita over with the closest attention while the Americans were looking them over. The party landed under the escort of the agent, and took up the line of march for the big house. The entire crowd of Dyaks followed them, though they did not intrude upon them; on the contrary, they treated all of the visitors with a respect and deference bordering on homage.

"That 'long-house,' as we call it here, is nearly two hundred feet in length," said Mr. Eng. "It is thirty feet wide. Now you can see more of it; and you notice that it is set upon a mult.i.tude of posts, like all Malay and Dyak houses. These posts are firmly set in the ground; and being about six inches in diameter, you can readily see that the house rests on a solid foundation. It is not likely to be blown down in any ordinary gale, though a hurricane might sweep it away. Not a nail, not a wooden pin or peg, is used in the construction of such buildings."

"Then, I should think any ordinary gale would level them to the ground,"

suggested Louis.

"But the Dyaks have a subst.i.tute for nails or pins," replied the guide.

"All the poles and sticks and boards are tightly bound together with rattans; and I believe they hold together better than if they were nailed."

"I observed in England and France that the stagings used in the erection of buildings were made partly of round poles, tied together with ropes.

I talked with a man who told me they were stronger than if put together with nails," said Morris.

"I think he was right. I can't tell you how the Malays and Dyaks manage the rattan to render it so flexible, but it seems to me they make better work than ropes. On the back of this house, there is not a single window or other opening," continued Mr. Eng, as the party stood at the end of the structure, near the rear corner. "The disagreeable feature of the building, or rather of the habits of the occupants, is that the s.p.a.ce under it, ten feet between the ground and the floor, is a catch-all for all refuse matter, and you notice that an unpleasant odor comes from it."

"Is this the only entrance to it?" asked Scott, pointing to a door, which was reached by a log notched like a flight of stairs.

"There is a door at the other end also; and there may be ways of mounting the platform, or veranda, which forms the front of the building, as climbing a post, or dropping from a tree. Some of the posts, of which you see a mult.i.tude under the house, are cut off at the first floor, while many of them reach up to the roof, and support it. We will go in now, if you like; and, being sailors, I suppose you can climb the log."

"No doubt of that," replied Scott, who was the first to ascend. "Are all that crowd coming up?"

"Certainly; they are the occupants of the long-house, and they must be at home in order to do the honors of the occasion," laughed the guide.

The villagers followed the party, and immediately manifested their politeness in various ways. The prettiest girl in the crowd spoke to Louis; though he did not understand a word she said, but replied to her in English, when she was as much at sea as he had been.

"What does she say, Achang?" he asked of the Bornean.

"_Tabet, tuan_," replied the native.

"I heard her say that; but what does it mean?"

"It means, 'Good-day, sir,'" answered the Bornean; and he proceeded to tell her that Louis was the "head man," very rich, and owned a big s.h.i.+p.

She made a very graceful obeisance to him, and then rushed away through a door on the side of the grand hall, as it may well be called. But she returned immediately, bringing a very elaborately worked mat, which she spread on the floor at the feet of the "head man." Then she spread out her hands, and bowed low, saying something which was Greek to him.

"She invites you to take a seat on the mat," Achang explained.

As a matter of politeness Louis seated himself, and looked at the maiden who treated him with so much consideration. By this time the other women were bringing mats for the rest of the party, making no distinction between the seamen and the cabin party. The latter followed the example of the young millionaire, and seated themselves. The foremast hands declined the proffered courtesy; and Achang explained to the ladies that only the four young men who were seated were the magnates of the company, while the others were inferior personages, for the Bornean was not strictly democratic in his ideas.

"We will look at the house now, if you please," said Mr. Eng, after the "Big Four" had been seated a few minutes; and all of them rose to their feet, bowing low to the young ladies who had treated them with so much distinction.

About forty or fifty of the posts extended from the ground, for the visitors had not time to count them; and most of them had suspended upon them various trophies of the hunt, including the antlers of deer, crocodiles' heads, weapons, paddles, and spears. In the middle of the long hall a fire was burning on a foundation of soil, enclosed by a border of wood. In the roof was a sort of scuttle, which was fastened open to admit the air, and to allow some of the smoke to escape, though there was plenty of it remaining in the apartment.

"What is that overhead, Mr. Eng?" asked Louis, pointing to a black ma.s.s suspended near the fire, though he had a suspicion of its nature.

"That is a collection of human skulls, relics of the days of head-hunting; for they are generally kept in a building erected for the purpose, though appropriated at the present time partly to other uses.

There are about twenty of them, which is not a large number for a village like this. Not one of them is less than twenty years old; for Rajah Brooke put an end to head-hunting long ago, though some of it has been done in spite of his edicts. A lady beckons to you, Mr. Belgrave."

The pretty girl--by comparison--stood by his side, pointing to one of the numerous doors at the closed side of the house. Louis followed her, and she conducted him into a room. A portion of the floor was covered with mats on which the occupants sleep, with an earth section for a fire. There was no furniture of any kind. The roof of the building was covered with square pieces of palm like those used on the sampans, and these could be raised in each room when necessary for air.

"This apartment is occupied by one family, or by a married couple, and unmarried men and boys sleep in the attic overhead," said Mr. Eng. "It has but one door, the one opening into the main hall. This is a house of sixteen doors; and by this enumeration the size of the village is stated, and this number gauges the taxes to be paid."

"Citizens cannot dodge their taxes here, then, as some of them do in the United States," said Scott.

The party walked the entire length of the hall, and then pa.s.sed out upon the platform, which was not covered, and was used for various purposes, such as drying rice or other articles. The floors were composed of strips of palm, not more than an inch and a half wide, and placed an inch apart. They were lashed to the floor joists, or poles, with rattan.

"Those doors, which indicate the taxable rate of the village, look as though they were cut out of single planks," said Scott.

"And so they are," replied the agent.

"I have seen no saw-mills here, and I suppose they bring the lumber from England or India."

"Not at all, though some may be obtained in that manner. They are made from the b.u.t.tress of the tapang-tree, which you must have seen."

"I have not noticed any such thing, though perhaps none of us could identify it," replied the captain.

"It is found growing out in triangular form from just above the roots of the tree. In a large one it is twelve or fifteen feet long. It makes a natural plank two inches thick, which may be trimmed into any shape with the biliong."

The party were ready to depart; and they made all sorts of courteous gestures to their hosts, especially the ladies. The women asked them for tobacco, as Achang interpreted the requests. They had none, but some of the seamen supplied them with all they had about them.

CHAPTER X.

THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE DYAKS.

After seeing the sleeping accommodations of the Dyaks, consisting of a mat on a rather uneven floor, the Americans concluded to pa.s.s the night on board of the yacht. They invited Mr. Eng to supper on board, and he pa.s.sed the evening with them in the cabin.

"You have seen the Dyaks at home now, young gentlemen; how do you like the looks of them?" asked the guest, after the meal had been disposed of.

"I think they are the pleasantest savages I have ever met," replied Louis.

"I am afraid you did not appreciate the young women who were so attentive to you, Mr. Belgrave," continued the agent.

"Regarding them as uncivilized maidens, they are about the best specimens. The expression on their faces was pleasant, a few of them were pretty, though as a whole they were not handsome, and they seemed to be kind-hearted. I could not admire them, though their eyes were as brilliant as they were black. Their long hair would be the envy of many an English or American belle."

"The women are very vain of their hair. They bestow a great deal of attention upon it," added Mr. Eng. "The fever of the island sometimes deprives them of their hair, as it may in your country, and that is the greatest calamity that can overtake the younger women."

"I suppose it all right here; but they disfigure and spoil one of the princ.i.p.al attractions of ladies in enlightened nations, the teeth, which they blacken by chewing betel."

"It also makes their lips look as though they had daubed them with blood or red paint; but they do it here, as in India, to make themselves more beautiful. Tastes differ, and the practice makes them ugly to you. The betel-vine grows here, and the leaves are used for chewing. The nut of a certain palm produces the same effect on the teeth."

"I don't admire the bra.s.s rings they wear on their waists and around their necks. If I were old enough to get married, I should not look for a wife among the Dyak girls," said Louis, laughing and shaking his head.

"The Dyak women are generally well treated; but they have to work very hard, and much that you would think the men ought to do is done by them.

The lords of creation here are inclined to be lazy, while their wives and daughters are engaged in the rice-fields, though their husbands and brothers are driven to labor.