st therefore be propitiated. What a
different aspect his native woods must present to the Christian Dyak,
who can look around without fear, and believe that his Heavenly Father
made all these things! You would imagine that Christianity would be
welcomed as a deliverance from such superstition; but here the apathy of
long habit raises a barrier. The Dyak who professed to think his dismal
religion was given him by God, was probably too intellectually idle to
think at all. "What you say is most likely true, but we have received
our belief from our forefathers, and it is good enough for us," is the
common remark of the Land Dyak. This listlessness was perhaps originally
caused by oppression and misery, a hard life and cruel masters. In the
days we knew these people they had a sad and patient expression in their
faces, as if they could not forget the time when they were ground down
by Malay extortion, and despoiled by stronger, more warlike tribes. The
present generation may have more spirit, more independence, and the
blessings of peace and liberty may leave their minds more open to the
light of truth. It is, however, interesting to note how different races
of men develop different religious beliefs, and how these Dyaks
intuitively perceive spirit through matter, and are governed, however
blindly and ignorantly, by the powers of the unseen world.

The orang-outang, or wild man, in not very commonly met in the jungle. I
have seen the trees alive with monkeys, but never met an orang-outang at
liberty. The Dyaks may well be afraid of them if it is true, as they
say, that if one of these monsters attacks a man, he picks his flesh off
his bones like a cook plucking a chicken. They are immensely powerful,
but once caged are gentle enough. Their one desire in confinement is
clothing, why I cannot tell; large-sized monkeys always wrapped
themselves in any bit of cloth they could find, partly in imitation of
their keepers, and perhaps also because they are very chilly creatures,
and, deprived of their usual violent gymnastics, suffered from cold. A
Chinaman had a female orang in his shop while we were at Sarawak, who
took a violent liking to the Bishop, and always expected to be noticed
when he passed the shop. Then she would kiss and fondle his hand; but if
he forgot to speak to "Jemima," she went into a passion, screamed, and
dashed about her cage.

I never allowed any kind of monkey to be kept at the mission-house. We
had too ma