therefore it was a sure sign."

"But the death must come within a year to make the sign hold good,"
replied Louis. "But if enlightened people have faith in such stuff, it
is no wonder that Dyaks believe in omens. I want to ask, Mr. Eng, if
these Dyaks are regularly married?"

"They are, though with very little ceremony, and no vows, oaths, nor
promises. In fact, the marriage consists of such rites as the parties
please, and often with no rites at all. Sometimes the betrothed are
married by exchanging bracelets in public, or by eating a meal of rice
together. In some communities the affianced are seated on a couple of
bars of iron, and the head man shakes a couple of live chickens over
their heads, invoking many blessings upon them, and the birds are
afterwards killed and eaten."

"Do these people drink liquor, or have they anything in the shape of
intoxicating fluids?" asked Scott.

"The national drink of Borneo is _tuak_, about the vilest tipple that
ever was invented. I went to a Dyak feast when I first came to the
island, which proved to be nothing but a series of drunken orgies. The
principal actors at the feast were a number of pretty girls, such as you
saw this afternoon. Their office was to induce the men present to drink
this vile liquid till they dropped on the floor of the open platform;
and they even poured it down the throats of their victims when no longer
able to drink for themselves."

"What sort of rum is it?" inquired Scott.

"It looks like the milk of the cocoanut, and I suppose that it is made
from that; but I did not taste it," replied the agent. "It is about my
bedtime, and I think I will go to my sampan and retire."

But Captain Scott invited him to sleep on board of the Blanchita; and he
accepted after a little pressing, evidently believing that the soft
cushions of the yacht made a better bed than the mats of the sampan.
Felipe was instructed to have steam on at daylight, and the anchor watch
was to call him in season to do so. Fully protected by their nettings
from the mosquitoes, which had troubled them to some extent in the
evening, all hands slept like tired boys.

When the steam from the gauge-cocks hissed as the engineer examined into
the condition of the water in the boiler, the sound waked the captain,
and he jumped from his bed. This movement roused all the others; and
they went out into the waist, following the example of Scott, who wore
nothing but his nightdress.

"I am go