hemselves of their fallen comrade, while the opposite party shouted,
'Cut off his head;' but he was carried off; and the enemy, when they
had saved his body, fled in all directions, dropping a number of
their small bamboo powder flasks on the way. Some fierce alarms were
given of an attack by water, and I went up the river to ascertain
really whether there was any mischief to be expected; but there was
no appearance of any adversary. A slack fire from the hill proclaimed
that our work was going on there; and toward evening all was in repose.

"_28th._--The stockade was completed in the evening, with ranjows stuck
round the outer defence. It was excellently situated for battering
Balidah; but Balidah, I fear, is too loosely constructed to be battered
to the best advantage. During the day the Sow and Singe Dyaks joined,
to the amount of about 150 men, and other tribes have been gradually
dropping in; so that altogether there are not fewer than 500 of these
men joined to our equipment. Most of them show all the characteristics
of a wild people; never openly resisting their masters, but so
obstinate that they can always get their own way in every thing;
to all threats and entreaties opposing a determined and immovable
silence. Many of them depend upon us for their food and salt, and
their applications are endless. Three women of Singe are our regular
pensioners; for their sex excludes them from the rations granted to the
men. By these means we had many excellent opportunities of judging of
their habits and temper. Among all these tribes the language differs
but slightly--so slightly, indeed, that it is needless to note the
variations in detail. They have the same superstition about particular
birds, and I often heard this omen alluded to in conversation; but
their birds are not the same as those of the sea Dyaks.... The chief
of the Sarambo, explaining his reasons for leaving the rebels, urged
the constant unfavorable omen of the birds as one. Often, very often,
he said, when he went out, the bird cried, and flew in the direction
of Siniawan, which will be explained by what I have before stated;
for if they hear the bird to the right, they go to the left, and _vice
versa_; so that the bird may be considered as warning them from evil.

"The Sow Dyaks brought in the head of an unfortunate Malay whom
they had decapitated in the jungle. This species of warfare is
extremely barbarous, and in its train probably brings more evil