d in counting the number who were to
eat, and dividing the bamboos into exactly equal portions for each
person. About six inches were allotted to every man; and it took a
very long time to divide it, for they are remarkably particular as
to the proper size and quantity to each share. The bamboos of rice
being, however, at length satisfactorily disposed, the Orang Kaya
produced as his share a large basin full of sauce, composed of salt
and chilis, and a small stock of sweetmeats; and then the ceremony
of his installation commenced as follows:

"A jacket, a turban, a cloth for the loins, and a kris (all of
white) were presented to the chief as a token of sejiek dingin,
or cold, _i.e._ good. The chief then rose, and, taking a white
fowl and waving it over the eatables, repeated nearly the following
words:--(The commencement, however, is curious enough to dwell upon:
the opening is a sort of invocation, beginning with the phrase,
'Samungut, Simungi.' Samungut is a Malay word, Simungi signifying
the same in Dyak; the exact meaning it is difficult to comprehend;
but it is here understood as some principle, spirit, or fortune,
which is in men and things. Thus the Dyaks, in stowing their rice at
harvest, do it with great care, from a superstitious feeling that the
Simungi of the padi will escape. They now call this principle to be
present--that of men, of pigs (their favorite animal), of padi, and
of fruits. They particularly named my Simungi, that of my ancestors,
of the Pangeran from Borneo, of the Datus and of their ancestors,
and of the ancestors of their own tribe. They call them--that is,
their Simungi--to be present. They then call upon Jovata to grant
their prayer, that the great man from Europe, and the Datus, might
hold the government for a length of time)--'May the government be
cold' (good); 'May there be rice in our houses;' 'May many pigs
be killed;' 'May male children be born to us;' 'May fruit ripen;'
'May we be happy, and our goods abundant;' 'We declare ourselves to
be true to the great man and the Datus; what they wish we will do,
what they command is our law.' Having said this and much more, the
fowl was taken by a leading Malay, who repeated the latter words,
while others bound strips of white cloth round the heads of the
multitude. The fowl was then killed, the blood shed in a bamboo,
and each man dipping his finger in the blood, touched his forehead
and breast, in attestation of his fidelity. The fowl wa