came to the rescue, and took up the work, and has ever since been
responsible for the Mission Work in Borneo. My father, the Rev. W. H.
Gomes, B.D., worked under Bishop McDougall as a missionary among the
Dyaks of Lundu from 1852 to 1867, and I myself have worked, under Bishop
Hose, as a missionary in Sarawak for seventeen years.

When McDougall arrived at Kuching, the capital of Sarawak, in 1848, the
Rajah welcomed him kindly, and gave him a large piece of ground. On this
site were built a church, a school house, and a house for the Bishop to
live in.

Rajah Brooke was anxious that the Dyaks, who lived far from the town and
had their home in the jungles, should also be taught. Both he and Bishop
McDougall were sorry to think of their heathen state, and they wanted to
save them from becoming converts to Mohammedanism. So they sent for more
helpers from England, and these missionaries went and lived among the
Dyaks in the jungles. They built their houses, churches and schools at
distant up-country stations, and they won the love and esteem of the
Dyaks, who came to them, not only to learn to read and write, but to
listen to the wonderful "Old, Old Story" the missionaries had to tell of
a God, Who loved them, and came to earth and died for them, and rose
from the dead, and ascended up to Heaven, and Who wanted the whole world
to learn of His love and become His faithful followers.

CHAPTER III

A DYAK VILLAGE HOUSE

Among the Dyaks a large number of families live together under one roof.
A small village would consist probably of one long house, in which
twenty or thirty or more families live. This village house is built on
posts of hard wood, which raise the floor from six to twelve feet above
the ground. It is wise of them to build their houses in this way,
because the ground, even on the hills, is very damp in the rainy season,
and, besides this, there are snakes and scorpions and centipedes
crawling about, which would trouble the Dyaks if their houses were
built on the ground. Another reason for building their houses in this
way is that if they live together in large numbers, high above the
ground, it is not easy for their enemies to attack and overcome them.

[Illustration: A DYAK VILLAGE HOUSE]

The entrance to this house is made by a notched trunk or log, which
serves as a ladder; one is fixed at each end of the house. The length of
the building varies according to the number of families inhabiting i