ious Customs 41

IX. Dyak Feasts 45

X. The Witch Doctor 51

XI. Some Animal Stories 56

XII. Omens and Dreams 63

XIII. Marriages and Burials 68

XIV. A Dyak Legend 73

XV. Dyak Beliefs and Superstitions 87

XVI. Conclusion 90

ILLUSTRATIONS

DYAK CHILDREN _Frontispiece_

PAGE
A DYAK VILLAGE HOUSE 18

GIRLS WEAVING 30

ON THE WARPATH 36

A DYAK GIRL IN GALA COSTUME 50

IN WEDDING FINERY 68

KILLING BIRDS WITH A BLOW-PIPE 74

A DYAK YOUTH 88

CHILDREN OF BORNEO

CHAPTER I

THE ISLAND OF BORNEO--JUNGLES--THE DYAKS--DYAK
LIFE IN THE OLD DAYS

Away down in the Indian Ocean there is a long chain of islands that
stretches from Burmah to Australia. One of these is New Guinea which is
the largest island in the world (leaving out Australia), and Borneo
comes next in size. It is nearly four times as large as England. One
quarter of it--the States of Sarawak and British North Borneo--is under
British influence. The rest is all claimed by the Dutch, excepting one
small State, Brunei, between North Borneo and Sarawak, which is governed
by a Malay Sultan, who is a Mahommedan. Sarawak is governed by an
English Rajah, or King, Sir Charles Brooke, who succeeded his uncle, Sir
James Brooke, in 1868;--British North Borneo is owned by an English
Trading Company, called the North Borneo Company, who appoint an
Englishman as Governor to rule it for them.

If you look at a map of Borneo you will see that the Equator divides the
island into two parts, so that Borneo is right in the middle of the
Torrid Zone. The climate is therefore tropical, that is to say there is
no spring, autumn or winter, but only summer, and it is always much
hotter in Borneo than it is in the hottest summer in England. So, if an
English boy went to live in Borneo, he would find his English clothes
too thick and warm for him to wear there, and he would hav