Children of Borneo   By: Edwin Herbert Gomes (1862-)

Uniform with this Volume

CHILDREN OF INDIA By JANET HARVEY KELMAN

CHILDREN OF CHINA By C. CAMPBELL BROWN

CHILDREN OF AFRICA By JAMES B. BAIRD

CHILDREN OF ARABIA By JOHN CAMERON YOUNG

CHILDREN OF JAMAICA By ISABEL C. MACLEAN

CHILDREN OF JAPAN By JANET HARVEY KELMAN

CHILDREN OF EGYPT By L. CROWTHER

CHILDREN OF CEYLON By THOMAS MOSCROP

CHILDREN OF PERSIA By MRS NAPIER MALCOLM

[Illustration: DYAK CHILDREN]

CHILDREN OF BORNEO

BY EDWIN H. GOMES, M.A. AUTHOR OF "SEVENTEEN YEARS AMONG THE SEA DYAKS OF BORNEO"

[Illustration]

WITH EIGHT COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS

EDINBURGH AND LONDON OLIPHANT, ANDERSON & FERRIER

I gratefully acknowledge the permission readily granted by Messrs Seeley & Co. Ltd., to make use of much matter that has already been published in my book, "Seventeen Years Among the Sea Dyaks of Borneo," and I would recommend that book to those who wish for more information about Borneo and its inhabitants.

EDWIN H. GOMES.

TURNBULL AND SPEARS, PRINTERS. EDINBURGH

To LITTLE PAUL

CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGE

I. The Island of Borneo Jungles The Dyaks Dyak Life in the Old Day 9

II. The Coming of the White Rajah The Missionaries 13

III. A Dyak Village House 18

IV. Dyak Babies and Children 23

V. Manner of Life Occupation 28

VI. Head Hunting 32

VII. Birds and Beasts in Borneo 37

VIII. Some Curious 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.