illage, which was very different in
construction from the others. It was perfectly round, and well
ventilated by numerous port-holes in the roof, which was pointed. We
ascended to the room above by means of a rough ladder, and when we
entered we were rather taken aback at finding that we were in the Head
House, as it is termed, and that the beams were lined with human heads,
all hanging by a small line passed through the top of the skull. They
were painted in the most fantastic and hideous manner; pieces of wood,
painted to imitate the eyes, were inserted into the sockets, and added
not a little to their ghastly grinning appearance. The strangest part of
the story, and which added very much to the effect of the scene, was,
that these skulls were perpetually moving to and fro, and knocking
against, each other. This, I presume, was occasioned by the different
currents of air blowing in at the port-holes cut in the roof; but what
with their continual motion, their nodding their chins when they hit
each other, and their grinning teeth, they really appeared to be endowed
with new life, and were a very merry set of fellows. However, whatever
might be the first impression occasioned by this very unusual sight, it
very soon wore off, and we amused ourselves with those motions which
were "not life," as Byron says; and, in the course of the day, succeeded
in making a very excellent dinner in company with these gentlemen,
although we were none of us sufficiently Don Giovannis to invite our
friends above to supper. We visited three villages on the Sarambo
mountain. Each of these villages was governed by a chief of its own, but
they were subordinate to the great chief, residing in the first village.

[Illustration: DYAK HEAD.]

In the evening the major portion of the population came to the Head
House, to exhibit to us their national dances. The music was composed of
two gongs and two large bamboo drums. The men stood up first, in war
costume, brandishing their spears and shields, and throwing themselves
into the most extraordinary attitudes, as they cut with their knives at
some imaginary enemy; at the same time uttering the most unearthly
yells, in which the Dyak spectators joined, apparently highly delighted
with the exhibition. The women then came forward, and went through a
very unmeaning kind of dance, keeping time with their hands and feet;
but still it was rather a relief after the noise and yelling from which
we had just su