e guide.
"All the poles and sticks and boards are tightly bound together with
rattans; and I believe they hold together better than if they were
nailed."

"I observed in England and France that the stagings used in the erection
of buildings were made partly of round poles, tied together with ropes.
I talked with a man who told me they were stronger than if put together
with nails," said Morris.

"I think he was right. I can't tell you how the Malays and Dyaks manage
the rattan to render it so flexible, but it seems to me they make better
work than ropes. On the back of this house, there is not a single window
or other opening," continued Mr. Eng, as the party stood at the end of
the structure, near the rear corner. "The disagreeable feature of the
building, or rather of the habits of the occupants, is that the space
under it, ten feet between the ground and the floor, is a catch-all for
all refuse matter, and you notice that an unpleasant odor comes from
it."

"Is this the only entrance to it?" asked Scott, pointing to a door,
which was reached by a log notched like a flight of stairs.

"There is a door at the other end also; and there may be ways of
mounting the platform, or veranda, which forms the front of the
building, as climbing a post, or dropping from a tree. Some of the
posts, of which you see a multitude under the house, are cut off at the
first floor, while many of them reach up to the roof, and support it. We
will go in now, if you like; and, being sailors, I suppose you can climb
the log."

"No doubt of that," replied Scott, who was the first to ascend. "Are all
that crowd coming up?"

"Certainly; they are the occupants of the long-house, and they must be
at home in order to do the honors of the occasion," laughed the guide.

The villagers followed the party, and immediately manifested their
politeness in various ways. The prettiest girl in the crowd spoke to
Louis; though he did not understand a word she said, but replied to her
in English, when she was as much at sea as he had been.

"What does she say, Achang?" he asked of the Bornean.

"_Tabet, tuan_," replied the native.

"I heard her say that; but what does it mean?"

"It means, 'Good-day, sir,'" answered the Bornean; and he proceeded to
tell her that Louis was the "head man," very rich, and owned a big
ship.

She made a very graceful obeisance to him, and then rushed away through
a door on the side of the grand hall, as it may well be