e was so mean-spirited and servile that although
man thrashed him, nevertheless he fawned upon him and followed after
him; which they would never do, so they went off to the jungle to live.
But the dog comforted himself by saying that "When the man is about to
strike me I crouch down and sometimes this keeps his hand off;
furthermore, I cannot live on the poor food that these others must eat."
Hence, the dog follows and obeys man.

One day when the man and the dog were in the jungle together, and got
drenched by rain, the man noticed that the dog warmed himself by rubbing
against a huge creeper, called the _Aka Rarah_, whereupon the man took a
stick and rubbed it rapidly against the Aka Rarah, and to his surprise
obtained fire. This was the origin of the _Sukan_, or fire drill, and
ever after the man had fire in his house. Not long after, in
accidentally dropping an Ubi near the fire, he found that it became much
more pleasant to the taste; by this accident cooking was discovered.

[Illustration: MAKING FIRE WITH A FIRE-DRILL.]

In the course of time, the dog and other animals began to multiply, and
man imitated their example; the woman brought forth a male child, whose
name was _Machan Buntu_. After many years, the woman gave birth to a
female child who, when she was well grown, married her brother Machan
Buntu and gave birth to seventy children at one time. These children
left their home and scattered all over the world. Some became wood
sprites and mountain gnomes, living in the trees, in the rivers, and
under ground.

The tradition of the manufacture of man out of wood instead of clay is
thoroughly in keeping with an origin purely Dayak. The Dayaks never have
been proficient in pottery, and to this day they carve their bowls and
dishes out of hard wood, otherwise it seems to me that clay would have
suggested itself to them as the most suitable substance whereof to have
made man. Another item looks as if part of the story were an
interpolation, namely, where it is related that the two birds were so
pleased with their work after making man, that they rested; this looks
like a suggestion due to the first chapter of Genesis. Again, in that
land of Kaburau, where all animals lived in perfect harmony, and which
was the garden of the world, we may recognize the garden of Eden. Owing
to the lack of writing, as I said before, it is impossible to say how
old this tradition is, or to what extent it is known to Dayaks in oth