nee or on the arm, and
sometimes a brass ring or two; but they have no other ornaments. The
ears of a few were pierced, but I saw nothing worn in them except a
roll of thin palm-leaf, to prevent the hole closing. The women are
decidedly good-looking, and far fairer than the men; their figures
are well shaped, and remarkable for their _embonpoint_. The expression
of their countenance is very good-humored, and their condition seems
a happy one. Their dress consists of a coarse stuff, very scanty
(manufactured by the Sakarran Dyaks), reaching from the waist to the
knee; around the waist they have rings of ratan, either black or red,
and the loins are hung round with a number of brass ornaments made by
their husbands. Above the waist they are entirely naked, nor do they
wear any covering or ornament on the head. They have a few bracelets
of brass, but neither ear-rings nor nose-rings; and some, more lucky
than the rest, wear a necklace of beads. They prefer the smallest
Venetian beads to the larger and more gaudy ones of England. The labor
of the house, and all the drudgery, falls on the females. They grind
the rice, carry burdens, fetch water, fish, and work in the fields;
but though on a par with other savages in this respect, they have many
advantages. They are not immured; they eat in company with the males;
and, in most points, hold the same position toward their husbands and
children as European women. The children are entirely naked; and the
only peculiarity I observed is filing their teeth to a sharp point,
like those of a shark. The men marry but one wife, as I have before
observed. Concubinage is unknown; and cases of seduction or adultery
very seldom arise. Even the Malays speak highly of the chastity of the
Dyak women; yet they are by no means shy under the gaze of strangers,
and used to bathe before us in a state of nudity.

"That these Dyaks are in a low condition there is no doubt; but,
comparatively, theirs is an innocent state, and I consider them
capable of being easily raised in the scale of society. The absence
of all prejudice regarding diet, the simplicity of their characters,
the purity of their morals, and their present ignorance of all forms
of worship and all idea of future responsibility, render them open to
conviction of truth and religious impression. Yet, when I say this,
I mean, of course, only when their minds shall have been raised by
education; for without previous culture I reckon the labo