r
gunwales are stitched on the sides, and the seams are caulked, so as to
render the boat water-tight.

The only tool used for making a Dyak boat of this kind is the Dyak axe
or adze (_bliong_). This is a most excellent tool, and is forged of
European steel, which they procure in bars. In shape it is like a small
spade, about two and a half inches wide, with a square shank. This is
set in a thin handle of hard wood, at the end of which there is a woven
pocket of cane to receive it. The lower end of this handle has a piece
of light wood fixed to it to form a firm grip for the hand. The _bliong_
can be fixed in the handle at any angle, and is therefore used as an axe
or adze. With it the Dyaks can cut down a great forest tree in a very
short time, and it is used for cutting planks and doing their
carpentering work.

While the work of the men is to build houses and to make boats, the work
of the women is to weave cloth and make mats and baskets. The women
plant their own cotton, beat it out with small sticks, and by means of
a spinning-wheel make their own yarn. This yarn is not so fine as that
of English manufacture, but it is stronger and keeps its colour well. At
the present time, however, a great deal of the cloth woven by the Dyaks
is done with yarn of English make. The warp is arranged in the loom, and
the weaver sits on the floor and uses her hands and feet, the latter
working the treadles. The threads of the woof are then passed backwards
and forwards. The work is very slow, and Dyak weaving very tedious. They
use vegetable dyes, and the women blend the colours in a pleasing
manner, though there is a great sameness in the designs. The cloth they
make is particularly strong and serviceable.

Mats are made either with split cane or from the outer bark of reeds.
The women are very clever at plaiting, and some of their mats are very
fine in texture. They also make baskets of different shapes and sizes,
some of which have coloured designs worked into them.

CHAPTER VI

HEAD-HUNTING

The custom of head-hunting at one time prevailed to a great extent among
the Dyaks. In the old days no Dyak chief of any standing could be
married unless he had been successful in obtaining the head of an enemy.
For this reason it was usual to make an expedition into the enemy's
country before the marriage feast of any great chief. The head brought
home need not be that of a man; the head of a woman or child would
serve the p