Seventeen years among the Sea Dyaks of Borneo; a ... - Sabrizain.org

MY SCHOOL IN THE JUNGLE 117
he dressed himself up, and marched off, and found his
way up
the hill to the Mission House.
"
I was just then there alone. Mr. Chambers was gone
to visit some of the out-stations on the Batang Lupar.
I was teaching half a dozen small fry at the table, which
stood in what corresponded to the veranda in the old
Mission House at Banting. I was not paying any atten-
tion to the door, nor troubling about who came in, as at
that time of the day many young fellows, who were on
the hill for any purpose, were in the habit of coming in
and watching the boys learning.
I was busy with a couple
of the youngsters, when I noticed the others all press up
close together, and begin whispering and signalling as
Dyaks can, and showing unmistakable signs of uneasi-
ness. When I saw this, I looked up to see the cause of
it, and there, standing by one of the posts of the house,
was a strange man, very unlike a Balau in dress and
appearance, with his hand on the handle of his Hang
(sword) ; in fact, behaving in quite a different way to the
ordinary Dyak visitor. The boys did not like his manner
"
at all, I could
"
see, and I heard them whisper munsoh
(enemy)
'
to each other.
I asked the man to sit down, but this he declined to
do, for he continued standing there with his eyes fixed on
us and his hand on the handle of his sword, from the
sheath of which a large bunch of charms was suspended.
I kept my eye on the man, and at the same time went on
teaching. He continued to watch us for some minutes,
and the boys got more and more uncomfortable. When
at last the man actually came up to the table and picked
up a piece of paper, I thought the boys would have all
bolted. However, after looking at the paper for a few
minutes, he made some remark, and I again asked him