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

CHAPTER III
MANNER OF LIFE
Dyak village house— Tanju —Ruai— Bililc— Sadau—Human heads—
Valuable jars — Paddy-planting —Men's work—Women's work—
House- building — Boat- building—Kadjangs — Dyak tools— Bliong
—Dnku— Weaving — Plaiting mats and basket-making — Hunting
— Traps — Fishing — Spoon - bait— Casting-net — Ttt&a-Sshing —
Crocodile-catching.
AMONG the Dyaks a whole village, consisting of
some twenty or thirty families, or even more, live
together under one roof. This village house is
built on piles made of hard wood, which raise the floor
from six to twelve feet above the ground. The ascent is
made by a notched trunk or log, which serves as a ladder ;
one is fixed at each end of the house. The length of this
house varies according to the number of families inhabiting
it ; but as the rooms occupied by the different families
are built on the same plan and by a combination of
labour, the whole presents a uniform and regular
appearance.
The roof and outside walls are thatched with the leaves
of the nipa palm, which are first made into attap.
These
are made by doubling the leaves over a stick about six
feet long, each leaf overlapping the other, and sewn down
with split cane or reeds. These attap are arranged in
rows, each attap overlapping the one beneath it, and thus
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