From planting time till
the end of the harvest - four or five months - a man is deputed to remain in
the kampong to whom fish is forbidden, but who may eat all the rice he
wants, with some salt, and as recompense for his services receives a new
prahu or clothing.
A few days later, the chief having early in the morning taken omens from a
small bird, the inhabitants with few exceptions departed on a tuba-fishing
expedition to the Pipa, a small tributary to the Kayan River farther
north. The two kampongs, Long Pelaban and Long Mahan, combined forces, and
as so many were going I experienced difficulty in arranging to join the
excursion, but finally succeeded in securing prahus and men from the
latter place.
We passed a small settlement of Punans, former nomads, who had adopted the
Dayak mode of living, having learned to cultivate rice and to make prahus.
We found the people of Long Pelaban camped on a stony beach in two long
rows of rough shelters, each row containing many families under one common
roof of bark. The Long Mahan people had gone farther and camped on a
similar beach, and between the two I discovered a pleasant location in the
jungle by ascending the high bank of the river.
