One Of The Most Striking Uses To Which Bamboo Is Applied By The
Dyaks, Is To Assist Them In Climbing Lofty Trees By Driving In
Pegs In The Way I Have Already Described At Page 85.
This method
is constantly used in order to obtain wax, which is one of the
most valuable products of the country.
The honey-bee of Borneo
very generally hangs its combs under the branches of the Tappan,
a tree which towers above all others in the forest, and whose
smooth cylindrical trunk often rises a hundred feet without a
branch. The Dyaks climb these lofty trees at night, building up
their Bamboo ladder as they go, and bringing down gigantic
honeycombs. These furnish them with a delicious feast of honey
and young bees, besides the wax, which they sell to traders, and
with the proceeds buy the much-coveted brass wire, earrings, and
bold-edged handkerchiefs with which they love to decorate
themselves. In ascending Durian and other fruit trees which
branch at from thirty to fifty feet from the ground, I have seen
them use the Bamboo pegs only, without the upright Bamboo which
renders them so much more secure.
The outer rind of the Bamboo, split and shaved thin, is the
strongest material for baskets; hen-coops, bird-cages, and
conical fish-traps are very quickly made from a single joint, by
splitting off the skin in narrow strips left attached to one end,
while rings of the same material or of rattan are twisted in at
regular distances. Water is brought to the houses by little
aqueducts formed of large Bamboos split in half and supported on
crossed sticks of various heights so as to give it a regular
fall. Thin long-jointed Bamboos form the Dyaks' only water-
vessels, and a dozen of them stand in the corner of every house.
They are clean, light, and easily carried, and are in many ways
superior to earthen vessels for the same purpose. They also make
excellent cooking utensils; vegetables and rice can be boiled in
them to perfection, and they are often used when travelling.
Salted fruit or fish, sugar, vinegar, and honey are preserved in
them instead of in jars or bottles. In a small Bamboo case,
prettily carved and ornamented, the Dyak carries his sirih and
lime for betel chewing, and his little long-bladed knife has a
Bamboo sheath. His favourite pipe is a huge hubble-bubble, which
he will construct in a few minutes by inserting a small piece of
Bamboo for a bowl obliquely into a large cylinder about six
inches from the bottom containing water, through which the smoke
passes to a long slender Bamboo tube. There are many other small
matters for which Bamboo is daily used, but enough has now been
mentioned to show its value. In other parts of the Archipelago I
have myself seen it applied to many new uses, and it is probable
that my limited means of observation did not make me acquainted
with one-half the ways in which it is serviceable to the Dyaks of
Sarawak.
While upon the subject of plants I may here mention a few of the
more striking vegetable productions of Borneo. The wonderful
Pitcher-plants, forming the genus Nepenthes of botanists, here
reach their greatest development. Every mountain-top abounds with
them, running along the ground, or climbing over shrubs and
stunted trees; their elegant pitchers hanging in every direction.
Some of these are long and slender, resembling in form the
beautiful Philippine lace-sponge (Euplectella), which has now
become so common; others are broad and short. Their colours are
green, variously tinted and mottled with red or purple. The
finest yet known were obtained on the summit of Kini-balou, in
North-west Borneo. One of the broad sort, Nepenthes rajah, will
hold two quarts of water in its pitcher. Another, Nepenthes
Edwardsiania, has a narrow pitcher twenty inches long; while the
plant itself grows to a length of twenty feet.
Ferns are abundant, but are not so varied as on the volcanic
mountains of Java; and Tree-ferns are neither so plentiful nor so
large as on that island. They grow, however, quite down to the
level of the sea, and are generally slender and graceful plants
from eight to fifteen feet high. Without devoting much time to
the search I collected fifty species of Ferns in Borneo, and I
have no doubt a good botanist would have obtained twice the
number. The interesting group of Orchids is very abundant, but,
as is generally the case, nine-tenths of the species have small
and inconspicuous flowers. Among the exceptions are the fine
Coelogynes, whose large clusters of yellow flowers ornament the
gloomiest forests, and that most extraordinary plant, Vanda
Lowii, which last is particularly abundant near some hot springs
at the foot of the Penin-jauh Mountain. It grows on the lower
branches of trees, and its us strange pendant flower-spires often
hang down so as almost to reach the ground. These are generally
six or eight feet long, bearing large and handsome flowers three
inches across, and varying in colour from orange to red, with
deep purple-red spots. I measured one spike, which reached the
extraordinary length of nine feet eight inches, and bore thirty-
six flowers, spirally arranged upon a slender thread-like stalk.
Specimens grown in our English hot-houses have produced flower-
spires of equal length, and with a much larger number of
blossoms.
Flowers were scarce, as is usual in equatorial forests, and it
was only at rare intervals that I met with anything striking. A
few fine climbers were sometimes seen, especially a handsome
crimson and yellow Aeschynanthus, and a fine leguminous plant
with clusters of large Cassia-like flowers of a rich purple
colour. Once I found a number of small Anonaceous trees of the
genus Polyalthea, producing a most striking effect in the gloomy
forest shades. They were about thirty feet high, and their
slender trunks were covered with large star-like crimson flowers,
which clustered over them like garlands, and resembled some
artificial decoration more than a natural product.
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