. The pagan tribes of Borneo; a description of their physical, moral and intellectual condition, with some discussion of their ethnic relations. stream is con-sidered the choicest area for cultivation, partlybecause of the efficient drainage, partly because thefelling is easier on the slope, and because thestream affords easy access to the field. When an area has been chosen, the men of theroomhold first cut down the undergrowth of aV-shaped area, whose apex points up the hill, andwhose base lies on the river bank. This done,they call in the help of other men of the house,usually relatives who
. The pagan tribes of Borneo; a description of their physical, moral and intellectual condition, with some discussion of their ethnic relations. stream is con-sidered the choicest area for cultivation, partlybecause of the efficient drainage, partly because thefelling is easier on the slope, and because thestream affords easy access to the field. When an area has been chosen, the men of theroomhold first cut down the undergrowth of aV-shaped area, whose apex points up the hill, andwhose base lies on the river bank. This done,they call in the help of other men of the house,usually relatives who are engaged in preparingadjacent areas, and all set to work to fell the largetrees. In the clearing of virgin forest, when verylarge trees, many of which have at their basesimmense buttresses, have to be felled, a platformof light poles is built around each of these giantsto the height of about 15 feet. Two men standingupon this rude platform on opposite sides of thestem attack it with their small springy-hafted axes(Fig. 11) above the level of the buttresses (). One man cuts a deep notch on the side loo PAGAN TRIBES OF BORNEO facing up the hill, the other cuts a similar notchabout a foot lower downon the opposite side, eachcutting almost to thecentre of the stem. Thisoperation is accomplishedin a surprisingly short time, perhapsthirty minutes in the case of a stemtwo to three feet in diameter. Whenall the large trees within the V-shaped area have been cut in thisway, all the workers and any women,children, or dogs who may be pre-sent are called out of the patch,and one or two big trees, carefullyselected to form the apex of thephalanx, are then cut so as to falldown the hill/ In their fall thesegiants throw down the trees stand-ing immediately below them on thehillside ; these, falling in turn againsttheir neighbours, bring them so, like an avalanche of wideningsweep, the huge disturbance pro-pagates itself with a thunderous roarand increasing momentum do
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectethnolo, bookyear1912
