There are many tribes that talk the Sea Dyak language. The Sabuyaus living on the coast and at Lundu, the Balaus of the Batang Lupar and elsewhere, the dwellers on the Skrang and Saribas Rivers, as well as the Kanowit and Katibas branches of the Rejang River, all speak it, with slight modifications. There can be no doubt that all these tribes are descended from the same parent stock. The difference of dialect between the different tribes is often a source of great amusement, and I remember well taking some Saribas boys, who had been some time in my school at Banting, on a visit to their people. We sat in the long veranda of the Dyak house, and I noticed that as they spoke to their relatives and friends there were shrieks of laughter and great merriment. The reason of this was that the boys had unconsciously picked up the Balau dialect during their stay at Banting, and their manner of speaking amused their Saribas friends exceedingly. CHAPTER III MANNER OF LIFE Dyak village house—_Tanju_—_Ruai_—_Bilik_—_Sadau_—Human heads—Valuable jars—Paddy-planting—Men’s work—Women’s work—House-building—Boat-building—_Kadjangs_—Dyak tools—_Bliong_—_Duku_—Weaving—Plaiting mats and basket-making—Hunting—Traps—Fishing—Spoon-bait—Casting-net— _Tuba_-fishing—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 forming a roof which keeps off the rain and sun, and lasts for three or four years. The long Dyak village house is built in a straight line, and consists of a long uncovered veranda, which is called the _tanju_. The paddy is put on the _tanju_ to be dried by the sun before it is pounded to get rid of its husk and convert it into rice. Here also the clothes and a variety of other things are hung out to dry. The family whetstone and dye vat are kept under the eaves of the roof, and the men sharpen their tools and the women do their dyeing on the _tanju_. The flooring of this part of the house is generally made of _bilian_, or iron-wood, so as to stand exposure to the weather.