The valuable jars (_tajau_) which the Dyaks prize so highly are in appearance much like the earthen water-pots that are manufactured in large numbers by the Chinese, and which cost from five to ten shillings. But closer examination shows certain differences. The Dyaks are prepared to pay exorbitant prices for a really old jar, and they venerate it and make offerings to it. The best known of these sacred jars are the _Gusi_, the _Naga_, and the _Rusa_. The first is the most valuable of the three. It is of a greenish colour, about eighteen inches high, and is much sought after. A good one would cost £80 or more. The _Naga_ is about two feet high, and is called by that name because it is ornamented with Chinese figures of dragons, or _naga_. It is worth from eight to ten pounds. The _Rusa_ is covered with the representation of some kind of deer (_rusa_), and is worth about four pounds. These prices, except the first, may not seem very great to our ideas, but when one remembers how poor the Dyaks are, they are very large amounts for them to pay for such fragile things as earthenware jars. The _Gusi_ is always kept wrapped in cloth and treated with the greatest respect. People crawl in its presence, and touch it with the greatest care. At certain feasts a jar of this kind is brought out, and offerings are made to it. Besides being the abode of a spirit, it is supposed to possess marvellous qualities—one of them being that if anything be placed in it overnight, the quantity will increase before morning; another, that food kept in a jar of this kind has peculiar medicinal virtues. When any of these sacred jars are bought, before bringing it into the room where it is to be kept an offering is always made to it. A chicken is killed and the blood smeared on the jar. It is not known for certain where these jars originally came from. One theory is that many years ago a colony of Chinese settled in Borneo for a short period, and made these jars and then left the country. These old jars have been imitated by the Chinese, and many modern jars are very like the originals. A very profitable business is done by Malay traders, who, for one genuine old jar in their possession, have six or more modern jars. The Dyaks are very cautious about paying a large price for a doubtful article, but for all that they are often taken in. I was at a Dyak house in Saribas, and was shown a jar which a Malay trader had brought for sale. A Dyak had decided to buy it, the price had been agreed upon, and the trader was to come on the following day to receive it in brass guns, gongs, and money. The Dyaks, on examining the jar more closely, came to the conclusion that it was a modern imitation. When the trader came, he was told that the Dyak had had a bad dream about the jar, and so was not prepared to buy it. In talking to an old Dyak about it, I was told that to say one had a bad dream was the usual way of refusing to buy a jar which seemed of doubtful value.