eat, and retired, very fagged, to my bed, or rather my board, for sitting cross-legged for several hours is surely a great affliction.” Sir J. Brooke, in company with a modern writer on Bornean manners and customs--Mr. St. John--on another occasion paid a ceremonial visit to a chief of the Grungs, and with results that are worth chronicling. “We found the village crowded with the representatives of all the neighbouring tribes; long strings of men, women, and children were continually arriving as we approached. Directly we ascended the notched tree that served as a ladder to the Orang Kaya’s house, we found that we were no longer free agents. A crowd of old women instantly seized us and pulled off our shoes and stockings and commenced most vigorously washing our feet: this water was preserved to fertilize the fields. We were then conducted to a platform but slightly raised above the floor and requested to sit down, but the mats were so dirty that we could scarcely prevail upon ourselves to do so--perhaps the only time it has occurred to us; generally the mats are charmingly neat and clean. The arrival of our bedding freed us from this difficulty. “We were surrounded by a dense mass of men, women, and children who appeared all to be talking at once; in fact, more excitement was shewn than I have before observed. We had to do so many things, and almost all at once,--to sprinkle rice about, to pour a little water on each child that was presented to us, until, from force of example, the women and even the men insisted upon the ceremony being performed on them. “Silence being at last restored, Kasim explained in a long speech the object of Captain Brooke’s visit. He spoke in Malay, interlarding it occasionally with Dayak phrases--I say Malay, but Malay that is only used when addressing the aborigines,--clipping and altering words, changing the pronunciation, until I find that some have been deceived into believing this was the true Dayak language. It is to these people what the Lingua Franca is to Western Asia. “We got a little respite while eating our dinner; but as soon as we had finished we were again surrounded. The priestesses of the place were especially active tying little bells round our wrists and ancles and bringing rice for us to--how shall I explain it?--in fact for us to spit on, and this delectable morsel they swallowed. No sooner had these learned women been satisfied than parents brought their children and insisted upon their being physicked in the same way, taking care to have a full share themselves. One horrid old woman actually came six times.