With what physical conditions these differences coincide is not always easy to be discerned. In the South Sea Islands, where in one and the same Archipelago, we find some tribes tall and fair, whereas others are dark and ill-featured, it has been remarked by Captain Beechy that this contrast of complexion coincides with the geological structure of the soil. The lower and more coralline the island, the blacker the islanders; the more elevated and volcanic, the lighter. In Africa, it is the low alluvia of rivers that favour the Negro configuration. Mountains or table-lands, on the other hand, give us red or yellow skins, rather than sable. The Dyaks, then, are light-coloured Pagans, speaking languages allied to the Malay; little touched by Arabic, and less by Hindú influences; with manners and customs that, more or less, re-appear amongst the Battas (or ruder tribes of Sumatra), and the so-called Harafuras of Celebes--and not only here but elsewhere. In other words, in all the islands, where Indian and Arabic civilization have not succeeded in wholly changing the primitive character, analogues of the _Orang Binua_ are to be found; their greatest differences being those of stature and complexion--differences upon which good judges have laid great stress; but differences which will probably be found to coincide with certain geological conditions in the way of physical, and with a lower level of civilization in the way of moral causes--these moral causes having indirectly a physical action. The Dyaks, in general, use the _sumpitan_, or blow-pipe, about five feet long; out of which some tribes shoot simple, others poisoned arrows. The utmost distance that the sumpitan carries is about one hundred yards. At twenty it is sure in its aim. The differences between the Dyak weapon, and one in use with the Arawaks of Guiana is but trifling--perhaps it amounts to nothing at all. Some Dyak tribes tattoo their bodies; others do not. Before a Dyak youth marries he must lay at the feet of the bride-elect the head of an enemy. This makes _head-hunting_ a normal item of Dyak courtship. Traces of the Indian mythology--measures of the Indian influence in other respects--just exist amongst the Dyaks--_e.g._, _Battara_ is a name in their Pantheon, and this is an alteration of the Brahminic _Avatar_. The pirates who harass the coasts of Borneo and the Chinese Seas--destined, at some future time to be, like the Kaffres, but too well-known to the English tax-payers--are Malays rather than _Orang Binua_, or their equivalents; the navigation of the Dyaks being chiefly confined to rivers. The particular tribes of Sarawak are the following--the Lundu, the Sarambo, the Singé, the Suntah, the Sow, and the Sibnow. It is almost unnecessary to name the great fountain-head for all our recent knowledge of Borneo--Sir James Brooke.