Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1896-12-18
DECEMBER 1896
BOrneO and its People.
New and Interesting Facts About a
Strange Country.

New and Interesting Facts About
Strange Country.
Dr. William H. Furness of Pennsylvania
has recently returned home after spending
more than year in the Eastern Archipel-
ago, exploring the comparatively unknown
island of Borneo. He was accompanied by
DIR. II. NJ. Hitler. The journey was un-
dertaken i'm the interest of the museum OF
the university of Pennsylvania.
When one tries to recall what knowledge
he has of that faraway country his mind
naturally reverts to Barnum's "wild men
of Borneo," which the great Snowman used
to exhibit as drawing card. But DIR. Fur
ness assured a reporter with whom he
talked that no such men were to be found
in Borneo. They might possibly come from
the PHILIPPINE Islands farther north, where
there is a dwarfish race.
Borneo lies directly under the equator in
about 10 degrees Of east longitude and
south of China. 1t is the largest OF the
islands in that division of the globe called
Malaysia, and is about the size of France.
1t has range of mountains running
through it from northeast to southwest.
The explorers accompanied native chief
about $50 miles into the interior and lived
| in his house a month, receiving the most
1
ages with no clothing but small waist
cloth. They were "head hunters" an omi-
nous title. 1t is their religion to cut of
the head of their enemy and retain 1t as
| trophy, the same as the American Indian
scalps his victim. Their great desire is to
obtain as many heads as possible, and
when an enemy's head is not Immediately
available, friends is likely to be added to
the collection. They hang them up dried
| by the hair in their houses. In one house
DR.. Furness saw more than $50 heads.
They are as likely to take the heads of chill
dren and women as of men, and some even
make collections of monkeys heads. The
only business the natives have is crude
kind of farming. They grow little rice,
not enough to support them. They weave
cloth for women's dresses out of cotton
which they get from the Chinese in eX-
change for birds nests, which the Chinese
use for food This is the only commerce
they engage in. They also make coats out
of the inside bark of trees. They hunt
wild animals but do not kill the birds. In
this respect they are less barbarous than
the American women, who so delight to
deck themselves with the dead bodies OF
birds, or with their plumage which has
been secured only at the expense OF bird
life.
Like all houses in the Malaysan regor
the houses are perched upon piles twelve
or fifteen feet from the ground. They arr
built in long row, with as many as fit!
families in one house. Each family has
room, OF suite of rooms, opening upon thu
broad verandah. A chief presides over tn
. household, and they live in harmony. Tn
rooms are small. A house is taxed accord
! ing to the number of rooms. The fire
places where they boil their rice are bull
: upon the verandahs and are made of mud
. Dogs are plenty everywhere, in the hous
/ and out of it. They are mnngrels and ar
so hungry that ones shoes are not safe.
d They fight with short sword, called
parang, but their most common and mos
! dangerous weapon is a blow gun or pip
u made of hard wood, from which they shoe
i poisoned hardwood arrows about eigh
e inches long These arrows are supple
with little tuft of pith at one end whic
o makes them fit tight TO the pipe, which
: about eight feet long They seem to us
3 but little exertion in blowing it, yet the
s. hit small objects at $50 yards, and at 3
! yards can hit leaf
> The party travelled where no white ma
/ had ever been before, and took little trip
s with the chief, collecting specimens. The
. got spears, swords, weaving apparatus, tai
u tooing instruments, birds, animals an
:, reptiles. They brought home some liy
d Borneo monkeys and one ourang- outan
l. about years old. The country is most
re covered with thick jungle. The timbt
Al is magnificent. Like most tropical timb'
it is hard wood and very valuable as furn
e ture wood. From what is called the bu
IS tress tree slabs can be cut eight feet wild
e There are large caves in the limestone hill
le where the natives and the Cinnamon gail
= er the birds nests.
er The money of this country, as might hay
he been expected, is upon silver basis. The
&c do not need much. They use the Japal
IN ese silver yen as a standard. The COVER
OF ment issues paper currency which is r
ia deemed in the japanese coin.
I'd
Ut - L. 49, Il. ----.