The outer rind of the Bamboo, split and shaved thin, is the strongest
material for baskets; hen-coops, bird-cages, and conical fish-traps
are very quickly made from a single joint, by splitting off the skin in
narrow strips left attached to one end, while rings of the same material
or of rattan are twisted in at regular distances. Water is brought to
the houses by little aqueducts formed of large Bamboos split in half
and supported on crossed sticks of various heights so as to give it
a regular fall. Thin long-jointed Bamboos form the Dyaks' only
water-vessels, and a dozen of them stand in the corner of every house.
They are clean, light, and easily carried, and are in many ways superior
to earthen vessels for the same purpose. They also make excellent
cooking utensils; vegetables and rice can be boiled in them to
perfection, and they are often used when travelling. Salted fruit or
fish, sugar, vinegar, and honey are preserved in them instead of in jars
or bottles. In a small Bamboo case, prettily carved and ornamented,
the Dyak carries his sirih and lime for betel chewing, and his little
long-bladed knife has a Bamboo sheath. His favourite pipe is a huge
hubble-bubble, which he will construct in a few minutes by inserting a
small piece of Bamboo for a bowl obliquely into a large cylinder about
six inches from the bottom containing water, through which the smoke
passes to a long slender Bamboo tube. There are many other small matters
for which Bamboo is daily used, but enough has now been mentioned to
show its value. In other parts of the Archipelago I have myself seen it
applied to many new uses, and it is probable that my limited means of
observation did not make me acquainted with one-half the ways in which
it is serviceable to the Dyaks of Sarawak.
While upon the subject of plants I may here mention a few of the more
striking vegetable productions of Borneo. The wonderful Pitcher-plants,
forming the genus Nepenthes of botanists, here reach their greatest
development. Every mountain-top abounds with them, running along
the ground, or climbing over shrubs and stunted trees; their elegant
pitchers hanging in every direction. Some of these are long and slender,
resembling in form the beautiful Philippine lace-sponge (Euplectella),
which has now become so common; others are broad and short. Their
colours are green, variously tinted and mottled with red or purple.
The finest yet known were obtained on the summit of Kini-balou, in
North-west Borneo. One of the broad sort, Nepenthes rajah, will hold two
quarts of water in its pitcher. Another, Nepenthes Edwardsiania, has
a narrow pitcher twenty inches long; while the plant itself grows to a
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