Their
teeth are generally black from the continual chewing of the betel-nut,
and I noticed small children of four or five years of age going in for
this dirty habit, and still younger children smoking cigarettes, the
covering of which is made out of the dried leaf of the sago-palm. The
Dayaks are almost as dirty as the Negritos in the Philippines, and yet
they are both certainly the merriest people I have ever met with. The
heartiest and most unaffected laughter I have ever heard proceeded
from the throats of Dayaks and Negritos. It almost seems as if dirt
in some cases constitutes true happiness.
The Dayak women seemed to bathe more often than the men, but they
never seemed to take off their brass waist-rings when bathing in the
river. The women also have their wrists covered with brass bangles,
which are all fastened together in one piece. The noise in the house
was deafening at times, especially in the evening, when all come home
from working in their "padi" fields, where the women are supposed to
do most of the work, the men generally going hunting. The continual
hum of conversation and loud laughter, with the noise made by the
pigs and chickens under the house, the dogs and chickens in the house,
and the beating of deep-toned gongs at times nearly drove me frantic,
especially when I was writing.
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