Of the
twenty-one years spent in Sarawak, about eighteen were passed in the
Baram district, and the remainder mostly in the Rejang district. In
both these districts, but especially in the Baram, settlements and
representatives of nearly all the principal peoples are to be found;
and the nature of his duties as Resident Magistrate necessitated a
constant and intimate intercourse with all the tribes of the districts,
and many long and leisurely journeys into the far interior, often
into regions which had not previously been explored. Such journeys,
during which the tribesmen are the magistrate's only companions
for many weeks or months, and during which his nights and many of
his days are spent in the houses of the people, afford unequalled
opportunities for obtaining intimate knowledge of them and their
ways. These opportunities have not been neglected; notes have been
written, special questions followed up, photographs taken, and sketches
made, throughout all this period.
In the years 1898 -- 9 the second collaborator (W. McD.) spent the
greater part of a year in the Baram district as a member of the
Cambridge Anthropological Expedition, which, under the leadership
of Dr. A. C. Haddon, went out to the Torres Straits in the year
1897.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25