Head-hunters, black, white, and brown

by Alfred C. Haddon

In general the composition is everywhere the same. The highest bed consists of a partly sandy clay, which towards the bottom becomes more sandy, the sand grains at the same time increasing in size. The conglomerates consist mainly of quartz pebbles, but also of pebbles of different igneous rocks, such as gabbro, diorite, granite, etc.; they also contain pebbles of the Tertiary strata, such as sandstones, coral limestone, etc. Between these pebbles there is more or less of a clayey earth, containing gold, diamonds, platinum, magnetic iron ore, and chromite. The pebbly bed is often united by a very hard siliceous cement.

Towards the sea these deposits merge into marshy lowlands. While flowing through the later alluvium the rivers have low banks, but in the earlier Quaternary beds they flow between high, perpendicular, clay walls, in a narrow gully. The bedding is horizontal, or, at the border of the hill-land, only slightly inclined.

THE GEOLOGY OF THE MARSHES

ALLUVIUM

The river deposits show their greatest development in south Borneo, where they form extended marshy plains. They are next best exemplified in west Borneo; while they are least developed in the east and north. They are composed of a dark brown, black, or bluish clay, which is often rich in humus in its upper layers; in the lower layers it is of a harder consistency. It is often mixed with, or traversed by, seams of sand; the latter, as a rule, occurring on a lower level. The boundary with the older Quaternary cannot be sharply drawn.

The bog formation and the marsh-land of the lower river courses of north Borneo are of less account than in the south and west owing to the great development of the sea sand, which hinders the formation of morasses. They occur only in the river deltas, some of which are of considerable extent. The great delta of the Rejang is a morass, and the swamps can only be travelled over by boats. On the Baram the alluvium extends for about a hundred miles from the coast.

The sea-sand formation extends from Sarawak as a long, broad strip of sand dunes, right along the coast, excepting the river mouths.

(b) A SKETCH OF THE ETHNOGRAPHY OF SARAWAK.

We have not at present sufficient precise information to be able to speak with certainty concerning the characters and affinities of all the races and peoples that inhabit Borneo. One of our objects in visiting Sarawak was the hope that by measuring a large number of people, and by recording their physical features, we might help towards a solution of the ethnic problems; we also hoped that further light might be thrown on the matter by a comparative study of their customs, beliefs, as well as of their arts and crafts. Our stay was of too short a duration, and the ground we covered was not sufficiently extensive for us to do much in this regard, and our physical results have yet to be fully worked out. Fortunately Hose has made a prolonged and careful study of Bornean ethnography, and when his voluminous manuscripts are published we shall be in a much better position to pronounce on the subject. In the meantime one must remain content with Ling Roth’s great compilation, The Natives of Sarawak and British North Borneo.