The baskets are of various shapes and sizes, adapted to a variety of uses. The largest size holds about two bushels of PADI, and is chiefly used for transporting grain from the fields to the house (Fig. 4). It is almost cylindrical in shape, but rather wider at the upper end. Four strips of wood running down from near the upper edge project slightly below, forming short legs on which the basket stands. The upper end is closed by a detachable cap, which fits inside the upper lip of the basket. It is provided with a pair of shoulder straps, and a strap which is passed over the crown of the head. These straps are made of a single strip of tough beaten bark. One end of it is attached to the foot of the basket; a second attachment is made at the middle of the height, forming a loop for the one shoulder; the strip is then looped over to the corresponding point on the other side, forming the loop for the head, and then carried down to the foot of the basket on that side to form the loop for the other shoulder.
A smaller cylindrical basket, very neatly plaited of thin and very pliable strips of rattan, is used for carrying the few articles which a man takes with him in travelling — a little rice and tobacco, a spare waist cloth, a sleeping mat, perhaps a second mat of palm leaves used as a protection against rain, a roll of dried banana leaves for making cigarettes, perhaps a cap for wear in the house, and, not infrequently nowadays, a bright coloured handkerchief of Chinese silk. The lip of the basket is surrounded by a close set row of eyes through which a cord is passed. To this cord a net is attached, and is drawn together in the centre of the opening of the basket by a second cord, in order to confine its contents. This basket is provided with shoulder straps only.
In addition to these two principal baskets, each family has a number of smaller baskets of various shapes for storing their personal belongings, and for containing food in course of preparation (Fig. 5).
The mats are of many shapes and sizes. The largest are spread on the raised part of the floor, both of the gallery and of the private chambers, when a party sits down to eat or converse. Each individual has his own sleeping mat, and each family has a number of mats used for drying, husking, winnowing, and sieving the PADI.
The bamboo water-vessel consists of a section of the stem of the bamboo, closed at the lower end by the natural septum, the upper end having a lip or spout formed at the level of the succeeding septum. A short length of a branch remains projecting downwards to form a handle, by means of which the vessel can be conveniently suspended. These vessels are used also for carrying rice-spirit or BORAK; but this is stored in large jars of earthenware or china. The native jar of earthenware is ovoid in shape and holds about one gallon, but these are now largely superseded by jars made by the Chinese.
Each family possesses some dishes and platters of hardwood (Figs. 6 and 7), and generally a few china plates bought from traders; but a large leaf is the plate most commonly used.
Rice, the principal food, which forms the bulk of every meal, is boiled in an iron or brass pot with lip, handle, and lid, not unlike the old English cauldron; it has no legs, and is placed on a tripod of stones or suspended over the fire. This metal pot, which is obtained from the Chinese traders, has superseded the home-made pot of clay (Fig. 8) and the bamboo vessels in which the rice was cooked in former times. A larger wide stewpan is also used for cooking pork, vegetables, and fish. The Kayans smoke tobacco, which they cultivate in small quantities. It is generally smoked in the form of large cigarettes, the finely cut leaf being rolled in sheets of dried banana leaf. But it is also smoked in pipes, which are made in a variety of shapes, the bowl of hardwood, the stem of slender bamboo (Fig. 9). Sea Dayaks chew tobacco, but smoke little, being devoted to the chewing of betel nut.
In every house is a number of large brass gongs (TAWAK), which are used in various ceremonies and for signalling, and constitute also one of the best recognised standards of value and the most important form of currency. Besides these largest gongs, smaller ones of various shapes and sizes are kept and used on festive occasions (Pl. 45). All these gongs are obtained through traders from Bruni, China, and Java.
Beside the gongs a Kayan house generally contains, as the common property of the whole household, several long narrow drums (Fig. 10). Each is a hollow cylinder of wood, constricted about its middle, open at one end, and closed at the other with a sheet of deer-skin. This is stretched by means of slips of rattan attached to its edges, and carried back to a stout rattan ring woven about the constricted middle of the drum; the skin is tightened by inserting wedges under this ring.
In most houses two or three small brass swivel guns may be seen in the gallery, and a small stock of powder for their service is usually kept by the chief. They are sometimes discharged to salute a distinguished visitor, and formerly played some small part in repelling attacks. The domestic animals of the Kayans are fowls, goats, pigs, and dogs. The latter live in the house, the others run free beneath and around the house.